Cheese Bread Buns, Specific Carbohydrate Diet, SCD Legal

Cheese Bread Buns, Specific Carbohydrate Diet, SCD legal    makes 6 buns

2 1/2 cups Honeyville brand Blanched Almond Flour
1/4 cup Naturally Refined Organic Coconut Oil
1 cup shredded Organic Cheddar block cheese (don't buy already shredded)
1 TSP Baking Soda
1/8 TSP Salt
3 large, Organic Eggs, beaten

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Mix Almond Flour, Baking Soda and Salt.
• Add shredded Cheese and mix.
• Add beaten eggs and mix. Dough will be thick like cookie dough
• Scoop into coconut oil greased Muffin Top pans and press to form bun.  Makes 6.
• Bake until golden brown on top, about 18-20 minutes.
• Let cool, then slice into buns.

Recipe Adapted from the book, "Breaking the Vicious Cycle" by Elaine Gottschall.  This book explains The Specific Carbohydrate Diet so well, highly recommended reading.

I made these in a Muffin Top Pan then carefully slice into "buns".  This original recipe said to bake in a buttered 4x8 loaf pan at 350 degrees until golden brown.

I substituted naturally refined Organic Coconut Oil for the butter that was in the original recipe.

10 Foods That Help Fight Depression

I came across this story on Facebook today, 10 Foods That Help Fight Depression.  Most of the time I skip over this type of feed on Facebook, but today I decided to read this one.  I am really glad I did because it is a gentle reminder of why I am feeling so much better than I did just 2 short years ago! 

I have told quite a few friends and family members what I am doing to fight the pain I had in my feet, hips, knees, shoulders and back that kept me from walking more than a few minutes without having to sit down or kept me home entirely.  But I don't think they are listening to me.  Change is hard for all of us but sometimes you just have to take the bull by the horns...or in my case, start with little changes and build upon them until you can "feel" the difference.  Take a look at my grocery list, even if you can't afford organic groceries, at least eat non processed foods. 

I have also stopped having inflammatory bowel issues that I have had since I was 16 years old.  I love being able to know I can get up in the morning and not have to allow for 3 hours of diarrhea and stomach pain before I can leave my house or be afraid to leave my house on bad days!

My food journey to better health started 2 years ago. It all began with my new doctor asking me to read the book by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Eat to Live.  I have since modified that diet to include foods that help my particular health needs (in my opinion, Specific Carbohydrate Diet) and exclude foods that I feel are inflammatory to my gut and body (ie. processed foods, gluten, nightshade vegetables, most raw vegetables and processed sugar).  I know I am doing something right because I am off all medications except a B/P pill, my labs are normal and two months ago I started walking and can now walk 2 miles without pain (my new walking/running shoes might be helping also)!

After reading the article, 10 Foods That Help Fight Depression, I decided to make a one day menu based on those foods and a few more of my favorites to show how easy it is to eat healthy.  Try this menu several days a week.  It is just this simple to eat foods that are good for you! (time saver tip: wash 3-4 cups of spinach using white vinegar with water rinses, just the amount you will need for the day, spin or pat dry then store in a mason jar (it only keeps one day like this).

BREAKFAST: 
EGGS, ONION, GARLIC, SPINACH SAUTE

• 1 onion sliced and sautéed with 1 clove of minced garlic in olive oil
• 1 cup organic spinach or kale washed, chopped really fine like herbs,  added to onion and garlic mixture cooking it just until it wilts
• 1-2 organic eggs scrambled and mixed into onions, garlic and spinach/kale (or if you can't eat eggs, add cooked beans to the mixture, it is delicious for breakfast or lunch)
• if you tolerate tomatoes and mushrooms, chop some up and add to the cooked ingredients

MID MORNING SNACK:

• 1 ounce walnuts (or sunflower seed butter spread on apple)
• 1 apple

LUNCH:
CHICKEN SPINACH SALAD

• 1 cup organic washed spinach
• 1 cup chopped strawberries (blackberries or blueberries or a combination of them fresh or frozen)
• 3 TBSP sunflower seeds (or walnuts)
• a few sliced mushrooms
• dressing of your choice or use my strawberry dressing recipe
• 2-3 ounces chicken breast from my freezer meal starter recipes (or cooked shrimp or any kind of leftover meat)

MID AFTERNOON SNACK:

• an entire avocado sliced, sprinkle with lime juice and salt of your choice)
• chopped tomato (if you can tolerate them)

DINNER:
HOMEMADE BLACK BEAN SOUP/VEGETABLES AND CHICKEN

• 1 to 2 cups black beans cooked with sauted onions, shredded carrots and celery, chopped spinach and garlic
• a side of mushrooms sautéed or cooked however you like them or leave them raw if you like
• a vegetable side of your choice
• 2-3 ounces chicken breast from my freezer meal starter recipes (or any other meat from my freezer meal starter recipes)

AFTER DINNER SNACK:

•  Chia seed and blueberry smoothie made with your recipe of choice (I use homemade yogurt and frozen blueberries (or a combination of berries) with a little local honey if needed to sweeten)

Stuffed Summer Squash from Freezer Meat Meal Starter, SCD, AIP, grain free, egg free

Stuffed Summer Squash Recipe from a Freezer Meat Meal Starter  of Browned Ground Beef

Dinners are easier and healthier now that I have a freezer full of cooked Freezer Meat Meal Starters.  Even if you forget to take something out of the freezer to thaw, it doesn't take long at all for the meat to thaw enough to use in a recipe, especially the browned ground beef.

Sometimes our meals are a little repetitious not to mention the flavor is boring.  I am trying to come up with simple recipes that are SCD legal and don't contain any of the other foods that I haven't added back yet especially nightshades. It is too hard to follow a recipe and make substitutions so I just make it up as I go and use what is available from my local store.  Hence, the reason for stuffed organic summer squash...all the organic zucchini were gone.

STUFFED ORGANIC SUMMER SQUASH          2 SERVINGS

6-8 ounces browned cooked ground beef or use one container of Freezer Meat Meal Starter, Browned Ground Beef, thawed
3/4 cup No Tomato Red Sauce thawed  (I make this once a month and freeze in 3/4 cup servings)
2 medium organic yellow squash
1 large sweet onion or 2 small, sliced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 TSP olive oil, divided
2 cups organic baby spinach, chop really small like you would herbs (I dislike the texture of big pieces of spinach)
1/4 cup black olives, sliced

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Peel squash, slice in half, remove seeds.  Brush with olive oil.  Place in glass baking and cover.  Bake 25 minutes.
• Slice onions, sautee in olive oil about 7 minutes, add garlic cook 2 minutes.  Add browned ground beef and spinach.  Cook about 3 minutes longer just to mix ingredients together.  Add olives to the mixture after you remove the pan from the heat and stir in.
• Scoop meat mixture into the squash. 
• While stuffed squash are roasting, warm No Tomato Red Sauce in a small saucepan.  Once you remove stuffed squash from the oven, spoon warmed sauce over them. 

Shredded Chicken Salad Specific Carbohydrate Diet Clean Eating

Having chicken in the freezer that is already cooked and shredded is such a time and money saver.  I love freezer meat meal starters.  The hardest part is remembering to put them in the refrigerator the night before to thaw. Tonight's chicken salad dinner was done in 30 minutes. All I had to do was wash the apples, celery, grapes and lettuce, do a little chopping,  mix in some dripped yogurt cream cheese and it was ready to eat!

FREEZER MEAT MEAL STARTER CHICKEN SALAD SPECIFIC CARBOHYDRATE DIET
makes 2 servings

6-8 ounces cooked, shredded chicken, or use one container shredded chicken meat meal starter, thawed in refrigerator
1 organic Granny Smith Apple, washed, peeled and chopped
1 cup organic seedless grapes, washed, cut in half
1 large organic celery rib (piece), washed, chopped very tiny
4 ounces dripped yogurt cream cheese
4 organic Romaine leaves
sea salt to taste
(optional) 1 cup organic spinach, chop very fine like one would chop herbs for a recipe

Wash, peel and chop Apple.  Wash grapes, cut in half.  Wash celery, chop tiny. Wash lettuce. Add container of shredded chicken meat meal starter.  Mix in cream cheese.  Add salt to taste.  Chill for 30 minutes before serving. Serve on lettuce.

Recipe for Shredded Chicken Meat Starter Specific Carbohydrate Diet Clean Eating

Frozen meat starters...I like this idea and think it will work well for following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.  Actually, this could work well for any diet where chicken is eaten!  This is a huge time saver and money saver! My version of non processed, clean eating freezer meals.

SHREDDED CHICKEN MEAT STARTER RECIPE FOR FREEZER MEAL COOKING

8 Chicken Breast, about 4-5 pounds, pastured antibiotic free
2 organic carrots cut into 2 inch long pieces
2 organic celery ribs (pieces) cut into 2 inch long pieces
1 large onion chopped into chunks
2 TSP Himalayan Pink Salt
enough water to cover all of the ingredients

I used a 6 quart crockpot.  Place ingredients in crockpot or slow cooker.  Cook on HIGH 4-6 hours or LOW for 6-8 hours.  Let cool.

Remove chicken from crock pot and place in a large bowl to shred, or use KitchenAid mixer with the paddle blade to shred.  Place in labeled *freezer safe Mason jars in amounts that are suitable for your family and place in the freezer.

I weighed the cooked chicken and estimated 3 ounces per person. Since it is just me and the hubs we only need 6 ounces per meal.  That fit in the one cup freezer safe Mason jars by packing it really tight.  I cooked 4 pounds of chicken breasts (8 breasts). By dividing the cooked chicken into equal 6 ounce amounts, I was able to get 6 meal starters.  Generally, I cook 2 breasts per meal for me and the hubs.  This gave me 2 additional meals from 8 breasts and the hubs and I didn't overeat!!

Plus you have a bonus!!  The broth left in the crock pot can be frozen for use later on.  Remove the vegetables and strain the broth.  Place in *freezer safe Mason jars and label.  Use this broth for recipes that call for chicken or vegetable broth.  I don't know about you but I think boxed vegetable broth is very expensive and the ingredient list is a little bit scary.

*NOTE:  Use whatever freezing method you like. I prefer freezer safe Mason jars but I do use BPA free Ziploc freezer bags sometimes for items that won't fit in jars such as ground beef patties.

Freezer Meat Meal Starters Clean Eating Specific Carbohydrate Diet

I love the idea of freezer meals.  Do all the prep work one day and have delicious meals for a month that you pull out of the freezer and put in the crockpot.  Unfortunately, I haven't been very successful finding recipes that are Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) legal with food options we will/can eat.

Most freezer meal or batch cooking, contains canned tomatoes/vegetables, cream soup, soy and teriyaki sauce, pasta, potatoes or rice and lots of processed ingredients that I can't/won't eat.  There are foods that are SCD legal but I still can't eat them, such as tomatoes and all peppers and spices derived from peppers, also known as nightshades.  I think the best I can do right now, is make some meat entrees that can be thawed in the refrigerator the night before, then added to some simple dishes.  Our side dishes are frozen or fresh vegetables and salads - no pasta, rice or potatoes.  Just keep it simple and healthy and generally on the low carb side.

Specific Carbohydrate Diet Freezer Meat Meal Starters.  These are so easy it is probably silly for me to post but I hope to help others who were as overwhelmed as I was starting out eating clean and following the SCD.  From each of these basic meat/meal starters, I will add recipes for meals as I come up with them.  Click on the links below to be taken to the recipes. 

Freeze in portions that are the best size for you and your family.  I have a digital kitchen scale so I can weigh cooked portions before freezing.  It is really a big help with portion control for weight loss and in the long run save money by not overcooking or wasting leftovers.  When I was on a weight loss program years ago, I was told to eat 3 ounces of cooked meat so I generally freeze 6-8 ounce portions of cooked meat for the hubs and I. 

So far, I have decided on these 7 choices, one for each day of the week.  Make enough of each Freezer Meat Starter to feed your family once a week for a month or more, freezing in individual containers for one meal. 

1.  Shredded Chicken (cook chicken breasts in crockpot, shred, freeze)
2.  Beef Meatballs no eggs, no flour but full of vegetables
3.  Chicken Meatballs no eggs, no flour but full of vegetables
4.  Hamburger Patties  (press out a couple of pounds of ground beef, put parchment paper between the burgers so they come apart easily and freeze)
5.  Scrambled Ground Beef ( brown 4-? pounds of ground beef, divide into the amount you need for a meal according to your family size, freeze)
6.  Scrambled Ground Chicken Breasts ( brown 4-? pounds ground chicken breasts, divide into the amount you need for a meal according to your family size, freeze)

Transitioning to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet SCD

I have been following an anti inflammatory diet from my chiropractor for three months now.  The diet is very similar to the Autoimmune Protocol, AIP, which is based on Paleo foods. I have been reading about another diet called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, SCD, which is more gut specific in my opinion.  Many people think it is more restrictive than the Autoimmune Protocol.  But I feel the legal/allowed foods are more like what I already know doesn't cause gut distress for me. 

My diarrhea has subsided, with the exception of the coconut macaroon incident a few weeks ago. But, my energy level is still not good.  My pain has improved so much.  I can't really say I am totally pain free, there are days I feel horrible, but I am much improved from three months ago.  I know I can feel better if my gut gets healthier, my activity level increases and I continue to lose weight.

I have decided to transition to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, instead of the Autoimmune Protocol as initially planned.  Since my health issues started with my gut almost forty years ago with a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis after having mononucleosis and six weeks of penicillin shots for it.... what was my sweet, elderly, country doctor thinking.  And more recently a diagnosis of diverticulosis and IBS after a colonoscopy.  I think the SCD is more gut healing specific and probably a better choice for me.  I am curious why no physician has ever mentioned this diet to me.  My last GI doctor told me to figure out what foods cause my diarrhea and stop eating them!

I have read the book, "Breaking the Vicious Cycle" by Elaine Gottschall, several times and it just makes sense to me.  SCD uses homemade yogurt that ferments 24 hours which gives the lactose in milk (a disaccharide) time to break down into galactose (a monosaccharide) which requires minimal digestion.  The gut benefits from the good bacteria in the homemade yogurt.  I know from past experiences, plain organic Greek yogurt agrees with my gut, but milk doesn't. 

Also in the book, it is suggests eating cooked vegetables and fruits until diarrhea subsides.  I figured this out the hard way.  I can eat raw spinach and romaine lettuce, but only 1/4 cup of each a day.  Any more than that and I bloat and cramp.  I eat at least 1-2 cups of cooked baby spinach every day that I cut very tiny, almost like you chop herbs for recipes because I really don't like the texture of big pieces of spinach.  There are also several allowed foods that I already know I can't eat without symptoms so I will leave those alone.

I talked to my medical doctor before making the decision.  He agreed that our health can be affected by what we eat and he didn't think it would hurt to try this diet.  I was hoping to get more input from him but he didn't have much to say.  He said we could re-evaluate in 4 months, after I have a colonoscopy in November.