2 Steps Forward, 1 Step Back

Ok, so it's been entirely too long since my last post, and unfortunately there's some unpleasant reasons for that. After doing well on the SCD for over 6 weeks, successfully weening off Prednisone and feeling great, I had a major flare up. It started as a little nausea and cramping, and by the time my friend came to pick me up I was practically passed out on the bathroom floor from the pain. About 12 hours, 50 pukes, and 20 bathroom trips later, I was admitted to the hospital with "new inflammation" in my left side and put back on massive doses of steroids, anti-inflammatory meds, and antibiotics.

We're really not sure why it happened. In my desperation to lose weight more quickly I had started a new natural appetite suppressant about a week before the flare up, it had fiber in it. Combine that with the stress of deadline week at work, along with some trouble at home, and my NMD is pretty sure that's what caused it.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened by far, but for some reason this time I came out really traumatized. For the first 2 days I got out of the hospital, all I could do was sit in my pajamas and cry. I had worked SO hard and now I was back to square one. Over the next week I started to slowly slip back into my "bad" eating habits, pretty much consuming whatever I pleased and justifying it with the fact that I can eat whatever I want on Prednisone and not feel a thing. I've been doing this for about 2 weeks now, and I feel terrible about it. The depression hit harder than ever before. I know exactly what I need to do to take care of myself, so why aren't I doing it?

This question remains to be answered. However, I just got back from my follow up at the naturopath and it perked me up a tad. The new student assigned to my case is extremely positive and her attitude is rubbing off on me. I'll be going on the intro diet again, so there won't be many interesting or creative recipes over the next few weeks. I do have some pics from just before I got sick of some goodies that I'll post over the next couple days. Just gotta keep my head up, and take baby steps towards my goal. No diet pills this time.

Yeah Robbie!

I don't know who Robbie is, but I want to personally thank him for putting out the seemly ONLY fully SCD legal BBQ sauce on the market. I got it at whole foods, and it's delicious. So thank you Robbie, thank you very much.

30 Day Update

It's officially been a month since I started the SCD. Tomorrow I will take my final 5mg dose of Prednisone, which I am EXTREMELY excited about (I started the new year on 40mg). My broken rib is healing nicely, so hopefully I'll be able to get my fat ass back to the gym for some serious workouts in the coming weeks! I haven't had any real flare ups, except one on the day after I had a tee few many martoonis at the bar. Although my drinks were technically SCD Legal, alcohol has always been a major source of (gut) pain for me. Which is unfortunate given that I'm in my 20's, live in a college town, and most of my friends like to throw a few back every weekend. It makes it difficult to resist a happy hour here and there, especially when I can't eat out at restaurants as a form of socialization with my peers.
I still weigh the same as when I started, which is super irritating after 30 days of no grains or sugar. In the past all I had to do was eat according to the SCD and the pounds would melt away, but not this time. I'm assuming this has something to do with being on the steroids for such a long time, very limited activity due to the broken rib, and the hormonal change that comes with quitting birth control for the first time in 12 years. However, my "moon face" seems to be disappearing, which is the one thing I couldn't stand about the way Prednisone made me look.
I'm starting a series of body wraps this weekend, which should suck a bunch of that nasty steroid induced water weight out of me. All the message boards I look at advise to quit salt to aid in this process, but I absolutely can't do that lest I start sounding like a bad Jimmy Buffet sing-along (Where's the salt? Where's the God Damned salt???) I just love that stuff too much, and it's my only taste fix now that my precious breads and sugars have been taken away from me. Mmmmm salt.
So... I shall forge ahead slowly adding new foods, trying to be patient while I reach my goal of 20 pounds lost (I like to aim high), and a smokin' hot healthy bod. Next project: Quitting (gasp!) cigarettes!

Hot and Sour Soup

Flipping through Eat Well Feel Well, I decided to take on hot and sour soup last night. Well worth the prep time, and very different than what I'm used to cooking. I've never really tackled Asian dishes, but I'm loving it so far. Filled with garlic, jalapenos, shiitake mushrooms, cilantro, bok choy, pork, and toasted sesame oil, I have a feeling this will become one of my favorite comfort foods.

If only I had someone to share the leftovers with!

So much better than McDonald's

I'm really stoked on this Comfy Belly blog I found. Great recipes, great pictures! I had a hankering for something deep fried and yummy so I opted for chicken nuggets with honey mustard since I had some pre-cut stir fry chicken in the fridge. Like most recipes I come across, I ended up adding much more seasoning to satiate my ridiculous need for spice and salt. I added garlic & onion powder, extra salt & pepper, and fried them in about an inch of olive oil. The honey mustard I dipped them in was simply that. Amazing how delicious food can be when it's not chock full of preservatives.

I am a sammy genius.

I have just made the most amazing breakfast sammy in the entire world! I used the sandwich buns from Breaking the Vicious Cycle, organic eggs, cheddar, homemade mayo, a little Louisianna sauce, and a modified breakfast sausage recipe from the Comfy Belly blog.

Ta dah!!!

My Masterquiche

This post is named after the master piece that I came up with yesterday, hereby known as the Masterquiche. I had a ton of veggies about to go bad, 2 dozen eggs, and a bunch of cheese. The first one was so good that Adam and I ate it and I made another one for today. You can prep a bunch of the veggies and throw this together in about 5 minutes if you want a few fresh out of the oven, but they also taste great cold. I didn't really have a recipe, but I'll try and recreate this as best as I can... Store leftover veggies for an omelet or additional quiche.

Masterquiche
makes one

1/2 Sweet Onion diced
1/3 Red Onion diced
3 Scallions finely chopped
1/3 Red Bell Pepper chopped
1/3 Yellow Bell Pepper chopped
1/3 Orange or Green Bell Pepper chopped
4-5 Baby Bella Mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 TBS Minced Garlic
1 Small crown of Broccoli finely chopped
1 Cup Shredded Cheddar loosely packed
2/3 Cup Swiss or Gruyere loosely packed
1/2 Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan
4-5 eggs (depending on size)
Salt and pepper to taste

Prep work is the key in this recipe.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, make your crust, chop all vegetables. A food processor is helpful for the onions, but I would suggest doing the rest by hand to avoid veggie mush. Beat eggs until fluffy, grate all the cheeses, and set aside. Par bake your crust for 10 min, but I suggest omitting the honey. I think it comes out better for a savory dish without it. A food processor works great for this too.

Place broccoli on a foiled cookie sheet and sprinkle/toss in olive oil and salt. Roast for 15 min. While the broccoli is roasting, saute sweet onion and mushrooms over medium heat in olive oil until they have given off their liquid and are a caramel color. Add garlic, brown a little more, and transfer to a bowl. By this time the broccoli should be done, add it to the bowl.

Now saute the bell peppers the same way as the mushrooms until slightly brown, transfer to the bowl. I cook them in this order because different types of vegetables cook at different rates, so if I did the peppers with the mushrooms they would burn before the onions were caramelized. It's possible to do them all in the same pan, but the flavor isn't as great in my opinion. I use a lot of salt, but you can choose how much you'd like when cooking everything. No need to cook the scallions or red onion. When you're done you should have a couple little bowls of prepped veggies.
At this point you should have all your cheese, crust, veggies and eggs ready to go in front of you. Place a thin layer of cheddar and swiss at the bottom of crust. Spread an evenly mixed layer of all the veggies, and cover that with a bit of the egg. Use a spoon to smear the egg over the whole top if needed. Repeat this process until you are out of everything except the Parmesan. After you have done your top layer of egg, cover with parm and fresh cracked pepper. I also dusted with a little garlic and salt. Bake for 40-45 min until egg is set, and you will have a masterquiche!

Tasty Little Devils

I had deviled eggs so much growing up, I thought that every one liked them. I learned that is not exactly the case the first time I ever brought a tray of them to a party... I went home with a tray of them. Apparently it's old people food. Whatever, I still love them just the same, and I don't even have to modify them for the SCD. Here's my recipe!

Deviled Eggs
(makes 1 doz)

6 Jumbo Eggs, Hard Boiled and Peeled
2 TBS Mayo (I made my own)
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
2 Twists of the Pepper Grinder
1/4 Tsp Onion Powder
1/2 Tsp Yellow Mustard
Juice from 1 Lemon Wedge
Paprika for Garnish

Slice eggs in half long ways. Gently pop the yolks into a small bowl. Using a fork, mash the yolks well. Add all remaining ingredients except paprika, and mash until very smooth and creamy. Place about one spoonful of the yolk mixture back into the egg whites, spreading evenly. Garnish with paprika.

Deviled Eggs are something that you can play with, feel free to add more/less seasoning, substitute Dijon mustard, or use cayenne instead of paprika if you really want some zing. There is no wrong way to prepare them, just your way.

French Onion Soup

Last night I made French 3 Onion Soup with Gruyere from the book Eat Well Feel Well by Kendal Conrad. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who like Asian inspired recipes as well, it's got a ton. I'm going to try my hand at Tom Ka Soup next week if I can find kaffir limes and lemon grass.

I'm not going to post this recipe because I'm not that impressed with it. Although the soup was very good, it could have been amazing if not for the following:

It called for chicken stock instead of beef. They say to cook the onions for 20 minutes. This isn't incorrect, but after 20 minutes my onions were not caramelized, and properly caramelized onions are key. I went ahead and followed the recipe against my better judgment (a mistake I will not make again with soup). They also instruct you to cook the leeks, shallots, and garlic for only 1 minute before adding the broth. No bueno, they could have used a good browning. I added a little Swiss to my Gruyere to mix it up a little, I was not disappointed. I'll post the recipe once I perfect it for myself. It did look beautiful though!

Lemon Meringue Pie

I got the following recipe out of The Grain Free Gourmet. Tastes good, but a little runny. This could be partially my fault for not cooking the lemon curd long enough, but I think it has a little to do with folding in a couple egg whites before baking. Next time I'll just double the curd and omit the egg whites. Also had some trouble making peaks and mounds out of the meringue. Maybe I didn't whip it long enough before adding the honey. I think the moral of the story is: I am too impatient to be dealing with things like lemon meringue pie.

Message me if you're interested in the recipe, it's far too long to type (that's me being impatient again). Or, if you're interested in having an entire book of delicious grain-free, sugar free, low lactose recipes, simply go out and get Grain Free Gourmet.

Oops!

I'm usually pretty good at muti-tasking, but I took on a few too many simultaneous cooking projects and burnt the crap out of my baby back ribs. See, you're supposed to cook them on high for about 20-30 minutes, then slow roast them for about 3 hours at about 200 degrees. Silly me forgot to turn the oven down to 200 and ended up cooking them for 4 hours on high. All that removing membrane business for nothing! Oh well. Here's my disaster...

While my ribs were busy burning, I was busy grilling my steak. It was delicious!

Doesn't get much better than that.

Many Meats

I bought a bunch of meat yesterday, but found my self with absolutely no time to cook it. So this evening, I decided to cook as much of it as possible to avoid spoiling, and then marinate the rest for tomorrow. First up... Purple Pork Chops! This one is kinda different, but very tasty. I prefer mine with salt, but it's your call.

Purple Pork Chops:

4 Center Cut Pork Loin Chops
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1 TBS Chopped Garlic
1/3 Cup Red Wine (I used Merlot)
Dash of Cumin
TBS Cooking Oil (I used Coconut)

Combine all ingredients except cooking oil in small bowl, marinate in the fridge for 1 hour. Drain liquid from bowl and discard. Fry chops and garlic over medium-high heat until inside is no longer pink.

The picture doesn't really do it justice, but these were bright purple when they were done!


I roasted a chicken in herb butter, and while that was in the oven I prepped 2 steaks by pounding them and sprinkling with Sauce Goddess Original Chunk rub. I can not wait to grill these tomorrow.


I also came up with my own delicious SCD rub for a small rack of baby back ribs. I'll report back once they're cooked, but they need to marinate at least overnight. Mmmmmm.

1/4 Cup Honey
1 1/2 Tsp Black Pepper
2 Tsp Kosher Salt
1 1/2 Tsp Paprika
1/4 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 Tsp Fresh Chopped Garlic

The worst part about the ribs was removing the membrane. I had never done this before and it was thoroughly disgusting, but supposedly well worth it because it helps the marinade soak in. Thank god for vinyl gloves. Now that I'm exhausted and covered in 3 types of animal blood I think it's time for bed (after a quick rinse that is).

Kabobs, Quiche & Pancakes! Oh my?

I know it's been WAY too long since my last post. Since I work for a publication with monthly deadlines, it gets super busy the second week of the month and I have no time for cooking or blogging. It's one of the reasons this diet is so difficult. I've been living on mangos and lara bars for quite a while. Anywho... I have a few new offerings for my SCD friends today, and anyone else who is interested in yummy healthy food.

First up we have a low carb grain free pancake. Now, you're going to think I'm crazy but trust me on this one, it tastes amazing:

Peanut butter banana pancake

1 Jumbo Egg
1 Very Ripe Banana w spots
2 TBS Butter
Honey and Peanut butter to taste

Mash banana into liquid, beat in egg until smooth. Fry in a non-stick pan on medium heat with butter. Top with melted peanut butter and honey, serve with almond milk.

Frying/flipping this can be a bit tricky. I had to reshape it into a pancake after I screwed it up, but it doesn't affect the flavor. You can also add some vanilla and a bit of almond flour for a more pancake-like consistency, but I like this one just the way it is. Good late night treat too.

Next up: Kabobs! Why is it that they seem so simple and yet they never turn out quite right? I.e., one veggie cooks more than the other, they fall apart, etc. I did manage to make some wonderful kabobs anyway, and even grilled some tofu ones for my sweetie. No recipe, but here's the basics:

Eggplant
Zucchini
Bell Peppers
Onion
Mushroom
Scallops
Tofu

I marinated the scallops in garlic and Marsala wine for 5 hours first, and bathed the veggies in olive oil, garlic, and sea salt. I also dipped the tofu in balsamic and pan fried them before skewering, but I couldn't taste them as I'm not allowed soy or balsamic. I've been told it was the best tofu ever though :)

I grilled them over charcoal until slightly burnt, keeping the scallops on separate sticks since meat and veggies cook differently. Here is the result:

Also, the tofu ones:


Finally, last night I had a bit of time to cook. Problem was, I hadn't had time to go to the store and had no meat. What's a girl to do without meat??? (Keep the comments to a minimum gentlemen.)

I noticed some broccoli and a few sad pieces of cheese when it hit me... Quiche! It turned out great, and I ate half of it in one sitting.

Broccoli Cheese Quiche with Almond Flour Crust

Crust:
1 1/2 cups Almond Flour or Meal
3 TBS Cold Butter
1 TBS Honey
1/8 Tsp Baking Soda
1/4 Tsp Salt
1 Large Egg

Put almond flour, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl with butter. Use a pastry cutter or a large fork to mix. Make a well in the center, add egg and honey. Mix well. Using gloves or buttered hand, press into a 9" pie plate. It's more like smearing than pressing with the dough, since it is very wet. Par bake at 325 for 15 min.

Filling:
4 Eggs
1/2 Cup Grated Cheddar
1 Cup Grated Swiss
2 Mashed Garlic Cloves
2 TBS Home Made Yogurt
1TBS Olive Oil
1 Small Broccoli Crown, chopped very small
1/2 Onion chopped

Toss broccoli in olive oil, spread on a cookie sheet and brown it at 400 for about 15 min until tender. Reduce oven to 325. In a skillet brown onions and garlic in olive oil until translucent and slightly brown. Remove broccoli from oven and mix all ingredients in large bowl. Pour into par baked crust. Cover the edges with foil and continue to bake for 30-40min at 325 until eggs are set.


Also tastes great cold. Ate a slice for breakfast in the car this morning! More yummy stuff to come... I'm working on desserts this week. After a moment of weakness Sunday (involved pizza and wings) and severe punishment from my body on Monday, I've decided that I absolutely must NOT run out of yummy prepared food again. Lesson learned, moving ahead!

The Other White Meat

Yesterday I decided to make a more sophisticated version of pork chops and applesauce. I marinated the pork in fresh rosemary, garlic, salt and olive oil for about 6 hours, cooked them on the charcoal grill, and served them alongside some leftover baked apples. Delicious!!


The salad I made was simple but surprisingly tasty. Boyfriend gobbled it all up, and he "hates" salad (which I find hysterical because he's a vegetarian). FYI, this recipe is MUCH better if you use all organic veggies and good quality vinegar.

Avocado Tomato Salad
(serves 2)

2 semi hard avocados
2 small or 1 large ripe tomato
1/2 medium red onion, sliced in rings
3 TBS White Wine Vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Chop avocado and tomato into 1 inch chunks, add remaining ingredients and lightly toss in large bowl. Serve on a bed of your favorite leafy lettuce (I used a mix of butter leaf and iceberg)


It's been almost 1 week on the intro diet, and I'm feeling pretty damn good. Don't know if I'm lighter but my pants fit better I feel less bloated. I'm down to 20mg of Prednisone (I was on 40 just a month ago), and haven't had any serious symptoms in about 3 days, which is kind of a big deal for me. Today was the first time I've eaten any cheese, which is also a huge milestone because I usually eat it like it's going out of style and I've been trying to cut back.

Today I slept through my alarm and didn't have much time to prepare food so I ended up just eating a bunch of fruit, yogurt, leftover chicken, and such scraps I could grab out of the fridge before work. However, when I got home I ate round 2 of pork chops and apples, only this time I roasted broccoli, eggplant and onions on the grill. I've discovered that the trick to good eggplant is slicing it into thin spears, sweating it, and grilling till it's almost burnt. Just a little fresh garlic and olive oil and topping to finish. You know, I think I may be getting the hang of this vegetable thing...

Over the weekend I made several things that were either unsuccessful (ketchup) or boring to take pictures of (almond milk). I did, however, take a pic of my second roast chicken before I snatched off all the skin (so good!). For your viewing pleasure:

Don't be fooled by my amazing photography, these are tiny birds. But is it weird that I eat about 2 chickens a week? In terms of consumption, it's not that much in weight, but when I think of a whole live chicken runnin' around and cluckin' it sounds kind of weird. I'm just sayin.

I do believe that if I'm feeling up to it I will start on some almond flour baked goods this week and drop my steroids to 15mg this weekend. Next week I'm starting a series of body wraps to suck some of this nasty water weight out of me. I've done it before and it totally works. I can't wait to be rid of some of these pounds! I'm excited and still motivated, and not missing pizza (that much), so yay me! Also getting my hairs and nails did this weekend, so at this rate my hotness is going to be out of control in month or two (I kid, I kid!).

Incredible Edible Egg

Eggs are quite possibly the perfect food. They are fantastic Poached, scrambled, fried, boiled, or deviled. In a soup, a stir fry, a smoothie, or as a binder in baking. Eff all that cholesterol talk. I've spoken with all my docs and the amount of eggs I eat seems to be fine, as is my cholesterol.

That said, I really miss the combo of egg and toast with hashbrowns. I've discovered that enjoying my food is not only about the taste, but the texture as well. When you take away the toast and hashbrown from the eggs, you still have the gooey, but no crispy. I NEED MY CRISPY!

As a substitute I came up with this little gem of a recipe. It's actually more of a rough draft because I never really use measuring cups or spoons. Feel free to tailor the recipe to your specific likings by adding more or less onions, fresh garlic or whatever. Also, the onions, mushrooms, and eggs all get cold extremely quick, so it's best if you can have 2-3 pans going at once so you can coordinate everything being done at the same time (not recommended for the kitchen novice, try the recipe a couple times first).

Fried Eggs on Crispy Onions topped with Sherried Mushrooms
(serves 3)

1 Sweet Onion, Sliced into thick rings
1 Package of sliced Mushrooms (baby bellas or crimini are best)
6 Eggs
Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder to taste
Cooking Sherry
Olive Oil

Heat about a half inch of olive oil on medium-high. Fry onions until very crispy, almost black or burnt. Remove from heat and drain on paper towel, set aside.

Sautee mushrooms in olive oil, salt pepper and garlic. Once they have released their liquid and browned, add sherry (I use about 1/4 cup) and cook until pan is almost dry. Remove from heat and set aside.

Fry eggs in butter, being careful not to break the yolks. Place 2 eggs on a small bed of onions, top with mushrooms and serve.

Baked Fruit... Who Knew?!?

On the SCD diet I'm able to eat and eat and eat, yet never seem to get that nasty, heavy, gross feeling when you've eaten too much. Also, once my metabolism levels out and the some of the extra pounds shed in the next month, I'll stay at the perfect weight without ever having to worry about how many calories I'm consuming. Sounds crazy, but it's true and I know from experience.

Any who, without the ever present calorie looming over my head, I decided after I ate my little sorbet cup that I wanted snack #2. I looked around the kitchen and came upon 2 bosc pears that were barely ripe. Having made baked apples the night before and devoured those for breakfast, I decided to try my hand at pears. The result was pretty special. Here's what I came up with:

2 Bosc Pears, peeled and sliced into small chunks
2 TBS Marsala Wine (Optional)
1/3 Cup Honey
3 TBS Butter
1/4 Tsp Ginger
1/4 Tsp Cinnamon

Preheat Oven to 375
Place pears in a small glass baking dish. Melt butter and add remaining ingredients in small bowl, drizzle this mixture over pears. Bake 45-60 min until soft and slightly browned. These make a great addition to homemade vanilla yogurt, or pork chops! Go Crazy!

SCD Strawberry Sorbet

Now I know why they say "Necessity is the Mother of Invention". After being on the intro diet for 3 days I'm getting REALLY cranky. I saw some pancakes on the TV and almost had a fit. Yeah. It's that bad. I was desperate for something yummy but restricted to thoroughly cooked veggies, fruits, meats, eggs and yogurt. This may sound delicious to someone like my crazy veggie tofu loving boyfriend, but definitely not my cup of tea. I didn't have time to cook any meat, I was sick to death of eggs, and none of the organic produce in my fridge looked appetizing. After rummaging through my freezer I found some fresh ripe strawberries that I froze 6 months back. I threw a few things in the blender, then in my ice cream maker, and 30 min later voila!

Strawberry Lemon Sorbet!

The aforementioned boyfriend says they taste identical to Luigi's Italian Ice cups that he loves, so I'm gonna have to keep these little guys under lock and key.

I didn't measure anything but here is the recipe from what I can remember:

1 Package of strawberries, frozen
1-2 TBS of Lemon Juice
1/2 Water
1/2 cup of Honey, more if you want it sweeter

Put everything but honey in the blender, and mix until it's completely liquid with no chunks. If too thick, add water 1 tablespoon at a time until smooth. Warm honey in microwave for about 20 seconds and drizzle it into the mixture while blender is running. Continue to blend for another minute or so. Pour this mixture into an ice cream maker (I have a Cuisinart, love it) for about 30 minutes.

Remove and enjoy.

Home Made SCD Legal Mayonnaise

This will probably weird a lot of people out, but I LOVE mayonnaise. I could eat that shit with a spoon. Hot sauce and mayo are like 2 of my favorite things to put on anything and combined they are wonderful. Problem is, most store bought mayo is chock full of preservatives, artificial crap, and made with terrible quality oil. Even organic mayos seem to have sugar. One brand, spectrum, has sugar free SCD mayonnaise, but it's 10 freakin dollars a jar! At the rate I eat the stuff that simply will not do.

I've tried the blender/food processor method of homemade mayo a million times and always end up with watery weirdness. Until now! My mother bought me a little Cuisinart hand blender for the sole purpose of making my own, and I must say its essential to getting the right consistency in about 60 seconds.


Now to work on the flavor... What came out tastes a bit mustard-y, and kinda like dijonaise. Not bad, but not mayo. Also, I used extra virgin against mom's advice because it's all I had handy, but she says that light olive oil tastes much better. I'll continue to tweak the recipe and keep you updated, but this one is pretty darn tasty for dipping chicken in, and would be perfect on any sandwich (if I could eat sandwiches, that is).

1 Egg
1 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
2 TBS Lemon Juice
1/2 TBS Dijon Mustard
Salt to Taste

Crack the egg in a tall cylindrical container. Add lemon juice, mustard and salt. Pour in oil. Put your hand blender all the way to the bottom of the container, and turn on. Slowly move it up and out of the liquid, by the time you reach the top it should be mayo. If it's oily still, move it up and down a little, but not too much because it will break down and turn watery.

Day 2 - Lots of Chicken and Yogurt

Stupid little yogurts

Day 2 of the intro diet. I have to say, I'm liking the homemade yogurt a little more this time around, although making it is my least favorite part of the SCD. BORING! So tedious with the tiny glass jars I have. Glad I bought a second set of them. I screwed up and got non-fat yogurt for the starter, which is not advised because of the bacteria or something, but I hate to throw it out so I'll just make due. The only thing I've eaten that is not SCD legal is mayo, and I'm going to tackle making my own this evening. Since the intro diet is so boring, there isn't much to share as of now.


I did roast a chicken however, and I think I came up with the perfect formula after doing several of them. The key to a delicious chicken is brining it. This is simply soaking it in cold salt water for at least an hour. Overnight is best, but I usually only have time for an hour. Here's what I did today:

4-5 Pound Fryer Chicken
1/2 Cup Kosher salt plus some for sprinkling
3-5 sprigs chopped fresh Thyme
1-2 sprigs chopped fresh Sage
3-4 sprigs chopped fresh Rosemary
5 cloves garlic, pressed
1 stick soft butter
Salt and Ground pepper to taste

Rinse chicken and remove neck and giblets if needed. Dissolve salt into large pot or container with a small amount of warm water, put the chicken in, then fill the pot with cold water until chicken is covered. Store in refrigerator at least one hour. Remove from water, pat dry with paper towels, and let air dry for as long as possible. The drier the chicken, the more moist the meat. Put a generous amount of salt and pepper in the cavity. An optional step is to slice a lemon or an orange in half and fill the cavity. Some say it ads to the moisture, I'm not sure about this. I do like that it keeps the chicken from collapsing and makes it look nice and cook evenly throughout.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Add remaining ingredients together in small bowl and mix into garlic herb butter. Rub this butter underneath the skin of the chicken, saving just a little for the outside. I like to take a sharp knife and separate the skin from the flesh and really get in there with the herbs, making sure they are as evenly spread as possible. Once your chicken is all stuffed and buttery, sprinkle it with salt & pepper lay it breast up in a 9 x 13 glass baking dish and roast for 45-55 min, or until temp at the thickest part of the leg reads 165.

Stupid me forgot to take a picture of the final product before I devoured the skin and the oysters which made it ugly. It's my favorite part! But, here is the little guy all buttery and ready to go!

That is a beautiful and tasty bird. Here's a tip: Never throw away the carcass! Once I carve it all up I like to take all the bones, drippings, extra fat, giblets, and throw them in a large pot with 2 roughly chopped onions, 4 or 5 carrots, the tops of a bunch of celery, extra herbs, salt, pepper, 1 bay leaf and tons of fresh garlic. I cover that with filtered water and boil it for several hours, adding more and more water as it boils down to the point where I can see the chicken. I then strain and discard everything except the broth, which I freeze in little 1 cup bags. This makes excellent starter for any soup, and is great to heat up when you're sick.

Yummy!

So, back to eating chicken, broth, SCD Cheesecake, apple cider and eggs for the next few days. I did spice up my fried egg today by frying half a sliced onion until it was super brown and crispy, something I learned from a Suzanne Sommers book. Really tasty, and gives you the crunch that you miss when there is no toast. I think I'll try sherried mushrooms on them tomorrow and report back on how it goes!

The thing I love the most is killing me

Here is a quick back story to make a little sense of my dietary adventures: In 2006 I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. It was somewhat of a relief at first, to be able to put a name to what I had been experiencing for the last 20 years, not have to deal with Doctors telling me that it was "stress" or "irritable bowel", and to eat "bland" foods, whatever those are. I was excited that I would be able to get medication that was specifically for my problems, and I couldn't wait to start feeling better!


This was short lived. Optimism gradually became despair and self pity. Come to find out, at 24 years old I had one of the "most advanced cases" any doctor that I spoke to had ever seen. There are only about 5 different medications for Crohn's and none of them were working on me. Surgery was not an option, because while most people have a small concentrated area in their intestines that is affected, mine were riddled with ulcers and polyps throughout the small and large. Over the next 2 years I went up and down in weight, on and off of steroids, various medications, and different diets. Between 2007 and 2008 I was hospitalized over 24 times. I lived in the Mayo Clinic for a while. Turns out they are nicer to you, but not much more help than any other doc on the block, just more expensive. They all wanted the same thing, which I refused: REMICADE. We'll discuss my reasons in another post.


I have tried so many different diets under and out of the supervision of doctors and naturopaths that it's insane. One thing was slightly successful in that period of time, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, Known as SCD from here on. I never adhered 100% however, so can't really say how much it has benefited me. Reason number 1 being, IT IS HARD AS HELL. I'm not going to downplay or sugar coat this. This diet SUCKS. Mostly because it is restrictive, cuts out most social eating situations, and is incredibly inconvenient. Forget about trying to vacation on it. UG. Some people may think I sound like a spoiled brat, but maybe I like going out to eat OK? I really love food. I am a foodie. I love the dining experience, I love food from all different cultures, I love cooking (and I'm damn good at it), baking, the sensual aspect, the social aspect, everything about it! That's what is so infuriating. The thing I love the most is mostly what makes me sick. Not just a little allergy here either, we're talking bleeding colon (sorry, I tend to be rather graphic and not hold back much, expect TMI throughout) and trips to the ER. However, at this point in my life I think I am ready to take the plunge and make a serious life change. You see, I am overweight and extremely unhappy because of steroids that I can't get off of because they are literally keeping me alive. My Crohn's is not acting up, but I'm getting terrible side effects (i.e., someone hugged me and broke my rib 4 days ago, weak immune system, fatty deposits in cheeks, WTF). I'm currently taking 52 supplements per day on top of that from my NMD, and this is sucking me dry since none are covered by health insurance. I'm tired of going to the doctor or naturopath once a month and writing down all my poops. I'm tired of just getting by. I want to feel good and look good again!


It's hard being so young and not being able to go out to sushi or pizza with friends, and that is one major reason I failed any diet in the past. For the last year I have given into just taking Prednisone to calm my inflammation and pretty much eating how I want. This doesn't necessarily mean fast food or junk food either. A dinner of drive through hamburgers will have the same negative effect on me that seared scallops over a bed of baby arugula will. But now, I want off these steroids more than anything, and I know that if I can try the SCD again I might have some chance of really curing myself of this incurable disease. It also has the pleasant side effect of making you drop pounds like crazy, and the drugs have put 20 on me in the last 6 months. For a full list of side effects check this out. Mania is the 3rd one, It's pretty scary.


So... The REAL reason for this blog is to keep track of the ingenious recipes I am going to come up with in the following months and share them with others. I will also use it to bitch about stuff from time to time. There are a TON of fantastic blogs and recipes out there, but frankly I'm a little tired of making dense banana bread and homemade yogurt cheesecakes. I'm talking real food for real foodies, and simply making it SCD legal. I can only find ONE freaking hot sauce on the market that I can even ingest dammit! So I'll be making my own. This will take some time however, because I only started the diet (for the 3rd time in my life) 2 days ago and this time I'm doing the "intro diet" for a LONG time before I jump into advanced foods. Be warned also, this is not your mommy's baking blog. I am going to curse and describe my bowel movements and talk about my fat ass (not fat for much longer!).


When all is said and done, I just hope that I am able to get out there and help others on the diet find some more options and some more excitement in their diet as well, all the while holding my self accountable for my recovery.