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  • Orange Coconut Milk Smoothie (Dairy-Free)

    Orange Coconut Milk Smoothie (Dairy-Free)

    Coconut Milk Orange Milkshake

    I wanted something a little sweet. So here’s what I came up with. I don’t know that it’s full GAPS, I guess I had better figure this out so I can tag it appropriately. Oh yay. I just looked at the recommended foods at The Gaps Diet and all the items are approved for full GAPS.

    • 1 cup “natural” coconut milk [affiliate link] (thick and very white)
    • 1 egg yolk
    • 1 small orange
    • 1/2 ripe banana
    • 1/2 cup ice cubes

    Blended in my Magic Bullet Blender until it was smooth.

    Pretty delicious, even without any added sweeteners.

    Save Print
    Recipe: Coconut Milk Smoothie
    Author: 
    Recipe type: Smoothie
    Cook time: 
    Total time: 
    Serves: 2
     
    This shake reminds me of an Orange Julius.
    Ingredients
    • 1 cup “natural” coconut milk (thick and very white)
    • 1 egg yolk
    • 1 small orange
    • ½ ripe banana
    • ½ cup ice cubes
    Instructions
    1. Blend and serve.
    Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

     

    GAPS DIET JOURNEY is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to AMAZON.COM. GAPS DIET JOURNEY is an affiliate for several companies and may be compensated through advertising and marketing channels. Therefore, this post may contain affiliate links.

  • It’s Hard When Your Family Eats Differently From You on a New Diet

    Day 10. Yesterday afternoon I received a flaming comment (elsewhere, not here) and it really hit me hard emotionally. Really hard. Stressed me out majorly. To the point where I had difficulty sleeping last night. I think I got three hours sleep then woke at about 1:30 a.m. I have been awake since then, it’s now 5:13. I decided not go in to work today. I’m also way behind on the accounting for my husband’s business, so decided to just take the day off.

    As I said, I woke at 1:30 am. It is not uncommon for me to wake up hungry in the middle of the night. It used to be a lot easier to get something to eat though. I’d usually just grab a hunk of cheese and crawl back into bed and munch on it. But not while doing this GAPS thing. Finally I got up at 2 and warmed myself up some broth and had a few bites of chicken breast. I also took another Kava Kava to help with the tension and anxiety I was feeling. Sometimes when I am really stressed out, I become conscious that my neck and shoulder muscles are just totally cramped up. And that’s when I’m lying in bed, trying to sleep.

    I thought I could get back to sleep, but I was still feeling very tense, and then I remembered that last night I had to cram my clothes into the dryer with my son’s jeans that weren’t dry all the way. So I got up to check the clothes, they were damp, so I turned on the dryer for another half hour and decided to turn on the computer and check my email. Basically to see if there were any responses to the emails I’d sent out to some close friends to assure me I really don’t need to go to any drastic measures over being flamed by a total stranger (like plunge a knife into my heart)  who was being rather rude and unreasonable. I got the responses I was hoping for, and they were comforting. But then I was wide awake, so I decided to just start my day by getting some of the accounting work done.

    I figured if I take today, I can get this work done, as opposed to having to go to work and then rush home and work for 3 hours every night after working all day long, which never works out, especially since I am milking in the afternoons.

    Okay. I was hungry again at about 3:50, so I decided to see if zucchini would fry up grated like potatoes will. No dice. I cooked them in butter for a while and when they were nearly done I scrambled two eggs [affiliate link] and threw them into the skillet. Very delicious, very nourishing. I used about 1 tablespoon or maybe a bit more of butter, so the eggs were really yummy.

    I was noticing this morning, while trying to get back to sleep that my nose and sinuses are very clear and I could breathe very well through my nose. I have a very difficult time sleeping when my sinuses are clogged as I cannot sleep with my mouth open, so it is a big deal and something I typically notice when my sinuses are clear. I guess that’s what happens when you’re off dairy for ten days.

    Last night Eldest Son offered me a corn tortilla chip with some store bought dip on it. I have not started anything aside from broth with him, and dh offered the chips and dip to him. It is hard to not feel upset with dh for suggesting that Eldest Son eat corn chips, but we haven’t started the “diet” yet anyway, so I just held my tongue. Anyway, when Eldest Son offered me the tortilla chip with dip, I just told him, “Thanks, but I’m not eating this kind of food right now” and as I rounded the corner going into the kitchen discreetly threw it in the trash. No desire to even taste it, and it wasn’t hard to avoid, because I know the store bought stuff tastes nasty anyway.

    This morning Youngest Son handed me the remainder of his sparkling water, and I told him, “Thanks, but I won’t drink it. I’m not putting that into my stomach either.” We’ve been eating buddies for a few years, sharing bites and drinks. So it’s kind of a weird thing. I was drinking the sparkling water in the last year or so, but lately I’ve been thinking it’s probably just tap water, with fluoride in it, and I think the carbonation is bad for my stomach anyway. I think it’s not GAPS legal at any rate.

    Oh, and my husband bought me some almonds [affiliate link] last night. He likes to bring me little treats. I had to read the ingredients though since they were smoked, and as I suspected they were not GAPS legal. For one thing they contained hydrolyzed soy protein (form of MSG). I told him and he was bummed. He doesn’t read labels so he had no idea. Youngest Son was thrilled to see them this morning so they will get eaten. Unfortunately Youngest Son is going through a phase where he is eating all sorts of junk food, using toothpaste with fluoride. It’s just kind of funny because he’s rebelling in ways that most parents would be happy. He’s brushing his teeth! I should be happy! But he’s using fluoride I’m screaming inside myself. Fluoride = poison, to my mind.

    So I am probably going to go back to bed pretty soon as I am now beginning to feel tired.

    Our cat is sleeping out in his favorite chair, instead of under the bed hiding away from everyone and everything, so maybe he’s going to make it through to see the new year.

    2:37pm. I did go back to bed around 5:30, and woke up at 9:30.

    I’m steaming some cabbage. I’m hungry. I had some stress this morning. I had to talk to the state about some money that was withheld (only $9 but it’s our money!) and I was very frustrated. Thankfully the woman I was talking to was very patient. Extremely patient. I thanked her for being so patient and she laughed with delight. I guess she couldn’t believe someone would thank her after having ranted and raved for 15 minutes. We talked for a bit more and then my cell phone just lost reception. I tried twice to get her back on the phone, and left a message to just ask someone to thank her, and let her know I didn’t hang up on her on purpose.

    I am finding that I am HIGHLY distracted and finding it more difficult to concentrate than ever before.

    Ironically, I am not finding it too hard to blog an update, or read GAPS blogs. I’ve started to add some links to my sidebars. I’m still unhappy with my blog’s look, so I will be doing some more tweaking as the days go by.

    I posted to the list today, and included a link to this blog. Welcome to any new readers. I hope you’ll take a minute to comment, or use my contact form to say hi. Or subscribe. That’s fine, too.

    Next I have to focus on more finance stuff. It is time to pay some bills, and I do the books for a little company and I need to get their stuff back to them tomorrow, so I have to get it done today as well.

    I am so glad I love vegetables. I am eating my steamed cabbage with plenty of butter, and man is it delicious.

    6:38pm. I managed to get a lot of the work done that I was supposed to get done today, and took the day off from my “regular” job in order to get caught up. I have one more half hour to go, then I can go to bed. Dh made chili verde for dinner with a salad. Youngest Son brought the salad home from work, and made an Italian dressing to go on it since I can’t eat Ranch for now.

    I can’t wait to get Eldest Son started moving toward doing GAPS. He just hacks and hacks, it sound so uncomfortable, and also it is hard to listen to (like irritating).

    I guess I had better close this post for the day.

    7:25pm. I am finally done with all the bookwork/accounting stuff. I need to get into bed. I ate dinner about half an hour ago… I found myself scarfing the salad. I don’t think I’m supposed to eat salad right now. Raw vegetables and all. Now my stomach feels a little funny. Also, the chili verde, my husband put tomato sauce in it, and as is customary, a bunch of yellow hot peppers. So that could be why my stomach feels a little funny. I feel a bit of rumbling in my stomach.

    That made me remember that I haven’t had rumbling in my stomach for several days. Tomorrow I have to go back to work. I really wish I’d made myself some vegetables to take with me. Well, I’ll have to make due with the cashews again, I guess.

    Good night.

    GAPS DIET JOURNEY is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to AMAZON.COM. GAPS DIET JOURNEY is an affiliate for several companies and may be compensated through advertising and marketing channels. Therefore, this post may contain affiliate links.

  • Tired of Being Tired – Where It Got Worse

    I’ve been blogging elsewhere since July 2005 and a recurrent theme in my posts is how tired I am. Emails to friends many times end with “Gotta go to bed, tired”.

    I’ve always had low energy. As a child, I was very sedentary. I was known as the bookworm, at home, at school. I’d read in the car. I’d read walking home from school.

    In 2001, I was hired at the place (three eight hour days) where I’d been volunteering for the past year (for four hours on two days a week). After a few months, we decided we wanted to move, so we started looking for a place. To make a long story short, we decided to sell the mobile home we’d just finished paying for, and move to the country.

    But before we moved, I got sick. Sicker than I’d ever been in my life. I think it was a combination of stress, and also the black mold we uncovered under the flooring in the mobile home we were living in. If I remember correctly, the refrigerator had been leaking and it went into the corner of the room, down under the floor boards. When we moved the fridge, the floor was warped, so dh pulled it up to replace it, and found a ton of mold under there.

    I ended up with pneumonia, and was sick for a month. I signed the paperwork while I was nearly delirious. We couldn’t move to our new home though, thank God we owned the old place, because the new place was 50 miles away. Dh took a couple of truck loads of stuff to the new place,  and we just stayed put in the old place. I was afraid to move out to the “middle of nowhere” when I might need to be rushed to emergency. I was so sick I couldn’t go to work for 30 days. I was so sick, I didn’t even have the energy to sit at my computer. I had to stay in bed and my husband and Younger Son waited on me hand and foot. They’d get me started out in the morning with a pitcher of ice water, and I’d lace it with some juice concentrate. I had no appetite, but then I’d suddenly be so ravenously hungry that I’d become nauseous. Dh rigged up a line that went to a light in the living room so I could pull on the line, the light would go on and they would come to see what I needed. Younger Son would come in and list off the things we had on hand. I remember eating a lot of buttered noodles. It was one of the few things I could stand the thought of eating without getting even more nauseous.

    The rumbling in my lungs and the coughing was so horrible, I finally went to urgent care, where they diagnosed me with bronchitis induced asthma. They gave me medication to stop the wheezing and coughing. I couldn’t take the cough syrup, it caused me to have a horrible nightmare where several men sat around a table, telling me if I took another dose I’d better be prepared to meet my maker. !! I didn’t take another dose after that.

    Finally I was well enough that we could make the move. I didn’t do much physically, but I was able to stay up for about four hours so it was long enough to get moved.

    I went back to work, but I could only work four hours a day, then I had to go to my friend’s house, who still lived in the mobile home park and take a nap before I could drive the hour drive home.

    I had to ride one of those little golf cart things at the grocery store to do any grocery shopping. I remember that it took several months, maybe 4 months, to feel like I was back to my normal self.

    I think at that time, my adrenals took a massive hit. Six months later, I was diagnosed with asthma. It is typical for asthmatics to have adrenal fatigue. And I think adrenal fatigue is a symptom of gut issues. I was on antibiotics during the pneumonia. I tried and tried to not take antibiotics, but I was literally afraid that I was going to die, so succumbed.

    I was reluctant to go on medication for the asthma. My primary care physician couldn’t convince me and referred me to an asthma/allergy specialist. He managed to convince me, and put me on Flovent and Serevent.

    Over the years he guided me to weaning myself down to one medication. And I use it once daily. That seems to be enough to manage my breathing. It is a corticosteroid. At certain times of the year, I can breathe better, so I have a habit of stopping taking my medication because I’ll forget one day and don’t start wheezing, so I’ll think I’ll just stop.

    I did this a few months ago, and as the days went by, I became more and more fatigued. I suspect my body has become dependent on the corticosteroid to stimulate my adrenals. This is So reluctantly began taking my medication again. I didn’t know what else to do.

    I have a lot that is expected of me. I work 32 hours a week. I drive a minimum of eight hours a week, sometimes more like 10 hours. I milk our goats. I manage our finances. I manage my husband’s two businesses accounting. And then of course there’s trying to get some housework done, and cooking several times a week. My dh washes dishes, but he just doesn’t see the counters, or the floor, or the stovetop. Or the living room floor, or the build up in the toilet bowl. Yet he will fuss about how messy and claustrophobic the house feels, and complains that “no one helps, he has to do everything”.

    I haven’t trimmed the goat’s hooves in many months. It really needs to be done. But my husband doesn’t know how to do it, and when I ask him to help me hold the girls feet, it is hard on him because he has plantar fasciitis and hurts to stand in one place. I usually ask Younger Son to help, but I don’t have the energy to even think about getting out there and trimming hooves. I sometimes think my husband used to think I was just doing hoof trimming just because. But now one of my girls’ hooves are nearly four inches long. They grow out real pointy like those pointed toes shoes.

    Right now it is the Christmas rush. I don’t know if we will be celebrating Christmas this year. I am however, trying to get cards out for my husband’s business, and from our family (I started sending cards again a couple of years ago).

    Well, I’m rambling.

    My point was to get across the level of tiredness I experience. I want to think it’s because I have a lot on my plate, but I used to be able to do the grocery shopping, in the past few months I have had to just give that up altogether and let my husband do it. My boss let me start working at home one day a week, that has actually helped me quite a bit. A couple of months ago I was going through a very difficult time, where I was tired, and stressed out, having anxiety attacks, and hot flashes very frequently. I had to take Kava Kava for almost one solid month to help myself out of that.

    I hope I am able to help myself on GAPS, and regain some energy. I remember what it feels like to have energy. I actually feel like doing something.

    GAPS DIET JOURNEY is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to AMAZON.COM. GAPS DIET JOURNEY is an affiliate for several companies and may be compensated through advertising and marketing channels. Therefore, this post may contain affiliate links.

  • Day 9

    I kind of like this new schedule, wish I could retire and adopt it. Went to sleep around 12:30am and woke naturally at 7:30. I mention that I woke naturally because I seem to feel much more awake when I wake up on my own. I’m sure it has something to do with sleep cycles.

    About four months ago, I decided I hated my alarm clock. My husband hates milking. And he hates waking people up even more. But I told him I needed him to wake me up if he wanted me to help him milk. Since he gets up usually around 2:30-3am, he could do that. Younger Son and I work together, and usually carpool so it’s pretty foolproof although there was one day when we all slept until 4:30 so hubby had to milk and Younger Son and I rushed so we could get to work on time.

    Tomorrow I have to go back to work, that means no nap today and I have to get to bed by 8pm in order to be up at 3:30am. I have a lot to accomplish today, so I need to concentrate. Hubby is baking a chicken in the oven right now for more broth, I’m glad he’s doing that as we only have a few cups left in the freezer.

    I had Younger Son look at the scale for me yesterday.

    Also yesterday Younger Son stopped at Dairy Queen and got one of those blizzard things which he and I will occasionally get one and share it on the way home from work. No more of that. He walked onto the porch and said he saved me the last third. I did great and declined. It wasn’t difficult. This is so odd for me. I am afraid I must be lying to myself. I guess there was a small desire to have it, but somehow it was overwhelmed. By my desire to get well?

    It has been much nicer being at home. I haven’t been having to rely upon cashews and walnuts [affiliate link] throughout the day, like last week while at work. I’ve been able to make myself vegetables to eat.

    I didn’t have my broth this morning until around 10am. I’m now starting to feel hungry, so I guess I will warm up some vegetables from last night (zucchini and crookneck squash).

    2:04pm. Wow. Stress alert. I do the accounting for my husband’s company and I have neglected to do more than the bare minimum. I worked Friday, so I’m home today, and decided to tackle making some phone calls. Long story, but our state took $9 from a refund, and I want to know why. It is not our fault, it is the state’s fault. Well, of course they can’t talk to me because I’m not the owner of the company. This stuff is like greek to my husband.

    Also, $148.28 was taken from our personal income tax refund to go toward a ticket that was already taken care of three years ago. And of course the lady who might be able to shed some light on why our money is being taken is not in today.

    Today I’ve had my broth, and then I had squash. I started to get hungry, then got too hungry. My husband had baked a chicken to start more broth, so I pulled the meat from the bones and started the broth, eating chicken as I was pulling it. I got too hungry, and got nervous.

    Usually I can feel my stress level rising, so I take Kava Kava. I am not sure how it is going to affect me. But I guess I am going to take some to calm my nerves. I guess my point is I had a low blood sugar/hunger episode, then started making these phone calls. I got this nice guy on the phone and he said maybe I could call my husband from another phone (I suggested a three way call but he didn’t think that would work?). And of course putting the two phones together didn’t work. DUH.

    I was reduced to tears momentarily. The guy said I could call back until 5pm and as early as 8am. But my husband and I won’t be in the same place during 8am to 5pm until next Friday. I was hoping to take care of this today.

    I can’t nap today either. If I do, I won’t be able to get to sleep in time to get up at 3:30am.

    Plus, we think one of our old cats is sick. I’m afraid that he is going to die, so that is just one more level of stress. Okay, I just had Younger Son check on him and he got up and went to the bathroom, and is drinking water. So maybe he will be okay after all.

    I took some Kava Kava. I wonder if it will affect me differently since I am eating differently.

    Younger Son left a few tablespoons of that Dairy Queen Blizzard on the dryer and it was melted so I brought it into the house to throw in the garbage. I smelled it. It smelled good.

    GAPS DIET JOURNEY is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to AMAZON.COM. GAPS DIET JOURNEY is an affiliate for several companies and may be compensated through advertising and marketing channels. Therefore, this post may contain affiliate links.

  • Sticky Widget: Cooking at Work and My Boss

    My boss is a sticky widget for me and this diet. I have a love/hate relationship with her. She’s 70 and as is to be expected, rather set in her ways. She thinks I’m a bit loony for not having a microwave at home, but of course she would never tell me that to my face. That information comes from my son, who also works for her. She probably just grunted or something when they were talking about warming food at home. We use a toaster oven to warm plates of food, at least, Younger and Eldest Son use it to warm food. I always just use a pan on the stove. Anyway, I have a food service card, so I am allowed in the kitchen at work. But I am afraid my boss is going to say something to me. I am planning to bring my own pan so I won’t have to use the giant ones from the kitchen. And my son is the cook, and pretty much runs the kitchen. So it really shouldn’t be an issue.

    I’m just afraid she’s going to think I’m a weirdo. I did tell her we were going to be trying an “elimination diet”, but I don’t want to tell anyone at work. I know how I think about people when they go on yet another diet. I think, “There she goes again, on another diet. It’s not going to work this time, either.”

    I don’t want them to see my fail.

    Actually though, I’ve never been on a diet while working at this job. I do sometimes eat kind of funny, and for many years I brought my own lunch because the lunches were not very good. Now that my son is the cook, he is preparing the food differently (not letting it sit in the steam trays for hours and hours so it is fresher tasting), so I have been eating lunch for the past year. It saves time, that is for sure, to not have to prepare lunch at home. And I’m sure has saved us some money over the past year.

    There is also plenty of yogurt at work. Good stuff, too. Not just cheapo store brand, because we get a lot of donations from places like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods sometimes. Food that was returned, like cashew butter that someone returned. They can’t resell it, so it is donated to places like ours.

    So I’ve been depending on the yogurt for snacks, and eating lunch there. That has to change now. Conveniently, or not, in the next few weeks we are on break and my son won’t be cooking. However, that raises the chance that people will be going out to east fast food, or bringing it back to the office.

    And that includes my boss. She’ll be there next week, and will likely spring for lunch at least one day, and will expect me to join in.

    I guess I need to tell her as soon as possible that I’ve started this “diet”.

    When I told her about it, I told her it was mostly for my husband and Eldest Son. She was pretty happy to hear we were putting Eldest Son on a diet, as she says she worries about his circulation. So maybe I can sway it that way, that I have to do this first, so I can know how it’s going to be.

    The other thing is I sometimes work at her house on Mondays. I’m off today, because I worked Friday. But the days I work at her house, it gives her much happy pleasure to cook breakfast for me. She makes these delicious omelets, but unfortunately they contain some things that are not approved. Like American cheese, deli meats, and worst of all, she is a strong believer in using margarine and cooking sprays. And she uses non-stick skillets.

    Anyway, I always clean my plate like a good girl. Even when the serving is too much, I always eat it all up. That makes her happy that I’m such a good eater.

    Yes, apparently we have a bit of a dysfunctional relationship.

    So I guess the first order of business is to let her know I’m on this diet. That will surely become a known fact to many people at work. At least I had the first week to myself.

    I guess I need to give her a list of things I am allowed to eat, in case I have to work at her house. I need to explain to her that I may not be able to eat any unapproved foods for up to two years.

    GAPS DIET JOURNEY is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to AMAZON.COM. GAPS DIET JOURNEY is an affiliate for several companies and may be compensated through advertising and marketing channels. Therefore, this post may contain affiliate links.

  • Day 8

    Got to sleep right around 12:30 last night, woke naturally this morning around 7:30.

    I’m trying to get Christmas cards done this morning. I didn’t feel hungry right away, and dh didn’t warm up our broth as he usually does, so I have eaten yet, and it’s been over an hour. I was looking for a gift that I’d packed away, and hoped I hadn’t donated it. Because that would be par for the course for me, donate something just before I find the perfect person to gift it to. That was frustrating, and I need to shower and feel grungy, and it seemed hot in the house.

    Then Youngest Son asked if I could iron a shirt for him. I noticed myself starting to feeling annoyed and cranky. This would be due to not having eaten, so I started my broth warming up.

    Today I plan to try to find the time to read the books more thoroughly. I hate going at something halfway. Like when I started this blog, I didn’t realize “intro” was where you only have broth and meat and vegetables. Nothing else. Like, not even butter!!

    I am not really feeling any other die off symptoms, like I don’t feel any flu-like symptoms. Only tiredness, which is common for me. It seems like I’m not noticing as much eye matter accumulating, and my feet aren’t hurting when I go barefooted. So I don’t know if this all goes together, but it is what I’ve noticed.

    It is always a wonderful thing moving milking from one time of day to the other. I think about it when I go to bed at night, how wonderful it is that I won’t have to get up in the morning and milk. But then I have to interrupt my afternoon and go out and milk. We’ve been milking for more than three years straight. I have two milkers who have lactated straight through on one freshening, and between the two of them they give me 5-6 pounds of milk every 24 hours. This is not common, I have a couple of other milkers that begin to dry themselves up 9-12 months postpartum and there is nothing I can do to keep them going. And most goat owners “freshen” their girls every single year.

    I had better go check on my broth.

    8:57pm I ended up taking a nap from 2:30 to 4:30 and went out and milked. For dinner I tried an experiment, pancakes using almond flour [affiliate link]. They were amazingly tasty. Albeit very expensive. We also had grilled burgers, and zucchini and crookneck squash.

    I am still feeling pretty tired. The only thing I got done today is I got most of the Christmas cards put together. Tomorrow I have to concentrate on getting my husband’s monthly state tax paperwork done. I guess I’m going to bed now.

    Oh, something else I wanted to mention. I haven’t overeaten all week. Vegetables and meat doesn’t compel me to gorge myself. Even when I load up the veggies with butter. I seem to be able to stop easily at feeling satisfied.

    Just before I went to bed I made Youngest Son a coconut smoothie. He didn’t drink it all, so I finished it off for him because I thought I felt a little bit hungry. I can’t go to bed hungry, or I won’t be able to sleep. It is now past midnight. Okay, until tomorrow.

    GAPS DIET JOURNEY is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to AMAZON.COM. GAPS DIET JOURNEY is an affiliate for several companies and may be compensated through advertising and marketing channels. Therefore, this post may contain affiliate links.