Basic Substitutions to make Any Recipe Fit Your Needs

I wanted to give a little information for how I substitute some things to make recipes conducive for my weird diet.

EGGS
You can substitute pumpkin puree for eggs.  I haven't figured out the exact measurements, but I'll get back to you.
You can substitute 1 Tablespoon Flaxseed Meal and 3 Tablespoons water for each egg in a recipe.

Milk

I substitute almond milk when recipes call for cream, rice milk, when just asking for milk.  I buy these on sale at my local dollar store.

Butter
I use applesauce, sometimes paired with a dash of olive oil, for butter.
When I'm feeling really decadent, I'll use Smart Balance light or Earth Balance, dairy free butters.

Flours
For all purpose flour, I use a mix.  I never use one type of flour, (although I'm researching what's been done with single flour recipes, and it's promising and more affordable...to be continued...) Typically, I use half cornstarch and half rice flour.  The cornstarch lightens the graininess of the rice flour.  Sometimes, I'll cut the corn flour with a bit of masa flour, if I want a slightly denser dough.  Sorghum flour has the best taste for pies and cookies, I feel.

Xanthan Gum
It's pricey, but it lasts forever.  I only use 1 teaspoon for breads, 1/2 teaspoon for pancakes and cookies.

Sugar
I hate sugar but I hate high fructose corn syrup more.  I like to use raw organic sugar, which I buy from costco to save money, or honey.  Honey is so expensive, (I'm seriously thinking about doing a beehive this year,) so when I substitute, I only do about half.  Half sugar, half honey.  If you substitute all honey in a recipe, you should be fine, unless the recipe calls for more than 2 cups of sugar.  Then cut it down by 1/4 cup for each cup.  SO you'd use 1 3/4 cup honey instead of 2 cups of sugar a recipe calls for.

A Series Of Unfortunate Events...

Well, sort of.  I know I've been missing for awhile.  After my last post, I got sick with the lovely stomach flu in a way that can only be described as "epic."  I survived just in time for Thanksgiving.  So I made a whole bunch of delicious gluten-free dairy-free recipes that I am eager to share with you, but I first have to explain why I've avoided you so long.
It isn't you...it's me.
After Thanksgiving, I had a baby shower to organize, and well, I've never done that before so it took some new getting used to.
Then I had a health scare and had to get it checked out, which I'm only sharing because everything turned out great.


So, back to life, here we go, dive in and get started.  It's fabulous to be back, healthy and to have an epic holiday behind me with another massive one ahead.  But this one happens to be my most favoritest of all.
I am so ridiculously blessed, guys.  I have to say.  I have so much to be thankful for.  Thanks for being on my list of blessings.