A bite into this sweet bread brings me back to my mother’s kitchen. It’s sweet, it’s tart and it’s really wonderful. The texture is very similar to the treat I remember as a kid.

Dry ingredients:

• 3 cups almond flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1-1/2 Tbs poppy seed
• 1 Tbs lemon zest (see notes)

Wet ingredients:

• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice (see notes)
• 1 Tbs vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup rich yoghurt
• 1 cup honey
• 4 Tbs unsalted butter, melted

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Combine dry ingredients in one bowl.
3. In another bowl, combine wet ingredients.
4. Combine wet and dry mixes.
5. Prepare a 5 x 9 inch loaf pan by greasing or lining with parchment paper or your favorite method.
6. Pour mix into loaf pan
7. Bake on center rack of oven for 60 -70 minutes or until done (see video).
8. Cool and store in refrigerator.

Notes:

Cooking yoghurt will kill the bacteria so don’t consider the yoghurt in this recipe as a probiotic.

It is very important to use fresh lemon. If you use an old lemon, don’t bother making this recipe as it will be flat and you will be unimpressed. An average medium sized lemon will yield the zest and juice necessary for this recipe. Just to be safe though, have two on hand when you start. The most important thing to know about zesting any citrus is to not zest too far into the fruit. You want to remove just the color from the outside of the fruit. The white flesh under the color is bitter, so don’t zest too deep. I use a box grater and that works well.

You can find almond flour in your local grocery, but in my experience it’s pretty expensive. I buy a 25 pound box from Hughson Nut and it works out to be about $5.50 per pound delivered. Use Google and check the web.

Important: Ovens vary in accuracy so for your first time baking a loaf, check it starting at 60 minutes and then every 5 or 10 minutes until it’s done. If you do this the first time, you’ll have the proper time for your oven.

Video:

How to tell when a loaf is done.

For more videos visit my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/eatingSCD

Ingredients:

• 6 pounds of fresh tomatoes OR (2) 46 oz. bottles of tomato juice
• 1-1/2 cups white vinegar
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 medium onion, about a cup, cut into quarters
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed (see this video for easy peeling)
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/8 tsp paprika
• 1 cup honey

Directions:

If using fresh tomatoes, process them until they are simply juice. See the videos below for instruction. If starting with juice, proceed to step one.

1. Combine all ingredients except for honey. Simmer till ketchup-thick, about 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally then more frequently as it thickens. The stirring will prevent burning.
2. Remove bay leaf.
3. Add honey and heat a while longer to return to ketchup thickness. Stir frequently to prevent burning, lowering the heat if necessary.
4. Remove from heat and puree with blender to smooth and incorporate remaining onion and garlic.

Notes:

Yields about 5 cups.

Ketchup will keep for a long time in your fridge.

Make a large batch and process them in a canner to make it shelf stable for even longer storage.

Videos:

This video also contains info for using a food mill to remove seeds and skins from tomatoes.

This short video shows you how to remove the skins from tomatoes.

For more videos visit my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/eatingSCD

Do you love Thai food? This recipe is an ode to the Kang Ped Phed I used to eat at a local Thai restaurant. The Thai basil is the star of this show and I can’t get enough. Don’t worry though, it’s only a little spicy.

Ingredients:
1 Tbs peanut oil
1 lb round steak, sliced thinly into bite sized pieces
1 tsp salt
1-1/4 cup water
1 Tbs + 1 tsp honey
1/16 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 cup red grapes
1 cup fresh Thai basil leaves

Directions:
1. Heat peanut oil over medium high heat in large skillet.
2. Place steak into skillet and add salt.
3. Sauté until browned and the liquid from the meat has caramelized onto the bottom of the pan. See this image.
4. Add water and scrape all the brown off the bottom and sides of the pan. Don’t miss any as this is the beef flavor. Do it right and it will look like this.
5. Mix honey and cayenne into broth.
6. Add grapes and Thai basil and continue cooking for 3 minutes.
7. Serve in a bowl with some broth as the broth holds a lot of the flavor.

Notes:
Thai basil has a distinct licorice component so if you can’t get it, you could try licorice basil. If the basil leaves are large, you can chop them up a little.
If memory serves me, you should be able to eat Thai food without needing a knife. Keep that in mind when you’re slicing the beef.

I was desperate for a chocolate croissant with a latte and I needed to fill that hole quick or something illegal was going to happen. Luckily I had a few ingredients on hand. It’s a bit like a banana split without the ice cream.

Ingredients:
1 banana, cut into bite size chunks
1/4 cup toasted pecan pieces
honey to taste

Preparation:
Toast pecans in 300° F oven for 10 minutes.

Directions:
1. Put banana chunks in bowl and top with pecans.
2. Drizzle honey to taste.

Notes:
I suspect strawberry chunks would go nicely. Or even pineapple. Both!

Guiding principals: tangy, sweet, spicy, smokey, complex. Great on everything, but made for the ribs.

Ingredients:
(2) 46 oz cans tomato juice (only salt added) OR fresh tomatoes: see notes below
1-1/2 cup white vinegar
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/4 tsp sweet hungarian paprika or better yet, smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground chipoltle pepper
2 tsp salt
2 medium yellow onions, roughly chopped
12 cloves garlic, smashed (see this video for easy peeling)
1 Tbs liquid smoke (see note below)
1-1/2 cups honey
and maybe 1 tablespoon Tabasco Hot sauce (the original red only)

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients, except for honey, liquid smoke and Tabasco in a large pot.
2. Simmer for hours and hours until very thick, stirring occasionally, more so as it thickens.
3. Add honey and simmer another 30 minutes, stirring more frequently to prevent burning.
4. Remove bay leaves.
5. Taste and add Tobasco Hot sauce if you see fit.
6. Add liquid smoke.
7. Transfer to a blender and puree well.

Yields about 3 pints

Notes:
To substitute fresh tomatoes for canned juice, use six pounds, cored and skinned. See the videos below.
The initial simmering will take 6-8 hours.
Halving the recipe will halve your simmer time.
Adding the liquid smoke in the beginning can greatly diminish it’s flavor so it’s better to add it at the end when the simmering is done.

Regarding liquid smoke: I use Wright’s Hickory or Mesquite Liquid Smoke. The labels list no illegal ingredients. I emailed the company to be sure and they confirmed the legality. Find the exchange below.

My inquiry:

I am on an extremely strict diet that does not allow me to have any forms
of refined sugars, gums or starches.

Do either your hickory or mesquite liquid smoke products contain any forms
or refined sugar, gum or starch?

Thank your for your help.

Sincerely,
Paul Stocker

Their reply:

Dear Mr. Stocker,

Wright’s Liquid Smoke is a natural product that gives foods a charcoal broiled taste.

It is made from hickory wood that is burned in an enclosed unit.
As the smoke rises it is captured in a condenser, allowing the smoke to cool.
The cooled smoke forms water droplets (condensation).
The condensation droplets are collected in a pan, filtered and placed in 55 gallon drums.  The drums are taken to the production filling location where it is filtered for a second time and transferred to the filling line.
The bottles are filled, capped and labeled.  They are then placed into shipping cases ready for distribution.

It contains no salt, carbohydrates, sugars, gum, starches, food additives, colorings or carcinogens. It is designated “natural” by the FDA.

—

Some other liquid smoke brands do contain illegals so read carefully.

Here’s an article on Slashfood about liquid smoke.

In the interest of full disclosure it should be noted that the gold standard for investigating a processed food as set forth by Elaine Gottschall is to get a physical letter from the company on official letterhead with a person’s title and signature. By this measure, my investigation fails as I conducted it by email. Given this specific product and that most communication now takes place electronically, I am personally comfortable with the validity of the email exchange. You will have to decide for yourself where your comfort lies.

If you want to omit the liquid smoke, but keep the smoke flavor, two options come to mind:

• Increase the smoked paprika
• Smoke some onions or other vegetable on your grill and use them in the sauce (Thanks to Marilyn on the BTVC-SCD group for this suggestion).

Video:
How to smash garlic.

This short video shows you how to remove the skins from tomatoes.

Making ketchup from scratch. Same method, slightly different ingredients.

For more of my videos, including higher quality versions, visit my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/eatingSCD

This recipe is modified from the recipe found in the BTVC book. It’s been my replacement for bread and my breakfast every day. I figure I’ve eaten over 2700 muffins in three years. I love them.

Dry ingredients:

• 3 cups almond flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Wet ingredients:

• 3 large eggs
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed well
• 1/2 cup rich yoghurt (made from half and half *)
• 1/2 cup honey
• optional: 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

* Half and half is a mixture of 50% whole milk and 50% cream with a fat content in the 10-18% range.

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine dry ingredients in one bowl.
3. In another bowl, combine wet ingredients.
4. Combine wet and dry mixes.
5. Fill paper muffin cups 2/3 full of batter.
6. Bake on center rack of oven for 25-30 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
7. Remove muffins from pan quickly or they will burn on the outside from the residual heat of the muffin pan.

Cool and store in refrigerator.

Yield: One dozen muffins.

Notes:

Cooking yoghurt will kill the bacteria so don’t consider the yoghurt in this recipe as a probiotic.

These freeze well.

If you want to travel with this bread, but don’t want to worry about keeping it cool you can slice it thinly and dehydrate it to make a sort of biscotti that will keep a week or two at room temperature. Here’s a picture.

You can find almond flour in your local grocery, but in my experience it’s pretty expensive. I buy a 25 pound box from Hughson Nut and it works out to be about $5.50 per pound delivered. Use Google and check the web.

If you’d rather make a loaf than muffins, follow these steps:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Perform steps 1-4 from above as in making muffins.
3. Prepare a 5 x 9 inch loaf pan by greasing or lining with parchment paper or your favorite method.
4. Pour batter into pan, place on center rack of oven and bake for about 70 minutes.

Important: Ovens vary in accuracy so for your first time baking a loaf, check it starting at 60 minutes and then every 5 or 10 minutes until it’s done. If you do this the first time, you’ll have the proper time for your oven.

Sometimes, in order for the loaf to be done in the middle, the crust gets overdone. Overdone crust tastes bitter and I cut it off before eating.

Video:

How to tell when a loaf is done.

For more videos visit my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/eatingSCD

My wife invented this one to get my oldest away from chicken nuggets. It turns out we like it too. It’s sweet and just a little bit spicy.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup honey
1-1/2 tsp ginger powder
1/4 tsp homemade garlic powder or one clove fresh, finely diced (see this video for easy peeling)
3/4 tsp salt
1-1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast (important note)

Preparation:
1. Cut chicken into thin strips.
2. Measure out spices.

Directions:
1. Heat honey in large frying pan on medium heat about four minutes or until it turns a carmel brown. See this image.
2. Add ginger, garlic and salt and mix.
3. Add chicken and mix.
4. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until chicken if fully cooked, stirring occasionally.

Notes:
Kick up the flavor a bit more by adding 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes.

Like orange chicken even better? Add the zest of one orange in the last minute or so. Be sure to get just the orange off the orange as the white part underneath is very bitter.

This dish demands your close attention. You need to do the preparation before you start heating the honey as you won’t have time once that begins. Honey can go from fine to burned in a few seconds. Once the chicken is mixed into the pan however, you can breath easier.

You can get a nasty burn from hot honey as it sticks instead of just running off like water. Be careful!

The four pillars of Thai food; sweet, salty, sour & spicy join nicely with cucumber, red onion & cilantro for a refreshing side.

Ingredients:
2 cups hot tap water
2 tsp salt
1-1/3 cups white vinegar
1 cup honey
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 medium cucumbers, peeled and seeded
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

Directions:
1. Dissolve salt in hot water.
2. Add vinegar, honey and red pepper, stirring until combined.
3. Add remaining ingredients, stir and refrigerate.

Notes:
Although this is great right away, make it a day ahead to achieve maximum flavor potential.

Video:
How to remove the seeds from a cucumber.

Find more of my videos, including higher quality versions on my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/eatingSCD

This sauce was created especially for Beck Beck Chicken, but tastes great on other things as well. Try it on different meats and definitely try it on sauteed baby spinach.

Ingredients:
1 cup natural, unsweetened peanut butter
5 Tbsp honey (1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp)
1/4 cup peanut oil
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
1/8 tsp homemade garlic powder or 1 clove fresh, minced (see this video for easy peeling)
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
salt (if your peanut butter doesn’t already have salt)

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients except for salt.
2. Taste and add salt if necessary.

This gem was brought to me by my lovely wife. It’s fresh. It’s zingy. It sings a little song in your mouth. It’s a great cool meal for those hot summer days.

Ingredients:
2-3 lbs chicken breast, with bone and skin (important note)
1 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, crushed (see this video for easy peeling)
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 carrots, shredded (or shaved if your feeling fancy)
2 medium cucumbers, peeled and seeded
1 small bunch fresh cilantro leaves

Directions:
1. Rinse chicken and place, bones up, in large pot with garlic, salt and pepper. Add water until it’s one or two inches above chicken.
2. Cover pot and bring to a medium simmer for about 60 minutes or until meat easily falls from bone.
3. Remove chicken from pot and allow to cool 20 minutes.
4. Using two forks, remove the meat from the bones and skin and shred it.
5. Assemble your plate thusly: shredded chicken topped with peanut sauce, then cucumber and carrot. Lastly a generous capping of fresh cilantro leaves. Click on the image above for an example.

Peanut Sauce Ingredients:
1 cup natural, unsweetened peanut butter
5 Tbsp honey (1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp)
1/4 cup peanut oil
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
1/8 tsp garlic powder (important note)
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
salt (if your peanut butter doesn’t already have salt)

Directions for Peanut Sauce:
1. Combine all ingredients except for salt.
2. Taste and add salt if necessary.

Notes:
The peanut sauce is great on other things too. Try it on different meats and definitely try it on sauteed baby spinach.

Video:
How to remove the seeds from a cucumber.

For more of my videos, including higher quality versions, visit my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/eatingSCD