ginger squash soup

Butternut Squash Soup! by prideandvegudice, on Flickr

Technically, this is a stage 1 food, but I decided this soup, along with a couple soft-boiled eggs, would be my breakfast for stage 2.

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.

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.

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.

chicken broth

chicken broth by Muffet, on Flickr

Normally, I prefer making broth after roasting a whole chicken, as I'm fond of the flavors that develop from the Maillard reaction. I'm just not crazy about boiled meat.

But a while back, one of my local farmers had a deal going on pastured chicken necks & backs if you bought 20 pounds, so I figured I'd make broth and chicken meat.

Twenty pounds is a lot more than I thought it was. So my first go-round, before I'd decided to start the GAPS protocol, was the rather standard way of making chicken broth.