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!
So glad things are going well - you all sound like you have been very busy! Cooking for this diet and thinking about this diet can be very time consuming and require a lot of planning. I have been too lazy to really experiment too much with different meals and have relied on soup for the most part - your meals sound delicious and I am glad the girls are enjoying them!
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