Slow Cooker Chili (GAPS-legal : primal)

(I've moved! You can see this recipe on my new website here!)

This chili recipe is a great mix of meat, beans, and plenty of veggies. It gets thrown together early in the day, and by dinner time it is ready. We like to top it with cheese, sour cream, and fresh avocado, but it is also great without any garnish at all. This recipe is loved by adults and kids-alike in our house.

Slow Cooker Chili
Serves 6-8

• 8 oz dried white navy beans, soaked 12-24 hours in filtered water with a sprinkle of baking soda, then rinsed well and drained
• 1 & 1/2 medium white onions, chopped 
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 2 cups chicken or beef broth, preferably homemade
• 28-oz diced tomatoes with juice, preferably homemade (or Pomi brand, which is BPA-free)
• 1 pound ground beef, preferably from a pastured animal
• celtic sea salt and pepper
• 1.5 Tb plus 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano, divided in half
• 1 tsp plus 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 2 Tb butter
• OPTIONAL for spiciness (I leave these out since the kids don't like spicy food): 1-2 chopped jalapenos (you can use a small spoon to scrape out the seeds, and some of the spiciness will go with them; don't touch the inside with your fingers or they will burn for days!)
• OPTIONAL garnish: shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, chopped green onions, chopped avocado

1. Soak the beans for 12-24 hours in filtered water with a sprinkle of baking soda, then rinse well and drain.
2. Put the beans, chopped veggies, and garlic into a slow cooker (or oven-safe pot). Crumble the ground beef on top. Add the broth and tomatoes.
3. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.  I used about 5 tsp celtic sea salt initially since my broth and tomatoes do not have any salt in them.
4. Then sprinkle with 1.5 Tb cumin, 1/2 tsp oregano, and 1 tsp chili powder.  Reserve the remaining spices for shortly before dinner.
5. Add the butter and roughly stir it all together. 
6. Put the lid on, and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or high for 6-8 hours (or place the oven-safe pot into the oven set on 225 degrees for about 8 hours).
7. About 30-60 minutes before dinner, add the remaining 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp oregano, and 1/4 tsp chili powder.  Stir, then check the saltiness and add more if needed.
8. At dinner time, ladle into bowls, top with optional cheddar cheese, sour cream, green onions, and/or avocado.  Enjoy!

This post is part of Monday Mania!

My Diet Update and Results from Diet Recovery Program

I've been getting quite a few questions lately about how my transition off GAPS is going, and whether or not I've tried Matt Stone's Diet Recovery program.  It has been interesting so far, and not quite as smooth as I would have liked.

Month 1
In January, I came off GAPS by going straight into Matt Stone's RRARF program which focuses on eating lots and resting lots.  The idea here is to flood your body with what it needs to repair itself.  I started eating a lot more (specifically focusing on starches, such as potatoes, corn, and rice, in addition to my normal nutrient-dense GAPS diet), made myself start taking a nap every day, and stopped exercising.

Good changes

• My biggest complaint during GAPS was that I had energy problems. My energy levels were much better once I started RRARF.
• My menstrual cycle became more normal; previously the number of days for my whole cycle was fairly short (once it was only 20 days!), and I had tended to have many days of spotting rather than any real flow.  After one month on RRARF, my cycle was 29 days and I had a more normal period (although still a bit scanty).  
• During my first pregnancy back in 2006, I developed the linea negra, which is a dark brown line going down my tummy (this is caused by hormones released by the placenta, and you can see the line in this old tummy picture).  This line faded a little bit after pregnancy, but never really went away (and of course it came back again in my second pregnancy).  I was surprised to notice that the line had totally faded away during my first month on RRARF.

Not-so-good changes

• Sadly, I started getting some joint pain back towards the end of the month (joint pain was the main reason I started GAPS in the first place). And yes, this could absolutely be a result of the fact that I didn't follow Dr. NCM's recommendations for the proper way to come off GAPS (with a VERY slow reintroduction of non-GAPS foods). But I had a hard time holding back when my energy levels seemed so much better with the addition of starches.
• I gained about 5 pounds during the first month.  I did not need to gain any, as my weight was already up a few pounds over my norm (since my weight had creeped up a few pounds during the last year on GAPS). 
• My waking temperatures didn't budge during the first month.  Waking temperature is a good indicator of metabolic health, and my temperatures have been low for many years (I've charted my waking temps as a natural birth control method since 2005, and my temps have been abnormally low the whole time). Matt Stone recommends tracking waking temperatures as a way to see when the metabolism is restored to it's optimal level.

Month 2

In February, I stopped eating starches (except once/week at my mom's house), to get my joint pain to abate once again. So I've pretty much gone back to GAPS for now. But now it is GAPS with lots of homemade ice cream...

I wrote to Matt about my results after one month on RRARF. He said that since I am nursing, it could take a bit longer than the 30 days he described in the book for my temps to get normalized.  Matt recommended ice cream for breakfast as a way to keep the weight gain down while really boosting the metabolism. Ice cream is a super food for boosting the metabolism. 

I also started trying to incorporate a little bit of exercise back into my routine in February.  Since exercise can have a detrimental effect on the metabolism (especially with my symptoms of adrenal fatigue), I am trying to take this very slowly. So I've been doing one session of high-intensity intervals each week.  

Good changes

• Eating ice cream for breakfast has given me wonderful energy levels. I almost feel normal now, on days when I make sure to eat ice cream at breakfast and once more in the afternoon.  On days when I don't eat it, I'm right back to feeling very tired and low energy.
• My waking temperatures started to make some serious improvements (I even had a few in the normal range, which is a huge deal for me)!  But then I overdid the exercise one week, and my temps plummeted (apparently high-intensity intervals of burpees are a little too hard-core for me right now).  
• My menstrual cycle was pretty much normal once again.  28 days and without the extensive days of spotting I was having pre-RRARF. 

Not-so-good changes

• I still gained a few pounds in February, but that was better than the 5 pounds I gained in January.  It seems that eating ice cream early in the day instead of after dinner works much better for me and slows down the weight gain somewhat. Matt Stone pointed out that the weight gain during this month could very well be "increased water and glycogen typical of adding in a high intensity exercise regime".
• I am still having a small amount of joint pain, so 95% GAPS may not be good enough for me at this point. 
• I have occasionally had small amounts of back pain.  I think this is due to the weight gain, and the only other time I've ever had back pain was when I was pregnant.

Reflections on RRARF
It is so strange to be eating so much ice cream after years of trying to reduce sugar consumption, but my energy levels are SO much better with the ice cream! My temperatures really started coming up once I started eating more ice cream, but I still have more to do to get my temps up all the way to where they should be.

My only complaint with the program so far is weight gain. From what I understand, some people gain weight on the program and some do not. I have maxxed out my jeans (and now have a little muffin top), and am really hoping to not gain any more. It is hard to decide it is okay to gain weight, even if it does mean that my body gets healthier over-time. From what I can tell, many people get their temps up after just a couple weeks on RRARF; mine are taking longer because I am nursing (which is a huge drain on the metabolic system). It is a bit frustrating, but I am very glad to have such an easy measure of my progress through checking my temps.  

What's next?
For now, I'm going to keep trying to focus on rest and making sure I eat plenty (especially early in the day).  Hopefully the weight gain will continue to slow down, and I'll have to keep in mind that I may have to gain a bit to heal my adrenals before I focus in being at my ideal weight. I may have to completely cut out any non-GAPS foods to get the joint pain to completely abate, but we'll see. 

You can read the follow-on post where I talk about the next couple of months here. 

Have you tried any of Matt Stone's recommendations? Do you plan to make any changes in your diet and exercise routine?

Frugal and Healthy Shampoo Alternative: Baking Soda and Apple Cider Vinegar

Summer 2015 UPDATE: You can see my latest recipe for homemade shampoo and conditioner here. 

For the last 8 months, I've been off shampoo and conditioner.  For years, I'd been using "organic" shampoos and conditioners, but they are so expensive and I had a hard time finding one that worked well for my hair (especially since I only wash my hair every other day).  When I started seeing all the blogging craze about not using shampoo, I decided to give it a try. Now I use baking soda to wash my hair and apple cider vinegar to condition it, and I'll never go back to storebought products!

Why ditch shampoo and conditioner?

• Conventional shampoos and conditioners are loaded with chemicals.  These chemicals can be absorbed through your skin, and thereby contribute to health problems.
• Organic shampoos are very expensive, and many of these still contain questionable ingredients.
• Washing your hair with shampoo can strip your skin of its own natural moisturizers.
• Baking soda and apple cider vinegar can make your hair look great, and even reduce the number of hair styling products that you need. 

How to use baking soda and apple cider vinegar instead of shampoo and conditioner 
Make the baking soda and apple cider vinegar mixtures:

1. Thoroughly clean out an old shampoo bottle and and an old conditioner bottle. 
2. In the shampoo bottle, add 1 Tb baking soda for each 8 oz (one cup) of water.  In the conditioner bottle, add 1 Tb raw apple cider vinegar for each 8 oz (one cup) water.   A funnel is very handy for preventing a mess if your bottles have small openings.  
3. Add water and fill to the top of each bottle. Put the lids on and shake well.  

How to use the baking soda and apple cider vinegar mixtures:

1. Wet your hair.  Apply the baking soda mixture to your scalp and roots.  I like to just run the shampoo bottle all along the top of my head, which lets a trickle of the solution out. There is no need to apply it all the way to the ends of your hair.  Use your fingertips to scrub your scalp.
2. Thoroughly rinse the baking soda mixture from your hair.
3. Apply the apple cider vinegar mixture to the scalp and roots of your hair.  Once again, there is no need to apply the mixture all the way down your hair. Massage the mixture into your scalp  and let it stay on for a few minutes.  
4. Thoroughly rinse your hair.  Then rinse it some more. Sometimes, the vinegar solution will grow some tiny SCOBY strands (these are like what is used to make kombucha), so you need to rinse your hair very well to make sure no little bits get left behind.

The dreaded transition period
I started out my no-shampoo experiment by trying to use nothing on my hair, just a nice hot rinse while scrubbing with my fingertips.  I had heard that it can take 1-to-4 weeks for the scalp to normalize oil production (since the scalp wants to make more oil after using shampoo that has stripped the natural oils from your skin). I really wanted the no-product method to work, but my hair got so oily during the second week that I had to give up on it (I was embarrassed to leave the house with such a greasy head). I'm sure it didn't help that it was the middle of summer, when my hair tends to be more oily anyway.

Then I switched to using baking soda and apple cider vinegar, and the transition period was much more manageable. I did find it beneficial to wash my hair every day during the transition period. And now I'm back to my usual method of washing my hair every other day, and it works just fine.  My hair is actually less oily on the second day than it used to be since my scalp isn't trying to compensate for having all the natural oils stripped from it.

Make sure you try this method for at least a month to give it a fair shot.  And be prepared for the fact that your hair will probably feel different using this method than it did using shampoo.  My hair feels more soft now, and it also never feels quite so squeaky clean as it did with shampoo.  I also find that I don't need to use as many hair products to make my hair look nice (previously, I tended to have lots of fly-aways, but there are many less now).  Using baking soda and apple cider vinegar also seems to emphasize the natural curl of my hair.

How to modify the method depending on your hair type
Depending on the time of year and how long my hair is, I modify the baking soda and apple cider vinegar mixtures to make them work better.  For instance, in the winter, my hair tends to be more dry, and in the summer it tends to be more oily. It is very easy to tailor the baking soda and apple cider vinegar mixtures to meet the needs of your hair.

• If your hair seems overly dry, try one of the following:
• Decrease the amount of baking soda
• Increase the amount of apple cider vinegar
• Decrease the length of time you leave the baking soda mixture on your hair
• Increase the amount of time you leave the apple cider vinegar on your hair
• If your hair seems overly oily, try one of the following:
• Increase the amount of baking soda
• Decrease the amount of apple cider vinegar
• Increase the length of time you leave the baking soda mixture on your hair
• Decrease the amount of time you leave the apple cider vinegar on your hair

Have you tried any natural alternatives to shampoo?  What were the results?

Tips for Starting the GAPS Diet

Why GAPS?
The GAPS diet is a temporary diet used to heal mild problems (like eczema and allergies) as well as serious problems such as lupus, autism, and rheumatoid arthritis. The GAPS diet heals these conditions by establishing normal gut flora and repairing leaks in the gut walls.  The diet is very nourishing and allows the gut walls to heal by allowing no complex food molecules (which cannot be properly digested by a compromised gut).  My family has good success using the GAPS diet to treat joint pain and boost the immune system, among other things.

Tips for getting started

• Get organized: Before starting the diet, make sure you have a good understanding of what foods are allowed and not allowed on the diet.  I find it very handy to keep this list of GAPS Diet Allowed and Not Allowed Foods on the fridge for handy reference. I also frequently visit the Legal/illegal SCD list, which is a very comprehensive list of legal and illegal food items, including very obscure ingredients.  (The GAPS Diet is based on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD); while this list is for SCD, it also generally applies to GAPS as well.) 
• Get everyone on-board: If possible, get everyone in your household on-board for the GAPS Diet.  In the beginning, the GAPS Diet can feel overwhelming at times. The diet is more likely to be a success if everyone follows it together, as this will keep the amount of cooking and cheating on the diet to a minimum.
• Practice doing GAPS: Rather than jumping in all at once, try having a few GAPS weekends to see what the diet is like. These weekends will be a great chance to figure out exactly how to do the GAPS diet, and to get comfortable with it before you're fully committed..  This allows you to still have plenty of time to research anything that you're unsure about without the pressure of having to know everything all at once.  My $5 grain-free e-cookbook is a great resource to have when you start the Full GAPS diet.

• Prepare meals in advance: During your practice GAPS weekends, make some large servings and double batches.  Freeze the leftovers so that you already have some foods ready for when you start GAPS. This is like having a safety net in place for when you actually start GAPS full-time.
• Make ferments, broth, and snacks: Since the GAPS diet relies so heavily on broth and fermented foods, it is a big help to prepare some of these in advance.  I have relied heavily on storebought fermented pickles (I use Bubbies brand) as well as homemade sauerkraut and bread and butter pickles. Storebought condiments are also generally not GAPS-legal, so you may want to take the time to prepare some homemade mayo and ketchup in advance of starting the diet. If possible, prepare a few grain-free snacks in advance as well, as snacking on GAPS can seem particularly difficult when you are not used to eating GAPS.
• Go very slowly in introducing fermented foods and probiotics: Even if you are already taking probiotics and eating fermented foods, a “die-off” reaction can occur with the shift to more beneficial bacteria as you transition onto the GAPS diet. “Die-off” reactions are caused by toxins that are released as the bad bacteria are killed within the gut, and symptoms can include diarrhea, flu-like symptoms, headaches, and lethargy. Stop taking probiotics before you start the GAPS diet, and then very slowly reintroduce them once you have finished with the first round of die-off. With a therapeutic-strength probiotic (such as Bio-Kult), you'll need to initially break the capsules open and start with a small amount (such as 1/4 of one pill). Wait several days before increasing the amount to keep die-off symptoms to a minimum.
• Start with Full GAPS instead of the Intro Diet: Don't do the GAPS intro diet right away, as this can be totally overwhelming.  Instead take a few weeks or even a couple months to get used to the Full GAPS diet first. This will also help to keep die-off symptoms at bay.  I will post more about doing the GAPS intro in the coming weeks.

Do you have any tips to share for people starting the GAPS diet?

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday and Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways! 

My Grain-Free e-Cookbook - Nourishing Eats

I'm pleased to announce the release of Nourishing Eats, my grain-free e-cookbook.  This cookbook contains 60 nutrient-dense recipes.  This book is perfect for the GAPS Diet since 57 of the recipes are legal for the Full GAPS Diet.  It is also suitable for primal/paleo eating. I've kept the price low so that more people can benefit from this great resource.

The book comes in PDF format, and is ready to print for those who prefer to have something they can easily refer to in the kitchen. It is a great value at only $7.99.

Here is the full table of contents for the cookbook:
Characteristics of Nourishing Diets
 
Why Grain-Free, and What is the GAPS Diet?

A Note About Ingredients and Which Recipes are GAPS-legal

Breakfasts

• Tips and Ideas for Easy Grain-Free Breakfasts 
• Baked Bacon and Eggs  
• Banana Bread  
• Banana Coconut Baked Custard  
• Cinnamon Raisin Bread  
• Coconut and Fruit Granola  
• Clafoutis: Apple, Pear, or Peach Blueberry  
• Crispy Almond Pancakes  
• Ham and Cheese Egg Cups  
• Muffins: Blueberry Banana, Apple Cinnamon, Ginger Pear, or Cranberry Orange  
• Parmesan Spinach Bread  
• Pesto and Dried Tomato Egg Cups

Snacks and Desserts

• Grain-Free Snack Ideas 
• Apple Raisin Snack Bars  
• Apple Snap Granola  
• Chewy Cinnamon Almond Cookies  
• Crispy Nuts and Flour  
• Lime and Coconut Macaroons  
• Liver and Butter Sauté  
• Mint Ice Cream  
• Peanut Butter Coconut Bars  
• Pumpkin Pie Clafoutis  
• Pumpkin Spice Bread  
• Red Crackers  
• Tips for the Best Nourishing Smoothies  
• Warm Vanilla Milk  
• Yellow Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting  
• Vanilla or Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

 Main Courses

• Bacon-wrapped Salmon Cakes with Tartar Sauce 
• Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Salad  
• Best Stovetop Hamburgers  
• Braised Short Ribs  
• Brisket with Carrots and Onions  
• Cheese and Veggie Cakes  
• Cheesy Beef and Vegetable Soup  
• Creamy Chicken and Thyme Soup  
• Crustless Chicken Pizza Casserole with Nourishing Pizza Sauce  
• Egg Drop Soup  
• Green Chile Beef Stew  
• Ham, Bean, and Bacon Soup  
• Herbed Pork and Cabbage Stew  
• Honey-Glazed Pork Chops  
• Pork Carnitas  
• Grain-Free Tortillas  
• Shredded Beef Taco Salad  
• Skillet Lasagna

Dressings, Sauces, and Fermented Foods

• Balsamic Vinaigrette 
• Easy Creamy Salad Dressing  
• Homemade Ranch Dressing and Dip  
• Honey Mustard Mayo Sauce, Dip, and Dressing  
• Bread and Butter Pickles  
• Ginger Dill Sauerkraut  
• Ketchup made with Honey and Apple Cider Vinegar  
• Homemade Mayonnaise  
• How to Make Whey and Cream Cheese from Milk Kefir, Raw Milk, or Yogurt  
• Kombucha Tea and Vinegar

Purchase Information

Click here to buy the Nourishing Eats eCookbook.

Nourishing Eats $7.99 USD

Money Back Guarantee: If you don’t love the book, I will refund your money within 30 days of
your purchase date.

Delivery: The download link for the ebook will emailed to you within 24-48 hours from receipt of payment. Should you have any difficulty, you can contact me at nourishedandnurtured[at]gmail[dot]com.

Strawberry Ice Cream (GAPS-legal, primal)

We've been on quite an ice cream kick lately, especially for breakfast! (Matt Stone recommended that I try this as a way to get the most out of the RRARF program since I'm not really handling grains and starches very well yet).  This may sound surprising, but it is really helping with my energy problems.  And I am not feeling guilty about it since ice cream is a superfood and my body is clearly needing something like this right now.

Last week, since we were out of raw cream, I developed a strawberry ice cream recipe using sour cream instead.  Oh my, this is really good, and totally GAPS-legal. Everyone in the family really liked this recipe, so give it a whirl!

Strawberry Ice Cream

• 2 cups sour cream
• 10 oz strawberries, preferably organic*
• 1.5 tsp organic vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp organic almond extract
• pinch of celtic sea salt
• 3 raw egg yolks, preferably from pastured hens
• 1/2 cup raw honey (use more or less depending on the sweetness of your berries)
• Equipment needed: blender and optional ice cream maker

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender.  
2. Whir for several minutes, until well-combined.
3. If you don't have an ice cream maker, you can follow these instructions to make ice cream without a machine.
4. If you do have an ice cream maker, pour the strawberry goodness into your ice cream maker and follow the instructions for your maker.  I use the Kitchen-Aid ice cream maker attachment, and it works great! NOTE: if you use frozen strawberries, it will set up VERY quickly in just a few minutes.
5. Transfer to the fridge to freeze solid for several hours. Enjoy!

*Except during our local strawberry season, I find that frozen strawberries have far superior flavor to the fresh ones sold in grocery stores.

This post is part of Fight Back Friday, Real Food Wednesday, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Fat Tuesday and Monday Mania!

Ground Beef Taco Meat (grain-free, GAPS-legal, paleo/primal)

Taco meat is such an easy-to-prepare and versatile dish.  This recipe, spiced with garlic and cumin, is sure to please your tastebuds. It is a wonderful, kid-friendly food that can be used in so many ways.  Although this recipe is best with fresh onion and garlic, I've also included substitutions for a busy night when dinner needs to get on the table fast.

Ground Beef Taco Meat

• 1 pound ground beef, preferably from pastured cows
• 1 medium white onion, chopped 
• 3 fresh cloves of garlic, minced
• 1-2 Tb beef tallow or refined coconut oil
• Celtic sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1&1/2 tsp dried cumin
• 2 Tb tomato paste (optional, leave it out for tacos, but it can be nice sometimes for taco salad) (buy it in a glass jar to avoid BPA)
• Garnish with shredded cheddar cheese, salsa, sour cream, avocado
• On a busy night, you can substitute 1 Tb onion powder for the onion, 1/2 tsp garlic powder for the fresh garlic, and omit the tallow

1. Melt tallow (or coconut oil) in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat.  Add the chopped onion and a little sprinkle of salt.  Saute for 10-15 minutes, until the onion is translucent and soft. 
2. Crumble the ground beef into the skillet. Add the dried spices, salt, and pepper.  Also add the optional tomato paste. Stir to combine.
3. Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beef is nearly done.  Add the fresh garlic and cook for another minute or two, stirring as needed to make sure the garlic gets lightly cooked.
4. Turn off heat and serve!  This meat is great with grain-free tortillas, corn tortillas, over a bed of lettuce for a taco salad with all the garnishes, or even just in a bowl topped with some cheese and sour cream. Yum!

This post is part of Fat Tuesday and Monday Mania!

Giveaway: Diet Recovery Book

Matt Stone from 180 Degree Health has generously agreed to give away a copy of his Diet Recovery book.  I reviewed this book a few weeks ago, and am very excited to be able to share it with you.  In Matt's words,

When you’ve had enough and you are ready to stop dieting forever, get your health back on track, stop obsessing over your body fat percentage, be happy, and join the rest of society by eating somewhat normal again, there’s no better book in print for you to turn to.

Diet Recovery is it.  Proven with hundreds of people across the globe to bring metabolism up to its ideal level – easy to track by simply watching your morning body temperature go from frigid Antarctic temps to near the ideal 98.6 degrees F/37 C in a very short period of time (usually less than 30 days).

Along with that are often the disappearance of countless health problems – from infertility to lack of menstrual period to mood disorders to years of constipation to erectile dysfunction to the inability to gain muscle to the inability to lose weight to the disappearance of food sensitivities, autoimmune disease of countless varieties, blood sugar dysregulation, and more.  And it’s fun as hell rediscovering how enjoyable eating can be once again, live your life without some oppressive diet overshadowing the stuff in life that’s actually important, and to stop beating yourself up with guilt over being hungry.

To enter the giveaway for the Diet Recovery book, please leave a comment.  Only one entry per person.  I will randomly select a winner on Wednesday, February 22nd.

The Connection Between Grains and Child Behavior

Over the last month while my daughter and I have been transitioning off the GAPS diet, my husband and I have noticed that eating grains really changes our daughter's behavior.  Eating grains makes her:

• Less even-tempered - She is more likely to meltdown.
• More disobedient - She is more likely to blatantly disobey, and to argue about doing what she is told (even simple things like changing into her pajamas).
• More grouchy and rude - She is much more likely to be downright rude and to be in a bad mood.
• Have less focus and concentration - She has a very hard time focusing on the task at hand.  She gets easily distracted and forgets what she is supposed to do.
• More of a picky eater - She is much more likely to fight about what we're having for dinner (she almost never did this while on GAPS), and to complain that she doesn't like the food.

Needless to say, these behaviors really have us concerned.  And we haven't even been doing gluten-grains! So far, she has been eating corn, rice, and potatoes. With the exception of popcorn once a week, the corn and rice have been properly prepared by soaking.  My daughter did eat some wheat flour in the form of a sopapilla at a restaurant last weekend, and she was downright hyperactive afterwards.

So, we're backing off on the grains for my daughter.  It is actually very easy to do this without her even knowing or making a big deal about it, since she is used to eating GAPS anyway.  We're not going to totally eliminate grains, but we will make sure she's only having them a few times per week to see how she does.  We'll also be a bit more methodical about it to see if she is reacting to a specific food or all of them in general. The last couple days, she hasn't eaten any grains, and she is back to her old sweet self.

This makes me really wonder how much of children's poor behavior is linked to eating grains.  Granted, properly-prepared grains can be a healthy part of the diet for healthy people with uncompromised guts, but it seems like the vast majority of kids in our country could have a compromised gut due to widespread antibiotic use. I am really shocked that after 17 months on GAPS, our daughter's behavior could change so dramatically from consuming non-gluten grains (and she did not have any learning deficiencies or psychological problems going into GAPS).

Have you noticed any correlations between grain consumption and bad behavior in your kids?

This post is part of Fat Tuesday and Monday Mania!

Four Great Ways to Use Bacon Grease

I save bacon grease, but don't typically cook with it much as I prefer the flavor of butter. So what do I do with the bacon grease?

• Drizzle melted bacon grease on a green salad in place of oil: This is my absolute favorite way to use bacon grease!  It makes salads taste fabulous. Balsamic vinegar and honey mustard both pair wonderfully with bacon grease on a salad.  Lately, we've really been enjoying salad dressed with salt and pepper, bacon grease, homemade mayo, and homemade honey mustard (made by mixing equal parts raw honey and dijon mustard). 
• Use bacon grease to replace some of the oil in homemade mayo: This makes for some tasty bacon mayo!  With my immersion blender, I don't even have to melt the bacon grease to use it in mayo (but it should be at room temperature).  And then you can even use the bacon mayo to make bacon-flavored homemade ranch dressing.
• Rub kale with bacon grease instead of oil when making kale chips:The flavor of kale pairs wonderfully with the flavor of bacon.
• Bacon grease can really change up the flavor of soups: I really like the flavor of bacon when added to chicken-based soups.

What are your favorite ways to use bacon grease?

This post is part of Fat Tuesday and Monday Mania!