Either tomorrow or Monday, most likely tomorrow, I am going back on GAPS Intro. How is that different from what I am doing now? I will go back to eating boiled meats although I might allow myself something grilled this weekend. I will cut out most of my supplements - true GAPS intro says to cut out all of them, but there are some that really help so I am keeping them in. The ones I am going to continue taking/using are HCl, digestive enzymes with ox bile, Liver Life by Bioray, magnesium oil spray at night, and homemade liposomal Vitamin C (to help with detox). I plan on adding cod liver oil and Vitamin D3 drops one at a time after a few days. I will try to add ferments or probiotics slowly. Those are really the only differences since I am only on stage 2 and Dr. Natasha recommended I stay at that stage until the abdominal distention is gone.
In the GAPS book it says that the diet will reduce symptoms quickly and initiate the healing process in the digestive system. So far that hasn't happened for me and I don't know why. I am not going to give up but admit that this is getting harder and harder to deal with. Most days now I am fighting depression not due to a chemical imbalance or gut issues, but because I feel like I can't deal with this much longer. Hopefully I will see "some" healing this time around.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Espresso Dry Rub
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp Ground Espresso or Extra Dark Roast Coffee
1 Tbsp Basil
1 Tbsp Rosemary
1 Tbsp Paprika
2 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 Tbsp Celtic Sea Salt
1 Tbsp Cumin
1 Tbsp Ground Black Pepper
1 Tbsp Onion Powder
1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
Mix all ingredients and rub on meat.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Chicken Bone Broth
A lot of people have questions about how to make bone broth. Thought I would show and write about how I make mine. This is just an example and no broth is ever the same. Sometimes I use a chicken carcass from a previously baked chicken, or bones from chicken thighs that I previously baked, or I use a fresh whole chicken. I always try to add some chicken feet since it helps to add gelatin which is nourishing for the gut and good for the body in general.
For this particular batch I am using raw chicken thighs, raw chicken gizzards, and chicken feet. The reason for the chicken thighs and gizzards is that I ran out of whole chickens and won't get anymore until next July 4th weekend and I just received my order of chicken thighs and gizzards from Good Earth Farms. The items arrived frozen so I can't add the gizzards quite yet but that's fine. The meat does not need to simmer as long as the bones anyhow.
I love the taste and texture of gizzards after they have simmered for several hours. However, the real reason I buy them is that each gizzard has a nice chunk of yellow chicken fat on it. I cut the fat off and fry it on low heat in a cast iron skillet to render the liquid fat. The remaining chicken cracklings are yummy as well.
Place the bones, and meat if you have some, in a large pot.
Add water to cover bones and meat by about 1 to 2 inches.
Cover pot with a lid and bring to boil.
When the water starts boiling you will most likely see some foam building. There are two types of foam. I mention this because there was some confusion about skimming foam on one of the Yahoo groups I belong to. There's the sort of white kind of foam that looks more bubbly and typically goes away when the water stops boiling. Then there's the more "foamy" and sometimes even dirty, sort of thick foam that you see towards the top in the picture below. That's the kind of foam you want to skim off.
Here's a closer shot of that foam.
After you have skimmed off the foam, lower the heat to bring the water to a low simmer, and add some fresh cracked black pepper corns.
I try to keep my broth simmering like in the video above but with the lid on. So once you put the lid back on your pot you will have to turn the temperature down a bit more. Just check back periodically to make sure it's still simmering. I let my broth simmer like this for about 24 hours.
Part of the GAPS intro diet is sipping ginger tea made from fresh ginger in between meals. I do not like this ginger tea for some reason and can't get myself to drink it so I add copious amounts of ginger to my broth instead. I usually wait until it has anywhere from 2 to 4 hours left before adding it.
Because my chicken gizzards were frozen when I started my broth, I did not add them until the next morning - after cutting the fat off to render it.
After adding the gizzards, or other raw meat, bring the broth back to a boil and skim off any new foam. Then place the lid back on the pot and turn down the heat to return the broth to a slow simmer.
Once the broth has simmered for about 24 hours I turn off the heat, let it cool down a bit, then strain it into a large bowl through a stainless steel colander.
I let the broth cool down to room temperature, then put it in the fridge and let it cool down completely. As much as I love fat, I do not like it in my broth, so once the broth has cooled and the fat is solid on top, I skim it off and save it in a jar. The broth should now have a jello-o like consistency. I fill it into 32 oz mason jars and place them in the freezer.
That's it!
For this particular batch I am using raw chicken thighs, raw chicken gizzards, and chicken feet. The reason for the chicken thighs and gizzards is that I ran out of whole chickens and won't get anymore until next July 4th weekend and I just received my order of chicken thighs and gizzards from Good Earth Farms. The items arrived frozen so I can't add the gizzards quite yet but that's fine. The meat does not need to simmer as long as the bones anyhow.
I love the taste and texture of gizzards after they have simmered for several hours. However, the real reason I buy them is that each gizzard has a nice chunk of yellow chicken fat on it. I cut the fat off and fry it on low heat in a cast iron skillet to render the liquid fat. The remaining chicken cracklings are yummy as well.
Place the bones, and meat if you have some, in a large pot.
Add water to cover bones and meat by about 1 to 2 inches.
Cover pot with a lid and bring to boil.
When the water starts boiling you will most likely see some foam building. There are two types of foam. I mention this because there was some confusion about skimming foam on one of the Yahoo groups I belong to. There's the sort of white kind of foam that looks more bubbly and typically goes away when the water stops boiling. Then there's the more "foamy" and sometimes even dirty, sort of thick foam that you see towards the top in the picture below. That's the kind of foam you want to skim off.
Here's a closer shot of that foam.
After you have skimmed off the foam, lower the heat to bring the water to a low simmer, and add some fresh cracked black pepper corns.
I try to keep my broth simmering like in the video above but with the lid on. So once you put the lid back on your pot you will have to turn the temperature down a bit more. Just check back periodically to make sure it's still simmering. I let my broth simmer like this for about 24 hours.
Part of the GAPS intro diet is sipping ginger tea made from fresh ginger in between meals. I do not like this ginger tea for some reason and can't get myself to drink it so I add copious amounts of ginger to my broth instead. I usually wait until it has anywhere from 2 to 4 hours left before adding it.
Because my chicken gizzards were frozen when I started my broth, I did not add them until the next morning - after cutting the fat off to render it.
Once the broth has simmered for about 24 hours I turn off the heat, let it cool down a bit, then strain it into a large bowl through a stainless steel colander.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Rendering Chicken Fat from Gizzards
I have been buying chicken gizzards from Good Earth Farms - they ship them frozen in 5 lb bags.
Each gizzard has a nice chunk of yellow fat on it which I cut off and place into a cast iron skillet.
I turn the burner to low to let the fat render slowly. After a while the chunks of fat will begin to shrink and turn brown and you will start getting a bunch of liquid fat.
When the chunks of fat start getting crispy and there are no raw pieces left, I start pouring the fat off into a jar. I find that the remaining chunks render better if there is less liquid fat in the skillet. Keep repeating this process until the chunks of fat are nothing but crispy little pieces - which taste amazing.
Since I had a batch of Chicken Bone Broth going while I was doing this, I took the gizzards without the fat and added them to my broth.
An easier way to do this would have been to just add the gizzards with the fat to the Chicken Bone Broth, and then to skim the fat off the broth once it is done. However, I like the taste of the rendered fat better when I make it in a cast iron skillet and I love cracklings.
I pour the chicken fat into a glass measuring cup then pour it from the measuring cup through a strainer into the jar I am going to store the fat in. From a 5 lb bag of gizzards I usually get anywhere from 10 to 16 oz of liquid chicken fat.
And now you can eat the cracklings.
Each gizzard has a nice chunk of yellow fat on it which I cut off and place into a cast iron skillet.
I turn the burner to low to let the fat render slowly. After a while the chunks of fat will begin to shrink and turn brown and you will start getting a bunch of liquid fat.
When the chunks of fat start getting crispy and there are no raw pieces left, I start pouring the fat off into a jar. I find that the remaining chunks render better if there is less liquid fat in the skillet. Keep repeating this process until the chunks of fat are nothing but crispy little pieces - which taste amazing.
Since I had a batch of Chicken Bone Broth going while I was doing this, I took the gizzards without the fat and added them to my broth.
An easier way to do this would have been to just add the gizzards with the fat to the Chicken Bone Broth, and then to skim the fat off the broth once it is done. However, I like the taste of the rendered fat better when I make it in a cast iron skillet and I love cracklings.
I pour the chicken fat into a glass measuring cup then pour it from the measuring cup through a strainer into the jar I am going to store the fat in. From a 5 lb bag of gizzards I usually get anywhere from 10 to 16 oz of liquid chicken fat.
And now you can eat the cracklings.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
GAPS Intro #6: Day 2 - AM
Symptoms this morning: Fatigue, very tired/worn out, right eye lid very swollen, left eye lid slightly swollen, upper backache, lower backache, fluid retention (whole body feels puffy), breast tenderness (started yesterday), puffy face, heart rate went up to the 130s, distended abdomen, headache, not cognitive.
Goals today: Eat two GAPS stage 1 meals, rest when necessary, study some Spanish, take a detox bath or sit in the FIR sauna.
I feel very puffy, big, and flabby right now. It's probably fluid retention from hormonal imbalance but I am afraid it's true weight gain. Eating enough today will be a challenge. I don't know if the progesterone cream I started using again is causing more problems or if this is just my body adjusting. I so wish I had not gotten the hysterectomy back in 2003. It just made things more difficult to figure out.
Yesterday I was not going to have any probiotic food at all but ended up eating some coconut milk kefir that I had made with milk kefir grains and some Custom Probiotics 11-strain powder. I am trying to decided if I should skip everything today to see if I feel a bit better tomorrow. There's definitely a huge difference in how I felt yesterday morning and how I feel today. I also need to start adding garlic but am concerned it will cause too much die off. Maybe it would be best to just have healing foods today but nothing anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, etc. and give my body a break. I just don't understand why there is no end to the die off. This is not normal....and I am starting a new job soon. How I am going to handle writing code with all this brain fog is a mystery to me.
Update 10:30 AM: The headache has actually gotten worse. I ate some breakfast rather than waiting for lunch because I did not feel good...it didn't help. If I turn my head to fast I feel nauseated. I am more swollen as well. I had pork belly for breakfast but not boiled. I fried it in a cast iron skillet. Dinner will be boiled salmon.
Update 6:45 PM: I took a detox bath during which my hands and knuckles started to hurt and felt very stiff. After the bath the back of my hands started hurting and they still do. I also took some bentonite clay and sometime later the headache improved, but it's not gone. I have been insanely hungry all day and have felt very swollen all day. The breast tenderness has gotten worse. I did pretty good re food all day then around 5 PM or so I went overboard and ate way too much. Cravings for sweets got the better of me and I had some of DH's diet Coke. Of course I regretted it as soon as I drank some but man was it good. I am still craving sweets and diet soda - two of my typical PMS symptoms.
Since I blew it again with diet Coke and we are having friends over for a BBQ this weekend, I am thinking about just postponing intro until July 1st. I am only on stage 1/2 anyhow so what's the big difference. I am trying not to be discouraged and scared but I really am. I need to get these cravings under control because drinking diet Coke sure isn't going to help me heal! I feel like a failure right now.
Goals today: Eat two GAPS stage 1 meals, rest when necessary, study some Spanish, take a detox bath or sit in the FIR sauna.
I feel very puffy, big, and flabby right now. It's probably fluid retention from hormonal imbalance but I am afraid it's true weight gain. Eating enough today will be a challenge. I don't know if the progesterone cream I started using again is causing more problems or if this is just my body adjusting. I so wish I had not gotten the hysterectomy back in 2003. It just made things more difficult to figure out.
Yesterday I was not going to have any probiotic food at all but ended up eating some coconut milk kefir that I had made with milk kefir grains and some Custom Probiotics 11-strain powder. I am trying to decided if I should skip everything today to see if I feel a bit better tomorrow. There's definitely a huge difference in how I felt yesterday morning and how I feel today. I also need to start adding garlic but am concerned it will cause too much die off. Maybe it would be best to just have healing foods today but nothing anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, etc. and give my body a break. I just don't understand why there is no end to the die off. This is not normal....and I am starting a new job soon. How I am going to handle writing code with all this brain fog is a mystery to me.
Update 10:30 AM: The headache has actually gotten worse. I ate some breakfast rather than waiting for lunch because I did not feel good...it didn't help. If I turn my head to fast I feel nauseated. I am more swollen as well. I had pork belly for breakfast but not boiled. I fried it in a cast iron skillet. Dinner will be boiled salmon.
Update 6:45 PM: I took a detox bath during which my hands and knuckles started to hurt and felt very stiff. After the bath the back of my hands started hurting and they still do. I also took some bentonite clay and sometime later the headache improved, but it's not gone. I have been insanely hungry all day and have felt very swollen all day. The breast tenderness has gotten worse. I did pretty good re food all day then around 5 PM or so I went overboard and ate way too much. Cravings for sweets got the better of me and I had some of DH's diet Coke. Of course I regretted it as soon as I drank some but man was it good. I am still craving sweets and diet soda - two of my typical PMS symptoms.
Since I blew it again with diet Coke and we are having friends over for a BBQ this weekend, I am thinking about just postponing intro until July 1st. I am only on stage 1/2 anyhow so what's the big difference. I am trying not to be discouraged and scared but I really am. I need to get these cravings under control because drinking diet Coke sure isn't going to help me heal! I feel like a failure right now.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Another New Day
I feel better emotionally today. Maybe the anxiety, negativity, and everything I was feeling yesterday was from die off. It's so hard to tell but I feel more positive and inspired today. So far I plan on doing some clear water enemas followed by a coffee enema and then to fast the rest of the day, but that may change later. Fasting has become harder but I do believe it is very beneficial.
Update: Fasting was too hard. The headache I woke up with went away and then later in the afternoon came back even worse. So I had boiled salmon, salmon broth, some of the gelatinous meat from making pork bone broth, and pork fat. The pain in my right wrist and hand came back as well. I am beginning to wonder if it's from knitting versus arthritic pain or something else.
Update: Fasting was too hard. The headache I woke up with went away and then later in the afternoon came back even worse. So I had boiled salmon, salmon broth, some of the gelatinous meat from making pork bone broth, and pork fat. The pain in my right wrist and hand came back as well. I am beginning to wonder if it's from knitting versus arthritic pain or something else.
Monday, June 20, 2011
GAPS Intro #6: Day 1 - PM
This day did not go well at all or like I had hoped. I felt very tired and sort of numb emotionally so instead of taking 7.5 mg of HC around lunch time I took 10 mg. I sat in the sun around 10:30 and when I came in my heart rate shot up to 140 when I checked it and I was starting to feel dizzy. I had a hard time standing in the shower and had to sit down as soon as I got out. My body still feels swollen and soft and I hate it which put me in a bad mood. I have also been very distended all day to the point of being in pain. After running some errands in the afternoon I made dinner and then I messed up. I had some pork rinds and some homemade almond/walnut butter. I topped it all off with some of Bob's diet Coke and two pieces of gum. Next I ate about 1/2 cup of coconut milk kefir. The latter isn't a bad thing except that I have to collect stool for a stool test tomorrow and ideally you should not be taking probees before a stool test. I feel like I messed everything up.
Because I am so distended (and I messed up today anyhow) I decided to fast tomorrow. I need a break from feeling this miserable. My abdomen is so big it's making my back hurt. I am hating life right now.
Because I am so distended (and I messed up today anyhow) I decided to fast tomorrow. I need a break from feeling this miserable. My abdomen is so big it's making my back hurt. I am hating life right now.
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