GAPS, Stage 3 Summary

We entered into Stage 3 around seven days into our diet.  It was a nice change--Stage 3 of GAPS brings some new flavors to the equation, which is wonderful.  Made some interesting discoveries here, such as:

Avocado--I like avocado!  I have never had it before.  If you haven't either, it has a creamy texture, kind of like smooth mashed potatoes.  It has a lingering butter aftertaste.  Definitely a pleasant surprise!  I don't like how quickly they go bad, though, and if I only eat half of one, the other half usually goes to waste.  I did find a suggestion online that someone put a slice of onion in the same container as some uneaten peeled avocado, and it supposedly kept the rest of the avocado from going bad.  I'll have to try it.

GAPS pancakes--these were a bit dry, but better than nothing.  I think I might tweak the recipe a bit, and will probably make them completely differently once fruit is involved (I'm thinking banana).

Scrambled eggs--I was so excited to add these.  I've been wanting scrambled eggs so badly, so I was very disappointed to have nausea a few hours after I ate the eggs.  I must have a sensitivity to egg protein as well as a dairy issue, but that's how it goes, I guess.  Thinking that maybe something just didn't sit right, I tried again a few days later.  While I didn't feel bad a few hours after I ate them that time, I did find myself fairly nauseous again the next morning when I woke up.  I'll have to remove them and wait a few weeks, then try to introduce them again.  Kind of threw a wrench into things. 

Sauerkraut--I was happy to have a successful batch of sauerkraut!  I got the juice out of the first ferment, and had instructions on how to re-ferment to get more juice out of the cabbage, which I did.  However, after that second brine, I found the sauerkraut too salty to eat, so I'll be starting over to make a fresh batch for eating.  We have plenty of juice right now!

Nut butters--I can't tell you how excited I was to add nut butters to the food list!  The thing is, I'm short on time as it is--when would I find time to make my own peanut butter?  So when I went to the grocery store, I checked out all of the peanut butter in the aisle, and what did I find?  Smucker's natural creamy peanut butter, with the only ingredients listed being peanuts and less than 1% salt.  I bought two jars!  Hey, I have to save time where I can, plus it's good!  It actually needs to be refrigerated once it's opened.  I didn't buy any almond butter, and I might attempt to make that one day myself, but for now, jarred peanut butter has been a blessing.

Purchased a juicer--what a great contraption!  It seems to have an incredible motor in it.  It made carrots disappear faster than a rabbit!  I made a small jar of carrot juice with it so far, and look forward to the option of having juices with breakfast soon.

I have a confession: I made crackers to go with my soups.  I borrowed a little from Stage 4 and made almond meal crackers for soups--a Godsend!  They're quite tasty.  I'll try to post the recipe in my Stage 4 summary.

Summary: Despite being able to vary the foods we're eating now, I'm finding it harder as the time goes by to fight cravings, not for sweet foods or bread, but for comfort foods.  It seems like my cravings for things I can't have are increasing, and I don't know if that's normal or not--I haven't found any answers online.  At times I'm fixated on things I would rather have, but can't.  Little Caesar's commercials do not help at all, and it seems like they are on constantly (I'm guessing in preparation for the upcoming Super Bowl).  I think I'm starting to get my appetite back now that I don't have to eat just soup, so that's a plus.  I have noticed that I tend to be hungrier during the day when I'm working.  I think it's stress-related.  However, I'm enjoying not feeling bloated and uncomfortable after eating meals, which happened quite frequently before we started.  That's certainly an improvement!  It is getting easier to follow this plan, though.  I stand by the first two stages being the hardest, and if you can make it through those, you can make it through Intro!

GAPS Diet, Stage 1 & 2

The GAPS diet is supposed to be a really good diet for healing and sealing your digestive system, especially if you have (or have developed) problems like I have.  I believe that I have leaky gut, which has led to an inability to eat anything dairy-related (a good description of leaky gut can be found here).  I needed to heal my dairy allergy and prevent new ones from developing, so we started the Intro Diet on January 1.  I have to say, I thought I was somewhat prepared, but I knew that it was going to be a lot of work.

That was the understatement of the year (so far).

Meatball soup

The first stage might be considered the hardest; however, there's little difference between the first and second stages, so maybe they should just all be one looong stage.  But it seems to be the foundation for healing, so I won't complain.  We spent a total of 3 days on the first stage, and then four days on the second stage, which consists of eating lots of homemade broth, soups made from the broth, meat, certain veggies, and a lot of fat.  In the second stage you can also add egg yolk to the soups for more protein and nutrients.  I ended up ordering leaf lard online from Tendergrass Farms, and have been using it faithfully to add fat to the already fatty soup stocks--you're supposed to have a large amount of animal fat along with the homemade broth, as both are supposed to contain a lot of healing minerals and nutrients essential for the intestinal lining.  The high fat content also helps to keep you feeling full after you've eaten, and it really did seem to do that for both of us.  In fact, we really had little appetite when we started!  We've come up with several recipes for soup, all of which contain meat, carrots, zucchini, squash, yellow squash, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, and leeks.  Soups do get old when you have to use the same ingredients over and over again, but we did come up with one that we really liked: meatball soup!  Recipe at the bottom.

We experienced some die-off symptoms over the first three days, but they seem to have leveled out.  We're both ready for "real food" instead of soup for every meal, but it's so important to remember that this is good for us.  I've had success making sauerkraut, and will be adding the juice to our diet to up the probiotics.  Thanks to my sister for an Amazon gift card and to a friend for recommending the Picklemeister (left)!  It's a great invention, and I had sauerkraut on my first attempt using it.

My summary of Stage 1 & 2:
It's very tough.  It's especially hard when you are completely changing your eating to reflect this healing mindset.  I don't know how families do it together, because it's also incredibly expensive (and we've only been doing what we can, so not 100% following the guidelines), it's time consuming, and the food really isn't that great.  However, my hubby and I have already lost some weight, and and I think I've felt a little better.  Dairy still doesn't agree with me, though, as I found out when I thought it'd be fun to try and add some clarified butter to a bowl of soup one morning.  Oh well.  I think that if you can make it through the first and second stage, you'll be okay. 

Okay, running out of time.  Here's the recipe for the meatball soup:

GAPS-friendly Meatball Soup (still good if you're not on GAPS)
Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

1 lb. ground pork

2 qts. beef stock

1 qt. water

1 C (8 oz) broccoli florets

1 C (8 oz) cauliflower

1 medium onion, cut into large chunks

2-3 TBSP lard

Salt, pepper, sage, rosemary, thyme, dill to taste

4 cloves chopped garlic

Combine stock, water, broccoli, cauliflower, and onion in a large (7 qt) pot and cook veggies until soft.  While veggies cook, combine ground beef and pork in a bowl with plenty of salt and pepper.  Form into one inch balls and set on a plate.  When veggies are semi-soft, add meatballs, one at a time, to boiling stock.  Allow to continue to cook for another 20 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through.  Add salt, pepper, herbs and garlic and cook for another 10-15 minutes.  Yields approximately 6 servings (approximately 12 cups).

GAPS: The Good and The Bad

This is the post that I naively started on January 1, 2015, the first day on the GAPS Intro diet:

"Happy New Year!  2015 is officially here.  We spent New Year's Eve eating lots of things that we were going to have to give up, which was fun and tasty.  Say goodbye to old habits (brownies and cookie dough) and hello to the new ones (soups, fresh meats, veggies)!

Along with ushering in the new year comes our GAPS diet.  I will admit that I still feel overwhelmed with all of the work and prepping that goes into preparing our meals now, even with all that I did beforehand to be ready.  I got up this morning with determination and a loose plan:

Breakfast carrot-squash soup

Drink my mineral water
Make breakfast soup:
Assemble ingredients for other soups and get those started
Make coconut honey bites--a mix of 1 C unrefined solid coconut oil and 2 TBSP raw honey
Attempt a new batch of sauerkraut--Picklemeister
Clean the kitchen as needed, keep washing dishes as used

Whew!  On top of that, I also needed to clean up the kitchen, take out the trash from last night, rearrange the pantry to make some more room for things that were going away for a while, get down our Vitamix that my in-laws gave us, and try to find a place to store the microwave, which is now on the do-not-use list.  I'll miss that convenience.

Veggies prepped for the freezer, for using in soups

I probably won't post daily on this, because time just won't allow it.  I'm keeping a journal, and I might post a once-a-week update and summary of how things are going, along with recipes from the week.  I can honestly say that if it wasn't for this dairy intolerance, I wouldn't embark on this lifestyle change.  But I need to heal it, so here we are.  I truly appreciate my husband's willingness to go through this with me, and I know that we'll feel better.  The first step (and first day) is always the hardest when trying something new and completely unfamiliar, so patience and planning will be essential to our success.  It's not that the food isn't good; I thought my breakfast soup was tasty!  I'm just used to toast and orange juice or cereal for breakfast, and I'll miss those things, at least until the bad bacteria is gone.  I'm looking forward to the good things that we'll be able to eat soon, and I think the coconut honey bites will be a necessary snack for right now."

Oh, that's so cute. 

Since I started that post, I've had literally no time to do much of anything besides sleep, work, cook, eat, shop for more food, and do dishes.  I have had no time at all to post anything here, which I correctly predicted 11 days ago.  I have kept a journal, though, and tracked not only the foods we've eaten, but also our transitions through the first phases and the probiotic dosages that we've been having.  I won't lie, it's been tough.  I'll probably never want to eat soup again when this is all over.  But we're starting to introduce other foods now, which is helpful. 

I'll try to post a few updates for the stages (we're currently in Phase 3) in a few days, just to give anyone new/unfamiliar with all of this an idea of what it's like.  But for now, I have to go make dinner!

Preparing for GAPS

Stock!  Lots of stock!

Last weekend was quite a weekend!  The last several weekends have been so busy.  In the midst of the holiday prepping and planning, I'm also trying to prepare for our upcoming foray into the GAPS diet to help me overcome my recently-developed intolerance to all dairy great and small.  Part of prepping has been to try my hand at making bone broth.  It's quite easy--just takes time.  It seems like everything takes time...but I'm believing more and more that good things truly are worth the wait.  I'm gaining more appreciation for making things like this!  I've always liked to make things from scratch, but I don't always have time to do so.  However, I know that much of the diet relies on homemade broth, and I imagine that it will go quickly, so the more I can make, the better!  I now have accumulated 14 quarts of chicken broth and 8 quarts of beef broth, which should get us going.  One things I'm having trouble with is getting the gel consistency in my broth, but it has a good flavor.  I'm thinking that I need to boil it down more to get the gel.

I was able to buy some grass-fed beef bones from a local farm,
along with some grass-fed chicken feet (never thought I'd say that!) to add to the chicken broth.  I have to admit, I felt like I was buying my first voodoo kit when I ordered two pounds of chicken feet over the phone.  I'm told they add a lot of gelatin to the broth, which is great for the intestinal lining.  The look a little ghoulish floating around in the pan, though!


As well as preparing for the diet, we've also been trying to eat all of the food in the house not allowed on the diet, so I took the opportunity to create a chicken soup using a quart of homemade broth (not a GAPS-friendly recipe, but pretty tasty):

• Two potatoes, cubed and boiled to fork-tender and drained
• Two cups frozen peas
• Two cups cubed cooked chicken, dark and white meat
• One quart (4 C) chicken broth
• Two tablespoons corn starch dissolved in two tablespoons cold water
• Oregano, basil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, chicken base, and other seasonings, to taste

Add all ingredients except corn starch slurry into a 5 quart pot and heat to simmering.  Add corn starch slurry to pot and allow to simmer until desired thickness is reached.

While I was at it, I also decided to try a bag of einkorn flour that I purchased online from Jovial Foods.  It's made from unaltered, non-GMO, non-hybridized wheat that is easy to digest and does not seem to affect people with gluten intolerance (not to be confused with Celiac).  I used it to make some dinner rolls to go with my soup, and they turned out very nice--they browned well, had a good texture, and had a really nice, light flavor.  Hubby liked it, too!  Once we're done with GAPS, I'll be purchasing a larger quantity of this flour and using it as a regular flour staple in my pantry.  It seems to corroborate the suggestion that the altered wheats available today to make our flour really is harder for our bodies to digest.  I thought it was interesting.  (P.S.--this isn't a sales pitch, and I wasn't compensated for mentioning this flour.  I was just pleasantly surprised with the product!)

While I was at it, I came up with this fun Christmas decoration:

I found a gallon Ball jar at Wal-Mart for $14, found the glittery balls at Hobby Lobby, three bags at half price for $10, and I had purchased the fun Christmas twigs on clearance last Christmas.  The silver picks have battery-powered lights wrapped on them.  I tried to make each color of the balls in the jar as individual layers, but as you can see, when I was arranging the picks, some of the different colors mixed layers.  I still think it looks good!  I might just shake it all up and mix them together.

I'm not sure if I'll be back on here before the New Year.  It's just so busy this time of year.  So I'll wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and hopefully be back at it at the beginning of 2015!

Image from Little Birdie Blessings

November Noms

This flock of turkeys crossed the road in front of me on the way to work this week.  Seems appropriate, with Thanksgiving so close!

I can't believe how quickly time is moving!  It seems like just last weekend that we were in our cabin in the woods, but it wasn't.  We've had a steady stream of visitors during the weekends, and the weeks have been busy as well.  It doesn't look like it's slowing down, either.  Despite all of the activity, I thought I'd share a few dairy-free recipes that I plan to make for Thanksgiving this year.

I've dreaded the approach of the holidays because of my food issues.  I know that they will have to be worked around, and it's frustrating to need food specially prepared to avoid getting sick.  Because of this, I've decided that I'll start the GAPS diet protocol at the beginning of the year, and see if I can get this dairy allergy or intolerance cleared up and my body healed.  I know others who have done it, and they have seen great improvement over the course of the diet.  Best of all, it's not a long-term diet, per se: you do it for up to two years, but then can go back to normal life with a healthy, rebooted digestive system.  Sounds exactly like what I need.

And now, the recipes!

Dairy-Free Pumpkin Pie (original recipe from godairyfree.org--to see the recipe click here):

• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar, firmly packed
• 1/4 Cup White Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
• 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg or Allspice
• 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 15-ounce Can Pumpkin Puree
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 Cup Regular Canned Coconut Milk
• 1 Unbaked Pie Shell

Preheat your oven to 425ºF.
Combine the sugars, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg or allspice, cloves and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Beat in the sugar mixture, pumpkin, and vanilla until smooth. Fold in the coconut milk.
Pour the filling into the unbaked pie crust and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350ºF and continue to bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean.  Allow the pie to cool on a wire rack for 2 hours (be patient--this is important).  Serve or refrigerate until ready to serve.

I added a much larger amount of spices than are listed above, so feel free to adjust the spices to your taste.  I also think I might bake this without a crust and see what happens!

Dairy-Free Mashed Potatoes:

• 2-3 lb potatoes, peeled, cubed, and boiled to tender
• 1 stick Earth Balance dairy-free margarine
• 1 small can vegetable broth
• Salt & pepper

Mash the cooked potatoes.  Add the margarine and mix.  Add enough vegetable stock to achieve the desired consistency of mashed potatoes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cloverleaf Dairy-Free Dinner Rolls (not gluten-free):

Ingredients:

1 package quick-acting active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp. or 7 grams)
1 1/3 cup milk (105º to 115ºF degrees)
3 to 3 1/2 cups flour or whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon melted butter
coarse salt (optional, I don't use it)

Dissolve yeast in warm milk in electric mixer bowl.  Stir in 1 cup flour. Beat until smooth.  Stir in enough remaining flour, oil, sugar and salt.  Mix on low electric speed until soft dough forms.  Cover and let rise in warm place until double, about 45 minutes.

Heat oven 400ºF degrees.  

Prep a 12 cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Punch down dough in center and fold over a few times.  Pinch off 1 inch balls of dough and quickly roll in palm of hands.  Put 3 balls to one muffin cup; brush with melted butter; sprinkle with coarse salt.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until crust is light golden brown.

Immediately remove from pan.  Store loosely covered. - See more at: http://hearthsidegatherings.blogspot.com/2012/12/twelve-days-of-christmas-recipes-day-4.html#sthash.EWGoojoY.dpuf

Ingredients:

1 package quick-acting active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp. or 7 grams)
1 1/3 cup milk (105º to 115ºF degrees)
3 to 3 1/2 cups flour or whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon melted butter
coarse salt (optional, I don't use it)

Dissolve yeast in warm milk in electric mixer bowl.  Stir in 1 cup flour. Beat until smooth.  Stir in enough remaining flour, oil, sugar and salt.  Mix on low electric speed until soft dough forms.  Cover and let rise in warm place until double, about 45 minutes.

Heat oven 400ºF degrees.  

Prep a 12 cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Punch down dough in center and fold over a few times.  Pinch off 1 inch balls of dough and quickly roll in palm of hands.  Put 3 balls to one muffin cup; brush with melted butter; sprinkle with coarse salt.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until crust is light golden brown.

Immediately remove from pan.  Store loosely covered. - See more at: http://hearthsidegatherings.blogspot.com/2012/12/twelve-days-of-christmas-recipes-day-4.html#sthash.EWGoojoY.dpuf

• 1 package quick-acting active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp. or 7 grams)
• 1 1/3 cup dairy-free milk (105º to 115ºF degrees)--I used So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk
• 3 to 3 1/2 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon melted dairy-free margarine (optional)--I used Earth Balance Soy Free
• coarse salt (optional, I don't use it)

Dissolve yeast in warm milk in a stand mixer bowl.  Mix in 1 cup flour using dough hook. Mix until smooth.  Mix in two cups of remaining flour, the oil, the sugar and the salt.  Mix on low electric speed until soft dough forms.  Add up to 1/2 cup of flour if necessary to make a soft dough.  Cover and let rise in warm place until double, about 45 minutes.  Heat oven 400ºF degrees.  Prep a 12 cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Punch down dough in center and fold over a few times.  Pinch off 1 inch balls of dough and quickly roll in palm of hands.  Put 3 balls to one muffin cup; brush with melted butter; sprinkle with coarse salt.  Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until crust is light golden brown.  Immediately remove from pan.  Store loosely covered.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Soothing Sore Throat Drink

It's that time of the year again...cold, ice, snow, and, well, colds!  

 The hubs has been dealing with a sore throat for the past few days--a combination of the change of weather, dry air, and sinus drainage.  Happens every year.  I'd seen several different recipes for soothing throat drinks online, and I thought I'd take a stab at making my own concoction.  The best part?  The hubs liked it, and it really helped to sooth his raw throat!  I thought I'd share it with you.

For one mug:

8-10 oz. hot water

4-5 teaspoons of raw honey, to taste (and by teaspoon, I mean the kind you eat with at the dinner table, not the measuring teaspoon)

1 1/2 measuring teaspoons lemon juice

1 measuring teaspoon of organic apple cider vinegar (I used Bragg's)

1 measuring teaspoon ground cinnamon (again, to taste)

1/2 measuring teaspoon ground ginger

Mix everything together well.  Heat in the microwave or use the hottest tap water.  Continue to mix as you drink, or the ingredients will settle to the bottom of the mug.  Drink every few hours as needed.

Raw honey, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, and cinnamon all have antibacterial properties, and can help not only sooth, but also could aid in shortening a cold by giving your body a bit of an immunity boost.  The honey also coats the throat, helping to alleviate the annoying sore throat.  Ginger adds a little extra spice, and also relieves inflammation and irritation.  Pretty sure that's a win-win-win-win-win!  And the best part is that you don't need to be sick to drink it--have a warm mug on a cold mornings to start your day!

By the way, I'm no doctor.  This is not medical advice.  This is just what worked for us.  Enjoy!