On a complicated diet? I work with a lot of individuals who end up on fairly complicated dietary protocols to address multiple health conditions at once. These diets end up being combinations of existing protocols. The most common combinations I see are Paleo-AIP-SIBO (autoimmune protocol and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), or some variation of Paleo- AIP that includes going low-histamine. SIBO can also trigger histamine issues.
More recently I discovered that both my oldest son, and I have high histamine levels, so I’ve been experimenting more in the kitchen with Paleo, AIP, and low-histamine treats. Once we started eating this way, I quickly realized that we still needed a few things that we could consider a treat to make this protocol sustainable for us. Finding new treat ideas, when your ingredient list is limited is always a challenge. I’ve come up with a few things that my son and I enjoy, and I hope you will too! Keep in mind that histamines are tricky. There are foods that some people tolerate on a low-histamine protocol, but that others don’t tolerate due to other food substrates. If you aren’t sure how you tolerate some of these ingredients, then start small and just have a bite or two. Always freeze leftovers, to prevent the formation of histamines.
I started with baking. Cassava flour is well tolerated by most people on an AIP diet, and it is low-histamine, so this is what I used . It would not be suitable for someone with SIBO/IBS, or if you are using a GAPS or SCD protocol.
CARROT MUFFINS
Still warm from the oven.
1 cup cassava flour
½ cup arrowroot or tapioca starch
3 Tbsp coconut flour
1 ½ tsp baking soda (aluminum free)
¼ tsp Himalayan or sea salt
½ tsp ascorbic acid (I open capsules of AOR Vitamin C)
¼ cup full-fat coconut milk (Natural Value)
½ apple
1/3 cup honey
½ cup melted coconut oil or MCT oil
¾ cup finely grated carrots
2 gelatin eggs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use silicon muffin liners or grease the muffin tins with coconut oil. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In a blender, puree the coconut milk with the apple, honey, and cooled coconut oil.
Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir until well combined. Mix in the grated carrot. Make your gelatin eggs and add them to the mixture.
Fill muffin trays 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool and serve. Put any muffins you don’t eat into the freezer. I like to pop a frozen muffin into my microwave for 30 second to thaw. I find they are quite dry when left to thaw on their own.
AIP DINNER ROLLS
This recipe comes from AIP guru Sarah Ballantyne. She uses plantains in this recipe, but it’s hard to find organic plantains in Calgary, so I used sweet potato instead, and they rolls come out great! These are great with soup or stews, and I’ve also added them to brunches. For brunch I mix 1 Tbsp honey with 1 Tbsp coconut butter, and then spread 1 tsp inside each roll to make a sweet bun. OH YUM! You’ll want to try this recipe!
SWEET POTATO ICE CREAM
You don’t have to give up ice cream!
When I steam sweet potatoes in my Instant Pot, I cube the leftovers and put them in the freezer. Here’s a great use for those leftovers. My husband has been asking me to make more!
2 cups cubed, frozen sweet potato
1 can full-fat coconut milk (Natural Value)
1 Tbsp alcohol-free vanilla
1/3 – ½ cup honey (depending on how sweet you want it)
Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until it forms a creamy consistency. Pour the mixture into a bread pan, and place in the freezer for about 4 hours. Scoop and eat!
BLUEBERRY CREAM POPSICLES
Try these with other low-histamine fruits like cherries, or peaches.
Popsicles are lovely to have on a hot day (which we will hopefully have soon). This recipe makes about 6 popsicles, but it will depend on the size of your molds.
1 cup full-fat coconut milk
1 cup frozen blueberries
optional: add a bit of honey or your favourite sweetener
Blend the ingredients in a high speed blender. Pour into molds and freeze for at least 4 hours. I put a few whole blueberries into the mix at the end for an interesting texture. Try this with other low-histamine fruit. Another favourite of mine is to just blend honeydew melon and pour it into molds, but that happens later in summer when we have fresh, local melons.
Just one ingredient: honeydew melon.
I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I do. Even if you don’t have any histamine related issues, all of these can be enjoyed on a Paleo, Gut Healthy diet.
Happy, Healthy Eating!
Tracey