SCD-safe Snacks, Part II

I love finding easy things that are SCD legal in the grocery store.  In this previous post, I told you about a couple stand-bys I love. Here are a few more snacks that almost fit SCD requirements, so they're my cheats lately:

Cliff's Kit's Organic Chocolate Almond Coconut Bar: These are a lot like LaraBar in the fact that they use dates to create their sticky, sweet base.  The cocoa in these bars makes them illegal for SCD, but everything else is okay. Plus they're addictively delicious; I buy them by the box.

 
 




Go Raw's Super Cookies: I buy these in Lemon and Ginger. They make other flavors too, some better than others (Pumpkin was not a fave for me). Don't expect cookies, but they have a nice crunch, a good flavor, and are SCD legal.

Wonderfully Raw's Cocoroons are delish, but they use maple syrup as a sweetener, so they're not SCD legal. I still eat them because they taste awesome and they don't feel as evil as some other options.  Vanilla Maple are my fave with Lemon Pie close behind. Cocoa Nibs...surprisingly not as good. And the Brownie are "meh"--I think I have higher standards for chocolate flavored snacks.

So those are my indulgences lately. Let me know if you've found some good, pain-free snacks!

Cinnamon Rolls...decent

These cinnamon rolls are only like normal cinnamon rolls because they have cinnamon and they're in a roll shape.  Those details aside, don't expect a real cinnamon roll. They're more like rugelach. Crunchy.

Which is why I would suggest adding raisins.  With raisins, this recipe would be a million times better.  Without raisins, I wouldn't make it again (although I have eaten every last one of these...)

(Note: I didn't make the icing because I'm not a huge fan of coconut oil.  That might make the rolls better, if you like the coconut flavor.)

Ingredients:

Roll:

• 1 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup of raisins
• 4 tablespoons butter (room temperature)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Icing:

• 2-4 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup Coconut manna/butter (Melted)
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
• 2 tablespoons Coconut oil (Melted)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Mix.
3. Add eggs and honey to the bowl. Mix.
4. Add butter and mix it well, until a ball of dough forms.
5. Using two Silpats (or two pieces of greased parchment paper) on either side of the dough, roll the ball into a 1/4-inch-thick rectangle.
6. Remove the top Silpat or parchment paper and sprinkle the dough liberally with cinnamon. 
7. Drizzle with honey.
8. Scatter raisins evenly over the dough.
9. Using the Silpat/parchment paper, roll the dough into a log.  Go slowly and repair any cracks along the way.  (Seriously, use the Silpat/paper! It's really helpful because it doesn't stick as much as fingers.)
10. Cut the log into 1.5-inch rolls and place each on a greased baking sheet.
11. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.
12. Melt the manna and coconut oil. Mix with honey and vanilla.  Allow it to cool a bit so that it hardens on the rolls.

"Ancient Chompers Were Healthier Than Ours"

I found this article on NPR interesting in its own right, but it's also interesting as it may connect to IBD.

• "Researchers found that as prehistoric humans transitioned from hunting and gathering to farming, certain types of disease-causing bacteria that were particularly efficient at using carbohydrates started to win out over other types of "friendly" bacteria in human mouths."

I can only think a similar process happened in our guts.  As we consume more sugar and processed carbs, the "friendly" bacteria in the gut is overrun by the new, disease-causing bacteria.

The article goes on to discuss the resulting oral problems:

• "...that's a problem, because the dominance of harmful bacteria means that our mouths are basically in a constant state of disease. [One researcher commented:] 'You're walking around with a permanent immune response, which is not a good thing.  It causes problems all over the place'. "

Sounds a lot like IBD to me.

The author of this article hints that this supports the Paleo Diet, and likewise, the way I see it, this also supports the use of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet to treat IBD.

A Sweet Pastry: Hamantaschen

Hamantashen! With pregnancy on the mind, I can't help but think these could also be viewed as Uterus Cookies (sorry, sorry...gross, I know...)

This week is the Jewish festival of Purim.  There's a whole story behind this holiday, but basically it means children in costumes, rowdy adults, and delicious stuffed pastries called Hamantaschen.

I was hesitant to even try an SCD recipe for Hamantaschen because I grew up with my mom's insanely addictive creamcheese-based version.  But, alas, almond meal pastries are better than no pastries.

And, what a relief, these are actually very good.  Even if you're not Jewish, you'll appreciate this yummy cookie-like pastry.

This is also a good basis for any pastry recipe.  I'm super uptight about eating only well-done eggs and meat while pregnant, but I was so tempted by the amazing smell of this raw dough, I almost tasted it.  That doesn't happen often with SCD recipes.

Here's the original recipe.  I followed it fairly closely (just added cinnamon--which was actually pretty important to the final flavor. I also disregarded the egg wash instruction).

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups of almond flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 8 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla
• 2 tablespoons of honey
• about 1 cup of fruit preserves or other filling of your choice (I like Fiordifrutta because they don't add sugar.  It's surprisingly hard to find preserves without sugar added!  But there is pectin, which is illegal on SCD.  You could use fruit or berries if you're being strict.)
• 1/8 teaspoon of almond extract 
• cinnamon to taste (for sprinkling)

Directions:

1. Pulse all the ingredients in a food processor, until most of the butter is dispersed in well. Aim for all butter bits to be pea-sized or smaller.
2. Place the dough into a big piece of plastic wrap and roll it into a log. Freeze for about 15 minutes.
3. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Take the dough out and slice a circle off the end of the dough roll.
4. Place the circle on parchment paper on top of a cookie sheet. Place about a teaspoon or so of filling in the middle and then fold the dough around the filling into a triangle. Repeat for each pastry.
5. Make sure to pinch each corner so that the pastries don’t open up when baking. This step is really important.
6. Optionally, you can wash the pastry edges with egg wash. I don't love egg wash on almond meal because I think it turns a little gummy, but it's your choice.  It will be prettier.
7. Sprinkle all pastries with cinnamon, for appearance and taste.
8. Bake the pastries for about 15 minutes, or until they start to brown around the edges.
9.  Cool well before removing from baking sheet.

Everything Crackers

 These crackers are delicious enough to eat alone, 

but they're also great vehicles for all sorts of dips.

I miss everything bagels.  Is there anything as satisfying as that salty, oniony mix?  With a small tweak to this cracker recipe, we can (sort of) replicate that taste.  Plus this is a good cracker recipe to accompany dips and soups.  (I'm making Amy's Split Pea soup tonight and wanted some crackers to go with it.)

Also, I doubled the recipe.  Why not have some extra crackers around the house?  Here's the original (undoubled) version:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of blanched ground almond flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg white in a bowl with a brush
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of poppy seeds
• 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon minced, dried onion
• coarse salt to sprinkle on top of the crackers

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine the flour and salt in a bowl and mix.
3. Add the egg, minced onion, and oil, and mix.
4. Shape the mixture into two balls of dough.
5. Place each dough ball on a non-stick baking mat (I used silpats), then place a piece
   of parchment paper (or other non-stick mat) over the ball and roll the
   dough into a thin layer.
6. Brush the top of the cracker sheets with egg white, and then sprinkle
   the seeds and coarse salt evenly over each sheet.
7. Score the crackers with a pizza cutter.
8. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until they start to lightly brown.
9. Cool for about 15 minutes and break apart into crackers. 
10. Store in a sealed container. (I actually might leave my tupperware unsealed to avoid the gumminess that seems to overwhelm everything almond flour-based.  But I'm planning on eating these pretty quickly.)

These are actually better than many of the store bought gluten-free options (and we can't eat those on SCD anyway).  

"Just Try Them!" Carrot Pancakes

This photo is from www.glutenfreehappytummy.blogspot.com because hers were much nicer looking than mine.  I didn't drizzle pureed strawberries; I nuked frozen berry medley and slopped them onto the pancakes. Still tasty.

This morning I asked my husband if he wanted pancakes, and he was initially intrigued.  But then he walked over, took a look at the batter, and said, "UGH! No!"

So they look really...healthy.  But start cooking them, and you'll see they're more like donuts.  My guy still won't try them, but if you give them a chance, I think they'll impress you.

Here's the original recipe which I didn't change much, but I did double it. Hey, I'm hungry.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup almond flour
• 6 carrots, grated (I bought pre-grated carrots, used 5oz.  Definitely worth the short cut!)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp (more of a sprinkle) cloves
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp honey
• 4 egg whites 
• Frozen berries of your choice

Directions:

1. If you're not as lazy as me, and you didn't buy pre-grated carrots, grate your carrots. Place them in a clean kitchen towel and wring out the excess liquid. 
2. In a medium-sized bowl (I used a standing mixer), whip your egg whites until they form nice peaks. 
3. In a separate bowl, combine your grated carrots, almond flour, spices, and baking soda. 
4. Fold your dry ingredients into the egg whites.
5. Add vanilla and honey.
6. On medium high, melt butter on a frying pan or griddle, spoon pancakes onto cooking surface. Cook for 2-3 minutes a side, until golden brown.  Watch out--they burn quickly!
7. Microwave your berries for about a minute and thirty seconds, til their warm.
8. Pour berries (I include some juice too) over pancakes.

Sugarless Fudge

 For the record, this recipe isn't SCD legal (we can't technically have cocoa).  But the third trimester is "first trimester"-ing my taste buds. 

Suddenly all I want are carbs and sugar again, and it's doing a number on my will power.

I've been trying to limit my sugar intake, but I have been cheating here and there (especially when my husband and I go out to dinner...the dessert menu is my Achilles' heel).  As a result, I am beginning to flare again, seeing blood daily.  (This should give you an indication of how crazy these sugar cravings are.  Even with the fear of a flare, I'm still cheating; I cannot control myself!)

So I tried out this less evil recipe today, and it's pretty good.

As I often say with recipes like this, if you don't expect real fudge, it's great.  Definitely not real fudge though.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. coconut oil (melted)
• 1/2 c. cocoa powder 
• 1/2 c. almond butter
• 1/4 c. honey
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (alcohol free)

 Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together in a blender/Cuisinart
2. Spoon mixture into muffin tins with silicone muffin liners, filling each about 1/3 of the way.
3. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or freeze for 10 minutes.
4. Store in the fridge.

Ready-to-Eat SCD Lunches

Here are some of my go-to (almost) ready to eat SCD lunches.

• Avocado, filled with low mercury tuna (when not pregnant), or organic canned chicken breast (for these past 7 months), topped with ground pepper.

• Applegate Farms Organic Beef Hot Dogs.  I use mustard and dill pickle relish as condiments. Sadly, no bun.

• Paleo Bread (coconut) sandwiches.  I recommend toasting the bread to mitigate the gumminess.  I usually make either...
• Toasted, with peanut butter and bananas or thinly sliced apples OR 
• Toasted, with one fried egg and a slice of cheddar cheese (toast the bread with the cheese on it before sliding the egg on).

There you go.  My super quick, "I don't have time for homemade sh**!" lunches.

Store Bought SCD Snacks

Following Specific Carbohydrate Diet makes me yearn for the days when I could just microwave a ready-made meal.  We have to make absolutely everything from scratch.

That's fine for dinner, but sometimes I just want something quick and easy--and portable.  Seems like every granola bar (even gluten free) has rice, sugar, or agave syrup in them.

These are a couple options I've found that don't have verboten ingredients:

• Larabars are made of just dried fruit and nuts.  Some flavors are better than others. My faves are Peanut Butter & Jelly and Cherry Pie.  They're the most filling granola-like bar I've found.  

  

• "That's It" bars are made of just dried fruit.  They're sweeter than Larabars, and pretty good.

• I wouldn't classify this next one as a granola bar, and they're not filling at all, but they satisfy my sweet cravings because they kind of taste like fruity gummy candy.  Stretch Island Fruit Co.'s fruit strips are about 80% as delicious as fruit roll-ups.  Which is pretty decent.

Crispy Kale

Always hearing that kale is so healthful but not sure how to make it appetizing?  Cover it in salt and oil!

Ingredients:

• One bunch of kale
• Olive oil to taste (about 2 T., but it depends on how much kale you're using)
• Kosher salt to taste (Use a little less than you think you'll want--it gets overly salty pretty quickly.  I'd say use no more than 1/4 teaspoon.)

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Rip the kale off its stems into bite-sized pieces.
3. Toss kale with olive oil and salt (like you're tossing a salad).
4. Lay kale on a baking sheet.  
5. Bake for 10 minutes, until the edges are looking crispy.

I serve this as an easy side dish, like a salad. 

If you lay the kale in a single layer on the baking sheet and bake it a few minutes longer, the pieces will bake into a chip-like consistency, which is also pretty good.   

Mmmm, salt.

Coat anything with egg wash and kosher salt, and I'll eat it.

The toughest time to follow SCD?  3pm.  Craving a snack, and who wants ANOTHER piece of fruit?  Here's a snack that is almost as good as its real world counterpart: almond flour pretzels.   

The link to the original recipe is here.  I followed it pretty closely, and it turned out well.  You won't trick anyone into thinking it's a real pretzel, but it's still a good substitute.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs, divided use
• 1-1/2 cups almond Meal Flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 T. butter 
• 2-3 T. coconut Flour
• 1 teaspoon water
• coarse salt (I used kosher salt since that's what I had.)

Directions:

1. Beat 2 eggs, and set them aside.  
2. In a separate bowl, add the almond flour, salt and butter together and mix well.  Into this mixture, pour and mix the beaten eggs.  
3. Add in one tablespoon of coconut flour and mix in well. Allow coconut flour time to absorb before adding any more.  You are looking for a dough that can be easily kneaded, yet will not stick to your hands.  Add a second tablespoon of coconut flour (and a third if necessary), aiming for a play-doh-like texture.  
4. Let the dough rest for five minutes.  Preheat oven to 350°F.   Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, a silpat, or liberally grease it.
5. Take a ball of dough about half the size of a golf ball, and roll the dough on a flat surface into a long skinny rod about the length of a pencil.  Keep the dough uniform in thickness.
6. Carefully lift the long skinny piece of dough to the cookie sheet.  Twist it carefully into the shape of a pretzel (or whatever shape you'd like!)
7. Place the pretzels in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.  
8. Beat the remaining egg and add 1 teaspoon water.
9. Remove the pretzels from the oven. Turn the oven up to 400°F.
10. Turn all of the pretzels over and you will see the bottom is browned.  This is the top of your pretzel. Lightly brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse salt.
11. Return to the oven for 5 minutes.

Very Flavorful Chicken Marbella

A Pyrex full of yum.

Non-perishable ingredients, easy, and delicious. All the components of my favorite recipes.  But do notice that you have to marinate it for a day beforehand...

Here is the original recipe.  Don't compare the photos!  Mine looks like a 3rd grader made it by comparison, but it still really tasted good.  (Also, I used drumsticks and a few boneless, skinless chicken breasts because that's what I had.) 

Ingredients:

• 3 drumsticks, 3 chicken breasts (or whatever chicken you have that fits into a 9 x13 dish)
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 7 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• ⅓ cup halved or quartered prunes
• ¼ cup capers w/ juice
• 8 green olives – halved
• 2 bay leaves

 Directions:

1. Puree (I used the Cuisinart) red wine vinegar through the sea salt until the garlic is smooth.
2. Pour mixture into a large Ziploc bag (big enough to hold all your chicken pieces).
3. Add the remaining ingredients and mix to blend marinade ingredients.
4. Add your chicken pieces, and make sure all pieces are evenly coated.
5. Place in the fridge and marinate 24 HOURS.
6. When you are ready to cook, remove the pieces and place them in a 9 x 13 glass baking dish with all the marinade.
7. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
8. Bake the chicken for 50-60 minutes until well cooked.

Adjustment: When I make it again, I will reduce the sea salt to 1 teaspoon.  With all the capers and olives, it gets pretty salty.

Glucose Test: If You're On Prednisone...

(Photo courtesy cardinal.com)

Yum! Who's excited??

Every doctor is different and will give different advice, but I thought I'd share my experience with the glucose test which we typically get between 24 and 28 weeks.

Bottomline: You know how everyone complains about that sugary orange stuff?  It might be pointless for you to drink it.

My doctor told me that when you're on high doses of prednisone, you often have problems metabolizing sugar anyway.  Instead of having me use the sugar drink, she had me just do a fasting blood test.  (We were both also concerned about how the high levels of sugar could affect my tenuous remission.)

I fasted for 8 hours before the test.  Then they tested my blood.  I ate my typical breakfast in the office, and then an hour later they tested my blood again.  The doctor was confident that this was enough, and I was happy to get out of dealing with the infamous orange drink. 

It's worth asking about if you're on prednisone or a sugar-free diet (like SCD)!

Best. Grapefruit. Ever.

I could eat 10 of these in one sitting.

Word of warning: check your meds before eating grapefruit.  (I couldn't eat it when I was on Cyclosporine for a vicious flare awhile back.)

But whoa.  This sweet grapefruit recipe is delicious and takes about 7 minutes total.  

Ingredients:

• 1/2 grapefruit (But, to be honest, you'll eat both halves.  Just double the recipe...) 
• 1 Tbsp honey  
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 
• Pinch of cardamom 
• Pinch of cinnamon 
• Pinch of nutmeg

 Directions:

1. Position your top oven rack to 4" below the top of the oven.
2. Preheat your oven to high broil.
3. Cut your grapefruit in half, and also cut all segments (like a pie) for easy scooping/eating later.
4. Drizzle grapefruit with honey first--this holds all the spices nicely.
5. Drizzle vanilla extract over grapefruit.
6. Sprinkle all the spices over the grapefruit.
7. Set grapefruit in a baking dish (use one with edges because the honey mixture does run)
8. Broil for 5 minutes. 

Enjoy! It's impossible not to.

Grain-free meatfloaf, for cold winter days

Hmm...how to make a photo of meatloaf look good...?

I've never eaten meatloaf before.  I did not come from a meatloaf family.  My parents are both excellent cooks and never really made anything so...1950's.  But I was having a major comfort-food craving, so when I found a meatloaf recipe that was SCD friendly, I thought, "Why not?"

My first taste of this made me wonder what the real difference is between meatloaf and meatballs, besides the shape.  But I like meatballs, so whatever.

Here's the original recipe, which we really enjoyed, though I did modifiy it to remove some SCD-illegal stuff.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs grass-fed ground beef
• 2 eggs
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 8 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp dried minced onion (from the spice aisle) 
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp sea salt 
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg 
• 1/2 tsp ground mustard

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
2. Grease your loaf pan.
3. Dice onions and mince garlic. Saute the onions in butter until they are translucent and then add the garlic for a couple of minutes, careful not to burn it.
4. Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl.  (I gave up and used my hands for this.)
5. Form into a loaf and place in the loaf pan.
6. Bake for 30-40 minutes 
7. Slice and serve. (Mine fell apart a bit, probably because I greedily dug into it the minute it emerged from the oven.)

If you like ketchup here is an SCD-friendly recipe.  I'm not a huge ketchup fan, so I can't say I've tried it.  I ate mine with pico de gallo, and it was pretty delicious.  My husband ate it with Siracha sauce, which made me a little jealous.  

Lemon Shallot Chicken Paillard. Way better than it looks.

Looks pretty bland in the photo, but it's surprisingly lemony and savory

Because you pound this chicken to smithereens before cooking it, this is a super fast poultry recipe.  And, despite the overwhelming beige-ness of it, the chicken really is very flavorful.

HERE is the original recipe, from Martha Stewart, but I changed it a bit.

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts, pounded thin
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1-2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 cup chicken stock*
• 2 shallots, sliced
• 2 lemons
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to broil (high)
2. Heat one tablespoon olive oil with one tablespoon butter  in skillet
3. Season front and back of your first pounded chicken breast with salt and pepper
4. Fry chicken in skillet, cooking each side so the chicken is cooked through, about 2 minutes.  Each side should be golden-brown.
5. Transfer chicken to Pyrex-style baking dish and repeat process to cook all meat. (If you can fit more chicken in the skillet, go for it.  Once mine was pounded, it was way too big to fit multiple pieces.)
6. Add oil and butter as needed to the skillet.
7. Once all meat is cooked and removed, saute shallots until golden in the oil and butter.
8. Add chicken stock, remaining butter, and the juice and fruit of both lemons (I scraped the entire insides out of the fruit--more lemon is better!)
9. Simmer for about 3 minutes
10. Pour the skillet mixture over the chicken in your baking dish and broil for about 5 minutes.

I decided to broil it because I don't feel like the meat is getting the seasoning from the sauce unless I see it actually simmering...probably doesn't make a huge difference!  

*I have never found SCD-legal chicken stock in the store, so I do use illegal chicken stock.  I haven't noticed that it causes me any problems; I suspect the sugar in it is pretty negligible.

Banana "Ice Cream"

Looks like ice cream, but it's JUST bananas! (...and, in this pic, peanut butter)

This recipe is all over the place, but if you haven't tried it, I really recommend it.  Couldn't be easier, and even if you're not on a restricted diet, it's delicious.

All you do is slice a couple bananas, freeze them (at least for a few hours, but I'd suggest overnight), and then blend them in a Cuisinart/blender.  Something magical happens, and it turns into the consistency of ice cream.

If you eat chocolate, you could add chocolate before blending.  I like to top mine with peanut butter (as you can see in the picture).

And it can stay in your freezer for months...but with how tasty it is, it probably won't.

"Make this once a week"

You know a recipe is pretty decent when your husband says this while eating it.

Sorry, no pics of this recipe because we ate it up like crazy animals.  I'll edit it in next time I make the recipe...

Since you have no image, here's what this one is: chicken drumsticks with a great spice rub.

Got this recipe from a Paleo site, and she made hers with turkey drumsticks--which sounds awesome--but were tough to find.  (My Whole Foods is still claiming that turkeys are in short supply after the holidays.  C'mon...)  So I made mine with the chicken drumsticks.  Still awesome, though not quite as Medieval Times-y.  Also, if you compare the original, I added cinnamon and took out coriander.  Just preference.

Ingredients:

• 10 chicken drumsticks
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp ground mustard
• 1/8 tsp white pepper
• black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix all spices in shallow bowl.
3. Pour olive oil into a different shallow bowl.  One by one, cover drumsticks in oil and then spice rub.  
4. Rub the spice rub in under the skin, and then return the skin to cover the drumstick.  It'll get deliciously crispy, so don't remove it.
5. Place drumsticks on a lined baking sheet (I use a silpat).
6. Bake for 50 minutes.
7. Turn the oven to broil for 5 minutes to make them crispy. Flip and broil for 5 more minutes.  Done.

Seriously, yum.  And so easy.

Portobella Pizza

 I swear, I don't always make so many cheesy tomato recipes...

...but we're leaving to visit my husband's family this week, and I've got a lot of tomatoes, fresh basil, and Parmesan to use up.

This is an easy, reheat-able SCD lunch.  And it's filling (I'm a big eater and was super full after one mushroom).

Here is the original recipe, which I actually recommend you checking out because their version is pretty.  Here's my straightforward (and slightly edited*) version:

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil for skillet
• 2 Portobella mushrooms
• 1/2 a carton of grape tomatoes, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/2 a lemon (for juice)
• 5 fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 a yellow onion chopped (I'd use less next time, but this is up to you.)
• Shredded Parmesan cheese to taste  (I probably used about a 1/4 cup.)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Add oil to skillet and saute onion until it's brown.
3. Mix in tomatoes and garlic and saute until the tomatoes are soft.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Squeeze lemon juice over the ingredients.
6. Stir in the basil leaves.
7. Place mushrooms on parchment paper-lined baking sheet.  (Bottoms down.)
8. Fill the mushrooms with the skillet ingredients.
9. Top with Parmesan.
10. Bake for 12 minutes at 400.

 Enjoy!

*If you compare this to the original recipe, you'll see I left out the leeks.  I felt like it was plenty onion-y without them.

Pound Cake (or close enough...)

 Craving something sweet?

We got home from dinner at 9:45 last night, and I NEEDED dessert.  (This isn't a pregnancy thing...it's pretty typical.)

So I cared about two factors:
1) Ingredients I already had in my kitchen
2) Quick prep

This pound cake from the Paleo people fits those requirements pretty well (although it does bake for 45 minutes).

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1 cup coconut milk (Buy canned in the ethnic food aisle--the others have added ingredients)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. orange extract
• 1 cup almond flour (The original recipe suggested coconut flour, but I didn't have it.)
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/8 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt 
• Butter to grease the pan
• Frozen berries of your choice (I like organic wild blueberries; they're tiny and delicious)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Grease a loaf dish thoroughly.

3. Beat eggs until smooth.

4. Add remaining liquid ingredients and mix.

5. Add dry ingredients and mix until smooth.  My almond flour got clumpy, but just keep mixing.  It is a really liquid-y batter; don't worry, it will firm up.

6. Bake for 45 minutes, but you may need to add time (I added 5 minutes).  Start checking with a toothpick around 45 minutes every few minutes.  

7. Microwave your frozen berries just before serving/devouring.  

I like to use frozen berries because I'm cheap AND because they get extra gooey when you microwave them and the juices seep into the cake.  It's awesome.  The cake itself isn't totally pound cake-consistency (as I'm sure you'd predict with all those substitutions), but it really does taste good.  I promise.