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  • Day 50

    Not a lot to report. I can’t believe it’s been 50 days.

    I have been needing to use my Albuterol (rescue inhaler) at least once every 24 hours, one day I needed it every 12 hours. I asked on the GAPShelp list for some input on asthma and GAPS. During off list conversation it came up that maybe I’m not drinking enough water.

    I have never worried too much about drinking “enough” water, have just gone by thirst. It’s easy in the summer to get enough water, but in the winter I just don’t drink very much at all.

    I took a “how well is your asthma managed” test at the Advair website and I scored a 21. It says my asthma is well managed. Okay. That sounds good. My asthma/allergy specialist wants to see me in February. I am apprehensive. He might not like this new “plan”. I would love to stay off the corticosteroid. I am afraid it might mean going off butter.

    Also, a list member shared that Albuterol probably has a GMO corn additive or something in it that could cause problems.

    For breakfast ES and I had scrambled eggs [affiliate link] with onions [affiliate link], bell peppers and zucchini, along with almond flour [affiliate link] pancakes. I don’t think I ate lunch, I just snacked on the leftover eggs and pancakes. Dinner was grilled chicken breast, asparagus (oh dear is asparagus allowed?) and a salad with Avocado Mayo Dressing. I love that dressing and the magic of how it emulsifies.

    I had some sauerkraut with breakfast. I notice my asthma kicks up a bit after eating sauerkraut.

    Today was stressful. I had to get W2s and 1099s done. What a hassle when you don’t have a professional accounting program to do the printing for you. I won’t go into detail but suffice it to say it was stressful.

    Speaking of stressful… I told my son I’m going to try to go to church next Sunday. I don’t think I’ve been this year at all. Then I found out next Sunday is our congregational family dinner together. They usually order from this one chicken place. It’s one of the places that does roast chicken.

    I don’t want anyone to know I’m on a diet! Especially not my church brothers and sisters. My son says we can just say we have to leave before eating. That’s the whole point of the meal, to eat together as a family.

    Agh.

    I am tired and must go to bed. I feel like I’m flailing with the diet. I’m not getting my broth every day, I forget my cod liver oil which isn’t even the right kind. It’s the old style Blue Ice, not the fermented. And I soaked liver in lemon juice and garlic planning to make it today but never got it made.

    I guess that’s okay. I’ll have it tomorrow.

    I just need to get more organized.

    Oh. My husband noticed me eating store bought pickles. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me they might not be legal. I guess I thought “vegetable” “fermented” must be safe. Not.

    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 49 – Evening

    I am much less stressed, I found the paperwork that I needed to find. And I found a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate that I’d totally forgotten about.

    I had to use my Albuterol again today at 12:25pm. One of the areas I searched was my closet, which is full of boxes and dust.

    Dinner tonight courtesy of YS, he made two meatloaves. One for himself with oatmeal, one for us with “legal” ingredients only. He also steamed cauliflower, which I made into faux-potatoes. We also cooked some frozen peas and I made a half batch of Classic Drop Biscuits.

    Hubby really liked the Zucchini Bread. I think I’m going to make a batch up and make them into muffins. He thinks that would work good for taking for lunch. We’ll freeze up a batch and see how this works 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.

  • Day 49 – Morning

    I lost track of my days and had to go back and repost.

    I’ve been up for an hour and I guess I need to find something to eat. I have so much to get done today, and hoping I can get it done without being distracted by the computer.

    I am cranky already. I have to look for some very important paperwork which I need to meet with our lawyer this coming week. I need to write six thank you notes for my husband’s business before he leaves this morning in less than an hour. And what am I doing? Sitting at the computer.

    Most of my problem today is stemming from the underlying issue that my asthma seems to be worsening. I had to use the Albuterol twice yesterday, and my appointment with my asthma/allergy specialist is coming up in February. I do not want to go back on the Flovent (corticosteroid). He wants me on it to manage my asthma. Which is does manage my asthma very well with only two puffs each day once a day of the lowest prescription. Maybe I should have gone down to one puff each day.

    I hate to go back onto it.

    I just have a million things to do today and not enough energy, willpower or time to get it done.

    I think part of my problems with the crankiness is also coming from not eating properly in the past week. I am finding myself without food too often, or eating only vegetables without any protein. Which is probably fine. I should get myself some broth right now.

    I do have some liver thawing which I will be cooking today, maybe that will help.

    More later.

    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.

  • Zucchini Bread (Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Almond-Flour)

    Zucchini Bread (Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Almond-Flour)

    This bread was inspired by Elana Amsterdam’s cookbook, The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook (this is my Amazon affiliate link).

    I am not having honey [affiliate link] so I didn’t want to sweeten the loaf (Elana prefers agave syrup which is not approved on GAPS so I will use honey once I am ready to)  and my husband doesn’t like cinnamon [affiliate link] so I omitted that also.

    • 2 cups blanched almond flour [affiliate link]
    • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt [affiliate link]
    • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda [affiliate link]*
    • 3 medium eggs [affiliate link]
    • 1/4 cup butter
    • 1 cup shredded zucchini, raw and packed tightly
    • 2/3 cup walnuts [affiliate link], chopped

    *Baking soda has been approved for baking in Dr. Natasha’s most recent revision of her book, Gut and Psychology Syndrome.

    Butter two Mini Loaf Pans (5 3/4″ x 3″) and dust with almond flour (do not omit this step, I had to pry the loaves from the pans, alternately you could line the pans with strips of parchment paper), and preheat the oven to 350°F.

    Mix the almond flour, salt and baking soda together in one bowl. Mix the eggs, zucchini and walnuts in another bowl. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients using a Pastry Blender. Once you have cut the butter into the dry ingredients, quickly mix the wet ingredients. Spoon into the mini loaf pans being sure to level the mixture evenly. Place in the oven to bake for 30-40 minutes. They will be done when a knife placed in the center comes out clean. Here are a few photos of how the loaves came out.

    Zucchini Bread

    Zucchini Bread

    Zucchini Bread

    My husband liked the bread. I thought it turned out pretty good, and it was so wonderful to be able to sink my teeth into a warm slice of LEGAL bread, with butter slathered on it. I had three pieces, which equals to 1/2 of a small loaf.

    I did a nutritional analysis at Calorie Count at About.com, click here to see the full results.

    Save Print
    Recipe: Zucchini Bread
    Author: 
    Recipe type: Dessert, Quickbread
    Prep time: 
    Cook time: 
    Total time: 
    Serves: 1 loaf
     
    This bread was inspired by Elana Amsterdam’s cookbook, The Gluten Free Almond Flour Cookbook.
    Ingredients
    • 2 cups blanched almond flour
    • ½ teaspoon sea salt
    • ½ teaspoon baking soda*
    • 3 medium eggs
    • ¼ cup butter
    • 1 cup shredded zucchini, raw and packed tightly
    • ⅔ cup walnuts, chopped
    Instructions
    1. Butter two Mini Loaf Pans (5¾” x 3″) and dust with almond flour (do not omit this step, I had to pry the loaves from the pans, alternately you could line the pans with strips of parchment paper), and preheat the oven to 350°F.
    2. Mix the almond flour, salt and baking soda together in one bowl.
    3. Mix the eggs, zucchini and walnuts in another bowl.
    4. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients using a Pastry Blender.
    5. Once you have cut the butter into the dry ingredients, quickly mix the wet ingredients.
    6. Spoon into the mini loaf pans being sure to level the mixture evenly.
    7. Place in the oven to bake for 30-40 minutes.
    8. They will be done when a knife placed in the center comes out clean.
    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.

  • Day 48

    Today our Internet was out nearly all day long. I managed to get to my Gmail account once but wasn’t able to send anything because the connection was so intermittent.

    I think I am addicted to the Internet. In spite of having no Internet connection, I still managed to get nothing done. I guess not having an Internet connection doesn’t mean my energy levels are going to spike. 😉

    Today I was also neglectful of feeding myself – meaning I kept waiting too long to feed myself. I woke at 4am and had some broth that my husband had warmed (he is a very early riser) but went back to bed around 5am and slept until 7:30am. I was hungry by that time, but didn’t eat right away. I finally forced myself to stop trying to figure out why we had no Internet and had Zucchini Scrambled Eggs.

    My water kefir was finally done on Wednesday, and I changed out the grains into a fresh jar of water and this time only 2 tablespoons of sugar to the three cups of water. My grains have grown from the 1/4 cup I received by mail. It took 10 or 11 days for the water kefir to be ready to my liking – I didn’t want to be getting white sugar so I waited until it did not taste sweet. Then I did a second ferment with an orange cut up. This is the first time I’ve made water kefir that I actually liked it. I have had to keep myself from drinking it throughout the day.

    For dinner YS made omelets with green chilies and homemade salsa and black olives. The green chilies were canned as were the black olives, as well as the tomatoes in the salsa. So some breaches.

    I feel disgusted with myself because I feel like I got nothing done today. This getting nothing done has got to stop.

    I guess I’m having some feelings of annoyance tonight. Mostly annoyed with myself. Now I’m wondering if the canned items are attributing to my black mood. My boss gave me some organic coconut milk [affiliate link] which contained guar gum and I thought what could it hurt? I had a Banana Dream Smoothie made with two frozen bananas and ate too much. It was a nerve wracking day altogether.

    I am feeling annoyed also that I’m not yet miraculously healed from asthma. (That is somewhat tongue in cheek – I realize this isn’t a miracle healing diet). I am needing to use the Albuterol once a day, sometimes every other day. I think though it is better to use Albuterol than the corticosteroid, Flovent.

    I’m sure tomorrow will be a better day.

    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 47

    I missed updating for a couple of days, and it is by sheer will that I’m here tonight. I’m okay, just tired. And I’m still on full GAPS.

    Yesterday and today were difficult for me, food-wise, in that the lunch served was very tempting. Yesterday moreso than today, as Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Spaghetti was on the menu. It smelled heavenly.

    I wanted some so badly. I thought to myself how it is one of my most favorite dishes in the world.

    But then you know what? I realized that wasn’t the truth. Especially when cooked in industrial-sized portions. The spaghetti tends to soak up the moisture and it dries out and the chicken usually has a “day old” taste to it which I really dislike.

    Also making the situation difficult was that I had some difficulty with food to bring for lunch. I just wasn’t well prepared this week. Usually there is enough meat left over from dinner to bring some for lunch the next day but there hasn’t been. So yesterday I had only salad for lunch. On the way home I was very hungry, so when I stopped to fill up my vehicle with gasoline, I also bought myself a bag of cashews. They were not raw. They didn’t have a raw nut in the place. Traditionally, fruit on an empty stomach is not good for me – only serves to make my blood sugar lower, so I didn’t consider buying an apple.

    The things I used to deem appropriately healthy are no longer options. I used to get a few slices of deli meat when I was hungry, or I’d buy a couple of cheese sticks. No longer. Now I’m reduced to nuts. Thank God I can tolerate them on an empty stomach.

    Although today while at the grocery store, having had little meat for the last two days, I was feeling quite famished, I bought myself a rotisserie chicken. I’m not eating organic foods (wish I were) so thankfully that was something I could have to eat. It smelled divine, and was fairly tasty. When I got back to work I took out my butter and slathered some on and then it was even better.

    Hubby made dinner as he was home today. It was a very windy and rainy day, and it is said we are having a tornado watch! I have never heard of Arizona having a tornado watch in my entire life. Dinner was chicken soup with veggies.

    I tried an experiment with almond flour [affiliate link] and failed. I’ll tell you about it another time.

    Hubby did a test last night. He had hamburger burros again, this time the only seasoning to the meat was salt and pepper, and fresh onions [affiliate link] and garlic. He had four white flour tortillas, and did not have bathroom troubles this morning. He wanted to do another test tonight and eat peppers, but he realized he has a job to go to tomorrow so he will test another time. It seems even bell peppers give him troubles. Poor guy, we have eaten HOT peppers all our lives, he misses them I’m sure.

    But now I must get to bed so I can get my beauty sleep.

    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.