bethsblog

Pecan Crispies: Yum for the Holidays

 
In anticipation of having my daughter, Amy, here for Christmas, I made a batch SCD Pecan Crispies. (Amy follows the Specific Carbohydrate Diet to control Crohn's Disease.) It takes most of a day to make these crisp, sweet, buttery gems, but it's well worth the effort. As I was baking them, using the recipe I published last year, I came up with a couple ideas to make the process easier. Here's the new version:

SCD Pecan Crispies

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 lb. pecans, roughly chopped
3/4 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup blanched almond flour

Combine all ingredients and spread evenly into an 11x17" jelly roll
pan that has been lined with parchment paper. (Cut the paper to
extend about 3” beyond 2 sides of the pan. You will use these
extensions later to lift the bars out of the pan. Lightly butter
the pan before lining to keep the paper from sliding around.)
Bake at 300º for 20-25 minutes until bubbly all over and starting
to firm up. Remove from oven and place pan on a cooling rack.
Loosen baked good from the sides of the pan with a spatula
where necessary.

When completely cool, gently lift baked good in one piece to a
cutting board. With a sharp knife, cut it into squares and transfer
the them carefully to cookie sheets lined with parchment paper,
spacing them ½” apart. They are quite delicate at this point and
may tend to break apart. If so, gently press them back together
with your fingers. Bake at 170º for 3 hours. Let cool in oven.
They will continue to crisp as they cool. (If still not crisp
when cool, reheat oven to 170º and bake for another 30 minutes.
Store airtight. They will stay crisp for a couple weeks. Should
the cookies lose their crispness, bake again for 30 minutes in a 170º oven, and once again, let cool in the oven.

Click here for information on how you can get a copy of this beautiful Turtle Soup Cookbook Cover and a set of all my
Turtle Soup Recipes, especially designed for the
Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ 

"Keep it simple."

Croissants!

 

I baked my very first batch of honest-to-gosh croissants (à la Julia Child) yesterday. Yes, they are approximately 50% butter and yes, it was an all day job, (actually only about 2 hours hands-on time, plus 30 minutes reading Julia Child's cookbook and another 30 minutes watching Julia make them on DVD.) The other 6 hours was spent letting the dough rise and rest.

Unfortunately they are not SCD compliant, but there is a delicious alternative: Cheesy Breadsticks, which I make during the holidays for Amy, my SCD daughter. 

After sampling the croissants moist, buttery yumminess, I popped the rest in the freezer to await our Christmas feast. I'm guessing that when the family tastes them, they will be added to the request list for years to come... as long as I'm still able to knead!

Here's a very good photo-essay of the process.

"Keep it simple."

Cheesy Breadsticks

These gems are a variation on a recipe from in Lucy's Cookbook.

Cheesy breadsticks   makes 16-20 small rolls

3 c. blanched almond flour
3/4 c mild cheddar cheese
4 T. melted butter
1/2 tsp. soda
3/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
3/4 c dry curd cottage cheese
1/4 c water
1/2 tsp. garlic powder or 1 garlic clove finely minced

Place almond flour and cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Blend all other ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Spoon the blended ingredients into the bowl with the flour/cheese mixture and stir until well combined. Scoop out large tablespoons of dough and with wet hands form into small bread stick shapes. Bake on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper for 15-20 minutes at 325. Rolls are done when golden brown, and a toothpick comes out clean.

Click here for information on how you can get a copy of this beautiful Turtle Soup Cookbook Cover and a set of printer-friendly recipes.

"Keep it simple."

blog over...well, sort of

bethsblog is undergoing some changes... from now on my site will be dedicated mostly to providing resources for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet™.

bethsblog receives many visits each day to my articles and posts about my family's experiences with the diet, and the recipes my daughter and I have developed for the Turtle Soup Cookbook, so I will continue to keep those resources available.

I will also use this site to maintain links to my Zazzle products and my Art Gallery.

And maybe the occasional random rant.

I look forward to new adventures in the new year.

For those of you who have followed bethsblog, (it's been nearly 3 years) Happy Holidays and thanks for reading.

"Keep it simple."

Creamy Tomato Soup

2 cups *legal tomato juice (I use Campbell's Organic)
1/2 cup SCD yogurt made with 2% milk
1 tsp. butter
1/4 tsp. salt (to taste)
1 tbsp. honey (to taste)
a dash or two of black pepper

Whisk together it all together in a saucepan and heat slowly stirring occasionally.

*legal = no added sugars, starches or gums

Click here for information on how you can get a copy of this beautiful Turtle Soup Cookbook Cover and a set of printer-friendly recipes.

"Keep it simple."

Chicken Paprika

This is really easy, delicious and completely SCD legal:

Chicken Paprika

Chicken thighs and/or drumsticks
olive oil
salt
pepper
garlic powder
smoked paprika

Preheat oven to 375.
Coat a shallow baking dish with olive oil.
Place chicken in baking dish and drizzle with additional olive oil.
Rub chicken parts with oil to thoroughly coat.
Sprinkle generously on all sides with seasonings.
Bake 40-45 minutes, uncovered.
Transfer chicken to serving platter and cover with aluminum foil.
Let chicken rest for 10-20 minutes... the foil cover will help juices stay in the meat.

Serve,
Enjoy.

Click here for information on how you can get a copy of this beautiful Turtle Soup Cookbook Cover and a set of printer-friendly recipes.

"Keep it simple."

Carrot Muffins

These gems are absolutely delicious, and completely Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ legal:

Carrot Muffins  makes 12 muffins

1/2 c. honey
3 eggs
1/4 c. melted butter or oil
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla*
2 1/2 c. almond flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c. grated carrot (squeeze out as moisture as possible between paper towels)
1/2 c. white raisins
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Mix ingredients in a large bowl in the order given.
Spoon batter into a muffin tin lined with cupcake liners, 3/4 to
nearly full.
Flatten batter a bit with wet fingers before baking.
Bake at 325 for 20-25 min until lightly browned, springy to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool 10 minutes in pan, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Muffins will keep in an airtight container at room temp for a week. They freeze well too.

*no added sugars or grain alcohol.

Click here for information on how you can get a copy of my beautiful Turtle Soup Cookbook Cover and a complete set of printer-friendly Turtle Soup Recipes,  created especially for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ 

 

"Keep it simple."

Simply Delicious

Roast Turkey, Giblet Gravy,  Mashed Potato,  Sage and Onion Stuffing, Savory Roasted Butternut Squash with Thyme and Honey, Green Beans Almondine, Cranberry-Pear Sauce with White Raisins and Cognac, Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Cream...that's the menu for our upcoming feast... mmm... mmm.

Last year, my daughter, Amy, and I were both following the  Specific Carbohydrate Diet. I subjected my very patient family to a meal that was entirely "SCD legal". (Stuffing made with almond bread, pureed mushroom gravy, faux mashed potato made with cauliflower... actually, we did have one concession the "normals"... those lovely crescent rolls.) This year I'm dividing the meal between foods that comply with the SCD, (above, in red) and several grain/starch based items for the "normals". Amy, who still follows the sugar-free- starch-free SCD to control her Crohn's, assures me that she will have plenty to eat!

"Keep it simple."

Squashed

Here's an extra flavorful version of a family favorite. It's a hit with everyone, right down to 10 month old Cassidy May. I found that roasting the squash enriches it's flavor and brings out it's nutty essence. This recipe is in compliance with the guidelines for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet™.

Roasted Butternut Squash Casserole serves 4-6

1 med. butternut squash
salt
pepper
thyme
olive oil
2 T. melted butter
water or stock
honey to taste

Preheat the oven to 375. Peel butternut squash and cut into 2" chunks, discarding seeds and strings. Place squash on a jelly-roll style baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. Sprinkle squash with salt, pepper and thyme. Roast 30-40 minutes until fork-tender. Remove baking pan to cooling rack and cover with foil, sealing edges tightly. Let squash "steam" while cooling to room temperature. Transfer squash to food processor and blend with melted butter and little stock or water to moisten it to desired consistency. Add honey to taste. Process until smooth. Transfer squash to a casserole dish and warm, covered, in a 350 oven or microwave on high, stirring occasionally until heated through.

Click here for information on how you can get a copy of this beautiful Turtle Soup Cookbook Cover and a set of all my
Turtle Soup Recipes, especially designed for the
Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ 

"Keep it simple."

Turtle Soup SCD Cookbook "Endorsement"

Happily, I have received to date, 19 donations to my Turtle Soup Cookbook project since offering it as a do-it-yourself Ebook. For those of you who donated, I will continue to send you bonus recipes as I plan to continue to add new recipes from time to time. 

A few months ago I corresponded with Judy Herod, daughter of Elaine Gottschall, who authored the SCD bible, Breaking the Vicious Cycle.  She gave me permission to publish her lovely email:

Hi Beth,
After all of this time since we spoke, I finally found the time to visit your site. It's a lot of fun, full of energy, optimism and good information. I looked at the recipes and saw no problems in terms of compliance. I do appreciate your easy links to the SCD site, Lucy's site, etc.

Thanks for letting me know about it.

All the best,
Judy Herod
Kirkton Press

Many thanks to Judy for taking time to read through my recipes, and for the two thumbs up.

Click here for information on how you can get a copy of this beautiful Turtle Soup Cookbook Cover and a set of all my
Turtle Soup Recipes, especially designed for the
Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ 

"Keep it simple."