The recipes I publish on my blog are mostly SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet) and GAPs (Gut and Psychology Diet) friendly.
I’m aware that some people with IBS, (those with bacterial overgrowth in their small intestine) have a hard time digesting certain fruits, fats and veggies that are SCD and GAPs legal. They do much better following a low FODMAP diet which excludes many of the veggies I cook with. And some of the fruit.
The traditional low FODMAP diet does not exclude grains. It may take tummy troubling trigger foods out but does little to actually heal the intestines. A grain-free FODMAP diet is even more restricted than the SCD or GAPS but it is doable and I promise to help by including more FODMAP friendly foods in future recipe posts. I have downloaded my FODMAPS shopping list and am going to start experimenting.
This week’s recipe is butternut squash “mac and cheese”. I use a creamy butternut squash sauce to substitute for the cheese sauces and broccoli slaw to replace the pasta.
The secret ingredient is gut-healing bone broth!
How to sex up butternut squash
I know what you are thinking. Butternut squash is not a good replacement for cheese. Here is a “before” shot showing the squash in raw form.
Cooking the squash in beef bone broth is the secret to transforming these raw cubes into a savory, creamy sauce. Adding in red onion, sauteed with pancetta (Italian bacon) is the other flavor secret.
Saute until the squash is soft and most of the broth has evaporated (but make sure there is enough liquid left to give the squash a saucy consistency). Add the bacon and onion and mash with a fork. Spice it with salt, cumin, paprika. If you want to boost the health benefits of this dish, squeeze a juice of half a lemon into the sauce.
Preparing the pre-cut broccoli slaw
This part is very simple. Buy some broccoli slaw (you can also use kelp noodles or spaghetti squash), toss it in olive oil and bake at 350 for half an hour or take out of the oven if the ends of the broccoli stalks begin to curl up.
Pour the butternut squash sauce onto the noodles.
If you have kids who are picky eater, you can try mixing a little bit of cheese into the squash, to give it a cheesy taste. Then, the next time you make this dish, put in less cheese and repeat this process until their taste buds adjust. Our body starts to crave what we are feeding it already. The cheese may help the squash go down, but pretty soon your kids might want squash over cheese.
What I love about this recipe is how simple it is to make, how creamy the squash is and what a great substitute it is for the gut-busting original.
I dare you to try it.
Angela Privin is proof that IBS is NOT an incurable disease or a disease at all. IBS is a body out of balance. It’s an invitation for change. After solving her own IBS mystery more than a decade ago Angela trained as a health coach to help others.
Angela uses both science and intuition to help people figure out what’s out of balance in their body. She works with lab tests, dietary changes, supplementation and nervous system rebalancing. Get help rebalancing your digestive system and solving your IBS mystery here.
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