Fall feast

It is that wonderful time of the year: harvest time. Summer fruits and vegetables give way to autumn's bounty: squash, pumpkin, apples, and pears. Oh my! New England boasts a beautiful fall and these  recipes make use of fall's produce (all local) to put together a fall feast. Here is the menu:

• Roasted squash soup
• Baked pork chops with apples
• Apple pie

Roasted Squash Soup

I have made this soup many times, but with a few tweaks this year it turned out fantastic. I upped the onion and garlic that I normally put in and also added some homemade chicken broth. For those of you following SCD, please check out this site about how to make homemade chicken broth over at Mrs. Ed's site.


Ingredients

1 butternut squash, cut lengthwise
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 garlic gloves
½ tsp salt
½ tsp oregano
½ tsp basil
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp cinnamon
3 cups water
1 cup chicken broth
4 Tbsp honey


Steps
Preheat oven to 375.

Place the 3 squash halves cut-side down in a casserole dish.

Pour in enough water to cover the bottom of the dish.

Bake 45-60 minutes or until squash pieces feel a bit soft when you press on them.

Remove the squash from oven. When cool enough to handle, remove and discard seeds.

Scoop out the squash and set aside.

In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter with the oil. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic.

Add the squash, salt, oregano, basil, pepper, cinnamon, and water, and simmer for 20 minutes on medium heat with the lid of the pot ajar. Stir occasionally.

Remove the lid from the pot and cook for 8 to 10 more minutes.

Add the honey and mix well.

Cool for 10 minutes. Purée until smooth.

**You may want to add more water to taste. Also, try whipping a batch of these dinner rolls from All Against Grain. Delicious! Isn't she amazing?!

Baked Pork Chops with Apples

I don't follow an exact recipe for this dish, so I don't know where I originally found it. There are many out on the web, but here is our version that we're serving up tonight with some faux-rice and green beans. 

Ingredients

3-4 pork chops 

cinnamon

salt

pepper

1/2 medium onion

4 medium apples 

olive oil

Preheat oven to 350. 

Pour salt, pepper, and cinnamon on a flat plate to taste. Mix with a fork then press pork chops into mixture. Lay into baking dish. 

Dice 4 apples and onion into 1" each pieces.  Put into a bowl and pour about 1 tsp of olive oil over the apples. Then sprinkle salt, pepper, and cinnamon over the apples. Mix to coat the apples. Place them around and over the pork in the baking dish. 

Cook for 30 minutes.

Apple Pie

There is something so comforting about apple pie. The smell of it in the oven brings back memories from being in my grandmother's kitchen at Thanksgiving. Though Gram has passed on, my sister carries on the tradition of making a killer apple pie each year. Though this recipe cannot hold a candle to my sister's baking, it hit the spot for me! Try it warmed with some of All Against Grain's french vanilla coconut ice cream.

Ingredients

Crust 

• 2 1/2 cups almond flour 
• 1 Tbs. coconut flour
• 2 Tbs. coconut oil
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Filling from Ancestral Chef

• 5 medium-sized apples, peeled and diced (granny smith or honeycrisp)
• 4 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon coconut flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1) Preheat oven to 350.

2) To mix the crust, mix dry ingredients and sift together. Then add the coconut oil (not melted worked for me) and egg and work it into the dry mix. Combine until it forms a ball.

3) Roll out the crust between two sheets of parchment paper. Place half of it in pie plate and cook in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until browned. Leave the other half cooling in the fridge for the top of the pie.

3)  For the filling, melt the coconut oil in a pot over medium.

4) Add the honey and stir together. Then add the apples and spices. Stir the mixture to cover the apples with the oil, honey and spices.

5) Add in the coconut flour and mix well.

6) Add the vanilla extract and turn off the heat. Leave it to cool for 10 minutes.

7) Once filling has cooled, add to crust and then cover with the leftover crust from the fridge. If you want to make it look cool, use a fork to crimp the edges together. Make sure that they are sealed first, or some of the filling may leak out.

8) Bake for 25 minutes.

Enjoy! And give thanks for all the delicious foods that autumn brings to our bellies!

Pizza Time

"What's better, a medium amount of good pizza or all you can eat of pretty good pizza?"- Michael Scott

Any Michael Scott fans out there? I would have to go with a medium amount of good pizza. Last night, I created what I believe to be good SCD pizza. There is something so satisfying about pizza. I can remember many a Friday night, mom would make homemade pizza dough, we'd top it with cheese, hamburger, or olives,  and serve it up along with carrot sticks and a "treat" of diet Coke. I loved not only the routine in that meal, but also the way we all sat around the table talking about our days. I have so much to learn from my mother!

So obviously even homemade pizza dough is full of illegal ingredients, so I wanted to find a pizza dough that was hearty enough to replace the crust of my childhood. For the first two years of being on the diet, I used the recipe in Elaine's book "Breaking the Viscious Cycle" (if you don't have this already and are following the SCD diet, please consider buying it, as it was a godsend to me when I first started!). Then, one day I ran across this recipe from the blog Heal-Balance-Live. Not only does it crisp up nicely, but it also holds together well.

One of the great things about pizza is the array of toppings to choose from. When I first started making this pizza, I would top it with Havarti cheese, grilled chicken, SCD-safe black olives, or hamburger. Now, since I am trying to limit my intake of cheese (yes, I do use the Parmesan in the crust), I have tried chicken and pesto pizza, which was delicious. I also most recently tried topping it with homemade pizza sauce, prosciutto, broccoli, and grated Parmesan. It was equally delicious. What toppings do you like to add to your pizza?

Cheers!

Summer eats: pulled pork and more!

I always look forward to summer time. Not just because of the nice weather or being on school vacation, but also because of all the cooking I can do with my free time. Though I use this time to explore new recipes, there are some summer classics I look forward to all year. For example, blueberry pie (made with hand-picked Maine blueberries of course). Then, there is what I consider foods that I borrow from our neighbors from the south, which will make up our menu for this meal:

•  pulled pork
• cornbread 
• coleslaw
• baked beans

Pulled pork: this recipe I adapted from a few different places. But since I forgot to write the final compilation down, I'm posting a recipe from Turtle Soup. The only change I made to the recipe was that I put the dry rub on first, before putting it in the crock pot. For a fun variation, I have used that dry rub and then put SCD legal BBQ sauce and diet root beer in the crock pot for 4-6 hours. It adds a sweeter touch.


For the cornbread, I have used the recipe from austinscdfriends.com for the past two years. Topped with a little butter and honey, it melts on your tongue. Before serving, I like to toast it to give it a bit more crunch. The recipe is called Mock Cornbread and it is worth every second it takes to make it.

Right about the time we turn the calendar to the month of July, I start craving some serious coleslaw. I am a friend to all things vinegar, and this Creamy Coleslaw recipe from the Comfy Belly site satisfies that craving just perfectly. The only modification I made was to buy a coleslaw mix that is local from the supermarket, rather than chop up the cabbage. My mother-in-law continued snacking on the slaw even as we were cleaning up from the meal!

Finally, what would a pulled pork recipe be without some baked beans. Being from New England, my family takes pride in their homemade baked beans recipe. And each August, my family would pack up and drive the three hours north to our rustic cabin on an island in the North Woods, about a half hour boat/car ride from my grandparents' house. Without fail, at least once during our week at camp,  I would hear the boat coming across the lake, and as it rounded the point, would see my grandparents and and the cooler that contained gram's hot baked beans and oatmeal rolls. Even after Gram died of cancer, Gramps took up the baking of the beans in the same pot. Since I no longer can partake in these due to the illegality of molasses among others, I set out to find a replacement for Gram's baked beans. I have tried three different recipes, and the one that I most resembles the baked beans of my childhood comes from the scdrecipe blog. I do add a few other spices that I borrowed from Gram's beans including: 1 tsp allspice, 1 bay leaf, and a clove of garlic.

I hope you enjoy these summer eats as much as I did. Cheers to the chefs who came up with such delicious eats all SCD friendly (or "BFF": Becca Friendly Foods).

Meatloaf!

Who doesn't like a good meatloaf? Okay, well there are actually quite a few people who probably wouldn't. BUT, if you are looking for a SCD-friendly version, I have used this one a few times with great success. Even my picky eater husband likes it. And, if you want to avoid red meat, I think the recipe would still turn out tasty if you used turkey meat instead.

Meatloaf

1 lb ground beef
1 egg
1 clove garlic (I used Spice World's minced garlic)
1 T. cilantro or Italian parsley
2-3 oz. of shredded cheddar cheese
handful of almond flour (about 1/4 c. or so)
salt and pepper to taste


1) Preheat oven to about 375 degrees F
2) Mix ingredients and place in greased loaf pan
3) Cook for about 45 min to an hour


I serve it with SCD ketchup on top and with potatoes for non-SCDers and "fauxtatoes" (mashed cauliflower) for SCDers. I can't remember which ketchup recipe I use, so here are some links to some options (I think I used the one from Jilluck):


SCD recipe.com's version
The SCD girl
Comfy Tummy
Dietary Adventures of Jilluck

Perspective

This afternoon, as I was finishing up lunch, I had a bit of a sweet craving. My go to is a spoonful of peanut butter with some honey drizzled on top (I'm convinced there does not exist a more satisfying sweet snack), but feeling a bit full I went for some raisins instead. As I reached for the bag, I had to laugh that my after meal sweet snack is something as healthy as raisins. Which then led me to have the thought, "I wonder how different my life would be if I had never gotten so ill with Crohn's." The most obvious answer to that is that I would still have a colon. There are other differences too: I would be able to run without the use of codeine, I could eat whatever I want (not sure that's better but it is different), I wouldn't know the location of every bathroom in every city I've been to, and I would probably be able to sleep through the night. Yet as I munched on my raisins,  I was reminded that there is another way that my life is different that far outranks any other: I am married to my husband. While I won't take the time here to tell that long story, I will say that my illness continues to refine me, grow me up, and help shape me into a stronger, wiser, more patient person (on my good days that is). And though my husband and I dated two other times before I got sick (B.C.... before Crohn's) - once in high school and once in college - it wasn't until A.C. (after Crohn's) that we realized that we had grown into two people who undoubtedly wanted to share their life together. I wouldn't necessarily say that I have a reason for all the sickness, the surgeries, the loss of my hair, the loss of a third of my body weight, but I will say that I wouldn't want my life any other way. Because my husband is the best thing that has ever happened to me and continues to be the most important thing in my life. He gives me strength, he gives me perspective, and he continues to hope for me when things are tough. Which for the last couple months, things have been tough. Yet he never waivers in his optimism and his belief that we'll get through this. And he's always right. With him, I am convinced that we can endure anything. As we do, I know we grow stronger. But more importantly, I know that we grow stronger together. And that is one of the greatest gifts I've ever been given.

Christmas: Hope, Joy, and Yum!

Disclaimer: This post has little practical information. Just a loving rant to my family.

I love Christmas. Always have. I have fond memories of reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Long Winter under our family Christmas tree, waking up my brother in the wee hours of Christmas morning and tiptoeing down to our stockings, and the smell of mom's cinnamon buns wafting over from the kitchen after we opened our stockings. Not to mention listening to Nat King Cole's record "The Christmas Song" over and over again (still my favorite Christmas album!). Though some of these traditions have fallen by the wayside (pretty sure my brother's wife may not like me jumping on their bed at 5:30 in the morning), my affection for Christmas time remains. It being my first married Christmas (hooray!), a conversation with my husband led me to reflect upon why I can't get enough of this holiday. Two thoughts occurred to me. The first thought was how many people's outlooks on life change during the holidays, especially in the first weeks of the season. Suddenly, our focus shifts from getting through the routine of the daily grind to those who are in need and to those we love. If only this joy could remain for the rest of the year. Think how much better our world would be.  The second reason I love this season is because of the hope that it offers. At the heart of the season is the birth of Jesus, a helpless babe born to a young couple, who could not have foreseen how their child would change the course of history and who continues to offer hope to our broken world. Hope and joy -- two reasons I love Christmastime.

This year gave me another reason to love Christmastime. I admit that following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet can be tough during holidays because of the sheer amount of sweets that inundate us. But this year, my family went above and beyond to ensure I had "BFF" (Becca Friendly Foods) at our celebrations. I was overwhelmed with the amount of options I had to choose from! So I wanted to take a moment to thank my family for all the work they do to support me and being on my diet. Thank you mom for the yummy pumpkin muffins and for all the hugs. Thank you to my in-laws for all the delicious options for our Christmas fondue and for welcoming me into your wonderful family. Thank you to my sweet sister for the delicious coconut flour cookies (I can't get enough!). And thank you to my husband who never ceases to amaze me with his continuous support, through good times and bad. How blessed I am. I love you all.

White Bean chili a la SCD

Over the past month or so, I have been working on emptying our overflowing freezer. Two weeks ago, I found some cooked white beans that I had frozen a couple months ago. Our friends were serving chili at our community dinner, so I decided it might be a good time to try some white bean chili. With some improvising on the fly, it turned out pretty good. Unfortunately I did not write down the specific improvisations, but here's a close approximation. The original recipe came from myrecipes.com. 

Ingredients: 

1 medium onion

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 garlic cloves (I used SCD legal minced garlic from Spice World)

1 lb ground chicken

4 cups water

1-2 teaspoons salt (I'm a bit of a salt fiend)

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons chili powder (to taste)

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon oregano

2 cups white beans (cooked per Breaking the Vicious Cycle instructions)

1 cup homemade chicken broth

3 tablespoons lime juice

Preparation

• Sauté chopped onion in hot oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat 7 minutes; add garlic, and sauté 2 to 3 minutes.
• Stir in chicken, and cook, stirring constantly, until chicken is lightly browned. Stir in water and salt, cumin, chili powder, pepper, and oregano; reduce heat, and simmer, stirring often, 10 minutes or until chicken is done.
• Place beans into Dutch oven; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring often, 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Stir in lime juice just before serving. Garnish with cilanto, if desired.
• Top with freshly shredded Monterrey jack cheese. 
• Optional: I cooked some frozen corn on the side and added that to the non-SCDers bowls. I  served corn muffins and tortilla chips for them along with the chili. I had made some SCD muffins to go along with mine. Also, the recipe calls for 2 cans of green chiles (4.5 ounces each) but I omitted these as well just because I didn't have any legal ones on hand.

It's a great dish for the increasingly cold nights! 

Breakfast Goodness

This morning I was craving pancakes. What's better than fluffy pancakes on a Saturday morning? Well actually, probably fluffy pancakes and bacon (who can resist that sweet and salty combination?!). But, since I had already enjoyed some bacon earlier in the week, it would just have to be pancakes. I have tried a few versions of SCD pancakes, but I really enjoy a recipe from scdrecipe.com that is called "Yazmin's Pancakes." To add a bit more flavor to the pancakes, I decided to add some banana, pecans, and cinnamon. Yum! With some warm simple syrup (equal parts water and honey) on top, I was in heaven. A dollop of SCD yogurt would be a great topping too, but I went with peanut butter (we'll get to my peanut butter and honey addiction later). Delicious! I was in pancake heaven. A great way to start the day. So, here's the recipe in case you want to try some yourself:

1 cup almond flour
1 egg
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons yoghurt
butter for frying  

*optional: 

1 banana, sliced

whole pecans

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

Much thanks to my husband for mixing up the batter which allowed me to get in a much needed run!