Ingredients:

6 lemons juiced

1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 quarts water

Stevia to taste

Directions:

Puree straawberries, lemon juice, suagar and 1 cup of water in food processor.  Pour into pitcher, add the rest of the water and the stevia.  Pour over ice and serve.

Ingredients:

2 Eggplants sliced in 3/4 in slices

Olive Oil

1 pound Italian bulk sausage

28 oz can tomato sauce

1 6 oz can tomato paste

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 lb Mozzerella shredded

1 cup shredded parmesan

1 pound ricotta cheese

2 eggs, beaten

Directions:

Toss the eggplant slices with a liberal amount of olive oil and bake in a single layer in a 425 degree oven on well greased cookie sheets for 25 minutes, turning half way through.  While the eggplant is cooking brown the sausage and garlic.  When the sausage is no longer pink add the tomato sauce and paste.  If your sausage is lightly seasoned, you may need to add some Italian herbs such as oregano or marjoram to taste.  Shred the cheese and set aside.  Mix the beaten eggs into the ricotta until smooth.  When the eggplant is done layer half the eggplant in a glass lasagne pan and cover with half the ricotta mixture, then half the sauce then half of each cheese.  Repeat the layers again, finishing with the mozzerella.  Bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the dish is bubbly and lightly browned on top.  Allow the dish to cool on the counter for 20 minutes before serving to avoid burning yourself and to allow the lasagne to set. 

Ingredients:

1 medium head of green cabbage

1 cup shredded green onions

2 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp minced ginger

1/2 cup thin sliced red pepper strips

1/4 chopped fresh cilantro leaves

2 T palm or coconut oil

Juice from 1 lime

3 T fish sauce(to taste)

3 T Fresh Chile Paste(Sambal Oelek)  to taste

3 T crunchy peanut butter

pnch of Stevia or other sweetener

Directions: 

In order to get a noodle like dish, slice the cabbage finely into long thin shreds. Quarter the green onions the long way and chop into 4 inch sections.  Heat a skillet on high, melt the oil and quickly fry the cabbage, green onions and red peppers.  Be sure to allow some of the cabbage to brown for extra flavor.  Just before the cabbage is soft add the garlic and ginger and cook 1 minute more.  Meanwhile, mix together in a small bowl the fish sauce, chili paste, lime juice, peanut butter and sweetener to create a sauce. Then mix in the sauce, cook one more minute and toss with the cilantro just before serving

Ingredients;

any combination of root vegetable that sound good to you. Assume 3/4 cup per person, plus whatever you would like left over to eat cold on another day. I like beets, rutabaga, and carrots in equal measure. Golden beets don’t bleed their color all over the way purple beets do and they taste just as good. If you don’t mind everything being a little pinky, then use purple beets.

2-3 T butter
1-2 tsp honey
1 tsp powdered ginger
the seeds of 2-3 green cardamom pods
salt to taste
olive oil for oiling the pan

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375, or whatever temperature you need for other dishes in the meal. Roots aren’t too picky. Lightly oil a glass casserole and set aside. Remove the tops from the roots and set aside. Peel all the roots, chop into dice sized pieces and toss together in the casserole. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes, remove from the oven and add all the other ingredients, stirring until the butter is evenly distributed. Return caserole to the oven and cook another 30-45 minutes, stirring from time to time. You will know they are done when all the moisture has cooked off and the pieces are a little browned. Be careful not to brown them to much, otherwise they will taste scorched. Also, if you don’t let their juices cook off, you won’t get a nice buttery glaze.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup melted butter

1/2 cup honey

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups almond flour

1/2 cup plus 2 T coconut flour

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

pecan halves

Directions:

Beat the melted butter, honey, eggs, vanilla, salt and baking soda until smooth.  Add the almond flour, mix well, then add the coconut flour.  DON”T add the coconut flour first, it sucks up all the moisture.  After adding the coconut flour, add the shredded coconut and mix thoroughly.  Shape the dough into 1 inch balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Flatten each cookie slightly by pressing a pecan half into each ball, being sure to not crack the cookies.  Bake in a 300 degree oven four 12 minutes or until done.

1. start with a good quality chicken.  I used an organic bird from Trader Joe’s.

2. let the chicken sit at room temperature for an hour or so to warm up a bit, then remove from it’s package, rinse and dry well with paper towels.

3.  using 2-3 T room temperature butter, rub the chicken inside and out then salt.  Salt will be the only seasoning you will use,  I love the simplicity of it.

4.  This is key!  make sure the oven is pre-heated to 425 and place the chicken on it’s side in a pan surrounded by a couple of carrots and onions.  I skipped the carrots and onions and every thing came out fine. You will only leave the chicken at 425 for 15-20 minutes, and then turn it down to 350 for the remainder of the baking time.  Every 5 minutes at 425 turn the chicken to it’s other side and baste with a mixture of melted butter and olive oil.  The whole chicken  will begin to gently brown, even the bottom.  Normally, if you don’t rotate the chicken, only the top gets brown, and this huge expanse of skin stays white under the chicken.  Browning is a chemical process  that creates truly natural chicken flavor.   I am so used to artificial chicken flavor, that the flavor of a well turned chicken caught me by surprise.  My husband commented that the chicken tasted like what those store bought rotisserie birds are trying to taste like.

5. After this more intense step of turning the chicken every 5 minutes for 15-20 minutes, turn the oven down to 350 and you can relax a bit.  Just keep popping into the kitchen every 15-20 minutes to turn and baste the chicken.  You will get a nice amount of browned pan dripping for making your gravy.  After all this effort to create brown pan drippings it would be a waste not to make gravy, and my recipe is gluten free, so go check it out!  The chicken is done when a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reaches 180 degrees.

For more details read Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  If you are following a diet that reduces carbs, or wheat, this is a nice book to have, since it teaches you how to cook for real, not from a package.   There are many simple sauces and sides to dress up your table, your spirits will be lifted if you are feeling a little glum about restrictions.  The culinary world is a vast and generous place, so we need never feel restricted, only blessed.

Ingredients;

3-4 T coconut oil, OR ghee, OR butter

2 tsp brown mustard seeds

2 cups of chopped onions

2-3 T minced fresh ginger

3 minced jalapeño peppers minced

4 large cloves of fresh garlic minced

2-3 T homemade curry powder, or to taste; don’t be shy!

1 14 oz can of regular coconut milk

2 cups chopped fresh vegetables(This is a great opportunity to clean out the fridge.  You could even used left over cooked vegetables if they are plain) Choose from zucchini, carrots, peas, cauliflower, eggplant or what ever comes to mind.

2 cups rinsed and picked over red lentils(if you are dealing with digestive problems allow the lentils to soak over night)

enough filtered water to make the stew a pleasing texture, probably 6-8 cups

1 cup sour cream or yogurt(this recipe is SCD legal if you use homemade yogurt)

salt

Directions;

Rinse the lentils and let them soak while preparing the other ingredients.  In a soup pan or Dutch oven melt the coconut oil and sauté the onions, mustard seeds, ginger and jalapeños  slowly for a good 10 minutes or so.  At the end of this time, add the garlic and and curry powder and stir in a touch of water so the spices won’t burn, but cook them all together for a few more minutes to blend all the flavors.  Add the coconut milk and continue to simmer while preparing the fresh vegetables.  Add the vegetables and lentils and simmer until the lentils are soft.  Purée with a hand held blender add the sour cream and salt to taste and serve.  Offer some Mango Ice Cream for dessert and you will be everyone’s favorite cook.

Ingredients;

1 large ripe banana

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup walnut pieces

Directions;

Preheat the oven to 375 and butter an 8 inch round cake pan.   Mash the banana in a mixing bowl, and mix in the melted butter, sugar, cocoa powder, eggs and vanilla.  When well mixed  add the coconut flour then the walnut pieces.  Spoon into the baking pan and smooth the top evenly.  Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Enjoy warm or cool with a good cup of coffee, and if you really want to live it up top with a dollop of whipped cream.  10 grams of usable carb per serving when cut into 12 servings.

Ingredients:

2 firm regular cucumbers peeled, seeded and chopped

1/3 cup minced red onion

1 finely minced jalapeño pepper

1/4 cup finely chopped clinatro leaves

Juice of 1 lime

1 tsp sugar, optional

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and chill for 30 minutes before serving.