Egg Replacement

Why replace eggs?

There are approximately 300 million egg laying hens in the U.S. confined in battery cages — small wire cages stacked in tiers and lined up in rows inside huge warehouses. In accordance with the USDA's recommendation to give each hen four inches of 'feeder space,' hens are commonly packed four to a cage measuring just 16 inches wide. In this tiny space, the birds cannot stretch their wings or legs, and they cannot fulfill normal behavioral patterns or social needs. Constantly rubbing against the wire cages, they suffer from severe feather loss, and their bodies are covered with bruises and abrasions.

In order to reduce injuries resulting from excessive pecking — an aberrant behavior that occurs when the confined hens are bored and frustrated — practically all laying hens have part of their beaks cut off. Debeaking is a painful procedure that involves cutting through bone, cartilage, and soft tissue.

Laying more than 250 eggs per year each, laying hens' bodies are severely taxed. They suffer from "fatty liver syndrome" when their liver cells, which work overtime to produce the fat and protein for egg yolks, accumulate extra fat. They also suffer from what the industry calls 'cage layer fatigue,' and many become 'egg bound' and die when their bodies are too weak to pass another egg. This is just the tip of the iceberg, read more about the horrors of eggs at FactoryFarming.com

Vegan Baking and Cooking

Replacing dairy, such as milk or butter in baked goods is easy. Just use soy, rice, or almond milk to replace the cow's milk. Use Earth Balance or another type of vegan spread to replace the butter. Replacing eggs in recipes like cookies or cornbread, you can use EnerG Egg Replacer. It's found the kosher or ethnic aisle of your supermarket, or the health food store. Most vegan baker find that EnerG Egg Replacer does the trick most of the time. But some things you just don't need eggs for at all. The vegan Magic chocolate cake, which is super divine, moist, and all around awesome, requires no eggs or replacement at all! Another thing you can use in loaves or neat balls, which delivers fantastic results is flax powder and a few drops of water. This makes a healthy, sticky paste that binds easily. If you make oatmeal cookies, flax is the perfect binder for that. You can also use pruen puree, applesauce, mashed banana in baked goods. The best source to learn all about vegan baking is Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero's web site and books. Check them out at The Post Punk Kitchen. There's even cooking videos!!

Tofu Scramble: Good Any Time of Day...

Tofu (extra firm, non-silken) is perfect for scrambling, and there's a ton of recipes out there that are sure to please. Here's a few of our favorites.

• Isa's Delish Tofu Scramble
• Mock Scrambled Eggs
• Best "Eggs" in the World
• The Ultimate Tofu Scramble
• Veg Family Tofu Scramble