Stage 1 meatball soup

Meatballs for Soup by Helga's Lobster Stew, on Flickr

Unlike the other stage 1 recipes, I expect this one may have to be shared with my non-GAPs hubby.

This one is a bit lower-carb than I'd like, but hits the calorie mark well.

I survived stage 1

Green Eggs and Ham
book cover, from Wikipedia

I like ginger. I use piles of fresh ginger in stir fries and other dishes; I like dried ginger in gingerbread, I like ginger ale, I like candied ginger. So I thought I'd love ginger tea. I tried it hot, I tried it cold, I tried it diluted. I do not like ginger tea.

I do not like it, Dee-I-be.
I do not like this ginger tea.

I could not, would not, on a boat.
I will not, will not, with a goat.
I will not drink it in the rain.
I will not drink it on a train.
Not in the dark! Not in a tree!
Not in a car! You let me be!
I do not like it in a box.
I do not like it with a fox.
I will not drink it in a house.
I do not like it with a mouse.
I do not like it here or there.
I do not like it ANYWHERE!

<Forrest Gump voice> That's all I have to say about that. </Forrest Gump voice>

Stage 1 Chicken Soup

slow food: slow roast chicken dinner
by ebbandflo_pomomama, on Flickr

I've decided that since I have been successful at "hiding" organ meats in the broth I use to make my turkey stuffing for years, that I'd try to "hide" some liver in this soup.

Thus I begin by making chicken liver cubes before starting the soup.

vintage post: boeuf bourguignon

The point of "vintage" posts is to highlight older posts than in my monthly favorite post feature.

I don't want to ignore really kewl stuff just cause it was posted before I began blogging!

But this is REALLY vintage, in that it is from a time before blogging... before the Internet... before BBSs... before home PCs... before even electronic calculators...

It's ALMOST before me, as I was a year old when the show started, from a time when food shows were live with mistakes and all and actually intended to teach the viewer to cook. Before there were any foodies, there was Julia Child.

status as I start GAPS

Insulin by Sprogz, on Flickr

I didn't realize it was this close and I hadn't yet gotten my current status up here. IME, this is the sort of thing that is VERY easy to lose track of if you don't write it down at the time.

I am currently controlling my bG with metformin, a MDI regimen of Lantus and Novolog, controlling the side effects of the insulin with K-dur, supporting my liver with silymarin, taking FiveLac as my probiotic, and treating my heart disease with Niaspan, CoEnzymeQ10 and fish oil.

patronizing scientists - part 2

Right 2Know March (GMO Labeling) by Daquella manera, on Flickr

These people aren't clever enough to know what kind of food they want to eat.

This is the "scientific" reason why we don't want to label GMOs, because these people don't know what's best for them. We don't want to start a consumer panic, where people decide not to eat GMOs by mistake!

Funny, it looks to me like they have an opinion!

In patronizing scientists - part 1, I covered how those of us who do completely understand the pros and cons of recombinant DNA can still be opposed to GMOs.

In this part, I'm just going to explain how lazy these scientists are.

Stage 1 Chuck Roast

Slow-Cooker Pot Roast: 3lb Beef Chuck
Roast by I Believe I Can Fry, on Flickr

Stage 1 is pretty much broth, boiled meat and boiled vegetables.

While I don't know how long I'll need to be on stage 1, my meal plans are done a week at a time, as I need the assistance of my HHA to shop and cook. So I'm committed to at least a week.

So I have several large recipes planned for stage 1 and this 6-serving pot roast is the first.

ginger tea & lemonade

Ginger Tea and Honey by dj345, on Flickr

Stage 1 GAPS requires both ginger tea and water with lemon (what the rest of us call lemonade!)

The only allowed sweeteners are raw honey and unrefined green stevia powder (Dr. Campbell-McBride is suspicious of the white refined powder).

As it happens, I have lots of dehydrated stevia from my garden, so that's covered, though it's available to buy when I run out. I have both raw honey (from my farmer's market) and a big pile of lemons (from a grocery sale) on hand. I will be picking up and pregrinding a bunch of fresh ginger root next week, though might move to dehydrated depending on how annoying this chore becomes.

And I have tea balls, though I originally got them for making bouquet garni in recipes calling for whole herbs.

All the recipes following are for 2 quarts, which I am considering 2 servings as I fill up my water bottle as few times as possible.

planning for stage 1

I have set my start date for stage 1 at September 17, 2012.

some concerns

I have several concerns about GAPS stage 1.

First is that in my wanderings around the web and specifically the blogosphere, I have seen a few folks who didn't do well on GAPS. The thing they seem to have in common is going too low-carb, which is something difficult to avoid.

I consider 100 g carbohydrate daily a decent amount, my ideal diabetic diet is 20 g at breakfast and 40 g at lunch and dinner. However, until stage 5 when fruit is added, attaining that much carbohydrate daily will be difficult.

I've planned my recipes to use the carbiest vegetables: all the alliums, English peas, carrots, rutabagas and of course, that GAPS mainstay, winter squash and pumpkin.

patronizing scientists - part 1

Recombinant DNA, by Tinastella, via Wikimedia Commons

One of the things that pisses me off about all this opposition to proposition 37 is the notion that real scientists are opposed to GMO labeling because regular people don't understand about genetically-modified organisms. Basically, we shouldn't label because people are too stupid to judge for themselves whether they want to eat GMO foods.

I took a course in recombinant DNA in graduate school, so I have actually made GMOs. I understand it just fine.

my favorite posts: August 2012

This month, I probably have the best post of the YEAR included in the round-up, Stacy's post What Losing 135 lbs looks like is AMAZING; highly recommended. READ THIS!

pico de gallo & guacamole

Pico de gallo by nonelvis, on Flickr

I was on the phone with my daughter recently and promised to get this recipe to her.

Using guacamole as a sandwich topping has been one of the most useful ways for me to get a bunch of veggies in my husband nearly daily.

I make pico de gallo once a week, then daily mix up some fresh guacamole to put in his lunch.

I am just so freaking angry...

RANT, this way by Nesster, on Flickr

WARNING: rant ahead

So if you don't want to hear a long drawn-out rant about how freaking stupid doctors are, do not click to continue reading.

My cardiologist isn't an idiot, and I have an appointment to see him in October, so I will likely not be completely upset after that.

But generally...

basic good steak

2006-04-12-19-04-41zoomed by WmJR, on Flickr

Like most of you, given the high price of pastured meats, we tend to eat a lot of cheap cuts around here. Still, once in a blue moon, I splurge and get a good steak, especially if I run across a sale. To me, a really good steak is a strip steak, a club steak, a delmonico, a ribeye, a T-bone or a filet mignon. I buy one when we're relatively flush and stick it in the freezer. Then when Steve is tired or had a particularly bad day, I can spoil him a little. And spoil me too!

Having spent more than we can afford, I'm very picky about making sure it's cooked to absolute perfection.

three things I'll miss

Coffee with Cream and Sugar by TheCulinaryGeek, on Flickr

brewed coffee with cream and stevia powder

Coffee is legal on the full GAPS diet, as long as it's brewed and not instant. Who would drink instant coffee voluntarily anyways? My grandmother, that's who. And she's dead. Which means she doesn't drink much instant anymore...

Coffee is not legal on any of the introductory stages, so there shall be caffeine withdrawal occurring. Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. It's worse than PMS.

But even on full GAPS, neither my beloved cream nor my stevia powder are legal. The only allowed dairy is fermented, and I somehow don't see putting sour cream or yogurt in my coffee. I guess I will have to switch to coconut milk or cream as I can't drink it black.

And stevia is only legal if it's the green leaf herb form, not the refined powder, which is what I use. Luckily, I have some growing in my garden this year and have been drying it up as I go along.

eggplant parmesan

Eggplant Parmesan by joebeone, on Flickr

While hubby isn't fond of eggplant, this is one of my favorite vegetables. And this is quite a yummy way to prepare it!

This is not GAPS legal as mozzarella is not an accepted cheese. Thus this is classified as TF, for pre or post GAPS.

vintage post: 12 days of broth

Have you seen this yet?

Amanda got 12 days of real broth, broth that actually gels, from the same set of bones.

are mud pies a superfood?

rain, dirt road, mud pies by paloetic, on Flickr

No, not the chocolatey confection, but the ones you made sitting in a pile of mud when you were a three-year-old.

I've noticed that advertising soil bacteria on your probiotics is becoming more and more popular.

It occurred to me that this was a rather stupid thing to buy cause I have dirt in my yard; presumably with soil bacteria in it. I've been composting the heck out of my garden for years and it's full of worms and other slimy things, so I imagine bacteria are happy out there too.

OK, so I wasn't really planning on sitting out there with a spoon and digging into the dirt. I mean, there's WORMS in that dirt after all!

But it occurred to me... healthy microflora has several hundred species of bacteria and most of your probiotics only have a handful. Maybe this is why homemade ferments, like sauerkraut, are so much more health-giving than fermented products from the grocery, sterilized and then inoculated with only a few bacteria.

And then it occurred to me, maybe I should just not wash my vegetables. I mean, they grow in perfectly healthy compost. I've made the jokes in comments in several blogs recently; that we ought to consider eating dirt.

And yesterday, I discovered Dr. Ayers' blog (Cooling Inflammation, linked in the sidebar) and saw that in several posts, he recommended eating unwashed vegetables. So I'm not the only one with this peculiar notion!

Of course, they need to be organic, you don't want to eat pesticide and herbicide coated vegetables without washing them. The veggies in my garden qualify, and I've always eaten them out there without washing, though I usually wash them when I bring them inside.

But maybe I'll stop. Seems cheaper than buying dirt pills.

yogurt

Yogurt by Mom the Barbarian, on Flickr

The whey from yogurt is a stage 1 food; yogurt itself is a Full Gaps food.

The big difference in making GAPS-style yogurt is that it needs to be cultured for 24 hours to be sure all the lactose is broken down. I expect this also increases the probiotics quite a bit also. And I'd expect the yogurt to be more tart.

My "normal" crockpot method doesn't work anymore because the milk doesn't stay warm enough long enough.

my favorite posts: July 2012

When you follow a lot of GAPS, TF and Paleo/Primal blogs, it's hard to narrow posts down to just a few of the best.