Lazy Daisy Cake Recipe Review & It's Apple Season!

So my grandparents from upper Michigan recently brought me ten gallons of their fresh, pesticide-free homegrown apples from their homestead rural property. Delicious. I don't know that I have a more favorite food than apples. So what to do with all of them?
Cook them of course! Making applesauce and pies, I'm going to be one happy homefry for at least the next month...or whenever these babies run out. I was also in a baking mood last week and made SCD Lazy Daisy Cake (from Mrs. Ed's recipes). I give it 9 out of 10 "yumms." The cake part was pretty plain tasting (like any other SCD almond flour bread) but the topping was divine! Toasting the coconut really makes the difference, creating a sticky, chewy texture that reminds me of caramel. I will definately make this again. I also substituted half the amount of yogurt for applesauce, as I don't like "wasting" my hard-worked for yogurt on a baked good.

Forks Over Knives Documentary Review- Cure Yourself With Food

I just finished watching the documentary Forks Over Knives. It has put me in a mental conflict. As I have mentioned before I was vegetarian before starting the specific carbohydrate diet. I went vegetarian because of watching Food Inc. So maybe I have a small addiction to documentaries but they are so informative and I can appreciate the approach of outsider's viewpoints in such a straightforward way. Anyways, Forks Over Knives advocates a "plant-based whole foods diet." Which basically means vegan. I love
that it did not push veganism though. Rather, it followed the line of thought of two prestigious medical doctors who pioneered the modern day thought of  food curing the diseases that are so prevalent today instead of pharmaceuticals. Curing cancer, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and so many others is not a new concept through the use of healthy foods. Obviously, if you too are on SCD you have come to appreciate this fact. Forks Over Knives though just solidifies through research done in China and across the globe that the increased rates of diseases like the ones listed above are directly linked to the western diet. The cornucopia of fast food, promotion of meat and dairy being healthy for us, and the downplay of how important plant-based whole foods are highlighted in this movie. While my opinion varies slightly from those expressed in Forks Over Knives (in that I find some benefit to eating small portions of dairy and eggs) it did inspire me to cut back on my meat consumption even more. I would say on average I only eat one serving of meat everyday and that would be for dinner. Once in a while I eat half a portion for lunch, but usually I just stick to a bowl of yogurt and fruit. I wish there was some way I could be SCD and vegetarian. But as it stands I am re-introducing my body to SCD in that I am very much limiting my consumption of vegetables. This is not because I do not like them, for I actually  miss being able to eat piles of green beans, broccoli, and salad. Rather, I have found that for myself fiber from veggies is very hard to deal with gastro-logically speaking (if that makes sense). In other words, veggies not sitting so well with my tummy. This is so unfortunate because I know I am missing out on so many vitamins and essential nutrients. However, I hope to incorporate them back into my diet as a major staple even if it is force-ably. I see many problems with this theory however, I do wish to proceed. I don't want to eat little animals. Even though I buy free-range and grass-fed, Forks Over Knives emphasized there is hardly any benefit to eating even the most humanely treated creatures. So even if I won't go vegan, I hope to eat more "plant-based whole foods" and nurse myself back to health as I know that food has the ability to do so!

SCD Easy, Fluffy Pancakes With Coconut Flour

It's amazing what it feels like to feel "normal." Even if it is for just a day. Today was that day, no pains, and relatively clear thinking skills. What do I do with this new found feeling, you ask? Cook! What else is there when food is the center of your personal universe? Pancakes sounded good to me this morning, and with a 5 pound bag of coconut flour in my refrigerator, along with about thirty eggs, I knew I had enough ingredients. So here it goes, this is super easy and with a drizzle of honey, I'd say they taste pretty close to wheat flour 'cakes.

2 Tablespoons coconut flour
2 Tablespoons water (or coconut milk if you have it)
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon honey
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Mix all of the above in a small bowl, not too much, the less you whisk the fluffier the eggs and therefore the pancakes turn out. Spoon the batter into little piles in a hot skillet and turn when they bubble all over.

Add fruit like berries during cooking if desired, or afterwards on top.

yummmmmmmmmmm....

Perfect Mushrooms

For years the ability to saute perfect mushrooms has alluded me. Until now. I always get excited when I am reading "regular diet" magazine and cookbooks and come across a recipe that does not have to be adapted the be SCD safe. And so I came across the September issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine in which there is a recipe card for sauteed mushrooms- the ingredients all of which are A-OK on the specific carb diet. This recipe is also relatively inexpensive to make since I bough an entire carton of mushrooms on sale for $1 last week. So here is how it goes:
Take 1 carton of mushrooms- unsliced
heat a pan to medium-high heat
add about a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan
then add the mushrooms and let them caramelize for about 5 minutes- do not
stir them
then flip them around and let the other side brown for about another 3 or 4 minutes
add 1 clove of garlic- thinly sliced and some oregano (or thyme)
let the combo saute at medium heat until the garlic lightly browns
then add about 1/4 cup of white wine
saute until the wine evaporates

Then...ta-daaa! You have delicious mushrooms as a side or a tasty vegetarian main dish. My mistake in previous attempts to cook mushrooms was my lack of patience. I would always flip and stir the 'shrooms until I thought they looked dark enough to eat, and I always added too much oil. By not stirring the mushrooms they are allowed to caramelize and not loose any of their juices. The pictures are from my poor quality phone so you probably cannot tell, but when you cut into these after you cook them appropriately the effect is like a juicy steak that was allowed to sit for a while before being sliced. The mushrooms literally have juices and, wow, even my husband complimented me! Enjoy!