I am lucky to have my family. Two sets of grandparents for our children, who although live in distant places from us, check in, show love, and from time to time we get to see. Both of my children know both sets of grandparents, Nomi, Popi, Grandma, and Granddad, each special in their own right. We are visiting Nomi and Popi this weekend and that is always a treat! They are extremely knowledgable in meats as they have a Wagyu cattle ranch, genetically the same as Kobe beef from Japan. Along with steaks that we can be certain are raised without hormones and grain free (grass fed only), the tomatoes and veggies are HOLY COW amazing. We sat down for dinner and we all ate the same thing, which in SCD world is always the best thing about home cooking, along with food tasting great. The preparation of meals can sometimes, or a lot of times feel tedious, but when with family it can be felt as ritualistic and healing. A happy gathering good for the soul. SCD can be looked at as this – “Treat each step in preparing the meal as a small ceremony. Wash the tomatoes, bell pepper, carrot, celery, and parsley as an act of purification…having the opportunity to sit with our family and friends and enjoy wonderful food is something precious.” Home For the Soul – Anthony Lawlor.
Now I should preface that this dinner also had rice pasta made by Jovial found here. Rice, however, is NOT an SCD legal item, however after Henry has been on SCD for 2 years, his GI doc. and nutritionist gave him the go ahead with trying rice. This needs to be monitored by blood and calprotectin sampling to be sure the body adjusts well with new food. But, even without the rice pasta, the dinner would be just right and everyone would love it! The meat is grass fed, NY steak with only salt and pepper as every good steak should have. A nice broccoli, with salt and olive oil drizzle (add lemon if you like as it is sooo yummy), the Jovial farfalle (bows) with olive oil salt and pepper, generous on the salt because we do not use butter. And, best of all — at least, in my opinion salad. This salad was simple but perfect – Romaine lettuce, peeled and seeded tomatoes, avocado, radish, seedless English cucumber, shaved red onion and Radicchio.
Radicchio has a bitter and spicy taste and has been in existence since ancient times. Italian scientists recently tested radicchio and it’s content was amazing in it’s ability to have health benefit. On the benefit list:
Promotes weight loss
High in antioxidants
Promotes bile production which in turn improves digestion
Helps limit Neuronal damage and increase Vitamin K for bone health
Neutralizes fre radicals and fights cell damage
Contains a substance called inulin that helps regulate blood sugar levels
Aids in digestion and colon cleansing. Used to fight intestinal worms and parasites
– Health Benefits of Radicchio, Organic Gardening News and Info, wordpress.com –
The salad dressing is a Nomi salad staple, 1/4 cup homemade red wine vinegar, adding 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 tablespoon of dried oregano. Leave the salt, oregano, and vinegar together to blend for five minutes. Then add 1/2 cup olive oil, shake well or whisk together and wha-la!, you have an amazing salad dressing that everyone will love.
We are blessed to have family around us, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, dogs, you name it! Food brings us together to feed the soul and forget about the rest..
Now on for DESSERT!!! Ice cream sandwiches …where do I start!? I have always remebered the creamy vanilla ice cream in between a perfect, chocolatey soft cookie on a warm summer day. Sitting, or more like bouncing around at the public pool along with other children who had ice cream melting all over their faces from their ice cream sandwiches. Kind of weird and disgusting to think we all swam in it, but none-the less.. It was the most popular summer treat as a child, so I had to attempt to give Henry this messy summer memory! SCD can be very frustrating, as we feel that treats and moments of being a child are taken away. The treats that create memories are what is missed and I have definitely felt this frustration. So let’s get some of those memories back shall we!
The idea came while making blondies. Henry was also eating vanilla ice cream at the time and the thought came…why not add the vanilla ice cream in between two blondies! It is pretty fantastic. Now, the taste is different from the ice cream sandwiches we grew up with, as all SCD baking is..let’s get real. But, remember we eat with our eyes AND taste buds, especially children and this is good on both fronts. So here we go with the recipes, vanilla ice cream first!
There are many SCD legal recipes that I love. The SCD legal vanilla ice cream that I like the best is in Danielle Walker’s cookbook – found here. The vanilla ice cream that Henry loves the most differs, most likely because it is the creamiest. Luckily, it is also the easiest I have made to date. The creamy texture comes from the cashew base. And it is extremely easy to work with, and therefore why it is the ice cream sandwiches’ best friend. The creamy vanilla recipe is out of the cookbook “N’Ice Cream” and it is also where I found a wonderful vanilla milkshake recipe which I listed a couple posts back. The cookbook has a lot of really fun recipes and it is worth adding to your collection. Find it here! The creamy vanilla ice cream Henry loves:
Very simply add 3/4 cup of cashews nuts in a medium bowl, fill with water and let sit overnight. Drain and rinse the cashews and add to your blender along with 1 full fat can of coconut milk (Trader Joe’s is great, no gums!). Add in 4 tablespoons (or more depending on taste) of honey, and lastly the recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of vanilla. I do not add one teaspoon because as I have mentioned, vanilla is one of those more is better. I go with about 1 tablespoon or use a vanilla bean and about 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Mix all of the ingredients in your blender until smooth and creamy. Add to your ice cream maker and follow instructions. Alternatively, if you do not have an ice cream maker, add to a bowl that will be safe in the freezer and freeze for around 3 or 4 hours. Mix well every 30 minutes until consistency desired forms.
Next are the blondies. By themselves they are just so good. I am a huge chocolate lover and although these do not include any chocolate, they give you a suspicious feeling that there may be some in them! The recipe is from Comfy Belly and is so good and easy! I then cut the blondies into longer rectangles after completely cooled, put a scoop or so of ice cream on one side, close it up with a blondie top, and there you have your ice cream sandwich!! Stick in the freezer for around 20 minutes to harden everything up to give that ice cream sandwich texture. Feel free to make into little ice cream bites, using the typical square blondies. And to be super fancy, you can use molds to help form the exact size and cut of the sandwich you like. Put your parchment paper surrounding the ice cream sandwiches and wrap them up for on the go. I am sure your kiddos (and the kid in you) will be filling up pools, lakes, and oceans with ice cream filled faces once again!!
Enjoy your time with family and friends. This diet can be very time consuming and overwhelming, but there are also moments of clarity when food is seen as what it should be, something to make you feel well and bring loved ones closer together at the table… or in the pool!