Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Dessert - Day 43


Tonight to the families delight I decided to cook dessert. Since starting GAPS the only Dessert the children have had is when Lillianne had here birthday. So they keep asking me are we REALLY having dessert. I think getting my Internal Bliss cook book inspired me a little to make something nice for everyone. My Goal when we finally get to full gaps is to not a dessert treat more than once a week, I don't want us to get addicted to sweet treats all the time. Anyhow I jump a little ahead to stage 5 to make this, as we have included all of stage 4, we just have to master being consist with all of the things everyday, which we haven't quite done yet. We will get there.

Food for today,
Mineral water, two positive out looks (supplements, from gaps australia)
Beef stock
Yoghurt
Chicken quiche, or sorts, we have roast chicken last night for dinner and had some left over, so I took the chicken and diced it, putting it in the bottom of my glass dish, diced veggies, onions, capsicum, broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini, and cauliflower really small like rice. Then beat some eggs with salt, pepper and thyme, and poured over the dish, as it turned out I didn't quite have enough eggs to fill the dish, so poured some extra chicken stock over the top to almost cover. Baked in the oven at 180C for about 50 mins.


Ok so the real recipe that I was going to share with you today was the one for dessert. I'm going to call it Apple Nut Bake.

Apple Nut Bake
8 apples peeled and diced
100g of pecans - Activated
100g of Walnuts - Activated
300g of Almond meal
400g butter
5 TB of Honey


Put the apples in the base of a baking dish. Sprinkle chopped Pecans and walnuts over the top, Cover with Almond meal. Sprinkle chopped butter over the top, with drops of honey. Bake in the Oven on 180C for 45mins.

Yum!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Lillianne's Birth story. Baby No. 4.


Just 5 months after giving birth to Elijah we were expecting baby number 4. This time we didn't find out the gender of our baby, partly because we thought it might be nice to have surprise and partly because baby had it's legs crossed when we had our scan so we couldn't find out. Well as it turned out, out of all our babies this one would have been good to find out about, as 4 weeks before my due date we moved.

During this pregnancy the hospital changed it's policies on gestational diabetes treatment, where they now had a specialist to deal solely with these patients. Anyhow I went along to the appoint with this special doctor. In the past when I had been given my diagnosis I would start testing and then it would take a few weeks to get every blood sugar under control, and with in the scores for diet and exercise to be my treatments. Which had been fine, and I had built a repore with diabetes clinic and they were fine to let me have those weeks. Well this new specialist took one brief look at my scores and said that I would have to go on insulin. Well I took a big deep breathe and then said. "That won't be happening". She was shocked!. During my research over the last three pregnancy I had come across many different medical books and reports that said that insulin in pregnancy increased the risks to the baby dying in the last 6 weeks of pregnancy, so I knew that I wanted to avoid this as much as I possible could. The doctors first response to my statement was "why not?" So I shared with her that had done my research and didn't want to take the risk if I could control it with diet and exercise like I had the last three times. Her next response was, "you can't believe everything you read on the internet", to which I replied that I got my of my information at the local university library catalogues. So she asked if the next time I could bring those in. Which I couldn't because I was no longer a student there, but I could photocopy the pages. Then she started on fact that my reaction was probably more to do with fear of the injection. "You know it doesn't hurt", My concerns for not doing it wasn't due to the fear of the injection, but she was wrong about it not hurting, my Father has been on insulin for years injecting three times a day. I had seen his stomach and all the bruises he has, and listened to him take sharp pained breaths at times while giving himself them. So I shared that with her. She then replied "Oh your just being silly!" So she wrote up the prescription for the insulin, and we didn't talk much for the rest of the time, she filled out a form to say I need to come back in to weeks.

Now I really am not good at standing up for myself, so when I actually do it takes all of me to do it. So when I left that room I pushed my pram with Elijah in it, and walked straight into the toilets where I sat for the next 20 mins crying. Every time I thought I had it together enough to leave I would start again, I thought to myself "How in the hell am I going to go to the reception and get another appointment when I can't even breath, they will take one look at me and know for sure I have been crying, I look a mess". SO I finally took a few big breaths, got Elijah and walked straight out pass reception with out stopping. And never went back.

I was so thankful when we decided to move interstate, in the last six weeks of my pregnancy. I had been keeping an eye on my blood sugars and they had come down, like I thought they would. However on an interesting note, when I finally got an appointment for the new hospital, only 2 weeks before my due date, I told them I had be diagnosed with GD, and gave them my scores for diagnosis to which they replied, "Oh, they aren't high enough to be GD". Oh I was so happy. Now with all the activity with moving furniture and packing up a how house, trying to decided which baby clothes I should take, because I didn't know what we were having, and organised Ben and all the children, packing suit cases and so on, I thought for sure I would go early. We booked the airplane for 35+6 days so I was just qualified to fly.

We were going to stay with my Parents until baby was born and see if the Gold Coast was somewhere we wanted to live. We had always wanted to leave Tasmania, and have an adventure, and the opportunity arose so we took it. So we arrived in QLD with 4 weeks to go. Well wouldn't you guess, this time I went 10 days over. Due to having a c-section with my first they didn't want me to go over that, and at the time I didn't know it was safe to go longer. So I went it to be induced on 40 weeks and 10 days. Also due to the c-section the only thing they could do was break my waters, if I hadn't opened enough for them to do that then I would need to have a c-section. So the doctor examined me, and then asked if I was having any contractions or pains, to which I replied No, I have had a few painless Braxton Hicks, but nothing that was labour like, she then shared with me that I was already 4cms. Oh wow! So she went ahead and broke my waters. They then transferred me to my room, to wait for labour to start.

Ben had brought us some sandwiches for dinner as it was getting late but this time. So I ate a few sandwiches and light labour had start, I keep feeling the need to go to the toilet and more the waters came out. And with in half and hour of having my waters broken Full labour started, so they took me back down stairs to the delivery rooms. The Doctor was surprised to see me so soon, and did another check I was now 6 cms. Well one that my body has done now every time I go into labour is clear itself out. We those sandwiches were the first to go. I vomited in delivery room sink, I couldn't make it to the toilet, the nurse was not impressed at all, thankfully the doctor was there during it, and knew I wasn't my fault. Next came the bowel and thankfully I did make it to the toilet for that one. ;0)

They got me into their birthing gowns, and go me all hooked up to the monitor on the bed, gave me the gas, and labour was progressing well. With in 4 hours of having my waters broken I was ready to push. This time however I had learnt my lesson when it came to pushing. The nurses were telling me to push, PUSSSSHHHH PUSSSSHHHH. Well I completely ignored them, and only pushed when my body told me to do it, they were getting a little mad a me. Also I must mention that when I am in labour I find it really hard to talk, so I couldn't explain to them that I didn't have a contraction to push with. They keep trying to take the Gas off me thinking it was what was stopping me, but actually I wasn't even breathing in the gas, if they bothered to listen to the machine, I was just using it to blow out of. With in about 4 pushes our baby was born. With out any stitches! Yay! the first time I had a baby with out any stitches at all.

It took a little while after baby was out that we finally checked the gender. Oh a dear little girl. Although not so little weighting in a 9 pounds. Ben was surprised at how quickly she had come out, for him it was the easiest labour I had at that point. Our lovely little girl feed with in ten minutes of birth from both sides.

Due to it getting late, and Ben not being able to drive, my dad was picking him up and wanted to go to bed and take his sleeping tablets, and not being able to stay with me overnight, Ben had to leave soon after she was born. Which was a little disappointing for me, because baby (with no name at this point) wouldn't stop crying and I was bleeding a far bit. I remember telling the nurse that I need to go to the toilet, and getting up and going, leaving a trail of blood behind me, and then sitting down knowing I didn't actually need to go but blood was pooling inside and cause my uterus to hurt, and hearing the gush of blood come out. I sat there for a while because I was a bit on the light headed sided. I then showered and got back into bed, that was made fresh for me. I was totally spend, and cause really move much. After Ben left the nurses pretty much left as well, and they has moved baby over to the corner of the room, I remember being in the bed and her crying lots and I couldn't pick her up, I was not feeling very well, and exhausted, finally a nurse came in to help me. As soon as she was close to me she settled.

Soon after they wheeled us both up stairs back to our room to try and get a good nights sleep. As soon as I was left alone, I pulled her into bed and both sleep well for a good three hours. She feed well, but like all my other births I didn't seem to have enough milk, as my milk tends to come in a day or two late. So the nurse gave me a bottle to give her one good feed and allow my body to start producing milk. Which was enough and we never needed it after that.

Now name this baby was quiet different for us, as with all the others we had known what we were having pretty much had a name picked out pretty much before they were here. This time we didn't have a clue and she remained baby Mathewson for 4 days. Ben and I went back and forth a few times on names, I like Isabelle, Hope, Lily. As we had already has a Faith Ben didn't want us to have a Hope as well. He though Lily was two common, as there were heaps of Lily's at the time. He think about Isabelle, and we can very close to have one, I started to call her that to try it on, well he came back and asked what I thought about Lillian, I didn't really like it as it reminded me of someone I didn't like much, (you know how names are like that). However I said I do like Lillianne, He agreed, so that is how we got Lillianne HOPE. He wouldn't let me have it as a first name but he did say yes to it as middle name.

This delivery was the best I had at that point, and the recovery was so quick. I couldn't believe it the next day the next I wake up with only a few sore muscles. And I looked forward to a few more like this.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Elijah's Birth story



While I was pregnant with my Third child we found out our babies gender at our 22 week scan. We were so excited to find out that we would be expecting a BOY! Our first SON! We were over the moon. Then came the many debates about what we would name this boy. I have always found picking out names for boys hard than girls. For girls we want something pretty and feminine as well as meaningful, which will suit them as little girl and a women. But for a boy you want something that is going to suit as a boy, but something they will be proud to have as a Man. I have met a few men in my time that have little boys names and I really feel sorry for them. A name is important, so I prayed many times that the Lord would give me the just the right name. I remember one particular day while at a conference on raising Godly children, I remember during the worship having my hand on my belly and asking Him again for a the right name for this little one. His reply to me was that my son would be a John the Baptist type. I asked so should he be called John, No, was my reply... So I just left it at that, then over the next several weeks I keep hearing talks about Elijah and people comparing him to John the Baptist, So I shared it with Ben and we both new we now had a name for this little boy, that didn't come from us but from the one that created him.

As the days lead up to his birth, I didn't have the fear that I had with Faith about whether I could do this or not, as I now knew I could, but I did fear the pain, as I remember it quiet clearly, it had only been 15 months since I had given birth. Besides have Extreme morning sickness and Gestational Diabetes I enjoyed a reasonably trouble free pregnancy.

Due to Faith arriving a little early, my parents came down early just in case. Well I kind of felt like a watched pot. As they were travelling around the state visiting other family and friends, we were left on our own for a few days. As the baby hadn't come early they had seen everyone, they booked there tickets home, on my due date! I know doesn't make sense. Any how that was the date I went into labour. It was also the first day of Ben's new job. He had got a job as a college chaplain, and they were having a whole school assembly to introduce him and the other new staff. So he had to go!. Anyhow he was able to help me to the hospital and get me settled in, and then go. My parents had a few hours before they had to head up to the boat to go back home. So they came and stayed with me while Ben was away, and held my hand while they put in an IV and hooked me up to the monitor. Thankfully I was around 2cms in early labour and could cope ok, as for me it was a strange feeling having my parents in the room while I was labouring.

By the time Ben was able to come back my parents needed to head off, and were kicking themselves for booking their return tickets early. I was so glad to see Ben back. Labour progressed slowly. I was having Gas for quite a while which helped with the pain. However my process really slowed down, thankfully I had a midwife that was happy to get me up and moving, instead of being stuck on the monitor. So being upright really helped to get things going and with within a couple of hours I had gone from a 4cm to and 8cm and I finally lost my mucus plug.

From then on I went from and 8 to pushing in a very short time. I listened to the midwives and pushed when they told me to and as hard as I could to get him out, and get on the nice side of having a baby. SO I pushed and pushed and finally got him out with a tear that would needed stitches. Well as I was being sown up, the doctor noticed that the bleeding was not easing. That is when the real pain began. They started pulling clots out internally and massaging my uterus to try and get it to start shrinking down. Thank goodness Ben was hold Elijah because I was screaming in pain. It was pretty frightening for us both. They got the bleeding under control, pulled all the clots out, I think that part of the labour was more painful then the whole thing put together.

A day later I developed a thrombosis Hymroide which was so excruciatingly painful I wasn't able to sleep at all. Elijah was hungry and because of the pain my milk didn't come in very well, and he just wanted to be feed all the time. I was exhausted and in pain, and on top of that the other lady that I was sharing with had issues, were she wasn't with the father of her baby anymore and one of her friends had told him that the baby had arrived. So there was all these people coming into the room and then the police came to remove him and oh the drama, I didn't need. The nurses tried everything to help with the pain, Ice fingers, numbing creams. Finally the doctor came to see me, and though he would try pushing it back it. My thoughts at the time towards him were not very pleasant ones. I was so thankful that the nurse on duty told him it wouldn't work. So he ordered a surgical consult. The surgian came and straight away arranged an opteration to remove them that night. Oh the relief when the spinal block when in. I was only numb from the waist down, but I was so tired I feel asleep on the operating table. It took 5 weeks to recover from that operation and not cry everytime I needed to go to the toilet. Ben was so great, whenever I told him I need to go to the toilet he would start the bath running and got the panadol, to help with the pain.

Even with all the pain, and discomfort, it was well worth it. We were now a blessed family of three, and of course now that we had a boy everyone thought we could stop. Little did they know, or want to know that we had no intention of stopping there. :0)

Home day 41.

Today is a home day for us. Time to tidy up after the weekend, catch up on cooking, do our school work, and generally try and get on top of things. I bottled up stock, put nuts on to soak, and got the yoghurt going. Of course there is still more to do, but that can wait until tomorrow. I'm done for today, a little on the tired side so will be off to bed very soon. Which is something that is on my list to master, going to be at a reasonable time, giving my body the rest it needs to recover and heal, and also giving my children more of me, because I'm not waking up late or a little snippy because I didn't go to bed early enough.

So that being said, Food for today
Mineral water
Carrot and veggie milk shake - carrots, celery, boy choy, pear, apple, Beet Kvass, Yoghurt, and raw egg.
Breakfast eggs, with avocado, and sauteed red onion, with fermented tomato sauce.
Lunch was Lamb soup, with some of the left overs from last nights meal.
Dinner - chicken stir fry, with chicken stock, garlic and a little honey, cashews and lots of veggies.


I would like to send a big thank you to all those that have given comments and thoughts of support, it actually means a lot and knowing that people are reading this really helps in us not falling off the wagon. And spurs us to keep going that reaching for those goals of health and healing. Thanks so much. We both love hearing you comments and are happy to answer any questions that you might have. Also if there is something that you would like us to write about please let us know we are only too happy to. Bye for now.
Christina

Sunday, May 27, 2012

WOOOO HOOOO! day 40!

Yay! day 40 is here. I'm so excited about getting to day 40. I have done fasts before, chocolate fasts, meat fasts, were I have controlled myself from consuming those foods for 40 days, and then the very next day I go and enjoy with vigor the foods that I have controlled myself from. Well today I have made it 40 days and we are no where near giving up or finishing. I'm exciting about the character that this diet is building in me. I'm literally putting my life where my mouth is. I have learnt, read, studied, talked, and talked so more about natural health, about diet, and changing ones life, and now I'm actually doing it! I'm actually putting my body were my mouth is. It excited me to finally be standing on what I believe in this area. I do truly believe that if you do GAPS right, (listening to you body) that you will see results and we are. There are lots of little results that we are seeing along that way that tell us this is working. Ben's pain level alone have reduced to almost half of what they were when we began. Ben is so far 14kgs lighter and I am 12 Kgs lighter. We have also noticed that we are in the middle of cold season, and we normally would have colds of course taking ages to get rid off as by the time it gets through everyone in the family, the next one has arrived. My nose only runs now, when my body is using it to detox, in which case it normally stops by about 10am.

Today we were meant to have visitors for lunch, as our guests were sick, we didn't end up having them, also Ben didn't get enough sleep we accidentally went to bed late, so were a little tired. Oh I forgot to mention that he hasn't been snoring much lately, there is a big bonus! Anyhow so the bean cake that I cooked last night for dessert we ended up having for breakfast with yoghurt and Vanilla creme freche. Yum! We did several jobs at home and then took children for a walk around a local park and then a play. We are actually really loving walking, I think we walked for close to 2 hours today, and only towards the end did the children start to say they were tired and wanted to play at the park, lucky for them we you almost there. I love these walks, because I am out of the house, there is nothing to distract me, the children have my full attention, and can talk about things that are important to them. While this diet is giving me lots of work in the kitchen it is also making me a more fun mum. I like having this time to talk with them, and not giving the jobs, or tasks, or school work.

Food today
Mineral water - 2 Drive tablets
Bean Cake with yoghurt, creme freche, and berries.
Meatballs and veggies for Lunch
Slow cooked lamb roast and veggies.


Happy to keep going.
Christina

Husband's Guest blog #2: "Won't"power

I want to thank all of the lovely readers who read my first blog post in here. It's pretty good to have your comments and views. I've had a think since my last post about the reason why readers may be interested in a male perspective, and here's what I came up with. My thoughts are in this order:

1. Men are stubborn.
2. Women love Men.
3. Women want the best for Men.
4. Men do not like change.
5. Women want Men to change because they love them.
6. Men get grumpy when women try out of love for them, to help to change.
7. Women despair.
8. Men play X-box.

Okay,maybe not the last two, but you get the point. Speaking personally, I don't like change. I get grumpy and sulky when I can't have the things I want; and this has been an especially big problem on the GAPS diet. These are a shortlist of my favourite things:

1. Iced Coffee (Both small and large, and all brands of it)
2. Tea (White with two heaped teaspoons)
3. Instant Coffee (White with four sugars)
4. Pasta
5. Baked Potatoes
6. Potato Chips
7. Sourdough Bread
8. Corn Chips
9. Chocolate
10. Butter

The question that immediately slaps you in the face when you start this diet is the question of willpower. After reading enough about it and starting the diet the question is "Do I have what it takes to complete this marathon diet. This is something everyone who wants to do the diet must stand firm on at the start. I have found that it is not willpower that has sustained me from the start, but "won't"power. Knowing that I could have EEEEAAAAASSSILYYY cheated so many times now, it has become easier to just stay away from the things I am not able or ready to eat yet. Even with "won't"power in full operation, sitting in a fish and chip shop, or standing 30 centimetres away from a corn chip packet may cause distress and agitation in the early stages, and you may try to smell the packet like some kind of weird chip pervert. (or so i've heard...). The reason people like me were / are stuck in the position they are is because some of them are actual sugar addicts. There is biological evidence in Mrs McBride's book that the brain develops an alcoholic-like dependancy in the brain for the sugar; When the body is stripped of sugar for a time, it is natural for all sorts of nasty feelings and emotions to come out, but yet when the sugar is at a more manageable level, emotional stability is possible. If it is hard to convince men to do the GAPS diet, i believe it is because they are addicts; and it is very hard to convince an addict sometimes that He has a problem.

After 39 days of this diet the most significant part of the diet is that it slowly changes desires, and develops won'tpower. I was so happy to be able to eat nuts- I was never interested in them before, and now I think they're a great snack. I love having the yoghurt. I liked it before too, but I would have never eaten it in replacement of a grain food. I appreciate herbal tea more. I don't feel the need for potatoes constantly. Onions that I never used to touch I will gladly eat with tomatoes. My biggest surprise I think was actually Avocado. I used to hate it because let's face it, it's as boring at bat crap and doesn't taste like anything. I actually appreciate it now! so, if I were to say anything to a potential new person on the diet it would be:

1. Once you firmly decide that you will do the diet, you have won half the battle
2. Sugar really is as bad as some people say.
3. Your food preferences can change. They are not set in stone.

Anyway, thank you readers for being so supportive. Have a great day!
Ben.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Day 39- The big food buy.

I totally look like a crazy person when I go shopping for buy for our family. Today I had two full over the top trolley loads of just fruit and veggies. 7 Zucchini's, 8 broccoli heads, 5 butternut pumpkins, 4 cauliflowers, asperagus, mushrooms, 10kg of carrots, 16 kg of apples, pears, 13kg of banana's celery , beetroot, and so much more. Then there was the meat, I cleaned the shop out of mince. I just stood there and took all the mince they had. I was feeling a little sorry for anyone that came after me, and just want to get a quick packet of mince. Oh well the things we do for health.

Since socialise most of the time revolves around food, we haven't gone to peoples places for meals or rushing into many food related activites. One way that we have been getting around this is of course take your own meals to places. However the next is invited people to our house for some food related activities. But of course it's Gaps food. Which for the most part people are interested in seeing and tasty what it's all about. So tomorrow we are having some friends over for a meal. I thought I would treat them with a slow cooked Lamb Roast (done in the slow cooker, while we are at church), and Bean cake, topped with yoghurt and berries again and served with some homemade vanilla cream freche. Well the bean cake is already to go. I sure they will like it as much as we did. The children are all buzzing about having it again.

Today's food
Mineral water with 2 Drive tablets ( purchased at the gapsaustralia.com.au)
Yoghurt with a little honey
Lunch was boiled mince and veggies dish.
Dinner tonight was honey mustard chicken, with veggies. Yum!


Friday, May 25, 2012

Day 38 - Satay Chicken Kababs

Ok so the children loved the so much I though we would have them again tonight, and I wasn't let down, they is nothing left over. It always makes a Mum feel good when you make something the family love and keep asking for. So needless to say this will be going into the list of family favorites. I love it when I make just enough. Enough that everyone is left feeling satisfied, and not hungry, and there is little bits and pieces left over. I don't mind if there is a lot left over and it's something everyone likes because then it is easy to rehash as another meal. Not so easy when there is only little bits here and here, and they won't match up with other things you have to cook with during the week.

I was tossing up calling today's post " Cleaning out". We are determined to make the most of this diet in the whole of our lives not just out bodies. So we are cleaning out our lives. Today arrived our huge skip, for which we are planning to go through everything that we own, and remove the things not needed, broken, cluttering, getting in our way. So it's massive clean out time for the Mathewson's. I really am looking forward to having a home that functions a little better, a place for life to happen without falling over stuff. We started a little of that journey today, by throwing a few things in. If I had of know how much fun the children would have throwing their old stuff in the bin, I would have gotten a skip a lot soon. LOL! They were running around trying to find things that could go in. I had to laugh! Hopefully the weather will be accommodating and allow us to do a bit more tomorrow, as well as getting some washing dry.

Our Food Today
Mineral water and 2 Drive tablets
Breakfast balls with Broccoli, and asparagus cooked in ghee, served with a fried egg and broth gravy.
Lunch Yoghurt
Dinner Chicken Satay Kababs, with boiled broccoli, carrots, and fried mushrooms in the left over marinated.

Something that we need to work on at the moment is including more broth, more ferments, we still aren't quite in the pattern of having them with every meal, and trying to juice everyday, this one we haven't quite got the handle of how much veggies we need to buy to be able to do this daily. But we will get there. Also increasing our Bio Kult to 6 tables a day, which this the therapeutic amount. We are aiming to have all these down before we venture too much into stage 5 and have fruit.

So I thought I would leave you today with a little picture of our Breakfast this morning. We really enjoyed it and it keep us going most of the day.

GAPS White Bean (Lima) Birthday Cake


Well I have finally found my camera cord, so here as promised is the pictures from my Bean cake, that we enjoyed so much for my daughters birthday.

Recipe
3 cups of Cooked Lima beans.
9 Tbles of coconut oil
1 cup + 2tbls of honey
6 eggs
2 Tbles of Vanilla, I used my homemade vanilla essence.
3/4 tsp of good quality salt.
1 tsp of Bi Carb soda ( good quality, and optional)

Mix all ingredients together in a blender or food processor, until well combined. Pour into a with greased cake pan. Bake for 40-45 mins on 180C, or a little longer if not quite set.

I served mine with Yoghurt mixed with kvass to make it pink, drizzled over the top, and then covered with berries. :0)

So here is it again with the birthday girl :0)

I think she looks happy.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Day 37 on GAPs Intro

Ok so after reaching the day 30 mark I took a little break from blogging, but we didn't take a break from GAPS. We are still going strong. We are currently on stage 4 and have danced a bit with stage 5. Three days ago my Daughter had here 5th Birthday and I was determined to make a GAPS cake that we could all enjoy. Ben and I were happy for one meal to have a few things further in the stages. So I made a white bean cake (Navy Beans) Oh my gosh it was so tasty, and when I finally find my camera cord I will post of pictures of it, with the recipe that I used. I was planning to make a cake, stick a doll in the middle, and then use meringue to make a whole thing a doll in a dress. Well the coconut sugar didn't work in the meringue which was probably just as well, as later I learnt that coconut sugar is not legal. SO I went with a back up plan, I had some homemade yoghurt on hand, so I coloured it pink with a little Beet Kvass, and drizzled it over the cake. Then I sprinkled the whole cake with berries, raspberries, mulberries, blueberries, cranberries, and so on, then lightly sprinkled it with some shredded coconut. I was very proud of myself for what I created and now all the children are commenting on how they want one for their birthdays. Double proud. They loved it so much. Something that made me even more proud was that Ben's parents turned up when it was time for cake, so they had a piece as well, they couldn't believe that I didn't use any flour, or sugar to make the cake. They couldn't really get there head around how I could make a cake with Beans. :0)

We have also tried cooked apples with Ghee, which tasted really yummy, but after wards we both had a few little things that made us think that we weren't quite ready for it. So will wait a week or so and then try again. I also nearly had a fire in the kitchen as I forgot about bone broth boiling and went out, only to come home to a kitchen full of smoke, Thank God that is all it was. Needless to say we are a little low on the broth this week. Will sort more out this weekend.

I'm thinking of working my way through some the recipes that Dr Natasha Campbell McBride has the GAPS book, take a picture and post in here how we liked it, or didn't what ever the case may be.

While I'm speaking about food we tried and liked, tonight we enjoyed some Amazing Satay Chicken Kebabs. I looked up a simply recipe for Satay online and converted it to GAPS.

Here is my marinate recipe.
200grams of Peanut, whizzed to make peanut butter.
1 onion
4 cloves of garlic
2 tbs of olive oil.
2 tsps of honey

Whizzed all the ingredients together to make a creamy paste, and stirred in and let sit in the fridge. Put on sticks and cook in the oven.

I did it on 180C for 35 mins.


My husband is full but he is still flying around the kitchen if hope of finding more that the children have missed. :0)



Today was a busy day in our household. We had a home school group activity which was really fun, touring a Cave. While the thought of going was really fun, there was a bit of organising food wise to make sure that we had enough food to take so we weren't hungry. Also Ben was not coming so I had to make sure that there would be things at home that he could eat.

So that being said here is our food for today
Mineral Water, and two Drive Tablets (and mix of B vitamins)
Lamb for last nights slow cooker roast, with veggies and gravy
Lunch, boiled eggs, almond bread, nuts, yoghurt, roasted pumpkin from last night, a few apples and bananas for the children.
Dinner tonight was Satay Chicken Kebabs, with boiled veggies, and sauteed mushrooms in ghee and some of the left over marinade.

I think we will all be rolling into bed tonight full, satisfied, and very tired for all the stairs we climbed today. I'm sure I will be a little or more on the sore side tomorrow.

Bye for now. If you have commented Thanks so much, it is a real encouragement to keep writing.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

My father passing away.

For those of you that know me in my personal life know that my father passes away in February. February 18 to be exact 3 days after my birthday. He bhad prostate cancer that spread through his body at a fast rate. He was given his diagnosis 7 months before he passed away. He has always been a very strong man, rarely sick, apart from having diabetes. I have seen him injure himself and get up and get on with things, but this really took him down big time. He very quickly went from a man that was very capable, strong, and hard working, to someone that was weak and struggled to get out of chair. It is very hard to watch that happen, particularly because he didn't know Jesus. I many that go through these things blame God and really question whether there is a God and if there is how can he say he loves people and let them go through is pain. I can totally understand those questions why people ask them. For me however there was no question that God was in it and He brought about so many blessings that day. We all must at sometime leave this world for the next. We don't know when that day will come, all we can hope for is that is peaceful and we are surrounded by the people we love. And Dad was.

We don't have a lot of money at our disposal so we had organised to go to my see my parents every Friday as the live around 1 and hour away from us. Well on the Thursday mum rang to say Dad had choked and it wasn't looking good. Well we had no money, the next day was payday and we were due to go see them, but they weren't sure Dad would make it through the night. However there wasn't anything we could do, so we just had to pray that we would get to see him one last time before he passed away. So the next morning we arrived, and Dad was heavily drugged and coming in and out of consciousnesses. We took the children in to see him, they all had there activity books as I didn't plan to leave anytime soon. They all prayed for him, and gave him a kiss and a hug, told him he loved them, and just at the right times he woke up to hear them and say he loved them as well. Which was a real blessing, that they and he was able to have that last I love you. This was just one of the many blessings that surround Dad's passing. We were also very blessed with an understanding and supportive friend who was able to come pick up four of our children and have them for the night. This allowed me and Ben to say the night near by. I think I always actually planned to spend the night with Dad but didn't mention it to anyone but Ben. Well we got everyone organised, Ben was able to stay at my mums, the night with Isaac (2years) and Xavier had a pram that he would be able to sleep in lent to us by one of my cousins. Mum was so wrecked and distraught that the hospital let here sleep in one of their beds in the next room. Xavier and I spent the night with Dad. Another great blessing in it was how content Xavier was, only waking to be feed and changed and very happy the remainder of the time.

That night I don't think I will ever forget. Next to Dad's bed was big reclining chair, were I sat holding his hand and watching Forest Gump for the last time with my Dad. Dad was asleep for it most of the time, waking up here and there. I remember him waking a little and asking if he was in pain, he said no, and then needing to using the toilet so I helped with the bottle, then he woke a bit later and said he had pain. I called the nursed and they came and gave him pain relief and changed him. Helped him have a little drink, and get comfortable. Mum woke about 5am and came back in to the room. The night had been mostly peaceful and calm. Then around 6.30 am the 18th of February Dad breathed his last breath, while Mum and I were holding his hands. I can't explain how grateful I was to the Lord for allowing those last 20 hours to be with him while he passed. It was so precious and I am so thankful that I could be there. I am also very thankful for being his daughter. I was able to pray right after his last breath and thank God for the privileged of having him in my life.

While other question God, I have no doubt that God brought many blessings in this situations and I am so grateful that my Heavenly Father, allowed me to be there for my Earthly Father for his final farewell.

I love you Dad. I look forward to seeing you on the other side. :0)

What I love about GAPS.



What I love about GAPS. Love and GAPS were two words that I didn't think that I would use in the same sentence. However today I found myself saying them. When we were thinking about doing this Diet I think there were many thoughts about how torturous it was going to be. How we would be missing out on all the things that we liked, and couldn't have. How were we going to eat. What was it going to be like watching other people eat food that we wanted to eat. And the idea of doing it for two years was totally out there. Generally there were lots of thoughts about all the things that we would miss out on, and not very many on what we would gain. However as we move on more and more through the diet, the more I love it and see it as a great tool, for healing but also for teaching.

The first stage of the diet is very basic, but also major, in that you don't have a lot of food choices you can make, and you clean everything out of your diet that is rubbish for you. You overcome your food additions and controls, so once you have finished stage one you no longer have anything in your diet that shouldn't be there. As you move through the other stages you start adding more and more foods and processes to your diet and life. With every addition you adding more healthy options, none of what you are adding is bad. If you add something that you have a reaction to you simply take it back out, allow for more healing, and then try again. So you add broth to your life, ferments, detoxing, juicing, correct food preparation, how to eat fruits, and so on. I think it is a great tool for helping your set up your kitchen life and habits for health.

I'm so glad that we have finally succumbed to using this diet to heal our bodies.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Guest Blog from the husband!

Christina and I started this big lifestyle change together, and I think she particularly wanted to blog as a type of accountability measure. Watching the joy that has come from her blogging, I think it has gone a little bit further beyond that! But why let her steal all the fun, I'll blog too!

Since we have reached the momentous 30 day mark I've observed a lot of changes in myself already,in terms of mentally, physically and emotionally. I think we both found the first two weeks very challenging, and it became a bit easier after the first 14 days had ended. Speaking as a testimony myself, I believe we went on the GAPS diet at exactly the right time. I have food addictions, and I LOVE starchy and sweet foods. The day before we started the GAPS journey, we brought chips home for dinner and I had my usual sneaky iced coffee which I was totally addicted too, and I think we had something sweet after that, and I had an absolutely rotten stomach ache and I said to Christina that "this diet could not have come too soon".

Physically, In the first couple of days I had this nasty tiredness and brain fog. My head really hurt and I just wanted to stay in bed. I was sore and grumpy (much grumpier than usual) Sore back complaints; actually I was sore all over! I noticed little patches on my body would get sore, and I would think it was strange. I also noticed a gradual weight loss. I think I've lost about 13 kilograms already, and It's pleasant to have friends notice. Before the diet I used to have ulcers, headaches, and a pain level in my gut just about all of the time. Today I can proudly say that I rarely get headaches, have not yet had a problem with ulcers,and my pain level is reduced by about 20%. I have had stomach problems in one measure or another for much of my life- I remember them in my late childhood and early teens, and so 20% is still a good reason to celebrate!

Mentally it's been a bit more difficult. I have read a portion of Mrs McBride's book, so I kind of understand the reason why I can't eat certain foods, but that didn't make it easier, especially in the first few weeks. I made life difficult for my longsuffering wife in the first couple of weeks announcing like a bratty teenager that "the food is boring". So glad that she was so patient and didn't give up. I also found the first two weeks difficult because of my addiction to cups of tea. I asked Christina several times when I could have a cup of tea, and the answer was always the same. I've since learned that asking her more times doesn't make the answer change, but internally I was saying I WANT A CUP OF FREAKING TEA!!!! I, like some, have also used food as a comfort, rather than a source of nourishment. Food marketing and memories have made it difficult. I remember good feelings about hot tomato soup with bread on winter days, but of course, that sort of thing is out of the question on GAPS, especially the early stages; and chocolate when you just have a blech day- forget about it. I also had unusual cravings for memory food like crumpets- I have enjoyed crumpets since I was a boy. After doing this diet I've come to appreciate whole foods I certainly didn't like as much- Zucchinis, Onions, Sauerkraut, almonds and walnuts (I have a slight addiction to nuts now, which is a whole other story); and this is all helped by the fact that Christina is a wonderful cook. The smells of the food that the children were eating really irritated me at first, but now I am happy that they are enjoying whatever they are eating. From time to time out of a love for sharing, they still shove things 20 milimeters from my face and say "do you want some of this", to which I generally reply patiently that I can't because of the diet. Beating temptation is getting quite easy, which eases my mind a lot.

It's hard to judge if my emotions have changed, but I think they have gradually. I was an emotional basketcase; because of a lack of sleep. I was often angry at the children, but usually because of my own issues. I would forget things, get confused and swear and get depressed; and while I have some issues of my own I would admit, most of the problem would stem from the fact that I was not, and could not sleep due to tummy troubles. I seemed to have two sleeping regimes - One is when I would go to bed at 11 and sleep until 3, and the other was being unable to sleep until 3 and sleep in for as long as I possibly could. On both regimes I found it difficult to get through the day and would have a day sleep. On the GAPS diet, and especially after we brought herbal supplements for energy I have found that I am sleeping a bit better at night generally and I generally don't feel the need for day sleeps. I love my children and my demeanor towards them has changed a bit too. I think I am generally more patient with them, and I certainly believe I can think better to answer their questions and statements. I am certainly a work in progress in this area, but as I start to feel better physically, I have noticed my emotions following suit. If I can do this diet ANYONE can!

I can't tell you how much I am enjoying eating Yoghurt and honey with nuts on stage 4. Almonds make me happy. Anyway that's about it, thanks for reading. Like I said... why let Christina have all the fun?

Oh my Gosh! We have made it! day 30

We have made to our first month! I know, I know, most months have 31 days. But I am taking it at 30. Well it's not like we are giving up anytime soon, so a day early will be fine. I think we can safely say we are full on Stage 4. Which I am quiet happy with. Stages 1 and 2 were very limiting but good in the sense of knowing exactly what your having at each meal, because there are very few things that you can have. :0) Now we have more options and are really enjoying food. I didn't know food taste so good. I know it sounds weird but true. It's like our palate have been cleansed and we can now taste food in it's full flavour again.

Today's Food Hero in our house hold was Fermented Salsa! Oh my gosh if you have not tried this fermented food, you really should, it's like salsa on steroids! It have a little bubbly zing, and an explosion of flavours. I think is probiotic food is going to become a family.

Recipe - How I made it.
5 large tomatoes diced
1 Capsium diced
1 Chilly diced
1 white onion diced
1 cup of Parsley ruffly chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbs of salt - Best you can get
1/4 cup of whey.

Mixed all the ingredients together put into jars, and left at room temp for 1 and a half days. If left for 2 -3 days it can get really bubbly which some people don't really like. But it's up to your personal tastes.

Food Today
Mineral water
Savory mince, with veggies cooked in beef broth.
Yoghurt with walnuts and almonds and 1tsp of honey
Dinner - Grilled pork chops, with boiled veggies and fermented salsa.

I also have been organised enough to make pumpkin and herb Almond bread for our lunch tomorrow. Go Me!

As it is our first 30 days on GAPS I have asked Ben if he would mind doing a guest blog to let you all know how he is feeling, and his thoughts. So that post will be on it's way very shortly. Thanks for reading along as we have made it this far. I hope you have enjoyed reading, and maybe even found some inspiration to start making changes in your own life. Or even start GAPS yourself.

Bye for now
Christina





Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Day 29 - Carrot milk shakes

We have started juice for the third day in a row, sorry forgot to mention that one. SO today I turned that juice into a milk shake. Well not a real milk shake. I simply juiced a few carrots a couple of sticks of celery and then added yoghurt for the dairy. To my surprise everyone loved it.

I feel like the more we are getting tidy on the inside and more the outside gets tidy as well. Things are slowly starting to fall into place. I'm slowly getting more organised. I hope this is the way of the future.

Food Today
Mineral Water
Scrambled eggs, with Onions cooked in chicken broth, with garlic, and avocado. Severed with a carrot and celery milk shake.
Yoghurt with crispy walnuts, (crispy walnuts are walnuts that have been soaked overnight, in water and a little apple cider vinegar, and then dehydrated, making them Crispy)
Dinner today, was Roast pork, with Baked Pumpkin, Carrots, Brussels sprouts, and Zucchini, with Sauerkraut and Onion gravy.

Today I did some more fermenting. I have Salsa, and Tomato sauce fermenting at the moment. Can't wait to try them. Will keep you updated on how the family like them.

Day 28 and counting

So close to our first month, I can taste it. One month from what could be our 24 month journey to healing, or more. All depending on how fast or slowly our bodies recover from years of damage that we have been doing to them, and overcome our individual issues. I can't say that we have any big this to announce today about our healing. We have both continued to loose weight, soon Ben will need some small clothes. I have noticed that a few of the outfit that I have that were a little tight are just right at the moment. However I am looking forward to the day were I need to go shopping for clothes that fit me.

My arms got a work out today as I filled a 10 litre bucket up with cabbage for making sauerkraut. We are blessed enough to have a second fridge were I can make ferments in bulk and store them in that fridge until needed. Which means that I don't have to be making them all the time.

Today we introduced a little Kombucha, which was so nice after only drinking water or herbal teas. So far so go. Ben is not feeling crash hot today, he didn't sleep well last night. He said it was different kind of pain. Before it has been like a band of pain across the stomach, but now it feels like his stomach is starting to work. Which sounds positive.

Food today
Mineral water
Beef stirfry, made with chicken stock
Omelet with Avocado
Bolognese Mince and veggies, using beef stock to make, with a dollop of kefir cream cheese on top. This went down a treat the children all loved it, and wanted seconds.

By for now.
Christina

Monday, May 14, 2012

Day 27.

Today was a day for organising in our house hold. My husband and I have been without cloth space for the last year, and today we finally got some tall boys delivered. Wow what a difference it makes to be able to put things away. So interestingly enough having something to keep us busy really took our minds off food.

I notice if I haven't had a detox bath, or foot bath for the day, because my nose runs. Ben is very pleased with his progress. For someone that doesn't really like rules very much he is adapting well to the fact that it is based on rules.
Ben is totally in love with Almonds, He is very thankful that I have ordered and 12.5kg box of them. I on the other hand love eggs! I'm pacing myself, but loving what I am having.

Food today
Mineral water
Chicken soup
Yoghurt with almonds and a little honey
Stir-fry Beef (using chicken stock) with veggies and an omelet.

I also started a batch of fermented honey going today. It will be about 4-6 months before we can try it, but I'm so looking forward to it.

Catch you later, Don't forget to post your comments
:0)

Day 26 - Almond Bread.



As we have started walking, we thought today (Being Mother's Day) would be a great day to go for another one, and even pack a picnic, which is not always that easy to do on GAPS intro. However as we are on stage 4 we can introduce Almond Bread. Which is exactly what we did. Ben has been very excited about adding this one to our menu. Bread has been something that he has missed big time. I guess I have too, but in a different sense. I miss having bread with Soup, as that has been a bit of a tradition to make an extra good loaf to go with soup. So it really has been a change to feel like just soup is a whole meal, because it feels like half the meal is missing. I have also missed making a loaf or two for an easy lunch.

So today was our first try at adding it in. It was a very simple, plain loaf. Another interesting point about making bread is that we don't have a whole lot of stuff that we can put on that bread yet. Also the spreads that we are used too are out. Vegemite, Jams, we can have homemade nut butters, but not cheese and tomatoes, or raw salads. So now to think about and prepare things that we can have on them. Soft boiled eggs, Nut butters, ghee, cooked tomatoes, ferment condiments, anymore suggestions would be great!

Food today
Mineral Water
Breakfast Sausages, with onion,tomatoes,scrambled eggs, and the chicken and Avocado Gravy from Last night.
Lunch - Picnic, yoghurt with a dash of honey and almonds, and Almonds bread with rosemary Ghee.
Dinner - Chicken drumsticks cooked in chicken broth and ghee with onions and tomatoes, served with Saurkraut, broccoli, carrots, and Brussels sprouts.

All in All a good Mothers day.

Almond Bread Recipe
2 1/2 cups of Almond Flour/ Almond meal
1/4 cup of fat, ghee, yoghurt
3 eggs

Mix until well combined and the consistency of porridge. Put into a well greased pan and bake on 150 for 40mins - 1 hour. Until a knife comes out clean. Let sit in the tin for another ten minutes before turning out. Slice to eat.

This is the basic recipe, you can add all manor of things that you are allowed. For example when you are up to fruits, you can make add them and make a fruit loaf, olives for olive bread, herbs for herb bread, pumpkin for pumpkin bread. You can also use this to make homemade pizza. Just cook the base first before adding your toppings.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Day 26

Well we are balancing between stage 3/4 at the moment, eating everything from stage 3 and still slowing adding in eggs, Which we have had successfully for the last few days. I had a nice little chat over facebook with the owner of a health spa today, she is very interested in my cultures page, and grains, as she has customers that don't have big budgets to be able to buy all the probiotics that are recommended for them and would love to have another option for them. While she is thinking on the money side for the clients, I think more on the whole foods side. I would prefer to get my nutrition from food than supplements, so if their is a food option available I would much rather use that. However in saying that, we are taking Bio Kult supplements to help build up our supply of probiotics quicker. But if we didn't have the money to buy those I would really work on getting more and more cultured foods into our diets a little quicker.

Today was our big shopping day, which means it's a little busy, and I think a little more challenging on this diet, just because we are still on the stage of only eating cooked foods, which means preparation time is needed, I can't just grab am apple on the run; So in saying that we actually missed lunch, however because of having meat for breakfast, I really didn't miss it that much, I was just a getting hungry for dinner a little earlier. The children happened to be snacking on fruit until dinner.

I think the service assistant was a little shocked at how much food I was buying. I brought the children a 13kg box of bananas, which of course will make them very happy, and any that don't get eaten before turning too brown will be popped in the freezer for making pancakes, muffins, and breads. I also brought, 7 butternut pumpkins, 14 avocados, 7 broccoli, 7 Zucchini, several Cabbages, 5kg bag of carrots, 10kgs of apples, 5kg of pears, and lots more. I'm very thankful that we have a freezer full of meat, so I don't need to buy too much of that at moment. However I do look forward to a time when i know what is in the freezer again, as a lot of our meat wasn't labeled, so when we pull stuff out is a bit of pot luck what we are going to get.

Ben was listening to a talk today about links that have been found to nutrient deficiency and poor blood sugar control and criminal activity. It was shocking to hear that every child that they tested in the juvenile detention centre was positive to both of those. They weren't sick enough to make them show signs of health issues, but it was clearly enough to interact with the functioning of the normal hormonal functions of the brain, so that they could make clear choices. There was also another cases that they were talking about with a housewife who just started stealing things from shops that she visited. It wasn't that she wanted the things she took, it was more that she just couldn't stop herself from doing it. When she was tested it was discovered that she had very reactive blood sugar levels, were her body would go really high and then really low. Once the problem was treated there was no longer a problem with stealing. There was a lot more stories like this, was very interesting for us to listen too. Anyhow it got me thinking, how much of our lives are affected with things like this? How much of what I want to do, that I don't do is because of not caring for what goes into my mouth? It's an interesting thought and one that I will be pondering on for a while I think.

Food today
Mineral water
Breakfast balls, and veggies and beef stock gravy
Lunch a handful of Almond nuts
Dinner Roasted Chicken, with Butter and garlic under the skin. Carrots, broccoli, Button squash, and some amazing gravy.


Recipe for Chicken, Avocado Gravy
When Roasting the chicken I put butter and garlic under the skin, I then added white onions to the pan, with a little water.
When the roast was finished I mashed an Avocado with a little salt, and lemon juice, added the onion and pan juices from the pan and whizzed with the hand blender. Oh boy it made a delicious tasty gravy!

Oh! Here's the link to the youtube video my husband was watching. I'm still figuring out how to embed the video into the text. See you later!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_m96jXGOV0&feature=related

Friday, May 11, 2012

Day 25 - a bit of a test.

Well today is Friday, the day of the week that I need to be really organised. Cook breakfast, and Lunch and Dinner at the same time. However today I just hadn't planned far enough ahead to have dinner cooking in the slow cooker while we were out. So on the way home wee had that debate, what are we going to have for dinner, and I wasn't feeling very well. The temptation was there to get a supermarket cooked chicken..... Then the though we have done all this hard work, and I don't know where those chickens come from, what they put on them, how exactly are they cooked.

So we decided that couldn't be an option. My mother sent us home with some fruit for the children, so we decided to give them that for dinner, they had a big lunch and didn't really need anything big. So Ben went to the supermarket to grab a few things. Well those few things turned out great. Ben and I didn't eat until late, the children were in bed. So I pan fried some chicken breasts in ghee, with broccoli, onions and garlic, and halved tomatoes. My word it was tasty! Ben asked me if he had made a good choice. My reply was, "If we weren't on GAPS I wouldn't have cooked this." Which is true, if we weren't on GAPS I would have just opted for take way.

I'm so glad we made the choice for health.

Food today
Mineral water
Breakfast balls with Gravy
Lunch was left over Balls with stir fried veggies
Dinner Fried Chicken Breast, and veggies as mentioned above.

Something that has been brought to our attention was that we haven't been having our Ferments at every meal. So that is something we are going to work on this week. Tomorrow is shopping day in our household, so I planned to come home and make as many as I can to build up our stock of ferments and really get into them this week.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Moving into our new life. Day 24

During the process of doing this diet we are not only changing our food habits, but also our life ones. While there are still feelings of missing out on some things. There is also excitement that I am going to be challenged to be creative in the kitchen. Try out new recipes that I might never have come across before embarking on this journey. I'm looking forward to learning how to bake with coconut flour. I look forward to making a flour less orange cake. I look forward to make Lemon and strawberry Kefir Cheese cake, and kefir Ice cream. I also bet my family are really looking forward to it as well :0)

Freedom from food is something else we have been talking about lately. Both Ben and I have been talking about how food can bring back memories, particularly from your childhood. Also how the media plays a huge part in our perceptions of foods. The look, sounds, smells, descriptions all work together to entice you to enjoy what ever food they are selling. I was talking with my children today about the food business, and how there job is to get you to buy their food, they don't have any real vested interest in your health. The only person that has a real invested interest in your health and what you put into your mouth is you. However saying that food is very powerful, wars have been fought over it, civilisations have collapsed due to lack of it, food companies spend a lot of money designing their products to be addictive, so we will crave it and want to buy it over and over again. That is probably one of the biggest things that I like about this diet, in that you are become removed from it. I feel like we are in a safe place at the moment to recover and learn to take charge of our eating. Where we make the choices, not the addictions and sugar cravings. Also because you are removed from anything processed, you have time to retrain your taste buds, food becomes more flavourful, we are both learning to enjoy food more. So for me the test of when we are free from the hold that bad food has over us is when we can happily sit across from something eating a food that we once loved, and not feel anything about it. That it doesn't evolve any negative feels. That for me is the sign that I am actually free for it.

Today has been an up and down day to me emotionally, however I think that has more to do with a real lack of sleep last night, with Xavier wanting to feed pretty much all night, and when I was finally dozing he bit me. So by 4am this morning I had enough and got up with him and Isaac. So needless to say I'm really looking forward to bed tonight.

Food today
Mineral water
breakfast meat balls, with beef stock gravy, scrambled eggs, avocado, and sauteed onions.
Lunch was veggies cooked in beef stock and some the extra lamb from yesterdays dinner.
Dinner, was garlic, ghee and honey stir fry.

The stir fry that we had for dinner was enjoyed by the whole family. While there was honey in the dish I only add 2 tablespoons for the whole dish to serve 8 people, I was really surprised how strong it tasted for me, while only a short while ago I would have been adding more to just to be able to taste it. We have both upped our Bio Kult dose, Ben is having some die off, when he gets a bigger die off, his feet ache until he has a detox bath to help clear it.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Another day, another walk, day 23

Well today we took another walk, which was really good, the children loved it. It's great to get out and about and start showing our children the city that we live in. I'm looking forward to more of them and hoping that it becomes a family habit. I think it will be even better when we are back on raw foods, and can pack salads and fruit and so on.

We have decided to move on to stage 4, We have successfully included all the food for stage 3 but eggs for Ben. So we have decided to move forward and just keep trying eggs every so often, and hopefully soon he will be able to eat them. I think he is keen to try and get them in soon, because he is dying to have bread, which is on stage 4.

I'm so hanging out to finish intro so we can move onto some more variety, however as much as I would like to move on, I'm not sure that I am completely ready yet, but I will get there.

Today's Food
Mineral water
Breakfast meatballs, with boiled veggies, and Beef stock gravy
Lunch a cup of yoghurt
Dinner, slow cooked Lamb roast, with roasted veggies, and Stock gravy

Ben is finally getting into his studies full swing, which is helping take his mind off food.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Walking - day 22

As our health picks up we would both like to be more active. So we started that today. There is a local park nearby that is really good for walking, biking around, but also has great play equipment for children. So I'm hoping to slowly build up to taking the children for walks around our city, several times a week. Today was a great start. I wasn't sure it would happen, the weather outside was looking like there might be rain, but I gritted my teeth and said, no we are going, and was very thankful that the rain held out for our hour long walk, and then play. The children had a great time, and Ben and I benefited from some time outdoors, as well as some physical activity.

I'm looking forward to building more and more healthy things into our lives. We have started with food, but I don't want it to stop there. I want to live life with my children to the full.

Today we started adding more yoghurt to our diet, so far so good, no real reactions. Yesterday i made 4 Litres of yoghurt, my culture is now starting to get really good, as it was thickest, and creamiest one yet. My children are always hungry at the moment. So that 4 litres will not last us very long at all, I will need to make more very soon.

Food today
Mineral water
Breakfast meat balls, in a beef and tomato sauce.
Lunch was stir fried veggies in ghee and beef stock, with Avocado and beef strips.
Dinner Pumpkin soup.

I think one of the difficult things is having soup every day without bread. For us fresh baked bread and soup is the Standard. So we are missing that component to the meal. Not sure that Almond bread will cut it, but when we get there I will let you know.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Day 21.

Wow, so we have being doing this long enough to make a new habit. We actually I wish that where totally true. We have not cheated, and I think I am starting to develop the habit of cooking all the meals and thinking ahead to our next one or two or three. I'm getting use to waking up and have only mineral water first thing. So while I'm getting used to all these things about the diet, there are somethings that I am still not yet used too. One of which is going to the supermarket and not getting a treat, or seeing a new product on the shelf and not even thinking about trying it. Even though I know well and good that these things will offer no nutrition at all, and in actual fact cause harm.

Unlike Ben I don't feel like having a tantrum over these food because I can't have them. I think it just takes time I get to get used to not being able to have them. The more I think about it the more I think is a great way to get people off all that junk and help them become really aware of what they are eating, and putting into and onto their bodies. Giving the body a rest, and spending time learning to listen to what it is saying to you.

Ben and I were talking about it recently how the messages that our bodies is giving us and the way we interrupt them has been corrupted in a sense. Take for example the story of Fats. We have a whole food industry designed to reduce and remove fats, and spend a lot of money advertising there product as no fat, low fat, reduced fat, and so on. However our bodies really need good fats (not vegetable, trans or processed fats) to function. When our bodies have enough of these good fats, our brain sends a message to our stomach, "We have enough now, you can stop eating". Well if you are not consuming fats, or
your consuming these bad ones, your brain never gets enough, so instead sends messages that it needs more.

So you can see how we can slowly get disconnected from what our body is saying to us.

Sugar craving have gone for me, that's not to say that I don't still get the mental cue, ie the children have gone to bed, it might be nice to have a little treat. I don't need it, I don't really crave it, it's just an old habit slowly dying.

Food today
mineral water
chicken stock
veggie stir fry, with ghee and chicken stock
crispy walnuts and slivered almonds
Lamb chops and stir fried veggies, with beef bone broth gravy.

Ben has been starting yoghurt over the last two days. Starting with 1 Tablespoon yesterday, 2 tablespoons tomorrow, until we get up to a bowl full. I currently have 4 litres culturing at the moment, as our family loves homemade yoghurt, and there is never really enough. Due to Ben really missing snack we have introduced the Crispy walnuts and the Almond Slivers which he is enjoying a lot. Also over the past two days, he hasn't required a day sleep which has become quite routine at our house. He is also being more productive. ;0)

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Gaps day 20 - The Norm.

So I am still hanging out to eggs in our diet, and Ben is hanging out for some variety as well. So we gave them another go today in Omelete form. Well so far so good for me, Ben however is feeling a little heavy in the stomach after having them, so we will wait and see how things go tomorrow, as to whether I can have them or not.


Ben REALLY MISSES SNACKING. I have to laugh at him so much because today he was sulking over a packed of chips. He was very very sad because of them. It is actually hysterical watching a grown man writhe around because he can't have them. In actual fact he is really grieving the fact that he is not a 'normal' person, in his own mind. He is really frustrated that he can't be like all these other (seemingly normal) people that can eat apparently whatever they like and there is no consequences. However he isn't actually seeing that they are not healthy. Yes, they may be normal and eating normal food, from the point of view of statistic norms. However that same 'norm' spend a lot time dealing with headaches,prescription drugs, chronic illness, colds, immune issues, needing pills to live normal lives, and needing care.

The more I think about it the more I actually don't want to eat like the norm, because I don't want to have to deal with the health issues that face the norm. I want to eat like a nourished person, because someone that is nourished in every way in their life, don't face these issues. That is the life that I want for me and my family.

On another interesting note, on Friday my children consumed some unhealthy food, I am allowing them to choose for themselves, so that they can learn the lessons of greater health. They were given lollies, which they happily consumed. We my eldest daughter had been having a few bed wetting issues. Well most of the week they eat Gaps food. During the week she had no issues with wetting the bed, and she even commented to me that her stoles were really good. However Friday night she wet the bed, and my second eldest daughter had a sniffy nose that evening and night as well, and my last daughter broke out in eczema. Well two days back on GAPS foods, and they are getting back to being well. I'm hoping that this lessons is not a long one for them to learn.

Food
mineral water
Chicken stock
Stir fry veggies, in a mix of ghee and broth.
Roast Lamb with roasted veggies
Omelet with stir fried veggies.

Day 19 Gaps - getting some control back.

Well today was a busy day in our household, we have lots of things to catch up on. Thankfully we were able to organise some of those things. I'm feeling in a bright mood, like things are starting to fall into place, emotional, diet wise, and our choas which has been our life of late. With Ben having these issues over the last several years, each year getting a little worst, we haven't been able to be the most consistant of people. We could plan some, but we really didn't know what to expect of the next day until we saw how he had slept that night, or not slept, on many occasions.

Now we are SLOWLY falling into routines, of detox baths, and getting in to bed at a reasonable time, while he is no way he is not there yet, he is sleeping a bit more, the pain has reduced to mainly a 3 and he is having more energy and needing a day sleep less. So things are looking up. For me I have seen several signs that my body is starting to heal. One of which is a clogged pore that I have had for years. It actually looks like I have drawn a dot on my face with black pen. Well a few days ago that cleaned out! and now is starting to close.

If you ever plan on doing this diet I highly recommend making daily or weekly notes on your symptoms. We have been doing this and it is great to see one of those symptoms fall off your chart. Ben hadn't noticed, but in the first few weeks of starting this, he had an aching back, I asked him today if he had it still, and he looked at me as if to say what back ache? but then he remembered and realised he hadn't noticed it was gone.

I'm looking forward to being able to share more of those stories with you.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Gaps day 18

Well we are through another Friday. 18 days with out sugar, dairy and grains, and 18 days of Blogging, wow looks like I'm committing to things. They say it takes 21 days to change a habit, well we are getting close to that , and it's looking like our life is changing. Ben is not healed yet but feeling much better. I have noticed changes in myself as well, and we are both around 10kgs lighter.

I think I need to find my camera and start taking pictures of some of our food. For me once I was able to see what our meals would look like I had a far better idea of how to prepare and make those meals. I am also learning to love food again, in a good way. Loving the taste of real food. I must admit today I was really tempted. Xavier was given a chocolate frog, which I haven't yet given to him, but just holding it and could remember to taste, and comfort it brings for that short time. However I have overcome it. One win for me and health.

Food today
Mineral water
breakfast sausages, with pasta carrots
2x biokult
Pumpkin Soup, and chicken thighs cooked in onions and tomatoes
Dinner was chicken, carrots and Gravy.

We all had eaten lots today, so I didn't really serve dinner, those that were hungry had some those that weren't didn't. Also on Fridays we go out to my mothers house, were the children have lunch, and I bring food for Ben and I so I tend to pack extra food, because I don't want us to get hungry out there with not many options of food to eat. So we will probably eat lighter tomorrow.

Thanks for reading
Christina

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Day 17, GAPS Intro

Well I'm feeling a bit low at the moment. I didn't have a very good night's sleep last night, Xavier was fussy and so was Isaac, so there was two little boys in our bed, and I was having re flux, So I ended up getting up with them, at around 4ish. Isaac was happy to watch veggie tales, and Xavier went back to sleep around 7am, so I grabbed a blanket and sleep on the couch for an hour or so.

Also we were both excited to move on to stage 3, trying scrambled eggs and pancakes, well at the moment it looks like we both have a slight aversion to eggs. So that was disappointing. So we will leave them out for a couple of weeks and try again. I think the hardest thing about doing this diet is that we can't leave the house without knowing what we are doing for our next meal or two, and not just thinking about it but actually getting what you need to ready. We can no longer just jump in the car and if we aren't home in time, just swing by and pick up something. At the moment too everything is still slow cooked, so it all takes a while. However not to be discouraged. I am learning new skills in food preparation, and learning on the go to plan our week food wise. If you are a really organised, tidy person, I'm sure you wouldn't find this as much a challenge as I do.

Food today
mineral water
steak with boiled veggies, and gravy for our broth.
Lunch was left over steak warmed, with sauteed onions and tomatoes.
Dinner was Almond Pancakes. Not nearly as much fun when you can't add jam to them.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Day 16 on Intro

So last night Ben tried the Oxy-powder and this morning it worked! I think we were both relieved when he went to the toilet. Then went to the toilet again. Then went to the toilet again. Afterwards his stomach pain was dramatically reduced! What a relief that it, Physically and Emotionally. LOL

We are also moving on to stage three, which is Great news for Ben as he has so been looking forward to pancakes, and for me I have been looking forward to scrambled eggs. We were on stage 2 for 11 days, and I guess we could take it slower but we are both feeling pretty good, if we had more issues then we would stay back. We are currently on 1 bio Kult daily, and 2 heaped TB spoons of cultured veggies with dinner. Our goal is the get up to six bio - kults, and a serving of cultured veggies with each meal. We also looking forward to introducing cultured dairy.

Yesterday I made 3kgs of Ghee. Ben is totally in love, and I'm sure it makes everything taste better!

The weather here at the moment is wet and miserable, perfect for staying inside, not as much fun for the children, but great of warm comforting food and soups. While Ben has reduced pain and more comfortable, however he is very tired. He hasn't slept real well over the last few nights, so is also on the grumpy side. I'm hoping that with less pain and having relieved himself today that tonight will be much better. Fingers crossed, Prayers said.

Food for today
Mineral water
Lamb Broth
Scrambled eggs with sauteed onions in Ghee and Avocardo
Pumpkin soup with added ghee, oh sooooo tasty! you really much try it sometime.
Boiled veggies with lamb casserole. Yum still licking my lips from that one.

Next thing on our to do list at the moment is fill our vegges gardens with food we can eat. I think at this point we don't have the energy to start from seeds, so we are going to buy a heap of seedlings and fill it up. We will save seeds til next season.


Bye for now. Please feel free to ask any questions that you would like me to talk about on here.
Christina

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Day 15 on Intro

Day 15, Well I'm pretty sure that the runny nose has more to do with not having a detox bath than anything else. Then last few days I avoided peas as I thought that was the culprit, and it went away. However I was also having detox baths. Well yesterday I missed my detox bath and again this morning I had a runny nose. SO DON'T MISS THE DETOX BATH CHRISTINA!

I was so excited to open the do to the postman today! Yay our package arrived and we have our Bio Kult, Oxy -Powder, Drive, Fermented Cod liver oil, and our Veggie Twister. We were all excited about the veggie twister, and I totally thought I would make veggie pasta today but I forgot that I salmon that needed to used. So maybe tomorrow.

Ok so the Bio Kult is DR Campbell McBrides recommended brand, and the idea is that you increase the dose over a period of time until you get to the therapeutic level, during the healing process, then you can reduce them once you are healed.

Oxy- Powder is to help Ben constipation problem and get things going more naturally.

Drive is to help Ben with emotion stability, but more importantly to give him energy. They are full of B Vitamins, so we will see how that goes.

So this week's aim is now to introduce them in a see how things go. I'm hoping well. We would also like to introduce yoghurt and nuts as well. The family are pretty keen to get into having pancakes. I think we are doing really well at the moment, progress for Ben is slow, but it is happening. Something that I love about this diet, is that it's like a course in the basics of cooking traditional foods. It's a great lead up for Nourishing Traditions. I also think to that if you commit to a year or more on the diet you have worked really hard to clean out your body and only put good stuff in, when you are finished you wouldn't want to then go and stuff it full of crap after that. Hence the good lead up to traditional cooking, which is mostly prepared at home and takes time, with soaking, fermenting and so on. I Highly recommend this diet to anyone, whether you think you are ill or not.

Food for today
Mineral Water
Breakfast Balls with pouched eggs
We had a late breakfast we missed lunch and had an early dinner
Pouched Salmon with boiled veggies, carrots, zucchini, broccoli, Brussels sprouts. Served with Fermented Veggies.


I would love to hear about your journey on GAPS so please feel free to share.
Christina

Gaps Intro Day 14

I talked yesterday about how my nose was running again. Well I avoided peas yesterday and had a detox bath, and this morning no runny nose. Yay! so pleased. However I did forget to make one of our meals yesterday soup. So I did have reflux last night, as we has three meat meals. Oh well lesson learnt. I have also noticed that my eye sight has been improving. For time to time I have gone through stages where need to wear my glasses all day to avoid headaches and to just be able to see properly. Well have notice since starting the GAPS diet that I haven't need them, past the first few days.

Today I made stuffed Capsiums (pepper for American readers). Everyone seemed to love them. I'm very excited about the mail coming tomorrow and trying out our new veggie twister. Both Ben and the children are looking forward to trying out veggie pasta. So I guess that will be on the menu for tomorrow.

For the first time since starting GAPS Ben didn't complain about food. Yay! Also He is in a brighter mood. :0)
So today our two week Gapversary! I can't believe that we have been without sugar, dairy, grains for two weeks. Wow, when we first begun I wasn't sure we would make it this far. Actually I tried not the think about how far we would get. I mean I have done fasts before, 8 day food fast, 40 day meat fast, 40 day chocolate fast. But this is different, we are looking at two years. That's a big commitment. However we are already starting to seeing results, which helps spur us on. Also the promise of being healthy and being able to enjoy our children, and our lives. I look forward to the day when we go for walks together, exploring our country side. But more than that being free to do what God is calling up to do without hindrance.

Food Today
Mineral Water
Chicken stock
Stuffed caps.
Beef Casserole.

Another week down, as Ben tells me 102 more weeks to go. LOL!