Potato Cheese May 31, 2008

It’s funny — when you’re single, sitting at home on a Saturday night is the worst thing you can imagine. And then you become a mom. And you’re always doing doing doing for everyone else. And the idea of having some time to yourself is so fabulous, you don’t care what night it is.

Seth announced that he had to go out to a business thing and I got so excited that I was going to get to stay home, put my feet up, and do my own thing. I don’t even have to cook dinner! I can eat cheese and some almond bread if I get hungry.

So I got Kate down (so easy, she goes down every night and every nap with no crying, no fussing) then I did the dishes, cleaned the kitchen, and watered my seedlings. Then I poured a glass of wine, dimmed the lights, and am now happily watching Oprah and House Hunters and Martha Stewart and Iron Chef America.

I’m also making “Potato Cheese”, a fermented potato dish (for Kate — we can’t eat potatoes on GAPS). I don’t like the name. Hopefully the recipe comes out better than the name.

I really like to try to serve fermented foods to Kate at at least one meal a day. Ideally, it would be every meal… but once a day is great. If I do more than that, all the better. She really loves sauerkraut and kefir and fermented yams and homemade lacto-fermented ketchup and dill pickles. Today she had some dill pickle relish in her tunafish for lunch, and this evening she had fermented yams with liver and ground beef stew for dinner.

Anyway, I got the Potato Cheese recipe from Nourishing Traditions. Well, it’s in Nourishing Traditions, but it was originally published in 1833, in a book called The American Frugal Housewife.

You cook 4 pounds of potatoes (I baked mine), then peel them, then throw them in the food processor with 2 cups of kefir or piima milk (I’m using kefir). Let that sit out at room temperature in a bowl (covered with a dish towel) for 2 days. Then you strain it the same way you do when you strain the whey when making cheese. When done, transfer to an airtight container and put it in the fridge.

I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Keratosis Pilaris May 29, 2008

Ugh! I have it, too! After I wrote that post this morning, I took a shower and looked at the backs of my arms. Not as bad as Seth — but I have it!

I knew I used to have it — and I think I used to have it a lot worse. But I still have it. Even after taking cod liver oil for 7 months now.

I guess it makes sense though. For one thing, I am trying to rebuild nutritional stores after having a baby — and they say it takes 3 years to do that.

Also, if I have low thyroid function like I think I do, then all the vitamin A I am consuming is probably going to my thyroid gland. Sally Fallon said the thyroid gland needs vitamin A more than any other gland.

So that settles it. We are having chicken liver pate tonight for dinner. With plenty of butter and bone marrow on our almond bread.

I told Seth we are going to eat chicken liver or duck liver pate at least once a week from now on. And I am going to order a bunch of liverwurst and Braunschweiger from US Wellness Meats. We need to up our liver intake!

Real Food: Anchovy Pizza May 29, 2008

I’ve been reading Nina Planck’s book, “Real Food: What to Eat and Why”. It’s so good, even though I’m only halfway through, I just ordered a copy for my sister.

I just read the chapter on fish. It was so convincing — we need to be eating fish as often as possible. Weston Price said the same thing. I have more to say on this topic but I have to make breakfast as soon as Elmo is over — so it will have to be another time.

We do eat fish once or twice a week — usually sashimi. I think we need to be eating fish at least twice a week, particularly oily fish and shellfish.

So tonight, I decided to make anchovy pizza. I’ll make the almond flour dough, and I have some fresh mozzarella I bought at the farmer’s market. I think I’ll add some kalamata olives (Adam’s Ranch, also from the farmer’s market) and some onion, too.

I was also reading about vitamin A deficiency this morning. Seth had asked me what were the red bumps on the backs of his arms and on his thighs. It’s called keratosis pilaris and it is caused by a vitamin A deficiency. This is a pretty common problem — I see it on lots of people. I used to have it when I was younger.

Here’s a photo.

It doesn’t surprise me that Seth is vitamin A deficient. Vitamin A is found in great quantities in liver, cream, butter, and shellfish. He eats shellfish occasionally but he doesn’t eat any of those other foods. He is taking cod liver oil, but probably not enough. He gets 1 teaspoon a day — but he is often busy or out of town. So I am going to give him 2 teaspoons just to make sure we catch up for all those missed days. I’m also going to get him on the Activator X butter oil.

Gotta go fry some eggs!

GAPS Almond Bread May 28, 2008

Here is the recipe for the GAPS Almond Bread from Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride’s book, “Gut and Psychology Syndrome”.

This bread is really easy to make. Tonight I’m going to make some more to go with the butternut squash soup I’m making — and serve it with butter and roasted bone marrow. Either that or homemade tomato soup with grilled cheese…

2 1/2 cups almond flour
3 eggs
1/4 cup softened butter (or coconut oil, goose fat, chicken fat, duck fat, or homemade yogurt or creme fraiche) plus a little extra to grease the pan

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Grease a loaf pan or cookie sheet. Mix the almond flour, eggs, and fat in a bowl. Press the mixture into the greased loaf pan — or mold into a loaf shape on a cookie sheet.
3. Bake for about an hour. Test for doneness by inserting a clean butter knife — it will come out clean when it’s ready.
4. Let it rest for at least 10 minutes before using a butter knife to remove it from the pan.

You can also make different kinds of loaves by adding various ingredients. You could add a cheese or olives and rosemary or you could add some dates or honey to make it sweet. You can use it for pizza dough as well, and for muffins.

You can also make multiple loaves and freeze them.

Victorian Mini-Series and Classic Roast Chicken May 27, 2008

We are watching “Cranford” — a PBS documentary. This is one of the Emmy-nominated DVDs Seth gets in the mail (he gets a LOT of them) since he is an Emmy award winner. It’s one of those “for your consideration” DVDs.

“Cranford” stars Dame Judi Dench and is based on novels by Dickens and Carlyle contemporary, Elizabeth Gaskell (1810 - 1865). It’s very Jane Austen-ish.

I’m enjoying it very much. Seth is not really watching — he’s working on his laptop. I think he prefers “The Wire”, which is what we usually watch. I love “The Wire”. But sometimes it’s nice to watch something that appeals more to women. This is the kind of show I would normally watch with my best friend, Sarah.

I admit, it’s a bit sappy. It’s a miniseries after all. But it’s really interesting to watch — all the history. Plus I just love stories set in Great Britain. (Oddly enough, Sarah is “on holiday” in London right now.)

Tonight I made the roast chicken from Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”. I didn’t follow her recipe exactly — there’s so much basting involved (every 10 minutes) and with a baby, that’s not so easy to do. I did my best.

I deglazed the roasting pan with beef stock according to the recipe — and the gravy that resulted was absolutely wonderful. When you deglaze the pan, you reduce the stock in half — so it’s just concentrated broth with plenty of good fat (the drippings from the pan plus extra butter). Not only is it delicious, it’s very good for you. The stock is excellent for digestion.

I also made patty pan squash (which I got at the farmer’s market). I sliced it, layered it in a pan, and added dollops of butter and olive goat cheese (also procured at the farmer’s market). I don’t know if Seth liked it (he didn’t eat much) but for me, it was almost as good as potatoes au gratin. And GAPS legal! (As long as you can do dairy, that is — Seth seems to be doing fine on it.)

I Heart Texas Chili May 26, 2008

I grew up in Texas, and chili is still one of my favorite meals (nachos is number one). Here’s a Texas-style (no beans) chili recipe that is GAPS legal and incorporates organ meats — namely, heart.

It was delicious — and I swear, you can’t taste the heart.

This made just enough for 2 1/2 — a meal for Seth, me and the baby. Now that I know it’s good, next time I’ll double the recipe so we’ll have leftovers.

1 pound grass-fed beef or bison
1/2 pound beef or bison heart
3-4 TBS chicken or duck fat, beef tallow, lard, or butter (I used beef tallow, which I rendered from my beef stock)
1/2 large yellow or white onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, smashed or minced
1 tsp minced oregano (I used fresh from my garden, but you could use dried)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 TBS good quality chile powder (I got mine at Whole Foods)
3 large tomatoes (it not in season, you can use peeled whole tomatoes in a can)
1 TBS tomato paste
2 cups homemade chicken or beef stock (I used beef stock — here’s a good recipe for beef stock.)
Sea salt to taste

1. Bring a medium saucepan full of water to a boil. Set the tomatoes in the saucepan for 20 seconds. With tongs or a slotted spoon, remove them and place them in a bowl of ice cold water (or under running cold water).

2. Peel the tomatoes, then cut in half. Squeeze each half and scoop out the seeds with your fingers. Discard seeds and chop tomatoes.

3. Cut the beef or bison heart into chunks. Blend in food processor until ground.

4. Heat the fat in the saucepan over medium heat. Add the heart, ground beef or bison, chopped onion, and garlic. Cook until lightly browned.

5. Add the rest of the ingredients except the salt and bring to a boil.

6. Lower the heat and simmer for 1-3 hours (longer if you like — this would actually be wonderful in a crockpot). The longer you simmer, the more concentrated it will become, and the better the flavors will be. If the chili gets too thick for your liking, just add more stock.

7. Season with sea salt to taste.

I served this with buttered warm almond meal bread (made with almond flour, eggs, and butter).

If you’re not on GAPS, you could add beans (black or pinto) to this recipe and it would make a lot more food (just add a little more onion, garlic and spices).

Modified from a recipe by Chef Stephan Pyles, “The New Texas Cuisine” (one of my favorite cookbooks).

The Spirit of Deidre Currie Lives On May 25, 2008

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” — Plato

Sometimes terrible things happen in life that make no sense. No matter how hard we try, we can’t find meaning.

My family has been going through some very tough times lately. But no matter how bad you think things are in your own life, I promise you, there are others out there who are fighting harder battles.

The other day, a man named Archie Welch posted a comment on my blog, letting me know about the Deidre Currie festival, an event he was putting on in honor of his wife, Deidre, who passed to the other side in January of 2008, leaving Archie with their newborn baby, Jack.

Here’s their love story in Archie’s words: www.deidrecurriefestival.com/lovestory.html

I can’t even imagine what their family is going through. Not only Archie, who has had to just pick up and keep going, having to take care of a newborn and keep running his business, but Deidre’s extended family as well.

Archie has worked to put together this festival in her honor — Saturday September 13, 2008 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The cost is $45 and the speakers include:

Sally Fallon, President Weston A Price Foundation, Author of Nourishing Traditions
Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, author of Gut and Psychology Syndrome
Jerry Brunetti, one of nation’s foremost experts on food, farming and health
Karen Lubbers, Michigan farmer, teacher, environmentalist

It is so beautiful that Archie is doing this. This is exactly the kind of thing that Deidre was working to do. The festival will also have a gourmet farmer’s market featuring grass-fed beef, pastured eggs, nitrate free sausages, organic bread, wine, cheeses, and sauerkraut, and much more.

More information about the festival: www.deidrecurriefestival.com/index.html

Archie also mentioned to me in an email (we have been corresponding) that he really wants to find a way to get Deidre’s family (her mother, father, sister and brother) over from New Zealand for the festival. He told me in confidence that he wasn’t sure if he could afford it.

I just had an idea… what if we raised some money for him to get Deidre’s family over for the festival? I’m not sure how much he needs but every dollar would help.

I feel so bad for Deidre’s parents — not only did they lose their beautiful young daughter, but their grandson is so far away. (Archie did say he’s planning to move to New Zealand next year, just so that he and Jack can be closer to Deidre’s family.) I’m sure it would mean so much to her family members if they could attend this festival.

I’m pledging $100.

If you want to donate some money to the cause, leave a comment below or send me an email at inasnit@gmail.com.

You can make your check out to Archie Welch. I will email you an address (I’ll get a P.O. box) where you can mail your check.

It doesn’t matter how much you send. Even $5 would make a difference.

Please forward this post to your friends — or post about it on your own blog — let’s get the word out.

Kate’s Dinner May 24, 2008

Chicken livers cooked in duck fat and butter, leftover Avgolemono soup, fermented yams with raw butter, egg omelet with avocado and a tiny bit of lacto-fermented salsa, cod liver oil, butter oil, Lugol’s iodine, and her Biokult probiotic.

Click on the photo to read more.

South Pacific! May 24, 2008

I’m so excited! I just watched the Charlie Rose Show — he was interviewing the director of South Pacific, currently running on Broadway.

I HAVE to see this. I’m not a huge theater person — I can live without Broadway shows most of the time. But I LOVE South Pacific. It’s my favorite musical of all time.

When I met Seth, I kept singing that song in my head, “A Wonderful Guy”. I even posted the lyrics on my blog a few days after I met him:

I’m as corny as Kansas in August,
I’m as normal as blueberry pie.
No more a smart little girl with no heart,
I have found me a wonderful guy!

I am in a conventional dither,
With a conventional star in my eye.
And you will note there’s a lump in my throat
When I speak of that wonderful guy!

I’m as trite and as gay as a daisy in May,
A cliché comin’ true!
I’m bromidic and bright
As a moon-happy night
Pourin’ light on the dew!

I’m as corny as Kansas in August,
High as a flag on the Fourth of July!
If you’ll excuse an expression I use,
I’m in love, I’m in love,
I’m in love, I’m in love,
I’m in love with a wonderful guy!

They spent 14 months casting this show. Fourteen months! It opened in April and it’s already up for 11 Tony awards.

Here’s a quote from the glowing New York Times review:

I know we’re not supposed to expect perfection in this imperfect world, but I’m darned if I can find one serious flaw in this production.

I’m turning 40 on July 4th this year. And we are planning to go to New York to visit Seth’s parents. So I’m going to buy tickets to see this show. This is the only thing I want.*

Nancy and Ed, I just want you to babysit. Now Seth has to come with us — he has to go with me to see this show!

I can hardly wait.

* Oh, and a trip to Europe or Hawaii in September. Seth already agreed to that. I better figure out where we are going…

Melasma and Adrenal Exhaustion May 24, 2008

I’ve had melasma for a few years now. A lot of women get it when they are pregnant but I actually started seeing it on my face in 2004.

From what I’ve been reading (and listening to a lecture by Dr. James Wilson), melasma is caused by adrenal fatigue.

I swear it’s starting to lighten. Ever so slightly. I think giving up coffee and taking the adrenal gland is helping!

Support Our Local Farmers May 23, 2008

Kate is sleeping so I’m taking a break for once. It occurred to me that I need to take breaks when she is napping.

We get up at 6 or 6:30 am every day. And she doesn’t go to bed until 7. So that’s a 12-13 hour day! Plus then I still have to get dinner on the table and do the dishes and clean up the kitchen.

I don’t know how some of you moms out there do it. The ones who are homeschooling and cooking traditional foods and doing all your own cleaning. I guess if you have older kids, you can put them to work doing chores. But it is a lot of work. I commend you.

It’s a rainy overcast day today. Cold, like winter weather. Bizarre, since it was blazing hot all last week.

Kate and I went to the Japanese market this morning to get sashimi for dinner. Seth eats a lot — so I bought $30 worth. This GAPS diet is expensive. We used to be able to save money by eating more rice and beans and other things. But when all you are eating is meat and vegetables, you need more meat to fill up.

I only buy the wild-caught sashimi — so I got tuna and albacore and some snapper. All the salmon was farm-raised which I refuse to buy. I’ve also got some bonito broth simmering on the stove for miso soup. And I’ll make a seaweed cucumber salad.

I dug out some grass-fed ground beef and bison heart out of the freezer for tomorrow night. Gonna make taco salad. I’m going to grind up the heart and add it to the mix. Hopefully Seth won’t be able to taste it!

Here’s some exciting news — about a week or so ago I dumped some cut up potatoes into a big pot outside. And guess what? They already sprouted. There are green leaves coming up out of the pot! Isn’t that exciting? These were just potatoes that we didn’t get around to eating (since we went on GAPS).

See, this is the thing. People are getting all worked up about food prices and how there’s going to be a famine. And yet it is so easy to grow food! I mean, I literally just dumped those potatoes into the pot, added a little soil and water — went out and watered them a couple of times — and that was it. People need to get out of the grocery store and get into the backyard.

I was listening to Joel Salatin’s lecture at the last WAPF conference. He said an interesting thing. “In America today, there are twice as many people in prison than there are on farms.”

Doesn’t that blow your mind? Is it any wonder why so many people are incarcerated? Why so many people are dealing drugs?

We used to be able to live off the land and support ourselves. Now we are forced to work outside the home and leave our families for 8, 10, 12 hours a day. We are forced to drive cars to work since everyone is so spread out. And most families have two cars — 50 years ago, most families had one car if they had a car at all.

It’s ridiculous the way we live. Most of us are stressed out all the time, working way too many hours, not spending enough time with our kids, and yet we have huge homes with five TV sets and two cars and fancy gourmet kitchens we never cook in.

How did this happen?

Joel Salatin said something else in his lecture. He said, “Over 50% of all meals are eaten outside the home.” Isn’t that incredible? And restaurant food is not only bad for you, it’s very expensive!

Salatin said, “Try just making one homecooked meal a week.” It’s a good goal.

Here’s another statistic I heard today: 30 million people — oops — that’s supposed to be 300 million people in the world are malnourished. The person who said it said it was due to industrial agriculture and monocropping.

We need to take back our land. Even if you don’t have a backyard, you can grow something. Even if you only have room for pots on a patio — you can grow potatoes! Or herbs. Or lettuce. I remember when I was single, living in San Francisco, I used to grow baby bok choy in a pot on my tiny little postage-stamp sized deck.

If you can’t grow anything, you can support a local farmer. Local organic farmers take care of the soil. They don’t monocrop. They don’t spray poisons on the food. Go to your local farmer’s market and buy as much as you can from the local farmers. You can still go to the supermarket to get other things.

Arsenic in Solgar Liver Tablets? May 23, 2008

Some background…

Around January/February, I started having some odd symptoms — tingling and pins and needles in my hands and heart palpitations.

“Exposure to lower levels can cause nausea and vomiting, decreased production of red and white blood cells, abnormal heart rhythm, damage to blood vessels, and a sensation of “pins and needles” in hands and feet.“
Source

My dentist (a WAPF dentist, Dr. Raymond Silkman) suggested in March that I could have heavy metal toxicity. I ordered a urine analysis and found that I have very high levels of arsenic. At first I thought maybe it was in the drinking water. Of course, I have only had filtered water since last October.

Also, Seth did the urine analysis, too, and he did not show high levels of arsenic. So that rules out anything he and I are both consuming. It has to be something I am eating that he is not eating. Which is not very many things.

I’ve been taking the Iodoral for over a month now and the pins and needles in my hands has reduced — the Iodoral helps the body chelate the heavy metals.

But the tingling in my hands is still there faintly, manifesting as a slight numbness.

I’ve been thinking and thinking — what did I change in my diet? What am I consuming that might have arsenic? I asked the Universe to solve this problem for me. “Show me where the arsenic is coming from.”

Ask and ye shall receive.

I got a comment from my friend this morning regarding liver. She wrote to ask if she should eat still liver when she can’t seem to find organic liver in France. I said, “You could always take a dessicated liver tablet.”

That’s when it hit me. I started taking Solgar dessicated liver supplements in October or November of last year. Solgar Liver tablets are recommended by the WAPF. I’ve been taking 6 per day to rebuild my nutritional stores after having Kate. Seth has not been taking the liver tablets.

I looked on the back of the bottle. The Solgar dessicated liver tablets are made from the livers of cattle in Argentina.

I did a little research online and found that there are very high levels of arsenic in the groundwater in Argentina.

In the region of Cordoba, Argentina, Arguello et al. (193 reported maximum levels of arsenic of between 0.9 and 3.4 mg/litre. Source

“In his presentation, Professor Smith cast some doubt on the role of nutrition in combating poisoning. His study in Argentina showed that Argentinians of European origin, on high protein diet (beef steak), have also been suffering from Arsenic poisoning since the 1930s.” Source

In Argentina, groundwater arsenic concentration in some places ranges from 100 to 2000 microgram/l. Reports from epidemiological studies in Argentina indicated that 0.3mg/l arsenic in drinking water resulted in increased incidences of hyperkeratosis and skin cancer with an increased consumption of water (Trelles, et al., 1970). Source

Is it possible that that I am getting the arsenic from the Solgar dessicated liver tablets? It certainly seems likely, based on the above information. I never had these symptoms (pins and needles and heart palpitations) before. And it is odd that only I have high levels of arsenic — not Seth.

I am going to stop taking them and see if the tingling in my hands goes away. If it does go away, I’m going to see about having these pills tested. I want to know if they have arsenic in them. Anyone know a scientist or doctor who has access to a lab? How do you send something in to be tested?

Avgolemono Soup May 22, 2008

Known as Tarbiya in Arabic, and in Turkish, Terbiye, Avgolemono Soup is made from chicken broth, egg yolks (or whole eggs), and lemon.

My friend Ebru, who is Turkish, told me about it in the comments on this blog. I’m going to try it for dinner tonight, along with some hot Italian sausage, sauerkraut, and leftover spaghetti squash. We’ll call this meal pan-European.

It’s usually made with orzo or rice. Obviously I will be leaving those out.

Here’s the recipe (modified from a recipe on Epicurious.com):

4 cups homemade chicken stock
2 eggs, separated
Juice of 1 lemon
Fresh ground black pepper
Sea salt

1. Heat the broth until it boils, then turn down the heat and let simmer.
2. Beat the egg whites until they form medium peaks. Continue to beat and add the yolks and then the lemon juice.
3. Add half (one cup) of the hot chicken broth to the eggs, in a slow, constant stream while continuing to beat so as not to curdle the eggs. Combine the egg mixture back into the broth.
4. Add sea salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4 (I’m making extra for lunch leftovers)

I think I will also try making some coconut macaroons for dessert.

Fermented Yams May 22, 2008

A few of you have asked for this so here you go!

This recipe is from the Fermented Taro Root (also known as Poi) recipe in “Nourishing Traditions”. I couldn’t find taro root so I used yams. This makes a very yummy and super-nutritious baby food. It’s also really good as a side dish.

2 pounds yams (or sweet potatoes)
1 TBS sea salt
4 TBS whey (homemade whey from raw milk or yogurt — recipe on page 87 of “Nourishing Tradtions”)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Stab the yams with a fork. Stick them in the oven and bake for 2 hours or until soft. Let cool, then peel and mash with salt and whey (a sauerkraut pounder or meat tenderizer works great). Leave this mixture in a bowl and leave out at room temperature, covered with a dishtowel, for 24 hours. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Banana Coconut Milk Ice Cream May 21, 2008

This ice cream came out so delicious! Seth raved about it and actually asked for seconds.

And it’s a very healthy dessert. And GAPS legal! (I think… cocoa is legal, right?)

1 can (14 oz) coconut milk (I know, canned coconut milk is not technically legal on GAPS. If you are strict — which we are not — use coconut milk from fresh coconut)
2 TBS organic cocoa powder
2 TBS raw honey
1 very ripe banana
(I was going to add a bit of vanilla extract but I forgot)

Throw everything in a food processor or a blender and mix well. Transfer to ice cream maker and run for about 45 minutes.

This is a super delicious dessert. Very good for the thyroid, too. Maybe I’ll try adding a few egg yolks next time — and the vanilla extract.

PS: According to Bruce Fife’s book, “The Coconut Oil Miracle”, the average adult needs at least 3.5 TBS of coconut oil a day. This estimation is based on the amount of medium-chain fatty acids that are found in breast milk, and the daily amount required to nourish a baby.

Fife says that you can get the same amount of MCFAs in 7 ounces fresh coconut meat (about half a coconut), 2 3/4 cups dried, shredded coconut, or 10 ounces of coconut milk.

So, one smoothie with 2 TBS coconut oil and 4 ounces of coconut milk would be all you need for the day. Or, 2 TBS coconut oil (you can take it in a little warm water) and a bowl (6-8 ounces) of this chocolate coconut milk ice cream.

NOTE: Cocoa is not allowed on the GAPS diet (see comments). Whoops!

What We’ve Been Eating May 21, 2008

Yesterday we had eggs over easy, cooked in butter, with lacto-fermented salsa and avocado slices. Kate had the same thing — only I didn’t give her any salsa.

For lunch, we all had leftover carrot soup.

For dinner, I served steak au poivre (pepper steak) and homemade French onion soup, along with some roasted spaghetti squash with butter. For the soup and steak, I used recipes from The Balthazaar Cookbook. I didn’t use any bread in the soup but I did add a tiny bit of cheese (raw Amish cheddar) to see how Seth would react.

The steak was really good — although the sauce was a bit thick since I could not add cream. I was afraid to try coconut milk — didn’t want to mess it up. Also with grass-fed steaks, they cook a lot faster — so you have to minimize the time. And instead of peanut oil, as they suggest in the book, I used duck fat and beef tallow.

I gave Kate the liver and heart from the duck we roasted the other day. I sauteed them in duck fat and a butter. I also gave her some fermented yams and leftover Thai coconut soup.

This morning I made a Mexican scramble. Eggs scrambled with pork sausage (both from Rocky Canyon), topped with lots of lacto-fermented salsa and some avocado slices. Really, really good!

For lunch today, I had leftover Thai chicken curry and a big glass of milk. Seth had turkey slices and avocado and some leftover Bratwurst. Kate had Bratwurst and sauerkraut and fermented yams.

Tonight I’m going to make teriyaki salmon (made with honey and naturally fermented soy sauce), steamed baby bok choy, and miso soup. If I have time, I am going to try this recipe for chocolate coconut milk ice cream. Only I’m going to try using raw honey instead of agave (better for you, and legal on GAPS). I may also try to add a little ripe banana, if the honey is not sweet enough.

I’d better go get in the kitchen now!

GAPS Diet: Day 25 May 21, 2008

Seth’s stools have normalized! I finally saw it for myself the other day. I know, I know, the things I have to do.

I had no choice. I kept asking him what his stools were like and he would always say, “I don’t know”. So the other day I made him show me. And it was a Type 4 on the Bristol Stool Chart.

Konstantin Monastyrsky, author of Fiber Menace, says that Type 5 is ideal, and Type 4 is close to ideal.

Type 6 is borderline normal. Type 7 is diarrhea. Types 1-3 are all constipation.

To read more about the Bristol Stool Chart and what constitutes a normal stool, visit the Fiber Menace website.

This is after over 2 weeks of diarrhea, which came on after we started the GAPS diet. Prior to the GAPS diet, Seth had intermittent constipation and diarrhea.

I also had diarrhea after we started GAPS, but only for a week.

It’s interesting… Konstantin Monastyrsky says that most people do not think they are constipated. But they are! He says that you should pass stools with no straining or pushing. He also says that your stool should not be larger in diameter than a quarter. Nickel- or dime-sized is best.

I never had such skinny poops in my life. Not until I started on this GAPS diet. Now they are quite slender. I poop 2-3 times a day now, and it’s a Type 5.

Kate fluctuates between Types 5 and 6. I would like to know, what is the ideal stool for a 1-year-old baby?

Of course, then last night Seth had diarrhea again. I have been giving him butter for a few days now, and he seemed to do fine with it. Same thing with kefir. I thought maybe it was the tiny bit of cheese I gave him last night.

Then he confessed to me today that he had fish tacos for lunch.

“I didn’t eat the tortillas,” he said. “But the fish was fried.”
“Fried? Like in a batter?”
“Yes.”
“That’s flour!”
“Yes.”
“That’s illegal on GAPS!”
“I know. But I didn’t know they would be fried.”

So we think maybe that was what it was — the flour in the batter. Nonetheless, just to be safe, I’m not giving him any more cheese until the diarrhea clears up for at least a few days. I will continue to give butter and kefir; he seems to handle it fine. But we’ll see…

Sorry to get graphic about all of this but these things simply must be discussed. You have to look in the toilet bowl and check out your poop (before you throw the paper in). And you have to take your temperature with an accurate thermometer.

These are the things you must do to know if you are healthy. And they are easy, inexpensive things to do. Dr. Rind said as much in his lecture at the last WAPF conference. He said we need to take responsibility for our own health.

Photo credit: Fiber Menace

Daily Photo: Kate’s New Favorite Pastime May 21, 2008

Throwing all the toys out of her playpen.

Consultation with the Iodine Doctor May 21, 2008

We had our phone consultation to go over our test results with Dr. Flechas yesterday. He said that Seth and I are both iodine deficient and we should both take 50 mg of Iodoral per day — for a year. He said in one year, we’ll do the tests again and see where we are.

He said the Iodoral will help us excrete the heavy metals from our system — and he said that in a year’s time, all our heavy metal numbers should go down to zero.

He asked me if I knew how I could have gotten so much arsenic. I have no idea! He said I should look into that. Seth doesn’t have high arsenic — so it must have been something I ate or consumed before I met Seth. It’s not something that is affecting us now (i.e., not in our drinking water), otherwise Seth would have high arsenic too. But he doesn’t.

Seth has high aluminum. Not anywhere near as high as my arsenic levels (this explains the tingling in my hands). After that call, he agreed to throw away his mainstream deodorant and start using my “hippie” deodorant from Terressentials.

We are both high in uranium. Dr. Flechas said it would be a good idea to have our water tested. We have been drinking distilled water only for months now, but I am curious to know what is in the water supply. I asked Dr. Flechas if we can absorb water through the bath or shower, and he said he didn’t know.

Dr. Flechas also told us to take something called ATP Cofactors, because it helps the Iodoral “stick” better. And I asked him about giving Lugol’s to Kate. He said absolutely — 1 drop per day. He said this is really important because iodine has a lot to do with intelligence in children (iodine deficiency is associated with mental retardation and cretinism) and by age 2, her IQ will be set. So we started giving her the Lugol’s yesterday.

I forgot to ask him if it is safe to breastfeed with this much arsenic in my system if I’m taking the Iodoral and excreting it. I know it gets dumped in the breast milk. I will email the lab and ask the assistant to ask him.

I have a feeling though that I won’t be able to breastfeed for a while. It takes a while to get all of this junk out of your system. And, as wonderful as it is for Kate to drink breast milk, I don’t like the idea of her getting a bunch of arsenic. Thank goodness we have the homemade raw milk formula.

Daily Photo: Kate Loves Reading May 20, 2008

This is what Kate does when I’m not watching…

This is what happens when I leave her alone for five minutes. I’m just a few feet away, doing laundry or picking up toys off the floor. Within those five minutes, every book on her bookshelf is on the floor and she’s happily flipping through the pages, talking to herself.