Sunday, February 28, 2010

Great Recipe: Lemon Meringue Pie (SCD)




This luscious recipe is from Hold the Bread, Please. I saw Meyer Lemons at the store yesterday and decided it would be a good time try this. I love meringues but have never made one before. It was easy and great! The pie crust is exceptional as well and I will be using it again for other desserts.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Moo-less Dairy Products (SCD)

Here are a few products we like and are worth mentioning. Many folks find goat or sheep dairy to be easier to digest.


Meyenburg Goat Milk Butter

One of the first things you'll notice about this butter is how pricey it is. Goat butter is not cheap. Butter just happens to freeze well, and we use a lot of it, so when I saw it on clearance I stocked up (just wrap in freezer paper). The next thing you'll notice is that it isn't yellow like cow butter, it's white. According to Wikepedia it's because "goats produce milk with the yellow beta-carotene converted to a colorless form of vitamin A". The vitamin A in butter is suppose to require almost no digestive effort and is easy for the body to utilize. (for more on this see "Why Butter is Better") Because of it's white color, I wasn't expecting this butter to taste, well...buttery, like yellow butter. It is very buttery and wonderful!! My son eats it plain and calls it "butter cheese". I just can't say enough good things about it, especially when I find it on sale.




Alta Dena Goat Milk Cheese

This is a very mild cheese. I think it's too mild to eat plain. I have found it very useful for crackers though. I frequently use cheese in cracker recipes and sometimes using cheddar cheese can overpower the other flavors. This cheese works well for that.



Argitoni Pecorino Romano Cheese

This is a sheep's milk cheese. Romano cheeses are very similar to Parmesan, and usually much cheaper. I will usually use this in place of Parmesan. We purchase this in a big wedge at Sam's Club. It's been our favorite pizza cheese.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Easy Curried Shrimp (SCD)



I like to keep a bag of shrimp in my freezer, it's so convenient. Just run the shrimp under cold water for 10 minutes while you're preparing the other ingredients. Then you're ready to go. This easy recipe was adapted from "Indian Cuisine" by Omana Jacob. It's part of a wonderful series of cookbooks by Wei-Chaun, a large Asian food manufacturer in Taiwan. They have a cooking school and scad of wonderful cookbooks on Asian cuisine. I picked up my first three in an Asian supermarket in Atlanta, I now have nine of them. If you want authentic Asian food at home these just can't be beat. While most would convert easily to the Gluten-free diet, the SCD is a little trickier.

1-2 lbs Shrimp, peel and remove tails
1 TBSP Cooking Oil
1 Cup Yogurt
1 or 2 Cloves Garlic, minced (optional)
1 TBSP Fresh Ginger, minced
1 TBSP Lemon Juice
1 teas. Chili Powder
1 teas Turmeric

Cilantro for Garnish

Heat oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Add shrimp and cook until pink. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until heated through. Garnish with cilantro.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Taco Salad (SCD)



Taco Salad is an easy weeknight favorite in our home.

1 pd Ground Meat
2 TBSP Chili Powder

In a large skillet brown ground meat, add chili powder and cook 2 more minutes.
Serve with any of the following:

Shredded Lettuce
Diced Tomatoes
Diced Onions
Sliced Olives
Shredded Cheddar, Monterrey Jack or Pepper Jack
Diced Peppers
Diced Cucumbers
Diced Celery

Top With:
Guacamole
Yogurt Cream (yogurt made with half and half, tastes identical to sour cream)
Paul's Salsa from Eating SCD

Friday, February 12, 2010

Green Chile Guacamole (SCD, GFCF)




There's so many ways to make guacamole. This one is very easy and the green chilies add a nice flavor.

2 large or 4 small Avocados (I prefer Haas)
2 teas. Lime Juice (or more to taste)
1 (4 oz.) can Diced Green Chilies (do not drain)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Mash avocados in a small mixing bowl with a potato masher or fork. Add lime juice and mix through. Mix in diced green chilies. Add salt and pepper to taste. Best served the same day.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

When Love Lingers...

(and you wish it wouldn't)

Yes, Valentines Day is almost here and love is in the air. At least it is for our local skunk population. They had a night out on our little town mating, fighting and spraying. The aroma wafted though our streets and was very strong at the school. As I was leaving for work this morning I remember hearing our dog bark but didn't think much of it. That is, until my husband called me. Love had found it's way to our yard and our dog must have chased it under the house. Eddie said our house is nauseating to be in. Even the clothes in our dressers reek. We're going to spend tonight with a relative, which "G" will think is fun. Eddie's taking tomorrow off to take everything to the laundry mat. One friend suggested placing buckets of charcoal around the house, another suggested spraying the furniture with baking soda and peroxide.

I'm hoping the smell hasn't gotten into my books. I had a baby gift sitting on the counter, two little jumpers and camo fishing hats, waiting to be given to friends with twins. Not sure what I'll do with that now.

If anyone has any good tips for this, I would be happy to take them.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Elaine's Almond Rocca (SCD)



This is one of Elaine Gottshall's recipes and it can be found here. It's heavenly! I made it for Christmas parties in 2008 and it was a big hit. This website is Jaynette (Gay) Bauer's and has many useful links for SCD recipes.

To make the Almond Rocca, I didn't have sliced almonds. I toasted three cups of whole almonds and pulsed them in my food processor. I used two cups in the recipe and spread one cup on top. I do not have a candy thermometer so I used the old fashioned method. I put a bowl of cold water by the stove. After fifteen minutes of boiling and stirring, then every few minutes I would drop a small amount of mixture into the cold water. When it was crunchy it was ready.

Here's more sweets for your sweet by other bloggers:

Comfy Belly's Sesame Brittle

Straight into Bed Cakefree and Dried's Honey Toffee Lollipops

SCD Recipes has a nice list of candies

Comfy Tummy's Homemade Gummy Candy

Thursday, February 4, 2010

10 Things I Never Knew Until I was a Mom

Mama's Losin' It

This is just for fun from one of my favorite blogs. She frequently has writers workshops with fun topics. Humor truly is the best medicine.

1. The most efficient way to rip a persons' fingernails off is to have them change a crib sheet.

2. It is possible to think your child is the brightest, cutest and most charming one on the planet.

3. Never tell a mother grizzly bear she doesn't know her cub.

4. I've always assumed being President of the United States would be a demanding job, yet many of them seemed to have found time to have sex. Any parent has to wonder how much time they really have on their hands.

5. In reference to item #4, it's amazing we all aren't only children. I tell my cousin, who is child six in her family, she's lucky to even be here.

6. It is possible to sleep with one ear open.

7. The little crappy toys, like the ones you get for a quarter from a gumball machine, will keep a child entertained much longer than an expensive one.

8. Bugs, bubbles, balls and balloons are 4 of the great wonders of the world.

9. The main purpose of bodily fluids is to keep us entertained, especially spit and boogers.

10. After our kid came down with autism and I began to research diet, then I really learned something I would have never suspected: the food pyramid is not based on overwhelming science, but is the result of a group of politicians who said "Hey let's come up with some dietary guidelines for the whole country". The rest is history, a health care crisis is our present, what will our future be?

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

'Nana Bread (SCD, GFCF)



This is a favorite I had been making for years in my gluten days, luckily it comes out beautifully with almond flour. My little boy calls it 'nana bread.

2 1/2 cups Almond Flour
1 teas Baking Soda
1/2 teas Sea Salt
2 small or 1 large Banana, very ripe
1/3 cup Honey
1/4 cup Butter, melted (for cf use 1/4 cup Oil)
3 Eggs, lightly beaten
Zest from 1 Orange or Tangerine or 2 Clementines
1 teas. Vanilla Extract
1 teas. Lemon Juice
2 teas. Cinnamon
1/2 cup dried Cherries or Cranberries (optional)
1/2 cup Pecans, chopped (optional)

Oven preheated to 345 degrees. Grease a 4" X 7" loaf pan (I use Ghee).

In a small bowl, combine almond flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, mash bananas. Add honey and melted butter, stir until combined. Add eggs, vanilla and lemon juice and mix. Add zest and cinnamon. Blend in flour mixture and combine. Stir in dried fruits and chopped nuts (optional). Pour into prepared pan and place in oven. Bake 40-50 minutes. Test with a toothpick.

I am in the habit of putting my loaf pan on an aluminum cookie sheet while baking so I'm not sure how that affects the cooking time. Too many years of experimenting and having pans overflow has given me this habit.