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.