Day 17, Stage 4 (day 1)

Non-boiled food.  *heavenly sigh*
Tonight I had a pork chop.  Baked w/sage, salt and pepper sprinkled on it.  I had wanted to brine it overnight but I just plum forgot.  I read a awhile ago that pork negatively affects your red blood cells.  When you eat it, it's makes them all go crazy.  That is, unless it is marinated for 8+ hours in apple cider vinegar, or some acv concoction - like bbq sauce.  Also, bacon does not have this same effect because it's salted and smoked.  So, I try to soak my pork before I eat it.  I can imagine what the pork chop I just ate is doing to my precious little blood cells right now. 
The following pictures are from the Weston A. Price Foundation site.


FIGURE 1. Microphotograph of blood of male, 52, before consuming the unmarinated cooked pork chop. RBCs are seen as round cells, and small white patches of platelet aggregates are seen. This is the picture of normal, healthy blood.




FIGURE 3. Microphotograph of blood of male, 52, five hours after consuming the unmarinated cooked pork chop. RBCs are entirely stuck together in rouleaux (stacks of coins) formations, and a high level of fibrin, white threads, means that early blood clotting has transpired.


I didn't have time to take a picture of anything tonight...dinner was rushed and I was starving.

I made a delicious creamy asparagus soup:

1 bunch of asparagus cut into chunks
1/2 sweet onion
1 clove garlic
3 cups of chicken broth
sea salt
pepper
4 tbs. coconut oil/butter or both

1 cup soured cream

Saute the onion and garlic on medium in the fat until translucent.  I used 1/2 coconut oil and 1/2 butter to appease my family's tastes.
Add in asparagus, salt and pepper.  Saute a little longer...maybe 5 minutes.
Pour in chicken broth, bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
Puree in blender or using an immersion blender.  Puree well - the asparagus is stringy and if you don't puree enough you'll end up with thread-like stringy pieces that compromise the overall enjoyment of the soup.  My kids can attest to that. 
Stir in 1 cup soured cream until throroughly mixed in.  Yum.

It was a beautiful light green and super creamy.  It was good even after it was room temperature.  I'll be making this one again. 

I've also been doing well with the soured cream.  I have not been gassy at all.  Hopefully my blood cells will settle down and stop clotting for no good reason.

Day 14, Stage 3 (day 5)

Bubbies Sauerkraut and dill pickles.  I love their pickles!  And they are naturally fermented.  Perfection.
I had never had sauerkraut until today.  I have to be honest.  Off the fork to the mouth...it was terrible.  Well, maybe not terrible.  But it wasn't good.  Mixed in my soup, well, that's another story.  It added a wonderful flavor.

Today's Soup:

1lb ground beef
2 small tomatoes
1 sweet onion
1 small head broccoli
3 cloves garlic
1 turnip
1/8 orange pepper
sea salt
pepper
basil
1 poached egg
2 tbs Bubbies sauerkraut

I've been eating it all day.  It's super yummy. 
My husband has decided to try GAPS for heartburn, crankiness and general overall well-being.  He'll start at the end of the week.  This is going to get interesting!

Day 12, Stage 3 (day 3)

Today is Thursday again.  I managed very well today while not being at home.  I remembered food.  I actually brought too much.  I was going to attempt making pancakes with sunbutter (we're allergic to nuts), eggs and winter squash.  I couldn't find the time.  No.  That's not really it.  There isn't a concrete recipe in the GAPS book, so I think I was a bit intimidated by the thought of winging it.  I found a recipe for squash pancakes on Health, Home & Happiness, so I'll try those tomorrow. 

This is day number two with avocado incorporated into my soups.  No adverse reactions. 
I'm still eating kimchi.  I'll be heading out to find Bubbies pickles tomorrow.  And probably sauerkraut.  I'll give it another go. 

Tonight I had another soup.  For me, soups are easy meals.  The less dishes I need to clean, the better, especially since I'm cooking a completely other meal for the rest of my family.

1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 sweet onion
1 small zucchini
2 plum tomatoes
handful of dried eggplant (from last summer's harvest)
3 cloves garlic
sea salt
pepper
2 tsp. dried basil (from last summer's garden)

boil 25 minutes.

I ate my kimchi on the side.  There's a poached egg at the bottom of the soup somewhere.  I'm skipping the avocado with this meal.  I ate a whole avocado between breakfast and lunch. 

I also juiced a lot today. 
6 carrots
2 celery stalks
1/2 inch slice of ginger (about an inch and a half diameter)

Day 11, Stage 3 (day 2)

This morning I upped my juicing.  I added in a celery rib and some ginger.  I overdid the ginger, so then I upped the carrots.  I ended up with a super large glass of juice.  It was yummy and I think it helped with constipation a bit. 

Tonight I added in avocado.  I love avocado.  I've missed avocado.  Avocado is just so creamy and delicious.  *sigh*

It was so nice to have a favorite food back in rotation.  It added a very nice dimension to my soup. 

I thought if I added the egg into my soup after it was done boiling it would cook enough.  It didn't.  Note to self:  Just poach the egg. 
Soft-boiled eggs don't peel well for me.  If you have any suggestions, please let me know. 

Also, no gas or constipation today.  Three cheers!

2 chicken breast halves
1 small zucchini
1 head of broccoli
1 sweet onion
sea salt
rosemary
pepper

Added in after cooking:
1/4 cup kimchi
1 egg
1/4 avocado

Day 7 & 8 - Stage 2 (day 4,5)

I am in love with carrot juice.  Who knew?!

I bought a GE Juice Extractor from Walmart.  It has a 2-year warranty.  There are five parts to clean.  The screen/filter on the inside isn't too tough or too easy.  The little carrot pits get stuck a bit.  But it's not horrendous to clean. 

I juiced 4 carrots yesterday and 10 today.  It breaks down to about an ounce of juice per carrot. 

I drank 4oz of juice yesterday.  I probably drank another 4oz today.  My husband and one of my boys drank some too.  I am pleased to say that my constipation issues got resolved.  Yay!

Type 1 has spent the longest time in the colon and type 7 has spent the least.  Stools at the lumpy end of the scale are hard to pass and often require a lot of straining.  Stools at the loose or liquid end of the spectrum can be too easy to pass - the need to pass them is urgent and accidents can happen.  The ideal stools are types 3 and 4, especially type 4, as they are most likely to glide out without any fuss.

I made a pretty yummy broccoli soup yesterday.  I'll add more of each veggie next time to increase the flavor.  It was a little overrun by the chicken broth.  Or perhaps do half broth and half water. 

3 chunks of broccoli (thick stems with several florets)

1 onion

1 garlic clove

1 sm. zucchini

sea salt

broth

boil 25 minutes and then puree. 

This soup is good for on-the-go.  I am used to bringing smoothies wherever I go.  Pureed soups are a nice substitute for that.  You don't need a spoon and you can just pour it into a mason jar.  

Today I made another pureed soup for my traveling needs.  Being a homeschooling mom, we're in the car a lot.  I need snacks.

I made a big batch of this to keep for the week.  You could probably freeze portions and take out when needed.  I know I'll need these within the next couple of days, so I just threw them in the refrigerator. 

1 butternut squash, peeled

1 bag organic carrots

1 sweet onion - large

6 cloves of garlic

5 cups of broth

4 cups of water

ginger - 1" x 4"

Peel and cut all veggies into chunks.  Boil everything for 30 minutes and puree. 

I had a bowl and left a bowl for my husbands lunch tomorrow.  There was enough left to fill three 32oz jars.

They are all the same color, they just look different due to the lighting. 

I didn't know what to do with the pulp so I enlisted the help from some friends.  Throw it in soups or casseroles or cookies or crackers.  They pretty much said to put it wherever you can fit it.  I found a recipe for a raw basil cracker, which I will attempt once I get to that stage. It sounds absolutely divine.



Day 3

I slathered my hands in coconut oil last night and then put on a pair of disposable vinyl gloves.  I wore these for a few hours.  This minimized how dry my hands appeared.  There's not much I can do for the rest of me, but that's okay.  No one can see those parts.  And I don't do much with my knees.

Yesterday's Lunch:

Beef and Broccoli Soup

Ground beef - about a handful of it.
broccoli
red onion
salt and pepper
3 cups chicken broth
Boil 30 minutes.

This morning's breakfast:

Chicken and Broccoli Soup

meat of 3 small chicken legs
1/2 the white part of 1 leek
1 bunch of broccoli
1 clove garlic
about 4 cups of chicken broth
Boil 30 minutes

add 1 tsp kimchi liquid after soup cools.

Stage 1 calls for boiled meat.  Natasha Campbell-McBride says to drink broth with every meal and at least one soup per day.  I don't think I could just eat boiled meat with a side of boiled vegetables.  I eat soup for each meal.  Broth, boiled meat and veggies in one. 

The first day I was pretty hungry.  Yesterday I was hungry too.  I'm still feeling hungry.  What I contribute it is to having a different idea of what being "full" is like.  Grains and dairy provide a different fullness than meat and veggies.  If I eat a bowl of cereal or macaroni and cheese I feel like taking a nap.  My belly also feels like there's a brick in it.  This is from the opiate-like reaction from the dairy and grains.  Milk contains a protein called casein that breaks apart during digestion to release a whole host of opiates called casomorphins.  My family drinks raw milk, but in small quantities.  I also make yogurt, sour cream, butter and buttermilk from raw yogurt.  We rarely mix dairy and grains, and if we do, it's plain to see the reaction as everyone slumps on the couch. 

When I feel hungry, I drink more broth.  I was busy yesterday, so I only ate 3 times.  The day before I ate 4 times. 

I also added a teaspoon of kimchi liquid to my soup today.  I'm not a fan of sauerkraut, but I love kimchi.  My mom, however, is in Florida for the next month and a half so I will not be consuming homemade kimchi.  I am spending a ridiculous amount of money for a small jar of it.  I am deficient at making kimchi.  I need to remedy that.

Day 2

For dinner last night I had a bowl of hamburg and broccoli soup. 

Two cups of broth, a handful of broccoli, a premade grass fed hamburg patty and some sea salt and pepper.  I boiled it for 25 minutes, making sure to cut up the patty intermittently.  It was frozen to begin with.  If you just used some ground beef it would be just as yummy. 

The soup was pretty good.  I was actually a little shocked. 

Instead of snacking last night, I made another bowl of soup. 

I cut up some steak, about a palm-sized piece.  Added a small zucchini, some leek, clove of garlic and a carrot.  Let that boil for 30 minutes.  That was delicious, too. 

I think my favorite was the ground beef and broccoli one.  I didn't take any pictures...I just plum forgot. 

Today I feel fine.  I started the day off with probiotics and water.  Then 16oz of chicken broth. 

I have some boiled onion, carrot and chicken soup waiting to cool.  I used a whole red onion, one carrot and the meat from two chicken legs (no thigh).  Boil 25 minutes. 

I'll be making some ginger tea this morning, too.  While I like broth, I can't drink it without salt, which leaves me thirsty.  And water isn't my favorite.  The Gut and Psychology Syndrome book (pg. 148) says I can have ginger, mint or chamomile tea.  Use 1 teaspoon of grated ginger and steep in hot water. 

I have an appointment this morning.  I think that'll be the toughest part of this - leaving the house for extended periods of time.  I'll bring some tea and some broth.  That'll have to tie me over until lunch.