Wow! I can’t believe it has been so long since I’ve blogged. If you follow me on Facebook, you know I’m still alive.

Here’s What I’ve Been Doing

We took a trip to Northern California to visit family and do the touristy thing in San Francisco. We all had a great time!

I made applesauce and cider from about 50 lbs of the 100 lbs of apples I picked in the fall.  The rest of them are in cold storage and I plan on making more applesauce very soon.

My husband built me 6 more garden boxes for next year’s garden.  I filled two of them with dirt and compost and planted one with garlic.  The other 4 are still waiting for dirt and compost which I will do very soon.  I’ll be sure to write up a post with pictures for you before spring.

We moved our chickens a little further from the house to cut down on the bugs and fly population in the house.  They are doing well, and I will probably add a couple of new ones to the flock this spring because their winter egg production is too low.  I’m also considering raising some meat birds this spring.

I’m still on the full GAPS diet, mostly.  :)  I’m struggling with eating frozen food from Costco for lunch because making my own food takes time and life is busy.  I need to get back to making my own food again.  <sigh>  Only eating food that I make or that I know exactly what is in it is a brand new mindset for me.  It will take some time to really make serious changes.  We purchase the frozen food for my husband’s lunches, and I know I need to come up with some lunches that he can eat, and that I can eat, that are not prepackaged.  Because it’s not real food, right?  :)

Lastly, I have been studying my FDN course and hope to do the midterm very soon.  This course may lead to me helping people with lots of different problems including adrenal fatigue, or as we at FDN call it, adrenal dysfunction.  I will be writing about it more in the new year, so stay tuned!

Thank you to all of you who have supported me this year.  It means so much to me and my family that you don’t even know us and yet you give to our household.  I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and many blessings in the New Year!

If you’ve been following my recent GAPS adventures, you know I’ve been on the Introduction diet for about 2 1/2 months to heal from Fibromyalgia.  It has been quite a roller coaster ride, but finally leveled off for the last couple weeks with little to no digestive issues or symptoms.

I have successfully been able to eat raw vegetables despite my bad reaction to lettuce towards the end of week 9 and have also added small bits of raw fruit with no upset.  Since there is very little to write about as I finish up Intro and transition back to Full GAPS, I have decided to close this GAPS Intro series.  I will continue to write about GAPS in the long run, though,  :)

Today I’d like to share what I learned during this time, if I’m healed, and what I will be doing next.

What Did I Learn?

• It was not as difficult as I thought it would be.  Now I can encourage others that they can do it, too.
• All the preparation was totally worth it!  In fact, I still have some stewed meat in the freezer.  I guess I better eat that up!
• I learned how to make an awesome cup of broth and will share it with you soon!
• I learned which foods cause loose stools and which ones cause constipation.  This was great information when I was having digestive symptoms.  I just ate the correct food which reduced or eliminated those problems.  I will share this information in a future post, but it is all in the GAPS book or on the gaps.me website.
• I will always have stressors in my life that can cause symptoms or digestive upset.  It’s not always the food’s fault!
• I had to get over not talking about my digestive system so I could share it with you.  I would like to apologize, though, for being too graphic at times.  :)

Am I Healed?

Not yet.  But I feel much better than I did when I started the Intro diet and heaps better than I did before I started Full GAPS.

Last month my husband and I drove two hours round trip to the meat market to get our side of beef for the year, and I had a deja vu moment.  I recalled the same trip the year before and remembered just how sick I really was.  I had forgotten that my husband had to put the beef in the freezer and make dinner because I was so tired after the trip. This year he volunteered to put the beef away while I made dinner.  I am so grateful to my God for helping me to find healing through GAPS!

But I know there is more healing to come.  I still have a little Fibromyalgia pain, but the stiffness in my feet seems to finally be gone.  I’m also still struggling with sleep issues even though it improved for a time.  And I have a long way to go to improve my stamina.

During the middle stages of Intro, I decided not to increase my intake of Bio-Kult because it was too difficult to differentiate between a food reaction or die-off from the Bio-Kult.  During the last stages, I have increased my intake to two capsules and will continue to increase it until I reach the recommended therapeutic dose or until I reach an affordable dose.  I will stay on full GAPS until my digestive symptoms have been stable for six months, as suggested by Dr. Campbell-McBride, before I begin to transition off the diet.  I will try to blog about it as I stated at the beginning of this post.

What’s Next?

• I want to write more “How-To” posts.  I love writing these and hope to post about how to make GAPS-legal yogurt, sauerkraut, broth, etc., etc.
• More recipes!  :)
• I will be writing more homesteading/gardening/sustainable-living posts.
• I want to do research on the Epstein-Barr virus since it has plagued me for 30 years.  I have learned some fascinating facts about it this past year and want to continue my research so I can write up a knowledgeable post to help others.
• I am really interested in learning more about adrenal dysfunction and have enrolled in a course that will help me to understand this better.  I’m super excited about this opportunity and pray it will be a way for me to help others get better.  I also want to take nutrition classes in the future and one day hope to be a GAPS practitioner.  Lord willing!

What was the most helpful thing you learned from this series?  What would you like me write about in the future?  I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

This post contains affiliate links.

In the middle of week 9 of the GAPS Intro diet, I moved on to stage 5. The first food I introduced was two teaspoons of stewed apple mashed with ghee. It was yummy and tasted a little like apple pie without the spices. I did not experience any symptoms. Yay!

The following day I took three teaspoons and still had no symptoms, so I’m guessing I’m okay with applesauce.  That is good news because last Thursday my daughter and I picked 100 lbs of unsprayed apples.  I think I’ll be busy for awhile!

Next I tried some soft lettuce. It did not agree with me at all, and I was bleeding by morning.  :(  I will wait a week and will try to introduce the soft parts of peeled zucchini instead of lettuce.  I think my home-grown lettuce might be too fibrous which is why my reaction was so severe.

I was able to increase my juicing to a full cup once a day.  I’m using cabbage, zucchini and broccoli stalks and hope to increase my intake to a full cup twice a day.

I forgot to share in my last post that I have been able to tolerate fermented cod liver oil.  I started off with a small amount with no issues and slowly increased the amount until I was able to consume at least 1/2 teaspoon.  This week I was able to tolerate a full teaspoonful.  I’m so glad because I find being on fermented cod liver oil really helps me feel better overall.

At the beginning of week 10 was when life happened.  We had to go on an quick, emergency business trip. I was able to plan food for breakfast and lunch, but we were going to be on the road both evenings which meant we would have to eat out for dinner.  I had discovered in the past that one of the best restaurants to find a full GAPS meal was Mexican food, minus the chips and tortillas.

I didn’t really have much of a choice.  I either was going to go hungry or break my Intro diet protocol.  Well, I didn’t want to go hungry, so I chose a yummy dish of shrimp and vegetables.  I told the waitress to keep the tortillas.  It was delicious!

Surprisingly, the following day there were no major digestive symptoms.  The same went for the following day.  It seemed as though my system was holding its own.

The other surprising thing to me, was that I did not experience digestive problems from the stress of the trip.  I usually experience at least some kind of digestive distress.  :)

When we returned home, I immediately had some broth and my digestion stayed steady.  I started right back where I left off instead of going back to stage 1 and going through all the stages again.  Yay!

I don’t want to say I’m healed until I’m done with all the stages, but the fact that my body seemed to hold after being thrown some bad food says a lot.

I will be trying raw vegetables again during the beginning of week 11.  If it goes well, I will move on to stage 6.  It looks like the end is in sight, and I have seen much improvement!

If you are new to The Urban Hearth, here are my previous GAPS posts.

Are you on the GAPS diet?  Have you experienced some healing?  I’d love to hear from you!

This post contains affiliate links.

Here’s a picture our sugar snap peas.  It doesn’t look like much, but for awhile it was all we had and was good enough for the three of us for dinner.  I picked just about this much every day for dinner in the early summer.  They were so delicious and sweet!

Here is a zucchini and some pickling cucumbers.  I like to eat my zucchini on the small side because they are so tender and sweet that way.

Here are more cucumbers and some dill.  I made garlic dill pickles from this harvest and plan to write up a post about it in the future!

The cucumbers came from the backyard garden and the gutter garden on my deck.  I like growing them in the gutter garden (above picture) because they don’t develop deep roots, and they stay small for pickling.  All my large cucumbers came from the garden in the backyard, which is downstairs.

Do you remember the cucumber tunnel I wrote about?  It turned out okay, but I don’t think I’ll do it again. The cucumbers were rather hard to find amongst all the leaves, and I had to do a lot of bending over.  Here’s a picture of it with the cucumber vines trailing all over the top.

As you can see, I spread some straw between the beds to cut down on the weeds.  It worked really well until we started letting the chickens out of their pen.  Straw went everywhere!  It is rather comical to try to protect the garden from the chickens.  Most people allow their chickens in the garden to help cut back on bugs and to provide natural fertilizer.  Not us!  :)  I’m not quite sure what I will use as mulch next year, but I don’t think it will be straw.  Probably wood chips if we can get some for free over the winter.

I can’t believe I didn’t get any pictures of our bean harvests!  Both the Scarlet Runner beans and the Blue Lake harvests turned out extremely well, and they were very tasty.  As you can see in the very first picture, we have to climb a ladder to get to the beans.  Since heights and I do not get along, my husband joins me for the bean harvests.  He actually kind of likes it, for which I am very grateful!  He has been very supportive of all of my homesteading efforts this year!

One of my favorite things about the lot we live on is the wild blackberry patches.  We were able to get several harvests out of them this year because of the nice weather.  Usually we only get one or two harvests before the fall rain sets in.  I often blend all my berry harvests and freeze them in small jars so we can enjoy them year around.

Here’s my onion harvest.  Not so great, but I’m still trying to figure out how to grow onions.  I don’t remember growing them on the farm and found out this year that they aren’t as easy to grow as I thought. They need lots of water and cultivating.  Not really a problem, but as you can see the harvest was inconsistent.

Here’s a picture of my little butternut squash.  I think I might get a whopping 4 squash this year, but I learned a lot!   Next year I will be able to start them earlier, so I should get a better harvest.

And last, but not least, my container garden on the deck.  My rosemary is looking really good and so are my chives.  I planted some flat parsley that is turning out really well, too!  I love adding these yummy herbs to my meals.

Despite the late start in the season, we made out pretty well.  Once the harvests started, I rarely went shopping except for fruit and a few other things, usually GAPS Intro vegetables like cauliflower and broccoli.  Unfortunately, the garden did not produce much more than what we were eating on a daily basis, but I believe I made a decent dent in the grocery bill, which was my overall goal.  I will be adding more raised beds for next year so I should be able to grow more than enough to get us through the growing season and store my harvest to get us through the winter season as well.

I hope you enjoyed this update!  If you’re waiting for a GAPS post, it’s coming up in a few days.  May God bless you and your gardens!

Shared on Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Homemaking Link-Up, Simple Lives Thursday and Farm Girls Blog Fest.

I got this idea from my beautiful cousin, a fellow DIYer from Cali. When I found out she made her own garlic powder, I knew I had to find out how!  A few months ago, she had a 3-hour layover in Seattle, and we hadn’t seen each other in years.  It was a no-brainer – we simply had to get together!  So my daughter and I drove down to the airport meet her, and we took her out to dinner.  We had a great time together over some very delicious lamb, and she revealed how easy it is to make your own garlic powder.

As soon as my store-bought garlic powder ran out, I tried my hand at it with a modification or two to fit my style.  I always change things up to fit my style, don’t you?  ;)

She has given me permission to share it with you all!  Thank you, dear Cousin!

Raw Garlic Powder

Gather supplies:

• One head of garlic
• Garlic press
• Knife
• Dehydrator tray lined with wax paper or equivalent

Break apart your head of garlic into individual cloves. Cut off the ends and peel, if needed. (I don’t always peel my garlic when using a press.)

Press through garlic press directly onto the lined dehydrator tray. If you don’t have a garlic press, slice the garlic very thinly.

Spread pressed or sliced garlic thinly on tray and dehydrate on low for 12 – 24 hours. I set my Excalibur to 95 degrees.  Enjoy the garlic smell wafting through your house!

You can also use an oven set on the lowest setting. This does not guarantee that the finished product will still be raw as the lowest setting on most modern ovens is 170 degrees. If desired, you can leave the oven door open to lower the temperature.  Keep in mind, the garlic might be dried sooner than 12 hours.

Put dried garlic “chips” in blender or coffee grinder and grind to powder.  Store in appropriate container.

I promise you, this will be the best garlic powder you have ever tasted!  It is very strong and will last much longer than your store-bought garlic powder because you won’t use as much. Warning! You may need to adjust your recipes to taste unless you really like garlic.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

Featured on Homestead Barn Hop, Make Your Own! Monday and Little House in the Suburbs.

Shared on Monday Mania, Make Your Own! Monday, Morristribe’s Homestead Carnival, Homestead Barn Hop, Fat Tuesday, Traditional Tuesdays, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Titus 2sday, Scratch Cookin’ Tuesday, Frugal Tuesday Tip, Hearth and Soul, Thankful Homemaker, Real Food Wednesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Homemaking Link-Up, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Whole Foods Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, Keep It Real Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Fill Those Jars Friday, Farm Girl Blog Fest, Fight Back Friday and LHITS DIY Linky.

When I started the GAPS Intro diet, I absolutely did not anticipate being on it for two months, especially since I had been on the Full GAPS diet for a year.  I thought for sure my digestive system was in better shape.  I was so wrong.

And then, just when I think I’ve got it figured out, my body throws me a curve ball.  First it was constipation, then came diarrhea.  I don’t know exactly why, but I have my suspicions.  I think it was either the magnesium pills I started taking or some super strong beef bone broth that I was drinking.  I immediately ceased consuming both and my symptoms improved.

Because I wasn’t exactly sure what was causing the watery stools, I went back to Stage 3 so I could slowly introduce foods again.  After a couple days on Stage 3, I introduced some olive oil and then coconut flour. Neither of them bothered me.  Yay!

Today I reintroduced some juice, and my stool loosened a bit.  Tomorrow I will drink a smaller amount to see if it improves.

One helpful thing I discovered this week was whenever I felt my stomach gurgling I drank or ate some cultured dairy.  Before GAPS I used to drink raw milk to combat the gurgling or watery stools, and it usually helped.  Dr. Campbell-McBride, the author of the GAPS book, recommends consuming either yogurt or kefir to help combat diarrhea, so this seems to make sense.

Bread!

Over the weekend I made some coconut bread.  It started out as a disaster because coconut flour is extremely dry.  I followed the recipe in the GAPS book and the flour just sucked up the three eggs called for in the recipe.  And I didn’t even add the last 1/2 cup of coconut flour!

Over the next 1/2 hour I kept adding moisture, from eggs to melted fats to kefir.  When all was said and done I had used the initial 2 cups of coconut flour, 1/2 cup butter/ghee, 1/2 coconut oil, 1/2 kefir and 12 eggs!  I spread the thick “dough” into a cake pan because I couldn’t find my bread pans.  Fortunately, though, when it was done cooking it was not only edible, but rather tasty.  Finally I have something to spread butter on!

Improving symptoms

I’m a little disappointed it has taken me this long to do Intro, but want to remain positive.  I’ve decided to focus on how my health has improved over the last year, first on Full GAPS and now on Intro.  Here’s my list of improved symptoms.

• No more vertigo.
• Improved energy.
• Stronger. I can lift my cast iron skillet with one hand and no wrist pain!
• Fibromyalgia pain is nearly gone! I still have a little rib pain and left arm pain.
• Fewer and less painful headaches.
• Chronic sinus infections are gone.
• Hot flashes are now just warm flashes.  :)
• Knee joint pain is gone.
• Major fatigue is greatly improved.
• Weight loss without even trying. I have lost almost 30 lbs so far!
• Stamina is so much better.
• Pain and stiffness upon rising is so much better. I almost don’t even notice it!
• Eyesight and hearing have improved.
• Heart palpitations are almost gone.
• Sleep is better, but could use more improvement.
• I no longer have that feeling that something is horribly wrong with me.
• Clearer thinking.
• Improved memory.
• Not as moody.
• Shakiness is gone.

Now that is a beautiful list, and I feel as though there is nothing to complain about!  I’m also going to be moving on to Stage 5 in a couple days.  We’re almost done!

If you’ve missed any of my GAPS Intro posts, you can find them here.  There’s still time to sign up for my giveaway!  I’m giving away a copy of “What Can I Eat Now?” by Cara of Health, Home and Happiness.  Giveaway closed.

Are you on the GAPS Intro diet?  If so, have you experienced healing?  What stage are you on?  I’d love to hear from you!

Shared on Fight Back Friday, Monday Mania, Fat Tuesday and Real Food Wednesday.

The last two weeks on the GAPS Intro diet have been going fairly well with one hiccup a week ago Tuesday evening. I had a severe, but short, case of diarrhea.  I am not quite sure what caused it, but it cleared rather quickly, and I have been fine since.

Gallbladder Pain

Unfortunately, I have not been digesting the extra fats very well and my gallbladder was starting to hurt a little.  I knew it was my gallbladder because I had the same pain under my right lower rib last November and went to see one of the gastroenterologist’s where I worked.  She confirmed it was my gallbladder.  We had it checked for gallstones, and the tests all came back clear.

A couple weeks before I saw the gastroenterologist, I stumbled upon the article Bitters: Invaluable Aid to Fat Digestion by Sarah of The Healthy Home Economist.  A couple of days after the doctor appointment, I picked up some Swedish Bitters at my local health food store.  It worked within hours.  I took some for a few days and stopped after the problem disappeared.

So last week when my gallbladder started to bother me, I took the bitters in my cupboard.  At first I thought the bitters were the reason for the digestive problems, but the following day I took a smaller dose and experienced no side effects.  Dr. Campbell-McBride recommends taking ox bile for gallbladder pain, but I didn’t have any on hand.

Since then I have been reading that bitters are helpful for Fibromyalgia pain so I think I’m going to take some when I have a flare and see if it helps.

Adding Foods

One of the first things I decided to add to my diet for Stage 4 was a little olive oil.  I did not experience any side effects and slowly increased the amount to a couple of teaspoons over time.  It looks like olive oil agrees with me so far.  Yay!

Next I decided to start juicing.  I started with zucchini, beans and sugar snap pea pods for sweetness. Since I do not have a no-pulp juicer, I had to strain it so the juice would be free of pulp which is not allowed at this stage.  I used a flour sack towel which I picked up at my local Fred Meyer store in the kitchen section.  After straining, I added a little water to dilute it.  It was not too bad, but I’m really looking forward to adding something sweet!  I did not seem to have any problems or symptoms at this time.

The second time I juiced some zucchini and beans, I forgot to strain it.  Oh dear, my tummy let me know that was not a good plan!  The third time I decided to try a small amount of carrot from my garden for some sweetness.  It was very good, and I’m going to keep taking it in small amounts.  I talk in my last GAPS post about foods high in oxalate possibly causing Fibromyalgia pain.  Raw carrots are very high in oxalate, but Dr. Campbell-McBride recommends them for juicing so I’m going to try them and monitor for pain.

I also tried a teaspoon of raw coconut flour in the Butternut Squash Pancakes I made last week and noticed no side effects.  Oh, they were so yummy!

Old Habits

Last week I harvested several small zucchinis from my garden, chopped them up and added them to the chicken soup I was making for dinner.  I also added a small handful of tender green beans and lots of onions and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.  Right after I ate it my tummy began to tell me something was wrong.  It grumbled for a few hours before it finally calmed down.  There were no other symptoms, and I had no idea what it was because I had eaten all of these ingredients previously with no problems.

The following evening I had some more zucchini in a soup and the same thing happened!  “What is wrong?” I thought.  Then it dawned on me.  I forgot to peel the zucchini!  Duh!!!  Sigh….  I peeled them the first time I ate them and just forgot.

Just to make sure I was able to tolerate them, I ate them again last night, peeled this time, and there were no issues.  Whew!

So don’t be surprised if you don’t remember everything you have to do on this crazy diet!    It’s a huge learning curve.  You’ll probably be just like me and find that old habits die hard.  Just keep moving forward and only back up to the previous stage if you experience lots of digestive troubles or if you fall off the diet for any reason.  Then move through the stages fairly quickly until you are back to where you were.

Healing

Ah, the healing.  It has been a roller coaster ride, again.  I thought I got off that thing!    But I can finally say there are more up days than down days.  That is an encouraging sign!

I seem to be sleeping a lot more these days which is good for me and have been getting tired much earlier in the evening than I used to.  That is a good thing because I used to be a major night owl.  I have known for years that the earlier a person goes to bed the better sleep they get, but I have never been able to actually accomplish this practice.

I still have some pain and stiffness, but it seems to finally be easing.

My constipation is gone for now and I’ve stopped the coffee enemas.  Yay!  They were very time consuming, but necessary.

My energy levels are improving and my sinuses continue to be clear.  I’m still having intermittent ringing of the ears, but it has improved and my right ear only gets plugged a couple times a week.  My NUCCA chiropractor says adjusting the atlas should help to open the Eustachian tube.  A NUCCA chiropractor is a special chiropractor who only adjusts the bone at the top of the spine.  This bone is called the atlas and when it is out of adjustment the rest of the body does not function optimally.  So far the adjustments seem to be working for my ear, and I’ve only seen him three times!

In addition to more energy, my stamina continues to improve.  I don’t need as much rest between tasks and am able to make food for myself and my family.  Just in time, too, because I’m out of broth and extra food I had prepared prior to starting the Intro diet.

What’s Coming Up

I’m going to be making some bread.  Yes, I said it!  BREAD!  There is a basic bread recipe in the recipe section of the GAPS book, but it uses ground almonds.  Because I’m following a low-oxalate diet, I will be using raw coconut flour instead.  I am sooooo looking forward to trying this.  My mouth is watering!  I hope I can take it slow to begin with.  hehe 

I pray this post is encouraging to you!  Don’t forget to sign up to win a copy of the ebook “What Can I Eat Now?”!  It’s my first giveaway and there are only a couple days left!  Giveaway is now over.

Previous GAPS posts you may have missed:

• The GAPS Diet and How I’m Healing
• A Confession and Preparing for GAPS Intro
• Preparing for GAPS Intro – Prepping the Freezer
• My First Day on the GAPS Intro Diet
• Why Bio-Kult May Not Be So Expensive After All
• Week 1 on GAPS Intro – Where Are All the Spoons?
• Week 2 on GAPS Intro – I’m Back, Baby!
• Week 3 on GAPS Intro – I Almost Quit!
• Week 4 & 5 on GAPS Intro – Slow Going

Are you on the GAPS Intro diet?  If so, what stage are you on?  Are you healing?  If so, how?  I’d love to hear from you!

Shared on Fight Back Friday, Fill Those Jars Friday and Monday Mania.

This little gem is just perfect for helping you get started when you are only allowed just a few different kinds of foods: meat, broth and a few vegetables.  Cara has created some very tasty recipes throughout each stage, and she gives lots of tips and tricks about how to get started and how to implement each stage, including detoxification ideas and recommendations.

She tells how to make stock, what to purchase in bulk and how to prepare it.  She gives a list of ideas to do with kids that does not involve food to keep them busy and distracted from how they are feeling.  (Even adults will find this list helpful!)  Cara also gives advice about how to tell others that you (and your children) are on a restrictive diet and can only eat what you make.

At the beginning of each stage you are reminded what you will be eating for that stage.  Then each stage is broken down into three meals a day for five days.  The recipes are approximate for a family of four.  She tells you what food to introduce and when.  At the end of each day you are given a list of things that should be included for that day and a suggestion for a detox bath.

Even though I was unable to complete the Intro diet in 30 days does not mean you will not be able to.  I will continue to use this helpful resource and most people who do not have major digestive issues can do the Intro diet quickly and effectively.  If you do get stuck on a stage, though, this book has so many different recipes that you are certain to not be bored.

This ebook is not a replacement for the GAPS book and is only to be used as a supplement.  Make sure you get a copy of the GAPS book and read it before you start the diet.  If you are under supervision by a health professional, please consider letting them know that you are planning to implement this diet.  Never, ever stop taking a prescribed medication without talking with a health professional first.

This ebook was approved by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride.  She receives royalties from all sales and donates all to the Weston A. Price Foundation.

Lets get on with the giveaway!

UPDATE:  I am extending this giveaway because Feedburner is having issues, and I will be unable to verify email addresses until they fix it.

Note:  Only verified emails count when subscribing to receive updates.  Thanks for understanding! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you to everyone who signed up for The Urban Hearth’s very first giveaway.  If you did not win, you can still purchase your very own copy of “What Can I Eat Now?” by clicking on the link or clicking on the icon in the column on the right.  Thanks, again, everyone!

Shared on Monday Mania, Fat Tuesday and Fight Back Friday.

If you have read my previous posts you know I am doing the GAPS Introduction diet to try to heal from Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  I am currently on stage 4, and it is time to introduce coconut flour.

In the GAPS book, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride recommends making pancakes with squash, eggs and organic nut butter.  I decided to use coconut flour instead of nut butter.  They turned out really well and are super easy to prepare.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did.

Butternut Squash Pancakes

1/4 cup    Butternut Squash, precooked
1              Egg, organic and pastured
1 tsp        Raw Coconut Flour

Serves one.  Preheat a 12-inch cast iron skillet on medium heat and add at least 2 tablespoons of healthy fat.  I used ghee.  Mix ingredients well with an immersion blender.  Test skillet with a sprinkle of water.  If it is hot enough the water will sizzle.  Pour 3 dollar-sized shapes into skillet.  After about 5 minutes, peek at the underside of the pancake to see if the edges are golden brown.  If they are, carefully turn it over.  Be patient.  This is the hard part.  Cook until both sides are golden brown.

Carefully remove them from the pan, and pour all the fat in the pan over the pancakes.  Add a pinch of salt, if desired, and top with your favorite toppings.  I put a dollop of homemade sour cream and honey on mine.

The outside is slightly crunchy and the inside is soft and moist.  Yum!  Enjoy!

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This was a featured post on Sunday Snippets.

Not much happened during week 4 of doing the GAPS Intro diet so I decided to combine weeks 4 and 5 for this post.  I was having some constipation, and Dr. Campbell-McBride says to wait to move to the next stage until all digestive issues have cleared.

As mentioned in previous posts, my right ear gets plugged occasionally.  At first I did not know what it was, but now think it might be dairy.  I did the sensitivity test for raw milk on my wrist several months ago that showed I was not allergic to dairy, but I have not had any yogurt or kefir for a couple weeks because it constipates.  Two nights ago I made some lemon yogurt for dessert.  It was oh so yummy!  (I promise to share after I perfect the recipe.)  The following day, my ear started to bother me.  Then I had some more because it was sooo good, and my ear was even more plugged the next morning.

I’m going to continue eating yogurt because Dr. Campbell-McBride recommends it.  On the FAQ page of www.gaps.me in the Dairy section question number 5, Dr. McBride explains that reactions to probiotic foods are die-off symptoms and not usually an allergic reaction.  She encourages GAPS patients to “push though” until the reaction is resolved.

The one thing I did to help with the constipation was a coffee enema.  Dr. Campbell-McBride discusses the benefits and directions about this in the FAQ section on her website www.gaps.me.  It did help a lot, and my digestive issues cleared within a couple days.  I’m going to continue doing them every couple days and will add Bio-Kult Probiotic to the liquid to help get more probiotics in my digestive tract.

Juicing

I was not planning to do the juicing part of this diet, which usually starts during Stage 4, because I did not want to eat too many foods high in oxalate.  But as I read about juicing in the GAPS book and how important it is for detoxing, I changed my mind.  I decided to go ahead and juice low to medium oxalate vegetables and see if I experience any extra die-off.

Since I changed my mind, I needed a juicer ASAP!  I thought about trying to find a cheap one from Craigslist, but didn’t have to because my sweet sister-in-law gave me one that she was trying to get rid of.  Thank you, Sis!

Symptoms

I’ve had some fairly strong fibromyalgia flares, mostly upper body pain, on and off for a couple weeks and have also experienced some intermittent severe chronic fatigue.  Every once in a while I have some abdomen pain and burping.  I have attributed all of these symptoms to die-off or detox.

In between these bouts of die-off, though, I have spurts of energy and strength.  Every once in a while, I bound up the stairs!  It is so euphoric and delightful!  I’m really looking forward to the day when it becomes more and more frequent.

Moving to Stage 4

It seems as though I’ve been waiting for quite some time to move to Stage 4, but I’ve been in kind of a quandary because I am following a Low-Oxalate Diet.  The next few stages might be difficult because many fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds are high in oxalate.  I will be following both the GAPS and low/medium oxalate food list which may take some doing.

I have purchased some raw coconut flour and plan to try to make some butternut pancakes with that tomorrow, and will use the coconut flour instead of nuts to make bread, too.

When I start juicing, I will start with broccoli or zucchini instead of the recommended carrot juice.  Carrots are very high in oxalate.  We’ll see how it goes.  I’m hoping they are tolerable. 

Over the Hump

I’m beginning to feel better about almost being through this diet.  I feel like I’ve been on it forever and was beginning to wonder when it would end.  But I keep rereading the GAPS book and continue to read the FAQ section of www.gaps.me to spur me on to more knowledge and that gives me motivation to keep going.

Previous GAPS posts you may have missed:

• The GAPS Diet and How I’m Healing
• A Confession and Preparing for GAPS Intro
• Preparing for GAPS Intro – Prepping the Freezer
• My First Day on the GAPS Intro Diet
• Why Bio-Kult May Not Be So Expensive After All
• Week 1 on GAPS Intro – Where Are All the Spoons?
• Week 2 on GAPS Intro – I’m Back, Baby!
• Week 3 on GAPS Intro – I Almost Quit!

Are you on the GAPS diet?  If so, do you feel like it’s taking forever or can you see the light at the end of the tunnel?  What motivates you to stay the course?  I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Some of my links are affiliate links and help support this blog.  Your privacy is important to me, and I do not sell email addresses.

Shared on Monday Mania.