My mother loved hot cross buns and getting up early on Easter morning to watch the sun rise with hot chocolate in one hand and a hot cross bun in the other. (Pigs, Ferns and Easter Sunrise on Sacred Hilltops) So I have after several attempts, come up with a delicious rendition of GAPS and SCD friendly Hot Cross Buns. They are more like muffins, and a thick custard makes a tasty cross. This recipe will make about 18 buns.

For the buns:

• 1/2 c honey
• 1/4 c butter
• 1 c cashew butter (raw)
• 2 c cashew or almond flour (blanched)
• 1 t baking soda
• 5 eggs
• 1 c raisins
• 1/4 c honey-candied citrus peel
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t allspice
• 1/2 t cloves
• dash salt

Amounts in this recipe are not precise. Every time I make these nuts they come out very differently, which I find lovely, but I know some find annoying. The last batch tasted like buttered popcorn–although I didn’t use any butter–just turmeric and some other forgotten spices, in the meantime use whatever you have in your cupboard.

Now this is an incredibly delicious and surprising way to cook an egg. Great for vegetarians as well as people who just love food.

serves 4

• 10 eggs
• 4 T or so of coconut oil or olive oil
• 1/2 t turmeric
• dash of chili powder (more if you like it spicy)
• 2 medium onions
• 2 inches ginger
• 10 toes garlic
• 6-8 medium tomatoes
• 1 T tamarind paste
• 2 t honey
• 1/2 c hot water
• Himalayan or sea salt

Now this is a delicious, simple and tasty treat. An old favorite from distantly remembered escapades in S.E. Asia where banana pancakes are a backpackers delight.

Serves 2

• 2 very ripe bananas
• 2 T coconut oil
• whipped cream
• lime zest

I recently posted about the benefits of miso soup in cases of radiation poisoning. Miso soup is easy to make and is extra beneficial when made with the Japanese stock dashi because of the kelp (kombu) that is used when making that stock. More information on how to detoxify radiation poisoning and other toxic conditions here.

Variations of dashi can be made with only kombu or with an addition of shittake mushrooms. Kombu dashi has a lot of iodine from the seaweed and is helpful if you are exposed to radiation. The addition of traditionally made hatcho miso to your dashi stock has quite powerful radiation detoxing abilities. But commercial miso has also been found to work as well.

The most important part of this recipe is to source some good bones, in fact the bones and the water are the only ingredients that are absolutely essential in this recipe. The more jointy the bones are the better – what we want is the connective tissues, like the ligaments and cartilage so knuckle bones, joint bones, spine bones, feet bones, rib bones…. are excellent. It is worth it to spend the money and get some grass-fed bones if possible, but at the very least get organic bones.

• 4 pounds bones, try to get joint bones or marrow bones. Pork, beef, lamb, venison, chicken…. are all fantastic bones to make a good broth with, you can also put in a whole chicken.
• 10 – 12 c filtered water
• 1 T apple cider vinegar
• small handful black peppercorns
• small handful coriander seeds, optional
• 3-5 bay leaves, optional
• 1 stick cinnamon, optional
• 1 handful star anise, optional
• 1 T whole cloves, optional
• 2 inches fresh ginger, optional
• 2 leafs kombu (kelp), optional

To celebrate the launching of our new design we had a lovely dinner. This was the appetizer and has an incredible mouth-feel with the carmelized eggplant, goats cheese and pine nuts.

Serves 4

• 3 small eggplants
• 1 head bibb lettuce
• local goats cheese
• pine nuts
• coconut oil
• pomegranate vinegar, or honey kombucha vinegar
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper

A couple months ago I did a post called GAPS/SCD Recipe Roundup. My idea was to do it once a month every full moon. I discovered in the process it is best to do a bloghop once a week on a regular basis, so this has resulted in Grain-Free Tuesdays. I have discovered there are lots of excellent recipe bloghops focusing on Real Food and various other topics, but I as I am on the GAPS diet, I am particularly interested in the grain-free recipes. I have discovered more and more people going grain-free, either with a Paleo diet or perhaps they are on the Body Ecology Diet or the SCD (specific carbohydrate diet). More people are going grain-free as they realize that gluten-free isn’t quite doing the trick for them. There is a huge demand for nutritional information, experiences and recipes for folks on the GAPS diet or who are simply grain-free, and I myself am eager to hear of other tasty grain-free recipes and the amazing and creative ways that people have discovered for cooking grain-free.

A few years ago I was the Executive Chef for The Strand, a boutique historical hotel in Yangon Myanmar (Rangoon, Burma). I had a great time reworking the menu to use local produce and really got to know the markets of Rangoon. This was one of our favorite appetizers–it even got written up in Conde Naste along with my Passion-Glazed Pork chops! Crispy but light, these coconut encrusted prawns go perfectly with juicy honey mandarins and mixed garden greens. The Champagne Vinagrette adds the perfect complement with a light tang. Your amounts will depend on how many you are serving, but these are tasty so plan to make extra, they will go fast.

This is a very simple recipe that I made one day while making kimchi, I had left over diakon and carrots. This is really delicious, fresh and crisp. A living food full of enzymes and probiotics.

• 3 medium organic carrots, julienne
• 1 medium diakon radish, julienne
• 1-2″ ginger, grated or pounded
• 1 T salt or 3 T whey
• filtered water to cover