This was the SCD Ultimate Challenge in October 2O13. Mr. Blitch and I were visiting friends and family in North Carolina for our 15th anniversary. I was strong and healthy, 117 lbs., and following strict SCD. Eating SCD “legal” snacks out of our rental car, and finding restaurant food that wouldn’t land me in the hospital was the challenge, and I was up for it.

2O15 was a new faze of the Ultimate Challenge: maintaining my health and perky “can-do” attitude while transitioning my 81 year old dad from California to Oregon, assisting with Hospice care for two beloved family members, parenting a teen, working full time, and trying to make it to another wedding anniversary ~~ well. 2O15 was a special kind of hell.
A special kind of hell where in addition to dealing with grief, and loss, and depression, there was also a 30 lb weight gain and a closet full of clothes that I couldn’t squeeze into.
3O lbs may not seem that bad, but I’m 5’2″ if I stand on my tiptoes. 30 lbs spread over 62″ … it’s beyond Rubenesque. And I can’t afford new clothes.

I may not be feeling perky, but I’m still in the game. I still believe that SCD works for me. I am happier, I have more energy, my guts don’t scream at me for relief when I am doing it, and doing it 100%.

One of my biggest ongoing challenges to following SCD, is simply the fact that we have a tiny 193Os era kitchen with no dishwasher.

This weekend, I made a huge batch of bone broth, and was going to start in on a bunch of other things for the week ahead, when Capital L Life threw me another curve ball.

Mr. Blitch came down with some nasty stomach bug and was yacking like Linda Blair in The Exorcist. Normally, I’m a gal who likes to clean her house with Mother Nature’s gentle products; vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda.
But today, out came the gloves and the Clorox and the Lysol. Fuck it. I’m only 3 months into my new job, and not exactly rolling in PTO.

Dinner, also, needed to be made for myself and the bottomless pit that my son has become. I was all about SCD, minimal dishes, and something that would feed us both and provide leftovers.

One of my favorite winter comfort foods used to be cabbage rolls stuffed with meat and rice. Rice is not SCD legal (no grains, whatsoever), so “riced” cauliflower is a great alternative. Also, I think it’s been over a decade since I’ve actually made this dish, as the whole process of steaming the cabbage, and rolling up the neat little stuffed rolls is above and beyond what I can handle. So, I found a few brilliant recipes: someone who actually is capable of problem solving in a way that I am not realized that you can just chop all the goodness up, and turn it into a casserole. Mine was ugly as hell, but it was delicious. So, well done, Me!

The other kitchen time and money saver that I have come up with over my years of doing SCD meal prep, is that I divide all my scraps into two piles:

Bowl on the left is scraps for my hens. Bag on the right contains trimmings that go into the freezer for the next time I need to make broth. I don’t waste a dime. And the payoff for feeding my hens an awesome variety of kitchen scraps? This:

The bowl, by the way, was made by one of our clay art friends in North Carolina. This is a piece Mr. Blitch bought for me on that anniversary trip in 2O13. I fucking love this bowl. The way Gollum loves the Ring.
But I digress, the potter is Michael Kline. You should check out his website.

Here is the recipe that I pulled together from several sources to work for my needs:

Nurse Apple’s Cabbage Casser-NO-Roll.

Ingredients:

~ One pound ground meat
~ One large onion, diced
~ One green bell pepper, diced
~ One tsp Hungarian Sweet & Spicy Paprika (Paprika + Cayenne)
~ 1/2 tsp salt
~ 1/2 tsp ground pepper
~ Two cups crushed tomatoes (fresh or no-sugar added canned)
~ 7 oz. jar organic tomato paste (I use Bionaturae brand)
~ 1/2 head of cabbage, chopped
~ One cup bone broth

Instructions:

~ Preheat oven to 350 degrees
~ Brown the meat in a cast iron skillet (or other pan that is oven safe)
~ Add onion & bell pepper, sauté for 3 to 4 minutes
~ Add spices, stir
~ Add tomatoes & cabbage, turn off heat, stir to combine
~ Add broth
~ Bake covered for 40 to 45 minutes
~ Uncover, keep baking while you cook cauliflower “rice”

(*Riced cauliflower: steam one head of cauliflower for 15 to 20 minutes, drain, mash up with butter or coconut oil, salt & pepper).

By the time you mash your cauliflower, the Casser-NO-roll should be done.

Serve that shit up, and find someone to do the dinner dishes. Or use paper plates, and burn them in your backyard to upset the mean old lady next-door who hates your husband’s sunflowers.