Friday, August 31, 2007

TGIF


So my favorite new snack these days is Papa Lenas Beet Chips . I don't think these chips are officially SCD legal (yet) as I do not have the exact ingredients written on company letter head however, I DID speak to the co-owner Mama Lena and she assured me that the ONLY ingredients are beets, salt, and olive oil. The chips are baked in a confection oven and are, in my opinion, WAY better and healthier than regular chips.

Breakfast- Organic SCD yogurt with peaches & honey

Lunch- Chicken "noodle" soup (the noodles are made from sliced egg crepes)

Dinner- Turkey burger with spinach, spices, and feta (only permitted after being on the diet for 6 months with no symptoms)
UPDATE- I did receive a letter from the company stating that the only ingredients are beets, salt, and olive oil but I do take it easy on these as they are so good it makes it really easy to eat too many beets in one serving.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Home Sweet Home


I am back from Kentucky and very happy to report that I FINALLY cracked the mystery of how to travel with SCD yogurt!
For all of you scders out there you know this is big news. I have tried to bring the yogurt in my carry on (and had it thrown out by TSA) and even shipped my yogurt maker and starter ahead of me on vacation. However, this time I was staying in a hotel room with no access to a stove and I was scrambling to figure out what to do. Well thanks to a few great guys and gals on the LI listserv I finally figured it out and all went well. So here's the deal...

On Monday morning I packed yogurt in a 4.7 cup leak-proof Snapware container. I placed the container in a large plastic freezer bag and then placed it in a small fridge-to-go cooler along with a microban lunch sized freezer pak. The cooler has a built-in freezer pak but I included the additional one just in case.
So I packed my yogurt in one cooler and then I did the same thing in another cooler but with SCD beef stew. I had enough yogurt and stew for four days and I had no problem checking them in my small suitcase. When I got to my hotel 5 hours later they were still extremely cold.

This really made a huge difference for me during my business trip. I had yogurt with fruit and honey in the morning and sometimes an egg or two at the hotel. For lunch I ate a small salad (as there was not much more to be had) and then when I got back to my hotel room I ate my yummy beef stew. For dinner I had business meetings and ate out each night. I had a hamburger or plain steak and veggies but I wasn't really that hungry because of my late lunch of beef stew.

On the airplane I brought on SCD simple crackers made out of the SCD break from BTVC and ate that with Gouda cheese for a snack. I also brought on apples and SCD peanut butter (in a 2.5 oz container). I used an old baby food container to keep my peanut butter in as I couldn't find any other 3 oz containers. I also brought on some SCD donuts from the scdbakery.

All and all it was a great trip and I think the guy who sat next to me on the plane was a bit jealous of my great food! Tonight I did not have time to cook as I didn't get in until about 7:30pm. I ate scrod, shrimp, and plain veggies with butter from a nice restaurant down the road from me.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Back to the Basics!


Well Thursday was more than just a slump. My husband and I ended up with some type of food poisoning or virus. We are not sure what but we both had the same symptoms for the same amount of time (about 2-3 days). My husband NEVER gets sick so this was a rare occasion. At first I thought I was flaring but when he had the same issues I knew it must be something else. Either way I thought it safest to go back to the basics or, in SCD land, the introductory diet which consists mainly of strained SCD yogurt or Dry Curd Cottage Cheese, broiled meats, and SCD homemade chicken soup. I felt a little better on Saturday but still stuck to the intro. Today I am back to the full SCD again. Tomorrow off to Kentucky. I think I have finally figured out how to travel with my SCD yogurt and some beef stew. I will let you know how it goes.

Breakfast- SCD yogurt with banana and honey

Lunch- Portabella mushroom parmigiana with sweet basil marinara and melted Havarti (YUM) & homemade chicken soup

Dinner- Grilled NY strip steak, organic spinach, endives dipped in guacamole



Thursday, August 23, 2007

Thursday Slump




Breakfast- Smoothie with organic raspberries, strawberries, honey and vanilla


Lunch- (I cannot believe I am going to admit this again) green apple


Dinner- Talapia with salt, pepper, and cayenne with asparagus and broccoli



PS. The picture is of blueberry yogurt bars that I made from my smoothie mix. Good Stuff

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

One Year and a Long Way!



Work and then acupuncture and next my SCD web crawl which includes review of all of the following:
  1. Scdrecipe.com
  2. Bethsblog
  3. Roboranch site
  4. SCDbakery.com
  5. SCD listserve emails.


As I tell my husband, this is my "homework." Good thing he is a very patient man. Also, today is exactly one year to the date of my resection for Crohn's disease. Last year at this time I was 22 pounds lighter (and I weigh 110 now), residing at the Lahey Clinic for all of August (30 days), and all of my meals were "enjoyed" intravenously. Not so much fun.



But TODAY 1 year later, I worked and commuted 11 hours, went to my acupuncture appointment, and created this post. Not too shabby.



Breakfast- SCD Yogurt with organic raspberries, strawberries and honey



Lunch- Left over pork chops and apples sauce



Dinner- Wild Cod with parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper, scallops with scallions, garlic, thyme and lemon zest and organic spinach



MUCH better than a pic line

PS. We went camping this weekend WAY out in western Massachusetts and this is a picture of our camp site.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Yogurtless in Kentucky


So... I am traveling to Kentucky next week for business and anyone who follows the SCD knows what this means in terms of planning meals. I am all set for lunch (salads with olive oil) and dinner (plain steak or fish seasoned with salt and pepper and a streamed veggie) and I am going to bring lots of fruits, muffins, and nuts.

However, the one issue that no SCDer (that I am aware of) has been able to solve is what to do about our beloved yogurt!

Due to the new TSA regulations most liquids are not allowed on planes. The only exception is that you can bring liquids in 3oz containers as long as they fit in a quart size plastic bag. I called three major stores in my area (Massachusetts) and none of them carry these containers. I ended up buying baby food in 2.5oz containers and my plan was to empty them out and refill them with my yogurt. (Don't worry- I have a baby niece that would be happy to help me empty them!)

I thought I had FINALLY solved the problem of this common SCD issue until I got home and realized that you can only bring ONE quart size plastic bag on board. What's the use?

Breakfast- Yummy organic strawberry and banana smoothie with honey and vanilla
Lunch- An apple with SCD peanut butter (hey- what can I say? It was a crazy day at work)
Dinner- Baked organic pork chops with steamed haricorts verts and SCD apple sauce

Monday, August 20, 2007

Here I go


Today I told my SCD friend Jill about the delicious meatball panini with melted havarti cheese that my husband made from the flat bread that I purchased from her SCD bakery. She suggested that I share my menu ideas with others. Though one of my favorite past times is watching cooking shows and adapting their recipes to be SCD compliant, I am by no stretch of the imagination a culinary talent. I actually work and commute over 50 hours a week so the time that I spend in the kitchen is minimal but I thought "what the heck - I can give it a try."

Last August when I was hospitalized for 30 days due to Crohn's disease I absolutely devoured Mike Simmons FLOG and I was very depressed when the entries became more and more sparse (who can blame the guy- he wrote about his diet routinely for over four years). So, I guess as an intermediate SCDer with close to 1 year under my belt, I too can give it a whirl.

Breakfast - Organic blueberry & banana smoothie with organic honey, yogurt, and vanilla
Lunch- Chicken soup and a veggie salad with oil and vinegar
Dinner- Baked wild salmon with Dill and organic baby carrots with butter