The Autoimmune Protocol Comfort Food Cookbook: 100+ Nourishing Allergen-Free Recipes

10/23/2019

Have you been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease & missing out on all your favorite comfort foods? As a full time eco farmer with endometriosis, I am hear to share my experiences with you regarding 'The Autoimmune Protocol Comfort Food Cookbook'. In my humble opinion this is the best cookbook on the market for AIP lifestyles.

A Great Addition To My AIP Cookbook Collection

The Autoimmune Protocol Comfort Food Cookbook: 100+ Nourishing Allergen-Free Recipes by Michelle Hoover, NTP

I've been following an AIP diet (thank you Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, PHD) for several years now for endometriosis. I have several AIP cookbooks that I use regularly & love. When I saw this book, I jumped on the chance to try it out. AIP comfort foods!?! I'm so in!

So far I have the following recipes:
Ketchup, Banana Bread French Toast, Veggie Tots, Plantain Chips, Chicken Shaped Biscuits, Biscuits, Gingerbread Cookies, Coffee Shop Pumpkin Scones, Glazed Doughnut Holes, Chocolate Chunk Cookies, Mint Chip Brownies, "Chocolate" Birthday Cupcakes With Pomegranate Frosting, Summer Berry Crisp.

Here is my take so far:

Ketchup:
Has a bit of a bite. I'm thinking a little less garlic next time. By the way, I own my own organic farm that I work full time, the garlic I use, I grow myself. No garlic from China here! If you can, I strongly recommend growing your own garlic. It's not hard, I promise. Back to the ketchup, the recipe makes a very generous amount. It was enough to completely fill a pint sized mason jar. Also, she called for canned pears in water. I used fresh organic pears that I simply cooked in a pot on very low heat covered until tender.

Banana Bread French Toast:
Note: 2 day recipe. Prep the bread first, let it sit overnight, then use the next day for french toast. This makes a very dense little loaf of "bread". I like to slice it up & store it in the freezer so I can grab a slice to thaw when desired. It's great with a hot cuppa tea.

Veggie Tots:
I doubled the batch of these, they do take a bit of time, but it is so worth it. They are fantastic. Maybe next time I'll do a quadruple batch & freeze half.

Plantain Chips:
These are super easy to make & taste amazing, but they need to be sliced much thinner than what the recipe calls for otherwise you'll end up with chips hard enough to crack your dental work.

Chicken Shaped Biscuits:
These don't look very appetizing when I make them (I don't make them in chicken shapes), but they are very tasty & go great with soup. Rather than cut them into shapes, I just flatten them out to the size I want & bake.

Biscuits:
This recipe is part of her Biscuits And Sausage Gravy recipe. Because I had yet to light the wood stove in my home, the temp was pretty chilly. My coconut milk was hard. I had to warm it. It ended up getting warmer than I wanted while still having a bit of solid oil. I added this anyway into the waiting biscuit mix. This did away with the effect of cold/hard palm shortening that would then melt into the mix while baking. The fun surprise was how wonderful these still turned out. I'm not sure what I'd call it, but the texture was somewhat chewy with excellent flavor. One doubled recipe fully fits on one baking sheet. Like the Veggie Tots, it just makes sense & saves a bit of time to double up if you have a family to feed or if you want leftovers to freeze, etc.

Gingerbread Cookies:
I make these in double batches during Yuletide. I shape them more like snaps rather than cut them into gingerbread men. They are delicious. They also store well in the freezer.

Coffee Shop Pumpkin Scones:
I make these the week of Thanksgiving. They are a tasty morning treat with a hot cuppa tea. They are soft, not hard with good pumpkin flavor. They are not a favorite, but are perfect for when I'm wanting "fall" flavors. Unlike many of the recipes in this book, I don't feel there is a need to double this.

Glazed "Chocolate" Doughnut Holes:
These were much quicker & easier to make than anticipated. They taste amazing & I don't even like carob so that says a lot! Like the other recipes, I also doubled this as the recipe only makes 8 - 9 holes. These bake up beautifully with a nice hard outer shell that makes dipping them in the glaze super easy. The glaze on the other hand was initially a bit of a pain. For whatever reason, I couldn't keep the honey incorporated into the coconut butter (coconut manna) coconut oil mix. I could only dip 2 balls before having to whisk it again. It was very frustrating. For my second batch I tried maple syrup & had the same issue. On my next try I used a milk frother. This worked perfectly! Once dipped & left in the refrigerator to harden, they look just as pictured. They taste so good! AIP doughnut holes! Oh yum!

"Chocolate" Chunk Cookies:
This has got to be the best chocolate chip (ahem carob) cookie recipe I've ever had. Even my husband gobbles them up! They are super easy to make & can be chewy or crunchy depending on how long you leave them in the oven. I like to get organic Aussi brand carob chips rather than make my own as the recipe directs. Every time I make these, I make a quadruple batch. That's how much everyone loves them!

Mint Chip Brownies:
These can't truly replace ooey gooey brownies, but they are a decent substitute. After all, we aren't supposed to be eating too many sugars. I like to get an organic Aussi brand mint carob bar & chop up some of it for the mint chips. When I make these, they are all mine because I'm the only one who likes mint. This makes a 8x8" pan. The mint frosting is good, but it melts almost immediately. As a result, these must be kept refrigerated at all times. Only cut a serving when you are ready to eat it.

"Chocolate" Birthday Cupcakes With Pomegranate Frosting:
These, like the other sweet treats turned out delicious. I don't bother with the sprinkles or the pomegranate juice in the frosting. I do double the batch so I can fill a muffin pan & get a dozen yummy birthday cupcake treats.

Summer Berry Crisp:
I don't know which I like better, this incredible crisp or those amazing "chocolate" chip cookies. For the crisp, I use whatever berries I have on hand. In the winter, I will use frozen. My favorite combination is strawberry, cherry, & blueberry. Everything about this is amazing. The topping is perfection, the cooked berries are naturally sweet. It is so darn good. I don't even bother with the coconut cream topping!

Other AIP cookbooks I use & love are:

The Paleo Approach Cookbook: A Detailed Guide to Heal Your Body and Nourish Your Soul
The Healing Kitchen: 175+ Quick & Easy Paleo Recipes to Help You Thrive
Paleo Principles: The Science Behind the Paleo Template, Step-by-Step Guides, Meal Plans, and 200+ Healthy & Delicious Recipes for Real Life (this book isn't strictly AIP, but it breaks everything down & includes information on Low FODMAPs)

If you are wanting to learn about AIP I recommend:

The Paleo Approach: Reverse Autoimmune Disease and Heal Your Body

I also want to mention low FODMAPs. Aside from the misery of having an autoimmune disease I also need to follow a low FODMAPs diet. I've been following a low FODMAPs diet for longer than I have an AIP diet.

Many AIP recipes contain high FODMAPs ingredients which can be a problem for a lot of us. I have found a few ways around some ingredients. For example, garlic. Rather than use fresh garlic, use garlic infused oil. How about onion? You can use green onions (green tops only). What about onion powder? I grow my own organic green onions. I go crazy in the fall harvesting & drying as much of their green tops as I can while leaving the plants in the soil to over winter. I then use a coffee grinder to make the green dried onion tops into onion powder. It works great. Some ingredients you can get away with omitting or finding a substitute. Granted this doesn't always work as well as the correct ingredient, but you gotta do what you gotta do right?

A low FODMAPs diet isn't forever. Eventually you challenge yourself to see what you can tolerate. Sure, some foods your body may never be okay with, but you might be able to enjoy others again. Eating what our bodies need to thrive is so important for healing. It's tough but try to focus on what you can have rather than what you can't. For example, I will use fresh garlic or my own homegrown homemade garlic powder. What I don't do is consume copious amounts of garlic & I still enjoy infusing my oils with garlic. However, I still don't use onions, only green onions for me! I do my best to work with what agrees with my body.

Last, when you are craving comfort foods, whip out this mouthwatering cookbook & get cooking!

The Autoimmune Protocol Comfort Food Cookbook: 100+ Nourishing Allergen-Free Recipes

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