PecanBread.com - Treating Autism with the Specific Carbohydrate Diet

BAKED GOODS:

I have found, after being on this diet for my 11 year old daughter's (Crohn's) sake, that baking with almond flour successfully requires a bit of experience! When we began back in April, almost everything I baked with the almond flour was either very well done or even burnt slightly on the outside and raw inside. My cookies turned out the same way as did yours.

One thing that has worked for us is turning the oven down between 10- and 20-degrees from what it says in the recipe, and making really sure that the thing being baked is on the middle rack in the oven. When I make the coconut cookies in Lucy's cookbook, for instance, I bake them at about 260-degrees F for as long as it takes for them to look solid and slightly brown without being burned. Another thing that has worked for me when baking loaves of bread (banana or cinnamon raisin, etc.) is that I place the glass loaf pan on top of an aluminum cookie sheet. I also use brown paper (cut from the bottom of a grocery store sack) to put over the loaf pan like a little hood. Then I cook at a lower-than-recommended temp for a very long time --- a loaf of soft cinnamon raisin bread bakes for more than an hour! About five minutes before the loaf is done, I take the little hood off and let the top brown.

The other thing I do is constantly tweak the recipes, both for flavor (to appeal to a child, say) and to make them either more or less moist, depending upon my experience baking them. (When I do the soft cinnamon raisin bread that is on the scdiet website, for instance, I eliminate the cup of yogurt altogether, which helps the end result cook all the way through.)

Keep trying. Once you get the hang of it, the baked goods come out delicious. My SCD-legal banana bread, peanut butter cake and cinnamon raisin bread, as well as coconut cookies and cinnamon cookies are gone in a flash --eaten by my SCD-compliant daughter, her non-SCD sister and their friends, who always ask for more.

Sincerely,

Lisa Ercolano in Baltimore
Mom of Olivia, 11, Crohn's disease, SCD 3-and-a-half months, meds cut in half.

COOKING WITH HAZELNUT FLOUR

I now cook mostly with hazelbut flour, and it does tend to be mushier than the almond. My son was intolerant of the almond for awhile. Now I am sneaking some back into the recipes, and he seems to be fine. Follow the old rule of "lower the temperature by 25 degrees and cook a little longer." That rule applies when switching from "regular" baking with wheat flour to the almond flour, but I found I had to do it again when I switched from almond to hazelnut. I cook my banana bread, for example at 300-325 and leave it in for 65-70 minutes. I think length of time will also vary depending on the altitude and humidity where you live.

Now that I am used to the hazelnut, I prefer it. The texture is finer than the almond flour. It is nice and moist, but the downside is the tendancy to mushiness.

Allison in Ottawa

I made the banana and carrot cakes in BTVC. I used hazelnut flour and sneaked in a bit of local peach in the carrot cake recipe. They decided to call the banana cake "brownies" and loved it all! They were so shocked to hear that they didn't even have to feel guilty about eating 2 pieces.

Just a little hint I'd like to pass on. I make all the cake recipes in a rectangular glass baking pan (Pyrex) which reads on the bottom 11 3/4" x 7 1/2" x 1 3/4". I butter it very well and spread out the usually sticky batter as evenly as possible. Then, it only bakes for about 15-20 minutes in my oven at 325F. It bakes much more evenly for me in this flat dish. Miguel eats some version of the peanutbutter, carrot, or banana cake with every meal. They are also so easy to pack up - I cut them in bite size squares and put them in a plastic container. This saved us on our recent camping trip. When we want to be extra fancy, we make cake sandwiches by spreading a little yogurt cream cheese between two slices.

Jen(mother of Miguel)

Here are a few tips that I use to keep my baked goods from falling, or being overbaked on the outside and gooey in the middle.

1.) I reduce my oven temperature by 25-50�F and lengthen the baking time.
2.) I'll bake low cakes or cookies instead of muffins, so that they will bake all the way through. Yesterday I made a three layer cake, instead of a two layer. It baked faster (I couldn't wait to turn the oven off!) and I had more layers to frost (Peanut butter frosting) - something my kids always like more of with their cake.
3.) If my cake seems to be getting overdone on the sides and not in the centre I'll put tinfoil over the top with an "X" in the centre of the foil. Carefully pull back the centre of the foil so that the middle of the cake is exposed to the heat.

Sheila, SCD 29 mos, UC 20 yrs

. General Tips for Dairy Free:

--When butter is called for in a recipe such as a pie crust, try replacing it with coconut oil, as it has similar properties, being solid like butter. In other recipes, you can usually subsitute any oil for the butter, but you may have to adjust the ratio of wet to dry ingredients, as the oil will sometimes make a wetter batter, if you are making muffins for example.

---From Joanne:

I have been doing the no casein diet for about 1 month for my son as an experiment. I found it difficult at first but if you substitute olive oil for the butter it seems to work well for the things I have made. I made the peanut butter cookies in BTVC just added about 1-2 Tbls. of olive oil instead of butter. I also made the banana muffins the same way. Try the egg/banana pancake recipe in the book but add about 1/2 cup nut flour and about 1/2 tsp. baking soda and you have a delicious pancake/waffle - my son and daughter love them. Add about 1 tblsp. water to a scrambled egg to give it some lift. Do you have Lucy's cookbook? The cinnamon cookies are good and i have substituted the olive oil for them also - i also press a well in the middle and put SCD legal jelly inside for a change of pace. I also have a recipe for mock whole wheat bread that includes peanut butter - it has no milk products in it and works well with peanut butter and jelly... If you want the recipe i think it is from Rochelle Weiss's cookbook and I've seen it on the list so I'm sure she wouldn't mind if i shared it... ---- God bless your family.... Joanne Wharry

OILS

---For cooking, butter and coconut oil withstand heat well.

---Sunflower oil is perfect for baked goods and very easy to find in healthy food stores. It has no noticeable flavor like olive oil.

---Other oils like walnut or almond can be found in gourmet shops. They are wonderful tasting oils to add in smoothies if you need to gain weight.
I adore Walnut oil drizzled on dark green lettuce leaves. Topped with chopped chicken salad mixed with mayo, grated apple and crushed walnuts.

Quick and easy recipes.

The secret to quick cooking is having some of the more "time consuming" things on hand. Tomato sauce, ketchup, chicken broth, yogurt...all of that can be combined into wonderful stuff. If you spend an evening or better yet, a weekend preparing just "staples", your everyday cooking will go a lot easier. Grab a trusted neighbor's 10 year old to keep the kids occupied and hit the kitchen.

Put on a huge stockpot of chicken for chicken broth--while it cooks, you can prepare other things. Then you can make soup, and freeze the remaining cupfuls of the broth to use in cooking. You don't have to thaw the broth either if you pre-measure it before freezing in half and cup servings--just throw it into most recipes, or nuke in in the microwave.

If you use whole chicken to make broth, you have a bunch of meat that you can use in chicken salad (better make a batch of mayo, too). Simple and easy recipe--boned chicken, kosher salt (or regular, but kosher tastes better), green onions, a bit of celery (pull out the threads if you want), a grind of pepper, and mayo to moisten. Add boiled egg if you like. Very yummy.

You'll probably need tomato sauce. You can do the canned juice thing, or use tomatoes, or combine both. To make quick work of tomato sauce or ketchup, instead of peeling your tomatoes, just cut them in half and grate cut side down on the large holes of a grater. All that's left is the skin and you don't have to do any chopping later.You can seed them by squishing out the seeds before grating. Boil it down, doctor it up to your taste and freeze. (I like to use ball jars--easy to keep in the fridge when thawed.) I also freeze some whole tomatoes to add to soups, etc. Keeps you from having to run to the store. Wash, dip in boiling water for 30 seconds, then place on a cookie sheet. Put in the freezer. When they're hard, transfer them to a ziplock bag. They won't stick together, and you can use as few or many as you need.

Okay, after your day of making staples, you have a nice easy dinner of chicken soup and chicken salad. Now, the recipes for the rest of the week...

Does your husband eat meatloaf? This one is very easy, and went over really well with kids and parents alike.

Apple Meatloaf

2 1/2 pounds ground beef or chuck
2 cups Granny Smith apples or red sweet ones -- finely chopped (got a food processor? Use it--note that you don't have to peel these.)
1 onion -- finely chopped (you can whirl this with the apple)
1/2 cup or more grated sharp cheddar cheese (helps hold the loaf together)
4 eggs
2 teaspoons salt -- or to taste
2 Tablespoons horseradish ( hope this is legal, if not, you could just grate a bit of fresh horseradish root, or maybe substitute freshly grated ginger *not powder--ick*, or even skip it, but it does add a nice tang to the loaf)
1/2 cup scd legal Ketchup
2 Tablespoons mustard
Preheat oven to 425*

Keep ingredients very cold, it helps the loaf to hold together. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl w/ a wooden spoon. Form into 2 loaves. You have one to freeze for later or to use for lunches. Pop them into the freezer for about five minutes so that it's very cold when it goes into the oven. It helps the loaf to hold together without those nasty breadcrumbs.

Bake 1 - 1 1/2 hours or until cooked through. (pour off the grease before serving)

It's very good with a glaze made from ketchup, honey, and apple juice or cider (reduce the cider to a glaze first before mixing with ketchup and honey to taste) just brush it on the meatloaf about halfway through cooking. (Or for the really picky kids, just serve it on the side.)

One thing that kids will eat usually is chicken. I use the honey garlic wing recipe, (page88) and add chicken legs, thighs and breasts. To save time, try to get the Pick of the Chick package of chicken, it has 3 legs, breasts and thighs, and you don't have to do much trimming at all, just rinse and throw in the pan. Line the pan with foil and you don't even have to wash a dish.) I make two big pans of chicken at once, in one I do the honey garlic, in the other, I make BBQ sauce with ketchup, onion, vinegar and honey, and a touch of ground red pepper for heat if you like, and oven bbq the chicken. Eat one, freeze one for later. (thaw overnight in the fridge and either nuke or warm in a 350 oven.)

Buy a bag of baby carrots and boil them in apple juice with a big spoon of honey. Very tasty. Kids usually like those. And surprisingly, the turnip fries fooled the kids...they loved them. Make them along with the chicken, and don't tell 'em it's good for them.

How about coleslaw? Shredded cabbage (I think the bagged kind is okay) mayo and vinegar. Add a bit of grated onion, and some honey to taste if you like, and it's better than anything you can buy, and done in just a couple of minutes.

Easy and foolproof--

Sauteed Pork chops--(rub with your choice of spices, and saute in olive oil and butter-not butter alone, it will burn) Remove chops and deglaze the pan with some white wine or chicken broth, and reduce to make a thin sauce. (You could stir in a TBS of French cream to make it richer.) Serve with sliced peeled apples sauteed in butter and seasoned with honey and a bit of freshly grated cinnamon or nutmeg. A lovely salad of greens, sliced pears(or apples) and walnuts topped with some Bleu cheese and dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. (Don't worry about the bleu cheese, the kids probably won't touch salad with a ten foot pole.)

Heavenly Sole

Get sole, or a mild whitefish, like tilapia or orange roughy, enough for your family. Place fillets in a single layer on a greased dish or pan, suitable for broiling. Brush with 2 tbs of fresh lemon juice and let sit for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to broil. Combine 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, 4 TBS softened butter, 3 TBS mayo and 3 TBS chopped green onion. Stir until well blended. Broil fillets 4 inches from heat for 5-7 minutes, or until fish flakes. Remove from heat and spread cheese mix on fillets. Broil 1-2 minutes longer or until lightly browned. Steam some broccoli with a slice of lemon to serve on the side.

How about omelettes? (Scrambled eggs for the young'uns) Make a lot of bacon easily by placing the strips on a baking sheet and pop into a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until as crisp as you like. Chop some green or red peppers, some onion, maybe a tomato, or some fresh mushrooms, toss in some of the bacon, and top with grated cheese of your choice. Make a fruit salad of canned pineapple (in it's own juice), ripe bananas, s;icked and maybe an orange, sectioned.

Hope that helps you out,
PC Brenda (Not politically correct--Personal Chef ),.

Crock Pot Recipes
GENERAL CROCK POT TIPS:
You can find good recipes just for crock pots and use SCD legal ingredients and leave out others. You can also cook your own recipes or plain food, and check other recipes for cooking times. Other than that, my guidelines are:

Meat cooks faster than veggies, so the veggies get cut into 1-2" pieces for a 12 hour pot roast, smaller for a 6 hour chicken.

When making the soup:
pull out the chicken when it's done and take the meat off and refrigerate it.
Put the bones back in and let them simmer, even overnight if you want. The bone marrow will give her lots of nutrition, and the broth will taste richer.
If you put small pieces of cold chicken in a bowl of piping hot broth, the chicken will be hot without getting overcooked and tough.
The amount of water for soup is what fits in your pot around the chicken and vegetables. The liquid will be concentrated from all the slow simmering and vegetables. You can dilute it with more water if desired when you serve or reheat.

The crock pot doesn't lose water like in the oven or on top of the stove. You will have more liquid at the end than at the beginning, from what cooks out from the meat and veggies. So don't add much liquid if you don't want soup.

Please email me at [email protected] if you need more info. -Nan