Maintaining a GAPS household

Since starting this healing journey 

I have really struggled with the workload 

and the state of the house is not what I am comfortable with.

 Even though I have always been one to cook everything from scratch and we have always eaten most of our meals at home the kitchen hours have challenged me enormously, so much cooking and so much washing up but I do think we are getting a little better in this area. One thing is Master 11 is taking over some of the cooking, mainly because he is eating so much and no matter how much I cook he still wants more, so will steam a dinner plate of veggies for himself at least once a day and will also poach chicken fillets in stock. It is great to see him stepping in and taking on this independent role and it is also an indicator to me that he is healing, a couple of weeks ago this would have been too much for him. 

 What is keeping me so busy? - making stocks and bone broths, making fermented vegetables - ginger carrots, sauerkraut and about to do kimchi, making kefir and kefir cream cheese and kefir sour cream, cooking for every meal - meatballs, poached chicken, lots of different stock based veggie soups to get the stock in as Master 11 will not drink stock, casseroles and stews and the endless washing up and storing food. I am also needing to go and shop a lot more often as we are going through massive amounts of vegetables and chicken so trying to get to markets to make our dollar go further and source organic produce.

As time goes on I am discovering some better ways to manage the food side of things.

 I bought a stack of large coffee jars at the op shops to store the bone broth and stocks in, these take up less room in the fridge and are so much easier to clean the fat from than the plastic boxes. 

I am trying to only make enough soup for our lunch time meal so I don't need to tore more in the fridge- this is tricky because we are both hungry and Master 11 is quite often ravenous so judging the correct amount is still a bit hit and miss. 

I keep shredded chicken in the fridge at all times,

 I make chicken stock from a whole chicken and when it cools I save the bones and skin for bone broth and shred the chicken into a container so we can add it to soups or Master 11 will often have a snack of shredded chicken and sauerkraut or kimchi.

We make a pot of ginger tea and both of us like it hot or later cold.

Master 11 is really missing water kefir and Master 15 is drinking it everyday so it was a cause for grief for my little one- I bought him sparkling mineral water and he has this with a slice of lime.

As for the rest of the house it is a bit of a wreck, I am trying to squeeze 3 gym sessions in a week and Friday morning has traditionally been our house cleaning day where the three of us pitch in and clean the whole house, the last 3 Fridays I have been in town so have missed these days but my amazing boys have stepped up and done the whole house without me. It is not quite to my standard but we would be living in squalor without their efforts and I so appreciate them. Master 11 has also taken over all the lawn mowing off his own bat so the yard is pretty good. They have left my bedroom / studio and it is chaos but I am hoping to get it clean and tidy very soon. 

Once my bedroom is sorted I am hoping to start sorting out other areas in the house and garden, we need t do a big whipper snip around the house and have a general clean up out there and I am keen to move the chooks very soon further away from the house. I also need to find my groove and get a new routine sorted so I can manage all the things I need to do. 

Detox Baths

Detox baths are recommended for easing die off symptoms and Dr Natasha Campbell McBride recommends you have one every night. The lad and I have been experiencing quite a few die off symptoms so I have been researching detox baths, only problem is we don't have a bath so we need to improvise, I think we will use a foot bath and stand in it in the shower so we will be having detox foot bath showers.

Dr NCM suggests a variety of things to add to the detox bath- sea salt, apple cider vinegar, epsom salts, baking soda and seaweed and I have recently been seeing a GAPS practitioner who suggested a few others like magnesium chloride and borax so we went shopping for things to add to our detox baths and started with them last night.

I had a big nappy bucket in the shower with hot water and magnesium chloride and stood in it in the shower for 10 minutes or so doing a bit of lymphatic drainage massage  then I turned on the shower and stayed in my foot bath as I showered - I felt good afterwards better than I have in days. Master 11 had a foot bath just before bed and he is feeling much better now as well, super hungry but much more calm and happy and the cravings and feeling like he is missing out on so much seem to have passed. 

Day 15 Intro

Today we enter the third week of our GAPS journey and I do feel we are turning a corner. Master 11 is looking so much better every day, the big dark circles he has always had under his eyes are virtually gone and he had a better day today. His mood was much more moderate today.

I had a call with a GAPS practitioner and speaking to Arija and Master 11s improvement have made me feel much better about it all. GAPS is a hell of a lot of effort and work and research and has made me really feel the weight of being a single mum and having to do everything. I am blessed with 2 great and helpful boys though.

After todays talk with Arija we have figured out we have sluggish bile production and we need to increase fat to increase bile production so we are adding organic butter, we also have low stomach acid and need to focus on minerals to build that up with Himalayan pink salt, sauerkraut and sauerkraut juice. Food wise we are going to be sticking to poached chicken ( in chicken broth) and steamed veg- carrots, zucchini, broccoli and cauli. for a few days then we will add in some poached fish and coconut oil. I am going to be adding are Great Lakes Gelatin  so I will need to learn how to cook with this in jellies and gels but it can also be added to soups and casseroles. To help remedy our mineral deficiencies we need to start using Lugol's Iodine  and add Magnesium and start detox foot baths using epson salts, magnesium chloride, borax or bicarb soda. Overall I am feeling more positive about the whole GAPS journey now.

I also had an appointment with my GP to get a painful lump in my breasts checked out and need to wait a week until I can have a mammogram and an ultrasound - I am so over stress. Now I have more stupid worries in my head, I am a single mum and have very little support. I live quite remotely and have 2 dependant children and lots of dependant animals- I cant get sick!  I am trying to tell myself not to worry I will find out soon enough and if it is cancer I will be able to worry then, so the strategy is keep busy and try not to think about it and I suppose I should be thankful I have GAPS and all of its challenges to keep my mind occupied. 

Day 13 Intro

Yesterday (13) was a real challenge, Master 11 was in crisis he hates the food, he still has to go to the toilet all the time, my poor child I really feel for him and it is upsetting for all of us when he is so distraught. We have taken him back to stage 1 because he is so sick again. He had a big talk to me and said he is always hungry and the stock is makings him want to vomit. He wants to defor GAPS and eat normally for a while- maybe- he also knows how important it is and desperately wants to heal. In the end I took him back to a safe food and he devoured a pot of meatballs and was much happier.

I am pretty stressed about things and the cooking and cleaning is overwhelming and the food is disappointing considering all the effort and the lack of appreciation from the boys they ddon't like the food, we have had a few winners so I will make them again this week - the stuffed peppers ( capsicums) were the best so far and I have saved the bottoms off 3 butternut pumpkins to stuff them with the same mix and try them once Mr 11 can tolerate more veggies.

I discovered a cook book The Heal Your Gut Cookbook: Nutrient-Dense Recipes for Intestinal Health Using the Gaps Diet (Paperback) I have ordered it but it is still a month away on pre order. I watched  (  the sound was awful) video from the authors on you tube being interviewed by Dr Mercola and I am hoping we will still be able to be doing GAPS by then and that it eases the strain here.

I also contacted a local (ish) GAPS practitioner in Lismore, 2 hours away and we start seeing her on Thursday via telephone at this stage- another strategy for support for me I really am feeling the need for support right now.

And its another beautiful day I better get back into the kitchen and start my chores.

Day 12 Intro

The time is passing quickly 

and having the blog is quite good to help me keep track of how we are going, 

My little one is really struggling. He has always been such a good eater and tries everything and will eat anything, unfortunately he does not like any of the foods we are eating and he is sick of trying them. He is not feeling any different either, not seeing any improvement for all his effort,t I can see he is looking much better,but he is not feeling any better and is quite emotional and frustrated and thinking about apples and water kefir all the time.

This way of eating is suiting me really well and I am feeling better and better each day. My digestive system has not been this good for longer than I can remember and going to the toilet is amazing- sorry TMI but I have had toilet issues for a very long time and I thought I would be constipated eating this way and I am great - better than ever. However the kitchen time is difficult, I need to be super organised and I seem to spend many hours every day working in the kitchen, I am lucky I am home with the kids, home schooling and not trying to work a regular job.

I have been lactose intolerant for years and tried a little bit of yoghurt tonight on the stuffed peppers from the gaps book- delicious, I hope it agrees with me because I agree with it.  

Today was a much needed (by me) home day and I made my first ever mosaic using recycled tiles and dining plates. It was nice to just do my own thing and be out of the kitchen for a bit.

Day 8 Intro stage 1

Well we are still riding this roller coaster,
Day 8 and we have been all over the place emotionally and physically.

Yesterday Master 11 felt achy and shaky all day after a really rough night. He does not like the food at all and is totally opposed to anything with broth or stock in it. He will eat it, slowly and painstakingly when I do finally get him to sit but he is far from eager and is not enjoying any of it. He is also not eating his meals at all if he can get out of it and yesterday I had to go into town and leave him here with his brother he ate a frozen strawberry instead of his soup for lunch.  He wants to get all this healing over and done with right now and wants to know how many days for everything.

On the plus side for him his allergic shiners ( bags under his eyes) that he has always had are definitely lightening and shrinking I can see no other health improvements for him yet, For me I am amazed at the improvement in my skin- it had been so thin and dry and papery and now it feels like I have just put on moisturiser, it is so improved, even in my really dry places- my elbows and soles of my feet I can see a dramatic improvement. I can also see a real change in my hair, it too is feeling so nourished and soft. My 6 day headache has finally gone and body is amazing me, when I do work that would just last week have left me sore and acing for days I am having no issues at all.

We are both dealing with some fairly major ongoing emotional stuff before and during this week and the extra drama of the diet is not really helping either of us in that arena just yet.  We are both quite emotionally unstable, teary, overwhelmed and cranky. I am hoping we can move on to stage 2 very soon but Master 11 still needs more healing before we can.

Day 3 GAPS Intro

We are still in stage 1 

- I feel ok today to go onto stage 2 but Master 11 who started stage 2 yesterday has had a set back so we will both stay on stage 1 for a bit longer.

We have spent the last 2 days at home and that certainly makes eating this way much easier and I am very thankful we home school so I can prepare hot meals for my son and myself when ever we need them. Neither of us are hungry. we are finding the big cooked breakfast lasts us until way past lunch time, the fat is very sustaining.

Master 15 is struggling with the food with no taste but Master 11 and I are over that and are enjoying the flavours of our simple foods and using a bit less salt as well. We seemed to need a lot on day 1 and 2.

We are both having cravings for fruit and Master 11 is craving pastry and pasty and I am feeling really tired and missing my morning coffee, oh and a glass of wine at night as well.

Day 2 GAPS Intro

We are still on stage 1 here.
Master 11 chose not to eat very much at all yesterday and still had digestive issues. This morning though he had his meat balls for breakfast with me and we are about to have cauliflower soup with chicken. He is also enjoying the ginger tea with raw honey. Emotionally he is very up and down but feeling quite positive about the diet, just wishing he could eat more variety.

I am feeling a little better, my head ache is easing and I started at the gym today. We are also going out for the afternoon after we fill up on soup and I have a beef pot roast in the other slow cooker for dinner so when we get home I am hoping dinner will be close to ready.

This afternoon I will be reading the GAPS book at the skate park while the boys burn off some energy then we are going for a rainforest walk with the dogs.

GAPS Intro Day 1

We filled our chest freezer yesterday with lovely organic beef and chicken. I bought a side of beef and 4 chickens, we picked them up last night and when we got home I put a chicken into one slow cooker for chicken stock and filled another with beef bones to make bone broth.

The chicken stock was ready last night and I left the bone broth simmering all night and will keep it going for 48 hours, then I will strain it off and make a second batch of bone broth from the same bones. The only thing I have added to these are salt and pepper and a dash of apple cider vinegar.

Breakfast this morning was rissoles- meat balls made of 2kg of beef mince mixed with salt and pepper and  a finely diced onion, some garlic and a grated carrot. I cooked them in a pan half filled with simmering bone broth into the broth I also added 3 sliced carrots, cloves of garlic and 3 onions. Once all the rissoles were cooked the remaining broth and veggies were blended up into a sauce.

We have also had cups of the bone broth 

and added some juice from the cultured ginger carrots. 

It was ok - we are struggling with the fattiness of the stocks and the meatballs we normally eat what I thought was a healthy diet using lean meats. I am also struggling with the fattiness of the cooking utensils when I am trying to clean them and worried about my septic system- That might be my next research project.

Its almost lunch time here, I have a pounding headache and have just finished kitchen work for the morning, I was planning on making broccoli and chicken soup for lunch but we both feel a bit sick and there are leftover meat balls and bone broth bubbling away so we have decided we will continue with them for now if we are hungry and have soup for dinner. 

Minimising Chemical Exposure

I am very chemically sensitive as is my mother and I am seeing the same in Mr 11.

I avoid perfumes at all costs as soon as I scent one I need to leave the area as so many make me quite ill, the cleaning aisle in the supermarket is also out of bounds for me and I am using more and more products I make myself. 

There are lots of great articles online and many recipes, I don't have any favorites but rely heavily on bi carb soda, vinegar, soap and sunshine. One site I often visit is Frugal and Thriving  and they have 7 good reasons to use home made products as well as some great recipes.

Menu Planning Week 1 GAPS Intro

Bone Broth -  I will have one 6 L slow cooker making bone broth all the time, That way we will always have it hot and ready when ever we need it.

Beef Stock or Chicken Stock in another 6L slow cooker.

Breakfast - A different one each day to keep things more interesting. Meat balls ( mince, salt and pepper), steak, chicken or rissoles ( mince, S&P, onion, garlic and grated carrot or zucchini) All cooked by simmering in bone broth and stock.

Lunch - Soups. Once again variety will be key here with all soups made on bone broth.
Broccoli and Beef- broccoli, beef, leek, celery
Pumpkin Soup - garlic, onion and pumpkin
Chicken Veg Soup- chicken, onion, garlic, celery, carrot , swede
Carrot - onion, garlic, ginger, carrot
Cauliflower and Beef Soup - Cauliflower, onion and garlic blended till smooth and cook beef meatballs in the simmering soup
Ginger Pumpkin- onion, ginger, garlic and pumpkin

Dinner- More of our breakfast meals and soups but served in different ways -
Shredded beef, blended veggies to be a sauce served over zucchini pasta ( made with a veggie peeler)
Chicken and cauliflower rice
Onion soup with meatballs
Beef strips with onion, carrot and zucchini- all well cooked in bone broth

Snacks
Cups of broth
meatballs
soup
well cooked salted carrot sticks
boiled eggs

Getting Started

Menu Planning for Week 1- 2  Intro - we need a good variety of foods, Master 11 and I will soon tire of the same breakfast and snacks every day so I have been looking online at what other people have done.

Inspiration gathered at at many places on a google led stroll through the internet, some highlights-

The Nourishing Gourmet shares some inspiration in her post  12 Tips and Recipes for stage 1 of GAPS Intro

There are also a few supporting recipe books available out there as ebooks- I find I don't really use ebooks so I am not going to get them at this stage, I am however considering The GAPS GUIDE by Baden Laskov- his blog is well worth reading as well.

From Trina Holden's blog, her family have taken what they need from this family and use it to maintain their health  Why and How to Start GAPS

 The GAPS diet is a grain-free diet that focuses on easy-to-digest meats, broths, and veggies in an effort to ‘heal and seal’ the intestines. GAPS stands for ‘Gut and Physcology Syndrome” and is based on the book by the same name by Natasha Campbell-McBride and has been used to effectively heal Autism, ADD, ADHD, Depression, Schizophrenia, Chrone’s Disease, Candida, and more.

We do the diet as a gentle cleanse for the whole family. You may be interested in the diet if you have digestive issues, allergies, or grain, gluten or milk intolerances. The great news about GAPS is that you don’t have to be on it forever–once you’ve healed and sealed your gut, you can enjoy foods that you were previously allergic to!

This is what I am most excited about with GAPS, I really want healing for my family, I don't want us to have live a lesser life than we have the potential for and I dont want to have restricted eating regimes for life. I am actually hoping it will work a few miracles for us - Master 11 first and foremost, he needs to be able to eat and that is what really prompted me to keep looking for answers and now I have found GAPS I am hoping for healing in lots of areas- for Master 11 I want him to be more resilient, to feel better about himself, I am hoping it will aid his focus and concentration and improve his teeth and help him be an all round happier and healthier beautiful boy. For my fit and healthy gorgeous Master 15 who has no obvious needs for GAPS I want him to see that it is entirely possible to take control of your own health and that our amazing bodies can heal, in fact it is our responsibility to do so, him mum has taken a back seat with her own health but once Master 11 got sick her inner mama bear reared and did what she should have done for herself years ago- Why do mums put themselves last? For myself, I have been unwell for years - undergone so many tests to tell me I am well or I might have chronic fatigue or I might have a blood borne virus they don't know yet. I need to heal my poor digestive system that has not been right for more years than I can remember, I want my skin and hair to regain suppleness and shine, my skin is so dry and papery now. To increase my energy and focus would be a huge blessing as would weight loss and gaining back some of the strength I once had.

This is what we will be eating Stage 1 - 2 - 3

We live out of town and have been carless for almost 5 weeks so I need to be well prepared as I don't know how fast we will get through each stage and I dont know how long until I get my car back.

Organic Beef Bone Broth
Organic Beef Stock
Free Range Chicken Stock
Free Range Chicken Bone Broth

Organic Beef mince, steaks and osso bucco and liver
Free Range Chicken meat

Veggies onions, garlic, carrots, swede, pumpkin, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, celery

Pepper and Himalayan salt

Ferments- sauerkraut, ginger carrots ( grated)  We already use, tolerate well and enjoy sauerkraut and kim chi and milk kefir and water kefir I am still researching if we need to go back to reintroduce them or if we can just maintain our usage- I am hoping for answers in Dr Natasha's book when it arrives.

Water
Ginger tea with raw honey.
Peppermint tea.

Stage 2 - Once we are ok with this stage, we will move into stage 2 and  I will add in eggs (poached or boiled)  and if we have eliminated the kefirs I will add them. We will also add fish and fish stock, casseroles and stews and ghee.

Stage 3 - When we are ready to move onto stage 3 we will be continuing on with all we have been having but adding our fermented veggies if we have only been having the juice so far. Also in this stage we will be starting our GAPS supplements, I will be adding ripe avocado, fried and scrambled eggs

The Waiting

I have researched and researched and I think I am now ok to start, I absolutely know I need something to work, we need healing on so many levels, things are pretty difficult around here right now.

I have ordered the book and the supplements and a side of organic beef. I have also orgered 4 free range chickens and the best milk I can find. I have made cultured ginger carrot, sauerkraut and garlic ginger carrot sticks so we will have our cultured vegies ready to go. I am going to make asparagus as well just looking for the recipe I like the most.

Hopefully the book arrives this week so I can get stuck into it, I have also ordered Sandor Katz's Art of Fermentation.

Todays agenda is clean out the freezers  to fit 100kg beef in- OMG that is so much meat lol we are not generally big meat eaters.The meat will be ready on Tuesday or Wednesday so I will bring it home and get some bone broth on that night and the meat stock as well I suppose. I might make a menu for the week as well just to try to make it as smooth as possible.

Our Bodies Need Fat

More about this at Natural Cures 

It is so hard to understand things that I have been taught the opposite of all my life and even harder to try and make others understand. My best argument is the system we have now is not working and I need to try and find a better solution.