Tag Archives: Gluten Free

Lavender Sugar Cookies

There are so many ways to use lavender in cooking. Here I have used it in a “sugar” cookie. It is sweetened with SCD Legal honey and uses almond flour. I have rolled and cut them out. You could also make the recipe by scooping the cookies if you are short on time. They will be softer that way instead of crunchy as a rolled cut out cookie.

Lavender Sugar Cookie

Preheat Oven 350°. Place parchment paper on two cookie sheets.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 Cups Superfine Almond Flour

1/4 Cup Organic Palm Shortening, Melted

2 Tablespoons Honey

1 Teaspoon Dried Culinary Grade Lavender Buds, minced or placed in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle

1 Teaspoon Lemon Zest

1 1/2 Teaspoons SCD Legal Vanilla Extract

Pinch of Himalayan Pink Salt

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix together the wet ingredients and add to the bowl of dry ingredients stirring with a fork until a ball forms. Place the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll to about 1/4″ thickness. Refrigerate on a cookie sheet for fifteen minutes, then cut out using a cookie cutter and place on your parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes until starting to brown around the edges.

Makes approximately 12 cookies depending on the size of your cutter.

Lavender Sugar Cookies

Eat Your Nutrients!

Brazilian Black Cherry Ice Cream

The local fruit is gorgeous this summer, and black cherries just started ripening this week! Roadside stands are popping up everywhere with local washed cherries. The temperatures are on the cooler side, so they were a few weeks behind, but it was worth the wait! In this Black Cherry Ice Cream recipe, I included toasted brazil nuts. Their flavor is enhanced with toasting, and they add a nice crunch, plus the added benefit of selenium. Cherries are one of the few known food sources of melatonin, which can help you get a good nights sleep and are anti-inflammatory. If you are just beginning a Low FodMap diet, cherries are at the higher end of the FodMap spectrum, but still allowed, so stick to one serving of ice cream. This recipe comes together fast with only six ingredients.

Brazilian Black Cherry Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 Cups Black Cherries, pitted and chopped

1 Can Full Fat Coconut Milk (no additives if SCD Diet – Aroy-D is superior to Natural Value in flavor and consistency)

1/2 Cup Clear Honey

1/2 Cup Raw Brazil Nuts

2 Tablespoon Coconut Oil, Melted

1 Tablespoon SCD Legal Pure Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven 350°. Coarsely chop the brazil nuts and toast in the oven for 7 to 9 minutes until starting to brown. Set aside to cool.

With a blender, puree the Coconut Milk, Honey, Melted Coconut Oil, Vanilla Extract and 1 Cup of the Black Cherries. Stir in the remaining Black Cherries and refrigerate for 4 hours. Churn in ice cream maker and stir in the Brazil Nuts during the last five minutes.

Makes 8 Servings.

Cherry Stand

Local Cherry Sign

Brazilian Black Cherry Ice Cream

Eat Your Nutrients!

Lavender Ice Cream with Candied Pecans

The Lavender is at it’s peak in Northern Michigan, and I took a trip to Lavender Hill Farms to stroll through the lavender fields and purchase some culinary lavender called Violet Intrigue. Culinary lavender is different than others. Lavender identified as “angustifolia’ is used in cooking and will not taste bitter. You can purchase it at some health food stores or directly from a grower.

Lavender Ice Cream with Honeyed Pecans

In this ice cream I infused full fat coconut milk with lavender buds for a delicate flavor paired with toasted, honeyed pecans.

Look at the beautiful lavender fields! There was a delicate scent of lavender in the air and the bees were working the flowers. The little gift shop sells lavender honey from their hives as well as homemade soaps and beauty products made from their other varieties of lavender.

Lavender Buds

Lavender Fields

Lavender Ice Cream with Candied Pecans

Preheat your oven 350 degrees.

Ingredients:

2 Cans (28 oz.) Full Fat Coconut Milk (Aroy-D is the best!)

1/4 Cup plus 1 Tablespoon of Clear Honey

1/2 Cup Raw Pecans

2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil

1 Tablespoon Dried Lavender Buds

1 Tablespoon SCD Legal Pure Vanilla Extract

1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Pinch of Himalayan Pink Salt

Toast the pecans in a 350 degree oven for five minutes, then remove, place in a small bowl with 1 Tablespoon of Honey and 1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon and toss to coat. Place back on a parchment lined cookie sheet and continue to toast tossing every five minutes until dried and candied. Set aside to cool. Then coarsely chop them.

Meanwhile, place 1/2 cup coconut milk in a small sauce pan with 1 Tablespoon Lavender Buds and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat just before it boils and let the buds infuse for 30 minutes, then strain and discard the buds. Stir in the remaining Coconut Milk, Vanilla, 1/4 Cup Honey, 2 Tablespoons melted Coconut Oil and a pinch of Himalayan Pink Salt. Chill for 4 to 6 hours in the refrigerator. Churn in an ice cream maker, stirring in the chopped, candied pecans the last five minutes. Serve this delicate, fancy, refreshing treat!

Lavender Ice Cream with Honeyed Pecans

Eat Your Nutrients!

Crock Pot Cream of Tomato Basil Soup

Cream of Tomato Basil Soup

Fall isn’t the only time to make good use of your crock pot! It allows you to get outside in the Summer and come home after a day of fun to a great meal. When we have a full house of company and are all heading out for a day of boating or beach fun, I can’t tell you how much stress it takes off the cook to have a few great recipes that can be done in advance “up your sleeve” – Where did that saying come from?

Here is a tomato soup recipe where I used fresh basil from the garden. You can add a salad and some almond crackers, or throw burgers on the grill to go with it for a quickly prepped meal after a day outside.

Ingredients:

2 – 28 oz. Jars Crushed Tomatoes (I Like Eden Organics They are SCD Legal)

1 Cup Full Fat Coconut Milk

2 Tablespoons Garlic Olive Oil

1/2 Cup Fresh Minced Basil, plus more for garnish

1 Teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt

1 Teaspoon Black Pepper

Place all the ingredients in the crock pot on low for 6 to 8 hours. Puree the soup with an immersion blender or high speed blender. Serve with a garnish of fresh basil.

See how easy it is?

Eat Your Nutrients!

Banana Almond Swirl Cookies

Here is a moist drop cookie, that I am so excited to share! It is egg free, sugar free and dairy free. They are soft and cake-like. I am an ex-cake addict. They are tasty and moist!

Banana Almond Swirl Cookies

There are two batters that you swirl together and then scoop and drop.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients:

Batter One:

1 Ripe Banana with Black Spots (this makes them sweet with no sugar and SCD Legal)

1 1/4 Cups Superfine Almond Flour

2 Tablespoons Cinnamon

2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil (softened but not melted. (If it is a warm day it will be soft of a few seconds in the microwave)

1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract (just vanilla and alcohol)

1/4 Teaspoon Pink Himalayan Salt

1/4 Teaspoon Gluten Free Baking Soda

Puree the banana, then in a medium bowl with a hand mixer, mix in the remaining ingredients. Set aside.

Batter Two:

1 Ripe Banana with Black Spots (this makes them sweet with no sugar and SCD Legal)

1 1/4 Cups Superfine Almond Flour

2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil (softened but not melted. (If it is a warm day it will be soft of a few seconds in the microwave)

1/2 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract and 1/2 Teaspoon Pure Almond Extract (No additives, SCD Legal)

1/4 Teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt

1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda

Puree the banana. With a hand mixer in a medium bowl, mix the remaining ingredients.

Add the Cinnamon Batter to the top of the almond batter and swirl with a knife until you get a nice marbled effect. Scoop onto two parchment lined baking sheets with a cookie scoop. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. If you have any left after the first day, store them in the refrigerator.

Crock Pot Chicken Veggie Soup

Crock Pot Chicken Soup

I don’t travel well, darn it! I thought now that I had finally got a diagnosis of SIBO and had done the antibiotic protocol, which made me feel so great, that I would travel much better. Much to my disappointment, after a twelve hour car ride up north for some summer fun, I had a set back. Here is a nourishing, soothing chicken soup recipe for when you need very cooked and easy to digest food. It is delicious, and you can enjoy it with your family. It cooks in the crock pot for 6 to 8 hours, so you can play, and dinner will be ready when you get home. The longest part of making it is the chopping.

Ingredients:

1 Whole Chicken (preferably organic)

1 Cup One Inch Sliced Green Beans

2 Medium Zucchini, Chopped

3 Endive, Sliced

4 Peeled and Chopped Carrots

1 Green Pepper, Chopped

6 Scallions, Green Parts Only, Sliced

Fresh Parsley, 1 small handful stems removed and minced

Zest and Juice of 1 Lemon

4 Teaspoons Himalayan Pink Salt

3/4 Teaspoon Pepper

6 to 8 cups filtered or well water

Chicken Soup Prep

Put all the prepped ingredients into a crock pot, add enough water to cover your chicken (about 6 to 8 cups. The chicken makes your broth) and cook on low for 8 hours. Take out the chicken and shred and remove the bones. Put the chicken back in the crock pot. Serve.

Prepped Chicken Veggie Soup

Alternately, if you only have six hours. Turn crock pot to high for 1 hour, then turn to low for the remaining five hours.

Sloppy Joes (Messy Jessie’s in My House)

Messy Jessie’s

This recipe is a SCD Diet, Low FodMap rendition of Sloppy Joe’s in honor of my daughter, Jessie, who loves them. It is a quick and easy weeknight meal using my SCD Low Fodmap BBQ Sauce recipe. So you can have this BBQ Sauce on hand and add to two pounds of ground meat and a few other ingredients, and viola, a very yummy Messy Jessie!

Ingredients:

1 Large Butternut Squash

2 Pounds of Grass Fed Ground Beef

1 Green Pepper, chopped

1 1/2 Cups SCD Low FodMap BBQ Sauce

1 teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt

1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper

1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil, Plus more for the Squash

Directions:

Peel and Slice the Butternut Squash into rounds. The rounds will come from the solid top part of the squash. The rest can be cubed and roasted along with the “buns”. Lay the rounds in a single layer on a parchment lined cookie sheet, and brush with melted coconut oil and salt and pepper to taste. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes flipping after 15 minutes. This is your bun.

Meanwhile, sautee the green pepper, ground beef, salt and pepper in the coconut oil until browned. Drain excess fat and add the BBQ sauce and simmer for five minutes. Place one round of butternut squash on a plate, pile on the Messy Jessie filling and top with another round of squash. A family friendly Messy Jessie! My husband and kids love the butternut squash bun, and the leftover filling is great on salad the next day.

Eat Your Nutrients!

SCD Low FodMap BBQ Sauce

SCD Low FodMap BBQ Sauce

If you are on the SCD Diet, you know it is nearly impossible to find legal sauces. Low FodMap too, forget it. Here is a delicious barbecue sauce that is not difficult to make! You can use it for many things, including my Messy Jessie’s.

Ingredients:

3 Cups of Tomato Puree, SCD Legal

1/4 Cup Clear Honey

1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar

1 Teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper

1/2 Teaspoon Paprika

1/2 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika

2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard (No Garlic or Onion)

1/4 Teaspoon Cayenne

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cumin

6 Dashes Tabasco Sauce

2 Tablespoons Garlic Olive Oil

Place all ingredients in a medium, deep, saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and simmer until reduced by half. This will take about 30 minutes. This makes 2 one pint jars. Freeze one jar for later. It freezes beautifully! This is a very versatile BBQ Sauce. I use it to make Messy Jessie’s (a version of Sloppy Joe’s named after my daughter who loves them) as well as on grilled chicken, etc.

Happy Barbecuing!

Eat Your Nutrients!

Cinnamon Vanilla Nut Bites

These little energy bites are perfect pop in size, or if you are a more delicate eater, two bites! They are perfect for a quick snack when your running low on fuel, but don’t have a lot of time. I like to use Brazil Nut Butter because it is high in selenium.

Cinnamon Vanilla Nut Bites

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Toasted Pecans

Toast Pecans in a 350 degree oven for 5-7 minutes until just starting to brown. Set aside to cool then finely chop.

1/4 Cup Brazil Nut Butter (or Sunflower, Almond, Peanut, Walnut butter)

1/4 Cup Dried Currants

1 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract

1 1/4 Cup Superfine Blanched Almond Flour

2 Tablespoon Coconut Flour

2 Tablespoons Clear Honey

1/4 Teaspoon Pink Himalayan Salt

1/4 Cup Coconut Oil

2 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon SCD Legal Pure Vanilla Extract

Place Currants and first tablespoon of Vanilla Extract in a small bowl and macerate for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, add the other ingredients except the toasted pecans to a medium mixing bowl. Blend all the ingredients, then add the soaked currants. Form into 1 1/2 inch balls and roll in the finely chopped, toasted pecans. Freeze on a cookie sheet for 30 minutes, then store in an airtight container in the freezer or refrigerator depending on the firmness you desire.

Cinnamon Vanilla Nut Bites

Strawberry Sangria Sorbet

Strawberry Sangria Sorbet

I feel sorry for myself plenty on this new diet. Honestly, I have my moments. But, dry red wine is allowed. Yipee! I love wine! I enjoy sitting with my husband and sipping red wine. I love wine tastings, they are a fun and social event! I like browsing the wine shops. I like making wreaths out of the corks. I have had to give up a lot, but not wine. Red is my favorite anyway, so I am okay with not having white wine.

Sangria’s are so refreshing on a hot summer day, I thought, why not Sangria Sorbet? Here is my version of a spiked summer treat! Adults Only! 🙂

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh organic strawberries

1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

1/4 cup fresh squeezed meyer lemon juice or regular lemon juice

1/4 cup clear honey

1/2 cup dry red wine (I used Spanish Grenache)

Blend all the ingredients in a blender until pureed. Refrigerate until well chilled. Freeze in an ice cream maker, and then hopefully sit outside with someone you really like and enjoy!

4 Servings, or 16 Scoops