So I had said I would do a no-honey challenge for the month of April. That meant no honey in my yogurt, no honey for sweets etc. I started off great, eating yogurt with fruit and making my SCD Truffles with dates (I think I prefer them this way now!). Then one day I just forgot and put some honey in my yogurt. I swear I didn’t mean to, it was just such an automatic step for me to grab the honey and add some. I decided to see if I can just limit myself to a small spoonful of honey (about 2 tsp) in my yogurt once a day. It seems I can somewhat control how much honey I eat and have been quite satisfied with that amount each day. So, the jar of yogurt that was about 2/3 full was almost empty 2 weeks later. That was also shared with my boyfriend who uses it in oatmeal and sometimes yogurt as well. While this wasn’t a total success in trying to go without sweeteners, I think it’s still a pretty good change. Maybe I have kicked the sweet-tooth a little bit? The rest of the month I pretty much had the same amount, just a bit of honey in my yogurt. I did make chocolate fudge for one night, but that was a special treat, not something I’m eating every day. I think I’ve bought honey once this month, about 500g worth, so that is a big improvement.

Now unfortunately the no-honey thing did nothing for my skin. My face was still breaking out like crazy. I turned to the BTVC-SCD Yahoo group and everyone who answered there kept saying they used oils on their face for acne. People had commented on my blog as well saying that. Some people were saying they rubbed the oil into their skin. That had me thinking, I’ve been putting oil on my skin very lightly. I never actually tried rubbing it in and then wiping the excess off.

I tried with coconut oil to start with. I rubbed a good chunk of it into my skin. I then showered and let the steam loosen up the oil a bit, wiped off the excess with a facecloth and then patted it dry with a towel. I’ve been doing this for a couple of weeks and it’s somewhat working. I think putting a thin coating of coconut oil was doing more harm than good, trapping dirt and bacteria in the pores. Rubbing the coconut oil in seems to moisturize it better and cleans a bit deeper. To help even more, I bought some tea tree oil and dab that on top of the coconut oil, let is sit for a while and then wipe off.  It’s not perfect yet but I’m having a lot less breakouts daily. I have also been taking cod liver oil a bit more regularly and some extra vitamin D, which others have said helped their acne. I have some red spots still that have to fade from having acne there and I think once that clears up my skin will look much better.

I know I mentioned going to China a while ago. I am still going, leaving in about 1 week! Very excited and not so nervous any more. I did fine eating rice for a short period and even had some soy sauce without problems. I did cut down on the rice because I was having joint problems that really seemed to get worse around the same time as the increase in rice/carbs consumption. I have heard from many other people that low carb helps with arthritis so it kinda makes sense. I had thought I might do ok with higher carb because I have a better balance of Omega6/3 fats and lots of anti-inflammatory foods in my diet. When I get back from China I’m going to look more into joint problems and how to deal them. Don’t think I have blogged about it before, but I have had joint problems off and on (knees, wrists, now hands) so I think it’s worth looking into. I’m also working on some info pages about good fats, Omega 6 and 3′s, nuts and how it all affects us on the SCDiet. (Hint – we eat way too many nuts on this diet)

So thankful to everyone for sharing their experiences with acne, hope I can get rid of this for good soon!

I had a get together with my closest girl friends over the weekend for a fun Saturday night. We all brought snacks and just chatted and pigged out for hours. It was so fun! I made some chocolate fudge and truffles. We had fresh fruit with chocolate dip. There were a few bags of chips and candy but I didn’t have any. One of my friends made a fabulous artichoke dip that was SCD legal. It was just mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, garlic and artichoke hearts. Others had it with tortilla chips but I was more than content to just eat it off the spoon. It was sooo good!

I was determined to make it since it was so simple and I love artichokes. First I made up a batch of mayonnaise so that I would be ready to put everything together the next day. I don’t think I have written about mayonnaise before on this blog. I always thought everyone made mayonnaise and it was so easy it didn’t really need explaining. There are tons of naturally SCD-legal recipes out there so I didn’t bother posting any. I don’t make it often, usually only when I really want it for summer BBQs (I love it on burgers) or for a dip. Lately on blogs and Twitter I have seen a lot of people who have had their mayonnaise fail. I had no idea what they meant. I assumed taste but it seemed like they meant the consistency wasn’t right. I wasn’t doing anything fancy and I think everytime I made it I put in different ingredients. Some I made with only yolk, other times with 1 yolk and 1 whole egg, sometimes with vinegar, sometimes with lemon juice, sometimes with dried mustard spice, others with dijon mustard, often I eye-balled the amount of oil I used.

When I started looking into the common technique that was being used to make mayo, I realized what most people were experiencing. Most recipes say to make it in a food processor and pour the oil in slowly, very very slowly. Every now and then the oil doesn’t mix in, separates, and the mayonnaise doesn’t form properly leaving a big oily mess. I can’t imagine if this happened to me, I think I would cry. I always make my mayo with pastured backyard chicken eggs (limited in quantity so cherished and worshipped in this house!) and very expensive high quality oils, spices and mustard. If I ended up wasting these ingredients just once I would probably have given up making mayonnaise!

I never realized my selective lazyness in the kitchen had saved me from the horrors of mayonnaise gone bad. I coudn’t be bothered to ever try making mayonnaise with a food processor and pouring the oil in a very fine dribble. The first time I ever made it I googled for “easy mayonnaise” or something similar. I found a video showing how to make it with a stick (immersion) blender and never looked back. My first attempt was perfect so I never bothered with any other technique. If you don’t own a stick blender, it’s worth it to buy one. You can usually find a cheap one for about $20 new, or check out second hand shops. There are infinite uses for a stick blender, and often they come with a food processor attachment. That’s the only food processor I use in my kitchen, even to make my nut flour goods. You can even make whipping cream and butter with it. Blender, beater, food processor all-in-one cheap little easy-to-clean package.

Stick Blender Mayonnaise
So here’s how you make the mayonnaise with a stick blender. Use a tall wide-mouth jar or the tall cup that comes with a stick blender.

1. Pour the egg in first so it’s on the bottom.
2. Add your spices and lemon juice or vinegar.
3. Pour the oil in on top and let everything re-settle (only takes a few seconds).
4. Put the stick blender in all the way to the bottom and turn it on. Watch it mix.
5. Once it’s mostly mixed, slowly pull the stick blender out while it’s still running to mix the top.

If for some reason the mayo doesn’t fully mix, then run the stick blender up and down until it is.

Voila, easy mayonnaise.

If you want to see it in action, check out this YouTube video (just ignore the ingredients – canola oil bad, sugar bad – and don’t worry about going really slowly) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz0fLT_k3_U

This can probably be used to ‘fix’ ruined mayonnaise that didn’t work in a regular food processor. Just put it in a tall jar/cup and wait for everything to settle. The egg mixture should go to the bottom, the oil on top. Then run the stick blender in it starting from the bottom.

Artichoke Dip
Now for the artichoke dip. Take 1 cup mayonnaise, 1 cup Parmesan cheese (grated), 4 cloves of garlic (mashed/minced), 1 jar of artichoke hearts (about 6-8). Mush everything in a bowl and spread out into a pan or glass pie plate. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes until bubbly.

No crackers required, just eat it with a spoon. Ok if you really want crackers then check out Comfy Belly’s Parmesan Crackers and Mrs. Ed’s Cheesy Sunflower Crackers. I made a combination of those, using sunflower seeds, cheddar cheese and thyme, and they tasted great.

For the full ingredients for my mayonnaise see my Dips & Condiments recipe page.

**This recipe has been linked for the Slightly Indulgent Tuesday over at Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free and for Real Food Wednesday hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

I always keep a todo list (or 2 or 3) around of ideas I have of treats to make or foods to try. Lately my lists have been multiplying, one reason being that I haven’t had enough time to make everything but also that I have had a lot of inspiration from blogs, the Yahoo groups and Twitter friends. I have also realized lately that there are many SCD staples that I haven’t even tried making and I feel like I should give them a fair shot. Here is my current list of SCD foods I want to make:

• Crackers – Whenever I make my liver pate, I eat it on slices of cheese. I really shouldn’t be eating that much cheese so it would be nice to have something else to put the pate on. Most SCD cracker recipes contain some cheese but at least it’s not as much as I’m having now. 

• Meatza – I made an SCD pizza but was overwhelmed by how heavy the dough was. I ate the tiniest piece and was stuffed to the point where I felt like I had to lie down. Too much almond flour! I also don’t like that pizzas have very little meat, just some as toppings. So a meatza, where the crust is made of meat, sounds much better. Then I can just throw on some pizza sauce and any veggies/cheese I want without worrying about not getting enough protein.

• Butternut Squash Fries – Sigh all that chopping makes me tired just thinking about it. So much easier to toss a squash in a slow cooker and leave it on for a few hours. But, I am determined to try these.

• Smoothie – 2 years 3 months on this diet and I have yet to make a smoothie. I own a blender. I make yogurt. I always have berries around. Time to put them together!

• Ketchup – To be honest, I have made ketchup twice and both were failures. I didn’t follow recipes. I think I should just find a recipe and do it properly.

• BBQ Sauce – Never made some because they always depend on ketchup as a major ingredient. I’d like to do one from scratch, so I’ll try ketchup first and then modify that into a BBQ sauce from scratch recipe.

• Stuffed Anything – Stuffed peppers, stuffed tomatoes, stuffed meat rolls..

• Bread – I have made muffins, brownies, pizza, and cakes but never bread.

• Hamburger Buns – Hoping I can use the bread for this instead of doing a separate recipe. I eat hamburger patties with condiments but it would be nice to have at least a half a bun.

• Caremelized Onions – I actually made these once in the slow cooker and forgot about it until they turned black. I had to throw them out. Oops.

• French Onion Soup – Once I have bread and caremelized onions, this should be as easy as taking out some beef stock, reheating and shredding some cheese.

• Pemmican – Shelf stable beef meat & fat. This would be the ultimate SCD travel food.

If anyone has a ‘favorite’ recipe for any of these foods let me know! It’s always nice to make a recipe that has already been taste-tested. Also if anyone has made anything like these recently, feel free to share your experiences.

I came to the SCD diet through figuring out that grains were causing me digestive problems (yeah it took a few years to come to that conclusion). I found the diet literally by doing a Google search for “rice causing stomach upset”. Somehow in the dozens of hits returned that preached the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) there was a blog or message board post about SCD. I clicked on that and finally felt like I was reading something that would actually help. My naturopath at the time agreed it was the best thing for me to try, but that’s it’s a hard diet to follow. It certainly was a change from the current diet I was on, which was mostly grains, some vegetables and fruit, lean meats only (chicken breast & fish) and very low fat. I don’t think I found the transition as hard as most people and that might be because of the support I found on the Internet. The Yahoo groups for SCD are wonderful and people are literally right there to answer your questions within a couple hours. With all the blogs around, I felt like at least I wasn’t alone.

And then I found the Primal/Paleo blogs (first one I found happened to be the best, Mark’s Daily Apple) and couldn’t believe my eyes. People were following this diet (well, very similar diet), not because of pain, stomach upset, digestive diseases, autism, or other autoimmune illnesses. People were actually choosing to do this diet because it’s the right diet to have. It helped them lose weight. It helped them get stronger. And for that they stayed on it. I found it easy to have motivation considering eating a bowl of rice would leave me curled up in a ball in pain all evening. Here was a group of people who liked feeling better, losing weight, and being generally healthier and that was enough motivation for them to eat this way. At first most blogs I found seemed to be of healthy people who didn’t need to ‘diet’ and as I found more of these blogs, I realized some people were in fact coming from backgrounds of dealing with some difficult illnesses. You wouldn’t even believe it upon first sight because they all look so healthy.

For those who aren’t familiar with the terms, Primal and Paleolithic diets refer to eating the way humans did for millions of years, before the neolithic agricultural revolution some 11,000 years ago. The fact is, humans evolved on a diet of mostly foods they could find including meat, fish, tubers, vegetables, berries, fruits, some nuts, and a bit of honey infrequently. Sound familiar? It’s pretty much SCD minus the yogurt and cheese. The idea is that we have only been eating grains and sugar a very short period of time in our very long history as modern humans. We may have adapted to live on grain-based diets but in terms of evolution I don’t think our biological make-up has caught up yet. Some people seem to do ok with grains, but are they really part of the ideal diet for humans? I know I have answered that for myself and don’t need a scientific study to prove it to me. I do like the fact that logically this all makes sense.

I have been following these Primal blogs for a while now (there’s a lot, will post a list soon), enjoying the recipe ideas and stories of achieving health goals. It has formed me a bit in my ways of thinking about how we should be living our lives, how we should be playing, and what we should be eating. While everyone starting SCD or GAPS is already asking when they can ‘go off the diet’ I have been considering the possibility of never. I’m even at a point now where I am adding food back into my diet (and I have done a couple) but I’m hesitant. Why? Because deep down inside I know this is the right way to live. It certainly doesn’t feel like I’m trapped in a diet, when I can eat bacon and eggs for breakfast and feel great. Who would trade that for a ‘biscuit’? I realize some people just read that and said to themselves “mmm a biscuit” I guess they would be the ones to want to go off this diet! I honestly won’t judge anyone for going back to what they consider normal foods. At least they could fall back on SCD if (when?) they need to. I don’t understand people who would want that, but I’m not about to think any less of them. I just hope everyone realizes they can be on this type of diet forever if they want to. I certainly don’t feel like I’m missing out on much considering every meal I eat tastes wonderful.

I will continue adding new foods and playing around with tolerances. I’m mostly excited about potatoes just because it makes it a lot easier to eat at friends and parent’s houses. That being said, I think I’ve had sweet potato a grand total of 3 times in the past 4 months. Maybe I’ll eat more since I’m still hoping to gain more weight, so adding in some starchy stuff might help. Part of me wants to try each and every food just to see what I react to. I’m just about the most sensitive person I know to dietary changes, so it would be a fun experiment (even cooking in vegetable oils instead of saturated fats seems to cause problems). It would be nice to be able to eat at a friend’s house or a restaurant and not get sick. I haven’t eaten a salad since starting SCD. Hmm I realize maybe only the UCer and Crohnies would understand that one. Might be a good thing to try salads so I can eat everything my parents serve for dinner at their house. Meat, potatoes and multiple salads oh my. My mom does make the best salad dressing ever!

I’m probably going to be more focused on other aspects of my life too. Fitness is something I have been interested in since University but has been on the back-burner while I have been healing. I do enjoy walking, yoga, and playing volleyball and tennis as well so I want to do more of that this summer. Notice how I’m not mentioning gym? I do have one at work that I go to for walking and stretching when the weather’s bad. But reading all these Primal blogs about more natural ways of working out (think run, jump, swim, play, carry and throw heavy things) has made me change how I think about being fit. I’m planning to start out slowly since I don’t want to overdo it, just ease into it. These are lifelong changes, no need to rush!

I will be sharing recipes, I still have a bunch in my head somewhere that I’ve never written down. I’m continuing to try and sort through advice I would have for people following the SCD or GAPS diets. Snacks, traveling, feeding kids, eliminating/introducing foods, cooking on a budget, these are all common questions people really need answers to. If I plan on sticking very close to SCD long-term, I think I’ll have to figure all that out one way or another.

As the title suggests, I am getting ready for a trip to China. We had it in our minds that we would go this spring since at least last year. I have been nervous about it for all this time mostly because of food options. I will try my best to stick to SCD but when you can’t speak the language and everything is covered in soy sauce it can be quite difficult.

I started looking into portable SCD legal food to bring with me so that at meals I’m not feeling pressured to eat too much non-SCD food. Normally when I travel I bring yogurt but getting to China will take a full 24 hours and we’re there for 2 weeks (moving around a lot and not having access to a fridge) so bringing perishable food might not really be an option. Pemmican is one of the most interesting available options. It’s basically meat jerky that has been ground up and mixed with fat. I haven’t gotten around to making some yet but will definitely do it before leaving. I think that would be a great SCD friendly travel food, more so than jerky because it has the much needed fats with it. There’s also dried fruit, coconut oil, pork rinds, nuts and Lara Bars for traveling which I may bring as well.

In preparation for China I wanted to test out how I would react to some foods. It would be nice to be able to eat anything I want there and not feel impolite for refusing food. Last time I went to China (3 years ago) food was a big deal. They were very nice and trying to be accommodating but clearly wanted me to enjoy what they were serving and not miss out. I was not on SCD at the time, actually I was the opposite. I thought white rice and low fat foods were the best thing to eat. This time will be very different. I hope I can just eat anything because honestly the cuisine in China is so varied and so good, it’s hard to not want to eat everything!

So… I tried white rice and soy sauce (both NOT SCD legal). For the soy sauce I got some naturally fermented wheat-free tamari sauce to try first. I will try some with wheat next. Yep I will be trying wheat. It’s a bit scary but I’m actually expecting not to have a big reaction to it. I seem much less sensitive these days. I got regular white rice and cooked it plain, starting with 1/4 cup then 1/2 cup each day. I had some digestive symptoms the first few days I was at 1/2 cup but I think it was just me getting used to eating grains. All settled down and I have been eating it for 2 weeks. I now dream of rice and crave it every single waking moment. Probably not a good thing (craving something that badly is a pretty bad sign), but in the short term at least I should do ok in China. I did notice some upper GI discomfort and some heartburn after a couple weeks eating it. I will probably cut it out for a few weeks before going just to make sure my stomach doesn’t get too out of whack.

Tolerating new foods will help a lot with traveling. In the past I’ve always brought a lot of food with me. On a 3 day trip for a conference I brought meatballs, yogurt, almond butter brownies, applesauce and Lara Bars. On a one week vacation down south (buffet all you can eat included) I brought yogurt, honey, almond butter brownies, coconut oil and Lara Bars again. I tolerate eggs well and try to get hard boiled eggs wherever I go. I will be able to get them in China, as well as fresh fruit and probably steamed/grilled meats. I just hope it goes well, that I can tolerate trying some delicious Chinese cuisine, and that I don’t get a repeat of the awful rash.

Ottawa/Gatineau Area
Over the past couple of years I have come across many sources of real good food. Below is a list of sources I personally buy from regularly and trust. I have met the farmers and discussed their farming practices with them. These are all sources of organic produce and pastured meats/dairy/eggs. All of them are very accommodating for delivery or pick-up of orders. Don’t hesitate to contact them with questions!

Dobson’s Beef
www.dobsonfarm.com
Farmer Bob Dobson sells pastured beef usually by the quarter, half or whole. He can also accommodate purchases of individual cuts at a slightly higher price. Recently he has been selling sausages as well. He can arrange for delivery or you can find him at the Carp Farmers Market in the summer.

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Totally Natural Beef
http://totallynaturalbeef.ca
Farmer L.J. Helferty sells pastured beef by the cut, packages of around 20 lbs, quarter, half, or whole cow. This is my original and favorite source for beef but they have been out of stock lately. I’m really hoping by next year they get more inventory. I have ordered a few times from them, usually 20lb packages of stew, roasts, and ground. The mature ground beef they sell is a bargain and tastes great.

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Canreg Station Farm & Pasture Dairy
www.pasturedairy.com
Farmer Josef Regli sells pastured lamb by the cut, 1/2 lamb or whole. I usually order 1/2 lamb at a time. I have tried other sources but this is by far the best tasting and best price. You can ask to have it wrapped in paper or plastic, I choose freezer paper (cheaper and better for the environment).
They also sell delicious sheep milk cheeses and have a few varieties that are aged hard cheeses appropriate for the SCDiet. They can be found at the Byward Market in the winter and at the Farmers Markets at Main Street and Landsdowne in the summer.

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Bootstrap Farms
http://www.bootstrapfarms.ca
Nico van Stralen and his family sell pastured pork by the cut, 1/2 or whole pig. I ordered a 20lb “traditional cuts” package along with some organ meats. Delicious!
They also have chickens, beef, and eggs by order but I haven’t had a chance to try them out yet. They sell at the Byward Market in the winter and at the Farmers Market at Landsdowne in the summer.

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Bearbrook Farms
http://bearbrookfarm.com
My absolute favorite source for all things animal. They carry different types of eggs such as bantam chicken, regular chicken, duck, and even sometimes emu eggs. They have all sorts of meats available (even exotic stuff like rattlesnake and ostrich) and make delicious sausages free of preservatives, chemicals, gluten etc. They also make meals, meat pies, and pates. All stock is from natural, organic, pasture-raised animals. They always have a cart at each Farmers Market in Ottawa during the summer months.

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The Whalesbone Oyster House
http://www.thewhalesbone.com/
The only “Ocean Wise” retailer in Ottawa offering ethically sourced oysters and seafood. They have both a restaurant and retail shop. I have been to the retail shop several times to buy fish, scallops and oysters. Selection varies by time of year but you can check their website for current availability. They offer a brown-bag lunch that is quite popular. The wild salmon I have gotten from here is absolutely amazing.

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Ottawa Organics and Natural Foods
http://ottawaorganics.com
Matt runs a great service that delivers organic vegetable, fruit, and dairy baskets on a one-time, weekly, or bi-weekly schedule. Everything you get in these baskets is so fresh and perfect, it’s almost hard to buy from the grocery store if you need something specific. It has certainly changed my style of cooking for “what do I want to cook” to “what can I make with these vegetables”. You see ahead of time what you will get, and you can even add individual items to your basket if you need more. For anyone suffering from illness, it’s nice to have the delivery service and guarantee that everything is organic. They do try to source locally when possible but offer a wide selection of produce all year round from reliable sources outside of the region.

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Rainbow Foods
www.rainbowfoods.net
A vegetarian source only. They carry a large selection of organic produce which is clearly labeled as local or the country of origin. They have fresh organic peanut butter and almond butter ground right when you get it. Also a source of local honey in bulk. Organic nuts, dried fruit, coconut products, and spices. Full line of organic dairy including whole organic cow and goat milk, and organic raw cheeses. They carry tomato paste and coconut oil in glass jars.

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Natural Food Pantry
http://naturalfoodpantry.com
They carry organic meats and wild-caught seafood. I tend to shop here in between bulk orders from local farmers. Hallelujah Organics is their main source of meat and I trust that their animals are raised properly without hormones or antibiotics. This store is great for buying by the cut for chicken, beef, pork and sometimes lamb. They also carry whole chickens that aren’t too big, a good size for one meal for a family of 4. They also carry organic fruits and vegetables, local honey in bulk, nuts and dried fruits, Larabars, and organic frozen vegetables and fruits.

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Mother Earth Natural
www.motherearthnaturalhealth.ca
They are the only retailer in Ottawa I have found to carry the Weston Price recommended brand of Cod Liver Oil. Bulk organic spices and nuts. Also lots of green products such as cleaning products, feminine sanitary products, and lots of books.

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Canada-Wide

www.realrawfood.com
Organic Nuts, dried fruit and coconut products. Even with delivery it’s cheaper than buying in stores, and is a good service for all of Canada. I’m not sure what shipping costs would be to the US but simply email them and they’ll let you know. They were very quick to respond to questions and very helpful. I use this as my source for buying nuts in bulk. Great quality products.

I had gotten some pork back fat from a local farmer and left it in the freezer for a few months. It is good stuff from a pasture-raised heritage breed pig and I keep meaning to render it and try lard for the first time. Fats and organ meats have become the focus of my diet the past few months because they give me energy. I have been putting it off because I always end up getting plenty of beef tallow when I make beef broth, and use that or cultured butter in cooking. I finally decided to render the pork fat after visiting my boyfriend’s (Hong) family for dinner, including his mom, dad and cousin. (Someone remind me to post pictures of them all sometime, they are a great example of a WAPF family).

Hong’s cousin who has been living in China her whole life came to Canada for University about nine months ago. As many young woman are, she is always conscious of her weight and eats healthy. Last weekend at the dinner table, she brought up the topic and said she was staying away from meat for a while to lose weight. She is not overweight at all (she is actually very health, strong but lean, perfect build and size) but had gained 5 pounds since coming to Canada. The problem is that since she came to Canada for some reason she changed what she viewed as being good food. She cut down on meat and started having store-bought bread for breakfast every day. Back in China, breakfast was any of the following: rice wraps with beans, congee (porridge) rice with fish and vegetable, eggs, and fruit. When we pointed it out to her, that the biggest change in her diet was the bread, it was like a light bulb went off. She immediately realized that it was in fact the bread she ate every day. She swore from now on she would go back to the food she knows and trusts.

We have also talked about fats with them and how natural animal fats are actually good for you, especially if the animals are pastured. Back in China, Hong’s mom used to cook with lard or other animal fats but since coming here has mainly used vegetable oil. She still cooks everything traditionally Chinese but the oil seems to be the one ‘new’ thing she insists on using. It used to be canola oil and lately has changed to olive oil, for high-temperature stir-frying. I decided to render the fat I have in the freezer and give it to her for her to use as cooking oil. I’m happy with butter, coconut oil, and tallow I have on hand so I’m glad to find someone to share the other good fats with.

I took the back fat out of the freezer the night before and let it thaw out in the fridge. The next day I got home from work and was feeling lazy so I decided instead of looking up how to make lard that I would just ‘wing it’. My laziness is a bit strange in that I take shortcuts sometimes (i.e.: putting the butternut squash in the slow-cooker because I’m too lazy to cut it) yet other times I will make something extravagant and enjoy every moment of the process. Let me just say this time it didn’t go so well! If you are making lard, don’t be lazy, cut the fat into small cubes. I just cut it into huge chunks and figured oh well it might take a bit longer to render. I put the chunks in a big pot and kept the heat quite low, but hot enough to sizzle and melt the fat.

Well 4 hours later.. it looked like I was making some sort of puffed pastries. Each chunk was a solid square mass with a huge bubble in the middle.

It was getting late so I ended the experiment there even though a lot of fat had yet to render. I did end up with about 1 cup of rendered lard that was deep golden in color. I strained it through a paper towel into a jar and placed it in the fridge. By the next day it had solidified and turned a creamy color (see picture at the top of this post, it actually looks darker in person). Every picture, blog, how-to, and website I see about lard always shows it as almost pure white. So now I’m wondering, is this lard ok to eat? Did I mess it up by cooking too long? Why am I always so lazy when it comes to cutting up food? I’m glad I only used one pack of fat and still have 2 more to try out sometime.

This post is part of the Real Food Wednesday blog carnival hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

After my Skin Patch test showed a reaction to fragrances I decided to try either going without sunscreen or making my own. Well summer came about 2 months early this year and I didn’t have time to prepare so I just went without. The past 3 days were in the 20s (70-80F) with bright sunshine. Although the season is still early, I do normally burn in under 1 hour. In the mid summer sun it would be closer to 30 minutes. I usually would slather on 15 or 30 SPF sunscreen and reapply every 4 hours. I was very good at not burning.

The first sunny day, after puttering around the backyard for a while, I went out for a bike ride that I thought would probably be around an hour, so I didn’t bother covering up. Before heading out I took some cod liver oil. I wore a helmet but my face was exposed and I wore a sleeveless shirt. We were out for 2 hours around noon time in direct sunlight for most of it. I got home and later that night looked a tiny bit pink so I slathered on some coconut oil. I ate a lot of butter and fatty meat for dinner. I ate more butter and some coconut oil before bed. By the time I woke up I had the faintest hint of a tan.

Day two in the sun was a bit more of a challenge. I had been out a little bit in the morning puttering around the garden again. I took some cod liver oil again before leaving the house. I had a lot of butter with my eggs and bacon for breakfast. We went to the beach for 4 hours starting at 2pm. I wore a hat for about 1 hour but got tired of it and didn’t wear it after that. I was just wearing a pair of shorts and tank, with my shoulders completely uncovered for the 4 hours. I came home and ate more butter and some coconut oil. Again I slathered on the coconut oil covering my shoulders and face. The next morning I woke up and had a nice tan.

Day three in the sun was just around my house and a bit more controlled. It was cooler out so I had long sleeves on, with just my face and legs exposed. I only sat out for about 1 hour. I didn’t bother with cod liver oil but ate plenty of butter. I didn’t even get a tan.

This has never happened to me. I always burn if I don’t use sunscreen. And if I use sunscreen but miss a spot, that spot would be red. I don’t tan easily, it takes days and weeks of sitting out for just the right amount of time to not burn but get a bit of colour. I normally work very hard to build up a tan slowly as the summer goes on. Three days in the sun and I’m just as tanned as I would be by mid July. No burn, no pain, no peeling, nothing.

I credit a few things to my new sun tolerance. One, being off the birth control pill. The pill is notorious for causing photo-sensitivity. Two, eating lots of saturated fats. I was eating butter off a spoon and bacon each morning. Three, keeping Omega 6 and 3 fats in balance. I have cut down on nuts lately and eat wild salmon more frequently. I don’t need to bother with regular fish oil anymore. And four, applying coconut oil on my skin right after. I waited until the morning to shower to give my skin time to heal.

I heard from other people on SCD and GAPS that this can happen, becoming more tolerant of the sun and burning less. I really didn’t think it would happen to me, but very glad it did. No more fussing with sunscreen.

The following is a collection of recipes for fermented foods that I use regularly in addition to SCD yogurt. When following SCD, fermented vegetables are seen as more of an advanced food, while GAPS recommends starting them during the intro diet. I personally did not know about it until months into the SCD diet, so I never tried them early on. If you decide to start them on either diet, go slowly. Start with a teaspoon and work your way up. Consider having just the juices to start with.

See my post “SCD Yogurt” under Tips & Tricks section for yogurt-making instructions.

This post is part of a Lacto-Fermentation Blog Carnival which links up many other blogs with recipes for ferments.

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Fermented Salsa
This is my absolute favorite ferment. I love cilantro and get it often in my weekly vegetable basket along with tomatoes, onions and peppers. I tend to use lots of tomatoes and cilantro because that’s what I like. Don’t hesitate to change the amounts of any ingredients, this is a very forgiving recipe. This is pretty similar to Trying Traditiona’s salsa (click here to see it) which also has a step-by-step picture tutorial on how to make it.

3 large tomatoes
1/2 green pepper
1 medium yellow onion
2 jalapeno peppers
1/2 cup of fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup whey
1-2 tbsp sea salt

Coarsley chop tomatoes, pepper and onion in a food processor, then place in a bowl. Mince jalapeno peppers, garlic and cilantro by hand and add to the bowl. Sprinkle with sea salt and add whey. Mix well so that sea salt and whey are distributed well.

Spoon mixture into two 1-liter mason jars and seal. Leave at room temperature for 3-5 days. Place in refrigerator where it will keep for months.

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Sauerkraut
I prefer green cabbage but any cabbage at all will work great.

1 small head cabbage
2 tbsp sea salt
1/2 cup whey

Coarsley chop the cabbage either by hand or in a food processor. As you chop and add it to a big bowl, sprinkle with salt. When all of it is chopped, sprinkle with remaining salt. Grab handfuls of cabbage and break/rub the cabbage to soften it and get the juices out. Do this for a while until the cabbage feels softer and liquid has come out a bit. Grab handfuls of cabbage and push down into a wide-mouth mason jar. Every handful keep pressing the cabbage down firmly. Leave about 1 or 2 inches at the top. You should be able to fill two 1-liter jars. Pour 1/4 cup whey into each jar. Seal and leave out at room temperature.

Two or three times per day, open the jars and with clean hands, push down the cabbage to force it below the liquid level. Leave out at room temperature for 3-5 days then refrigerate.

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Pickled Jalapenos
I made these after finding some jalapenos at the farmer’s market in the summer. My boyfriend eventually tried one and was very impressed. Careful, they get very hot.

6-8 green jalapeno peppers
2 tbsp sea salt
3 cups filtered water

Clean peppers and place in a 1 liter mason jar. Mix salt with water and pour over peppers. Keep at room temperature until peppers change colour from deep green to a yellow-grey. Refrigerate.

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Ginger Carrots

1 large carrot
2 inch piece of ginger
1 clove garlic
2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp whey

Using a cheese grater on a large setting, shred carrots, ginger and garlic into a bowl. Sprinkle with sea salt and whey. Mix to combine all ingredients well.

Spoon mixture into a 250ml wide-mouth mason jar and press down firmly. Two or three times per day open the jar and with clean hands, push down the mixture to try and keep it all wet. Keep at room temperature for 3-5 days and then refrigerate.

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Beet kvass
This is how I make it, on a smaller scale than what Sally Fallon describes in Nourishing Traditions.

2-3 small beets
2-3 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp whey

Chop beets into large chunks and place in a 2 cup jar with a lid. Pour salt and whey over them. Fill the jar with water but leave space at the top. Leave on the counter for 2 days then place in fridge. I drink about 1/4 cup at a time of this, it’s a great liver tonic.