Banana Nut Pancakes

MSCD 6, 9 or 12-month recipe (see note below)

Breakfast for dinner? Yes, please!

2 cups oat flour

½ cup brown rice flour

½ cup pecan flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

4 eggs

1 ½ cup milk (plain brown rice “milk” drink, organic cow milk, or goat’s milk)

1 cup live yogurt

2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp. vanilla

1-2 bananas, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

1 cup walnuts, chopped

In a large bowl, mix first 6 dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix next 5 wet ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and mix with an electric mixer on high until completely incorporated and lump-free. Stir in bananas and walnuts.

Heat skillet or griddle at medium heat. Drizzle with olive oil to prevent sticking. Pour batter by the ½-cupfuls onto griddle. When bubbles form throughout batter, flip the pancake to cook the other side. Remove to serving dish when cooked through. Repeat until you’ve used all the batter.

Serves a family of 5! If you don’t need that many pancakes, simply half the recipe.

NOTE:
Choose the ingredients for this recipe according to where you are on the diet:

• brown rice and goat milk OK at 3 months
• cow milk OK at 12 months 
• oat flour OK at 6 months

by Laura Schroeder

Chicken Spaghetti

MSCD 3, 6 or 12-month recipe (see note below)

Chicken

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

sea salt

pepper

garlic powder

paprika

extra virgin olive oil

Drizzle chicken with olive oil and season to taste with salt, pepper, garlic and paprika. Bake, grill or pan fry until center of chicken is white and its juices run clear. Dice chicken into dime-sized pieces.

Pasta

1 (16 oz) package Tinkyada brown rice spaghetti OR brown rice spinach spaghetti

Cook in a large stock pot according to package instructions. I always use the “Easy and Energy-Saving” cooking method printed on the front of the package.

Sauce

½ cup extra virgin olive oil OR 1 stick of butter

2 Tbs. minced garlic

3 Tbs. oat flour

3 Tbs. brown rice flour

2 cups chicken broth, room temperature

2 cups milk, room temperature (plain brown rice “milk” drink, organic cow milk, or goat’s milk)

½ cup cheddar cheese, shredded

½ cup Monterey jack cheese, shredded

½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1 (7 oz.) can green chiles, drained

sea salt

pepper

Garnish (optional)

diced tomatoes

sliced scallions

Coat large skillet with the olive oil or butter. Heat oil over medium heat or melt butter. Add garlic. Slowly sprinkle in brown rice and oat flour, whisking continually until flours are lightly browned. Slowly add broth and milk of your choice, whisking continually to prevent lumps. (Having them at room temperature also helps prevent lumps.) Once flours and liquids are completely incorporated, begin adding the 3 cheeses a little at a time, stirring between each addition to make sure your sauce is nice and creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in green chiles and diced chicken.

When the sauce is fully heated, stir pasta with the sauce and serve as is or garnish with diced tomatoes and scallions.

NOTE: 
Choose the ingredients for this recipe according to where you are on the diet:

·         brown rice and goat milk OK at 3 months

·         cow milk OK at 12 months 

·         oat flour OK at 6 months

·         If you want to try this recipe at 3 months, eliminate the oat flour from the sauce and just double the brown rice flour.

by Laura Schroeder

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