I tried to introduce cow dairy products into my diet this week. The reason I wanted to was not for health but for convenience. I wanted to be able to eat normal cheddar cheese. Up until now I’ve been eating goat milk cheddar cheese and goat milk yogurt only.

I bought some organic cow’s cheddar cheese the other day and tried a little bit. I didn’t seem to have any symptoms so I had more. And more. Pretty soon I’d eaten a fairly decent sized chunk of cheese. Then the itching started. I broke out in hives all over my chest! What the heck!? I ate cow dairy products my entire life with no reaction like this. I had a food allergy test done showing no signs of allergy. Mind you, I hadn’t eaten any dairy for about a year and a half at that point. But I really didn’t expect an allergic reaction to a food. I’m always reacting only with digestive issues. Strangely enough, even though I broke out in hives, I had no tummy troubles at all. And I had quite a bit of the cheese too.

I’m fine with staying on goat dairy products for now. I know it’s healthier for me. Goat’s milk has more of some nutrients and is much easier to digest (proteins and fat). I like my yogurt and goat cheddar cheese. I just wish I could have cheddar cheese at restaurants or friend’s BBQ get togethers and such. I’m not sure if I’d be willing to deal with itchy hives again just for some cheese.

Sigh.. still haven’t added new things into my diet, since both squash and cow cheese is out. Hopefully my next attempt will turn out better.

Update: I’m pretty sure it was not the cow’s milk cheese that gave me the reaction. Not sure what it was!

The newest addition to my diet has been almond milk. I’ve been making about 2 cups per day and it is so wonderful! For those who haven’t tried homemade almond milk, it tastes nothing like the store bought stuff (such as Blue Diamond Almond Breeze). When I first tasted my homemade almond milk I recognized the taste immediately. It’s like the milk left over after you have a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios! So good! It tastes exactly like the flavoring of Honey Nut Cheerios, my favorite childhood cereal. Actually it was probably my favorite food of all time pre-SCD.

Almond Milk
1/2 cup almonds
2 cups water
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp honey

Put almonds and water in a blender. Blend on high for 3-5 minutes or until most of the almonds pieces disappear. Pour the liquid into a nut milk bag in a container. Strain the liquid into the container by ‘milking’ the nut bag. It gives a good forearm workout! Mix in salt and honey, and enjoy.

I have tried adding squash to my diet but think I’m having some problems with it. I’ll leave it for now and try again later. So far I’m eating: lots of meat, broth, SCD goat yogurt, goat cheddar cheese, eggs (once a week), carrots, tomatoes, artichokes, baked apples, very ripe bananas, diluted 100% fruit juice, honey and nut milk. I also added in some desiccated liver tablets, which is basically dehydrated liver. I figure I’m dealing with such a change in diet and cooking that I really can’t be bothered learning how to make (and like) liver. I’m also not having onions or butter and only having eggs once a week, so making liver pate or other good liver recipes is out for now. So I’m planning on taking these tablets for the next little while until I stop being lazy.

Yogurt is one of my favorite parts of the SCDiet. So creamy and rich. If you have some already made, it’s a very quick snack. Making the SCD yogurt becomes a ritual repeated every few days. It’s easy to eat 2 cups per day of this wonderful food, which means you end up making more every 2-3 days. I decided to include here some tips and advice on making yogurt.

How to make SCD yogurt
Over at Pecanbread there is a great step-by-step tutorial with pictures included on how to make goat milk yogurt using the Progurt starter.

Over at Breaking the Vicious Cycle there is a step-by-step tutorial on making yogurt with a heating pad.

Here is what I do (click on images for larger size):

1. Pour 2 liters of whole milk into a large pot on the stove. Insert a food thermometer (or candy thermometer) and cover pot.

2. Heat milk to 180F over medium heat and stir at the end to ensure the milk is heated evenly.

3. Set the pot aside uncovered and let the milk cool to 100F. You can cover with a clean cloth or paper towels if you wish but I find it unnecessary.

4. When milk has cooled to 100F, skim off the top layer of cream scum and discard. I used to mix this in, but noticed I had more cases of spoiled yogurt. I think it’s safer to discard.

5. Put your starter in a bowl.

6. Spoon a bit of milk into the bowl and mix.

7. Add more milk to the bowl and mix.

8. Add the starter + milk mix back into the large pot of milk and mix thoroughly.

9. Pour milk + starter into jars using a ladle.

10. Place sealed jars in a yogurt maker. Leave for 24 hours.

Note: You want the yogurt to be between 105-115 during the entire 24 hour period. Some yogurt makers heat too much, so be sure the first few times you are making it to check on the yogurt with a thermometer. Check after 3 hours then again another 8 hours later. If it is getting too hot, you can buy a dimmer switch (Walmart, Canadian Tire, anywhere that sells light switches) and reduce the power to the yogurt maker. Play around with it until you get the perfect setting.

Equipment I use to make SCD yogurt
I used to use a Yogourmet yogurt maker which holds up to 2 liters. You pour some water into the outer container, place your milk + starter in the inner container, put the lids on and plug it in. I highly recommend getting the glass jug insert for this yogurt maker instead of using the plastic one. I could never find the glass insert so I ended up buying a different yogurt maker altogether.

I now use the Yolife Yogurt Maker that I bought online. It’s a fair price compared to the Yogourmet and comes with individual jars that only hold about 1.5 quarts. The Yolife comes with two plastic dome covers, one for use with the Yolife jars, and a taller one so you can use your own jars. I end up using my own 1 litre glass jars in this to make 2-3 liters at a time. You might need a dimmer switch with this one as it tends to heat up more than the Yogourmet did for me.

I don’t recommend 1 liter yogurt makers simply because they will not make enough in one batch. It may be fine to start out with but you will quickly ‘out grow’ it and want something larger. I have used a very old Braun 1 liter yogurt maker from my grandparents (my mom is now using that) and it works well but just isn’t big enough.

The Excalibur dehydrator is another great option for making big batches of yogurt (and other delicious snacks like dried fruit, beef jerky etc). If I’m making a big batch (more than 3 liters) I will use my 9-tray dehydrator with the bottom 7 racks removed. I use the 2 top racks for dehydrating food at the same time. I put three 1 liter jars with my milk + yogurt starter on the bottom of the dehydrator. I set the dehydrator to just under 105F which keeps the yogurt at a perfect 108F. This method kept my yogurt at the most consistent temperature compared to the two yogurt makers I have used. You could easily fit four 1 liter mason jars in there to make a gallon at a time.

Other things you’ll need are a thermometer (co
mes with Yogourmet package), a big pot to heat the milk on the stove, and a 24-hour timer is great.

Yogurt Starter
For starter I use Yogourmet Freeze-Dried Yogurt Starter which comes in little packets separated into 1/2 batches so you can make 1 or 2 liters at a time.

Milk
I used whole (3.25%) goat’s milk for a long time. This turns out runnier than whole cow’s milk, however I do believe that goat’s milk is healthier and easier to digest. If you can find a good quality organic goat milk that is not extra-homogenized then it might be better than organic cows milk. What I found is that the goat milk I was using was actually more processed than a different brand of organic cow milk so I switched back to cow. If you’ve ever had problems with the SCD yogurt using cow’s milk, give goat’s milk a try.

I always suggest using whole milk instead of skim or 2% for the taste and health benefits of the fat. I highly recommend organic non-homogenized and raw if possible. Non-homogenized (and raw) milk will make a creamier, thicker, and tastier yogurt. The least processed milk, the best.

Dripping yogurt
I can’t believe no one has come up with some sort of contraption to drip yogurt easily, with an easy clean-up. There are a few options when dripping yogurt, but it’s like choosing the least worst of them!

Currently the best method I have found is using large coffee filters from a kitchen store (in the commercial section, these are large coffee filters that coffee shops use). Regular sized coffee filters only fit about 2 cups maximum of yogurt. A large one will fit at least 4 cups. Place the large coffee filter in a strainer and set over a bowl. Dump the yogurt in the filter and leave it. If you want it very thick, leave it 8 hours or more. If you’re using cow’s milk, a couple hours should be sufficient. When I make 2 liters of yogurt, I can drip it all at once using 2 coffee filters and strainers. Getting the yogurt out of the filter is pretty easy. If it’s thick enough you can simply scrape it off the filter. If it’s not thick, you can scoop most of it out with a spoon and then scrape down the sides. Clean-up is minimal. I remove the coffee filters and lightly wash the strainers and bowls.

There’s also a yogurt cheese maker by Donvier which will make very thick yogurt. However, it is quite small and you’ll have to drip it in many batches. I have never used one so I’m not sure how you get the yogurt out of it when it’s dripped and what clean-up would be like.

The Yogourmet maker comes with a nut milk bag for dripping the yogurt. This worked very well and dripped it until thick (plus you can speed up the process by squeezing the bag every now and then) but getting the yogurt out of the bag is quite messy. Also, I wasn’t convinced the bag would last long, as cleaning it thoroughly seemed to wear down the fabric and it just felt grungy.

There’s also cheesecloth available at most grocery stores. You can line a strainer with that instead of coffee filters. Make sure to use many many layers of cheesecloth or the yogurt will run through. You can also use a clean cotton cloth. If I used cloth I would replace it every now and then to make sure you’re using a clean one.

When dripping goat yogurt, expect to get a lot of liquid out. For 1 liter of goat yogurt, I would get 2 cups of whey liquid and 2 cups of thick yogurt after leaving it drip overnight (in the fridge). You can leave it dripping for less time and have a slightly less thick yogurt.

Fow whole cow’s milk yogurt, I usually don’t bother dripping unless I’m making my Tzatziki sauce. Then I will drip about 2 1/2 cups of yogurt down to 2 thick cups of yogurt.

Flavours to add to the Yogurt
Honey! This is your first friend. Homemade yogurt is quite tart. Honey will sweeten it and cut the tartness. This is one reason why I like to drip my yogurt. When you add honey and mix it up, it will get slightly more liquid. Starting with a thick yogurt is best.

Berries are an obvious choice since that’s what we’re used to from commercial yogurts. However, on the early stages of the SCDiet you may not be able to tolerate having raw fruit. One way around this is to add a small amount of 100% fruit juices. I drip my yogurt until very very thick and then add honey and a tablespoon of fruit juice. This will add tons of flavour and give the texture of yogurt. Knudsen’s Just Juice line is great and Welch’s Grape Juice is quite sweet. Juicing your own fruit is an option as well.

Banana and avocado are good options early on in the diet if you’re going to add whole raw fruit. You can do a smoothie using these fruits, dripped yogurt and a bit of honey.

More advanced SCDers can try some dried fruit. Place dried fruit in the yogurt at night. In the morning, the dried fruit will have absorbed some of the liquid and become plumped up. I have tried this with dried blueberries and raisins. It was delicious!

Some people add vanilla or cinnamon to their yogurt as well to add more flavour. I’m a bit lazy and haven’t tried this yet, but maybe someday soon I will. Make sure you’re using SCD legal vanilla.

My SCD Truffles Recipe made with dates instead of honey is a good unbaked crumble to have on top of yogurt, pictured here with some blueberries.

More tips
When using goat milk, be patient and heat it slowly. A few times I have rushed the heating process (putting the stove element on max) and ended up heating the milk too high (above 185F). This makes the goat milk separate and you end up with the texture of sand in water. It’s very gross, so be patient with the first step of yogurt making.

Make more yogurt than you think you will need. Yogurt keeps for 2 weeks in the fridge with all the good probiotics, 3 weeks without as much probiotic effect. Chances are once you are eating 1 or more cups per day you will be going through yogurt quickly. Just
make a lot and get on a schedule of picking up milk and yogurt starter.

Keep (or buy) glass jars of various sizes. 1 liter jars are great for keeping the yogurt. 1 or 2 cup jars are great for transporting yogurt to work. I bought nut butter in 1 and 2 cup glass jars for a while and kept all the jars.

If you want to freeze the yogurt, it will lose some of it’s probiotic effect, but is not completely wasted. All I can suggest here though, is to freeze dripped yogurt, not liquidy yogurt. I froze my yogurt when liquid and it turned out even more watery and separated into yogurt specks suspended in water. I think dripped yogurt would hold together better when thawing out.

I have been re-working my SCD diet for the past week. I started with the intro diet and then progressed (loosely) based on the Peacanbread guidelines. I am doing well with goat yogurt and cheese so I have included that (on Pecanbread they give guidelines for dairy-free). I will report on my success as I go. So far I have had some digestive ‘differences’ I will call it. No pain, no upset stomachs. I hope it continues to get better. I am amazed at how little fiber I need in my diet. I am currently eating all meat, homemade broth, SCD goat yogurt, goat cheddar cheese, honey, small amounts of 100% blueberry juice, homemade applesauce, stewed carrots and peeled/seeded cooked tomatoes. In order to continue gaining weight, I’m starting to have coconut oil mixed/whipped with honey. It tastes ok but for some reason I’m always hesitant to eat it. Here’s what I made for dinner today:

Cheesy Meatballs

cheddar cheese, cut into small 1/2″ chunks
1 lb ground beef
2 onions
2 garlic cloves
salt
oil
SCD ketchup

Chop onions and garlic and cover the bottom of an oiled pan with them. Sprinkle salt on the ground beef. Form the beef into rounds. Press into one and place cheese in center, folding beef back over to seal cheese in. Place meatballs in pan, with a piece of onion covering each. Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes, turning once. Serve meatballs only (no garlic or onions) covered with ketchup.

My mom came back from groceries with some chicken breasts that she asked me to separate into baggies for the freezer. You could see 4 chicken breasts in the package, but it was a thick package and very very heavy. We assumed it was 2 layers of chicken breasts, for a total of 8 (quite large) breasts. Upon opening the package and taking one out, I realized the disgusting truth. There were in fact 4 chicken breasts. And about a pounds of fat on each of them. One of them is pictured here, the size of a large dinner plate. Yuck.

I started cutting them up to freeze them because they were so large it wouldn’t be practical to put a whole chicken breast since that was probably 4 servings. Last time I saw chickens running around, an entire chicken hardly looked like enough for 4 people, let alone its breast. Ooooh maybe these were turkey breasts? Check the package.. nope. Chicken. I’m now picturing in my head what these giant chickens would look like. All I can think of is Pamela Anderson-style implants on a poor little chicken body. I can’t imagine how they would walk, they probably didn’t. Yuck.

I’m going to start looking around for a good source of free-range or at least organic chickens with normal sized breasts. Not that I’m against large breasts, I just don’t think it’s all that natural. I found a good source of grass-fed beef locally, but chicken seems to be harder. Free-range eggs can be bought at any grocery store. Organic chicken is like $20 for one chicken breast. Are you kidding me? Why is chicken so expensive! If I can find a decent local source, I’m hoping to buy one chicken per week or two, if the price is right. Or maybe I’ll just eat a lot more beef. I’m still wanting to try the beef liver, hopefully I’ll get to it this week.

I apologize to any vegetarians or animal-rights activists for the post and picture. I have become more aware lately of animal treatment and health. I cannot ever avoid meat (for my own health reasons) but I plan to do my best to only eat meat from animals who have been treated properly.

Alright, fine, I give in. I’m cutting way back on some of the foods I’m eating and basically doing the “Intro” diet for SCD.

I’ve noticed already how the almond flour was giving me problems more so than the almond butter. Then I noticed that even having a bit too much of the almond butter was causing problems. Given that I’m trying to heal myself, I don’t think it’s very smart to constantly be on the verge of causing myself problems. So, I’m cutting out nuts until further notice. This just after I finally found a cheap source of almond butter. Ugh!

I also notice problems with fibrous veggies and fruit. Currently the problem-causers seem to be blueberries and mushrooms. Mushrooms were a hard one to figure out since you can’t really notice if they aren’t being digested. Blueberries were easy, I can see the seeds and skins. Artichoke hearts also seem to show up, but only the rough bits. So I’ll stick to eating the very soft bits of those. Oh and fried eggs aren’t sitting too well. Poached will be the way to go for the next little while.

Basically for the intro diet I will be having lots of broth, meat and yogurt. I will probably only do it for 1 day since it doesn’t usually take much to get my stomach back on track. Then I’ll start adding in easy foods. This would probably be (in order): applesauce, soft-boiled carrots, cheese, spinach, bananas, zucchini (peeled). Then hopefully some avocado, tomatoes, squash, onions, and artichokes. That would bring me back to what I’m currently eating lots of anyway. PecanBread has a good chart outlining how to introduce new foods past the intro diet for those interested.

I’m hoping this helps me heal faster and with less discomfort. Right now I am feeling good for probably 3-4 days, then having a short bout of the big dreaded D. I’ll usually have a day in between of pain, which to me suggests inflammation, or something that needs healing. It’s strange to me that I don’t have pain with D now, this used to be expected. I won’t complain though. Dealing with them separately is much easier.

Ugh, what I would give to be able to eat a salad right now!

I went for a quick trip to the grocery store this morning. The sun was shining, it was almost warm enough not to wear a winter coat, and I had run out of honey. So off to the store I went. This is not a store I usually go to. Strangely enough it’s the grocery store I got my first job at. I wasn’t too happy working there and I think I have somewhat of a bias towards thinking it’s full of junk. Well it seems a little different these days. It actually has an organic produce section. The meat looked decent and pretty much the same as what is available in other grocery stores around here. I think it changed my mind just a little about the store. This summer I may make more trips to it since it is within walking distance.
I picked up a few veggies and made my way to the honey aisle. Right underneath the honey was a huge area of, get this, ALMOND BUTTER. I cannot believe it! This is the first time I’ve found almond butter in a regular grocery store. Some large grocery stores here have natural food sections and carry the usual health food store (expensive) brands of almond butter. But I have never found almond butter in the regular peanut butter aisle. The one I found is PC Smooth Almond Butter. They also have a chunky version too. Of course they had none left (just my luck lol) but I’m hopeful on my next trip I’ll find some. I’m hopeful I’ll find it in other stores here too since PC is a brand sold at all Loblaws stores. This almond butter seems to be really popular as a new healthy alternative to peanut butter. I’m impressed!

So the price? I’ve been buying Nuts to You Nut Butter for $11.49 for 500g. Sometimes I can get it for $9.69 if I’m at a specific store which is too far from my house to make it worthwhile to get very often. The PC Almond butter is $5.99 for 460g. This is significant savings! Almost half the price! Crazy. Only people on SCD know how wonderful this is. My goodness this diet is expensive and any little savings helps. Ok maybe coupon-clippers understand too

I had some friends over this weekend for a games/movies night. One of the guys coming is quite a picky eater so I set out to make something he would like (that I could eat too). I settled on making a curry chicken and he liked it enough to go for seconds! The key for a picky guy eater was
1) use chicken breast meat (I don’t know anyone who refuses chicken breast)
2) use very common simple vegetables (ie: not a time to experiment with kale)
3) add something spicy/hot (jalapeno pepper, red chili powder)
4) make it look like a restaurant dish (add turmeric for nice color)
5) serve with plain white rice for non-SCD folk.

Curry Chicken
Serves 4

4 large chicken breasts
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 inch ginger, grated
1 red pepper, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded, chopped
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp coconut oil

Cut up chicken into stir-fry strips. Season with salt, pepper, and ginger. Heat 1 tbsp of oil each in two pans. Cook chicken in one pan until done. Remove from heat.

In other pan, saute onions until golden. Add all vegetables and remaining spices. Cook until vegetables are almost done. Add chicken and toss to mix evenly. Remove from heat.

My experimenting with removing nut baked goods for a few days seems to be working too well. Let’s just say all that fiber I was getting was keeping me ‘going’ and removing it has kept me from ‘going’. So today I baked up a batch using nut butter (not flour) and had a small brownie. It’s the size of half a brownie I was eating before. I’m going to try to eat them in MODERATION. I need to remind myself of that, probably every hour.

I had an appointment yesterday with a new dentist. I wasn’t too happy with my old one. My last visit I complained of pain in my gums, and he said “Oh it’s probably your wisdom teeth coming in.” Umm.. “I guess you didn’t look at my x-rays you just took? I had my wisdom teeth out a decade ago.” His advice was then to just wait, it will go away. Right.. sounds a lot like every doctor I’ve seen about digestive problems. Just relax, it’ll go away. Uh huh.

So I went to a new one and he is fabulous. I met his assistant first and she went through a whole series of questions about my health, dental history, and even asked what I was hoping to get out this visit. The new dentist looked over everything in front of me, asking me questions as he went. When I told him about my problems with digestion he immediately understood. He actually spent time with doctors studying Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis at the University of Alberta. He said there was a high correlation of gum disease/inflammation in people with inflammatory bowel diseases. He said it makes perfect sense, since gum skin is pretty similar to the lining of the digestive tract. He was studying these diseases to try and see if doctors had figured out better ways to treat them, so that he could apply that to dentistry. Obviously doctors haven’t been successful at all, so he didn’t end up getting much info out of that lol. He does believe diet and nutrition play a huge role in dental health and fully supported my current diet of no grains no sugar.

The reason I went to his dentist was because he is a gum specialist and I wanted to for once get help with my sensitive gums. My teeth are fine, no cavities, strong, no sensitivity, but my gums hurt. He reassured me I don’t have any signs of gum disease or recession. Then he started trying to think up ways to help me. He noticed I was a ‘mouth breather’ (I breathe with my mouth open at night) and told me to rub coconut oil on my gums before bed. This will help keep it moistened and reduce irritation. He also showed me how to brush properly (my old dentist was WAY off on that one!) and gave me a special little brush for the back teeth which didn’t hurt as much. Finally he told me about a mouth wash which has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial stuff in it, but told me to wait until last to try that one.

I’m very hopeful with this new dentist to finally get rid of my gum discomfort. At least he’s taking me seriously and he’s trying to help. Honestly, that’s all I ask for!

On a down note, he noticed I have an infection on my tonsils. Ugh! And of course as soon as he points that out I realize my throat hurts a bit. Today I’m stuffed up and a lot more sore in my throat. Hopefully it’s just a little cold that goes away quickly. Unfortunately I have no chicken broth, since I spilled my last batch on the floor. And of course my yogurt batch turned out so gross looking this morning. For some reason it separated and has the consistency of sand in water. I’m gulping it down (with about an equal part honey) for the sole reason that it might help my cold.

I’ve also decided to lay off nuts for a few days. I was noticing that switching to almond flour instead of almond butter was causing some problems. Let’s just say I’m not digesting the almond flour at all. No point in consuming something I can digest, especially when it’s expensive. So I’m off nuts for 3 more days and then I’ll start again with almond butter and see how it goes.

I decided to start organizing my recipes on here a bit better. So I’m making a post for each category of recipe – so far Meat, Poultry, and Baked Goods – and will have links to them on the right hand side of the blog. I think this will be easier to refer to instead of separate posts for each recipe. Ok I’m not exactly being original in this idea. SCD Girl did it first with her recipes organized by stages (Stage 1, Stage 2 according to the PecanBread website).

Shake n’ Bake Chicken
Serves 2
This was so easy and delicious! I used to always have shake n’ bake chicken as a kid. Now here’s one that is just as simple as the packaged version and is SCD legal.

4 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on
1/2 cup almond flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika

Put almond flour, salt, pepper, paprika in a baggie and mix it up. Put a chicken thigh in baggie and close it. Shake it around until coated. Put chicken in a glass baking dish. Bake at 350F for 1 hour skin side up.