Tuesday, January 29, 2008

SCD Hodgepodge


Man do I need a new camera. I made the best pot roast Sunday night with red wine, chicken broth, porcini mushrooms, onions and garlic. I served it with roasted carrots, brussel sprouts, and garlic with olive oil and oregano. It looked wonderful and tasted even better. I ran to get the camera but once again it was on the fritz. I am going to be on the lookout for a new one and if anyone has suggestions please let me know!

Last week we also made a great stir fry with chicken, broccolini, peppers, and onions. Ok, my husband made that one. He is the Stir Fry Guy. We also experimented with "Shake & Bake" style SCD pork chops and they came out great! We made them with almond flour, salt, pepper, oregano, parsley, basil, onion, garlic salt, garlic and a little celery salt. We coated the pork chops in egg batter (you could use oil if you don't eat eggs) and mixed all other ingredients in a plastic bag. Then we put each pork chop in the bag one at a time and shook it up. We baked the pork chops on a foil-lined baking sheet at about 375 I think. They were fantastic. My only issue was that they stuck to the bottom a little but I think if I had let them cool more we could have taken them off a little easier. Any mixture that stuck on the bottom was just scooped up and placed on top. It was too good to waste.

I also bought a plain roasted chicken at wholefoods. I checked with the staff and they assured me that it was a plain, natural chicken with no additives. This really makes life so much easier but I think most places probably add ingredients. I know my local grocery store does. If you do buy a roasted chicken you should read the ingredients on the package carefully and ask the management. If you are not 100% sure then don't risk it. My local Wholefoods (and I think they are all a little different) roasts the chickens right on the premises. So I bought the chicken and I used the meat to make a spinach salad with strawberries, Gorgonzola (you need to be symptom free for this and use in moderation), sweet onion, olive oil and vinegar. You can add a little honey to the dressing to sweeten it up if you'd like. Then I boiled the chicken bones with onion, carrots, and celery for a few hours for my homemade chicken broth. I cooled the broth, skimmed the fat and poured it into ice cube trays. Once the broth cubes harden you can pop them into freezer bags and you will have as much or as little broth on hand as you need.

When we went skiing my husband and nieces enjoyed dessert out at the restaurants and I was feeling a little deprived. As such I came home and made SCD peanut butter toffee as well as SCD banana and vanilla ice cream. Hello! So after dinner tonight I had a nice bowl of ice cream and 3 large candies. I really have to remind myself that I am DONE trying to put on weight.

One of the many great things about this diet is that you can put on weight or take it off no problem. Though it is WAY more fun to put it on (as long as that is what you are trying to do).

Breakfast- Cinnamon Muffin from Lucy's Cookbook and a cup of green tea
Lunch- SCD yogurt with bananas and honey
Dinner- Leftover Pot Roast with carrots, brussel sprouts and garlic
Dessert- Gluttonous raid on SCD banana/vanilla ice cream and peanut butter toffees

PICTURE - My favorite new salad dressing made with garlic, dill and SCD mayo

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Did Someone Bring a Microwave?


The best laid plans of mice and men (and SCD skiers) often go awry.....

So I made all of my delicious lunches for the ski trip and my plan was to heat them up on the mountain. Wellthat only works if (you guessed it) the ski lodge has a microwave and since, as it turns out, they did not... I ended up eating SCD cheddar crackers and cheese along with veggie crudit and dill dressing for lunch. Actually it wasn't so bad with a nice cup of hot tea. I also found some spotted bananas that non-SCDers wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. I, of course, trampled several people to get to them.

Other than the lunch time fiasco the rest of the trip went very smoothly. The first morning we had yogurt and SCD granola and then on Sunday my husband made us delicious SCD blueberry pancakes with honey/butter syrup and bacon. For dinner we had an Italian pot roast with asparagus on one night and dinner on the mountain the other. I used my Can Eat/Can't Eat card and had no problem with my order of steak and grilled shrimp.

I've got the SCD down now if only I could nail those moguls.

Breakfast- SCD blueberry muffin & tea
Lunch- Leftover Mexican Meatballs
Dinner- Tuna fish with crackers

PICTURE- Pizza Casserole from Lucy's Kitchen

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Ski SCD


I spent last weekend nursing a cold (bummer) but this weekend is all about hitting the slopes. My husband and I are taking our two 4th grade nieces to Maine for some much needed skiing, sledding, and lazing about. Last night we had our boots and bindings fitted and we spent tonight planning the menu.

It will take us about 5 hours to get to the mountain and we leave at 3:00PM so dinner will be on the move. The non-SCDers will probably grab "something" on the way up. I will try and steer them towards the more healthy food choices but I can't make any promises! For myself I will bring some sliced all natural (no additive) roast beef and cheddar cheese roll-ups along with veggie crudite for Friday night dinner. For lunches on the slope I will dine on cheese and Cheddar Crackers from the Healing Foods cookbook (I am addicted to these) along with some hearty chicken, tomato, and spinach soup which I will store in my icy cold lunch bag and warm up in the ski lodge cafeteria. For dessert I'll bring along some Almond Raisin Biscotti (purchased from JK Gourmet) and green tea.

On Saturday and Monday breakfast will be yogurt and granola (SCD yogurt and granola from JK Gourmet for me) but on Sunday my husband is going to make bacon and SCD legal Jim's Fluffy Pancakes from Nomorecrohn's.com.

Saturday night dinner will be out on the town. We went to a neat little place last year that was very accommodating. I gave them my SCD Can Eat/Can't Eat card and they served me a scrumptious steak dinner. On Sunday night my husband insists that we are back to the condo for the big Patriots game. As such I have decided that Sunday morning I will slow cook an Italian Pot Roast made with a medley of spices (cinnamon stick, cloves, allspice, peppercorn), onions, garlic, celery, carrots, wine and tomatoes.

For the kids and my husband it is all about the snow but for me it is all about SCD to-go.

Breakfast- SCD yogurt with blueberries and honey
Snack- Biscotti from JK Gourmet with Green Tea
Lunch- Burger with spinach (leftover from last night)
Dinner- Roasted chicken with rosemary, spinach, and roasted carrots

PICTURE- Sauteing Chicken Fajitas with onions, peppers, lime juice, cumin, garlic, and oregano

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

New York Style SCD Pizza


New York City is known for its world famous pizza and since I am going on a business trip to NY tomorrow (and will certainly not be sampling the mozzarella-gluten-sugar concoction) it seems only fitting that my send-off dinner tonight was a lovely SCD legal pizza with prosciutto and pineapple.

See you upon my return from the BIG Apple.

Breakfast- SCD smoothie with blueberries, yogurt, honey, banana, and vanilla extract
Lunch- Spaghetti Bolognese
Dinner- SCD Pizza & Salad!

Monday, January 7, 2008

Settling into the New Year

Since my 2008 resolution was to refrain from making any resolutions I already feel like less of a failure than I usually do around this time when I still have not managed to 1. Make it to the gym 2. Start reading Crime and Punishment 3. Stop cursing like a truck driver.

As I am still doing all of these things without the slightest attempt to cease and desist, I must say I am very proud of myself.

Breakfast- Blueberry muffin from Eat Well Feel Well and some Green Tea
Lunch- "Spaghetti" bolognese SCD style (spaghetti squash with a sauce made with carrots, onions, celery, garlic, ground turkey, basil and crushed tomatoes.
Dinner- More of the same along with a green salad and a glass of dry white wine.
Dessert- Peppermint tea

PICTURE- Dinner!

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Happy New Year 2008



It's a whole new year and my goal is to branch out in the SCD world and try some new dishes. It is so easy to just keep going back to those tried and true favorites but it's also imprtant to keep things new and exciting.

It seems like this is a perfect year to start exploring as the authors of Grainfree Gourmet have a new cookbook coming out in the spring and Raman Prasda just announced his new book.

Also, I have only just begun cooking up delicious treats from the new Healing Foods cookbook which has over 200 recipes. So far I have made the cheddar crackers (I cannot get enough of these things) and the crusty onion rolls that I enjoyed with a nice meaty bolognese sauce (WOW)!

There are so many other tempting recipes in this book that I am excited to try like Beef Stroganoff, Pecan Caramel Toffees, and the Pumpernickle Bread. I have lots of ideas and plenty of motivation. Now all I need is some time....

Breakast- Scrambled eggs with bacon
Lunch- SCD fruit smoothie with blueberries, banana, honey and vanilla extract
Dinner- We'll be cooking up some Cajun style Cod with carmelized onions and spinach

PICTURE- Our table on New Years Eve