Homemade Dripped Yogurt Cream Cheese Specific Carbohydrate Diet

Specific Carbohydrate Diet dripped yogurt cream cheese is delicious!  I was really surprised how thick it is and how good it tastes without any additives or sugar!  It is so nice making a new recipe knowing it won't hurt my gut.  In fact, since I started eating homemade yogurt last week, my weight loss has increased so the yogurt must be doing something right in my gut.  Adding homemade, 24 hour fermented, Specific Carbohydrate Diet yogurt to my diet is the only thing I changed.   This recipe is adapted from the book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle, by Elaine Gottschall.  I simplified it by using a coffee filter draped over a small mason jar.  I might get some cheese cloth to make a larger amount but I may as well use up all my coffee filters first, since I don't drink coffee any more.  I can't wait to start using dripped yogurt cream cheese in some of my old recipes.

DRIPPED YOGURT CREAM CHEESE

4-5 ounces 24 hour fermented yogurt per these instructions
coffee filter
mason jar

Place yogurt in coffee filter.  Drape filter over the edge of the mason jar and push the paper down around the outside edge of jar, hold while screwing the jar cap on over the coffee filter.  Let it drip for about 8-12 hours in the refrigerator.  The liquid will collect in the bottom of the jar and the coffee filter holds the cream cheese up and out of the liquid.

I am not sure how long this will last in the refrigerator.  I am guessing about 4-7 days storing it in the mason jar with the lid on it.

Herb Rub for Chicken SCD Legal

While my daughter was visiting, she made the best Herb Crusted Chicken that I had ever had!  She rubbed the herb mixture under the skin and on the outside of the whole chicken then roasted it at 325 degrees.  It was beyond delicious!  I enjoyed the flavor so much that I started thinking that the rub would also be good for boneless, skinless, baked chicken breasts or to saute chicken strips with.  So I adapted the recipe just a tad to be Specific Carbohydrate Diet legal.  The small packages of fresh herbs were just the right amount for this recipe.

Herb Rub  makes enough for 2 whole chickens or about 10 TBSP

Use fresh herbs:
1/4 cup packed each:  Thyme, Basil, Tarragon, Oregano
3-4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 shallots, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1 TSP Kosher salt
(optional) black pepper to taste

Place fresh herbs, garlic and shallots in food process.  Grind into a rough paste, scrapping down frequently.  Slowly drizzle olive oil into food processor.  Continue to process until mixture is smooth.

I froze the mixture in one tablespoon blobs on parchment paper squares about 2 inch x 2 inch on a plate in the freezer.  Once frozen, I placed them in a freezer safe mason jar with the parchment paper between them.  I tried freezing them in ice cube trays but had no luck popping them out when it came time to use them.  Each tablespoon is just enough for one chicken breast.

NOTE:  if roasting a whole chicken, use one half of the recipe and freeze the remainder.  Rub mixture under the skin of the breast and on the outside of the chicken coating well.  Place the chicken on a wire rack in a roasting pan.  Roast in 325 degree preheated oven 20-30 minutes per pound. Roast chicken until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.  Remove from oven and allow to rest 15 minutes before carving.  The skin should be crispy and the meat tender and juicy.

Yogurt for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet Good Gut Bacteria

 

This was my first attempt at making homemade yogurt, more specifically yogurt that is allowed on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) yogurt. When I first decided to transition from the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) to the SCD, the biggest difference I saw was SCD uses yogurt for good bacteria and AIP doesn't.  My tummy has always been fine with plain, organic Greek Yogurt.  So I am hoping this homemade yogurt works for me.  I also hope my explanation of how to make it will help blog readers have the courage to make it also!  I am pretty convinced that this yogurt is healthier than store bought processed yogurt.  Although it is more tart than even Greek yogurt, it tastes good.  Add some fruit or honey, once it is cooked, and you have a delicious, healthy yogurt.  I can't wait to make cream cheese with it and start using yogurt in my recipes again.

In the book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle, Elaine Gottschall suggests yogurt is a way to add good bacteria into the gut. I have tried several OTC pro-biotics over the last few years that didn't help me and they are pretty expensive.  And store bought yogurt has too many unknown additives, especially all the different kinds of sugar which I know from experience hurt my gut. 

I was terrified to make yogurt.  It was so confusing to me.  I have seen so many different ways to make yogurt but I wanted to try and stick with what was in the book.  I tried to find commercial yogurt for the starter that was described in the book but couldn't.  Then I read about Yogourmet freeze dried starter and decided to use it.  I didn't want to spend a fortune on a yogurt maker either so the one I purchased was only thirty dollars.  Only time will tell how much it is helping me.

I am using this yogurt maker, made by Euro-Cuisine.  This model yogurt maker doesn't have a timer on it so I can leave it on to ferment 24 hours per the instructions in the book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle.  Most yogurt makers have timers that shut off at 4-15 hours, but then I would have to remember to turn it back on, so this one without a timer will be easier for me.  I also like the seven individual glass jars, not plastic jars.  And the yogurt maker was not very expensive, just in case I can't add dairy back and won't be making more yogurt.  The yogurt ends up being much less expensive than organic store bought.  Each 5gr yogurt starter is about $1 each and 32 ounces of organic milk was about $2.50, so roughly $3.50 for 32 ounces of yogurt, plus the cost of the yogurt maker.  That is about what I was paying for 16 ounces of organic plain Greek yogurt.

This is the yogurt starter I used, Yogourmet.  It is a freeze dried yogurt starter that doesn't contain Bifidus which Elaine Gottschall doesn't recommend eating and most commercial yogurt contains Bifidus. This starter contains Skim Milk Powder, Sucrose (Sugar), Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Active Lactic Bacteria (L.bulgaricus, S.thermophilus, L.acidophi).   I ordered both the yogurt maker and a few packages of Yogourmet starter from Drugstore.com and got free shipping for ordering over $35.

This is how I made SCD 24 hour yogurt.  I used half of the half-gallon of milk so I can get two batches of yogurt out of it.  The jars are only about 2/3 full, about 4+ fluid ounces.

32 ounces organic milk
one package ( 5gr ) of Yogourmet freeze-dried yogurt starter

• Bring the milk to a boil, I used medium heat on my stove top setting.  The temperature will be over 180 degrees when it starts to boil, and it will quickly climb to 200 degrees so work fast to take it off the heat.
• Remove from stove to let cool to 108 to 112 degrees F, according to Yogourmet package directions.  I put the pan in the refrigerator and stirred a couple of times until it was 108 degrees.
• Remove about  2 TBSP of the 108 degree milk into measuring cup and stir yogurt starter mix into that, it makes sort of a paste, then add about 1/2 cup more of the warm milk, stir.  Then pour back that back into the pot of warm milk and stir gently to mix well.
• Pour into the 7 individual glass jars, without lids, place into the yogurt maker, turn on and leave for 24 hours.  A sticky note with the time to turn it off might be helpful.
• After 24 hours, gently remove the jars and place in the refrigerator for 8 hours before eating.  This stops the fermentation process. 
• I am not 100% sure how long this yogurt stays fresh.  I have read sources that say it stays fresh for 1 week, others say 3 weeks. 

Interesting research about yogurt and the gut!
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2219330/

Eggs, Specific Carbohydrate Diet Allowed Food

Eggs are one of the foods that I was never too sure about.  If I ate eggs for breakfast, I generally got a tummy ache right after eating them.  I would be in the bathroom sometimes ten times in a 2 hour period making it very difficult to even leave the house before noon.  Eating them later in the day or for dinner could go either way. 

But, was it the eggs or the coffee full of high fructose corn syrup creamer that I used to drink while eating them.  Or was it the processed bread, full of gluten and lots of additives including high fructose corn syrup, that usually accompanied the eggs.  Or was it because they were not organic eggs...what had the chickens been eating and how much of that was in the eggs I ate!  Or was it just my very unhealthy gut!  So many variables.

I started eating pastured, organic eggs about a week ago.  I really don't like eggs very much but thought I should try them first before reintroducing any other foods.  That way I would know if I can use them in recipes. The recipes in the book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle, use a lot of eggs.  I am not sure how much I will use eggs but it gives me options. 

I have eaten eggs for lunch and dinner boiled, scrambled and fried in olive oil with the yellow cooked well.  I still haven't eaten eggs for breakfast, only for lunch or dinner.  I am too afraid that first thing in the morning would be too much for my gut to handle just yet...don't push my luck. 

So far, my tummy is happy and I haven't noticed any increase in pain, brain fog or increased fatigue or insomnia after eating eggs.

I think the three months of following the anti inflammatory diet has had a very positive impact on my gut and my overall health. 

Chicken Vegetable Meatballs

I have enjoyed my beef meatballs so much that I decided to try making ground chicken breast meatballs.  You can use any kind of ground chicken that you like, but I am very picky and ground two boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about a pound, using a food grinder on my Kitchenaid mixer.  I also like sneaking vegetables into my meatballs.  These would be great for picky eaters who don't like greens, you can't taste the spinach if you mince it small enough.

CHICKEN VEGETABLE MEATBALLS                 makes about 14 small meatballs

2 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (about 1 lb) ground
1 large Vidalia onion, finely chopped
1 large organic carrot , finely shredded
1 stalk organic celery, finely minced
1-2 TSP olive oil, or coconut oil for sautéing vegetables
1/2 TSP sea salt
1 TBSP olive oil (to add to mixture)
**(optional) 2 cloves garlic, minced (cook last 2 minutes with veges)
**(optional) 1 cup organic spinach, finely minced (don't add if you plan to freeze)
**(optional) 3 TBSP homemade basil and spinach pesto mixed into meatballs (don't add if you plan to freeze)
*(optional) 1/2 - 3/4 cup No Tomato Red Sauce for dipping or to serve over meatballs.  When I make the beef meatballs, I mix the sauce right into the meat mixture before baking.  So far I haven't tried that with the chicken but will let you know how that works out.

Preheat over to 375 degrees.
Saute onion, carrots and celery in olive oil about 7 minutes. Let cool.
Mix into the ground chicken along with olive oil and salt and **optional ingredients if using.
Roll into small meatballs, about 1 rounded TBSP.  Place them in a glass baking dish.  Cook for 20-30 minutes.  Mine didn't brown.