Actively Considering GAPS & a Grain-Free Recipe Collection

After being mostly raw and all the way gluten-free for a month, when I mentioned GAPS to Jeremy, the reaction I got was like telling a marathon runner at the end of a marathon to run another marathon.  With no water to drink.  In a winter coat.  In the middle of summer.  In Death Valley.  He quickly suggested I stop reading about nutrition, because every time I do, 25% of our food gets taken away.  Hmm...

So, I decided to start focusing on the things that we are adding to our kitchen as I continue to do more research on GAPS.  I discovered that "Leaky gut and malabsorption are the typical results of vitamin A deficiency."  Also, the essential oils Omega 3, EPA, DHA, and vitamin D are very important to take in when healing the gut.  Guess what has all of those things in easy-to-digest form?  Cod liver oil.  I was so faithful to put cod liver oil in our daily smoothies four years ago (be sure to use unflavored.  Trust me.)  It was just one of those things that accidentally got dropped during a crazy season of transition.  Well, I'm picking it back up.


Another thing we will be adding to our diet: juice.  From a juicer.  That we don't have yet.  This will have to wait until next month when our grocery budget is replenished and I can buy a basic juicer at Costco.


I'm also adding Navy beans to our pantry.  We've never actually had Navy beans.  Navy beans and lentils are the only two starches that are GAPS-approved.


Broth.  We always have a supply of homemade chicken stock in our freezer, but folks on the GAPS diet need to drink a cup of stock with each meal because it is incredibly nourishing, heals the stomach, and the nutrients are easily digested.  Yep, it's time to up our intake of broth.  This one is going to be tricky.  Especially at breakfast...


There's even more to add!  House plants.  Well, we won't be eating these, but they will provide much cleaner air and beauty to our home.  I've known about the benefits of house plants for years, but it's just one of those things I never got around to doing.  Again, we will have to wait for April for this once budgets get refreshed.  If you want to join me, here is a list of good, low-maintenance house plants.


As we are on the subject of household health, I plan to add more easy-to-make homemade cleaners.  Environmental toxins are super important to eliminate for optimal health.  Keeper of the Home has some simple, non-toxic air freshener ideas here and an easy-to-whip-up gentle surface scrub here.  


See?  There is so much to add while on (or thinking about going on) the GAPS diet.  Cod liver oil, lots of bone broth, carrot juice, house plants, homemade cleaners. I can just feel my husband's excitement.


Will we do the full-blown GAPS diet?  Stay tuned.  I did, however, order the books, and if we end up going for it, we will start in April.


In the meantime, I'm collecting all sorts of grain-free recipes to try out.  Here is what I've found so far:

• 3-day sample of grain-free menu plans from Health, Home, & Happiness.
• Grain-Free Round-Up from Healthy Home Economist.
• Modern Alternative Mama has several grain-free recipes found here.

If you have any other GAPS recipe sources you enjoy, easy homemade cleaners, or tips for a successful GAPS experience will you leave a comment?  I would love input.  I need help.  Also, if you have been through GAPS, will you share your story?  I've already received several amazing personal success stories, and man does it fuel my fire!

I'm sharing this at Monday Mania.

Week 4 ~ Considering a New Path: GAPS

GAPS is all about pastured eggs!

Week four of mostly raw and all gluten-free finds us at a crossroads.  Being all gluten-free has been way easier than I thought it would.  Since we eat a cooked dinner every night, our starch cravings are satisfied with a welcome helping of potatoes, soaked quinoa or rice, sweet potato fries, or corn tortillas.  This is a cinch!  But, my son has started to mention his stomach bothering him at night again.  Agh!


The crossroads:  I have seen a few blog posts about the GAPS (Gut & Psychology Syndrome) diet and honestly, I've avoided reading them.  I have changed so much of my family's diet over the past six years, I feared another drastic change might send them overboard.  But here's the thing.  Jeremy still has acid reflux and my son, at only seven years of age, already suffers from similar symptoms.  It will only benefit the rest of us to join this diet.


This diet is the most extreme I have ever considered, but what I especially like about it is it's temporary and it heals.  It's not a quick fix, but it's a permanent one, and it's not a new lifestyle diet to lessen the effects of a health issue.  This sends health issues packing for good and once you've finished being on it, you can slowly introduce starches back into the diet.


Another reason I connected with he idea of the GAPS diet is it weaves every good thing I have learned from a number of differing sources (Weston A. Price,  Gershon, raw books, nourishing food sources...) into a remedy that just makes sense.


If someone you know suffers from anything as simple as seasonal allergies to something as severe as  autism, fibromyalgia, MS, lupus, etc...  You might want to consider joining me on this crazy ride.


Here are some great blog posts that can help explain and introduce you to the GAPS diet:


The Healthy Home Economist just published an article about successfully reaching your goals with the diet.


Keeper of the Home is in the process of going through the GAPS diet with her family, and she shares her findings and ideas starting here.


Health, Home, and Happiness offers a menu plan, complete with to-dos, and shopping lists.  She offers three days for free if you want to try it out.


There you have it.  The new direction on our road to complete health.  I'm a little scared I'll admit, but there are too many positive testimonies regarding this diet.  We won't be starting right away, as we need to phase out the rest of the potatoes, yams, etc. from the kitchen.  Phase out the starches, phase in the butternut squash, then on to apples and bone broth for a while...  Thankfully we like butternut apples?

Week 3 of Raw/Gluten-free ~ Clarification, CAKE, & Sundry

 After reading some feedback, I think I've been a little misleading.  I am not, nor do I ever plan to be 100% raw.  My goal is to eat raw for breakfast, lunch, and snacks for eight weeks and gluten-free all day.  Also, although I like to pull from some vegan recipes, I never plan to be vegan.  I tend to be on the Weston A. Price side of things (my love of raw dairy sits nicely with that).  More on the similarities and differences between Gerson (vegan diet) and Price (pro-animal fat) later (and I am really excited to share that post with you!).

Because of my affection for what some people like to call real food, I am whole-heartedly a whole foodie.  Meaning, unless a gluten-free baked good has only whole ingredients, you won't be seeing me whip it up.  Xanthan gum is not an item found in my pantry.

So what do we eat around here?  This is what:

Such striking colors.

I was slightly nervous to try this Cabbage Kale Slaw in Simple Greek Dressing on account as it looked... too healthy to taste good, but it surprised me.  The friends I subjected to it actually seemed to enjoy it, too.  You Guys.  Ani's salads, particularly her dressing recipes?  Addicting and quick to make.  A healthy quick fix.  I can dig it.

My kids have been desperate to enjoy something familiar.  I get it.  We tried making raw peanut butter.  Have you ever had it?  I used the Vita-mix recipe first and oh my gosh.  Gag.  I tried Nourishing Tradition's recipe annnnd... Yum.

I did cheat a little on the gluten-free thing and used sprouted tortillas to make peanut butter and "jelly" wraps, the new version.  Sorry, kids.  I tried to make something familiar.  Really, I did.

At least they liked them.

We delved into the dessert section of Ani's Raw Food Kitchen.  Oh my.  The first one we tried was the All-American Apple Pie.  It was happy.

Then we moved on to her Summer Berry Cobbler with the frozen blueberries I saved from last season.  Amazing!  It took only ten minutes to put together and it was completely consumed in the same amount of time.

Today...  Today.  Today, the kids helped me make the Deep Forest Carob (cacao) Cake with Fudge Frosting.  Sweet mercies from heaven was it rich.  It was delicious, and everyone in the house agreed.  Hallelujah.

It's like a blank canvas, ready to be painted with berries, mint leaves, nuts...  Be the artist.

It was so good, it deserves two pictures.

I'm not sharing the recipes because Ani has them published in her book and copying them here feels a little plagiarize-y.  If you want to try them free of charge, check it out in the library to see if it's something you want to buy.  If you want some tried-and-true delicious raw recipes right away, visit my friend Sky's blog.  I've made just about all her dishes and they are amazing (only I substitute all agave nectar with maple syrup).

I'm sharing this at Fight Back Friday.