The SCD for Autism and ADHD

Today I would like to take the time to recommend a fascinating new book by long time SCD author's Pamela Ferro and Raman Prasad.  The duo has taken on the challenge of explaining the in's and out's of adapting the SCD diet to deal with those on the Autism spectrum and ADHD.  Their book is titled: The SCD for Autism and ADHD:  A reference and dairy-free(DF) cookbook for the specific carbohydrate diet.

What is the main difference from other SCD books and cookbooks you may ask?  Well, first this book moves away from traditional SCD by prohibiting dairy.  Limiting dairy, even for those not following the SCD, has been found to help many with Autism and ADHD and this book helps to meld the two diets together.

The other way this book is different is that it integrates the backgrounds of mainstream medicine through Pam's background along with others in the field.  There has been a huge increase in university studies into the SCD and gut bacteria over the last few years and along with this more and more doctors, hospitals, and nurses are realizing that the SCD is not fiction any longer.  This book is a wonderful example of this collaborative and looks to the future of the diet and how to tweak it in order to meet the needs of different disorders.

The book gives the reader a huge wealth of knowledge on the subject of both disorders and the reasoning for going SCD-DF.  It also has many delicious recipes that span multiple regional and ethnic cuisines and tackle going dairy free with ease.

The book is well written, organized, and easy to follow with carefully thought out recipes.  The pictures are also excellent and compliment the food perfectly.

Please let all your friends who know someone who suffers with these disorders to look into this book.  Together we have the knowledge and power to change the face of these disorders and make healing a reality.

Two steps forward, One step back~

Tucker

Summer Travels

Hi there and welcome to TwoStepsSCD!
Summer has been very busy for me and the writing bug has just not been around.  Sorry ):

I thought I would talk a bit about my travels this summer and let you know how they went and how they were while following the SCD.  

The first major travels that I did were to the Canadian Rockies were friends and I climbed Mount Sir Donald and Takakkaw falls. The trip was completed in about 4 days and included lots of exercise and beautiful mountain scenery.  For the shorter travels I have been starting to precook meals that I can just keep cool instead of bringing ingredients that I have to spend lots of time cooking and heating.  For this trip I made two medium sized pizza's (recipe below) some homemade granola and a few packets of the bagged tuna and salmon along with my standard biscuits. 

For Sir Donald, we arrived late in the evening after a long drive then hiked into the base of the mountain.  A brutal hike that gained over 3000 vertical feet, much of it viewed through the light of a headlamp.  For this two day outing I brought a Tupperware filled with a few slices of pizza, some bars and tuna packets for the next day, along with some biscuits and cheese.  Weight was at a premium so luxury items including some food were scrutinized.

Meadow on the descent

We awoke at first light and headed up towards the start of the ridge.  The exposure was immense and caused your head to spin a bit.  The route would entail about 3000 feet of exposed scrambling and mid 5th class climbing.  We would also end up soloing the entire route due to time restrictions.

About halfway up Sir Donald

Summit!

Around mid-day we arrived at the summit where we preceded to have a bite to eat and take a long nap.  Then came the long process of making it down...  After 20 something rappels we arrived safe and sound at the base and from there made the steep, knee jarring descent to our car.

Our next adventure would involve one of the largest waterfalls in Canada, rock climbing, and tunnels...
Takakkaw falls is the second highest waterfall in western Canada at 1266 feet and just happens to have a rock climbing route that ascends right next to it.  Near the top, the route also sports a 200' tunnel crawl in pure darkness.  Wow what a route!

About half way up the route

The rock quality turned out to be pretty poor but the position of the route was like nothing else I had experience.  Remember, this is no trickle of a waterfall it is a thundering, roaring falls that sprays you down from time to time.

The route ascends the left side of the falls

After this long day I dined on a huge salad with veggie greens from home.  Kale, chard, lettuce, carrots, peppers, green beans, and a big avocado.  Tossed with some olive oil and salt, sooo good!
I have to say fresh greens are so refreshing, easy, and light to bring on trips and taste so much better than packaged food, especially freeze dried.

So, now for the pizza recipe that sustained me for a few high energy days.
Pizza Dough (enough for about 2 medium pizza's):
-2 cups almond flour
-2 eggs
-2 teaspoons olive oil
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon Italian spices

Toppings (like always, add what you want and follow your taste-buds)
-Onion
-Bell pepper
-Pesto or tomato sauce
-Leafy greens
-Olives
-Mushrooms
-Cheddar cheese
-Tomato 

Mix everything together.  Separate dough between two baking sheets that are covered with parchment paper.  Lay a large sheet of plastic wrap on top of the dough and roll out with a roller.  Roll the dough to the thickness you desire (I like a shy 1/4 inch thickness).  Place into a 350 degree oven and cook until it is lightly brown (10-15min).  Pull the pizza dough out of the oven and lay down a layer of pesto or homemade tomato sauce (make sure its thick).  Next, quick stir-fry the onions and peppers so they are lightly cooked then spread onto pizza.  On top of that add a thick layer of greens (spinach, Swiss chard, kale, etc.)  Next, add some mushrooms, olives and cheese.  Lastly, add some thinly sliced tomato's on top of your piled high pizza.  Place into the oven for 25-30 minutes.

For your trip add cut up slices to a large Tupperware and place in a cold cooler.  It should be fine for at least a few days.
Enjoy!


*For more information, stories, and recipes check out our book HERE on Amazon.com

 

Breaded Fish

Hi there everyone, hope this post finds you healthy or on the road to a better life while dealing with IBD.  I wanted to post a quick recipe that we have been doing here in our household quite frequently.  It is a fried fish, much like you would find with traditional "fish and chips".  The recipe and method are so simple it works great for those late dinners when no one is interested in cooking.

Here we go!

Ingredients:

• about a pound of Cod fish (or other white fish)
• oil for frying
• 1 cup almond flour*
• 1t paprika*
• 1/2 t salt*
• 1/8 t cayenne*
• 1/8 t garlic salt*

Tartar sauce:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise* (scd legal homemade or legal brands like trader joes or spectrum)
• 1 t lemon juice*
• 1/4 t paprika
• few shakes salt and pepper

 
*Spice amounts are approximate.  I usually just sprinkle the spices into the bag until I think it looks right.  Use your judgement and follow your taste buds.

Method:

Find yourself a large Ziploc bag.  Add fresh fish to the bag in manageable sizes.  Fish should be moist but not wet.  Do not add freshly defrosted fish because the breading will not stick properly to the fish, instead let frozen fish sit in refrigerator overnight.
With the fish in the bag add almond flour, paprika, salt, cayenne, and garlic salt.  Close bag and give it a shake until the fish is evenly coated with the breading mixture.
Add a high heat oil (I like to use grapeseed oil) to a heavy pan (enough oil to cover bottom but no more) and heat until wooden spoon bubbles when dipped into oil.  Add breaded fish to pan and cook each side for 2-3 minutes before turning.  Take care to not lose the breading while flipping.  A spatula helps with this.  Cook until fish flakes.
For the tartar sauce mix all of the ingredients together and keep cold until ready to use.

For traditional "fish and chips"  make up a batch of butternut squash fries as a side.

Take care and enjoy!

Tucker


*For more recipes and tips find our book Here
    

Lemon Cream Pie

Hi everyone and hope you are feeling as good as possible!
I wanted to post a recipe that I adapted a few months back from a cream pie article in one of the Cooking Light magazines.  The magazine had a whole section on different cream pies and most of them looked to die for.  After first dismissing the section because I figured nothing could be realistically made SCD, it was only later, a few weeks later that I looked again at the recipes and at their ingredients and realized I could most likely get pretty close using and replacing a few key ingredients with SCD ingredients.  After a little tweaking and testing I came out with a pie that tastes (in my opinion) pretty dang good.  Here we go.

Lemon Cream Pie-

Pie Crust:
1 1/2 cups almond flour
3 T butter (soft)
1 T honey (using local honey from your area can lessen seasonal allergies)
1/8 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
Mix everything together.  Press into a 9 inch pie pan and bake @ 350 degrees until golden brown.



 Lemon Filling:
1/2 cup honey (I use slightly less)
1 T Lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 T coconut flour (to thicken)
1/4 t salt
2 large eggs (be nice to the hens and use free-range)
1 cup scd yogurt
1/4 cup dripped scd yogurt (use cheese cloth or other method)
Combine the above ingredients over a double boiler and whisk until hot and slightly bubbly.  It takes a while...
Once you have seen a few bubbles and the mixture is hot, remove from heat and stir in 2 T of butter.  Add one packet of gelatin to a bit of water (just enough to cover) and let sit 1 minute.  Then add gelatin to lemon filling and stir. Let mixture cool a bit then pour filling into pie crust and place in refrigerator.

Whipped Cream Topping: 
1 1/2 cups yogurt made with half n half or whipping cream (whipping cream holds up better but I thought it was just to rich).
Honey to taste
1 egg white (optional)
Using an electric hand mixer beat the topping until soft/medium peaks form.  Add on top of chilled pie filling and return to refrigerator.  Eat once the pie has totally chilled. 1-2 hours.

Enjoy!

Other than cooking the weather here in Idaho is turning to spring (slowly) but the skiing up in the mountains has been great.  The weather down in the valleys has even allowed for some rock climbing and bouldering during the sunny days.
Here is a video I recently put together showing some of the fun we have been having: