Recipe Review - Zucchini Pizza Crust from The Gluten-Free Homemaker

I was the blessed recipient of a bag of zucchini and Linda of The Gluten-free Homemaker recently posted a recipe for Zucchini Pizza Crust. Our family is a crispy crust bunch so I added 1 cup of cheese to the crust instead of 1/2 cup. I also salted the shredded zucchini and let it sit in a colander over a bowl for about 45 minutes, then squeezing it to remove some moisture, so I did not add salt to the crust. Instead of tomato/pizza sauce I added 1 minced clove of garlic to 1 tablespoon of olive oil and brushed it on the cooked crust, topping it with cheese and prosciutto. The Booger pulled the topping and cheese off and just ate the crust (that's ok, he's still eating vegetables). Eddie liked how crispy the crust was. Thanks Linda!

Recipe Review - Lemon Ricotta Pancakes From Simply Gluten-Free (modified for SCD)

Carol Kicinski of Simply Gluten-Free has a flourless pancake recipe using ricotta cheese called "Gluten Free Ricotta Lemon Pancakes". Ricotta cheese is not legal on the SCD, so I substituted with dry curd cottage cheese, also called farmers cheese. They were very good. They reminded me of french toast without the toast. Thanks Carol!

 Here is a link for pancake syrups. I also have a recipe for Raspberry Syrup.

Great Recipe - Berry Honey Bars from Heal-Balance-Live

When I saw these Berry Honey Bars (SCD friendly) on Karen's Heal-Balance-Live blog I couldn't wait to try them. She also has a version with chocolate chips (not SCD legal). These were yummy. The crust is a perfect replacement for a graham cracker crust. I did not have any sliced almonds on hand so I used pecans and used butter in place of the coconut oil and they were still delicious.  Thanks Karen!

SCD legal jam/jelly recipes:

Homemade Strawberry Jam from Z's Cup of Tea

SCD Homemade Fruit Jam from Heal-Balance-Live

Raspberry Jam  and many more from SCD Recipes

Great Recipe - Creamy Cilantro Lime Sauce from The Dairy Free Diva (SCD, GFCF, Nut-Free)

I saw this tasty recipe for Creamy Cilantro Lime Sauce on Stephanie of The Dairy Free Diva's site. It sounded so yummy I immediately began to think of ways to use it. Shrimp Salad? On Mexican food? Hmmm. I just happened to have some cooked chicken breast in the fridge and it was perfect for chicken salad. The lime and cilantro flavors go so well with chicken. I used all mayo, instead of part mayo/part sour cream, and added it to one half pound of cooked and finely diced chicken breast. I now have a new favorite chicken salad for lunches. Thanks Stephanie!

Great Recipe - Cinnamon Cookies from Comfy Belly (SCD)

Here's another great cookie recipe from another great blogger: Cinnamon Cookies from Erica at Comfy Belly. If you scroll down her post, commenter Susan suggests using vanilla extract in place of the cinnamon and then sprinkling the cinnamon on top to make a snickerdoodle. I tried that variation and it is delicious too. My son loves the cookie dough and the cookies. Thanks Erica! Erica's blog also has many other SCD legal recipes.

Recipe Review - Crispy Chicken Nuggets from SCD for Life

My five year old is a stickler for kid food and luckily there are many SCD blogs with lots of kid friendly recipes. It's great to see more and more SCD blogs popping up. I especially like Sherry's "Specific Carbohydrate Diet for Life" blog where I found this recipe for Crispy Chicken Nuggets. These were delicious, easy to make, and passed the kid test. I added a teaspoon of Herbs de Provence to the almond flour, but any spice would work well. Thanks Sherry!

Here are some more SCD freindly Chicken Nugget recipes:

Chicken Nuggets from Comfy Belly

Egg-Free Chicken Nuggets from Egg-Free SCD Mommy

All Star Chicken Nuggets from Mrs. Ed's (GFCF and nut-free)

Primal Chicken Nuggets from Life as a Plate (egg-free)

Chicken Avacado Tots from SCD Recipe (GFCF, egg-free, nut-free)

Chicken Tots from PecanBread (egg-free and nut-free)

Recipe Review - Grain-Free Cocoa Butter Cookies (SCD, GFCF)

OMG...these are so good! Here's our latest favorite cookie recipe from Esther of Digestive Wellness. She declares they are so different from other cookies...and she's right. They have a delightful crisp to them, and then there's the taste the cocoa butter adds to it. It's almost like a hint of white chocolate. And if you are a cookie dough eater you will be in heaven. When baking these I found they turned out best when I used a teaspoonful for each and rolled it into a ball. These burn easy and they don't taste as well when they get too brown, you definitely want to take them out when they have just a touch of golden brown. They are best when very cool. Right now our house is a bit cooler so they do fine in the cookie jar but in the summer they will probably do better in the fridge. These are just too yummy. Thanks Esther!

Recipe Review for Grain-Free Sticky Buns (SCD)

I guess if I have a resolution for 2011 it is less stalking and more cooking.  I love food blogs and always see so many delicious ideas. I must have poor meal planning skills because my mind goes blank when it's time to write up a shopping list for the week. I'm going to try to start making all of the recipes I have bookmarked. If you're going to have a resolution or a goal, it might as well be a tasty one, right?
  I've had this recipe bookmarked for over a year. It's a recipe review of "Wendy's Cinnamon Rolls" on Heal-Balance-Live. These are sooo yummy. The only alteration I did was use pecan meal in place of the almond flour in the Spice Mix. I haven't had sticky buns since going gluten-free and these were a real treat. Thanks Karen and Wendy!

Recipe Review for Zucchini Casserole from H-B-L and I've Been Tagged

I made the Zucchini Casserole recipe from Heal-Balance-Live for Thanksgiving this year and it was wonderful. I wasn't able to get a good photo of it though. For one, casseroles are hard to photograph. Then, this was the last dish to come out of the oven and hit the table in time to eat, and we all just pounced on it...getting the camera was not on my mind. I've had this recipe bookmarked for awhile and wish I'd made it sooner. I love casseroles and this was perfect...flavorful, cheesy and homey, mmmm. Karen's "SCD Seasoned Breadcrumbs" recipe for the topping was very good and would be perfect to add to some other dishes. I might try it on my "Mac" and Cheese.

This recipe does take some planning to get much of the moisture out of the zucchini. Karen recommends starting five hours before. I did, placing the shredded zucchini in a large mesh colander and setting it over a mixing bowl. I lightly salted it and every now and then I would wring it with my hands (clean hands of course). Over time there was a lot of liquid in the bowl, which I dumped on my flowerbed. I doubled the cheese it called for and it worked well. This was so good I'll be making it again soon!!

Also for Thanksgiving, a nice post from The Daily Lipid called Thanksgiving, A Source of Eternal Joy. I think this post reminds us of what the holiday season is truly about.

Also in the news...I've been tagged. Ina of Gluten-Free Delightfully Delicious tagged me in a game of food blog tag. It's a game that gives us a chance to know our food blogging neighbors a little better. I answer 10 questions from Ina, and then I get to "tag" other bloggers with my 10 questions. So here goes:

1. What is your absolute favorite food? (this can be a tough one, so go ahead and include a few)
I think spices and herbs are. They allow you to make everything taste good.

2. Who is your favorite Food Mentor, or Chef, and why?
My grandmother, she taught me to cook. We could always talk about food.

3. What meal did you first cook, that inspired you to become a better cook, and to create new recipes?
Actually it was a cookie, not a meal. I don't remember my first attempt, but my parents do. When I was a toddler they woke up to the smell of burning and found me in the kitchen with a plate of beans on the stove. I looked at them and said "chocolate man". The time I do remember was kindergarten. In class we made a no bake cookie. The first time my mom left me and a friend home alone, I pulled out flour, sugar and food coloring and tried to go off memory. My mom came home to a mess, and I have been determined ever since to be a better cook. I would cut out photos of food as a child and dream of making them one day.

4. What is your favorite cook book?
I am a total cookbook whore. I read cookbooks on vacation, for fun, before I go to bed, etc. I absolutely love them. I have too many favs to mention. Some are Elaine Corn's 365 Ways to Cook Eggs, The Joy of Cooking, just about anything in the Wei-Chaun Publishing Series... and more recent Dana Carpender's 500 Low Carb Recipes.

5. What kitchen gadget can you not live without in the kitchen and why?
My timer. I'm so absent minded that I fully depend on it.

6. Where in the world would you most love to eat, and what food would that be?
Malaysia, and it would be just about anything they served me.

7. What are some of your favorite recipes on your blog?
The curry and wing recipes.

8. What food, will you absolutely not eat and why?

I used to say Brussels Sprouts, but I've finally found ways to enjoy them. Lately, I have read about how healthy organ meats are for you. I can eat liver, but not brains, heart, etc. I wish I could because I think they are very beneficial, but ewww.

9. Do you grow your own food? And if so, what is your favorite food to grow?
I wish I had time to. Eddie has been the gardener so far. I would like to grow pickling cucumbers and learn how to make pickles.

10.Who in the world, would you most love to share a beautiful dinner with?
My husband Eddie.

Now, I would like to tag:

Paul of Eating SCD
Zoe of Z's Cup of Tea
Tracey of Unbreaded
Stephanie of The Dairy Free Diva
Melanie of A Foodies Fall from Grace

Here are my 10 questions:
1. What is your first cooking memory?
2. Which two spices, herbs or flavorings do you find most useful (besides salt and pepper)?
3. If you could be a fly on the wall of any kitchen, which one would it be? (past, present or future)
4. If you could invite a historical figure to your home to cook dinner for who would it be? (past, present or future)
5. If you could spend one week in any country in the world, in an average kitchen, learning to cook the local cuisine, which country would it be?
6. When you are very busy, what easy meal/dish do you usually prepare?
7. What are your favorite recipes on your blog?
8. If you could have anyone cook a meal for you, who would it be?
9. Is there a meal you will never forget? Describe it?
10.What is your favorite dessert?

Great Recipe: Roasted Green Beans and Shrimp from Kaylyn's Kitchen (SCD, GFCF)

I love Kaylyn's Kitchen. Her website is Low Carb, but she has so many recipes that are naturally GF and SCD friendly. Her vegetable dishes are very creative, I like to leave comments nagging her to do a vegetable cookbook.

I loved this recipe for Spicy Roasted Green Beans and Shrimp. This recipe uses coriander, cumin and red pepper flakes, a wonderful combination with green beans Roasting the green beans gives them a nutty flavor and they still have a bite to them. This dish was also easy to make, perfect for a busy weeknight supper.
Thanks Kaylyn!

Great Recipe: SCD Pizza Crust at Heal-Balance-Live (SCD)

This pizza crust is from Karen at Heal-Balance-Live. Her blog is a staple in my kitchen. I've made this pizza crust a few times and it always turns out great. It's a crisp crust and is even good the next day for leftovers. Thanks Karen!

Great Recipe: Cauliflower Pizza Dough

Yes, that's right, a pizza crust made from cauliflower that has a great pizza dough flavor! It's from Your Lighter Side.

I doubled the recipe to fit a whole cookie sheet. Her recipe also calls for Mozzarella Cheese, which is not SCD legal, so I substituted with Alta Dena Goat Cheese for the crust and Romano Cheese for the topping. I steamed fresh cauliflower till fork tender and used a ricer. Instead of immediately ricing it, I first pushed on it just enough to squeeze the water out of it. Then I riced it.

It was a very thin crust pizza with a great flavor. I haven't tried it for breadsticks yet but the photo on her blog sure looks good.




I have found many great recipes from Low Carb cookbooks and blogs. They get real creative with veggies like cauliflower, much like the SCD. The Specific Carbohydrate Diet isn't a low carb diet, we don't count carbs. We just eliminate certain carbs we cannot digest, and some of these are also avoided by low carbers as well, although for different reasons. Low carb recipes are mostly gluten-free too. However, they will still have the occasional recipe with wheat flour so you have to be familiar with your diet before digging in low carb lit for recipes.

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.