Butternut Squash Dessert Pudding! GF, V, SCD, BED, Paleo!

Hey Happy Tummies!

Four more sleeps until Thanksgiving!!! Wooo!

I am so excited. I've been dreaming up the Vegan/Paleo/SCD dishes I'll be making.

For the first time ever, I think it's going to be a completely gluten free thanksgiving, as the majority of my family that will be there are GF! So there will be lots to share:)

Alsooo, it's my niece's first Thanksgiving!! Lots to be thankful for:)

So today, I'm sharing a recipe that I literally cannot live without. I eat this probably 3 times a week and I'm not even joking. It is THAT good!

I've shared this recipe a long time ago, but the photo was...well...less than beautiful. Sooo, I've updated the pic and decided to share it because it would be a PERFECT side dish for thanksgiving!

What is it?

BUTTERNUT SQUASH PUDDING!

Gluten free, vegan, SCD, BED, Paleo and 100% delicious.

I like to put it in the freezer for an hour before I eat it and it is literally like ice cream. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

This recipe has actually been a life saver for me. Lots of people ask me, after learning about my diet, "how do you stay sane? How do you do it?!" Well friends, this pudding is the answer. Being on the SCD, it's true: you can get into the mindset of feeling deprived if you dwell on all the things you CANNOT eat. But, I've found if you can find even just one thing that you REALLY enjoy, and can look forward to, you're fine. So maybe I look forward to butternut squash instead of chocolate or Reeces peanut butter cups...big whoop. It's my favorite food and helps me remain faithful to the SCD. :)

The way this recipe came to be is actually a funny story. So if you've been following my blog, you may know that I used to LOVE a recipe that was very similar to this, but made with carrots. (see below)

It was my saving grace during the Body Ecology Diet. And I pretty much ate it every other day-I'm telling you, it was that good. Well friends, I literally turned orange from eating so many carrots! It's not an urban legend, you really do turn orange!! Look how orange I was at Christmas last year!!

So my brother, being a doctor, was like, Care, you're getting a toxic dose of Vitamin A and it could be doing damage to your eyes.

Sooo, I did some research, and found that butternut squash has a lot less beta carotene (what turns into Vit A) than carrots. So, the substitution was officially made. And to be honest, I don't eat carrots anymore. Because even if I have a few baby carrots, that orange color comes back to my hands and face. The human body is crazy, huh?

So without further ado, here's my favorite food!

Here’s what you need:
1 small butternut squash: halved and roasted (or diced and steamed)
1/4 cup raw cashews
2 dropper-fulls of alcohol free, pure liquid stevia (SCD use 2 tsp honey, or more to taste)
2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
tiny pinch of sea salt

You have 2 options to prepare your squash.

Either A) Peel your squash and dice it into small cubes. In a steamer basket, steam for about 20 minutes until tender. Then, let it cool, and wring out all the excess liquid with a clean kitchen towel or paper towels. This is how I make it.

OR B) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Carefully cut your butternut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Line a baking sheet with tin-foil and spray with olive oil. Spray or rub the cut-side of the halves with olive oil, and roast cut-side-down for 40 minutes.Let them cool for several minutes, and then scoop out the flesh.

Combine the flesh in the food processor with the rest of the ingredients. Process for 2 minutes, until creamy and smooth, scraping the sides twice. Enjoy warm, or chilled in the freezer for an hour.

Oh. My. Gosh. This is sheer decadence. It is buttery smooth and down-right amazing! It seriously tastes like pumpkin pie! My parents tasted it and couldn’t believe that there wasn’t cream or butter in it!

The flavor is straight out of a Thanksgiving Yankee Candle – ok, that maybe doesn’t sound too appetizing, but the flavor brought me back to the Thanksgiving table, eating pumpkin pie with my family. The cinnamon, nutmeg and clove give it such a warm spiciness, that just travels through your senses and warms your soul. Ok, maybe a little dramatic, but it is just SO remarkable.

Finally, the texture is just rich and luxuriously creamy. I particularly enjoy it semi-frozen. It's seriously like ice cream:)

And to make it extra special for Thanksgiving, I'm going to toast a few pecans with cinnamon and honey, and sprinkle those on top:)

How's your Thanksgiving prep going?