PEANUT BUTTER SQUASH BROWNIES

PEANUT BUTTER SQUASH BROWNIES
by Nancy

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1/2 cup cooked butternut squash

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Banana Nut Pudding

1 ripe medium banana
2 TBL peanut butter (or other nut butter)
1/2 cup homemade yogurt


1. Smash banana with fork until completely smooth.
2. Mix peanut butter with smashed banana.
3. Put 1/2 cup homemade yogurt into a bowl.
4. Mix banana/nut butter mixture into yogurt until smooth.
5. Refrigerate and serve cold.

Squash French Fries

SQUASH FRENCH FRIES
by Sheila

Butternut squash
olive oil

Preheat oven to 425F. Cut butternut squash in thin slices by hand or with a slicer. Toss them in olive oil, and place slices on a *baking stone. Bake until crisp. No turning is required

Cauliflower Popcorn

From pecanbread: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/pecanbread/message/72671

Cauliflower popcorn (from a newspaper)

Who woulda thunk that cauliflower could actually become addictive?
With this
simple high-temperature roasting process known as caramelization, your
basic
off-the-rack cauliflower is miraculously transformed into sweet,
lip-smackin'
candy bombs you and your guests won't be able to get enough of.

1 head cauliflower
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 425F, Cut out and discard cauliflower core and
thick stems.
Trim remaining cauliflower into florets the size of golf balls. In a large
bowl, add cauliflower, olive oil and salt. Toss thoroughly.

2. Spread cauliflower on a baking sheet. Roast for 1 hour or until
most of each
floret has become golden brown. Turn 3 or 4 times during roasting. Serve
immediately. Serves 6 to 8.

Update 11/29/2007
I tried this out. Didn't look like popcorn, but caramelized cauliflower does taste good. It didn't look much different from a crispy cauliflower sabji sans the spices.

Mock Sugar Cookies

From pecanbread: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/pecanbread/message/72673


2 cups almond flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/3 cup
honey, 2 Tablespoons coconut oil; Mix dry ingredients, add coconut oil and
honey, mix well. Roll dough into balls and flatten with fork on parchment
lined
baking sheet. Bake at 275 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes or till slightly
golden. Place on cooling rack and sprinkle with cinnamon if desired.

Avocado Bread

From the pecanbread website:http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/pecanbread/message/72654

AVOCADO BREAD
Ingredients
3 avocados
6 eggs
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. Nut butter – Optional, although it does make a firmer bread.

Instructions
1. Cut the avocados in half; remove pits and spoon out flesh. Discard
skins and pits. Puree the avocados, eggs, salt and nut butter together.
2. Spread into a jellyroll pan lined with parchment paper. Bake at
300° F for 30 minutes.
3. While it's still hot, place another piece of parchment on top and
flip into another jellyroll pan (or you can flip onto a cutting board
and then slide it back into the original pan). Peel the parchment
paper off the top, and return it to the oven bottom side up. Bake this
side for an additional 20 minutes at 300° F.

Sheera

1 cup masoor dal "rava"
1.5 cups almond milk

roast masoor dal "rava' in ghee. Add 1/2 chopped banana.
Heat almond milk, when it is boiling, add roasted mixture

Add a little more ghee, elaichi powder, saffron.

Update 11/29/2007:

I've since modified this to be really quick and easy. I pressure cook matar dal (preroasted and coarsely powdered) with a banana, saffron strands and almond milk (or water).
After its cooked, I add a dollop of honey and a little milk. tastes great.

Pumpkin Icecream

This one looks really good, from SCDrecipe_creators - http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/scdrecipe_creators/message/1837

Pumpkin Ice Cream

1 quart homemade yogurt
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 C honey
2 eggs
1 T vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of ground nutmeg
pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl then pour into an ice cream maker. If
the raw eggs
freak you out, leave them out. If you don't have an ice cream maker, I think
you could aerate
it well with a mixer then just put it in the freezer to harden. Enjoy!

Cococut Flour Cake

I tried my hand at the coconut flour today and am really pleased with the results.
Here's the original recipe from SCD_recipe_creators yahoo group:

Ellen's Coconut Flour cake (advanced food on SCD):

6 eggs

1 stick butter, melted

1 tbl. vanilla

1 cup coconut flour

1 cup honey

1.5 tsp. baking soda

Mix extremely well (I put in in my Kitchen Aid mixer for several minutes). Pour into well-greased cake pan, preferably lined with parchment on the bottom (can be hard to get out otherwise). Bake at 350 until lightly brown (I think it was about 30 minutes).


I replaced the butter with ghee, and I added some powdered cardamom to mask the taste of the coconut flour. I forgot about the parchment paper (I won't the next time!).

The tip about mixing extremely well in a Kitchen Aid mixer can't be understated. I beat the mixture for about 5-7 minutes.

The resulting batter looked like this:

As you can see, I am not using a cake pan, I don't have one (!).

I put this in the oven at 325F. At around 25 mins I got a little nervous, because the cake looked brown around the edges but didn't seem to be done yet in the center. So I reduced the heat to 275 F let it bake for 10 mins (at 275 F).
Turned the oven off and let the cake sit there till I got back from a kid-pickup-and-dropoff (about 20 mins).




And... Voila. Here's my perfect pound cake...that earns a high rating from S.
The coconut taste is reasonably masked by the cardamom (especially when its warm), but starts to make its presence felt when it is eaten cold.

I am sure that some coulis (without sugar) made from blueberries or raspberries would be perfect.

I can't wait to see if I can figure out how to layer some lemon curd (from yogurt cheese and lemon) or other fruit to dress this up to make it birthday party-worthy!

Coconut Flour muffins

Almond flour is an SCD staple, but is high in oxalate which isn't so great. This causes oxidative stress and increases inflammation.
I think SCD recommends no more than 4 almond flour muffins a day - I think S eats 4 a day for sure. His lunchbox always has a couple of almond muffins. They're yummy, high in protein and calories.
But from the oxalate point of view: Almonds have 303 oxalates per 1/2 cup, which makes it a high oxalate food. I think I need to start experimenting with other nut flours:
Peanuts - less at 119 per 1/2 cup.
Macadamias 27 oxalates per 1/2 cup
Walnuts 45 per 1/2 cup
Pistachios 32 per 1/2 cup

Coconut Flour is another great alternative, and here are a couple of recipes that I am going to try from: http://www.simplycoconut.com/coconut_flour_recipes.htm

Honey Muffins

This is a basic coconut four muffin recipe you can use to make a variety of muffins.

3 eggs

2 tablespoons ghee

2 tablespoons coconut milk [ I used almond milk]

3 tablespoons honey

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon vanilla

¼ cup sifted coconut flour [Bob's red mill coconut flour]

¼ teaspoon baking powder

Blend together eggs, butter, coconut milk, honey, salt, and vanilla. Combine coconut flour with baking powder and thoroughly mix into batter until there are no lumps. Pour batter into muffin cups. Bake at 400 degrees F (205C) for at least 15 minutes. Makes 6 muffins.

I tried this out this weekend. They turned out great. I added raisins to the batter.

Pecan Muffins

Make Honey Muffins as directed and add ½ cup of chopped pecans and ⅛ teaspoon almond extract.

Blueberry Muffins

Make Honey Muffins as directed and add ½ cup of fresh blueberries and ⅛ teaspoon almond extract. Blueberries should be dry. If rinsed, dry before adding to batter. Bake for 16-18 minutes.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Make Honey Muffins as directed but omit the vanilla and add 2 teaspoons of lemon extract. Sprinkle poppy seeds on top of muffins just before baking.

Update 10/15/07
This has now become the weekly staple. These muffins are so spongy and moist they taste like they are made of gluten. The taste of coconut is completely masked if you add a banana. I've also doubled the quantities to make 12 muffins with no problem.

Cranberry Walnut Bread

8 eggs

½ cup coconut oil or butter, melted

½ cup coconut milk

½ cup sucanat or sugar [ replace with honey]

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon lemon extract

½ teaspoon salt

⅔ cup sifted coconut flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup dried cranberries

½ cup walnuts, chopped

Blend together eggs, oil, coconut milk, sugar, vanilla, lemon extract, and salt. Combine coconut flour with baking powder and whisk thoroughly into batter until there are no lumps. Fold in cranberry sauce and nuts. Pour into greased 9x5x3-inch loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees F (175 C) for 60 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on rack.

PB cookies

PB cookie recipe - 1/2 C butter, 1 C peanut butter, 1/2 C honey , 1 C nut flour, 2 eggs, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp vanilla . cream butter. add PB and mix, add rest. drop on greased cookie sheet and bake 325F for 10 minutes

From SCD_recipe_creators yahoo group.

Update 10/15/07
I tried this recipe out yesterday. The cookies were delicious, soft and the sweetness was just right, but is not great for the lunch box because it falls apart. Sanjay loved them.
I added about 1 tbs coconut flour and left the cookies in the oven after switching it off. This made them much more firm and lunch-boxable.

Single Guy's Baked Banana Dish

From
http://www.mealsforyou.com/cgi-bin/print?recipe.10170
For 4 servings:

• 8 firm bananas, cut into chunks
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup cinnamon sugar

Place banana chunks in a small baking dish. Top with melted butter and cinnamon sugar. Bake in the oven or in a toaster oven at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes.

SCD Apple Chutney

Cook 1/2 apple
1/2 green chilli
salt to taste

Grind the above to a smooth consistency, add goat yogurt instead of water.
season with mustard and cumin seeds.
Add pepper if S asks for "black stuff".

SCD Kootu

Cook vegetables ( Zucchini, carrot, beans, cauliflower) with salt and turmeric.
when veggies are cooked, add 1 tsp split pea powder.

Coconut version
Grind coconut, jeera and 1 small chilli. Add this mixture to the cooked vegetables.

Non-coconut version
Use almond paste left over from making almond milk. Add this mixture to the cooked vegetables

SCD Rasam

Grind 1 tomato, cilantro, salt, and amma's premade rasam powder.

Boil 1 C water and add the rasam mixture to it.
Add a pinch of black pepper powder and season with mustard and cumin seeds.

SCD More Kuzhambu

Grated ginger
1 sm green chilli, slit into 4 pieces
diced zucchini/peas
1C goat yogurt
1 tsp dal powder

Chaunk of mustard seeds and jeera in ghee. Add grated ginger, chilli and diced vegetables.
Add 1 sm C water and salt and turmeric to taste.

Mix dal powder with a little bit of water and add it to the goat yogurt. You should have a smooth mixture.

When the zucchini is cooked, add the yogurt mixture. Bring to a boil and take it off the stove.

Garnish with coriander leaves.

More non-egg breakfast ideas

non-egg breakfast ideas:

smoothies
egg-free muffins
sausage -just brown meat and add spices and make into patties or logs
(or just leave it loose)
cheese
yogurt
DCCC moistened with yogurt and fruit
egg-free muffins, brownies or nut butter broken up in yogurt or nut milk
bananas in yogurt
pumpkin or winter squash with honey, cinnamon, nutmeg etc. (can also
add yogurt)
Jello
yogurt flavored with pumpkin butter
sandwiches made with eggless bread, sausage patties, and cheese

When I traveled in Europe, I saw them eat cold salmon and liver
pate'. There is no reason to stick to traditional breakfast foods, as
long as the children don't mind,

Mr. Sun Pudding by Deb
2 oz. cooked & pureed butternut squash
2 oz. cooked pureed pears –APPLESAUCE WOULD WORK TOO
1 tsp. nut butter of choice, warmed so it's easy to mix.
Mix all together well. Makes 1 serving.
--

Orange Pudding by Sherry
½ cup pureed pears
½ cup pureed carrots or butternut squash/pumpkin
1 tbsp cashew butter –CAN USE ALMOND BUTTER
Olive oil if needed to emulsify
Blend well
--

green pudding & other variations
My son looooooves green pudding. I make it with half an avocado, one
or 2 bananas, 1/2 cup of almond flour or 1/4 cup nut butter, a glob of
honey and some cinnamon. I make other 'colours'..same basic recipe,
but substitute avocado with any of strawberries, blueberries, cooked
carrots, cooked squash, cooked green beans etc. If made with frozen
bananas, it stays cold in his lunch. [other than maybe the strawberry,
you won't get me near them though!]
--

LIME PUDDING
by Nancy

1 ripe avocado
3 Tbsp or more fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp honey
a few drops Frontier vanilla
(optional) a few Tbsp yogurt

Mix all ingredients until smooth
--

squash casserole
2 C squash (cooked and mashed)
4 oz applesauce
1/8 C honey
cinnamon and nutmeg
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Very yummy.
--

pumpkin pudding
1 1/3 pumpkin –CAN USE WINTER SQUASH INSTEAD
1/3 T honey
2T butter
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
here's the hard recipe. mix and serve. or freeze in ice pop molds. i
think it would be yummy layered (and pretty) with dripped yogurt mixed
with honey.
--

EGGLESS PANCAKES

1 chicken breast-thawed
2 large pears-peeled
some baking soda
salt

blend until it is the same consistency throughout.
pour and shape with spoon on non-stick grill. Try to make them thick.
cook at about 350 degrees until dark brown on both sides-try not to
smash them down.

preheat your oven at 425 degrees. Put pancakes in a pan, covered with
aluminum foil. Bakes for 15-20 minutes. I just do this to make sure
they're completely safe to eat.
You can make them thin if you want. They also microwave up nicely.
They actually taste better microwaved, because it makes them a little
less dry. If you want to reduce the number of pears and just add water
or juice-that would work too. Just test it. It works very well though.
--

EGGLESS MUFFINS
I use 3 chicken breasts
4 cups butternut squash
I use 4 pears
baking soda
2 cups of water
a little salt
4 tablespoons coconut oil

should make 24-30 muffins
--

DARLENE'S APPLE CRISP
Ingredients
5 apples, peeled and sliced
2 pears, peeled and sliced
1 cup almond flour
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons butter
cinnamon to taste
Instructions
1. Mix apple and pear slices together in 9" pie plate, sprinkle with
cinnamon.
2. In a bowl mix flour, honey, and butter together.
3. Spread mixture of apple and pear slices.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbling.
5. Add cranberries or raisins for variation.
Notes
Hi here is a new recipe that my wife has made scd legal for apple
crisp hope everyone enjoys it.
-Clark McIntyre
--

Yogurt pie (adapted from 'It's-a-snap cheesecake from the Knox
Gelatine box)
1 envelope plain gelatine
1/2 cup honey
1 cup boiling water
16 oz of dripped yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
SCD nut crust if desired

1. Mix gelatin and honey in small bowl. add boiling water and stir
until gelatin completely dissolves, in about 5 minutes.
2. Beat yogurt cheese an vanilla in large bowl with mixer until
smooth; slowly beat in gelatin mixture. Pour into prepared crust if
desired or pour into greased pie plate.
3. Refrigerate until firm, bout 3 hours. Garnish as desired.
--
CHICKEN SAUSAGE
Ingredients
3 pounds fresh ground chicken
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon water
pinch of pepper
pinch of thyme
pinch of sage
pinch of cayenne
Instructions
1. Stir all ingredients together. Mix.
2. Shape into 3 rolls. Roll snugly in foil and store 24 hours in
refrigerator.
3. Poke holes in top and bottom of foil.
4. Arrange on tray and cook in 300 degree F (150 C) oven for 2 hours.
Remove from foil.
Notes
May be sliced for sandwiches or eaten with crackers. Can be stored in
freezer for up to 6 months.

Non-nut muffins

From pecanbread...

I take a large cooked
acorn squash and put the squash and two eggs in the blender with a
tablespoon of honey and a dash of cinnamon (these could be
optional). I blend it until it is smooth. I put a tsp. of this into
a mini muffin pan. I just bought 2 "24" muffin pans for cheap at
Target and I already had one, so I make more than one batch and
freeze some to last us through the week. One batch usually makes
about 60 little "squash buttons" as we call them at our house. I
bake them at 300 degrees for about 30 to 40 minutes. I usually look
for them to be browning a little and pulling away from the sides of
the pan. You could probably fill the cups a little fuller, but then
they are softer and mushier in the middle. The way I do it they come
out like flat little buttons, and they aren't too eggy or soft which
he would not eat. He eats them cold or I toast them in my toaster
oven. These are great finger food snacks I send to school with him
also. They could be made with butternut squash too. I am planning
on trying to make little spinach ones also, I'm not sure if he will
eat them since they will be green, but I'm going to try. We haven't
started with the nutbutters or nut flours, so I am trying to find
ways to give him the bread type things in other ways. Hope this
might be an option for you.

Whats in the SCD lunch box these days

S is finally figuring out that he can actually eat his lunch in school instead of starving until 4 pm for me to pick him up.
Last week he cleaned out his lunchbox twice! He appears to prefer his food separated into several little containers.
I've packed 1) strawberries 2)raisins 3)muffins 4)masoor dal "vadai" 5)cherry tomatoes
with some luck so far.

Almond Milk

One of the things we had given up when we moved to SCD was the Pacific brand Almond milk - it had a couple of SCD illegal additives like rice bran syrup.

This weekend I made a trip to Ranch 99 in search of young coconuts and ended up coming home with a Soy Milk Maker. (tayama DJ-15A). I paid about $40 for it and used it to make almond milk.
I used dry slivered almonds (I will probably pre-soak raw almonds, take the skin off for subsequent use).
It was pretty straightforward and is a good backup to the goat yoghurt smoothie that S is getting tired of these days. makes about a jugful (about 3 glasses). S was OK with all the supplements in it, though it tasted a bit chalky to me.
I bought some clear and delicious Orange Blossom Honey from the farmer's market in Mtn View and used a spoonful to sweeten the milk.

I've seen reviews on Amazon that says that the maker doesn't last for very long, so we'll see how it goes.

Update 9/24/2007
The only part of the nut milk maker I'm using now is the fine-mesh stainless strainer! I'm using the time-honored way of making nut milk: soak almonds in hot water, peel the skins, and grind finely in the Vita-mix, strain, add hot water as needed.

Masoor Dal "Rice"

1 C masoor dal mock "rice"
3.5 C water

Spread ghee in a saucepot. Add water and bring to a boil. Add mock "rice" to the boiling water and bring flame down to low.
Simmer over open flame till the water evaporates, about 30-40 mins.

Masoor Dal /Matar Dal Dhokla

I'm going to try this recipe out by replacing besan flour with masoor dal or matar dal.

Ingredients:
* Besan (chickpea flour) 1 cup - -- REPLACE WITH MASOOR or MATAR
* Water 1 cup
* Lime juice 3 tbsp
* Oil 1 tbsp. plus one tsp. (3 tbsp. in the original recipe)
* Eno Fruit Salt 1 tsp
* Mustard Seeds 1 tsp
* Green Chillies 2 finely sliced
* Curry Leaves - 4 to 5
* Sugar 1 tbsp (2 tbsp in original recipe)
* Salt

Procedure:
Mix together besan, salt, 1 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp lime juice, green chillies and water. Start with 3/4 cup water. It should be a thick batter that goes drip drip drip from the spatula rather than of a pouring consistency.

Put a large vessel or pressure cooker with about 3 cups water on the stovetop to heat. Grease a round pan or pressure cooker insert vessel, (we like a round of parchment at the bottom as additional insurance).

Add the Eno to the batter, put into the vessel, and steam. Do not use the weight if using a pressure cooker.

Keep it for 7 minutes after you get a forceful jet of steam. Turn off the flame, let it rest for 2 minutes, and test with a toothpick. If using a regular steaming contraption with a wire mesh and pan, cover and check after 15 minutes or so.

For Seasoning:
Heat remaining oil, add mustard seeds and curry leaves. When the mustard seeds pop, turn off the flame.

Let the dhokla rest for 3 minutes after steaming, then take it out and cut it into pieces.

Mix together 2 tbsps. HOT water, sugar and lime juice until the sugar dissolves. Pour into the seasoning.

Pour it over the dhoklas.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Spinach Crackers

1 bag of baby spinach (pre-washed)
3/4 cup almond flour
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbs ghee (or butter or oil) you need this much to
make them crispy
1 Tbs water
salt to taste

Pre-heat the oven to 350F
1. In a frying pan melt ghee
2. Add spinach, garlic, water and salt. Cover and
cook till wilted and the water is evaporated
3. Take from the heat and mix in almond flour
4. Spread on a cookie sheet lined with parchment
paper. It should be very thin, about 1/8"
5. Bake for 25 min.
6. Remove from the oven and carefully cut into small
squares without lifting it from the sheet.
7. Lower the oven to 170F and bake (dry) for about
60-80 min.

They are very crispy and hold well together.

Update: Tried this out and it worked out very well, the crackers are crumbly. I also squeezed all the water out of the spinach after i cooked it.

I tried this out with freshly chopped cilantro and grated carrots, but this was a flop - it completely crumbled and I was left with cilantro-carrot flavored almond flour. I don't know where i went wrong, perhaps I needed to cook the cilantro-carrot mixture...

Ground Chicken/Turkey Curry

The crockpot recipe came and went. We've finally settled down on this basic recipe for Sanjay. The bonus is that his brother loves it too!
I use the entire 1 lb that we buy from Whole Foods. This lasts for two days = 4 meals, 2 boys.

1 lb ground chicken thigh or 1 lb ground turkey

Masala:
in about 3-4 tbsp light olive oil saute finely chopped onions till translucent. Add 2 finely chopped tomatoes. Separately in a food processor, chop 5 cloves garlic, 1-2 chillies, 1 small pc ginger. Add these ingredients to the onion-tomato mixture. When the oil begins to separate, add the ground meat. cook well for 10-11 minutes.

SCD Sandwich Bread

After using and paying $$$ for coarsely ground almond flour i decided to go ahead and order 10 lbs of almond flour from Lucy's Kitchen Shop. She was prompt, and I got two 5 lb bags. The flour is much finer and is much better for baking.

I tried my hand at a non-sweet bread to make sandwiches with. This one worked for me. I put it in a cake pan rather than the loaf pan, because I have found that the loaf pan seems to be too deep. The bread is brown on the outside and completely uncooked in the center.

3 1/2 cups almond flour

3 eggs

1/4 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup goat yogurt

1/4 teaspoon salt

I added a generous sprinkling of cumin seeds. Next time, I will try ajwain.

Mix together & bake at 350 F for about 45 minutes.
Sanjay likes sandwiches made with this bread, goat cheese pesto and cucumber and tomatoes.

Masoor Dal Idlis

We are now down to trying out meat once a week. The resulting increase in ammonia made Sanjay a little lethargic (not sure whether it was the meat or the alpha-keto-glutaric acid we were giving him).
Thanks to the goat yoghurt, I tried out idlis with masoor dal. They came out great and were a hit with Sanjay.
Here's how:

Masoor Dal "Instant Idli" Mix
soak masoor dal for 8-10 hrs
dry (i spread it out on a cheesecloth and sun-dried it)
powder the dried dal (i used a coffee grinder)

Making the idlis:
roast the powder in a little bit of ghee seasoned with cumin/mustard seeds
add salt, grated coconut, goat yoghurt till you get a batter-like consistency (you can add veggies as well)
add about 1/2 tsp baking soda
steam in an idli steamer

The mini idli moulds worked out better than the bigger moulds. Primarily because the resulting idli is crumbly and falls apart. I should probably experiment with a little almond flour the next time...

Goat Milk Yoghurt

One of the things we are trying to minimize is almond milk. We switched to Pacific Foods' Almond milk last year when we were trying out GFCF. We mainly used it to help S take his supplements. Now that we are trying SCD, we're looking at the labels and see Brown Rice Syrup in the list of ingredients. I was never a big fan of almond milk (store-bought) anyway, it didn't seem to contribute much from a nutrition perspective.

This last week I took a deep breath and tried out goat yogurt. I'm familiar with home-made yogurt from cow's milk having grown up eating it. Still, goat yogurt was new, and so I dutifully followed the SCD yogurt recipe from http://www.pecanbread.com/new/yogurt1.html

I thought the amount of starter suggested was too little (1/8th tsp for 1 quart), but I tried it out anyway. I am used to a much more firm yoghurt with cow's milk, but I'm suspecting that the reason this yogurt wasn't the same even after the requisite 24 hrs was either 1) due to the inadequate amount of starter 2)the fact that I added the starter to the milk after it came to room temperature. I have to experiment some more to get it right.

Either way, I used the yogurt to make a couple of things - salad dressing and a smoothie. Both of them got a thumbs up from S.

Update: I'm re-reading this post from June, and want to add that I'm now adding 1 cap culturelle and more like 1/2 tsp of progurt to the milk - this seems to make for a more thicker yogurt, but definitely not firm.
I've also read that potentially another reason for the yogurt being runny may be due to the ultra-pasteurized nature of goat's milk. I'm using the meyenberg goat milk available @ Whole Foods and other supermarkets.

Salad dressing

Whisk together:
1 pinch mustard powder
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp lime or lemon juice
1/4 cup goat yoghurt


Smoothie

Vitamix the following:

Frozen strawberries (or other frozen fruit)
Ice
Goat Yoghurt
Honey (optional)

I put in all of S's vitamin supplements into this smoothie and it works out great. He looks forward to it, especially after coming back from school on a hot day.

Masoor Dal

Our experiments with meat are not going well. S has thrown up a couple of times. He is not into soup either but we keep trying. He also looks like he has a bloated stomach, but BM etc are normal.
So for now its eggs and I'm now introducing masoor dal. I know it says we should introduce this at least 6 months into the diet but I am out of ideas.
I soak the dal for 8 - 10 hours prior to use. I've tried making dosas/pancakes by making a batter out of masoor dal and adding finely chopped veggies - onions, zucchini, carrot, chillies, ginger. Works out OK in a non-stick pan.
Will try it out in a soup tonight to see if it works out.
Update 8/16: Masoor Dal is a life-saver. We're using it as a base for a lot of things.

Chicken crockpot soup

It has been tough trying to introduce Sanjay to meat. He does not like the texture - at least of the meat that I have tried so far.
It is hard for me too - I am vegetarian, have no idea what meat tastes like and don't particularly want to get started right now. I also cook completely by feel, and usually taste what I am cooking to adjust the seasonings... so that makes it harder.
This weekend DH made a trip to WF and bought a variety of meats - boneless chicken, ground turkey, and some beef too. All very bewildering.
We made a trip to the store to get a the George Foreman grill - at least that tells us that it takes 8 minutes to cook X meat, so we know when to stop :-) I was a little uncomfortable handling the meat, but DH seemed to know what he was doing, so we're doing the team-cooking thing for now.
Day one, we used up a little ground turkey, and added it to my usual veggie soup. Put on sanjay's favorite video, and literally forced the thing down. He wasn't super thrilled but finished the bowl without too much of a fuss.
So many mysteries... how do I know when meat is cooked? What kind of meat do kids like? Does meat have its own flavor and taste? Is it salty? I am sure there must be a "basics" book out there for newbies like me.
But I'm rambling. I tried out a chicken crockpot recipe.... Sanjay is not crazy about it, but he'll eat it.

1/2 cup boneless chicken, diced and cooked (I cooked it for 8 mins in a covered pan)
1 diced onion
1 chopped tomato
1 zucchini
1 carrot
cilantro
3-4 cloves
1 pc ginger
small cinnamon stick
salt
chilli pdr 1 tsp
turmeric 1 tsp
cumin 1 tbsp
3 cups water or chicken broth (I used water)

cook for 8 hrs (overnight)

Blend into a thick soup.

Mashed "potatoes"

This recipe got a "pack it in my lunchbox" rating from Sanjay. Best eaten warm, though.
Here is the original recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Surprise-South-Beach-Mashed-Potatoes/Detail.aspx

Boil 1 head cauliflower (cut into florets)
When it is well cooked, drain, mash with a fork / puree in the food processor
add ghee, salt and pepper to taste.

Makes about 4 servings.

Apple Muffins

OK, so I tried out the almond flour muffins/breads recipe from Elaine's SCD book. the bread looked fine from the outside but was not cooked on the inside. It was grainy, and tasted pretty bad when it was cold.
For someone whose only baking accomplishment so far has been banana bread, attempting baking for the first time the SCD way "cold turkey" was quite an adventure.
So... I first went to the local store to buy a baking tray, turned to scdrecipe.com and tried out the apple muffin recipe. I wasn't very organized, found out I didn't have any almond flour at the last minute, and had to make a trip to whole foods first while I had the egg and applesauce beaten and waiting in a bowl!
Despite all the tamasha, this recipe worked out very well. Muffins are moist, don't fall apart. Mainly, Sanjay likes them (for now!)
Update: The muffins are a snack staple, so I tried this out with pear sauce and 1 whole diced apple. This worked beautifully, the muffins are moist and keep very well.

http://www.scdrecipe.com/recipes/r_029_00353.php

Here's the original recipe with my notes:

APPLE MUFFINS [printable version]

Ingredients 1/2 cup melted butter - I used 1/2 cup casein-free ghee 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce 1/4 cup honey (or to taste) 1 cup nut flour - I used almond flour 2 eggs - I used large brown eggs 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 large peeled apple, diced - I used 1/2 of a large apple cinnamon to taste - I skipped this, I didn't have cinnamon handy

Instructions 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. 2. Mix melted butter and applesauce. 3. Mix in remaining ingredients except apple and cinnamon. 4. Stir in diced apple. 5. Pour batter into lined muffin pan and sprinkle cinnamon on top. 6. Bake for 23 minutes, or until tops are light brown. 7. Makes 16 muffins.