We are making great strides in our effort to begin the GAPS diet. We have gone to a completely organic diet (meats, veggie and fruits). It has taken a BIG bite out of our budget, but it's amazing to taste the difference. (In our experience, the organic fruits and veggies burst with flavor and juices that we haven't really experienced with conventional fruits and veggies)
I am finding more and more recipes every day to make for Joshua. He is not allowed to have refined sugar, dairy, or grains (gluten). As a substitute for ice cream, I blended a partially frozen banana until it was a smooth puree. Then I placed it in a bowl in the freezer for a short while (to harden it up) and Joshua had his very own SUGAR-FREE ice cream (he loved it BTW)
We bought some whole, raw almonds that I soaked in water overnight. I then de-skinned them (you don't have to, but I didn't want to later pick the skins out of the pulp as I have plans for that too). So, after they were de-skinned, I placed them in the blender with 1.5 cups of water and blended until pureed. Next I added 1 tsp vanilla about 3/4 Tbsp of honey and another 1.5 cups of water and blended for about 3 minutes. I strained it through a fine mesh strainer with cheese cloth and VOILA... ALMOND MILK! (which Joshua LOVED also, BTW) The pulp left over from the almond milk will be used (today hopefully) to make almond flour (nut flours are the only flours allowed on the GAPS diet).
I also made a recipe from my new GAPS cookbook the night before last called Honey Glazed Drumsticks and it was DIVINE! I enjoyed it, Jim enjoyed it, I had to pull the bones out of Joshua's mouth because he loved it so much he was going to eat the bones too! :)
We have seen a noticeable difference in Joshua's overall behavior and I am not sure if this is the case, but I let him have some "non-GAPS" food the other day and the whole rest of the day and the next day I fought with him about his bad attitude and was constantly having to get on him about his behavior. Coincidence? Maybe, but I have a hunch that it's not!
We have been making non-dairy smoothies, eating green veggies and will soon be experimenting with a dehydrator. (making yogurt and fruit leathers [a.k.a. fruit roll ups] and vegetable "chips") I have also ordered a mandolin slicer and I am going to attempt making noodles out of zucchini.
If we didn't live in an apartment, I would be buying an almond tree. We found several "dwarf" varieties that for $60-$80 you can buy a tree already producing the almonds (to buy raw organic almonds is $9.00/lb I could but a whole tree for the cost of 10lbs of almonds)... Oh well, maybe in our next house.
We are attempting to grow some organic veggies that we can have as a container garden on our porch. I will have to keep you posted on that as well.
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6 comments:
Glad you're enjoying this new adventure!
Can he have coconut milk? I use that quite a bit in my cooking and also as a replacement for milk. I completely agree with you about the organic fruits and vegetables...they taste so much better! I'm so glad to hear that he is liking the new eating plan and that it seems to be working.
If you're looking for more recipes, check out www.everydaypaleo.com and www.elanaspantry.com. Everything on Everyday Paleo is dairy/grain/sugar free. Most of Elana's Pantry recipes are grain free as well, but she does use sugar (most of her recipes are desserts), so just watch out for that. :-)
Can you grow an almond tree in a pot for a time?
It seems (in the little bit of research that we've done) that they don't begin producing fruit until they're about 6 feet. So, I think a 6 foot tree in a pot might not be an option :)
I also haven't thought about how to harvest the almonds from my future tree. lol Guess I should research that too! :)
First of all, I didn't realize almonds grew on trees! So much for my public education! :)
I'm so glad you're enjoying this new way of eating and you're seeing good results for Joshua!
All I can say is my hat’s off to you, girl!!! What an undertaking. But sounds like it’s working really well for him (all of you) and I’m sure that’s incredibly motivating!! Hope it continues to go well for him. And I agree about organics too but “can’t” fit them into our budget all the time so I can imagine what a “sacrifice” it’s is for y’all! God bless you :)
And Lydia, that was funny!!
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