Ippalily

Blah, this was not was I was hoping it would be. It turned out more like a meaty red sauce than what I think of as Beef Stroganoff. I might try this again sometime, but I'll play around with the recipe a bit. Probably add some cheese, tone down the tomato juice and use dripped yogurt for a more creamy sauce. Note that I had to make it without mushrooms, because I can't have those yet.

This grain, dairy and sugar free bread is delish! Since it has no carbs it lacks a little bit of that bready feel, but so far this is the closest SCD recipe I've found to real yummy bread. I'm cheating a bit here as I'm not really supposed to work Almond Flour in until later, but these are mostly for Drew. I won't lie, I had a few bites :)

I decided to start a kitchen garden so that I can get fresher, cheaper, and cleaner veggies. I'm so excited that today is the day I start my garden! I've got a ton of helpful friends and family. I had 6 pots, 2 bags of soil and lots of helpful advice from my friends Anna, Emily and my Aunt Linda (who, by the way was Tomato Queen of SFSU one year, she gave me lots of tomato advice).

I decided on a Bush Early Girl Tomato plant on the advice of Linda. I found a small plant at the Mountain View Nursery (very helpful people there) and it's just so darn cute! I also picked up some Romaine Lettuce because the lady at the nursery said it was good for my type of garden and they had some on hand. In the little dome you can see I have just planted some Basil, Parsley, Dill and Chives. And on the far right I have an avocado pit in water. I'm not sure I have a pot for that avocado just yet, but I figured since I just had avocado last night, I mine as well do something with that pit.

Once these guys get bigger I'll move them into the pots that were generously given to me, and see how they fair outside for Spring. But for now I'll keep them in smaller pots so I can keep them in the sun during the day, and bring them in at night.

Thanks for the help everyone! Can't wait to see how I fair caring for these cute little plants.

This dish was a really nice combination of familiar foods in the California home. The sauce, although delicious, wasn't over powering, which really left room for a nice combination of avocado, chicken and cheddar cheese. I will definitely be making this again.

This cheesy baked spinach dip is very yummy and stores well. Makes great leftovers.