Cinnamon Cookies

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp real butter (melted)

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 cups almond flour

pecans

Add all ingredients in a mixing bowl, except pecans, stirring the almond flour in last. Mix well. Form dough into 1-inch diameter balls and place on a buttered cookie sheet. Press a pecan half onto each ball to flatten. Bake at 275 degrees for 15 minutes or until done.

Enjoy!

Zucchini Cups

Ingredients:

Several Large Zucchini 

1/2 cup chopped onion

Olive oil 

1 lb. ground beef

spaghetti sauce (I used the previous spaghetti sauce recipe from this blog)

grated mild cheddar and monteray jack cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut zucchini into sections, discarding ends. Use knife or a sharp spoon to hollow out the middle of the zucchini sections. Leave about 1/4 inch of the zucchini flesh around the edges. (If hollowed out too close, the cups will leak when cooked.) Set aside the zucchini pieces that are hollowed out. Put zucchini pieces in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and microwave for approximately 8 minutes or until soft. Saute chopped onions in olive oil and brown ground beef in a skillet;drain fat. After preparing your spaghetti sauce in a pot, add ground beef, onions and zucchini pieces to the sauce. Spoon mixture into the hollowed out zucchini cups. Top each cup with grated mild cheddar and monteray jack cheese. Bake zucchini cups in oven for approximately 20 minutes or until zucchini is slightly soft.

Enjoy!

Flat Bread

You never realize how much you miss eating sandwiches, until you haven't had one in half a year! I have made bread before but the recipes were complicated, and they just didn't turn out quite right. Tonight I tried a new flat bread recipe, so Joshua could have a turkey sandwich, and it turned out great! The best part was, it was so simple!

Ingredients:

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups almond flour

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp natural vanilla extract

Beat eggs in large bowl. Add all the other ingredients and mix together well. Place a sheet of wax paper on a 9x13 cookie sheet. Spread batter evenly onto the cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees until the bread is golden brown. (About 10 or so minutes, depending on your oven.) Let cool and cut into pieces. (Mine made about 9 slices.) 

Enjoy!

Zucchini Lasagna

I have been so excited to post this recipe. We enjoy this lasagna and have even made it for family members who don't follow the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and they loved it as well! One tip I would like to give you before you get your ingredients together for this recipe, is to grate your own block of cheese. This ensures that you won't be getting all the additives that are in pre-shredded bags of cheese.

Ingredients:

 Several Large Zucchini 

Spaghetti Meat Sauce (see previous recipe)

1 lb ground beef

olive oil

mild cheddar cheese

monterey jack cheese

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease 9x13 dish with olive oil. Wash zucchini and cut off ends. Cut lengthwise into thin slices. Lightly salt each slice. Warm olive oil in skillet. Place zucchini slices in skillet -do no overlap the slices- and cook until lightly browned. Flip the zucchini slice over to roast the other side, then set aside. In pot, make spaghetti meat sauce. (See previous post for spaghetti sauce recipe). Grate your cheddar and monterey jack cheese. Layer the sauce, zucchini, and cheese. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Spaghetti Sauce

I use this spaghetti sauce in recipes very often. My Mom actually gave me this recipe, and we think it has a wonderful taste! I was using "Eden Organic" Spaghetti Sauce (which you may have seen in my previous recipe for 'Spaghetti Squash Casserole') , until the company began adding sugar in their sauce, which meant we couldn't use it anymore. So, now I use Muir-Glen Organic Tomatoe Sauce to make my spaghetti sauce. Just make sure that the tomato sauce you choose contains only "SCD legal" ingredients.

 

Ingredients:

15 oz. Tomato Sauce 

1 clove minced garlic

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp oregano 

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 lb ground beef

Combine tomato sauce, garlic, water, oregano, pepper, salt and chopped onion. In a skillet, lightly brown beef. Drain fat and add the ground beef to the sauce. Let sauce simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes.

Enjoy! 

(This sauce is wonderful over spaghetti squash noodles, and it makes for a very quick, and easy meal!)

Peanut Butter Fudge

I made this fudge for this first time this past Easter. Since, Joshua can't have candy, I thought this would help curb his sweet tooth. The only disadvantage to this delicious fudge, is that it has to be kept cool, or it's consistency will not be very fudge-like. This is due to the coconut-oil in the fudge, which at room-temperature is a semi-solid oil. Other than that, it is a wonderful treat! (Note: In the ingredients, it says to add honey to taste. I tend to like the honey and add about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup!)

Ingredients

1 cup Coconut Oil

1/2 cup Natural Peanut Butter

Honey to taste

Dash of Salt

1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

Melt the Coconut oil in saucepan on low heat or in the microwave. Pour the oil and the remaining ingredients into blender and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture into an 8x8 glass dish. Cover and place in the freezer until ingredients are fudge-like consistency!

Remember to always store your fudge in the freezer.

Enjoy!

Banana Bread

Joshua and I are in the middle of planning our first Anniversary trip. We are going to be flying to Orlando and staying for 6 days in Disney World! We are so exciting and looking forward to the trip! While thinking and planning for dining and snacks, I have been deciding on what to bring for Joshua to eat in the parks. I decided I would definitely be bringing some loafs of banana bread! They are very easy to make, and Joshua loves it, so it's a win-win!

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups almond flour

4 eggs

1/2 cup honey

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vinegar

2-3 ripe bananas

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Generously butter a loaf pan. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Spoon into buttered loaf pan. Put in the oven on middle rack. Bake for approximately 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool 30 minutes to an hour and remove loaf. 

 

Enjoy!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

In the past couple weeks, there is one fruit Joshua and I cannot get enough of, and that's pineapple! So, tonight I attempted my first pineapple upside down cake - SCD style - and it came out pretty good!

Ingredients

2 cups almond flour

3 eggs

1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)

1/2 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla extract (pure)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

Slices of fresh pineapple

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix eggs, honey, coconut oil, and vanilla. (Optional: You may want to add 1/2 cup pineapple chunks into mix, you want pineapple inside the cake!) Add almond flour, salt and cinnamon. Mix well. Line the bottom of a 9 inch circle baking dish with parchment paper. Grease sides of dish with butter. Place pineapple slices in bottom of dish. Pour batter over pineapple slices and bake for 40 minutes. Let cool on rack, loosen edges and flip over. 

Enjoy! 

Butternut Squash French Fries

I made these for dinner tonight, and they turned out better than I expected! They didn't turn out as crispy as I had thought but they tasted wonderful and are a great alternative to the traditional "french fries"! The recipe calls for a high heat oil, I used coconut oil.

Ingredients:

1 Butternut Squash

1/2 tsp salt (or more if needed to coat fries evenly)

1/2 tsp coconut oil (just enough to lightly cover each fry)

Peel butternut squash, cut it in half length-wise and scoop out seeds. Cut into strips or "fry shape". Place fries in bowl, sprinkle with salt and toss to fully coat each fry. Spread fries out on paper towel and let sit for 30 minutes to "sweat out" the moisture. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wipe moisture off fries and place back in bowl and cover with heated coconut oil. Place parchment paper on baking sheet and spread out fries. Bake fries for 15 minutes on one side, flip them and bake for another 10 minutes or until edges are crisp. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Enjoy!

*Fries can be reheated at 400 degrees for 5 minutes*

Broccoli & Cheese Bites

I found this recipe on pinterest and modified it to have SCD ingredients! 

Ingredients

16 oz. frozen broccoli 

2 cups grated mild cheddar cheese

  4 eggs

1/2 cup almond flour

salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Form small patties and place on parchment paper. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, turn patties over and bake for another 10 minutes. 

Enjoy!

Joshua's Ketchup

When you are on the specific carbohydrate diet, there is one thing for sure. You eat a LOT of meat! So you can't be on the diet long before you figure out your favorite ketchup recipe. We have tried several recipes, found our favorite, and modified it until we were happy! I call this "Joshua's Ketchup" because he modified this to perfection and he makes it more often than I do, actually! It has the consistency of "real ketchup" and tastes great too! Also, it's quite easy. It doesn't require constant stirring for an hour and a half like one recipe that I tried(and made for several months!). We bought a plastic squeeze bottle from Sam's to store it in. It's very, very, very important to find the right tomato paste for this ketchup. I can't stress enough how important it is to read the labels! Reading labels always makes my trips to the grocery store a little bit longer, but I promise, it's worth it! I hope you'll enjoy this recipe as much as we have!

Ingredients:

12 oz. can of tomato paste

1 tsp honey

3/4 cup vinegar

1/2 cup water

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder 

Stir all ingredients on medium heat for approximately 15-20 minutes. Refrigerate. 

Enjoy! 

Easy enough, right? :)

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

The last couple recipes I posted were baked goods, so I thought I would switch it up and post a main dish! I baked this casserole tonight, and it was very good! Joshua gave it two thumbs up so we'll definitely be making this dish again!

Tip:

Make sure your spaghetti sauce is SCD legal. I used Eden Organic Spaghetti Sauce.

Ingredients:

1 large Spaghetti Squash

1/2 pound ground beef

2 cups Spaghetti Sauce

2 teaspoons Oregano

2 teaspoons Thyme

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 cups steamed Broccoli

1 1/2 cup cheese (I used mild cheddar, parmesan, and monterray jack.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut spaghetti squash in half. Using a spoon, scoop out seeds from squash. Brush cut sides with olive oil and place face down in a dish and microwave for 12 minutes. Once the spaghetti squash is softened, use a fork to scoop out squash in "noodle-like" strands. Brown meat and set aside. In a large saucepan, combine spaghetti sauce, oregano, thyme and ground beef. Heat it over medium/high heat and season with salt and pepper. Add spaghetti squash and steamed broccoli to the saucepan and toss to coat evenly. Transfer mixture to large casserole dish that has been coated with olive oil. Top the casserole with grated cheese and bake for 25 minutes. 

Enjoy!

 

Strawberry Ice Cream

 

 This is another one of Joshua's favorite sweet snacks! Whenever we started following the Specific Carbohydrate diet, we had pretty much thrown the idea of ever eating ice cream again out the window. However, thankfully there is a way we can still follow the diet and have our ice cream! It takes a couple steps, starting with making yogurt. In order to make the yogurt you will need a Yogourmet Yogurt maker. (Shown below is the yogurt maker, which can be easily ordered online, and the yogurt starter, which you can find at a organic/whole foods grocery store.) I absolutely love my Yogourmet and I think it's a great purchase if you're following the diet, or just want to be healthy and make your own yogurt!

  

To make the SCD yogurt you will need:

2 quarts Milk

10 grams Yogurt Starter

1 1/2 cups Water

Pour 2 quarts milk into a pot and bring to a boil. Temperature should measure greater than 180º F. Allow milk to cool to 100º (or room temperature). Stir for ten seconds before measuring with thermometer. Pour 10 grams of yogurt starter into yogourmet batch container. Add 1/4 cup cooled milk and stir until starter is dissolved. Pour remaining cooled milk into batch container and stir thoroughly. Cover batch container with lid. Pour 1 1/2 cup water into yogurt maker, and lower container into the water and place cover on top. Plug maker in (you will see the red light turn on), and allow to ferment for 24 hours minimum to 34 hours maximum. Unplug and place in fridge for 8 hours before using. Yogurt will remain fresh for two weeks.

Okay, now we will use the yogurt to make our ice cream! 

For the ice cream you will need:

1 cup SCD yogurt

7 Tbsp Honey (the more you add, the less tart the ice cream will be!)

1 1/2 cups Frozen Strawberries

3 Tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract (SCD legal only- no imitations!)

Mix the yogurt, honey and vanilla. Blend and slowly add the strawberries in. Pour mixture into ice cream maker and let mixture thicken, about 20-25 minutes. The ice cream will have a softer, creamy texture. If you want a firmer consistency, transfer the ice cream to a container and place in the freezer. We have a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker, and it works wonderfully! It is also good for making other yummy treats!

I know someone will read this and think "Wait, but I thought you couldn't have Milk on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet?" Well, I won't go into the scientific reasoning, but you are able to have milk only if it is fermented. So, that's how this ice cream can be SCD 'legal'. 

ENJOY!

Peanut Butter Brownies

The SCD Peanut Butter Brownies are very simple to make, they're not challenging at all! However, it is something that we make quite frequently in our household. They are always put in lunch boxes to eat at work, or taken on trips for a quick snack. They can be made in a 9x13 dish, but I personally like to make them in ceramic ramekins! They make a great dessert! The only specification I feel that I need to make is that when using peanut butter, it must only contain "SCD legal" ingredients. We have found a Smuckers brand (shown below) that contains only peanuts and 1% of salt. (Don't forget to always refrigerate after opening!)

1 Cup natural peanut butter
1/2 Cup honey
1/2 Teaspoon baking soda
1 Egg

Mix all ingredients well. Spoon into dish or ramekins and bake at 350º for 25-30 minutes.
(I have found the brownies bake slower when baked in ramekins, so you may need to adjust your time depending on what dish you're baking in.)
ENJOY!

Hi, I'm Laura. This blog will serve to share recipes with anyone trying to follow the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD). All my recipes will be refined sugar-free, grain-free, gluten- free, and lactose-free. So, the recipes could also be used to help cooks who have, or are cooking for some who has, Celiac Disease, IBD, Diabetes, etc. My recipes go along with the book "Breaking the Vicious Cycle" by Elaine Gotschall, which I recommend strongly! The book will give detailed explanations of how certain foods can be used to heal. I am by no means a chef, I just began cooking when I got married to my wonderful husband eight months ago. So, my recipes are a work in progress. My husband was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease in 2011, and each of these recipes is being used to heal him. The website title, "Curing Crohn's" may seem strange to some, because doctor's tell you it's incurable. But my husband and I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that with God, nothing is impossible!

Like I mentioned previously, I am not a professional chef quite yet, so comments are welcomed! I would love to hear from you! My hope is that, through this site, I can inspire those who are changing their lifestyles for the better! Enjoy!