I've been a vegetarian for almost a year, and have recently given up dairy cheese because I found a really yummy replacement product. I've given up drinking dairy milk, although it is still in some of the foods in our pantry. But giving up eggs is really a challenge for me! Not baking without eggs, that's a sinch. But it's the yummy spongy texture and flavor of an omelette or breakfast sandwich! I've been using tofu for my breakfast sandwiches lately, crumbled with nutritional yeast, turmeric, tamari and some other spices. But I can't get them to hold together when I fry them, even in the smallest little patty! I've tried egg replacer in them, but that didn't work. Basically the "egg" in my sandwich is just a wet, (but tasty) mess. Scrambled tofu "eggs" is fine. I love those. But I miss the omelettes! It's too bad there isn't a vegan egg product in one of those attractive cartons like "Better 'n Eggs" that you can just dump in your pan and cook. There isn't, is there?? Meanwhile, I am looking for a recipe using tofu that will hold together like a real egg omelette. I have one more experiement to try. It is a vegan crepe recipe that I might be able to incorporate my tofu into and the flour might keep it all together. Does anyone have any tried and true recipes for my plight??:hungry:

^ Thank goodness I'm not the only one struggling with this. It's only things like Meet Your Meat that are keeping me on track right now. There's just nothing I can find that replaces really 'eggy' dishes, like casseroles, scrambled eggs, etc. I can't make scrambled tofu taste decent to save my life. No matter how much I season and marinate it, it tastes like tofuICK.

Help?

Same here, keelin. I don't miss eggs very much because I never liked them that much to begin with, but I do miss my egg sandwiches. Is there a decent replacement for this?

I'm lucky not to really miss eggs. Sure, it's a pain not being able to buy a lot of baked goods, but eggs themselves I was never keen on. Maybe the occasional fried egg, but for some reason only in the afternoon. In the morning the thought of eggs has always made me feel nauseous. I don't know why.

Anyway, in the health food shop today I saw egg-free omelette mix and thought it was a cool idea, even though I wouldn't buy it. But then I realised it was made almost entirely from whey powder! :lol: Obviously aimed at people with allergies. Ah well.

Same here, keelin. I don't miss eggs very much because I never liked them that much to begin with, but I do miss my egg sandwiches. Is there a decent replacement for this?
Some people like to make scrambled tofu and use that as a replacement of sorts. I'd imagine it'd taste good on bread!

Here's a recipe from Post Punk Kitchen: http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/recipe.php?RecipeID=110

^ The thing is that if you ate eggs plain, scrambled tofu is a really weird replacement. I did used to like 'Mexican' scrambled eggs, so I've tried marinating tofu in salsa and chili powder and then scrambling it, but it just tastes like very spicy TOFU. I was hoping such strong flavours would overcome the tofu-taste, but no. Not even after marinating for 24 hours.

^ Thank goodness I'm not the only one struggling with this. It's only things like Meet Your Meat that are keeping me on track right now. There's just nothing I can find that replaces really 'eggy' dishes, like casseroles, scrambled eggs, etc. I can't make scrambled tofu taste decent to save my life. No matter how much I season and marinate it, it tastes like tofuICK.

Help?

Keelin, 2 things for me really give scrambled tofu an eggy flavor:

1.) Lots and lots of Earth Balance margarine (yumo), and
2.) Black Salt (Indian Black Salt) that you can find in spice shops (you only need a little bit, so don't buy a whole lot of it!), I read about this a while ago here, and it really is good for the scramble.

Also, because I used to smother my eggs with Ketchup, I stil do it now with the tofu scramble and I LOVE IT!!!:cool:

Thank you Janie, I'll have to try that. :)

I hardly eat eggs as eggs if you know what I mean...but I might miss egg and cress sandwiches, they're an easy option when you're out, and most shops don't seem to do vegan sandwiches...I guess it saves money to take your own lunch places as well though.

When I think about scrambled eggs I'll miss them too, but I haven't eaten them in a long time anyway!

I miss eggs sooo bad. I messed up for the first time this weekend and ate one. I just wanted it so bad. I don't mind giving up eggs in foods and baking, but plain -they were my favorite food before.

I'm at the point were I may give up, and try and find a local cage free farm to buy them from, so at least I can have one on the weekends. I feel guilty about it, but at the same time it doesn't seem as bad as dairy and meat. Even just reading this post makes me want an egg.

I'm at the point were I may give up, and try and find a local cage free farm to buy them from, so at least I can have one on the weekends. I feel guilty about it, but at the same time it doesn't seem as bad as dairy and meat. Even just reading this post makes me want an egg.
As another poster pointed out, for every laying hen, a newborn male chick is killed. The most common methods of killing are gassing, suffocation, and grinding up the live chicks in a woodchipper.

As you may know, in the vast majority of commercial "cage free" operations, the birds are crowded by the thousands in a featureless shed reeking of ammonia. Their lives are miserable.

I figure my desire for an egg isn't as great as these animals' desire to have some shred of a normal life.

ETA: Shameless promotion but with honorable intenions: I'm compiling information on eggs - including recipes, cooking tips, and information about the egg industry - in an effort to get people to reduce and eliminate them from their diet, in a web site: www.noeggs.org.

So this weekend I solved my eggs problem! I just sliced a couple thin pieces of tofu, pressed all the water out and fried it in lots of margarine with a little salt and pepper. Then I sauted some mushrooms and onions, stacked all that onto some bread and grilled the whole thing. It tasted exactly like an egg sandwich to me (minus the yolk taste of course) Sunday I even added a little vegan cheese. Now I can't wait to try making some "egg"salad this week!

You could add some nutritional yeast to your tofu when you make an "egg" salad sandwich. Scramble tofu is excellent. You can get Fantastic Foods packages for scrambled tofu and put it in a pita with lettuce and shredded carrots.

i'm hungry...

It's been years since I've eaten eggs. I cut them out of my baking and everything when I became vegan. I was just told that noodles are made with eggs, however, and I do eat pasta. Is all pasta/noodles made with eggs?!?

No - homemade pasta will be, but most of the dried pasta you buy in stores is egg-free. Check the ingredients, of course. Obviously egg noodles are a no-go.

I stopped buying milk when I went veg six months ago, but have been buying eggs occasionally. I try to get the most "humane" ones I can, but you know how that goes. Plus I rarely use them all. Since I don't really bake, what subs are good for other kinds of cooking? One of my favorite recipes now is my mom's meatloaf made with Gimme Lean, but it calls for an egg. What would be a good binder? I wonder if I even need one--that stuff is sticky!

Someone mentioned xanthum gum--where do you get that? Is something else a better choice? I really want to get to a place of not buying milk OR eggs, and if I can make the meatloaf work, I'll be most of the way there!

I stopped buying milk when I went veg six months ago, but have been buying eggs occasionally. I try to get the most "humane" ones I can, but you know how that goes. Plus I rarely use them all. Since I don't really bake, what subs are good for other kinds of cooking? One of my favorite recipes now is my mom's meatloaf made with Gimme Lean, but it calls for an egg. What would be a good binder? I wonder if I even need one--that stuff is sticky!

Someone mentioned xanthum gum--where do you get that? Is something else a better choice? I really want to get to a place of not buying milk OR eggs, and if I can make the meatloaf work, I'll be most of the way there!

You could probably use powdered egg replacer. I use Ener-G. It's made from potato starch and you can buy a fairly big box at a health food store for about $7. Some people say it tastes a bit chalky, but I've never noticed that.

I just had something to add on the subject of humane eggs from chickens who are pets and treated well. If your chicken is not around any roosters, then her eggs will be unfertilized. So, that means, if you don't take those eggs, the eggs will just rot, no matter what the chicken does to it (sits on it or not). I don't see an ethical problem with eating unfertilized eggs from pet chickens. Unless of course, you have a problem with the aspect of the egg being not the healthiest thing in the world to eat!

Where did the pet chicken come from, though? If you're procuring pet chickens so you can eat their eggs, there's a good chance a male chick was killed and the pet was allowed to live because of it's 'usefulness.'

Also I've heard that chickens who lay unfertilized eggs tend to eat them and reabsorb the nutrients. Some people on the boards who have rescued layers mix their eggs back into the chicken feed.

/2 cents

Where did the pet chicken come from, though? If you're procuring pet chickens so you can eat their eggs, there's a good chance a male chick was killed and the pet was allowed to live because of it's 'usefulness.'



I was thinking about this, and I knew someone was going to say this. You definately have a point. But, for someone who just cannot stay away from eggs I suppose it's the best alternative than buying the eggs from the store. If, of course, you have the resources to care for a chicken.