Well this has been a busy and exciting week for us with GAPS. I feel the need to document a bit more this week, so I don't forget.
Menu/Protocol:
We are continuing to eat the same basics - the soups, vegetables, meats, fats that the girls like. I made a big batch of onion soup and a big batch of carrot ginger soup which have lasted us the week. We also ate peas, squash and some casserole-type meals this week. We tried the Taco Salad Casserole from Health, Home and Happiness.
I made an effort to drink more broth in addition to my soups and also offered some to the girls. Some times they actually drank it!
We upped our intake of fermented foods/juices and continue to try to maximize what we like. I really think the girls are doing well with GAPS, considering they are so young. But they are motivated to get to eat some other foods, so they want their bodies to heal and grow!
Detox baths continued as planned.
New Foods:
We introduced pumpkin seeds, fresh basil and parsley, cod liver oil, and freshly juiced carrot in small quantities. We introduced a small amount of egg white for N only, as L had a bit of a rash on the patch test we did on her arm overnight. It was very small, but I'm erring on the side of caution. We also baked our first farmer's market chicken with ghee and herbs rubbed under the skin and we all enjoyed it - even N who usually wants her chicken dry! :)
Reactions:
Everyone seems well this week. N has a small patch of eczema on the back edge of her knee. L sometimes has things that come and go. I've had a few headaches and some cranky moments. Overall, I think everyone's digestion has been fine, which I am taking as a sign that we can continue moving onward!
Other Thoughts
I started reading a bit more about the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, on which GAPS is based. There is some very interesting information there. I want to read the book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle to learn more. The author devoted her life to researching this - 40+ years - and it seems well worth the read.
Some items of interest - bifidus is not used on SCD as many with strong bowel issues don't tolerate it well. Nuts, seeds and beans are considered very advanced foods, so are to be used cautiously. What else? Oh, fats - big difference here - not so many fats. More focus on getting out the starches that feed pathogens and on eating easily digested foods, fat for many with IBD/IBS/SIBO (look them up if you want) seem to be problematic at the beginning.
In summary:
Happy with the week and hopeful that egg whites sit well with N. Perhaps we will try with L at some point in a few weeks.
All the ghee and leaf lard is gone and duck fat is almost gone. Farmer's market tomorrow to resupply!
Coming up:
For the rest of this stage we will continue to increase fresh juice, introduce olive oil and our new probiotic when it gets here. Looking forward to it!
Friday, June 29, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
30 Days on GAPS Intro - Recap
This past Saturday was my 30th day on the GAPS diet. It is hard to believe it has been an entire month already on this diet - time goes quickly. Although I can't say it has been an easy month, it honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I have just had to spend A LOT more time in the kitchen cooking and washing dishes than I did before and meal planning for the next day or days has been esstential. Just like transitioning to a gluten free diet, all special diets just take practice to master. I remember being so overwhelmed at first with the idea of eliminating gluten because it seemed to be everywhere (a reality, actually) and in every one of my go-to meals and favorite cook book recipes. This diet has been even more challenging in that initially you are eliminating much more than just gluten, but also more simple in some ways since following such a limited diet narrows down your choices for meal options. Estentially, you always know what your next meal will be - soup! Just like the GF diet, as more time goes on it will continue to get easier.
Over all I am feeling pretty well. I have not had any headaches recently, but still getting cramps in my calves - I woke up the other night standing on the floor beside my bed with my foot flat trying to prevent a charlie horse. Luckily my body moved faster than my brain did! I have noticed that my sweat smells a little funky and apparently so does my breath. I have had some nausea as well - mainly due to introducing food way too quickly and in too large a quanity. I have been introducing things like nut flour bread, larger quanities of fermented vegetables, cooked greens, eggs, avocado, fresh herbs, and olive oil. I have also tried lard, honey (organic, raw, somewhat local) and a little butternut squash. None of these items have really been sucessful. Lard, I have discovered, makes me nauseous. I tried it on my nut flour bread and felt sick for over 12 hours. I related the sick feeling to the bread and made some cauliflower mashed 'potatoes' with some lard and felt sick after eating them. So no more lard. Honey, I can eat in about a 1/4-1/2 teaspoon quanity. I was a little over zealous and had about 1 tablespoon of honey in one sitting which led to some sugar induced asthma just like the old days. I was really hoping to be able to eat honey... maybe after a few more months of broth drinking...
I have also found that both honey and nuts trigger me to want more food even if I am full - it is the same insatiable feeling that I use to get all the time prior to doing this diet. I imagine as I add more foods back in I will find others that do the same thing.
One thing I haven't introduced yet is fresh juice. The book recommends starting with a few tablespoons of carrot juice (carrots are tough for me) and moving on to lettuce, mint and celery. I also don't have a juicer so that has been another reason I haven't tried it yet.
But so far, so good, and I am excited to see how it continues.
Over all I am feeling pretty well. I have not had any headaches recently, but still getting cramps in my calves - I woke up the other night standing on the floor beside my bed with my foot flat trying to prevent a charlie horse. Luckily my body moved faster than my brain did! I have noticed that my sweat smells a little funky and apparently so does my breath. I have had some nausea as well - mainly due to introducing food way too quickly and in too large a quanity. I have been introducing things like nut flour bread, larger quanities of fermented vegetables, cooked greens, eggs, avocado, fresh herbs, and olive oil. I have also tried lard, honey (organic, raw, somewhat local) and a little butternut squash. None of these items have really been sucessful. Lard, I have discovered, makes me nauseous. I tried it on my nut flour bread and felt sick for over 12 hours. I related the sick feeling to the bread and made some cauliflower mashed 'potatoes' with some lard and felt sick after eating them. So no more lard. Honey, I can eat in about a 1/4-1/2 teaspoon quanity. I was a little over zealous and had about 1 tablespoon of honey in one sitting which led to some sugar induced asthma just like the old days. I was really hoping to be able to eat honey... maybe after a few more months of broth drinking...
I have also found that both honey and nuts trigger me to want more food even if I am full - it is the same insatiable feeling that I use to get all the time prior to doing this diet. I imagine as I add more foods back in I will find others that do the same thing.
One thing I haven't introduced yet is fresh juice. The book recommends starting with a few tablespoons of carrot juice (carrots are tough for me) and moving on to lettuce, mint and celery. I also don't have a juicer so that has been another reason I haven't tried it yet.
But so far, so good, and I am excited to see how it continues.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Posts on Probiotics
I came across this great blog today, Elder & Sage. The writer is a Naturopathic Doctor and has also been certified as a GAPS Practitioner. I like her posts on probiotics, which I'm linking above, as well as lots of other information she provides.
Her explanation about GUTPro was very helpful as well as the details on probiotics, like Prescript Assist, that contain soil based microorganisms.
I also like how she spells her name!
Her explanation about GUTPro was very helpful as well as the details on probiotics, like Prescript Assist, that contain soil based microorganisms.
I also like how she spells her name!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
MMR Vaccine Debate After Award Over Child with Autism
I'm not trying to start a debate about vaccination. I simply strongly believe that all parents need to thoroughly and independently review the information about vaccines - not just what is provided at the doctor's office but a complete review - before making the choice that is right for their family.
Information on vaccines can be obtained from the CDC, NVIC.org, and many books and journal articles. I especially liked Aviva Jill Romm's book Vaccinations a Thoughtful Parents Guide.
Here is a link to an article about a court case in Italy ruling in favor of the parents of an autistic child who suffered vaccine damage resulting in autism after receiving the MMR vaccine. It also highlights information about the GAPS protocol.
Information on vaccines can be obtained from the CDC, NVIC.org, and many books and journal articles. I especially liked Aviva Jill Romm's book Vaccinations a Thoughtful Parents Guide.
Here is a link to an article about a court case in Italy ruling in favor of the parents of an autistic child who suffered vaccine damage resulting in autism after receiving the MMR vaccine. It also highlights information about the GAPS protocol.
Monday, June 25, 2012
GAPS Intro Diet - Stage 3 (Days 13 - 20)
Wow- our time on the "deep healing" (as we call it) is flying by! Things overall are going very well and we could be moving more quickly, but we have so much to introduce because of all the foods we've been avoiding in the last two years that it seems to make sense to take it slowly and allow for deeper healing to unfold.
Menu/Protocol:
This past week, we continued to eat soups with egg yolks at least twice a day, with more casseroles or crock pot stews for dinners. The girls love drinking ferment juices and eating the vegetables, so that is easy and always a part of each of our meals and are also good snacks. They invented pickle sticks this week, which is a pickle speared on on a chopstick - good to have fun with food!
Soups the girls really liked this week - slow cooker onion, ginger carrot and butternut squash. Soups not liked - cauliflower meatball - made with too much beef tallow!
We missed a few detox baths but chose sleep over baths, so I am ok with that!
New Foods:
We introduced beef products - tallow, broth, marrow (uh-huh) and meat. sunflower seeds, artichokes and fresh avocado as well as tried N's fermented diakon radish this week. Yes, my girl made her very first ferment all by herself - just followed my directions. She loved it!
Neither of the girls were too sold on the tallow or the way I prepared the ground beef, but at least it has been introduced with no reactions. They both ate soups with the beef broth and I made squash, yolk, herb and marrow (surprise ingredient!) pancakes that they gobbled up.
I made a sunflower seed cake - recipe to follow - that they loved and have asked to have as their birthday cakes! It is an intro friendly recipe with zero sweetener.
They were happy to see avocado mixed in with peas Sunday morning - L's favorite breakfast. Of course the peas now come with ghee and egg yolk but still.
Reactions:
Everyone seemed well this week, though something irritated L's face at dinner Sunday night (sauerkraut, lemon juice or tomato sauce?) so I'll have to figure that out.
I think the fermented radish was really powerful because N and I tried it, liked it, and ate a few slices and then our stomachs hurt at bit. Go slowly with this one!
Sometimes after eating I felt v e r y tired and I would lay down and it passed. I think I can attribute it to the ghee, but not 100% sure. I have also been sleeping better at night which is great.
Both girls are still enjoying hearty appetites and loving the new fats in our diets, as well as the meats. We might not be quite ready for sunflower seeds in quantity, but it was a treat to enjoy them again.
Other Thoughts:
After last week, I decided I will drink the broth and if the girls want some it will be provided (modeling!). In fact, L drank half of mine the other night at dinner! I will make soup and casseroles the girls like and they will get broth that way.
I decided after some deep reflection that I need to continue to honor the attachment parenting principle of "Feeding with Love and Respect" at our house and decided to focus on the phrase "the more animal fats your patient consumes the more quickly he or she will recover," so liberality add fat to their foods and encourage them to add more as they wish.
To me food and the way we prepare it and feed it to our families and friends is a gesture of love. In my concerns for my children's health I was finding that I was not also showing love through my behavior. No one wants to be cajoled, bribed or otherwise "made" to eat something. I just need to trust that their bodies will open to the healing foods (broth in particular) and they will take in what is right for them. Meal times need to be about connection.
I realize that other families do need to handle this differently because their child's health is in crisis and my heart goes out to those who are walking that challenging path.
In summary:
It was a good week for us. I am happy to be moving through intro and successfully introducing lots of new foods. It is very freeing!
I made a new soup every day and tried to keep the fridge stocked and ready. Meal planning is important to say the least.
We also restocked our soaked and dehydrated seeds, broth/stock supply and C made two new batches of his famously delish ginger carrot sticks. I decanted our first kraut into the fridge for long term curing - tasting to start Aug 7! We are going to have to keep a fermentation calendar.
Rendered leaf lard, beef fat and made ghee this week. Got a new order of duck fat, which is my favorite because it is already ready to eat when you get it!
Coming up:
This week we will try fish oil, egg whites - this one is really touchy for us, fresh, uncooked herbs, pumpkin seeds, olive oil and we get to start juicing! And yes - we can finally roast one of those expensive farmer's market chickens and see if they are juicy. Kimchi is on the list for this upcoming week's ferment recipe and mayo too! I am ordering this probiotic as we wanted to avoid all fillers and we'll start that as soon as we get it. At some point, we may transition to Prescript Assist.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Preparing for GAPS - Essentials for Intro
Preparing for the GAPS diet took a lot of time - mainly searching the Internet, researching products, and rereading blog posts over and over again trying to figure out what to eat and what I needed to buy.
Here are some of the things that made the first 30 days of GAPS a little bit easier-
Kitchen essentials:
Immersion Blender - when all you are eating is soup every meal this thing is a big time saver. I also use it to blend chicken 'pate' to be added into soups later.
Crock Pot - in my opinion (and for the hot summer months) the crock pot is the best for making stocks, roasting chickens, other types of meats and vegetables without heating up the house. A big bonus is that unlike the stove, you can leave it on when you are out of the house.
Cast Iron Enameled Skillet - no non-stick pans should live in your kitchen anymore... this company is suppose to be great and is also very cost efficient.
Stock Pot - Used for making enormous quantities of soup at one time or for stock.
Mason Jars - I use the quart size for freezing soup and stock and have pint size for future yogurt making.
Food Processor - I use it for slicing vegetables when you are making bulk soup or ferments, grinding soaked/dehydrated nuts into flour and making frozen banana ice cream (eventually!)
Pickl-it - Great for making raw lacto-fermented vegetables. You can also make kefir water, yogurt, and many other things you wouldn't even think of like spiced eggs, relishes, salsa, hot sauce, the list goes on... read the benefits here
Food Dehydrator - I have used it to dehydrate nuts and will use it in the future for kale and zucchini chips, sun dried tomatoes, dried fruit, beef jerky, and homemade yogurt... oh and maybe cookies too.
Thermoses - Don't even fool yourself into thinking there is any food you can eat that was prepared outside of your house while on the intro diet. Thermoses are a must for transporting soups to work especially since food can not be microwaved. When prepped properly and filled with very hot food, I have had these keep soup warm for 8-10 hours.
Teakettle - I bought this cheerful red one - good for boiling water to heat thermoses and making tea obviously!
Strainer - For the gallons of broth you will be straining.
Sharp knives - If you don't have good knives now, get one and keep it sharp, you'll be using it a lot and you don't want to end up butchering your fingers like I did. These are the ones I have and they are very nice.
Juicer/Vitamix - I haven't purchased one of these yet, but juicing is big part of intro and the ongoing diet.
Other GAPS diet essentials:
- Shower filter - You don't want to take your 'detox' baths in a pool full of chlorine do you?
- Epsom Salt/Baking Soda/Apple Cider Vinegar - can be used in rotation for your detox baths
- Peppermint oil - since over the counter pain killers aren't really allowed on this diet, you'll need
something to combat those detox headaches. A little peppermint oil works amazingly well.
- Magnesium flakes - for making magnesium oil or for adding to the bath.
- Hand Sanitizer - I live in NYC so this is a necessity, especially since the chemical based alcohol ones are not suppose to be used.
Supplements:
Fermented Cod Liver Oil - This brand is suppose to be the best. Read more about FCLO here.
Probiotics - Biokult is recommeded, but I am sure there are others out there that are just as good if not better.
Here are some of the things that made the first 30 days of GAPS a little bit easier-
Kitchen essentials:
Immersion Blender - when all you are eating is soup every meal this thing is a big time saver. I also use it to blend chicken 'pate' to be added into soups later.
Crock Pot - in my opinion (and for the hot summer months) the crock pot is the best for making stocks, roasting chickens, other types of meats and vegetables without heating up the house. A big bonus is that unlike the stove, you can leave it on when you are out of the house.
Cast Iron Enameled Skillet - no non-stick pans should live in your kitchen anymore... this company is suppose to be great and is also very cost efficient.
Stock Pot - Used for making enormous quantities of soup at one time or for stock.
Mason Jars - I use the quart size for freezing soup and stock and have pint size for future yogurt making.
Food Processor - I use it for slicing vegetables when you are making bulk soup or ferments, grinding soaked/dehydrated nuts into flour and making frozen banana ice cream (eventually!)
Pickl-it - Great for making raw lacto-fermented vegetables. You can also make kefir water, yogurt, and many other things you wouldn't even think of like spiced eggs, relishes, salsa, hot sauce, the list goes on... read the benefits here
Food Dehydrator - I have used it to dehydrate nuts and will use it in the future for kale and zucchini chips, sun dried tomatoes, dried fruit, beef jerky, and homemade yogurt... oh and maybe cookies too.
Thermoses - Don't even fool yourself into thinking there is any food you can eat that was prepared outside of your house while on the intro diet. Thermoses are a must for transporting soups to work especially since food can not be microwaved. When prepped properly and filled with very hot food, I have had these keep soup warm for 8-10 hours.
Teakettle - I bought this cheerful red one - good for boiling water to heat thermoses and making tea obviously!
Strainer - For the gallons of broth you will be straining.
Sharp knives - If you don't have good knives now, get one and keep it sharp, you'll be using it a lot and you don't want to end up butchering your fingers like I did. These are the ones I have and they are very nice.
Juicer/Vitamix - I haven't purchased one of these yet, but juicing is big part of intro and the ongoing diet.
Other GAPS diet essentials:
- Shower filter - You don't want to take your 'detox' baths in a pool full of chlorine do you?
- Epsom Salt/Baking Soda/Apple Cider Vinegar - can be used in rotation for your detox baths
- Peppermint oil - since over the counter pain killers aren't really allowed on this diet, you'll need
something to combat those detox headaches. A little peppermint oil works amazingly well.
- Magnesium flakes - for making magnesium oil or for adding to the bath.
- Hand Sanitizer - I live in NYC so this is a necessity, especially since the chemical based alcohol ones are not suppose to be used.
Supplements:
Fermented Cod Liver Oil - This brand is suppose to be the best. Read more about FCLO here.
Probiotics - Biokult is recommeded, but I am sure there are others out there that are just as good if not better.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Egg Yolks!
Welcome to a beautiful golden summer! We celebrated solstice yesterday with a lovely suncake made with ground sunflower seeds (soaked and dehydrated), butternut squash and egg yolks. N and L scraped their plates!
Which brings me to eggs....so right now I should be playing, cleaning, fermenting or rendering (but at least some soup is made, so is dinner and the pumpkin and sunflower seeds are soaking!), but I'm going to post a brief note about our consumption of egg yolks this week. We, a family of four, are on track to easily consume 5 dozen eggs (mostly in the yolk format), this week. The girls and I are eating 2-3 yolks each per day. We are making up for lost time with eggs!
I came across this great analysis of egg yolks versus the whites - look at how much better the yolks are for you! At this point I don't even worry if we can someday eat the whites. So happy to have all the golden goodness - yum!
Which brings me to eggs....so right now I should be playing, cleaning, fermenting or rendering (but at least some soup is made, so is dinner and the pumpkin and sunflower seeds are soaking!), but I'm going to post a brief note about our consumption of egg yolks this week. We, a family of four, are on track to easily consume 5 dozen eggs (mostly in the yolk format), this week. The girls and I are eating 2-3 yolks each per day. We are making up for lost time with eggs!
I came across this great analysis of egg yolks versus the whites - look at how much better the yolks are for you! At this point I don't even worry if we can someday eat the whites. So happy to have all the golden goodness - yum!
Monday, June 18, 2012
GAPS Intro Diet - Day 25 (Stage 4)
This weekend was a busy weekend. I felt like I spent a lot and I mean A LOT of time in the kitchen cooking and cleaning up (K I can only imagine!). I was able to make some tomato soup, pepper and tomato soup, and some more zucchini soup. I cooked a chicken for the beginning of the week, got the kirby cucumbers in the jar to start fermenting and made magnesium oil. Magnesium is a mineral that many people are deficient in due to conventional farming. It is pretty easy to make with just a cup of magnesium flaks and a cup of boiling water. Once it is cooled it goes in a spray bottle and you can spray it on yourself and absorb it transdermally so I started with it yesterday. It is suppose to have a calming/stress reducing effect as well. I should spray some on Alex!
I also started making lard with my pork back fat. It turns out that what I thought was going to be a two hour process in the oven has turned into a 7 hour process over two days and it is not done yet. It is pretty easy to do too - chop up the back fat into little pieces (in hindsight I would have used my food processor which probably would have saved me some oven time), put it in the oven at 200 degrees with a little water until the fat melts and the crispy bits separate from the fat. My fat hasn't even totally melted yet.... but hopefully tomorrow.
I also moved on to Stage 4 by adding in cold pressed olive oil - I made a fresh basil, garlic, olive oil 'pesto' and put that on the chicken which was pretty good. Soon I get to make 'bread' made out of nut flour too - very exciting.
Stage 4 includes:
- Roasted/grilled meats with cooked or fermented vegetables
- Cold pressed olive oil
- Freshly pressed juices, starting with a few spoonfuls of carrot juice
- Bread made from nut flour, eggs, squash, fat, and salt.
I am not sure what I am going to do about the juices since I don't have a juicer... maybe I will break and buy the Vitamix.
I am still trying to eat soup for two meals per day and have been drinking more broth since this weekend. I cook it with some peas and onions and that makes it a little sweeter and easier to drink. Also just today my skin has totally broken out all over my chest and some on my face. Not sure if olive oil or the magnesium oil I sprayed yesterday could be the cause of that. On the bright side it narrows down my choice of outfits for work tomorrow - something high necked and nunnish :)
I also started making lard with my pork back fat. It turns out that what I thought was going to be a two hour process in the oven has turned into a 7 hour process over two days and it is not done yet. It is pretty easy to do too - chop up the back fat into little pieces (in hindsight I would have used my food processor which probably would have saved me some oven time), put it in the oven at 200 degrees with a little water until the fat melts and the crispy bits separate from the fat. My fat hasn't even totally melted yet.... but hopefully tomorrow.
I also moved on to Stage 4 by adding in cold pressed olive oil - I made a fresh basil, garlic, olive oil 'pesto' and put that on the chicken which was pretty good. Soon I get to make 'bread' made out of nut flour too - very exciting.
Stage 4 includes:
- Roasted/grilled meats with cooked or fermented vegetables
- Cold pressed olive oil
- Freshly pressed juices, starting with a few spoonfuls of carrot juice
- Bread made from nut flour, eggs, squash, fat, and salt.
I am not sure what I am going to do about the juices since I don't have a juicer... maybe I will break and buy the Vitamix.
I am still trying to eat soup for two meals per day and have been drinking more broth since this weekend. I cook it with some peas and onions and that makes it a little sweeter and easier to drink. Also just today my skin has totally broken out all over my chest and some on my face. Not sure if olive oil or the magnesium oil I sprayed yesterday could be the cause of that. On the bright side it narrows down my choice of outfits for work tomorrow - something high necked and nunnish :)
GAPS Intro Diet - Stage 2 (Days 7-12)
Following GAPS Intro is very interesting for us. We've been on an "elimination diet" of sorts for four years, much more restrictive during the last two, so I am already used to preparing most of all of our food from scratch and have been able to experiment and find foods or techniques that fill the gaps - bean flour pancakes for example. But now we are introducing foods - and not just the GAPS list - but beef, lamb and pork are new for L, she's also never had eggs or dairy in any form, and the animal fats are new to all of us in their rendered form. So it's a bit nerve-wracking after carefully avoiding to be introducing new foods - but we're doing it (carefully)!
Menu/Protocol:
This past week, we continued to eat soups at least twice a day. The soups are chicken stock based with simple vegetable combinations - like summer squash and red pepper, onion and leek, broccoli, and butternut squash. At N's request I made a chicken, onion, carrot one night. I add in extra fat to each of them. If I blend them in the Vitamix with the fat, I think they are getting homogenized because they look super creamy versus blended then adding the fat.
We also started adding some casserole recipes like butternut squash chunks baked with turkey on top. We used the slow cooker and made slow cooked rabbit with onions and pulled pork. So it was nice to start adding some variety in the form of cooking style. One can always pull the soup food out of the broth and serve it on a plate and drink the broth - which L seems to prefer.
Taking the bath each night is great for all of us. I find my 20-30 by myself-minutes in the tub really helpful for my mental health!
New Foods:
We introduced egg yolks, fermented vegetables in small amounts, pork fat, duck fat, and ghee this week, along with some new meats for our family, like rabbit and pork. New vegetable was celery root, since Emily liked it so much. I also made some coconut milk (Vitamixed dry coconut flakes with warm water and squeezed the pulp) and we tried that on Sunday. I did put cinnamon (not on Stage 2 list) in the butternut squash soup as a treat one day.
It is tricky with the new food introduction to space it out and also to go slowly with some of it. For the egg yolks on the first day, I split one between me, N and L. Now we are up to one yolk each per bowl of soup, though this morning they had yolky boiled peas.
I was afraid to try the ghee personally because I don't have time to spend 12-24 hours in very close proximity to the toilet. N encouraged me by saying, "Mama, you're going to be fine - you've been eating ALL this soup!" I loved her for that and I was fine!
A note on rabbit: At $10/pound that was just a farmer's market find and not meant to be a regular event. I well remember the herbs de Provence coasted roasted rabbit I enjoyed in southern France 12 years ago (yes - I remember foods I eat too, Em!). However, N consumed it, declared it her favorite meat and needs to know the next time she will have it! I mentioned she could chose it for her birthday dinner.
Reactions:
Eggs, vegetables and fats, including the ghee are all well tolerated (so far). I noticed that coconut oil seems to upset both girls tummies so I will not use it in their meals for a while. I really think that oil needs some food to buffer it, so perhaps in baking it will work well for us.
N got a big red rash around her mouth after the cinnamon, which she was sensitive to when she was 2. Surprise! So, we'll be careful with that. If her insides looked anything like her face, then we don't want her eating that.
I've felt fine after eating both carrots and tomatoes so, perhaps last Sunday was some die-off or a retracing of mononucleosis.
The children have been very hungry and N seems to be constantly eating. She especially loves the egg yolks and they both will literally scrape the skins of the squash after I roast and peel them.
No one seems to be experiencing any other forms of rashes, but we are all experiencing slower digestion. THAT needs to improve and I hope with the introduction of probiotic powder and perhaps some juicing it will.
Other Thoughts:
It's a challenge to get L to eat some of the foods and especially to drink the broth. N will do it, but it takes her time. I found that they love squash flavored broth, so that helps. Also L, really liked the onion soup and willingly ate and drank that.
We have to get creative to encourage them - this included a reward of a tiny market basket this week to take to market to get a favorite food to try this week - avocado! It also includes telling stories of the baby gnomes living in our bellies who help us take care of our bodies and how we are helping the baby gnomes (enterocytes) grow and get strong so they won't be bothered by the mean trolls (bad bacteria). I showed the girls the illustration in the GAPS book of the enterocyte, which looks like a funny gnome so that's how this story came about. L was explaining about gnomes inside us to our 85 year old neighbor the other day!
Constantly cajoling them to eat/drink is contrary to how I want to parent, so I decided I need to back off, not worry and find what is going to work (that's always the lesson) and I know we will.
In summary:
All in all, I am pretty happy with the week. Starting to get the hang of the process of food preparation and also realizing how we have to customize GAPS for us - even the Intro. We did not introduce fermented fish yet and will wait on egg whites a bit longer. Full dairy, since we are "sensitive," will also wait until after Intro is over.
The meals were good this week (whew!) and can I just say that ALL of the pork butter I made last Saturday is gone! I received an order of pastured duck, including duck fat, this week and - wow! - duck fat is glorious. Thankfully their is a source at our farmer's market for it because it is going to be a staple around here.
The GAPS book says, "the more animal fats your patient consumes the more quickly he or she will recover." Bring on recovery! Here's a great article on why this is and blog that gives a GAPS Fats overview.
C was happy to find that using the dishwasher on heavy wash reduces his need to scrub the fat coated jars!
Coming up:
This week we will try beef products, including tallow (that I must make today) and broth. Pastured duck is also on the menu. We'll also be trying sunflower seeds, avocado and possibly olive oil, as well as continuing to add new vegetables - like artichokes.
Menu/Protocol:
This past week, we continued to eat soups at least twice a day. The soups are chicken stock based with simple vegetable combinations - like summer squash and red pepper, onion and leek, broccoli, and butternut squash. At N's request I made a chicken, onion, carrot one night. I add in extra fat to each of them. If I blend them in the Vitamix with the fat, I think they are getting homogenized because they look super creamy versus blended then adding the fat.
We also started adding some casserole recipes like butternut squash chunks baked with turkey on top. We used the slow cooker and made slow cooked rabbit with onions and pulled pork. So it was nice to start adding some variety in the form of cooking style. One can always pull the soup food out of the broth and serve it on a plate and drink the broth - which L seems to prefer.
Taking the bath each night is great for all of us. I find my 20-30 by myself-minutes in the tub really helpful for my mental health!
New Foods:
We introduced egg yolks, fermented vegetables in small amounts, pork fat, duck fat, and ghee this week, along with some new meats for our family, like rabbit and pork. New vegetable was celery root, since Emily liked it so much. I also made some coconut milk (Vitamixed dry coconut flakes with warm water and squeezed the pulp) and we tried that on Sunday. I did put cinnamon (not on Stage 2 list) in the butternut squash soup as a treat one day.
It is tricky with the new food introduction to space it out and also to go slowly with some of it. For the egg yolks on the first day, I split one between me, N and L. Now we are up to one yolk each per bowl of soup, though this morning they had yolky boiled peas.
I was afraid to try the ghee personally because I don't have time to spend 12-24 hours in very close proximity to the toilet. N encouraged me by saying, "Mama, you're going to be fine - you've been eating ALL this soup!" I loved her for that and I was fine!
A note on rabbit: At $10/pound that was just a farmer's market find and not meant to be a regular event. I well remember the herbs de Provence coasted roasted rabbit I enjoyed in southern France 12 years ago (yes - I remember foods I eat too, Em!). However, N consumed it, declared it her favorite meat and needs to know the next time she will have it! I mentioned she could chose it for her birthday dinner.
Reactions:
Eggs, vegetables and fats, including the ghee are all well tolerated (so far). I noticed that coconut oil seems to upset both girls tummies so I will not use it in their meals for a while. I really think that oil needs some food to buffer it, so perhaps in baking it will work well for us.
N got a big red rash around her mouth after the cinnamon, which she was sensitive to when she was 2. Surprise! So, we'll be careful with that. If her insides looked anything like her face, then we don't want her eating that.
I've felt fine after eating both carrots and tomatoes so, perhaps last Sunday was some die-off or a retracing of mononucleosis.
The children have been very hungry and N seems to be constantly eating. She especially loves the egg yolks and they both will literally scrape the skins of the squash after I roast and peel them.
No one seems to be experiencing any other forms of rashes, but we are all experiencing slower digestion. THAT needs to improve and I hope with the introduction of probiotic powder and perhaps some juicing it will.
Other Thoughts:
It's a challenge to get L to eat some of the foods and especially to drink the broth. N will do it, but it takes her time. I found that they love squash flavored broth, so that helps. Also L, really liked the onion soup and willingly ate and drank that.
We have to get creative to encourage them - this included a reward of a tiny market basket this week to take to market to get a favorite food to try this week - avocado! It also includes telling stories of the baby gnomes living in our bellies who help us take care of our bodies and how we are helping the baby gnomes (enterocytes) grow and get strong so they won't be bothered by the mean trolls (bad bacteria). I showed the girls the illustration in the GAPS book of the enterocyte, which looks like a funny gnome so that's how this story came about. L was explaining about gnomes inside us to our 85 year old neighbor the other day!
Constantly cajoling them to eat/drink is contrary to how I want to parent, so I decided I need to back off, not worry and find what is going to work (that's always the lesson) and I know we will.
In summary:
All in all, I am pretty happy with the week. Starting to get the hang of the process of food preparation and also realizing how we have to customize GAPS for us - even the Intro. We did not introduce fermented fish yet and will wait on egg whites a bit longer. Full dairy, since we are "sensitive," will also wait until after Intro is over.
The meals were good this week (whew!) and can I just say that ALL of the pork butter I made last Saturday is gone! I received an order of pastured duck, including duck fat, this week and - wow! - duck fat is glorious. Thankfully their is a source at our farmer's market for it because it is going to be a staple around here.
The GAPS book says, "the more animal fats your patient consumes the more quickly he or she will recover." Bring on recovery! Here's a great article on why this is and blog that gives a GAPS Fats overview.
C was happy to find that using the dishwasher on heavy wash reduces his need to scrub the fat coated jars!
Coming up:
This week we will try beef products, including tallow (that I must make today) and broth. Pastured duck is also on the menu. We'll also be trying sunflower seeds, avocado and possibly olive oil, as well as continuing to add new vegetables - like artichokes.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Traveling on GAPS
Emily - it is so wonderful you were able to travel overnight on Intro - congratulations! It is such a relief to find that doing that was not as hard as you thought it would be!
I don't have time for a full update on how we are doing (well!), but did want to share these two links for traveling on GAPS. I feel like every outing with my children is like preparing for safari - and I felt that way pre-GAPS - but now - whew!
These posts are from the Mommypotomus blog. I like the suggestions for food items and how to get them where you are going in this one - frozen broth in the suitcase anyone? Also this one - called "21 Healthy Grab and Go Snacks" is great. Links at the bottom to other toddler (and grownup friendly snacks) too. Most will not work on Intro but are something to look forward to. Avocado should be on the list but it is not.
Boiled veggies and meat, ferments, soups, broth are our snacks and meals for now, but this GAPS marshmallow recipe is one of many on our list for our healing diet celebration party!
I don't have time for a full update on how we are doing (well!), but did want to share these two links for traveling on GAPS. I feel like every outing with my children is like preparing for safari - and I felt that way pre-GAPS - but now - whew!
These posts are from the Mommypotomus blog. I like the suggestions for food items and how to get them where you are going in this one - frozen broth in the suitcase anyone? Also this one - called "21 Healthy Grab and Go Snacks" is great. Links at the bottom to other toddler (and grownup friendly snacks) too. Most will not work on Intro but are something to look forward to. Avocado should be on the list but it is not.
Boiled veggies and meat, ferments, soups, broth are our snacks and meals for now, but this GAPS marshmallow recipe is one of many on our list for our healing diet celebration party!
Friday, June 15, 2012
GAPS Intro Diet - Day 22 (Stage 3) - Recap
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| Greenmarket, Union Square |
In addition to throwing together a crock pot full of bones to stink up the apartment, I planned to go into the city and visit the farmers market in Union Square. It is a huge market with everything from your typical fruits and vegetables to wines, fresh juices, lavender, hard pretzels, baked goods, honey, cheeses, maple candies and - from doing a little research - an ostrich farmer. Yep, I have never had it either, but being as it is a 'pastured' meat I figured I would give it a go. The farmer was also selling ostrich eggs for about $28 per egg. Maybe I will buy one sometime - can you imagine the omelet that thing wold make? They are huge.
I also was inspired by talking to Kathryn yesterday about her lard rendering and decided to buy some pork back fat from a farm with pastured heritage pigs. I also came across some organic Kirby cucumbers - very hard to find them organic - so I bought a bunch to ferment. Then I went to Whole Foods on a mission to get some additional stock making materials. I read on the GAPS Yahoo! Group (a forum where people on the GAPS diet ask questions and post materials) that a woman had found chicken necks and backs at WF for a reasonable price. I was able to find a bunch of necks and also came across some chicken feet too - what luck :) Don't worry, they are organic feet, so they are super clean I am sure. Alex didn't even seem to care when I warned him what was in the fridge. He is now officially truly desensitized to this diet!
I also purchased some ground lamb at Whole Foods. I haven't eaten lamb in over 4+ years and I have never purchased it myself. Well.... I ate it for dinner and it was really delicious, but I still feel guilty going back on things I said I wouldn't eat out of principal.
Three Week Recap:
Three weeks in and I still feel pretty good, well other than the headache issue which has been plaguing me this past week, and the long lasting muscle aches yesterday. My forehead is still broken out, but again, that is to be expected. The other thing I have noticed some improvement with are these tiny pinprick bruises I get all over my calves after exercising, usually running or jumping. I asked a dermatologist about them last year and he really couldn't tell me why I get them - weak veins maybe? They seem to be better - I did exercises that would have caused them this week and didn't get them so maybe something is getting fixed? Or maybe I didn't exercise hard enough.... who knows. I am interested to see what Stage 4 brings since I will probably be shifting to that in a few days. Also, now that I have restocked (no pun intended) my stock pile (haha, I did it again!) I am hoping to see some more benefits of chugging down massive quantities of the chicken broth my crock pot slaved over all day. Hopefully I can get it down.
P.S - I debated posting photo of the chicken feet above, but thought everyone might enjoy the beautiful sunflowers I saw in Union Square instead.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
GAPS Intro Diet - Day 21 (Stage 3)
Before starting this diet, I had a few months to mentally prepare and to prepare the people around me that I would be eating a little bit differently. I knew that for me, having to eat very specific foods at work, where it is sometimes necessary to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, would be a challenge and an inconvenience. Also, there is some travel involved in my job and I am mostly traveling with other people. I don't exactly want to whip out my soup on a 6 hour drive upstate and then try to explain why I was eating hot soup in 80 degree weather. So to prepare I told the three people I sit with at work, I told my boss, I told my former boss who I still work/travel with and I told a few other co-workers. It was a mental preparation for me and for them. Everyone has been super supportive and even think my soup smells good (or so they say), even though it still makes me self-conscious. I was traveling for work one day last week - about a 12 hour day and I knew I would be starving if I didn't eat so I stood at this train station in Long Island with my soup in hand and ate it with my little metal spoon. People probably thought I was a crazy person in a suit eating soup from a thermos... but I just tried to tell myself that hey, everyone in NYC is crazy, they won't even think twice. And they probably didn't. I don't know why I am so self-conscious about it... I need to get over that.
So this week I have been traveling for work the last two days and as I mentioned a few posts ago, have been stressing about what I was going to eat on the road and in the hotel since this is my first overnight trip on the diet. Actually, all my stress turned out to be unnecessary because things ended up being just fine. For the first day I just brought my soup in 2 thermoses for breakfast and lunch. For dinner that night and for the next day, I brought some chicken, green beans, avocado, hard boiled eggs and sauerkraut in a cooler. Let me tell you, it may sound gross, but avocado mixed with some sauerkraut on top of some hard boiled egg is delicious! I introduced way more than the 1 teaspoon of avocado than was recommended, but seemed to be fine with it anyway. I haven't had problems with eggs so knew that hard boiled wouldn't be an issue either. I am glad that this went more smoothly than I thought it would since the whole GAPS diet with work/travel was something I wasn't sure how to handle. I have a trip planned down to Richmond at the end of this month and then up to Rhode Island the weekend after, so I will be getting some additional traveling experience on this diet.
Other updates with me are that I have still been getting headaches. I had a strong one on Tuesday and another one again this morning in addition to some nausea. Thankfully peppermint oil works to relieve the pain from the headaches - I carry it now at all times in my bag. Who knew that peppermint oil can be used in place of Aspirin or Ibuprofen? Not me. Luckily K shared this little trick when I was out in San Diego and having a killer coffee detox headache. It is still amazing and exciting to me that a few drops of the oil on the spot(s) where your head hurts actually works. Even WebMD has pain relief listed under the uses of peppermint oil. All for a mere $8 at Whole Foods and much better than taking pills. Other than the headaches, I have also been having muscle aches/cramps/pain in my left calf all day long, which seems strange and is surprisingly painful. Unfortunately, tonight's detox bath did not help. Peppermint oil kind of helps, but I can still feel it in spite of the oil. Well, on the bright side, at least I smell like a giant peppermint.
I wanted to share a recipe for peas that I thought was really delicious - I decided to make it today after jury duty (it's been a fun week) as a treat for sitting in a cold room for 6 hours. Peas as a treat - yep I am crazy. I saw this recipe while watching the cooking channel last Saturday. Alex can't believe I still bother to watch, but I still like to see what they put together, even if I have no chance of ever eating it myself. What do you know, but I actually saw a GAPS friendly pea recipe by Nigella Lawson - it even incorporated chicken broth! I used onions and garlic sauteed in some ghee (1 teaspoon) and some coconut oil, wilted in the lettuce, added the peas and stock and heated it through. It sounds very simple, but it was actually very flavorful and delicious. I also added in some fresh basil too. This is a cell phone photo in fluorescent lighting... not ideal, but trust me it tasted better than it looks!
So this week I have been traveling for work the last two days and as I mentioned a few posts ago, have been stressing about what I was going to eat on the road and in the hotel since this is my first overnight trip on the diet. Actually, all my stress turned out to be unnecessary because things ended up being just fine. For the first day I just brought my soup in 2 thermoses for breakfast and lunch. For dinner that night and for the next day, I brought some chicken, green beans, avocado, hard boiled eggs and sauerkraut in a cooler. Let me tell you, it may sound gross, but avocado mixed with some sauerkraut on top of some hard boiled egg is delicious! I introduced way more than the 1 teaspoon of avocado than was recommended, but seemed to be fine with it anyway. I haven't had problems with eggs so knew that hard boiled wouldn't be an issue either. I am glad that this went more smoothly than I thought it would since the whole GAPS diet with work/travel was something I wasn't sure how to handle. I have a trip planned down to Richmond at the end of this month and then up to Rhode Island the weekend after, so I will be getting some additional traveling experience on this diet.
Other updates with me are that I have still been getting headaches. I had a strong one on Tuesday and another one again this morning in addition to some nausea. Thankfully peppermint oil works to relieve the pain from the headaches - I carry it now at all times in my bag. Who knew that peppermint oil can be used in place of Aspirin or Ibuprofen? Not me. Luckily K shared this little trick when I was out in San Diego and having a killer coffee detox headache. It is still amazing and exciting to me that a few drops of the oil on the spot(s) where your head hurts actually works. Even WebMD has pain relief listed under the uses of peppermint oil. All for a mere $8 at Whole Foods and much better than taking pills. Other than the headaches, I have also been having muscle aches/cramps/pain in my left calf all day long, which seems strange and is surprisingly painful. Unfortunately, tonight's detox bath did not help. Peppermint oil kind of helps, but I can still feel it in spite of the oil. Well, on the bright side, at least I smell like a giant peppermint.
I wanted to share a recipe for peas that I thought was really delicious - I decided to make it today after jury duty (it's been a fun week) as a treat for sitting in a cold room for 6 hours. Peas as a treat - yep I am crazy. I saw this recipe while watching the cooking channel last Saturday. Alex can't believe I still bother to watch, but I still like to see what they put together, even if I have no chance of ever eating it myself. What do you know, but I actually saw a GAPS friendly pea recipe by Nigella Lawson - it even incorporated chicken broth! I used onions and garlic sauteed in some ghee (1 teaspoon) and some coconut oil, wilted in the lettuce, added the peas and stock and heated it through. It sounds very simple, but it was actually very flavorful and delicious. I also added in some fresh basil too. This is a cell phone photo in fluorescent lighting... not ideal, but trust me it tasted better than it looks!
Monday, June 11, 2012
You Know You are on GAPS Intro when...(Part 2)
Very funny Kathryn. Yes, the smell of chicken stock greatly disturbs my sleep. I can't cook it at night!
I am adding:
You know you are on GAPS Intro when...
I am adding:
You know you are on GAPS Intro when...
- You start to think of a sip of sauerkraut juice as a special treat.
- You don't even bat an eye when grinding up all of the parts of chicken that you never thought you would eat and then liberally adding spoonfuls of it into your soup.
- Your clothes and your house smell like Boston Market.
- You are excited about the prospect of eating raw food that has not been pureed.
- You realize that salt can taste sweet.
- Your fridge and freezer have been taken over by mason jars.
- You get excited when your chicken stock wiggles like jello after being in the fridge for 24 hours.
- You realize that fortunately there are two things allowed on this diet that make everything taste good: salt and lots of fat.
- You have a running grocery list of about six things: onions, squash, cauliflower, broccoli, eggs and meat.
- Buying $35 of organic squash at one time is now a normal event.
- You spent over $600 on food in the last month and you are only feeding one person!
Broth & Stock
One of the foundations of the GAPS protocol is consuming
lots of broth and stock. These liquids are nourishing and healing, filled with
minerals and easy to digest. From a culinary standpoint, broth is made
when vegetables and/or meats are simmered gently in water to extract all the
flavors. Stock is made when vegetables and meaty bones are simmered gently in
water to extract all the flavors. Many people use the
terms interchangeability and so does the GAPS book.
To stretch dollars, because paying top dollar for
one pastured chicken is just not going to be a viable long-term option, first
make a meat broth with the whole (I like to cut it up) chicken and any
vegetables you want. Instructions in GAPS book - I like the Italian Casserole.
Pick the chicken, reserving meat and the soft tissues. Keep the bones in the
freezer. When you have enough bones, cover them with water and add a
splash of lemon juice or ACV to draw out extra minerals. Simmer 12-24 hours.
Strain off the broth and use the bones again! You can use them probably three
to four times. Apparently when they crumble go ahead and eat them.
I would also consider chicken wings, necks and backs, and
hey - go for the feet!- if you can find them
Beef bones for soup are fairly inexpensive. We haven't tried
beef yet but the costs for the soup bones, with easy to get healing marrow :),
are much, much less then the pastured chicken.
Beef bones can be reused repeated as well. Check out this
excellent, excellent post on
broths (includes videos) and apply the techniques mentioned.
I also thought this post was
helpful in explaining stock and broth and GAPS.
Now, I must put these practices to work in my kitchen and
resupply this week. I may have to get a new crock pot because ours lets too
much steam out of it's broken handled top, so I can make perpetual-broth/stock.
:)
Happy healing!
You Know Your On GAPS Intro When....
Why wait to laugh later, when you can laugh now? Here are some ways to know you're on GAPS Intro. I hope Emily will add to this post!
- You know what you're eating for your next meal and the answer is soup!
- Your to-go cup now holds broth, instead of coffee/tea.
- You are learning new kitchen techniques, like simmering meat, rendering lard and fermenting vegetables.
- You are excited by the prospect of eating a small bite of pickle!
- You wake your children up to get the the farmers market so you can be assured of getting eggs.
- You tell your children they can have more food after they drink their broth.
- You wake up in the middle of the night thinking about GAPS meals/meal prep.
- The sight of your empty freezer scares you.
- The smell of chicken stock in the crockpot disturbs your sleep at night.
- You are considering taking your children shopping for shot glasses to drink their fermented vegetable juice from.
- You don't know where to start - broth, rendering, fermenting, finding a liver recipe, or cleaning the kitchen (ha!)!
GAPS Intro Diet - Days 4-6 or Peas, Love and Happiness
Things are really going well around here. I would say we are having minimal digestive issues and on the whole everyone seems more peaceful, including me. We seem to be finding a nice inner calm, which is much appreciated.
N has gotten herself out of bed twice in the past four days and dressed and come downstairs and greeted me pleasantly. Normally she lays in bed and yells. I notice that I am able to find the love I have for my children and really see them with a loving heart (no matter their behavior), much better than I have been able to do so lately.
We are starting to enjoy the foods and find ourselves well satiated.
This is not to say that this isn't HARD.
Day 4
On Thursday afternoon we went out and bought some peas in order to keep morale up. I introduced them on Friday at breakfast, well simmered and buttered with bacon "butter" and a touch of coconut oil. Not sure if bacon butter is GAPS legal at this point, but we are low on the fats we need, so it will have to do.
On Friday, we all felt well. The peas for breakfast really made the girls happy and they drank broth and ate soups pretty well that day too. I wish I could remember what we ate but ...hmmmm....guessing it included soup, boiled meat and butternut squash!
We are taking it easy on the carrots because those seem to be a little challenging for me and Natalie if eaten in to great a quantity. I'm wondering if that will last because the carrot juicing we were doing in the Vitamix before starting intro was so great!
Took detox baths and drank kraut/pickle juices with meals.
Day 5
Saturday the girls and I got up to go to the Little Italy Farmer's Market. What mental relief for me!! I found great sources on pastured meats/fats - everything from duck, chicken, beef and pork. I can even get goat, rabbit, lamb, goose, and quail if I want. From one farmer we bought two dozen pastured chicken eggs ($7/doz) and the girls had such fun picking them out. I also picked up some more chicken feet ($2/lb - these make great stock and are easy on the budget. Scald at 150 F to make the skin easily peel off and you wont have the problems I did!) and some giblets so we can try liver (which C says he will not be doing!). We also bought two pastured chickens ($5/lb), one pastured rabbit ($10/lb) just to try. She gave us some quail eggs (normally $4/10) because N admired them. They are small and speckled and just lovely. Also very hard to cleanly separate the yolk and white so will have to wait to be eaten until our egg white allergy is cured.
From another farmer we bought 3 lbs ($17) of fatback (pork) to render in to "butter." I am mentally planning a post on fats, so more on this later.
We also bought some potted herbs ($3 ea) - thyme and parsley - because we can now introduce fresh herbs! And some leeks and some green beans.
On Saturday we had peas again as well as the soup medley. For dinner I made boiled lamb chops and then put the meat into a soup with onion, carrot, tomato and zucchini. N and L were snatching the meat from the cutting board. I trimmed off the fat and Vitamixed it with some of the soup broth/veg and made a lovely gravy for dipping or pouring. N loved it! (Relief.). L might not have loved it but she did eat at the meal. I also made cauliflower mashed potatoes with bacon butter. I havn't eaten a meat besides chicken and turkey in two years - lamb was a welcome treat for me. It is nice to have the family happy at meal times.
I prepared two soups on Saturday - one a butternut squash soup with chicken pate Vitamixed in and did onion and leek soup in the crockpot overnight. Emily, if you get a Vitamix, the pate blending feature alone is a wonderful feature because it makes everything (and you know what I am talking about) so smooth!
Took detox baths and drank kraut/pickle juices with meals.
Day 6
On Sunday morning I felt tired and could hardly move from bed. Hot and shaky with a whole body malaise. Not nasusous. N seemed to be feeling the same way but to a lesser extent. L was singing a song that went like this "Little mouse, little mouse where have you been? I've been frightening the cat under the bed!" and asking for fries. Seems she felt quite well!
I finally hauled my hot and shaky self out of bed around 9 to make some breakfast for hungry little L. We introduce egg yolks! I haven't had egg in four years. We cautiously introduced this by splitting one egg yolk among three soup bowls. Topped with the butternut squash soup and served a very small portion of peas on the side. L gobbled the soup saying how much she loved egg yolk. N also ate the whole thing. They both ate two serving of peas.
I started to feel better around noon. Was it the lamb, the tomatoes, the carrots? Or just detox?
We ate the onion leek soup for lunch and it was great. Got some laundry done and also went to the beach for an hour. Came home and made burgers and fries for dinner - ha! tricked ya! Well, simmered lamb burgers with salt, garlic, thyme and parsley mixed in and butternut squash fries simmered then seasons with some chicken butter and a touch of coconut oil and sea salt. L helped me shape the burgers and was delighted to eat the four tiny ones she made. I ate two and N ate ALL four of the rest. They both ate lots of the "fries" and exclaimed over how delicious they were. Amazing how shape can make all the difference. That and seasoning! They drank the broth I cooked the fries in and enjoyed it because it was sweetened.
Took detox baths and drank kraut/pickle juices with meals.
Every Sunday in the summer here there is a concert in the local park and everyone shows up to picnic, listen, play and socialize. Concert starts at 6 and people will get there at 1 to secure the spot they want. We went, along with the burgers and fries, and N was looking around noticing - That boy is drinking a bright blue drink! Those people are eating pink cookies. Look at all the people eating cheese curls and potato chips and, and, and. I am so glad to be giving her the gift of good nutrition. Not that some day she won't eat pink cookies or perhaps a cheese curl (never, never the blue drink) but I know she and L will have a strong foundation they can come back to.
Sunday night after the girls were asleep I came down and chopped vegetables for a summer squash and red pepper soup to make today. Prepped fennel and onions to simmer with the chicken today. Put the rabbit in the crockpot with garlic, onions and thyme to go 10 hours on low. Cut up the 3lb of fat to render today.
We are almost out of broth! Got to rebuild the stash. I have yet to ferment anything and we are currently relying on Bubbies dill pickles and kraut for our juices, which are lacto-fermented.
Today I am currently feeling well, so going to blame yesterday on the carrots or tomatoes and not the lamb. We are going to try a bit of pickle today!
N has gotten herself out of bed twice in the past four days and dressed and come downstairs and greeted me pleasantly. Normally she lays in bed and yells. I notice that I am able to find the love I have for my children and really see them with a loving heart (no matter their behavior), much better than I have been able to do so lately.
We are starting to enjoy the foods and find ourselves well satiated.
This is not to say that this isn't HARD.
Day 4
On Thursday afternoon we went out and bought some peas in order to keep morale up. I introduced them on Friday at breakfast, well simmered and buttered with bacon "butter" and a touch of coconut oil. Not sure if bacon butter is GAPS legal at this point, but we are low on the fats we need, so it will have to do.
On Friday, we all felt well. The peas for breakfast really made the girls happy and they drank broth and ate soups pretty well that day too. I wish I could remember what we ate but ...hmmmm....guessing it included soup, boiled meat and butternut squash!
We are taking it easy on the carrots because those seem to be a little challenging for me and Natalie if eaten in to great a quantity. I'm wondering if that will last because the carrot juicing we were doing in the Vitamix before starting intro was so great!
Took detox baths and drank kraut/pickle juices with meals.
Day 5
Saturday the girls and I got up to go to the Little Italy Farmer's Market. What mental relief for me!! I found great sources on pastured meats/fats - everything from duck, chicken, beef and pork. I can even get goat, rabbit, lamb, goose, and quail if I want. From one farmer we bought two dozen pastured chicken eggs ($7/doz) and the girls had such fun picking them out. I also picked up some more chicken feet ($2/lb - these make great stock and are easy on the budget. Scald at 150 F to make the skin easily peel off and you wont have the problems I did!) and some giblets so we can try liver (which C says he will not be doing!). We also bought two pastured chickens ($5/lb), one pastured rabbit ($10/lb) just to try. She gave us some quail eggs (normally $4/10) because N admired them. They are small and speckled and just lovely. Also very hard to cleanly separate the yolk and white so will have to wait to be eaten until our egg white allergy is cured.
From another farmer we bought 3 lbs ($17) of fatback (pork) to render in to "butter." I am mentally planning a post on fats, so more on this later.
We also bought some potted herbs ($3 ea) - thyme and parsley - because we can now introduce fresh herbs! And some leeks and some green beans.
On Saturday we had peas again as well as the soup medley. For dinner I made boiled lamb chops and then put the meat into a soup with onion, carrot, tomato and zucchini. N and L were snatching the meat from the cutting board. I trimmed off the fat and Vitamixed it with some of the soup broth/veg and made a lovely gravy for dipping or pouring. N loved it! (Relief.). L might not have loved it but she did eat at the meal. I also made cauliflower mashed potatoes with bacon butter. I havn't eaten a meat besides chicken and turkey in two years - lamb was a welcome treat for me. It is nice to have the family happy at meal times.
I prepared two soups on Saturday - one a butternut squash soup with chicken pate Vitamixed in and did onion and leek soup in the crockpot overnight. Emily, if you get a Vitamix, the pate blending feature alone is a wonderful feature because it makes everything (and you know what I am talking about) so smooth!
Took detox baths and drank kraut/pickle juices with meals.
Day 6
On Sunday morning I felt tired and could hardly move from bed. Hot and shaky with a whole body malaise. Not nasusous. N seemed to be feeling the same way but to a lesser extent. L was singing a song that went like this "Little mouse, little mouse where have you been? I've been frightening the cat under the bed!" and asking for fries. Seems she felt quite well!
I finally hauled my hot and shaky self out of bed around 9 to make some breakfast for hungry little L. We introduce egg yolks! I haven't had egg in four years. We cautiously introduced this by splitting one egg yolk among three soup bowls. Topped with the butternut squash soup and served a very small portion of peas on the side. L gobbled the soup saying how much she loved egg yolk. N also ate the whole thing. They both ate two serving of peas.
I started to feel better around noon. Was it the lamb, the tomatoes, the carrots? Or just detox?
We ate the onion leek soup for lunch and it was great. Got some laundry done and also went to the beach for an hour. Came home and made burgers and fries for dinner - ha! tricked ya! Well, simmered lamb burgers with salt, garlic, thyme and parsley mixed in and butternut squash fries simmered then seasons with some chicken butter and a touch of coconut oil and sea salt. L helped me shape the burgers and was delighted to eat the four tiny ones she made. I ate two and N ate ALL four of the rest. They both ate lots of the "fries" and exclaimed over how delicious they were. Amazing how shape can make all the difference. That and seasoning! They drank the broth I cooked the fries in and enjoyed it because it was sweetened.
Took detox baths and drank kraut/pickle juices with meals.
Every Sunday in the summer here there is a concert in the local park and everyone shows up to picnic, listen, play and socialize. Concert starts at 6 and people will get there at 1 to secure the spot they want. We went, along with the burgers and fries, and N was looking around noticing - That boy is drinking a bright blue drink! Those people are eating pink cookies. Look at all the people eating cheese curls and potato chips and, and, and. I am so glad to be giving her the gift of good nutrition. Not that some day she won't eat pink cookies or perhaps a cheese curl (never, never the blue drink) but I know she and L will have a strong foundation they can come back to.
Sunday night after the girls were asleep I came down and chopped vegetables for a summer squash and red pepper soup to make today. Prepped fennel and onions to simmer with the chicken today. Put the rabbit in the crockpot with garlic, onions and thyme to go 10 hours on low. Cut up the 3lb of fat to render today.
We are almost out of broth! Got to rebuild the stash. I have yet to ferment anything and we are currently relying on Bubbies dill pickles and kraut for our juices, which are lacto-fermented.
Today I am currently feeling well, so going to blame yesterday on the carrots or tomatoes and not the lamb. We are going to try a bit of pickle today!
Sunday, June 10, 2012
GAPS Intro Diet - Day 17 (Stage 3)
When we first moved up to New York I would shop at a grocery store on Smith Street every week and would be able to find almost everything I needed. I went in there the other day to buy baking soda and realized that now, on this diet, there are about 2 things I would be able to purchase - organic herbs and organic lettuce. They don't carry any other organic produce and don't have any meats I would even consider buying. Kind of crazy.
Since eliminating gluten three years ago I have been much more aware of the foods I put in my body, but starting this diet has really made me think about food available in this country, or rather the lack of good food in this country. How TV commercials are so misleading to make consumers think a processed product is healthy - something like children's cereals for example - which is touted as full of whole grains and vitamins or that obnoxious nutella commercial where it is implied (at least in my opinion) that nutella is healthy.
It is sad that so many people don't realize that many of the grocery store products are full of artificial flavors and colors, sugar, and bad fat. I use to be one of those people.
So when I came across this article today - I really felt like it summed up everything that is wrong with food in America.
GAPS updates: I decided to skip the probiotic today because I realized that yesterday I felt the way I felt a few months ago - like food was just sitting in my stomach and not being digested. Maybe it was the high fat content of the nuts and even though they were soaked for 24 hours before dehydrating, maybe they don't process well with me. Or maybe it is the probiotic - because I am pretty confident that the other probiotic I was taking a few months ago was causing food not to process - this one could be doing the same. I did take the 8 pills of fermented cod liver oil (only had 4 yesterday) and I have had a miserable headache for the last 7 hours. Not sure what is causing this...but it is getting old and hopefully I don't have one tomorrow at work.
Since eliminating gluten three years ago I have been much more aware of the foods I put in my body, but starting this diet has really made me think about food available in this country, or rather the lack of good food in this country. How TV commercials are so misleading to make consumers think a processed product is healthy - something like children's cereals for example - which is touted as full of whole grains and vitamins or that obnoxious nutella commercial where it is implied (at least in my opinion) that nutella is healthy.
It is sad that so many people don't realize that many of the grocery store products are full of artificial flavors and colors, sugar, and bad fat. I use to be one of those people.
So when I came across this article today - I really felt like it summed up everything that is wrong with food in America.
GAPS updates: I decided to skip the probiotic today because I realized that yesterday I felt the way I felt a few months ago - like food was just sitting in my stomach and not being digested. Maybe it was the high fat content of the nuts and even though they were soaked for 24 hours before dehydrating, maybe they don't process well with me. Or maybe it is the probiotic - because I am pretty confident that the other probiotic I was taking a few months ago was causing food not to process - this one could be doing the same. I did take the 8 pills of fermented cod liver oil (only had 4 yesterday) and I have had a miserable headache for the last 7 hours. Not sure what is causing this...but it is getting old and hopefully I don't have one tomorrow at work.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
GAPS Intro Diet - Day 15 and 16 (Stage 3)
Well yesterday I introduced nuts into the diet. I will be the first one to admit I have a nut weakness (read: a penchant to overindulge) and they were just so tasty and crunchy after dehydrating that I totally overate. My body responded with some nausea and a slight headache... my own fault I guess. Walnuts tasted much different than normal - almost sweet with a maple like flavor. The almonds I will probably make into flour and the sunflower seeds I ground into sunflower seed butter. I should have probably just left that as flour too... it is pretty hard to eat spoonfuls of flour :) Maybe next time.
I also started taking a probiotic - the probiotic that is recommended by the doctor who developed the diet is called Bio-Kult. It also happens to be the probiotic she created if that tells you anything. I bought some just because that is what is recommended, but I didn't realize that the 'theraputic' dose I am suppose to build up to is 10 pills per day, or roughly 20 billion bacteria. So probably won't buy them again (another $70+ investment per month) unless they prove to be miraculous. I mainly wanted to see if they would trigger any response in me so I took one yesterday as a start - which seemed fine and will take 2 today and see how that goes. After I took one this morning I started having a raging headache and some sinus pain about an hour later. Now the headache has kind of gone 7 hours later, but I am still extremely fatigued, and my arms (specifically acupuncture point Large Intestine 10, the one that always hurts) is aching. Where is an acupuncturist when you need one? Not sure if there is a relation to all this an the probiotic or not so I am going to eliminate the nuts to be sure. It is probably partially the nuts because I ate those today too.
I did a bunch of cooking yesterday to restock the freezer (4 hours of cooking to be precise!) - I made more broth, zucchini soup, cauliflower/red pepper soup (tastes much better than straight up cauliflower), prepped leeks and fennel for crock pot chicken tomorrow, and made mini-'meatloaves', some I cooked and some I froze in muffin tins for later. For being so simple they were actually really good.
Mini-Meat Loaves (or could just be meatballs)
- 2 lbs hamburger
- Shredded vegetables (job for the food processor) - I used cauliflower, zucchini, red/yellow/orange
pepper, onion
- Garlic
- dried oregano, dried dill, salt, pepper
- 2 eggs
Mix it up and divide into muffin tins. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.
One of the other things I realize I probably need to be doing more of is drinking broth. Despite eatting soup for pretty much every meal, I don't know that I am getting that much broth into my body, especially since somthing like zucchini releases so much water it becomes very thin when purreed if there is too much broth. That leads me to my next problem - getting enough bones to make the broth. Living in NYC you would think it would be fairly easy to find good chicken, but it is actually not. I can buy Trader Joe's organic chicken, but I would prefer a free range chicken. I can find Murray's chicken, but it is still the same situation as the TJ - not free range. There is the farmer's market chicken - the expensive $42 bird or the 'natural' bird at about $24, but they really dont give me enough bones to make even 1 quart of stock. So I am entertaining the idea of ordering from US Wellness Meats but what I really need is a local source.
I found some lacto-fermented raw pickles yesterday at the healthfood store and bought them so I could see if mine kind of taste the same - they do! Thank goodness. I started fermenting when it was really hot in the apartment so I thought I might have ruined them.
I am going to do more research on the whole fermentation thing - I would like to make kefir water and eventually dairy kefir or yogurt in the dehydrator. More posts on that in the future.
I also started taking a probiotic - the probiotic that is recommended by the doctor who developed the diet is called Bio-Kult. It also happens to be the probiotic she created if that tells you anything. I bought some just because that is what is recommended, but I didn't realize that the 'theraputic' dose I am suppose to build up to is 10 pills per day, or roughly 20 billion bacteria. So probably won't buy them again (another $70+ investment per month) unless they prove to be miraculous. I mainly wanted to see if they would trigger any response in me so I took one yesterday as a start - which seemed fine and will take 2 today and see how that goes. After I took one this morning I started having a raging headache and some sinus pain about an hour later. Now the headache has kind of gone 7 hours later, but I am still extremely fatigued, and my arms (specifically acupuncture point Large Intestine 10, the one that always hurts) is aching. Where is an acupuncturist when you need one? Not sure if there is a relation to all this an the probiotic or not so I am going to eliminate the nuts to be sure. It is probably partially the nuts because I ate those today too.
I did a bunch of cooking yesterday to restock the freezer (4 hours of cooking to be precise!) - I made more broth, zucchini soup, cauliflower/red pepper soup (tastes much better than straight up cauliflower), prepped leeks and fennel for crock pot chicken tomorrow, and made mini-'meatloaves', some I cooked and some I froze in muffin tins for later. For being so simple they were actually really good.
Mini-Meat Loaves (or could just be meatballs)
- 2 lbs hamburger
- Shredded vegetables (job for the food processor) - I used cauliflower, zucchini, red/yellow/orange
pepper, onion
- Garlic
- dried oregano, dried dill, salt, pepper
- 2 eggs
Mix it up and divide into muffin tins. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.
One of the other things I realize I probably need to be doing more of is drinking broth. Despite eatting soup for pretty much every meal, I don't know that I am getting that much broth into my body, especially since somthing like zucchini releases so much water it becomes very thin when purreed if there is too much broth. That leads me to my next problem - getting enough bones to make the broth. Living in NYC you would think it would be fairly easy to find good chicken, but it is actually not. I can buy Trader Joe's organic chicken, but I would prefer a free range chicken. I can find Murray's chicken, but it is still the same situation as the TJ - not free range. There is the farmer's market chicken - the expensive $42 bird or the 'natural' bird at about $24, but they really dont give me enough bones to make even 1 quart of stock. So I am entertaining the idea of ordering from US Wellness Meats but what I really need is a local source.
I found some lacto-fermented raw pickles yesterday at the healthfood store and bought them so I could see if mine kind of taste the same - they do! Thank goodness. I started fermenting when it was really hot in the apartment so I thought I might have ruined them.
I am going to do more research on the whole fermentation thing - I would like to make kefir water and eventually dairy kefir or yogurt in the dehydrator. More posts on that in the future.
A Big "Thank You!"
This is a long overdue post to thank my husband for his support and willingness to try the GAPS protocol.
When I heard about a friend's experience with GAPS - specifically healing her children's multiple food sensitivities and allergies, asthma and eczema - I knew we had to research this. I read websites and the books and shared them with C. He read them too. We talked and decided we needed to try this.
Even though he doesn't have any food sensitives that we know of or digestive issues, he has willingly joined us on this journey. He has cooked, cleaned up, listened to the crying, nurtured and supported, run the baths, read to the children while I have my bath, taken his own bath. He had stayed up late chopping, peeling, dehydrating, tending the broth, cleaning. He had not blinked too much at the grocery bills or the "kitchen renovation" I did, when I purchased the food dehydrator, Vitamix and Pickl-it jars. He is carrying his own GAPS Intro food and broth to work and eating it. He (thankfully!) is not complaining about the food and, soup in general and squash in particular are not two of his favorites. He leaves the kitchen close to spotless each night and also puts away dishes in the morning. He is willing to try new foods and help me make them - remember the chicken feet? He even offered me an IPad so I could read or blog in bed. He is supporting our family emotionally, physically and financially with good cheer and a loving attitude.
While he may not get digestive healing from GAPS, he for sure is going to get a super satisfied, deeply grateful wife. By supporting us this way, he is putting so very much into our relationship and for this I shall be forever and completely thankful.
I am posting this on our official record book of this journey because, without his support on all these levels, I couldn't possibly be doing this and keeping my sanity. Sanity is a very, very important thing with you are with young children 24/7. So without him, we couldn't be here at all.
Thank you for all you have done and are doing for our family! I love you.
When I heard about a friend's experience with GAPS - specifically healing her children's multiple food sensitivities and allergies, asthma and eczema - I knew we had to research this. I read websites and the books and shared them with C. He read them too. We talked and decided we needed to try this.
Even though he doesn't have any food sensitives that we know of or digestive issues, he has willingly joined us on this journey. He has cooked, cleaned up, listened to the crying, nurtured and supported, run the baths, read to the children while I have my bath, taken his own bath. He had stayed up late chopping, peeling, dehydrating, tending the broth, cleaning. He had not blinked too much at the grocery bills or the "kitchen renovation" I did, when I purchased the food dehydrator, Vitamix and Pickl-it jars. He is carrying his own GAPS Intro food and broth to work and eating it. He (thankfully!) is not complaining about the food and, soup in general and squash in particular are not two of his favorites. He leaves the kitchen close to spotless each night and also puts away dishes in the morning. He is willing to try new foods and help me make them - remember the chicken feet? He even offered me an IPad so I could read or blog in bed. He is supporting our family emotionally, physically and financially with good cheer and a loving attitude.
While he may not get digestive healing from GAPS, he for sure is going to get a super satisfied, deeply grateful wife. By supporting us this way, he is putting so very much into our relationship and for this I shall be forever and completely thankful.
I am posting this on our official record book of this journey because, without his support on all these levels, I couldn't possibly be doing this and keeping my sanity. Sanity is a very, very important thing with you are with young children 24/7. So without him, we couldn't be here at all.
Thank you for all you have done and are doing for our family! I love you.
Friday, June 8, 2012
GAPS Intro Diet - Day 3
This morning started early. I woke up at 6 am and thought I was going to throw up - felt hot and nauseous - but it passed. N woke up and did throw up. She spent several hours laying on the bathroom floor sleeping. C had a bit of an upset stomach and a headache and L - she didn't complain of anything!
I am blaming this on the carrots we enjoyed so much yesterday and not planning to include them for a few days.
We had success in broth drinking for today - it's been requested to have it served on the side - both girls drank at least 16 ozs of it. Yea! I got these straws especially for this. We did have some sadness at dinner wishing for balsamic vinegar or ketchup to dip but manged to eat anyway.
Today's foods consisted of
C - cauliflower soup, broth, chicken and carrots, boiled turkey burgers with cauliflower and a carrot, onion, chicken pate gravy
K - same as above, but no carrots and add in the yummy zucchini soup
L - Lots of squash, broth, and the dinner of boiled turkey burgers with cauliflower and a carrot, onion, chicken pate gravy
N - Broth and the dinner of boiled turkey burgers with cauliflower and a carrot, onion, chicken pate gravy
We are all doing well in taking the detox baths each night, so hopefully that will continue. C and I are using the magneisum oil spray and N tried it today. It stings a little. L cries and we have to wash it off. I made it at home - easiest thing - following these instructions.
We are not quite ready to move on to Stage 2, but I am planning to lay in a supply of eggs from the Farmer's Market this weekend. I am also going to order some FCLO. Check out Azure for great low prices (request a catalog via that link) on the FCLO - like $10 less. Also lots of other great items - you name it they seem to have it. See if they have a drop point near you.
We are going to add in other vegetables tomorrow - like well cooked peas and green beans and see how we do with those. The girls are really missing peas.
I am also madly searching for fats to add in. L has never had beef, lamb, duck, pork or eggs, so it will be a big adventure to start introducing these foods. I found a nice farm with pastured duck and duck fat and should get my order next week. I've contacted several local farms about beef suet and leaf lard and eggs, so hopefully we can get these items. I will then be adding rendering to my kitchen repertoire.
It is disappointing to pay good money for good quality food and then simmer the heck out of it until it becomes dry and not so tasty. Hopefully the new fats will improve that situation! That and getting to the roasting part of this diet!
I am blaming this on the carrots we enjoyed so much yesterday and not planning to include them for a few days.
We had success in broth drinking for today - it's been requested to have it served on the side - both girls drank at least 16 ozs of it. Yea! I got these straws especially for this. We did have some sadness at dinner wishing for balsamic vinegar or ketchup to dip but manged to eat anyway.
Today's foods consisted of
C - cauliflower soup, broth, chicken and carrots, boiled turkey burgers with cauliflower and a carrot, onion, chicken pate gravy
K - same as above, but no carrots and add in the yummy zucchini soup
L - Lots of squash, broth, and the dinner of boiled turkey burgers with cauliflower and a carrot, onion, chicken pate gravy
N - Broth and the dinner of boiled turkey burgers with cauliflower and a carrot, onion, chicken pate gravy
We are all doing well in taking the detox baths each night, so hopefully that will continue. C and I are using the magneisum oil spray and N tried it today. It stings a little. L cries and we have to wash it off. I made it at home - easiest thing - following these instructions.
We are not quite ready to move on to Stage 2, but I am planning to lay in a supply of eggs from the Farmer's Market this weekend. I am also going to order some FCLO. Check out Azure for great low prices (request a catalog via that link) on the FCLO - like $10 less. Also lots of other great items - you name it they seem to have it. See if they have a drop point near you.
We are going to add in other vegetables tomorrow - like well cooked peas and green beans and see how we do with those. The girls are really missing peas.
I am also madly searching for fats to add in. L has never had beef, lamb, duck, pork or eggs, so it will be a big adventure to start introducing these foods. I found a nice farm with pastured duck and duck fat and should get my order next week. I've contacted several local farms about beef suet and leaf lard and eggs, so hopefully we can get these items. I will then be adding rendering to my kitchen repertoire.
It is disappointing to pay good money for good quality food and then simmer the heck out of it until it becomes dry and not so tasty. Hopefully the new fats will improve that situation! That and getting to the roasting part of this diet!
Thursday, June 7, 2012
GAPS Intro Diet - Day 13 and 14 (Stage 2)
I honestly can't believe I have been on this diet for 2 weeks - it was a quick two weeks, made even better because I didn't have crazy die off symptoms. I must admit that was nice, but it almost concerns me that I haven't had more of a response - i.e. do I still have bad bacteria living in me that aren't dying? Did I not have any in the first place (a test I had done in early January didn't show signs of candida or bacteria overgrowth). Since I haven't really had many symptoms I decided to move forward in the diet so I introduced fermented cod liver oil yesterday. FCLO is suppose to be very beneficial for people who have gut problems as our guts are supposedly not able to absorb Vitamin A in pill form. I was on very high levels of Vitamin A and Zinc, per my naturapath earlier this year, and never saw any improvement in my digestion. I don't think I was absorbing it.
So after doing a bit of research and watching a video on how to take liquid FCLO without gagging I opted for the cop out route of purchasing it in relatively taste-less pill form. The problem is I discovered that in order to take the recommended dose of 1 teaspoon per day I need to take 8 pills. That means my 2 (120 ct) bottles will last 30 days and will result in a $70 per month investment....Hmmm guess I am going to have to buy the liquid next time and watch that video again. I took three pills last night and other than having a bit of a stomach ache/headache, I was fine. Placebo effect, perhaps? I am increasing it to 4 pills tonight.
Today, I also introduced egg whites by whipping up a GAPS intro 'pancake' for dinner. This consists of 2 eggs, 1 squash shredded, salt and pepper, all pureed in a blender. I didn't cook it as pancakes because they are super thin and hard to flip, but instead just dumped it in the pan with some coconut oil, cooked the bottom and put it under the broiler to finish the top. It was very good, crepe-esque, and nice to eat solid food that is not meat.
It is a lame reason, but I also need to progress with the diet a bit because I will be traveling for work next week and would like to be able to eat some more things to make it easier. Having to go to restaurants for business lunches and traveling for work while gluten free/dairy free makes me super stressed out so the idea of traveling on the GAPS diet has resulted in 'wake up at 5:00 in the morning thinking about it' stress. I do not need to stress.
I soaked raw, organic almonds, walnuts, and sunflower seeds in salt water last night and they are currently dehydrating at the moment - It took all of my strength not to eat one as I was putting them on the trays. Maybe I will eat one tomorrow?
Meals for today and yesterday were all the same (except for the squash pancake) - Zucchini and broccoli soup with 'onion gravy', fresh basil, and either chicken or hamburger.
Oh - also tried one of my lacto-fermented pickles tonight. I don't know what it is suppose to taste like exactly, but it tastes like a pickle! They have been in there since May 19th, so they should be ready to eat.
P.S. Our mouse-guest turned up his nose at the colby jack I left for him in the live trap. We are trying feta tonight - hopefully he will like that better :)
So after doing a bit of research and watching a video on how to take liquid FCLO without gagging I opted for the cop out route of purchasing it in relatively taste-less pill form. The problem is I discovered that in order to take the recommended dose of 1 teaspoon per day I need to take 8 pills. That means my 2 (120 ct) bottles will last 30 days and will result in a $70 per month investment....Hmmm guess I am going to have to buy the liquid next time and watch that video again. I took three pills last night and other than having a bit of a stomach ache/headache, I was fine. Placebo effect, perhaps? I am increasing it to 4 pills tonight.
Today, I also introduced egg whites by whipping up a GAPS intro 'pancake' for dinner. This consists of 2 eggs, 1 squash shredded, salt and pepper, all pureed in a blender. I didn't cook it as pancakes because they are super thin and hard to flip, but instead just dumped it in the pan with some coconut oil, cooked the bottom and put it under the broiler to finish the top. It was very good, crepe-esque, and nice to eat solid food that is not meat.
It is a lame reason, but I also need to progress with the diet a bit because I will be traveling for work next week and would like to be able to eat some more things to make it easier. Having to go to restaurants for business lunches and traveling for work while gluten free/dairy free makes me super stressed out so the idea of traveling on the GAPS diet has resulted in 'wake up at 5:00 in the morning thinking about it' stress. I do not need to stress.
I soaked raw, organic almonds, walnuts, and sunflower seeds in salt water last night and they are currently dehydrating at the moment - It took all of my strength not to eat one as I was putting them on the trays. Maybe I will eat one tomorrow?
Meals for today and yesterday were all the same (except for the squash pancake) - Zucchini and broccoli soup with 'onion gravy', fresh basil, and either chicken or hamburger.
Oh - also tried one of my lacto-fermented pickles tonight. I don't know what it is suppose to taste like exactly, but it tastes like a pickle! They have been in there since May 19th, so they should be ready to eat.
P.S. Our mouse-guest turned up his nose at the colby jack I left for him in the live trap. We are trying feta tonight - hopefully he will like that better :)
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
GAPS Intro Diet - Day 1 & 2
So to sum up for Stage One, Day One
The only thing the children were happy with on Day 1 was the tiny shot glass of kraut juice. They managed to eat a little chicken, squash and some broth. Maybe one meatball. I think the frozen soups altered in texture and my family prefers freshly cooked food. The smells of the stock were also not appreciated. We all got our Epsom Salt and Baking Soda bath (did a mix) and L was asleep in my lap before we left the bathroom. When I got out of my bath, the skin on my back peeled. I have read that magnesium can do that, but it was still strange. N and I went to sleep around 8:30 and she woke up dry heaving at 3:30 a.m. Intermittent dry heaving/sleeping for 90 minutes. I think she had about a tablespoon of coconut oil over the course of the day and some more before bed on some squash and that is what caused it. Coconut oil is powerful.
Day Two
I mixed the cauliflower soup and squash soup and enjoyed that for breakfast. The girls didn't really eat - they had ginger tea and L ate some boiled chicken. The girls ate a decent lunch of boiled carrots and broccoli topped with chicken "butter" - yea! L drank her broth, N passed.
N wants to know when dates are back on the diet, or lentils, or blueberries, or larabars, or Sunbutter, or fruit, or lentils, or coconut, or dates (did I mention that?). She's been asking the same questions all day! She finally picked up the ebook "30 Days on Intro" to look for where the lentil recipes are and couldn't find any. Disappointing! Tonight I talked her through the Stages and the foods on them again and hopefully that helped. She is planning the celebration cake we will have - complete with dried fruit bits stuck into the yogurt icing.
L went in the pantry today (as I was up to my wrists in raw chicken) and found the coconut flakes and was preparing to eat them. I told her they were old and Papa was going to take them to work. She threw the bag on the floor in disgust!
Tonight for dinner I made the Italian Casserole from the GAPS book - whole chicken simmered in a low oven for three hours with carrots and onions. I'm going to serve the meat and veg on a plate and broth in a cup.
C took his three thermoses to work and did well today. But he forgot his salt so we'll have to help him remember tomorrow. He also took kraut juice and weak coffee. Apparently his office mates were wowed with the smells that came from his three thermoses - and perhaps not in a great way.
Seriously the past three batches of soups have been my worst cooking in about 11 years. The last bad meal (in that no one wanted to eat it) I made was when too many jalapenos made their way into some creamy corn chowder and we had to toss the whole batch.
We are all doing well - not noticing anything out of the ordinary today. I hope we can move along in the stages and also find some good and tasty recipes. BUT we've got to get the broth into N. It seems that coconut icecream - made with coconut milk and frozen fruit in the Vitamix - might be the motivating factor for N. She wants her grandparents to try that when they visit in July - and she wants in on the action!
To help our children understand this portion of the diet better - we call GAPS Intro "Deep Healing" and Full GAPS "Healing" - we've been explaining that drinking the broth is like putting a band-aid on the inside of there tummies so hopefully they can try new foods like eggs and ghee. I keep (gently) reminding them of this as we eat and it is helping.
Apple Cider Vinegar bath for us all tonight.
One day at a time on this journey and hoping tonight is quieter than last!
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
GAPS Intro Diet - Day 12 (Stage 2)
Guess what came in the mail today?! My Excalibur food dehydrator! I am such a dork, I know. I am pretty excited about it because although I am much more satisfied with the soup than I thought I would be (considering I have had it basically for three meals every day for the last 12 days) I really could go for something crunchy... i.e. nuts. Since all nuts have to be raw/organic nuts and then soaked for 24 hours and then dehydrated for 24 hours (nothing is that simple on GAPS) I am planning to make up a bunch and keep them in the fridge until I can eat them - which is sooner than you might think (late Stage 3). Plus I can also eventually make yogurt either out of goat milk or cow milk, if I end up being able to tolerate it, which would be exciting. Pre-GAPS diet I was buying this goat milk kefir from a company called Redwood Hill Farm (Whole Foods carries it) and I loved it, and even better, had no problems with digestion.
I also must share the best soup trick I have discovered so far on the diet (maybe you will have better luck with getting the girls to eat it this way Kathryn). The trick I have found to making all of the soups taste better is to add in 'gravy.' What I do is when I cook chicken in the crock pot I layer the bottom of the pot with onions, garlic, and fresh herbs - I have tried both basil and sage, but you could omit herbs for stage one and just do onions. When the chicken is cooked, I take it out and use my immersion blender to blend up the onions and juices in the bottom of the pot. Once chilled it becomes solid, like gravy, with a rich delicious flavor. Then I just add a few spoons to each pot of soup. I have also been adding fresh herbs to the soups which has helped a lot to change up the flavor, especially considering I am either eating zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, or a mixture of all three soups, so not a lot of variety.
I have just taken out my last two mason jars of soup out of the fridge to thaw for Thursday... looks like I have a bunch of cooking to do this weekend to restock the freezer. Thank goodness I am only feeding myself on this diet (sorry K), I don't think I could cook enough for more people - I already feel like I am cooking/washing dishes all the time.
I realize that I never really indicated what 'Stage One' allows you to eat versus 'Stage Two' so for clarification, Stage One allows you to have:
Breakfast: Zucchini and broccoli soup with hamburger
(zuch, onions, broccoli, basil/onion gravy, hamburger, egg yolk, fresh basil on top)
Lunch: Same as breakfast
Dinner: Celery root puree mixed with leftover soup, egg yolk, chicken, sauerkraut juice and sauerkraut.
(celery root is tolerable when mixed with copious amounts of gravy or into soup)
Feelings/Reactions: I was feeling fine until I ate dinner and now I am feeling loopy and slightly nauseous sick. If this post is reflective of that, I apologize. I am wondering could it have been the raw egg yolk, which I thought at least got partially cooked in the hot soup? Could it be the chicken stock from the fridge I used to thin the puree - I threw it away out of fear. Is it a GAPS reaction? I do not know.
Also, I discovered while quietly typing here that a little mouse has decided to take up residence in our apartment and is sauntering ever so carelessly across our checkered kitchen floor. Do you think if I leave him a recipe for some soup he could restock my freezer? You know- like that movie Ratatouille?? Oh wait, that was about a rat wasn't it.
I also must share the best soup trick I have discovered so far on the diet (maybe you will have better luck with getting the girls to eat it this way Kathryn). The trick I have found to making all of the soups taste better is to add in 'gravy.' What I do is when I cook chicken in the crock pot I layer the bottom of the pot with onions, garlic, and fresh herbs - I have tried both basil and sage, but you could omit herbs for stage one and just do onions. When the chicken is cooked, I take it out and use my immersion blender to blend up the onions and juices in the bottom of the pot. Once chilled it becomes solid, like gravy, with a rich delicious flavor. Then I just add a few spoons to each pot of soup. I have also been adding fresh herbs to the soups which has helped a lot to change up the flavor, especially considering I am either eating zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, or a mixture of all three soups, so not a lot of variety.
I have just taken out my last two mason jars of soup out of the fridge to thaw for Thursday... looks like I have a bunch of cooking to do this weekend to restock the freezer. Thank goodness I am only feeding myself on this diet (sorry K), I don't think I could cook enough for more people - I already feel like I am cooking/washing dishes all the time.
I realize that I never really indicated what 'Stage One' allows you to eat versus 'Stage Two' so for clarification, Stage One allows you to have:
- meat or fish stock
- well cooked (boiled) broccoli, cauliflower, squash (summer and winter), onions, carrots and leeks
- boiled meat (I always slow cooked my meat, which is probably a cheat, but boiled meat is a waste of money because all the flavor goes away...)
- sea salt (I cheated here with pepper and organic dried sage)
- 1-2 teaspoons of sauerkraut juice
- fresh herbs
- fermented vegetables (kimchi, pickles, sauerkraut)
- fermented fish (I haven't even entertained the idea of making this!)
- egg yolk
- ghee
- stews and casseroles made with meat and vegetables
Breakfast: Zucchini and broccoli soup with hamburger
(zuch, onions, broccoli, basil/onion gravy, hamburger, egg yolk, fresh basil on top)
Lunch: Same as breakfast
Dinner: Celery root puree mixed with leftover soup, egg yolk, chicken, sauerkraut juice and sauerkraut.
(celery root is tolerable when mixed with copious amounts of gravy or into soup)
Feelings/Reactions: I was feeling fine until I ate dinner and now I am feeling loopy and slightly nauseous sick. If this post is reflective of that, I apologize. I am wondering could it have been the raw egg yolk, which I thought at least got partially cooked in the hot soup? Could it be the chicken stock from the fridge I used to thin the puree - I threw it away out of fear. Is it a GAPS reaction? I do not know.
Also, I discovered while quietly typing here that a little mouse has decided to take up residence in our apartment and is sauntering ever so carelessly across our checkered kitchen floor. Do you think if I leave him a recipe for some soup he could restock my freezer? You know- like that movie Ratatouille?? Oh wait, that was about a rat wasn't it.
Day One, Stage One - Snapshots
We've had cauliflower/zucchini soup, squash/broth and squash soup, so far. Broccoli with turkey meatball coming up tonight. I feel fine and not hungry - thirsty though! C started intro at lunch, when he came home to eat soup. The girls are not really eating, just a few no thank you bites, but they are drinking water.
A few snapshots of our first day.
L wakes to say, "I hear the 'nata calling (garbanzo bean flour pancake)."
Me: "We don't have any, L."
L: "That's ok, we can just have jelly!"
N about breakfast soup - "I'm not eating that." Cauliflower/zuc
N about second breakfast - Squash on the side with broth in a cup. "This smells like feet! Chicken feet! Is there chicken feet in here? I'm not eating it!"
N and L at snack - "I don't like it." Specifically, the soup, according to N is dry.
Hmmmm.....what will dinner bring? The broccoli soup with turkey meat balls is warming now. I'm choosing to remain relaxed and have faith that one of these soups will be the magic recipe!
Meanwhile, on tap tonight three rounds of detox baths! More later....
A few snapshots of our first day.
L wakes to say, "I hear the 'nata calling (garbanzo bean flour pancake)."
Me: "We don't have any, L."
L: "That's ok, we can just have jelly!"
N about breakfast soup - "I'm not eating that." Cauliflower/zuc
N about second breakfast - Squash on the side with broth in a cup. "This smells like feet! Chicken feet! Is there chicken feet in here? I'm not eating it!"
N and L at snack - "I don't like it." Specifically, the soup, according to N is dry.
Hmmmm.....what will dinner bring? The broccoli soup with turkey meat balls is warming now. I'm choosing to remain relaxed and have faith that one of these soups will be the magic recipe!
Meanwhile, on tap tonight three rounds of detox baths! More later....
Sunday, June 3, 2012
GAPS Intro Diet - Day 9 and 10 (Stage 2)
I am happy to report that my physical fatigue seems to have diminished this weekend - which is great news. Whether it is due to the introduction of the egg yolk or my body has just adjusted, I am not quite sure. I also discovered that the trick with the egg yolk in the soup is that the soup needs to be fairly hot otherwise the coldness of the yolk just makes the soup taste gross.
I also have a confession to make.....I cooked some pig yesterday for dinner. I haven't eaten pig since Christmas 2008, (yeah, I am weird and remember the last time I eat things). One weekend when I was buying some of those lovely eggs from my farmer at the market, he asked if I liked pork because their meat was very good. I replied that I didn't eat pigs (not sure I can say this anymore) and he said that if I ever decided to try some theirs was the ones you should eat since they are pastured and encouraged to do 'pig' things, like wallow and root around. So in anticipation of getting sick of eating chicken and beef on this diet, I decided to buy it. I have had the small piece of pig in the freezer for a few weeks since frankly, I just felt guilty about purchasing it in the first place. But yesterday, when I was balking at the idea of another meal of soup, I took it out and plopped it in the slow cooker. I also stopped by the health food store and got 2 large celery roots. Celery root is this ugly brown knob that you peel up and boil like potatoes and then you can mash it and have faux-tatoes. I had never eaten celery root before until a few weeks ago when I was testing out this whole 'no grain' diet to see how it was. Celery root was touted online as the solution to a potato-less diet. When I made it before I loved it and raved to Kathryn about the deliciousness of this ugly root. So I thought in my head, oh well I'll make this whole comfort food meal - pulled pork, mashed celery root, it will be great. I must admit the pork was good and very flavorful, but it was strangely unsatisfying and it made me a little loopy/light headed, which was an interesting reaction. It is the same loopy feeling I get when I eat preservatives like sulfur dioxide or lactose. As for the celery root puree, I just couldn't stand the taste. I ate two bites of it and was grossed out. So much for my comfort food dinner...
Nothing that new or eventful today except that I injured myself like three times in a row - GAPS Tip: never overfill your mason jars full of soup that are going in the freezer. That note on the Internet you read about mason jars cracking as the food freezes is not a lie. So what do I do after seeing said cracked mason jar filled with my would-be lunch, but bitterly reach my hand to grab it out and slice my thumb open on a hunk of glass. That felt good. Then I proceeded to slice the sides of two fingers when my sharp, but not sharp enough, knife slipped as I was cutting an onion. Oh and I cut myself last night by accident too - but that wasn't the knife's fault, hard to be the knifes fault when you bring down the blade on your own finger. Ahh the perils of GAPS. So I decided to eat some raw, fermented carrots I bought as a comfort to my injuries. So far, so good, granted fermentation is suppose to take out the sugars from the food so it isn't exactly a test of whether I can eat carrots with no reaction, but still.
Only other thing to report is that I randomly started crying this afternoon on the couch. No reason, just had a need to cry. Alex was a little concerned because I don't typically cry for no reason. Perhaps it is some detox sign?? I hope so.
Food today -
Breakfast - Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup with sauerkraut juice on the side
(with hamburger, onions, egg yolk, garlic)
Snack - Pork
(didn't make me loopy this time)
Lunch - Zucchini Soup, leftover pork
(soup with egg yolk and hamburger)
Snack - Sauerkraut
Dinner - Zucchini soup, chicken on the side, sauerkraut juice
Meal thoughts - Zucchini soup was super good - zucchini is from the farmers market, so very fresh and so is my chicken. I need to make more broth so I bought a whole one at the market today.
Other - detox bath - baking soda. Debating on adding in low dose of probiotics to see if I get any reactions.
I also have a confession to make.....I cooked some pig yesterday for dinner. I haven't eaten pig since Christmas 2008, (yeah, I am weird and remember the last time I eat things). One weekend when I was buying some of those lovely eggs from my farmer at the market, he asked if I liked pork because their meat was very good. I replied that I didn't eat pigs (not sure I can say this anymore) and he said that if I ever decided to try some theirs was the ones you should eat since they are pastured and encouraged to do 'pig' things, like wallow and root around. So in anticipation of getting sick of eating chicken and beef on this diet, I decided to buy it. I have had the small piece of pig in the freezer for a few weeks since frankly, I just felt guilty about purchasing it in the first place. But yesterday, when I was balking at the idea of another meal of soup, I took it out and plopped it in the slow cooker. I also stopped by the health food store and got 2 large celery roots. Celery root is this ugly brown knob that you peel up and boil like potatoes and then you can mash it and have faux-tatoes. I had never eaten celery root before until a few weeks ago when I was testing out this whole 'no grain' diet to see how it was. Celery root was touted online as the solution to a potato-less diet. When I made it before I loved it and raved to Kathryn about the deliciousness of this ugly root. So I thought in my head, oh well I'll make this whole comfort food meal - pulled pork, mashed celery root, it will be great. I must admit the pork was good and very flavorful, but it was strangely unsatisfying and it made me a little loopy/light headed, which was an interesting reaction. It is the same loopy feeling I get when I eat preservatives like sulfur dioxide or lactose. As for the celery root puree, I just couldn't stand the taste. I ate two bites of it and was grossed out. So much for my comfort food dinner...
Nothing that new or eventful today except that I injured myself like three times in a row - GAPS Tip: never overfill your mason jars full of soup that are going in the freezer. That note on the Internet you read about mason jars cracking as the food freezes is not a lie. So what do I do after seeing said cracked mason jar filled with my would-be lunch, but bitterly reach my hand to grab it out and slice my thumb open on a hunk of glass. That felt good. Then I proceeded to slice the sides of two fingers when my sharp, but not sharp enough, knife slipped as I was cutting an onion. Oh and I cut myself last night by accident too - but that wasn't the knife's fault, hard to be the knifes fault when you bring down the blade on your own finger. Ahh the perils of GAPS. So I decided to eat some raw, fermented carrots I bought as a comfort to my injuries. So far, so good, granted fermentation is suppose to take out the sugars from the food so it isn't exactly a test of whether I can eat carrots with no reaction, but still.
Only other thing to report is that I randomly started crying this afternoon on the couch. No reason, just had a need to cry. Alex was a little concerned because I don't typically cry for no reason. Perhaps it is some detox sign?? I hope so.
Food today -
Breakfast - Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup with sauerkraut juice on the side
(with hamburger, onions, egg yolk, garlic)
Snack - Pork
(didn't make me loopy this time)
Lunch - Zucchini Soup, leftover pork
(soup with egg yolk and hamburger)
Snack - Sauerkraut
Dinner - Zucchini soup, chicken on the side, sauerkraut juice
Meal thoughts - Zucchini soup was super good - zucchini is from the farmers market, so very fresh and so is my chicken. I need to make more broth so I bought a whole one at the market today.
Other - detox bath - baking soda. Debating on adding in low dose of probiotics to see if I get any reactions.
Friday, June 1, 2012
GAPS Intro Diet - Day 8 (Stage 2)
So I started Stage 2 of the diet today by adding an egg yolk to my soup at dinner. My eggs are from a really lovely farm that sells their meat and eggs at the Carroll Gardens farmers market. The farm is "Animal Welfare Approved" and every week when I buy meat or eggs the farmer tells me about the animals and their philosophy of doing things 'the right way'. The cost of meat is of course more expensive, but since I am eating cows I want them to be happy, 100% grass fed cows - better for me and better for the environment. They also sell chickens - $41 for a chicken!! I bought a half last week because I just couldn't mentally spend that much and it really was one of the most delicious chickens I have ever eaten. The eggs are super delicious too and since the chickens forage for bugs and only really eat some feed in the wintertime the yolks in the eggs are the brightest neon orange color I have ever seen. So how did I enjoy my dinnertime soup with the egg yolk mixed in? I did not enjoy it. Believe me, I don't have issues eating eggs raw so I don't know why I didn't like it, the taste just seemed off to me. I really wanted to like it, but I just couldn't finish the soup. I am going to try again tomorrow and hope it tastes better. Tonight I also felt like I was on the verge of a craving, I am just getting bored of eating soup for three meals a day, so maybe I will cook meat, vegetables, and drink a cup of broth on the side and see how that goes.
Reflecting on the first week of GAPS I must say I am pretty pleased with the diet. I was bracing myself for the nausea, flu like symptoms, headaches, etc. that I had read other people experience during the first days of intro. My only consistent symptom seems to be the physical exhaustion - and it is not really the kind of 'fall asleep in the middle of the day' fatigue. I am just fine sitting at a desk or on the couch and I don't have problems thinking (except late at night when I am trying to write these posts!), I just have physical exhaustion when standing/moving/walking. Other than the fatigue, I had the headache last Saturday, some muscle cramping, increased thirst, and my skin has broken out. Oh and apparently I have been informed that I have GAPS breath - aka my breath smells like a bunch of vegetables and the smell doesn't go away with brushing or mouthwash. Hmmm...lovely. Though it sounds like a lot it really hasn't been that bad. My stomach has felt great - stomach loves stage 1 intro.
I am planning to try the sweeter vegetables that have given me trouble in the past - i.e. carrots and butternut squash (I have some waiting for me in the freezer) maybe next week. I have been totally fine with onions this past week which was another item I avoided in the past. My guess is I will do just fine with a few pieces, but if I tried to make butternut squash soup that would not go over so well. We will see. I am also excited to eventually try honey. Eating honey is like an instant reaction for me, but I have been doing some reading about how some beekeepers feed their bees sugar water and a large majority of honey is so highly processed that it isn't really honey anymore and I am wondering if a raw, more organic honey would have less of an impact on me. I am excited to try it - eventually.
Oh and another positive note is that I have lost almost 6 lbs this week on the diet. Seems incredibly fast, but I am sure it is the low carbs, plus being satisfied by the soup due to the high fat content that has helped. I have had problems in the past with eating a full meal and still being hungry or never being satisfied with my food - always wanting something else. I am thankfully not experiencing that at all on GAPS. I did expect to lose weight on this diet, for my body to normalize itself a bit since the past couple of months have not been good for the digestion. For me, poor digestion = weight gain. So I am glad the scale is going in the opposite direction.
In fact, in regards to the fat consumption, GAPS is the opposite of every diet I have ever been on and the opposite of what I was taught about fat, especially about animal fat. My weight watchers points would probably through the roof every day given the spoons of 'pate' I put into my soup so it is crazy to think that I have been eating what is seems like such a high fat diet and still having weight loss. We are taught that if you eat fat you get fat, when that is not necessarily the case I guess. Sometimes my soups are so glossy with fat that they look the same glossy way that chocolate looks when it is melted - not quite the same taste though!
Today's Menu
Breakfast: Zucchini Soup with Chicken
Lunch: Zucchini and Broccoli Soup with Hamburger
Dinner: Zucchini and Broccoli Soup with Beef Stew meat + egg yolk, Sauerkraut
Snack: Hamburger and onions
Detox Bath: Baking soda
K - Yes, starting GAPS with 6 straight days of work is probably going to be tough on C. However, I am sure it will be really helpful if you are preparing his food - it is hard to come home and be hungry and feel like you don't have anything to eat immediately. Day one I learned to always have soup defrosting in the fridge or in a saucepan. So C won't have that problem at least. My thermoses - if primed properly with boiling water and left to sit for 10 minutes will keep soup hot (it will still burn you) for 8 hours, warm up to 12. Pack lots of food the first day - more for the mental aspect since you can't just run out and grab a snack. Plus I don't know how hungry he will get. I am curious how it will go for you all too and what kind of reactions you might have. I think if you keep the carbs up you won't be as fatigued as I am, though I think (hope) this is a 'healing' response for me.
I am treating myself to a massage tomorrow - so excited!
Reflecting on the first week of GAPS I must say I am pretty pleased with the diet. I was bracing myself for the nausea, flu like symptoms, headaches, etc. that I had read other people experience during the first days of intro. My only consistent symptom seems to be the physical exhaustion - and it is not really the kind of 'fall asleep in the middle of the day' fatigue. I am just fine sitting at a desk or on the couch and I don't have problems thinking (except late at night when I am trying to write these posts!), I just have physical exhaustion when standing/moving/walking. Other than the fatigue, I had the headache last Saturday, some muscle cramping, increased thirst, and my skin has broken out. Oh and apparently I have been informed that I have GAPS breath - aka my breath smells like a bunch of vegetables and the smell doesn't go away with brushing or mouthwash. Hmmm...lovely. Though it sounds like a lot it really hasn't been that bad. My stomach has felt great - stomach loves stage 1 intro.
I am planning to try the sweeter vegetables that have given me trouble in the past - i.e. carrots and butternut squash (I have some waiting for me in the freezer) maybe next week. I have been totally fine with onions this past week which was another item I avoided in the past. My guess is I will do just fine with a few pieces, but if I tried to make butternut squash soup that would not go over so well. We will see. I am also excited to eventually try honey. Eating honey is like an instant reaction for me, but I have been doing some reading about how some beekeepers feed their bees sugar water and a large majority of honey is so highly processed that it isn't really honey anymore and I am wondering if a raw, more organic honey would have less of an impact on me. I am excited to try it - eventually.
Oh and another positive note is that I have lost almost 6 lbs this week on the diet. Seems incredibly fast, but I am sure it is the low carbs, plus being satisfied by the soup due to the high fat content that has helped. I have had problems in the past with eating a full meal and still being hungry or never being satisfied with my food - always wanting something else. I am thankfully not experiencing that at all on GAPS. I did expect to lose weight on this diet, for my body to normalize itself a bit since the past couple of months have not been good for the digestion. For me, poor digestion = weight gain. So I am glad the scale is going in the opposite direction.
In fact, in regards to the fat consumption, GAPS is the opposite of every diet I have ever been on and the opposite of what I was taught about fat, especially about animal fat. My weight watchers points would probably through the roof every day given the spoons of 'pate' I put into my soup so it is crazy to think that I have been eating what is seems like such a high fat diet and still having weight loss. We are taught that if you eat fat you get fat, when that is not necessarily the case I guess. Sometimes my soups are so glossy with fat that they look the same glossy way that chocolate looks when it is melted - not quite the same taste though!
Today's Menu
Breakfast: Zucchini Soup with Chicken
Lunch: Zucchini and Broccoli Soup with Hamburger
Dinner: Zucchini and Broccoli Soup with Beef Stew meat + egg yolk, Sauerkraut
Snack: Hamburger and onions
Detox Bath: Baking soda
K - Yes, starting GAPS with 6 straight days of work is probably going to be tough on C. However, I am sure it will be really helpful if you are preparing his food - it is hard to come home and be hungry and feel like you don't have anything to eat immediately. Day one I learned to always have soup defrosting in the fridge or in a saucepan. So C won't have that problem at least. My thermoses - if primed properly with boiling water and left to sit for 10 minutes will keep soup hot (it will still burn you) for 8 hours, warm up to 12. Pack lots of food the first day - more for the mental aspect since you can't just run out and grab a snack. Plus I don't know how hungry he will get. I am curious how it will go for you all too and what kind of reactions you might have. I think if you keep the carbs up you won't be as fatigued as I am, though I think (hope) this is a 'healing' response for me.
I am treating myself to a massage tomorrow - so excited!
Thoughts on Fatigue
It is really interesting reading how Intro is going for you, Emily. I am wondering how things will be for us next week. We have scheduled ourselves to start just when C has to work 6 days in a row coming off a trip from the East Coast ... hmmmm. I really want to make sure he does alright on GAPS so he experiences some benefit and doesn't feel like he has to stop. We have some friends who followed GAPS and one member of the family ate fruit throughout Intro and still received benefit, so I am optimistic. Of course, fatigue is not my favorite thing, but perhaps better than other possibilities!
So I do understand that fatigue can be part of the detox process and also from the switch to low carb. I wonder also if it is just related to the healing process - sleep is when our body restores and rebuilds itself, so it seems normal that if your body was increasing in that capacity you would need more sleep.
I know you are not eating winter squash and carrots yet. When do you plan to add these in? I would think a small amount cooked might be interesting to try.
Reading your posts does encourage me to rethink some of our menu items to be sure to include more winter squash and carrots from the beginning since they seem to be foods we tolerate. I do have a good stash of squash in the pantry and freezer. I suspect I could benefit from leaving them out a while, but might have to go back and deal with that later on my own.
Fats are also supposed to help - the variety of animal fats, coconut oil, egg yolks, etc - so it will be interesting to see what happens when you add more of these in. I have read the more, the merrier and the faster the healing!
So a tricky part of this process to determine if you are having the "healing crisis" or a symptom of something else - learning to pay attention to our body's language or even learning our body's language is part of this. It is interesting how babies and small children are SO good at this - they know when they are thirsty, full, hungry, need to eat less because of illness or more for a growth spurt. And if you are feeding them a healthy, whole foods diet they often balance their meals throughout the day or week. Nursing babies even know which breast they last nursed from! It's hard when you've lost that skill and have to go back to relearn it, but I think it is not too hard to relearn. Our body wants us to.
I saw this post on fatigue while on GAPS and thought it had some food for thought!
http://nourishedandnurtured.blogspot.com/2012/01/troubleshooting-energy-problems-while.html
So I do understand that fatigue can be part of the detox process and also from the switch to low carb. I wonder also if it is just related to the healing process - sleep is when our body restores and rebuilds itself, so it seems normal that if your body was increasing in that capacity you would need more sleep.
I know you are not eating winter squash and carrots yet. When do you plan to add these in? I would think a small amount cooked might be interesting to try.
Reading your posts does encourage me to rethink some of our menu items to be sure to include more winter squash and carrots from the beginning since they seem to be foods we tolerate. I do have a good stash of squash in the pantry and freezer. I suspect I could benefit from leaving them out a while, but might have to go back and deal with that later on my own.
Fats are also supposed to help - the variety of animal fats, coconut oil, egg yolks, etc - so it will be interesting to see what happens when you add more of these in. I have read the more, the merrier and the faster the healing!
So a tricky part of this process to determine if you are having the "healing crisis" or a symptom of something else - learning to pay attention to our body's language or even learning our body's language is part of this. It is interesting how babies and small children are SO good at this - they know when they are thirsty, full, hungry, need to eat less because of illness or more for a growth spurt. And if you are feeding them a healthy, whole foods diet they often balance their meals throughout the day or week. Nursing babies even know which breast they last nursed from! It's hard when you've lost that skill and have to go back to relearn it, but I think it is not too hard to relearn. Our body wants us to.
I saw this post on fatigue while on GAPS and thought it had some food for thought!
http://nourishedandnurtured.blogspot.com/2012/01/troubleshooting-energy-problems-while.html
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