Christmas Recipes

I am doing this post more for me that anything else. I've spent the last few days collecting recipes to get us through Christmas. Our celebrating starts tonight.

Dinner:
Ham
Broccoli
Glazed Turnips
-2 lbs turnips, peeled and quartered
-4 T. ghee
-1 cup beef stock
-plunge turnips into boiling salted, filtered water fr 3-5 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Saute in ghee until lightly browned. Add stock and boil down until turnips are coated and liquid has almost completely evaporated.

Breakfast Tomorrow (for opening our stockings):

Egg Casserole

• 6 eggs
• 1 c. milk (I'm going to try to sub with 3/4 c. chicken stock)
• 2 Tbsp. ghee, melted
• 1-2 cups chopped spinach
  
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• about 1 c. diced ham
• Cashew Cheese
  1 tsp olive oil or coconut oil
  1/2 cup cashews, soaked for at least 6 hours
  1 1/4 cup water
  
• drain the cashews and put them in blender with the water. Blend until very
  smooth.
  
• In a skillet, add the cashew milk and turn heat to high.
  Stir frequently to prevent sticking and reduce to a low
  simmer as soon as it boils. Keep stirring and cover to
  keep it from splattering. Continue to cook for a few
  more minutes, then remove it from heat.
• preheat oven to 400. Grease 9X9 pan with ghee or coconut oil. With wire whisk, beat eggs, stock, spinach, salt, pepper, and ghee until mixed. Add cashew cheese. Pour into pan. Sprinkle ham evenly over top. Bake 20 min or until set and golden.
• I may leave out the cashew cheese as this will be a test to see if we can tolerate cashew butter and we can't over do it. Most of the other recipes for the day also have cashew butter in them.
  

Cashew Butter Pancakes
Ingredients:
1 C pureed, cooked squash or zuchinni
1 C nut butter (we used cashew butter made from soaking cashew 6 hours then blending)
5 pastured or free-range organic eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 T cinnamon
dash of cloves, nutmeg, and any other "pumpkin pie" type spice

Method:
Separate the eggs, and beat the whites until fluffy (soft peaks are fine). In a large bowl, mix together the 5 egg yolks, the squash, the nut butter, and the salt and spices. Blend thoroughly. Fold the egg whites into this mixture gently, so that the resulting batter is airy and light.

Cook on a well-greased griddle on a somewhat low heat, as they do burn easily. Flip them gently as they do not stay together as well as regular pancakes.

Jesus' Birthday Cupcakes
-1 c. cashew butter (made from soaked cashews)
-1 Tbsp. ghee or unrefined coconut oil
-1/2-1tsp. stevia
-2 pastured or free-range organic eggs seperated
-Mix stevia, butter. ghee and egg yolks together. Beat egg whites until stiff then fold into mixture. Pour into cup cake liners.
-Frosting:
--1/2 c. ghee
--3/4 tsp. stevia
--1-1.5tsp vanilla (alcohol free)
--1/8c. nut butter
Bake at 300 for about 20 min for cupcakes

Christmas Cookies
2 cups almond flour (I get mine at Trader Joe's)
4 T ghee, melted (Coconut oil also works)
1/4 cup honey or 1/4-1/2 tsp. Stevia
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp salt

Optional add-ins: 1/2 cup raisins, 1/4 cup shredded coconut, 1/4 cup chopped nuts
350 degrees

1. Cream together first three ingredients. Add the spices.
2. Fold in optional ingredients, if using.
3. Drop by spoonfuls on parchment-lined cookie sheets.
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

another day

"Any problem that comes while I obey God (and there will be many), increases my overjoyed delight, because I know that my Father knows and cares, and I can watch and anticipate how He will unravel my problems." -Oswald Chambers from My Utmost for His Highest

I have had some harder days. Friday, I had one of the worst die off reactions I've had. I could hardly stand up, couldn't think straight, felt very moody and easily frustrated. Thankfully, Brian came home a little earlier and I was able to take a detox bath which really helped. He also gave me a big break this weekend and took care of the kids most of the weekend. I've had a set back in my symptoms due to eating out three times this weekend...even though almost everything I ate was something I've been able to handle so far. (I did cheat and eat 4 chocolates at Brian's holiday party, they were just too beautiful). This is the point I get very discouraged and start to feel sorry for myself.

The above quote from Oswald Chambers is helpful today to help me rely on God for strength to get back on the wagon and find joy in another day of chicken soup.

The good, the bad, and the ugly

I have been putting of doing a post on this subject for a while because of the topic. Poop. There it is...I said it. I can't put it off any longer because it is a main topic in our home. I have also learned and benefited from so many other bloggers describing their situations. I will not go into detail...my mother-in-law reads this blog. :)

All I have to say is you might think all poop is ugly until you've waited 3 years for a normal one. Then, that my friends, is a beautiful sight! We are starting to see normal BMs in our house!! This crazy thing we're doing is starting to work. AB is still struggling and Grayson is just barely making progress, but its progress.

So, I know everyone is asking now if their own poop is "beautiful" poop. The Bristol Stool Chart gives an example of how to classify your BMs.

Type 5 is ideal, and Type 4 is close to ideal.

Type 6 is borderline normal. Type 7 is diarrhea. Types 1-3 are all constipation.

To read more about the Bristol Stool chart and what constitutes as normal stool click here.

We have made it a week into the Intro Diet (Part 2). It has been a great week! I can't believe how much easier it is the second time around. I have experienced die off reactions but they pass. Last time, I never felt like they passed. It is definitely hard when it hits me. All of a sudden I will feel like I can hardly stand up and I can't think straight. I might also have a wave of emotions but then I'll have long stretches of feeling pretty good. And, I've already told you about our poop victory.

Gray and AB have been very happy with the food. No one complains when we have beef stew for breakfast. It really has been a restful and peaceful week. Tyler has been with my mom during this time and now that he is back I feel the need to be more creative with our food again. He is much more focused on food and much more opinionated about what is being served. He asks about eating ALL day long. He doesn't eat much at meal times and then begs for snacks all day. This causes stress at meal times and tension all during the day. I've been brainstorming ways to alleviate this and would love input from other moms as to how they handle picky eater, refusal to eat and constant demands for snack.

This is my current strategy: Keep our meal time rules of
1. at least one bite of everything
2. no complaining or arguing about the food (asking for something not on the plate or table is considered arguing)
3. staying at the table until everyone is done eating

These have always been our rules but I start to enforce other rules because I get fearful that he won't eat. I make him eat x amount of veggies before he can have more meat or be done, etc. Can't have dessert until you've eaten x. I've decided I'm going to lay off and try very hard not to get into battle with him, even if he only eats one bite of everything on his plate for every meal.

My other strategy is to serve dinner family style. If they had it their way they would eat only their favorites and keep asking for more and more of that until their full and ignored their veggies. By having the food in the middle of table I hope they'll be able to get a visual of when the preferred food is gone or needed to be saved so others can some.

My last strategy is to keep a box in the fridge that is for Tyler's snacks. I'll fill it in the morning and he can help himself to any snack in there but when they're gone, they're gone. If its not in the snack box then it's not a snack for today. We'll see how it goes.

Like I said, I would love any ideas. My main goal is to give him more control and to alleviate the arguing and bantering that goes on surrounding food.

Back to the intro diet...We've taken it a lot slower this time with the introduction of one new vegetable a day so I can see if we react to vegetables. I've updated the list of what we can eat and will try to update it regularly.

Thanks for all the encouraging words and prayers. Keep them coming!

Back Again

It's been a very long time since my last post and there are many reasons for that. The first being the fact that I am spending so much time cooking that I don't have time for many other things. The other reason is we've been traveling. Brian and I got to go on our first vacation (just the two of us) in five years, since the birth of our first born. I know many people don't get that at all and it was such a treat. We were gone for a week and my children stayed with my in-laws and my mom. I had to cook food for them to eat while gone (though my mom bit the bullet in learning to cook all these new recipes and cooked all her food) and cook food for me to take with me. We returned from vacation and left 10 days later to visit family for Thanksgiving.

This has made the work load for cooking much larger and its also been hard to stay motivated. I took a break from the diet while on vacation because, well, its vacation. That has made it hard to get back into it once home. I reached a day a couple of weeks ago (in between trips) where I hit a wall and could not cook another thing. It has also been such a struggle with my oldest. He has always been obsessed with eating and he is so sad about all the food missing. Every meal was becoming a battle and I couldn't take the arguing anymore.

We decided to give him a "break" from the diet. He was elated with this news. The "break" is just taking him off the Intro diet and moving him to full GAPS diet. We also let him have GAPS illegal treats over Thanksgiving. I am really seeing the effects of it now. Like my husband said the other day, "it feels like we can't win either way." With the illegal foods he has had severe stomach aches, become very argumentative and controlling (behavior we used to see back in the spring before we took him off of dairy and soy), had less control over his body (always moving, in your space, falling off of chairs, etc), and now he is more resistant to the foods he was eating well (cultured vegetables, supplements, even eggs).

My husband and I have had a lot of talks lately about what does "middle ground" look like for us. Its a hard question. To follow the GAPS protocol does not allow for much middle ground and if we want to see long term healing, we need to follow the protocol as close as possible. But, the stress it causes to follow the protocol can not be healthy either.

So, this is where we're at right now. I have started the Intro Diet over again--I'm on Day 4. I spent about a month cheating and not sticking strictly to the diet and have started feeling awful again. It took me about 6 weeks to get to stage 3 before, I'm hoping it won't take near as long to progress this time. I am going to be more careful about what vegetables and spices I introduce and really look for reactions.

I am also starting Gray (my second) over again tomorrow. My mom is taking my oldest for a few days so I don't have to deal with feeding them different things. I am praying we move fast with Gray so when my oldest comes back I can feed them somewhat similar things.

I feel a lot more prepared this time. I know its going to be hard. I'm expecting to feel very tired and moody for at least a month. I know now it will get better. At about 2 months into the diet I was really feeling positive and liking the foods. My cravings are strong right now but now as strong as they've been in the past.

My biggest prayer is to feel joy and peace in the midst of disappointment and trial. Every diaper, every meal, every behavior, every refusal of food is a chance for me to feel like a failure. I want to not be rocked by those circumstances and instead keep my eye on God's ability to give me wisdom and strength.

What do you eat?

Everyone is always asking me what we can eat or if they would like to make us something "what can't we eat?" The main idea of the GAPS diet is to eat lots of vegetables, meat, eggs, fruit(in moderation), and nuts (soaked first) and avoid all grains, sugar, soy, and starches(potatoes, corn, rice). We avoid dairy though many people on GAPS can do dairy.

Here is the list of what is currently "safe" for our tummies:

Updated 1/11/11

• Eggs (preferably organic, pastured but I'm not so picky anymore)
  
• Any meat cooked any way(preferably organic, pastured but again I'm not picky)
• Seafood (cooked any way, including canned fish as long as packed in water) Gray is allergic to crab
  
• Nut Butters (preferably from raw organic nuts, soaked first, then ground into butter)(we use Trader Joe's Raw Almond Butter) Gray and Annabelle are allergic to peanuts
  
• Fermented Vegetables (pickles, pickled beets, saurkraut, etc)(made without vinegar)
  
• Ghee (clarified butter), lard, tallow, olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, sesame seed oil
  
• Raw, Organic Apple Cider Vinegar or white vinegar
• Weak coffee, weak herbal tea
• Occasionally dry wine, gin and scotch
• All spices and herbs Gray and Annabelle are allergic to garlic.
• Limited Honey
• White Navy Beans (soaked first), Lentils
  
• Fruit (we try to limit the kids fruit to 1-2 a day)
  

all fruit except cantaloupe, melon, and plum

• Most non-starchy vegetables: The highlighted vegetables are for sure safe. The others have not been tested. We can handle them raw or cooked (grilled, sauteed, baked, broiled, steamed, boiled---its all okay now).
  

Artichoke, French
Asparagus
Avocados, including avocado oil
Bok Choy
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Capers
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celeriac
Celery
Collard greens
Cucumber
Garlic (NO garlic for Grayson or Annabelle) (the rest of us do fine)
Ginger root, fresh
Kale
Lettuce, all kinds
Olives preserved without sugar or any other non-
allowed ingredients
Onions
Parsley
Peppers (yellow, red, and orange)
Pickles, without sugar or any other non-allowed ingredients
Pumpkin
Radish
Spinach
Squash (summer and winter)
String (green) beans
Tomato puree, pure without any additives apart from salt
Tomato juice, without any additives apart from salt
Tomatoes
Turnips
Watercress
Zucchini


Here are the highlights of what is not on this protocol:

• No dairy
• No grains
• No starches (potatoes, rice, parsnips, etc.)
• No sugar (no agave nectar, or other natural sugar) We cheat and have Stevia

Halloween when you're sugar free?

I have been racking my brain for weeks now trying to think of what we will do for Halloween when your diet consists of cooked meat and vegetables. I've been searching everywhere on-line for ideas of sweets I can make for the boys that will be somewhat exciting.

We have always celebrated Halloween with the little white lie that "The Great Pumpkin" comes by our house on Halloween night after the boys are asleep. The boys leave their candy (after they've eaten some) on the porch and the great pumpkin comes and leaves them a present. That tradition will help but I still want to be able to give them something as we go trick or treating that they will look forward to.

I have a few ideas listed below that I'm going to try to make. I don't know what to handout to the trick-or-treaters that come to our house. I don't want to hand out candy that our kids can't have but I also can't possibly make enough of our treats to pass out. Any ideas?

Many of you have offered to make us food or help in some way. Here are a list of the "treats" I have found that I am going to try to make. If you would like to attempt any of them I would greatly appreciate any help. I understand that it might be hard given the list of ingredients.

FYI: most call for Stevia (this is a herb that tastes sweet, I've heard you can find it at Schnucks, Dierburgs, and Trader Joe's. I know they have it at Whole Foods and The Natural Way).

MERINGUES
from Pecan Bread

4 egg whites
dash of salt
1/2 tsp Stevia
parchment paper

Make sure your bowl and whipping attachment are dry as one drop of water will ruin your meringues.
Let the eggs sit out on counter until room temperature.
Separate eggs by putting the whites in a bowl and either throwing away the yolk or saving it for a custard.
Whip up the egg whites until they are white and stick to the spoon.
Slowly drizzle the Stevia in and add a dash of salt.
Spoon small dollops onto parchment paper that has been fitted to a cookie sheet. Only use parchment paper, as all others will cause meringues to stick.
Turn oven on to 150.
If your oven does not go that low, turn it to the lowest setting. You can turn your oven off for an hour, then back on for 5 minutes and then back off again for another hour to maintain a very low temp. and do this until cookies are done.

Cookies should be dried out, not baked and this process goes for maybe 2-3 hours.
If the meringues start to turn brown on the edges, your oven is too hot and you should turn off the heat and crack the oven door open.

Your cookies should turn out the color of honey, but a lighter shade, in an all over even color.
You need to monitor this by taking peeks in at them every half hour.
Meringues can be tempermental.

NUT BUTTER CARAMELS
from Pecan Bread

4 tablespoons coconut oil (or ghee)
1 tsp Stevia
4 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup almond butter

In a saucepan, bring oil or ghee, Stevia, vanilla, salt to the simmer stage and cook for 15 minutes. Add almond butter and stir and simmer five minutes.

Pour into a buttered loaf pan and freeze until just till hard enough to slice with a buttered spatula. Cut them in small squares,wrap in pieces of waxed paper cut to size. Store them in the fridge.
Tip: Use an ice cube tray instead of loaf pan to avoid cutting

PUMPKIN PIE FILLING
from Pecan Bread

2 C cooked pumpkin or butternut squash
3/4 tsp to 1 tsp Stevia
1/4 C. melted coconut oil or ghee
4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cloves
2 egg yolks
4 egg whites

1. Puree the squash in the food processor.
2. Mix all ingredients EXCEPT egg whites.
3. Beat egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff.
4. Gently fold egg whites into pumpkin mix.
5. Bake in a pie dish at 350 for ~50 minutes.

PUMPKIN ICE CREAM
from Pecan Bread

6 eggs, separated
1/2 cup cooked, pureed butternut squash or pumpkin
1/4 tsp Stevia or to taste
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cloves

1. Combine squash, Stevia and spices.
2. Beat yolks with squash mixture.
3. In separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.
4. Fold egg whites into egg yolks.
5. Freeze for 1.5 hrs., mix together to blend and refreeze.

COOKIE-CUTTER COOKIES
adapted from a pie-crust recipe at scdiet.org

3 cups almond flour, firmly packed
1 stick softened ghee: OR Spectrum 100% palm oil organic shortening
1 egg
1/2 - 2/3 tsp Stevia
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Cover a cookie sheet with baking parchment paper. Combine all ingredients thoroughly to make a stiff dough. Chill dough several hours or overnight. Place a ball of dough on the parchment, and cover with another sheet of parchment. Roll out dough between sheets of parchment with a rolling pin, until 3/16" thick. Peel off top sheet of paper.

Using cookie cutters with open centers, cut shapes directly on the parchment-covered cookie sheet. Press firmly. Keep close together as dough does not spread while baking. Bake 5-10 minutes Watch carefully, edges brown quickly. Remove and cool thoroughly to preserve shape before removing from parchment.

Tip: The parchment can be placed on any flat, smooth surface for rolling out the dough, then carefully moved to the cookie sheet either before or after the shapes are cut.

Truffles
from Grain-Free Foodies

Ghee (pastured if possible) or Coconut Oil
Stevia to taste
Cinnamon to taste
Drop of vanilla extract
Almond or Coconut Flour (we are not able to tolerate this yet)

METHOD:

Cream oil with Stevia, then mix in the drop of vanilla and cinnamon to taste. You can add some coconut flour at this point if you want for texture. Without the flour it is a lot like ganache, adding the flour makes it a bit more like cookie dough.

The next step is to roll it into little balls. You may need to refrigerate it for awhile to do this, but it will be tough to do because the heat from your hands will melt the butter a bit. roll the truffles in ground cinnamon.

Put Cinnamon to roll the truffles in into a small bowl. Scoop up a small amount of the butter mixture, briefly roll it in your hands, then drop it into the bowl, and continue rolling it in the bowl. I prefer a ball about 3/4 of an inch across.

Store in the refrigerator when done.

Nut Butter Snow Balls
from Grain-Free Foodies

.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup almond butter
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/4 tsp Stevia
1 tsp vanilla extract
cinnamon, ground cardamom (optional)
pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and mix thoroughly. Test for thickness by forming a ball to see if it holds its shape as desired.

For nut butter balls, pull off a piece of dough and roll into a ball about 1 inch or more across. Roll the ball in chopped almonds and set aside, continue until all the dough is rolled.

These are best stored in the refrigerator.

Almond Butter Muffins
from GAPS Guide

2.5 cups ground almonds
1/4 cup softened fat (ghee, coconut oil, lard)
3 eggs
Stevia to taste

Mix ingredients well. Use more or less ground nuts to achieve porridge-like conisistency. Grease your baking pan. Put mixture in. Bake 300 F for about an hour. When knife comes out clean, the bread is ready.

Coconut Oil Candies
adapted from Kelly the Kitchen Kop

1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 tsp Stevia
1 tsp vanilla
1/2-1tsp sea salt

Soften coconut oil, mix all ingredients together. Spread into shapes on parchment paper or melt mixture and pour into candy molds.

Bye to the next round

It always seems to catch me off guard when I’ve snapped at my children, acted frustrated with a phone call that’s interrupted my day or been rude to a stranger. “Why did I do that?” is always usually my first thought. Then a list of rationalities follow: “this has been such a long day; I am so tired; we’re running late; I’m overwhelmed;” etc. Then the list of resolutions start: “I just need to get better about leaving with enough time; when life calms down for us a little then I’ll have more patience; when my kids are older it won’t be so overwhelming, then I’ll be a good mom; etc”

Its amazing how often I think that at the next season of my life is when I’ll start to be able to “work on” the fruits of the spirit: gentleness, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control. I give myself a bye for this season and wait for a “less crazy” season to engage my heart with God.

I looked up the definition of bye: the right to proceed to the next round of a competition without contesting the present round, often through nonappearance of an opponent.

The next round seems so much more important or controllable. I often feel like I have no hope for this round so why even show up. I feel sure that in the next round I’ll have the chance to demonstrate profound faith in God or I have a better opportunity to get it right.

I read this from Oswald Chambers this morning: “It requires the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours of every day as a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed, and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God—but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people—and this is not learned in five minutes.”

I have felt a stirring in my heart over the last couple of weeks that this is the time. It is exactly in the middle of this crazy, busy, overwhelming season that God will be working out the fruits of the spirit. Can you even call it patience if you behave calmly when you were already calm to start out with? I find myself finding a new hope that God is using this season to change me into more of the woman he created me to be. But it requires me to engage with him, to pray for patience in the moment and to confess when I’ve been impatient.

Tough seasons don’t give me a free pass to the next round. This is the round that matters. I want to show up.