Sunday, April 24, 2011

Peanut Butter Truffles (Advanced SCD)

For those of you who enjoyed Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, here is a SCD treat. Note: peanut butter is an advanced food for the SCD.

This post is linked to Sugar-Free Sundays at Flip Cookbook, Fight Back Fridays at Food Renegade, and Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays at Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free.

Peanut Butter Truffles (Advanced SCD)

1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter (SCD legal for SCD'ers)
8 TBSP (one stick) Butter
1 cup Almond Flour (not almond meal)
2 TBSP Honey (adjust if you need to)
1 1/2 cups Unsweetened Coconut Flakes

In a food processor combine peanut butter, butter, almond flour and honey. Pulse until smooth and creamy. Put into a freezer safe bowl and freeze a couple of hours until solid. Scoop out with a teaspoon, roll into balls and then roll in coconut to coat. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Makes about 24 truffles.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Autism - PBS Interview with Dr. Martha Herbert

April is Autism Awareness month. Robert MacNeil of PBS Newshour, who has a grandson with autism, has done an excellent series on autism this week. On the PBS website they have a vast array of fascinating material on autism, including the extended interviews like this one with Dr. Martha Herbert. Dr. Herbert, a pediatric neurologist from Harvard, also spoke at this years "When the Belly is the Beast" conference at the Gottschall Center.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Great Recipe - Cinnamon Cookies from Comfy Belly (SCD)


Here's another great cookie recipe from another great blogger: Cinnamon Cookies from Erica at Comfy Belly. If you scroll down her post, commenter Susan suggests using vanilla extract in place of the cinnamon and then sprinkling the cinnamon on top to make a snickerdoodle. I tried that variation and it is delicious too. My son loves the cookie dough and the cookies. Thanks Erica! Erica's blog also has many other SCD legal recipes.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Is Sugar Toxic? - Great Gary Taubes Article

I'm a big Gary Taubes fan. I devoured every word of "Good Calories, Bad Calories" and savored every morsel of "Why We Get Fat, and What to do About It". It's not that I was interested in losing weight, it's just that I was beginning to come to these conclusions myself. Then Taubes spells out the entire history of how mainstream dietary advice wound up where it is today. This current article is in the New York Times and is titled "Is Sugar Toxic?" Alex of Feed Me Like You Mean It had the link posted. Thanks Alex!

And Now for the Terrible Two's....

It's my second blogiversary! Two years ago who would have thought a grain-free/refined sugar-free blog would have gotten over 75,000 hits? Thank you so much for following. And also a big thank you to my fellow bloggers who keep the gluten-free and grain-free community alive and thriving. It's so easy to find healthy recipes, ideas and support thanks to all of you.

If you have any suggestions for my blog or recipe requests, I can always use ideas.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Plant a Little Something for Your Honey

Many of you may be aware of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), which is a phenomena of unknown origin that has been causing a drastic decline in the number of honey bees reported since 2006. Honey is used as the main sweetener on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet due to it's ability to be easily digested. Honey bees do more for the food chain than just produce honey, they also pollinate many other plants, including those in agriculture.  The USDA says "Bee pollination is responsible for $15 billion in added crop value, particularly for specialty crops such as almonds and other nuts, berries, fruits, and vegetables. About one mouthful in three in the diet directly or indirectly benefits from honey bee pollination." While no one knows the cause of CCD, there are many factors that are suspected, such as environmental toxins and vanishing habitat.
    What can we do to help our busy buzzy hard working friends? Now is the time many of us are planting flowers for spring and summer. There are many types of flowers that are better for bees, and local bees are more adapted to local flowers. Adding some local flowers, flowering herbs, and good nectar flowers in your flower bed mix may help them. I couldn't help but notice the local farm stores this year have plenty of local honey, much more than usual. We also had an amazing spring in 2010 with fields bursting of wildflowers due to the extra moisture we received that winter (above photo). Coincidence?

Interesting Links:

Silence of the Bees, a documentary on PBS that you can view here.

Plant a Bee Garden from the Honeybee Conservancy



This post is linked to Fightback Fridays at the Food Renegade.