Chebe Breadsticks

These are just funky-looking little breadsticks, aren't they? But don't let their appearance fool you - they're really tasty (even kid-approved). 

These breadsticks are made from Chebe (pronounced chee-bee) Pizza Crust Mix. The package acclaims the slogan "Slightly unusual. Unusually good." I agree. They're unlike any breadstick I've ever had. But they're super good.

The mix is based on a Brazilian cheese bread. The texture is crispy on the outside and soft and chewy in the middle. 

The package gives you instructions on how to make breadsticks, pizza dough, calzones, soup bowls, crackers, sandwich buns and pigs-in-a-blanket. And the attractive part for many who struggle with food allergies is that the mix is gluten-free, yeast-free, soy-free and dairy-free. Tapioca flour is the main ingredient in the mix, so this product is allowed at 12 months on the MSCD.

The package instructions tell you to add milk or a milk substitute to the mix. Brown rice, almond or goat milk works well if you are avoiding dairy products. And you are instructed to add Parmesan cheese, but that is completely optional. I did add cheese to the sticks in the picture, but I was out of Parmesan, so I added shredded cheddar. The other ingredients you'll need to add to this mix are eggs and extra virgin olive oil. I also like to add some seasoning like sea salt, garlic powder and Italian seasoning (basil, oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, sage).

There are 6 different Chebe mixes, all reasonably priced. I've been able to find their products pretty easily, both in health food stores and in grocery stores, usually in the gluten-free section.

I love the breadsticks so much that I've never tried any of the other recipe options, so if you do, let me know how it turns out!

Fruit Dip

MSCD beginner recipe

This recipe also works well as a fruit salad dressing. Just chop up all your fruit & place in a large bowl. Whip up this recipe & pour onto fruit, tossing to coat. Dip or dressing - it's delicious either way!

1 ½ cups organic plain yogurt

½ cup honey

1 tsp. vanilla

½ tsp. cinnamon

Stir all ingredients together until well blended. Pour into a serving dish and serve with your favorite fruits: grapes, strawberries, sliced apples, diced pineapples, etc.

Healthy yogurt options:

Cascade Fresh

Stonyfield Farm

White Mountain

Live Yogurt, pg. 146 in The Road to Health

by Laura Schroeder

Taco Dip

MSCD 12-month recipe

My Mom’s Taco Dip is a 28-year-old Super Bowl tradition for our family. During yesterday’s game, my husband was talking with me about who played in what Super Bowl all the way back to the early-80s. How does he know that???  I told him that all I could remember was the Taco Dip! I’m a day late in posting this recipe – or instead consider me 364 days early. (February 5, 2012 is the date for Super Bowl XLVI, assuming that the NFL has a season this year.) Regardless, go ahead and throw another party next weekend just so you can have an excuse to make this dip. It’s good stuff.

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, room temperature

1 (16 oz.) can refried beans

1 (16 oz.) jar salsa

1 (8 oz.) bag shredded cheese

Place cream cheese and refried beans in a bowl. Mix on high with an electric mixer until smooth, creamy and completely incorporated. Spread mixture evenly onto a serving dish, all the way to the edges of your dish. For the second layer, pour hot sauce onto bean mixture, again spreading evenly to the edges. For the top layer, sprinkle on all of the shredded cheese.

Serve as is or sprinkle on any toppings you like: diced onions, sliced olives, minced jalapeno, diced bell pepper or diced scallions.

Serve with dippers like corn chips, potato chips, baby carrots or cherry tomatoes (on toothpicks).

NOTE:

• To make it easy on yourself, buy a package of organic cream cheese. If you can’t find any, make your own from the Cream Cheese recipe on pg. 147 in The Road to Health.
• Usually the fat free or vegetarian refried beans are free of lard and hydrogenated oils. Read those labels!
• Use whatever kind of serving dish you like – a football-shaped one would be cute for a Super Bowl party. But just to give you an idea of serving size, Mom and I usually use a 12-inch round dish.

recipe by Marilyn Shaw

Snowpocalypse Stew

MSCD 12-month recipe

Still snowed in? Cold? In serious need of some comfort food? Me, too!

Cook yourself a big pot of this stew. Guaranteed to help you survive the

Snowpocalypse Snowstorm of 2011.

2 lbs. beef stew meat

5 large potatoes, peeled and cut into bit-sized pieces

1 lb. bag baby carrots, halved

½ yellow onion, diced

1 gallon water

garlic powder

sea salt

black pepper

oat flour

extra virgin olive oil

In a large stockpot, bring water to a low boil. While waiting on the water, coat stew meat with oat flour. Coat a skillet with olive oil and brown stew meat in skillet over medium heat. When water comes to a boil, gently add potatoes, carrots and onion. When the outer layer of the meat is browned, add it to the stockpot with the vegetables. The meat will finish cooking in the water.

To thicken stew without making it lumpy, put 2 Tbs. oat flour in a sealable jar. Add some of the stew stock to the jar, place the lid on the jar, and shake vigorously to mix the flour and stock. Once the mixture is incorporated and lump-free, stir it back into the stew. As the stew continues to simmer, the flour will thicken the stock. Season stew to taste with garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Continue to cook stew at a simmer/low boil for at least 30 minutes. Serve with a large slab of Deb's Cornbread.

by Laura Schroeder



Sweeter Days Pecan Pie

MSCD 12-month recipe

My Dad adores pecan pie. I created this recipe for him upon retiring from his business, with the prayer that as he embarks on his new chapter of life, he will be blessed with each new day being even sweeter than the one before.

Prepare Basic Pie Crust.

Filling
4 eggs
¾ cup maple syrup
¼ cup honey
2 Tbs. butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. liquid Vanilla Crème stevia
1 cup pecan halves

Lightly beat eggs. Add syrup, honey, butter, vanilla, and stevia. Beat well. Stir in pecans and pour into pie crust. Cover crust edges with foil and bake at 350°for 50 minutes or until center is firm and an inserted knife comes out clean. Cool to near room temperature before slicing.

by Laura Schroeder

Basic Pie Crust

MSCD 6-month recipe

1 cup whole oats
1 cup oat flour
¼ cup applesauce
3 Tbs. butter, finely diced
1 Tbs. honey
1 ½ Tbs. water
1 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of salt
extra virgin olive oil

Lightly chop oats in a blender. In a bowl, combine chopped oats with remaining ingredients, except olive oil, forming a ball by working the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with your hands until the entire ball of dough is moist. Drizzle the dough ball with olive oil to coat. Butter or oil a deep 10-inch pie dish. Press the crust dough to an even thickness along the bottom and sides of the pie dish. Create a decorative edge on the crust with a fork or your fingers.

If making a pie that needs to be baked, fill pie shell with filling and bake as pie recipe recommends. If making a refrigerator pie that does not need to be cooked, first bake the pie shell at 350° for 12 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature before filling.

by Laura Schroeder

Emergency Chocolate Cake

MSCD 6-month recipe

Ever get that craving? “I need my chocolate, and I need it NOW!”
Well, this recipe is for you! Cook and prep time included, you can have a chocolate cake in 5 minutes. (Okay, maybe 10 minutes if you’re fumbling to find ingredients while dragging one child on each leg like I do!) For years I’ve used my microwave for nothing more than sanitizing my dish sponge, but thanks to this recipe, it’s been upgraded to
Sponge Sanitizer AND Emergency Chocolate Cake Maker!

1 large coffee mug
3 Tbs. butter
3 Tbs. oat flour
1 Tbs. brown rice flour
2 Tbs. cocoa powder
½ oz. (or ½ square) unsweetened baker’s chocolate, chopped
3 Tbs. milk (brown rice, almond,* goat or organic cow*)
1 egg
4 Tbs. honey
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. liquid stevia (I recommend Sweet Leaf Liquid Vanilla Crème Stevia)

Place butter in mug and melt for 30 seconds in your microwave. When melted, carefully swirl butter around the mug so that it coats the bottom and sides of the mug.

In a separate bowl, add dry ingredients and mix well. Pour previously-melted butter and remaining wet ingredients into the dry mixture and stir until all ingredients are incorporated. Pour mixture into mug. Place your mug back in the microwave and cook on high for 3 minutes. The cake will rise over the top of the mug while cooking, so don’t be alarmed. Remove cake from microwave and allow to cool a little. Eat it straight from the mug or tip out onto a plate. Slice if desired.

Serves 1-2, depending on how bad your chocolate emergency is!

*NOTE: Wait until month 12 of the diet before using cow or processed almond milk.

by Laura Schroeder

Popcorn Chewies

MSCD 12-month recipe

1 cup (unpopped) popcorn kernels
olive oil
4 Tbs. butter
½ cup honey
1 cup peanut butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 cup raisins

Pour enough oil into a large pot to fill to a ⅛-inch depth. Place 1 popcorn kernel into the oil and place pot over medium high heat. When kernel pops, add remaining kernels. Place lid on pot and shake side-to-side until popping ceases. Be careful not to overcook. Pour popcorn into an extra-large bowl, removing any unpopped kernels. Stir raisins into popcorn.

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. When butter is melted, stir in honey, peanut butter, and cinnamon. Continue to stir and slightly warm until mixture is smooth, then drizzle over popcorn and raisins. With a large spoon, slowly stir peanut butter mixture into popcorn until all of the popcorn is lightly coated.

Lightly oil or butter a 9×13-inch casserole dish. Place popcorn mixture into the dish, a small amount at a time, smashing the mixture to fit in the dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Slice or scoop and serve.

Note: Change this treat any way you like by trying different nut butters or different dried fruit combinations. You can also toss in a cup of your favorite chopped nut for added crunch.

by Laura Schroeder

Nut Bars

MSCD beginner recipe

1 stick butter
1 cup honey
1 cup raisins or chopped dates
1 cup unsweetened grated coconut
3 cups coarsely chopped nuts
½ tsp. salt

In saucepan, stir butter and honey over low heat until melted and blended. Remove from heat and add raisins/dates, coconut, chopped nuts and salt. Spread mixture evenly in a jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper oiled with coconut oil. Press down with oiled hands or wax paper. Bake at 350° for 23 minutes. Let cool. Place pan in refrigerator until set. Cut into bars.
 
Option: Add two small or one large apple chopped in food processor.

by Liz Ricks

Caramelized Bananas

MSCD beginner recipe

You have to act fast when cooking this recipe, so have all of your ingredients

measured and ready before you begin cooking. The bananas should be in and out of the skillet in no more than 1 ½ minutes or they’ll turn to mush.

1 large, firm (but ripe) banana, peeled
1 Tbs. butter
3 Tbs. honey
⅛ cup orange juice
¼ tsp. cinnamon

Quarter the banana by cutting it in half cross-wise and length-wise. Melt butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. When butter is melted, drizzle in honey, and then add bananas, cut side up. Cook for 20 seconds, lightly stirring the sauce without disturbing the bananas. Add orange juice and cinnamon. Carefully turn bananas cut side down and cook for another 45 seconds, basting with sauce as they cook. Remove bananas and sauce from skillet and serve immediately as is or over French Toast (The Road to Health pg. 90) or Banana Ice Cream (pg. 138).

by Laura Schroeder