Happy Crohn's-iversary!

   
      It is a surreal feeling to be diagnosed with a chronic disease. One day you are going along in life thinking you are perfectly healthy, eating whatever you want, going wherever you want to go, and doing whatever makes you happy. The next day, you have someone mention on a few words to you and in that instant you realize that your body is decaying at a rapid rate.

     Just because you can't see the wind doesn't mean it's not there. So the same goes with a disease. The human eye can actual see very little in comparison to what exists in the universe. I wish we were built with warning lights so that when something in our bodies starts to go wrong we go from green to yellow, and then to red. With the ability to change before the damage become so bad it takes everything you've got to keep the symptoms at bay- to be able to function in life in a "normal" capacity. Unfortunately, this isn't the case, and sometimes we chose to ignore the symptoms for so long that we think how we feel is normal, that pain is a part of life, and that the atrophy of the human body is acceptable. I choose to view things in a different light, and so although I know my body is imperfect, I now try to take the best care of this vessel as I possibly can under my own will. In a way, this Crohn's diagnosis was not all a bad thing. Before I was diagnosed with a disease I gave little thought to my health and for that matters found it hard to be sympathetic toward others who have illnesses. I have learned my lesson in empathy.

     In some ways an entire year has moved by at the speed of light, in others I feel like I have had Crohn's my whole life (which is also probable, but being undiagnosed, how was I to live any differently?) In any case, It was one year ago that I sat in a hospital post-op room and received my diagnosis. Being only twenty, I had dealt with a lot so far in my life but this experience has only made me grow up faster.

     As Relish SCD approaches 10,000 views I want to also use this post as a thank you to my readers. I want to come up with a small giveaway, but I have yet to come up with anything brilliant that SCD'ers would want/appreciate. Feel free to drop any suggestions. I am forever thankful to the Internet and online SCD community, for without you all I would be sicker than ever before in my life. Thank you.

Light as Air Blond Walnut Cookies (scd)

I really want to start a "Cookie of the Week" theme but I am afraid I am not consistent enough with A) trying new recipes and B) new cookie recipes in particular. But of all the SCD treats, I have to say cookies are my preferred choice of luxury food. I call these cookies light as air because even the batter is super light, and the texture of the cookie is like fluff (in a good way.) The blond part comes in because they have virtually no color- this scared me as I was initially making them because they look they they would also have no flavor but that is far from the truth! All I can say is yummmm...

Ingredients:

1 stick butter, softened
1 cup honey
1 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp cinnoman
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 & 1/4 cup almond flour
2 heaping Tbsp yogurt
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Mix all the ingredients together in order, saving the yogurt for last, to fold in. Bake at 350 for 12 & 1/2 minutes or until the tops just barely turn brown and the insides are not mush.

Coconut Milk (SCD) From Shredded Coconut -Vitamix

I don't know why for so long I have been afraid to make my own coconut milk. It intimidated me. But now that I have tried it, I will make it a staple. In fact, I just ordered a 5 pound bag of unsweetened shredded coconut to last me for a while. Other than the obvious reason of being on SCD/paleo and making just about everything from scratch, homemade coconut milk really is a better alternative to store bought, which always has some kind of additive to keep it from naturally separating. If you are looking for a way to make your own coconut milk here is how:


You need:

7/8 Cup of unsweetened shredded coconut flakes
2 cups water

Put it into Vitamix blender and leave on high for 2 minutes. Then just pour the milk through a cheese cloth and squeeze all the milk out into a jar. Then put the pulp back into the Vitamix, add another cup of water and blend for another 2 minutes. Repeat straining through the cheesecloth and ta-daa- homemade coconut milk! Yumm, it'a almost worth the effort just for the fragrance of warm, soft coconut milk that floats around the room.

Here is a link to a YouTube video if you would like to see this in action.

Oh & btw, the leftover coconut powder can be used in recipes as coconut flour, there is no waste in this recipe!

Get free ground shipping on any Vitamix machine with my code/link: 06-006499 at Vitamix.com

Homemade Ginger Ale (SCD)

Quick- what is the perfect drink if you are sick with an upset stomach? I don't know what you were thinking but since I was a kid I was always given ginger ale. Well, obviously that is not SCD friendly. However, homemade ginger ale is easy to make and is calming to upset tummys. When my stomach was killing me the other day my lovely husband was nice enough to make this ginger ale for me. About five minutes after drinking the first spicy sip, my stomach started to calm down. Wonderful. Warning: this is not your typical corn-syrup infused Canada Dry ginger ale, the taste is only slightly reminiscent of that. This is real ginger ale, and it has a kick!
 There aren't many ingredients needed, just some ginger, sparkling water (seltzer or natural), and honey.

Boil 1/2 cup of peeled, sliced ginger root in 2 cups of water for 5 minutes.
Let the Mixture sit for 20 minutes more.

Then strain out the ginger, keeping the ginger water in a separate container. Mix 50/50 with seltzer or naturally sparkling water like Perrier. Add honey to taste. Voila, it's that easy.

I really think it tastes better cold, but you could easily drink it warm, say if you wanted it to sooth a sore throat. I have gotten significantly less sick since starting SCD but I still catch little 24 hour bugs once in a while, or who knows, it may be a Crohn's flare but it's so minimal I write it off as something else. Either way, I hope this ginger ale can help you out as I swear, it made me feel better immediately.

Roasted Tomato Garlic Soup (SCD)

In the cold of winter there are few things as comforting as a bowl of homemade soup. Hot soup warms you from the inside out, and this soup is the ideal flu season treat. Only 3 main ingredients and some spices, and I promise you'll be making this over and over again.

Take:
6 medium to large size tomatoes

Cut in half, place face side up on baking dish and drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt.

Take:
1 Head of Garlic

Slice of the very tips on the top all the way across the garlic head and place in the baking dish with all of the leaves still on.

Bake at 400 degrees for an hour.

Put the tomatoes and garlic cloves (take off all the excess stuff and throw away) and any juices from the pan into a blender (like the Vitamix) and blend until chunky, or the consistency that you like.

Transfer tomatoes, garlic, and 3 cups of chicken stock into a pot to simmer. Add 3 Tbsp of basil, 2 Tbsp of thyme, and 1 Tbsp of white pepper. Simmer on medium-low for 20 minutes. Add salt to your taste. Enjoy!
Perfect with SCD Saltine Crackers.

 

Recipe Review: Saltine Crackers (SCD)

This recipe from Comfy Belly turned out as expected. Sometimes it is the simple things I miss the most, like saltine crackers. I never get cravings for them, but occasionally I would like to have a little edible plate. Isn't that what crackers are really for? There are tons of recipes for dips and sauces, but on SCD if you can't have raw vegetables it leaves few things to actually dip and dive into.
One tip when making SCD crackers: Don't be afraid to roll them out very thin, otherwise they don't get as crispy as you may hope, as long as you are using parchment paper, they are not going to stick and break.

2 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp of oil or butter
1 Large Egg

Sea salt for top

I also suggest adding some spices like thyme or oregano because these are pretty bland if you are just going to eat these plain.  But they turned out wonderful!

Comic

I thought this was funny.

Documentary Review: Dive!

No, Dive! does not have any direct relation to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet or Crohn's Disease, but it has to do with how each and every one of us view, use, and dispose of food. It's very eye opening to just how much energy goes into creating and raising the foods we all eat and the enormous 50% of food that ends up as waste, most unnecessarily so. Take a look at this film, I have a feeling you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Salty Coconut Cookies/ "Granola" Yogurt Mix-In

Think back to when you were a kid and your mom is trying to get you to eat yogurt. Gross, right? The only way my six-year-old-self is eating yogurt is if it is practically glowing from food coloring and corn syrup like Trix Yogurt or if it's loaded with candy disguised as granola and "mix-ins." Ahh, yes those glorious YoCrunch cups were more like an un-frozen ice cream parfait than a healthy, beneficial-bacteria rich snack. Up until I started SCD I really was not fond of yogurt, nothing about it was that appealing to me. But now I view yogurt as a staple in my diet. I know how good it is for me, and arguably I think that my homemade yogurt is the best in the world (eat this Okios!). In fact, yogurt for me is dessert. It's thick (once dripped), creamy, and with a hint of honey provides the perfect level of sweetness.

Since I no longer eat fruit in combination with anything, including yogurt, though, I am left with little variance in this treat. I am okay with this, adding honey and occasionally vanilla extract is good enough, but sometimes mistakes in the kitchen turn into tummy-pleasing success.





 That is what happened to me when I was attempting to make some sort of coconut flake cookies. I got all the way to the part where i add 1/2 tsp of salt and of course, I open the wrong end of the salt shaker (the half with the little picture of the spoon even though no spoon would fit in that hole) and in dumped a literal mount of Celtic sea salt. I tried to scoop out all of the excess but there was no saving it completely. So I proceeded with baking and then tasting. I am positive the cookies would have turned out delicious but the overwhelming salt flavor was drowning out any other flavor present. There was no way I was wasting so much cookie dough, mind the fact that almond flour and coconut flour are $7/lb and honey is through the roof as well. So I proceeded to finish the baking process and put my over salted cookies in the freezer as I always store my SCD cookies. Then one evening as I was preparing my yogurt snack the idea of granola came to my mind, yes those YoCrunches really left an impression. Thinking on my feet, I crumbled up one of the too-salty cookies, and wait for it....AMAZING! The salt flavor does not come through at all mixed in with the bitter yogurt and in fact the buttery-ness of the cookies only adds to the extreme creamyness of the yogurt. Alas, there is a way to improve on something that is already great. So here I will post the recipe of the "cookies" I made and then you can decide if you want to make them as just that, or if you add just a bit more salt and mix it in with your yogurt. May I suggest the latter.

Salty Coconut Cookies/ "Granola" Mix-In

4 Tbsp butter, softened
1/4 cup coconut flour
3/4 cup almond flour
3 eggs
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 Tbsp cinnoman
1 tsp baking soda
Salt (dash or dump)

You could also add some chopped nuts (Brazil, walnuts, almonds, etc.) if you prefer more of a crunch.

Mix all the above ingredients, bake at 350 degrees for about 11 minutes.

Rhubarb Cookies

I love the vibrant red color of rhubarb. You know something that naturally brilliant in food has to be good for you. Rhubarb is known to be a good source of Calcium, Vitamin K, Lutein, and Antioxidants.  Although it tastes more like a fruit, rhubarb is a vegetable. In my quest to come up with new sweet treats on SCD, I decided to add this tasty stalk to cookies. I am pleased to say the results were delicious.


Ingredients:
1/4 cup softened butter, (or coconut oil)
1/2 cup honey
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
3 to 4 eggs (depending on size)
1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup (or more if you like) Rhubarb, sliced and/or diced

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients. Save the rhubarb for last, as you will just fold this in.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 11 minutes.
Eat while warm for best taste impact.

Savory Black Beans

I originally had this recipe in mind to make SCD legal crepes along with it and use the crepe as a tortilla, but it was only after I had made both parts to the recipe that I remembered this diet my doctor has me on doesn't allow me to have eggs at the same time as beans. I would use the crepes for fruit, but I am not supposed to mix those two either. Any ideas? Anyways, these black beans are good enough on their own to just be eaten plain. All the veggies in the mix don't hurt by any means either. Very healthy dinner and for once an hour after eating I was not hungry. This is a very filling meal. So here is what you do:

Take:
1/2 bag black beans (dried) and soak overnight.
Cook until done (about and hour or two)
Set aside.

Take:
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
3 jalepeno peppers, chopped
1 Serrano pepper, chopped
3 cloved garlic, chopped or pressed

Saute until onions are translucent. Add the cooked black beans and their juice and 1/2 cup dry wine. Add some cumin, oregano, and black pepper (about 1 tsp each). Lightly simmer covered for about 20 minutes.

Add some shredded cheese (I use monterey jack) and some dripped yogurt as "sour cream." If it is not spicy enough add a dash of hot sauce or some more jalepenos.

Enjoy!