Scottish Shortbread - SCD cookbook

I don't know what makes it Scottish.

~ 2 cups almond flour
~ 6 Tbs butter, melted
~ 2 1/2 Tbs honey

preheat oven to 350, grab a 9 or 12 inch circular pan.

Mix ingredients in a bowl, it will be a geasy looking, crumbly lump. Press dough into the pan. Bake for 15 to 20 miutes. Let it cool in the pan, and then cut into wedges. It should be crumbly!

Pinapple Upside-Down Cake

Mom used to make the original a lot. I have wonderful memories of the smell of hot pineapple steeped in butter and sugar and flour and...wow my mouth is watering.

Well, good news! This recipe is almost as good. : )

Its almond flour, honey, eggs, a little butter and some other stuff too...and it makes either a great dessert, or a kind breakfasty bread. Again, this comes from the SCD cookbook!

~ 2 cups almond flour, or more as needed (I've never needed more)
~ 3 eggs
~ 4 Tbs butter, melted
~ 1/2 cup honey
~ 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
~ 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

~ 1/2 lb fresh pineapple, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 350, grease an 8 or 9 inch circular baking dish.
Put all the first section of ingredients in a food processor and blend!
Layer the pineapple slices on the bottom of the baking dish, then pour the batter on top and spead evenly.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Then flip the dish over to let out the cake and enjoy!

Confessions of a not-so-secret dessert lover

Dear Blogees,

I’m so sorry that I have been MIA. Apparently the teething, crawling, consolidating naps stage takes some extra mommying. On the other hand, we have the cutest little fussy, drooling, inchworm working her way around the living room all day.

I’m not gonna lie peeps, we haven’t been that good lately. I told Matt about a week ago, after we had gone to a Farmers Market where some inconsiderate bakery had to parade its decadent little personal pies for all to see, that I was feeling tempted. Later I told him to be prepared, that I felt a falling off the wagon coming on strong. In fact, I was feeling like jumping off the wagon!

So, after a Costco pizza…and the inevitable stomach and headache that come with it…we are back on track! Costco pizza is so dang good.

NEWS: a new health food store opened up in our area! We were very excited about this. It’s still expensive, (though that comes with the territory) but it’s bigger, and has a better selection than the other health food places around here. And they have quite an extensive gluten free section full of goodies that we are going to have to try.

For instance, I have been working with RICE pasta…I didn’t even know you could try CORN pasta and QUINOA pasta! I’m all over it. And as soon as we have the $$ to try it, you will all be the first to know what it’s like.

Another fantastic find – Coconut Milk Ice Cream bars dipped in a dark chocolate glaze, all sweetened with agave! They are made by SoDelicious, a brand that usually does soy…but they decided to branch out I guess. Notice: coconut milk is by no means fat free, even if it is a healthier fat, its still loaded. So, enjoy them for what they are: dairy free, agave sweetened loveliness.

I find myself lately with the biggest sweet tooth. I am supposing that this is because we have been very light with sugar lately, and I’m sure you have read stuff about how all Americans are addicted to sugar and salt….yada yada yada. Well, aside from the fact that it makes sense in theory, I am now experiencing it in reality.

And SO today’s added recipes will all be for that wonderful, necessary meal that we all love so much and that is so important to happiness: dessert.

Just to brighten your day

Yes, I can see how holding a foot while sucking my thumb would be comfortable...

Eating Alternatively

Joey: It's like how Monica feels about low-fat Mayonnaise...

Monica (stuffing food in her mouth): It's NOT Mayonnaise!

Season 6, The one that could have been

Eating a gluten free, dairy minimal, alternative sugar diet requires some seemlingly drastic substitutions and brain re-wiring. And while the goal is a healthy body, its hard not to feel like you are missing out in the interim. One thing Matt and I both have tried to do is NOT lie to ourselves. Let me explain... When I pour myself a bowl of gluten free frosted flakes and then dowse it with almond milk, I dont sit down and repeat over and over in my head: Its Kelloggs with real milk...its Kelloggs with real milk. And then try to enjoy it. Rather, I let myself enjoy it for what it is: Organic gluten free frosted flakes with nothing artificial, with 5 Calories from fat per serving (neither trans nor saturated), served with Organic Almond milk.

Suddenly, I'm not missing out on Tony's Cavity Flakes and fatty lactose...I'm reveling in just how good heathly eating can taste!

Yes, rice pasta is heavy, almond flour doesn't rise and puff, almond mik has pulp (ew), I miss pizza, and Mary's Gone Crackers brand of...well...crackers...are a little like chewing tree bark (savory tree bark, but still). And yet, it is lovely to finish a meal - after having guilt free seconds - and feel fueled up to be productive and alert rather than need to slug around on the couch all evening. I don't need food to get me to do that, it comes natural...its organic.

Here are some of our gluten free finds that have been surprisingly good:
~ EnviroKidz Cereal! YA! Good-gluten-free-morning! Matt's favorite are the Leapin' Lemurs peanut butter and chocolate balls. Mine are the Amazon Frosted Flakes. There is also Gorilla Munch, Koala Crisp, and Peanut Butter Panda Puffs. This company also has crispy bars and animal crackers that we have not yet tried.
~ Mary's Gone Crackers. Brown Rice, Quinoa, Flax seeds, Sesame seeds, water, Tamari, and sea salt somehow smashed together and presented in thin little cracker form. Remember when you were a kid and your mom would buy those whole wheat crackers with little seeds all over them rather than buying Ritz? These are like those...with a vengeance.
~ Pacific Natural Foods Almond milk. We like this brand better than Almond Breeze, and we have been using it rather than Almond Breeze for so long that I have forgotten why. I think its less pulpy. You can use it in place of milk in, well, all the recipes I've tried...
~ Annie's Gluten Free Bunny Grahms. Awww, they are cute little bunnies! Now I am going to eat them.

Thats all for now. Go find some on your own and tell me about them!

Focaccia Bread

I was dubious. I was wrong. And while nothing can truly compare to a gluten-FULL, delicious, warm, fresh focaccia from that little hole in the wall bakery in Grand Central Terminal right by the exit to 42nd street, this recipe has taken gluten free living to a new place for us. And for the time being, I'll try to remember to take one of the other exits out of Grand Central, so that I can't even smell the original.

This recipe is taken from Recipes for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet

Bread

2 cups almond flour

7 oz dry curd cottage cheese (sometimes called California style - isnt everything...)

1 teasp. baking soda

1/4 teasp. salt

1/2 teasp. coarse black pepper

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

3 eggs

3 Tablespoons butter, melted

2 scallion sprigs, finely sliced

Topping

1/2 teasp. coarse sea salt

1 Tablespoon finely grated cheddar cheese

1 teasp. rosemary

(This last time I made it, I also topped it with sliced tomatoes and fresh basil leaves - as you can see)

Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish.
To make the bread, mix all the ingredients in a food processor or blender until well blended. Remove from the blender and spead out in the baking dish.
Mix all the topping ingredients together and sprinkle on the top of the "dough".

Bake until the edges are brown, 30 to 40 minutes.

Now, are they scallions? chives? green onions? spring onions? Apparently each part of the little plant has a different name. No matter, I just chop up the whole thing and throw it in there (please refer to the title of my blog...). And, in my experience, wait until the whole top is a little brown, not just the edges.

Also, have fun seaching for "dry curd" cottage cheese! I used Friendship's brand, California Style. It looks the same as cottage cheese, just with huge curds. And since it is made with cottage cheese, it is a little spongy...but you can still dip it in Balsamic and Olive Oil...and that is what really counts! : )

Grocery Shopping

Is there anyone out there who actually likes grocery shopping? If you exist, will you please go shopping for me? Cause I'm usually on the verge of a nervous breakdown by the time I get to the canned fruit aisle.

First, I have to navigate my car through these psycho New York drivers to get there...and that is no simple feat. Then, if I have managed to even remember my list, I must march up and down aisles, comparing prices and quality, resisting impulse buys, and making sure I get everything from that aisle I need, otherwise I have to wheel my squeaky cart (I always get the squeaky cart) all the way back across the store. If Rebecca isn't in tears by this time, I am. As we approach the checkout counters there is always the mad dash to the shortest looking line, which always ends up moving the slowest. Then we have to stand in line where I have some options of what to do to pass the time. I can either stare at the candy to my right, or Jake Pavelka's goofy smug smile smeared across US magazines to my left, or sneak peeks at what the person in front of me is buying for dinner. Next I fork out cash to the kid who never looks anyone in the eye, and is often texting, then get back in the car and fight my way home.

So, in an attempt to counter the effects of this sanity straining weekly tradition, I have come up with some ways to try to streamline the process.

First step: spend as little time as possible in Stop&Shop or ShopRite. The above description bears no resemblance to the happy, fairy land experience of Trader Joes. They are always playing oldies in there, and more than once, the entire store has broken out singing along. It's like a musical in there. Unfortunately, our Trader Joes is almost 30 minutes away, and about the size of my pinky toe. It should be called TJ junior. So, I do have to do some shopping elsewhere.

Step Two: plan out meals about 10 days in advance and then shop for exactly what you need. This has helped me cut down on the "Oh man I forgot the ________" moments.

Step Three: create a master list of what I usually buy. Place it inside a sheet protector and hang it on the fridge. Have a dry-erase marker nearby, and mark what you need as you need it. This cuts down on my "inventory" time.

Step Four: try to have Matt go shopping for you as much as possible.

Zucchini Lasagna

Lasagna has been my birthday meal since I can remember. My mom would kindly make it every year, which was asking kind of a lot considering my birthday is usually within days of Thanksgiving, and lasagna doesn't really go with turkey. Once I began making it for myself, I realized how much work it is - sorry mom!

As I continue on making everything gluten free, I have found myself missing lasagna. Now, I could buy expensive gluten free noodles - which I do want to try at some point in the future when I stumble upon a pile of gold - but for now, I figured I would just stuff it with zucchini. I've dabbled with zucchini in lasagna before, substituting one layer of noodles, but last night I went for broke. Result? AMAZING!

Although I'm sure everyone knows how to make a basic lasagna...here's how I did it:

Sauce
1lb ground beef (we love TJs Butcher Shop All Natural 90/10 ground beef - no homormones, no antibiotics, free range)
1lb ground sausage (if you are feeling decadent, otherwise use more ground beef)
1 diced onion
1 1/2 jars TJs Organic Tomato Basil Marinara
Salt, Pepper, Oregano, Garlic Powder
*In a few tablespoons of olive oil, brown the meats, dusted with all the spices. Add the onion when the meat is almost done. Pour sauce on top and simmer for 15 minutes.

Slice 4 medium zucchinis (do you add an "s" for plural?) lengthwise. Spoon a little bit of the sauce on the bottom of your baking dish, and arrange 1 layer of zucchini. Top with the majority of the meaty sauce and as much or as little mozzarella cheese as you like. Top the cheese with another layer of zucchini, the remaining sauce, and more cheese. For the very top layer of cheese, I use a little mozzarella, some grated cheddar, and a little grated parmesan to give it some zing!

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes covered with foil, and then another 15 without the foil so the cheese gets a little crispier.

Next time, I'm going to try layering spagetti squash instead of zucchini...sounds interesting...

Mango Salsa and Tortilla Strips

“What is that? What is that? What are you doing? You’re taking all the caviar!

That caviar is a garnish!”

~ Kathleen Kelly in You’ve Got Mail

This must be my favorite recipe in the whole SCD cookbook (see previous post). It’s not a meal, it’s a garnish! It is the Mango Salsa! Ahhh, it’s so refreshing, I could eat the whole bowl…but unfortunately, Matt is usually here to fight me for it.

Ingredients
2 ripe mangoes, peeled and diced
1 Serrano chile, finely chopped (Jalapeno works fine)
2 spring onions, finely chopped
½ red pepper, finely chopped
½ yellow pepper, finely chopped
1 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 lime, juiced, or more to taste

This part is hard: put it in a bowl. Chill it in the fridge for 1 hour…if you can wait that long.

*This salsa is great on top of fish, or in fish tacos, or chicken tacos, or with chips. But we like it on tortilla strips! My mom always used to make these, I don’t know where she got them from. Basically, you cut a bunch of corn tortillas into strips, and then toss the strips in a little bit of olive oil and coarse salt. Lay them out on a baking sheet and (in my oven) bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until they are as crispy as you like them!

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet

My current favorite cookbook is called “Recipes for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet”, by Raman Prasad. I suggest this book to anyone who is interested in alternative cooking. It, as well as its precursor, “Breaking the Vicious Cycle” by Elaine Gottschall, are available on Amazon.com.

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet (which I shall from here on call SCD) is a grain-free, lactose-free, sugar-free diet that has shown improvement for those suffering from IBD, Celiac Disease, Autism, Cystic Fibrosis, Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Diverticulitis, and more. But even more than stemming the tide of certain diseases, this book offers great and tasty ways to encourage healthy eating.

As with all diets, there are those who heavily advocate this one, as well as those who aren't completely convinced. We have not jumped solely on this bandwagon. After all, Matt doesn't even have any of the above mentioned diseases. But you will find in these books some healthy recipes that taste good and feel even better.

When my cousin Rebecca last visited from college, she couldn’t stop munching the mixed nut brittle, and betwixt the three of us, we practically licked the pineapple upside-down cake platter clean. Since then I have had a chance to try a lot more of the tasty dishes in this book, and not one of them has been a disappointment.

I will post some of the recipes that we have tried, but if you are more daring than we, get the book, and then call me and let me know how Yunus’s Kheema or Anjoos Aubergines taste. I’m a little scared of those.

Here is Elaine's site http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/ for more info.

Brown Rice and Black Beans - from Real Simple Magazine

I clipped this recipe out of Real Simple over a year ago, but didn’t use it until last night. To make it more filling, I also created a "Mexican pulled chicken" of sorts and threw that on top. Depending on what you top it with, it can be more or less healthy (ahh sour cream).

For the Beans:
8 cups water
1 lb dried black beans, picked over, rinsed, and drained
1 jalapeno chili, halved and seeded
2 medium onions, quartered
5 garlic cloves, smashed
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

For the Rice:
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups long-grain brown rice
3 ½ cups water

1. Make the beans: Bring water, beans, jalapeno, onions, garlic, vinegar, 1 tablespoon salt and 1 tablespoon pepper to a simmer in a medium pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender, about 1 ½ hours. Season with more salt and pepper if desired.
2. Meanwhile, make the rice: Heat oil in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat. Cook onion and garlic until onion is soft, about 5 minutes, Add 2 teaspoons salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and the rice. Cook until rice is slightly toasted, about 3 minutes. Add water, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, and gently simmer, covered, until rice absorbs water, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork and season with salt and pepper.

And this is the Crock Pot Mexican Chicken I kind of just made up (Sorry that I didn’t measure the ingredients – I didn’t expect it to turn out as great as it did, otherwise I may have written them down):
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (still frozen)
Dash of cumin
Big dash chili powder
Even bigger dash of garlic powder
Salt
4 cloves of garlic, smashed
Oregano
Cilantro flakes
About ½ cup of your favorite salsa
1. Throw it all in a crock pot. Cook on high for about 4 to 4 ½ hours. Shred with a fork.

Now, grab a bowl and get ready for some goodness! Put beans and chicken on top of a bed of rice, and top with: Salsa, Sour Cream, Fresh Cilantro, Avocado, or anything else you like!

P.S. Just had leftovers for lunch – its so good I didn’t even have to heat it up!

Let me introduce you to my blog!

I am by no means a chef. In fact, before Matt and I were engaged, I could make two things: grilled cheese, and a box of pasta-roni. It was college, and at least it was a step up from ramen noodles. When Matt got sick (about 6 months before the wedding), one of the first ways he tried to purge the infection was through diet. At that time we didn’t know what the infection was, but the concept made sense: there’s something hanging around in your body, and your immune system is having a hard time getting it…so help it through diet. So, cold turkey, we both cut off dairy, processed sugars, and almost all gluten. I was doing it for moral support…I thought. I lost 10 pounds in a little over 2 weeks. We were still eating a lot, there was no portion control, and yet the unnecessary weight was falling off. Soon, the weight loss tapered off, and settled I believe, at my body’s more optimum weight. So then I was disgusted with myself. If that was all hanging around on me, why go back to eating like that?


It’s a hard diet to follow strictly, and I don’t. I have some dairy (cheese and home-made yogurt), and I can still make a mean grilled cheese. But the world of foods has narrowed quite a bit. And while we do fall off the wagon, we have still noticed great changes in our energy levels.

This October will be our third anniversary. During the last three and a half years, Matt’s infection has gotten worse. We have run quite a little gamut of doctors, treatments and diagnoses…but there is now light at the end of the tunnel. We are currently seeing a Naturopath in Connecticut, who specializes in Lyme’s Disease (the current diagnosis), and who treats using a combination of intensive detoxifying supplements, as well as low electrical currents that kill the infection quickly, and without warning (Lyme bugs, and the bugs that come with Lyme – Barrilia, Eurlichia, Bartenella – hide from antibiotics). At his last appointment, the doctor ascertained that while the infection numbers are getting steadily lower, his body is still having a hard time purging ALL the toxins quickly enough, hence the extra swollen joints and feverish symptoms. One of the main ways we can help? Diet.

So its crack down time! I am a woman on a mission folks! I have sat by for over three years with very little that I could do to help other than pray – which I did. But now, I can also ensure that every little thing Matt consumes is bulking, antioxidant-ic, good fat, good protein and free of things that feed infection (i.e. gluten and sugar).

Of course who wants to sit around and munch on flax seeds and drink avocado oil all day? So I have been hunting down recipes that taste better than cardboard. And here, on my brand spanking new BLOG, is where I shall catalog them for all to see and use!