In the coming week I have three “events” for which I am making something. Our staff Christmas party is on Friday, and I have agreed to bring my Pumpkin [affiliate link] Poppers (special request from my boss) and I am bringing chili so that I will have something to eat while I’m there. There are always the typical Christmas foods and dishes and there is not very much for me to eat so I need to bring my own.
On Wednesday I am attending a White Elephant holiday get together with a vendor which we deal with regularly at my job and I agreed to bring a dessert-type item. I think I’ll be bringing these Chocolate Coconut Fudge Bites because chocolate is usually a winner.
On Tuesday I have been asked to make something special for our board meeting and I have not yet decided what that will be. I am thinking some kind of cookies – I’m leaning toward a sugar cookie type cookie, but of course it can’t have sugar, maybe in the shape of a snowman. I was also thinking of some kind of Bundt cake/bread.
But for now, here is this recipe which I think you will like. 🙂
Soak your cashews for seven hours. Drain, removing all water if possible (you may want to lightly press in a paper towel or cloth dish towel).
Add all ingredients to your food processor and blend until mixed well. My food processor is not high powered and the texture was left somewhat grainy.
Using a 1 tablespoon measuring spoon, scoop out level amounts. Roll into a ball with your hands.
Mix 1/4 cup of shredded coconut and 1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder together. Roll the balls in the mixture to form a decorative line, or you may cover them completely. The cocoa powder has a slightly bitter taste as it is not sweetened so I thought it would be better to just do a strip and also it looks like you decorated them!
Drain, removing all water if possible (you may want to lightly press in a paper towel or cloth dish towel).
Add all ingredients to your food processor and blend until mixed well.
Using a 1 tablespoon measuring spoon, scoop out level amounts.
Roll into a ball with your hands.
Mix ¼ cup of shredded coconut and ½ teaspoon cocoa powder together.
Roll the balls in the mixture to form a decorative line, or you may cover them completely.
The cocoa powder has a slightly bitter taste as it is not sweetened so I thought it would be better to just do a strip and also it looks like you decorated them!
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.
Thanks for stopping by today for my giveaway! Yesterday I shared my story of healing on GAPS and why I’m still on GAPS, and today here is the post I promised to tell you all about my giveaway.
I am very excited to announce that I am combining this giveaway with the launch of my e-Cookbook, Beyond Grain & Dairy. Beyond Grain & Dairy includes recipes from this blog, plus 28 brand new recipes!
Okay, let me tell you about the prizes I am giving away and I’ll let you know how you can enter to win!
Grand prize – Kindle, 6″ E Ink Display. This is the basic Kindle and has been certified refurbished by Amazon, I Heart GAPS Reusable Shopping Bag, one box of Good Earth Original Sweet and Spice Organic Herb Tea, one $25 Gift Certificate from Tropical Traditions, plus a copy of my new e-cookbook, Beyond Grain & Dairy. [Valued @ $117]
2nd Prize – $25 Gift Certificate from Tropical Traditions plus a copy of my new e-cookbook, Beyond Grain & Dairy. [Valued @ $42]
3rd Prize – Pink Chocolate Flirty Apron plus a copy of my new e-cookbook, Beyond Grain & Dairy. [Valued @ $52]
4th Prize – I Heart GAPS Beach Tote plus a copy of my new e-cookbook, Beyond Grain & Dairy. [Valued @ $46]
7th Prize – Real Salt Seasoning Kit plus 1 box of Good Earth Original Sweet and Spicy Organic Herb Tea – plus a copy of my new e-cookbook, Beyond Grain & Dairy. [Valued @ $41]
How To Win
There are only two things you must do in order to enter this giveaway, you must be subscribed to my newsletter, and you must enter your email address in the Rafflecopter form below. If you are already subscribed, then simply enter your email address into Rafflecopter. This will earn you 5 chances to win. All entries will be verified.
To earn some additional points for more chances to win, you can also do the following (please use the Rafflecopter form for all entries):
10 points – Enter the Secret Code (this is only for those of you who were signed up prior to the start of this giveaway – if you have been a newsletter subscriber, please check your inbox for the most recent newsletter and retrieve your code from there)
1 point – Tell me which prize you’d most like to win (hint: this is a great way to maybe get exactly what you want if you are one of the winners, so let me know which would be your favorite to win!)
And that’s it!
The fine print: There is only 1 mandatory entry (you also must enter your email address into Rafflecopter) and that is you must be subscribed to my newsletter. All the other options are optional and will give you more chances to win. The winner will be chosen using Rafflecopter and random.org. All entries will be verified. If you live someplace other than the United States you can still enter to win, but you will receive a Gift Certificate from Amazon in the amount of the physical prize which you would have won (for example if you won the spiralizer you would get a GC for $35 instead of having it mailed to you physically). Good luck and thanks for sharing this giveaway with your friends and family!
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.
Today is my three year anniversary on GAPS! Tomorrow I’ll be starting a giveaway to celebrate so be sure to come back and see what I’m going to be giving away.
You may have read or heard that GAPS is a temporary diet or that two years is the time frame to expect for complete healing, so you may be wondering why I’m still on GAPS after all this time.
I have several reasons, and I’d be glad to share why, as well as why I expect to remain on GAPS for the foreseeable future.
Avoiding Common Maladies
When I interviewed Dr. Natasha, she told me that she keeps her family on GAPS to avoid common maladies. When I heard that, I thought to myself if it’s good enough for Dr. Natasha, it’s good enough for me. Here is an excerpt from the interview I did with Dr. Natasha where she explains why she keeps her family on GAPS.
You hear all the time that diets don’t work, or perhaps they do, but within five years most gain back the weight.
One of the reasons that happens is because the person embarked on a “diet” for a period of time, and then they went right back to what they were eating prior to losing the weight. If eating those foods made you fat and sick to begin with, why would you want to go back to them?
I do not ever want to gain back the weight I lost, or resume those aches and pains. If it means changing the foods I eat forever, then I am willing to stick with what is working for me. It’s not really that difficult since the food is so delicious. 🙂
Some People Need More Time and “Cherries”
If you’ve read my blog for any length of time, you know that I am seeking the “cherries on top” which Dr. Natasha refers to as the other healing modalities, like detoxing, chelation, herbs, etc. I’ve done the Leptin Reset (and continue with a modified version of it), have been tested for MTHFR, and have tried Cold Thermogenesis, just to name a couple of things. Now that the weather has cooled down, I’ve considered trying the cold thermogenesis again – specifically cold showers, but wowee, I hate cold showers! Also, there are some sources that say cold showers are not beneficial if you have adrenal fatigue.
Here is an excerpt from our interview where Dr. Natasha talks about those cherries on top.
She says in her experience about 80% of people will heal perfectly on GAPS, but the other 20% need to seek out a GAPS practitioner and look to additional methods for healing. I think especially when the person is an adult they need to be willing to give the body time to heal – it takes time for healing to take place.
Genetic Mutations
There is a long list of conditions that stem from the genetic mutation MTHFR. Autism is one of them, as well as many digestive problems. I suspect that many people who come to GAPS have a form of this genetic mutation. According to some sources, 30 to 50% of the population of the world does. I learned that I have the most challenging mutation, two copies of C677T. In order to maintain good health, I should remain on a diet like GAPS – for the rest of my life. Why make it harder on my body?
Autoimmune Disease
The GAPS Diet is a great way to address autoimmune disease since the full diet eliminates most allergens. This gives the body a chance to heal, instead of being constantly assaulted with the wrong kinds of foods, like grains, gluten, starches, chemicals, preservatives and many more.
I have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis which is an autoimmune disease. According to Dr. Datis Kharrazian, people with Hashimoto’s must avoid gluten:
I advise my patients with Hashimoto’s to give up gluten completely if they wish to preserve their thyroid gland. Eating just a little bit is not OK, since even a small amount will cause irreversible thyroid tissue death. I also remind them to avoid cross-contamination in restaurants, packaged foods, and their own kitchens.(pp. 31-32). Morgan James Publishing. Kindle Edition.
That alone is reason enough to keep me off gluten for the rest of my life. I’d rather not cause irreversible thyroid tissue death, thank you very much.
My Son Needs to Be on GAPS
My son Matthew has Down Syndrome. He has alopecia areata which is an autoimmune disease. People with Down Syndrome are prone to having thyroid problems. It took me a very long time to persuade my husband that our son should not have gluten or grains. I think he is finally on the same page. Our youngest son moved out in July which gave me the opportunity to remove all GAPS illegal foods from the house (well for the most part as my husband still eats Little Debbie Swiss Rolls by the box). I would say Matt has been on full GAPS for about one year or maybe a bit longer. We did eliminate pasta and dairy from his diet early on, and in the three years that I have been on GAPS, Matt has lost weight and feels so much better. It would never work for me to resume eating gluten, grains and potatoes, etc. and expect Matt to abstain.
No More Torture Around Food
In the months before starting GAPS I had come to the conclusion that white flour products made me tired after eating them. I would feel like I had to take a nap after meals, and I would feel lethargic even on the next day. So that alone has been wonderful to no longer feel drugged after eating.
Another problem I had for years was that I could not stop myself from overeating. It felt as if I was possessed any time I sat down to eat. I would shovel the food in and would barely take time to chew my food. It just seemed to taste better that way. I was known for eating super fast. I tried for years to just stop eating once I felt satisfied, but I never could. I was always compelled to eat one more bite, two more bites, three more bites, oh let me just eat the rest. And then I felt stuffed and my stomach ached. I loathe tossing my cookies – once it is down, it’s staying down. And so that uncomfortable feeling lasted until my food digested somewhat.
I no longer do that. I believe it was the food I was eating caused me to eat in an addictive manner. And those same foods which I thought I could never, ever live without? I don’t miss them. I found that when I stopped eating them altogether any cravings were eliminated. And so, if I were to go off GAPS, and reintroduce these foods I feel confident that the same addictive behaviors would come back.
It is wonderful having a “normal” relationship with food. I definitely enjoy the foods I eat now, but they don’t wield control over me. I don’t go back again and again and again for one more bite. It is wonderful.
Consists of Real Food
What is wrong with the GAPS full list of foods? Meats, vegetables, fats, fruits, ferments – these are all healthy foods to eat, and allow the human body to regenerate, heal, and thrive. I have heard stories about people who were told they had to stop eating gluten, and they felt like their world had ended. Add the avoidance of grains and people panic. A few weeks ago when I was taste testing a dessert at my job, a coworker of mine (who is not in the office a lot and has seen that I’ve lost weight but has no idea how or why) upon hearing that I don’t eat gluten, grains, potatoes, sugar and more stood literally with her mouth hanging open with a look of horror. She was stunned at the mere thought, even while she ate the dessert and proclaimed it was delicious. With foods like that, what’s to be horrified over? I sometimes think I’m thought of as a freak… how backwards is that? I’m eating real food. My food is not commercially processed, but it’s tasty and delicious.
How Do I Feel After 3 Years on GAPS?
I would love to say that I’m 100% healed and full of energy, but I cannot say that and be truthful. I had hoped that GAPS would be all I needed to heal but it appears I’m in the 20% who need to seek out the cherries. In 2011 we went through an extremely stressful time, and there was the Jalapeno Incident which pushed me over the edge. I have been recovering from the crashing of my adrenals since last year in October.
In addition to the slow recovery of my adrenals, I have 11 amalgams which I need to have removed. I’ve found a holistic dentist that I like, but I have not been able to secure the funds to have the work done. The base cost is around $5000 and that doesn’t include any additional work that needs to be done. I have several very deep fillings which might be more expensive to fix. I am unable to eat all organic foods and grass fed meats and butter. I have thyroid issues and adrenal fatigue, and it appears I am entering menopause so my hormones are declining. However, in spite of these little pitfalls, I do feel better than I did three years ago before I started GAPS.
My feet remain healthy and pain-free, if you look closely at my before and after photos you can see the high heels I am wearing, so cute! Love them!
If I don’t get enough sleep at night, I’m still able to function and I never drink coffee [affiliate link]. Before GAPS I would find myself falling asleep driving and I never experience that any more.
Sticking with full GAPS gets easier and easier. I don’t miss the foods I used to eat years ago, it is wonderful to attend a function with those foods and have no desire or sad feelings over not being able to have them.
I am on the computer a lot, and no sign of Carpal Tunnel syndrome or joint pain. That’s important, since I spend a lot of time here!
When I visited my sister for her Thanksgiving dinner, I spent most of my time there washing dishes! I am pretty sure I’ve *never* voluntarily washed dishes at her house on a holiday, so that has to say something about my energy level. And that was after cooking my own Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, cooking the entire day on my feet, then cooking more food for Matt and I on Saturday, to bring with me to my sister’s house to eat on Sunday.
I continue to lose weight, slowly but it is staying off. For the most part I eat what I want to – which makes me very happy. When I say I eat what I want, of course I mean within the full GAPS list of allowed foods. I loathe counting calories, and portion control. I want to just eat my food and not be worried about how much or not having seconds. I do find that I feel better if I stick to a lower carbohydrate version of GAPS.
Those are just a few things that come to mind. You can see my list of conditions which cleared up in six months into GAPS.
Celebration and Giveaway!
To celebrate my 3 years on GAPS, I will be having a celebration giveaway. Come back and visit tomorrow to see what I’ll be giving away.
There will be seven winners in all.
As in the past, subscribers to my newsletter will receive a newsletter edition announcing the giveaway, and within the announcement you will find a special code which will allow you to earn an extra ten points. If you aren’t already subscribed, sign up now so that you will be sure to get the newsletter with the special code (you must be subscribed to my newsletter prior to the giveaway beginning).
Tell me where you are in your GAPS journey? Are you just beginning? Are you in for the long haul looking for the cherries for your GAPS cake, like me?
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.
I came to the conclusion that something I’m missing in my collection of recipes – a brownie recipe. Everyone needs a brownie recipe. 🙂
One of my friends told me she had a brownie recipe that she would like to share with me which contained some “secret” ingredients. She said her older children don’t even want to eat her brownies because of what she puts in them, while her younger children think that’s what brownies are supposed to be like. Well, they are delicious, it’s just that they contain vegetables, which normally one would not imagine to find in brownies. My friend’s version needed conversion to be grain and sugar-free and so I set out to begin the trials.
These brownies are moist with a cake-like texture.
Remember that Dr. Natasha has approved cocoa powder [affiliate link] for those whose digestive problems have ceased. I recently researched Baker’s Unsweetened chocolate to learn that it is 100% ground cacao beans. From the site: “Chocolate is made from cocoa beans. The beans are roasted, and then ground, resulting in cocoa solids, which when combined with cocoa butter creates chocolate.” So although Dr. Natasha says “cocoa powder”, I think Baker’s Unsweetened chocolate is probably safe as well. Thanks to Kristen for asking about substitutions for the Baker’s unsweetened baking chocolate squares I learned that you can substitute 3 Tablespoons of cocoa (or cacao powder) and 1 Tablespoon fat (butter, palm shortening or coconut oil [affiliate link]) for each ounce.
Remember though if you have adrenal fatigue, chocolate is a source of caffeine and can be hard on the adrenals. If you make these and cut them into 9, then cut each square into four, you can eek out 36 bite-sized servings.
1/2 cup walnuts [affiliate link], chopped (preferably soaked and dehydrated “Crispy Walnuts”)
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease an 8″ x 8″ glass baking dish with coconut oil.
Place three carrots in a steamer and cook until tender, about 25 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature.
Melt chocolate squares in a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, just place a glass Pyrex or oven-safe bowl over a small pan of water. It will take about 15 minutes to heat the water and melt the chocolate. If your coconut oil is solidified, add to the bowl and melt.
Add remaining egg, honey, cocoa powder, vanilla extract and salt into the mixing bowl. When the chocolate squares and coconut oil are melted, add into the mixing bowl. Mix together.
The mixture should be creamy, like pudding. Add 1 Tablespoon of coconut flour [affiliate link] at a time, waiting one minute in between adding more to allow the coconut flour to absorb the liquids. You are looking for a brownie-like batter. Spread the batter into the 8×8 glass cooking dish. Bake for 20 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160°F and brownies are firm to the touch.
Grease an 8″ x 8″ glass baking dish with coconut oil.
Place three carrots in a steamer and cook until tender, about 25 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature.
Melt chocolate squares in a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, just place a glass Pyrex or oven-safe bowl over a small pan of water. It will take about 15 minutes to heat the water and melt the chocolate. If your coconut oil is solidified, add to the bowl and melt.
Add remaining egg, honey, cocoa powder, vanilla extract and salt into the mixing bowl. When the chocolate squares and coconut oil are melted, add into the mixing bowl. Mix together.
The mixture should be creamy, like pudding. Add 1 Tablespoon of coconut flour at a time, waiting one minute in between adding more to allow the coconut flour to absorb the liquids. You are looking for a brownie-like batter. Spread the batter into the 8×8 glass cooking dish. Bake for 20 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160°F and brownies are firm to the touch.
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.
Leesh lives in Canada, and I’m in Arizona. Of the questions Karen asked, we both were okay with mailing to an international partner. I mailed my package on November 13th and my post office told me the package would arrive in Canada within a week, but might not get delivered for one to two additional weeks.
Leesh emailed me on November 15th to let me know she’d mailed my package. I think we were both nervous that our packages would not arrive by the deadline, which is today.
On Wednesday when I got home from work, after running errands and doing some grocery shopping, I found that my package had arrived. Yay! I was tempted to open the package immediately but then I decided to hold off until I could get my dining room table cleared to take some pictures. Killing two birds with one stone as it were, since the next day was Thanksgiving and the table needed to be cleared off so we could have our meal together as a family. Aren’t we complex when it comes to making decisions at times? Also in my thought process my concern that Leesh would not receive her package in time and I was torn to wait until she got hers, and finally since I love surprises there’s the delayed gratification factor.
After I got the table cleared, I opened my package and found inside two gorgeous scarves.
One is beautiful color of grey, it is soft and very light weight and will be perfect to keep my neck warm as the weather grows cooler here in the desert. The other is a lovely Pashmina scarf, deep purple with knotted strands at each end. It is soft and silky feeling and 100% cashmere. Leesh said she chose this one specifically so that I could recreate some of Wendy’s 25 ways to tie a scarf. I had shared by email that I love this Youtube video, if you haven’t seen it, even if you don’t care one whit about scarf tying you should watch it because of the production aspect. It is just so cool to watch and is less than five minutes.
It was fun to participate in this exchange, thank you Karen for hosting and thank you Leesh for the beautiful scarves! I am looking forward to matching my scarves with my clothes.
Have you ever participated in an online swap?
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.
This year will be my second Thanksgiving on GAPS. In the picture above you can see what we had last year. It is possible to have a lovely meal so long as you are able to eat the foods from the full GAPS list.
If you are very new to GAPS, it might feel horrible. Looking back on it, I’m glad I started GAPS after Thanksgiving. It gave me almost a year to get used to the foods and preparation methods for the alternative flours.
So what are we having for Thanksgiving 2012? This will be my second Thanksgiving on GAPS.
Every year I say that I am going to make it easy on myself and cook less dishes. Maybe this year I can stick to that idea. With that in mind, here is my plan for this year’s meal…
That is still a lot of dishes to prepare all in one day. The desserts remain to be chosen.
I have to admit I got a little carried away with my Faux Sweet Potato pie. It was just so delicious. I made four pies in all… shared the first two with my coworkers, ate one piece of number 3 then gave it away to one of our neighbors who gave it a 10. Number 3 was my favorite and the recipe I shared on Saturday. But pie #4 has been here keeping me company. Even though it had only 2 Tablespoons of honey [affiliate link] and no meringue, we have been spending a lot of face time together, if you get my drift. 😉
Do you have your menu all planned out?
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.
