Have a Very SCD Christmas (With RECIPES!)

The Christmas holiday is quickly approaching. Do you have your meals planned out? Are you ready for the barrage of food questions from your loving family? If not, this post has you covered.

Sometimes, we have very special guests on the blog that write amazing posts for us to share with you. Today is such an instance. Jaime, from Healthline.com, wanted to contribute a Christmas recipe post to help all of us create a holiday feast that’s going to make us feel good. And what better way to celebrate than feeling amazing. I want to thank Jaime for contributing this post and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

[Enter Jaime]

The holiday season is upon us and that means one thing — food, lots of food, and possibly a little anxiety. Everything from workplace potlucks to dinners with friends and family to cocktail hours guarantees that there will be platters served and encouragement to eat. And platters alone can leave anyone on a special diet feeling a little anxious.

Who wants to stand out as “the person who didn’t eat anything”? It’s totally understandable. Have a sensitive host and are afraid of insulting them by not eating a thing? We’ve all been there.

Jumping ship from the diet from time to time is okay for some people, especially those who know what their trigger foods are. But if you are new to the SCD diet, it’s completely understandable if you are not ready to deviate.

Here’s the thing: just because you are keeping yourself healthy by being on a “diet” it doesn’t mean you need to be bummed out. Don’t think of it like a diet, but as a healthier lifestyle that will still enable you to indulge while at these events. You may have to provide your own spreads, but during these occasions sharing is caring, and that also means you can still have a very SCD Christmas, holiday party, cocktail hour, whatever you want to call it, and it is guaranteed to be delicious!

We now present you with some great recipes to get you on your way to having a very SCD Christmas.

Who Needs Single Recipes? Let’s Lay Out an Entire Christmas Spread!

SCD Friendly Starters — The meal before, the BIG meal

The Cheese Ball (with or without nuts) — A classic holiday party appetizer, served with veggie sticks, almond crackers, or homemade SCD-friendly crostini bread.

Wolfgang Puck’s Butternut Squash Soup — A recipe so delicious you’ll want to save more for yourself than your guests (Note: You will have to substitute cream with SCD friendly yogurt or coconut milk.)

Buffalo Wings — The perfect finger food, football-watching snack, and an all-around easy app to prepare and make guests happy. Of course, no buffalo wing recipe would be complete without a blue cheese dip recipe to compliment it.

Quickie Tuna Salad or Chicken Salad — One of the great delights about finger foods is that you can (drum roll please) eat them with your fingers! Tuna fish and chicken salad go great on many things, and one way you can make them even more SCD friendly is to place a dollop on a cucumber slice.  Here is a link for the chicken salad recipe and don’t worry about the mayo, we got you covered with this great SCD friendly home-made mayo recipe that can be used for a multitude of things.

SCD Friendly Side — Perfect to bring to a friend’s house or serve at your own

Broiled Asparagus — Takes about 10-15 minutes to make and is sure to please. While prepping your asparagus, remember to turn your broiler on and leave the oven door cracked open. Once the asparagus ends are chopped off, and the stalks are clean and patted dry, all that’s left is to season (whatever you want) and drizzle with olive oil. Place broiler sheet into the oven, and every few minutes rotate the stalks. Depending on how you prefer your stalks soft or crunchy will dictate how long to leave them in.

And for those of you who must have Hollandaise with your asparagus, here you go!

SCD Friendly Main Course — Make way for the BIG meal

Roasted Chicken — Always a classic, the roasted chicken is sure to please. This simple recipe will make you look like a culinary artist and be a great centerpiece to any table or spread. And guess what? It includes bacon!

Roasted Beef Ribs — The name kind of says it all. This recipe for roasted beef ribs falls under the category of keeping things simple, and that’s A-Okay!

Roast Beef — Although making a roast can be a tad bit intimidating, this recipe makes it seem effortless.

Note from Jordan: One thing to consider, the recipe calls for garlic powder because the author can tolerate it. However, you can use your own fresh roasted garlic (also pretty simple). Something else to keep in mind, roasted garlic can be used for so many other recipes. It’s a great tool to have in your cooking arsenal.

A Thanksgiving-Time Treasure Good for the Entire Year — This recipe focuses on the main staple to most traditional Thanksgiving meals, the turkey and stuffing. Plus, it’s SCD friendly!

SCD Friendly Dessert — Admit it, this is the section you were most excited to see

Berry-Topped SCD Cheesecake with Vanilla Coconut Flour Crust — This is a dessert with a long name. So, it’s easy to assume that the longer the name the better it tastes, right? Only one way to find out, make it!

Peanut Butter Cookies — Back to finger foods again. The great thing about cookies is that they look beautiful when plated, stacked, or just sitting idle on a napkin. Cookies are great. They are also perfect for a buffet spread or placing on a table for guests to munch on while enjoying coffee or tea. Here’s a funny note, these cookies are so delicious and filled with peanut buttery goodness that they get a D+ on the “nutrition scale.” ‘Tis the season to indulge, right?

As with any recipe, it can be tweaked to meet your needs. That’s one of the fantastic things about cooking. What’s the other fantastic thing about cooking, you might be wondering?

Eating! From everyone here at Living With Crohn’s Disease: Healthline, we wish you a very merry SCD Christmas!

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Jaime (pronounced Jamie is a pop-culture connoisseur, SEO obsessed, social media junkie, and blogger for healthline.com. Read more of Jaime’s work on healthline.com.