I have kept water kefir for at least 6 years. For most of that time my grains have been small and often started to get smaller. Although I have never killed any and have not bought any more having frozen some as spare supplies in the early days, I have not enjoyed growing grains. I took comfort from those that said that growth was not necessary as long as the grains were fermenting the water - which they were.
Lately I began to despair, however. The kefir grains really were getting so small that they were passing through the sieve and nothing I did seemed to work. I added some bicarbonate of soda: nope. I put less sugar in in case I was overfeeding them: they got worse. I was already adding a tiny amount of molasses. I tried stopping using my 'Brita' filter jug as some said it took the nutrients out of the water. Well - it didn't kill them, but neither did they grow. 

What was I doing?
I was feeding the correct ratio of water to sugar (1/4 cup sugar to 1 quart water) though I had so few grains that I could not use the recommended 1/4 cup of grains - but had around 1/8th cup (2 tablespoons). 

In desperation I scoured the web.
I found something to try. A water kefir grain's revival recipe. In hope I tried it. See question 8 of the Water Kefir FAQ's at Cultured Food Life.

The grains looked the same after their 'rest', but I carried on as usual.
In addition to my normal practice I started to add half of a washed, pastured egg shell as I read of someone else having success with that.

Wow! They started to look more healthy and were growing plump.
​
By accident I also made another discovery of my own that seems to work: the grains like their to be a higher ratio of grains to water and sugar than most recipes suggest. in other words, they seem to do better with too many grains!

My grains now bubble away happily and are the most healthy I have ever owned. Every time I change them I am having to throw out at least 2 tablespoons of grains. To me, this is incredible!
​
I have now tried this out with my two sets of elderly parents (both in their 80's) and they too are having success and finding it easy to keep the water kefir grains, whereas before they too have struggled. 

So I use the correct ration of sugar to water and then add more grains.

My recipe
6 heaped tablespoons water kefir grains (should be 4 or 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon molasses
1  litre tap water (yes they are happy with non-fluoridated tap water!)

Living in the UK, we keep the house around 19-20 C. in winter and I change them every day and a half. If it gets warmer I change them every day.

I hope that if you are having trouble with your water kefir grains shrinking, then these ideas will help you to have success.

Do you miss a good pizza base now you are doing the GAPS Diet?
So did we until one day I made a mistake while making my quiche 'pastry': I added an egg into the mixture, thinking I was making cake! But it was one of those fortuitous mistakes as Son 2 declared it to be better than my ordinary pastry (which he always turned up his nose at). Why? Because the egg gave it extra crunch.
'What if I try it for a pizza base,' I thought?
Well - it worked and now pizza has once become a regular favourite dish in our home once more.

The base recipe - for 4 adults light meal, 2 adults full meal.
​
1 cup nuts (I Like cashew for their creamy flavour and broken ones are cheaper and ideal for baking with)
1 oz butter
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 large egg - pastured if possible

Toppings we like:
Tomato puree,
Mushrooms
Onions 
Prosciutto
Left-over cooked chicken
​Lashings of cheese

I love foraging! With it being spring time I was thrilled to find masses of Wild Garlic ​Allium ursinum growing in our local woods. It made a splendid, tasty topping instead of onion. See if you have any growing near you!

​We hope you enjoy your GAPS diet pizza as much as we do!

No they don't bite, but they are the ideal size for a little nibble. A healthy treat to fill that little gap mid-morning or afternoon. Great for children's party's too. Ideal for diabetics as they contain no added sugar. I reckon they would make a quick breakfast too, especially if served with some sour cream. A good all rounder!

Simple ingredients: banana, egg, butter (or coconut oil), coconut flour and dessicated coconut.
Quick to make!

What are you waiting for - make some today! They won't last long! 
​

Here's what to do:

Although one doesn't want to  over do snacks on the GAPS diet, they do have their place to add variety and to help children and young people (and us young at heart folks!) to 'stick' to it. Remember that ideally 85% of what we eat should be meats, vegetables and fats, keeping fruit and baked goods to be eaten between meals so that they don't interfere with digestion. Ideally , sweeter things should be served with fat (like butter or cream) to 'iron out' blood sugar spikes.
Our routine involves a mid-morning snack, usually served with cream or with a milk kefir smoothie.

If you are not doing GAPs but would like to reduce your dependence on grains or are grain-free, these make a delicious alternative,

To this end I like trying out new ideas. Here are three of our latest favourites. The first was inspired by a recipe in the Daily Telegraph's New Year fitness programme.  The third is a popular recipe you will find anywhere, with a GAPS twist. Both rely on dates to sweeten them. I have found 'Whitworths block dates' to be the most cost effective way of buying dates.

Ingredients:

50g linseed (flax seed) - from the health food shop or a superstore
1 cup walnuts (100g)
1 cup dessicated coconut (85g) preferably free from additives)
1 cup dates (180g) soaked in water to soften them
50g butter melted
1 heaped tablespoon peanut butter ('Meridian' brand is GAPS legal)

Method:

1. Grind the flax seeds to powder (I use my smoothie maker for this).
2. Chop the dates up small in  the food processor.
3. Put the linseed in the food processor with the walnuts and add the dates (minus the soaking water -
    you can drink that!). Mix together.
4. Melt the butter.
5. Add the melted butter, peanut butter and coconut to the date mixture and mix it all together.
6. Put in a prepared, greased, lined 8x8 baking tin.
7. Bake for 20 mins Gas 4, fan 160 deg., other 180 deg.

Nothing earth shattering here, though I tried to use dates to sweeten them to lessen/replace the sugar/honey. Obviously we can't use any kind of thickener as used in conventional recipes. Sons thought they were wonderful.

1. Soak 5 or 6 dates or equivalent from a block in a mug of hot water. Once soft, blitz them (just the dates) with a stick blender.
2. Take as many egg whites as you have (4 is a good number to make a good sized batch)
3. Whisk until they stand up in peaks.
4. Carefully fold in the dates.
5. Then measure out 2 cupfuls of desiccated coconut ( for 4 eggs whites) and fold that into the mixture too. (Or how ever much it takes to get a mixture that holds together)

You could add some cocoa, vanilla (make sure it is GAPS legal), or raisins or other dried fruit as long as it still holds together when you put spoonfuls on a greased and lined baking tray.

6. Pop in the oven Gas 4, fan 160 or 180 deg. and check after 10 minutes. Coconut burns quite easily.

Have you seen our GAPS legal, delicious cake collection?
Available in either print or Kindle format from Amazon.

​​Only £2.31 for Kindle readers or
£4.50 print

At last, my coconut flour cupcake recipes are available for Kindle or in print - 15 family favourites, all GAPS diet legal, and gluten/grain free. Sweetened only with honey and dried fruit, your family will be able to indulge in delicious, guilt free snacks and cakes, whilst healing the gut. 
From chocolate cake, to celebration fruit cake, you will find a cake for all occasions and all so super easy to make!

My recipes began with my attempts to make a cheap chocloate cake. All of the grain-free cakes seem to use loads of eggs, or loads of coconut flour or nuts - and then produce a small cake! This seemed very expensive. Dr. Natasha Campbell Mc. Bride has a basic cake recipe using squash. As I had a glut of courgettes that first year, I decided to try and use those instead. With some trialling and some mistakes, I eventually settled on a basic recipe that is as simple as cake baking used to be with flour, and uses far less coconut flour/nuts (so less fibre for those healing their guts) and fewer eggs than other recipes do. To boot, the resultant cake is soft and spongy and low in carbs.

​I have served my cakes to many people, most who request the recipe, even those who are not restricted to a grain-free diet.

Just half a cup of coconut flour, 3 eggs and 3 oz butter, 1/4 cup honey - plus courgette and add ins and you are done! 12 cakes ready to eat!
​ 1 recipe, lots of variations! You can even try your own!

Coconut flour is usually quite dry, but the courgette in these cakes makes them soft and moist - and you will never know there is courgette in them, an nor will anybody else (unless you tell them!)

Just a food processor, seven/eight inch baking tins, or cup cake cases and away you go.

Contents:

Introduction - why I wrote this book
Ideas for icings

Everyday cakes:
Chocolate cup cakes
Lemon muffins
Raisin muffins
Sponge pudding
Date and lemon slices
Banana and walnut cake
Apple Cake
Coconut and blueberry
Carrot and courgette Cake
Coffee and Walnut Cake
Caramel Cake
Orange and Coconut Cake
Mince Pie Muffins

Special occasion cakes
Chocolate Celebration Cake
Rich Fruit Cake

To see a sample recipe please see Lemon Muffins here. This is the only recipe available free on my website. You will not find these recipes anywhere else!

​Since starting the GAPs diet, one of my main objectives has been to make sure my family do not miss out on their favourite bakes. You don't need to miss out either!
Buy today!
​

Buy NOW!
​​Only £2.31 for Kindle readers or
£6.50 print

Buy NOW!
​​Only £2.31 for Kindle readers or
£6.50 print

You have made the brave decision to do the GAPS diet. You have studied the book, Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell Mc-Bride. Now it is time it put it into practice. However, doing the GAPS diet is no mean feat.  

​The Gaps diet requires determination. It requires many new skills. It requires patience.

And so, as well as hopefully bringing healing to your body, it will take you on an adventure you will never forget. You will learn to ​do many things that you have never even considered doing - let about knowing were there to be done! It requires a fair bit of pluck, but most probably, like many of us, you have been driven to it by a pressing health need. This is the motivation you will need to get you through the next few weeks.

Before you start

If you have time, it is best if you can read as much as you can about the GAPs diet, as well as becoming as poficient as you can with the new cooking/food preparation techniques. Here are some ideas for reading:

​The GAPS guide by Baden Lashkov. 

For me, next to the Gut and Psychology Syndrome book, this is a must have. I wish I had had it earlier on in our GAPS journey. It answers so many of the little questions that inevitably will arise as soon as you start the diet, and takes away so much of the mystery and anxiety. This is now my go-to companion. There are no recipes in this book - just much handy advice.

GAPS, Stage by Stage with Recipes by Becky Plotner

The author is an experienced GAPs practitioner and again answers many questions - this time with cooking help too.

​​The Heal your Gut Cookbook by Hilary Boynton and Mary Brackett

These two authors share their experiences of the GAPS diet along with some helpful cooking tips and recipes. I haven't used all of the recipes, but many gave me inspiration by giving me ideas of what could be done.

Here are some helpful websites too with general GAPS help:
Health Home and Happiness
Body Wisdom Nutrition

GAPS cooking techniques

As well as the books above and other such ones, there is plenty of help on the web to get you up and running with cooking skills. The two main skills are making bone and meat broth and learning to ferment dairy and vegetables. Believe me - at first these seem to take so much time - but you will soon be doing them without thinking!
​
Here are some of my favourite sites:
GAPS Broth
Honest Body
​Health Home and Happiness

​GAPS ferments 
Milk Kefir and sour cream
Sauerkraut
​

There are so many gadgets about to fill our kitchens with - and you know, most of them end up unused at the bottom of the cupboard. They take too much time to set up, and then wash afterwards, that I end up not using  them. However, there are some that I use all the time and couldn't be without while cooking GAPS diet food. Here they are!

A slow cooker is a must for volumes of meat and bone broth. It seems to be on all the time! Get as big a one as you have room for and fill it up each time. I have two - a 5 litre one for everyday use and a 3.5 litre one to take away on holiday.

My cast iron frying pan is great for those early intro stage, squash pancakes, progressing on up to breakfast waffles on full GAPS.

My mini food processor is my third most used item of kitchen equipment. I can use it to make delicious coconut flour cakes - whizzed up in a jiffy, or coconut flour pastry, for quiches or pies.

My hand blender never gets put away as it always being used - mainly for blending soups, but also for mixing banana pancakes for breakfast and making avacado chocolate pudding (which I have to confess becomes more of an everyday staple, rather than a treat!)

​So that's my list! With these books and information I feel more confident and with these items of equipment I can easily knock up GAPS legal meals in a jiffy!

I wish you well on your GAPS journey!

Are you refined-sugar free? Do you long for an easy fruit cake that tastes as good as a sugar laden one? Then try this recipe! Not only will you feel as if you are indulging yourself, but better still you will truly indulge your body with healing foods: butter, eggs and coconut flour which is low in carbs, honey, raisins and Just a little bicarbonate of soda. This delicious cake is 100 % GAPS legal is you use the ingredients listed below.

​What are you waiting for?

Be warned though - it might not last long. It doesn't in my house! When the Sons smell cake, they suddenly feel 'starving'. I let them indulge as they both have a pretty hefty paper-round each morning.

I like to make my cakes really easy to make - no more difficult than cakes made with wheat flour and without using great quantities of eggs or coconut flour. Most recipes that use coconut flour need lots of eggs as the flour absorbs the moisture. I have a secret ingredient: courgette. Don't worry - you won't know it is there, but it makes the cake deliciously spongey and reduces the amount of eggs and flour needed. If you grow your own courgettes, it reduces the price even further.

​ If you like this one, then see my book of fifteen more everyday favourites, for all occasions. 

Please excuse the mix of measures using cups and ounces. I like to measure dry ingredients and honey with cups as it is so much easier, but butter I find easier on the scales.

Ingredients:
This is a generous cake - making a deep filled 8 inch square cake.  You will need an 8 inch square cake tin, lined.

1 1/2 cups raisins soaked in boiling water for at least 10 minutes
1 1/2 cups diced courgette
​3/4 cup coconut flour
3oz butter, melted
Juice and zest of one medium sized orange
3 eggs
1/4 cup honey (you can omit this if you want a lower sugar/carbs cake -this recipe is very flexible)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Method:
1. Begin by soaking the raisins in boiling water and set aside.
​2, Meanwhile, peel and dice the courgette.

Simply peel, then slice, then stack your slices and chop downwards through the pile, turn 90 degrees and repeat. So easy!
​3. Place the courgette in the food processor (I use this one) and add the coconut flour.
4. Now blitz until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
​5. Add all the other ingredients, except the bicarbonate of soda,
6. Then add the bicarbonate of soda and very briefly whizz to incorporate.
7. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin.
8. Bake at Gas 6, 200 C./ 180 C. Fan, 450 F. for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.
9. Leave to cool on a rack, in the tin. Once cool, cut into 12 pieces and store in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

Enjoy!
Please remember - if you like our recipes, please tell others. 

This post contains affiliate links.

We have been introducing more and more non-Gaps foods after being on the GAPS diet for nearly four years, but we are still mainly eating GAPS legal foods as they are so nutritious and suit our bodies.
Having found a new Banoffee Pie NAKD bar in the supermarket Husband threw me a challenge: could I make a GAPS legal Banoffee pie? Well, I liked the idea. I like making toffee biscuits, and I like making caramel cake.
And it being January the first, we felt like celebrating the New Year and so I got cooking!

The smiles as they ate proved that I had got it right: a smooth toffee flavour, with a toffee texture - with banana. Mmmm! Son 2 had nothing to compare it with as he couldn't remember the original, sugar-laden version, so he just enjoyed it. Husband was more deliberating....'Not as sweet,' he said, 'But that must be good for me!' Well GAPS has brought him a long way!! 

​To prove it was good for him, I looked to see the health benefits of dried dates - the main ingredient.
Here are just a few of them:

• Supporting the cardiovascular system - the potassium helps to lower blood pressure,
• Vitamins C and K can help the skin. 
• They aid with digestion.
• Contain iron, which helps with anemia, strengthens the hair
• Are high in disease fighting antioxidants
• Have a low glycemic index​

The toffee filling of this pie has just three simple ingredients and the base just 2, making this recipe, like all of my recipes, so easy. Why not try treat yourself today?

You will need:
(Serves 4, 6, 8 depending on serving size)

For the base
1 cup nuts of your choice. I used Cashews.
1/4 cup (2oz) butter

For the filling
2 cups dried and stoned dates, soaked for at least 10 minutes in boiling water.
3 oz butter
1/4 cup milk kefir, but you can use home-made yoghurt, sour cream, or anything of your choice if you are not on the GAPS diet - it just acts as a moisturiser.

Topping
1 large banana
Sour cream (or coconut cream, or any other cream if not doing the GAPs diet).
1/2 tsp cocoa powder to sprinkle on top.

Method:
​1. Put the dates in a saucepan and cover with boiling water. Set aside.
2. Put the nuts for the base in a food processor and whiz until a fine powder. Add the butter and mix until it clumps together.

3. Press the mixture into an 8 inch pie dish and chill in the refrigerator.
4. Drain the dates (you could drink the date water!) and add the butter to the pan with the dates.
​5. Bring to the boil and keep them bubbling for 2 minutes, stirring all the time. 
6. Remove from the heat and add the milk, stirring it in.
6. Place the hot mixture in the food processor (no need to wash after the nuts). Whizz until a smooth, thick paste forms.
7. Place the mixture over the base and leave to cool.
8. Whisk the cream (yes, you can whisk sour cream too) and spread over the cooled filling.
9. Use a sieve to carefully sprinkle cocoa powder over the top.
10. Just before serving, decorate with slices of banana (if you do this too soon the banana might go brown).
 

It is rather rich - so you may only need a small piece. We made our 8 inch pie last for two days - so that's an eighth each, per day!

If you enjoy our recipes - please tell others!

'Fruit season is here once more and my family are craving jam! I was thrilled when I came accross such a simple, GAPS friendly jam on my organic fruit and veg. delivery website. It has just two ingredients and is a winner.
​
They call it Honeyed Jampote and it knocks up in a jiffy - and the great thing is that you don't need much honey. Neither do you need heaps of fruit - I usually only have 3/4 of a pound from a quick pick. This is a thick jam - not runny: sticky like it ought to be!

We made a jar with our home-grown strawberries and it was soon gone - mixed with sourcream it was a delight!

Now the blackberries are ripening on the bushes and the Sons are crying out for blackberry jam. My question was - could we use the same method for blackberries as we had for strawberries? A quick google gave me the anwer that blackberries contain a lot of pectin (the ingredient that helps them to gel) and so we had a go.

Yes it works! So now the sons are asking if we can make lots of it that can be stored. The answer to that I think is only if we keep it in the freezer as freezer jam, but that would take up valuable freezer space.

We are slowly transitioning off of GAPS now and they want jam to put on their sourdough waffles.

 The process is simple:

1. Wash the fruit and place in a heavy based saucepan.
2. Mash it with your hands  - or use a hand blender.
3. Sieve it if you don't like pips.
4. Add at least 1/4 cup honey per pound of fruit.
5. Bring to the boil and then simmer for up to 10 minutes until it starts to thicken, stiring as necessary.
6. Let it cool in the pan.
7. Transfer to a clean jar, put on a lid and store in the fridge for up to a week - but it won't last that long!

Some add 2 teaspoons of lemon juice. Others add Granny Smith apple to the blackberry. I have done it both with and without lemon and apple and it works fine with just fruit and honey.

If you would like to experiment with fermented jam, then Cultures for Health have a recipe forBlueberry Lacto-fermented Jam. I'm going to try it soon!

 Spread it on coconut flour waffles for a delicious snack at any time of day!

Mix a heaped teaspoonful together with sour cream or yoghurt and put them little pots ready to take for  packed lunches!

​Or as above with sourcream for a pudding treat.

​This article may contain affiliate links. This means that if you click the link and buy certain items, I will receive a small commission. The price is the same for you, though! Thank you for your support.

​We have bravely set our date! The 8th February 2016.
We are bravely getting ready. The cupboards are empty of all enticing goodies. The cupboard that was full of chocolate is slowly but reluctantly being emptied into our mouths, all dreading the 'last piece' ('But not for ever, eh Mum?')
I have my action plan - thanks to Cara of Health, Home and Happiness and her book 'What can I eat now 30 days on the GAPS introduction diet'.
The flour packets are all gone - but we are still feasting on Megan's wonderful chocolate cake! (See below)
The milk is going fast though we are allowing ourselves to drink raw milk until it runs out on Tuesday.
Oh how I missed my morning cup of hot milk and water today (silver tea)! Cold water just isn't the same. I didn't realise what a comfort drink it was.
Breakfast runs out tomorrow so we are going on to full gaps breakfasts as of then.
The lads and I have been reducing carbs all last week and eating more fat and soups. Husband has got to keep going to work this week, so he has reduced less so far.
​

I wanted to make sure that we had a gentle introduction so that I was able to make sure that I had all the equipment we needed to do intro and then full GAPS successfully.
Pivotal to success was a slow cooker so that I could make gallons of meat/bone broth.
I chose a 6.5 litre one. This one from Andrew James has lasted me well (updated a couple of years in).

I found that I needed plenty of BPA free plastic containers and glass jars for storing food. I found glass jars easier to clean fat from, but they do break! One litre boxes are my go-to size to stack in the fridge with 1 litre jars too holding enough soup for four of us for one meal.
A ladle was going to be essential!
​

​As well as the slow cooker, I also make good use of my large 5 litre stainless steel saucpan. I can use it to empty the slow cooker of hot broth while I re-fill it, and then use the big saucpan to cook up gallons (well not quite, but that's how it feels!) of soup.
​

And our bodies are starting to groan! I keep feeling nauseas and have had diarrhoea, as has Son 2 and we have had headaches. Son1 feels very tired. It's hard to watch them groaning and feeling off colour. I did warn them it would happen.
'Is it going to be like this all the time on this diet?' says son 2. We joke that we get GAPS in our times of feeling nauseas.
Son 1 is very silent on the subject so far, but is enjoying having more cooked vegetables. He's never been a fan of raw anything.

We decided to take a week to wind down slowly rather than go cold turkey, but I can see we are still feeling the effects.

​We've been telling our family and friends what we are about to do.
Husband sees it as a wonderful joke that someone so addicted to chocolate could even contemplate such a thing. He loves rubbing in the 'We'll be eating loads and loads of BONE BROTH!'

'Well we've told them all - I suppose we'll have to go ahead and do it then?' was his last comment to me last night.

Fortunately family and friends have all been very supportive and we have been truly helped and encouraged by their support. They  are all looking forward to 'watching the experiment unfold before their very eyes', as husband puts it  - so nicely!
I used Jennifer Scribner's video explaining the GAPS diet to help to explain to folks and that has been very helpful. 
​

​Our typical diet to date has been:

Breakfast
Husband and I soaked muesli with cream, honey and grapes
Son 1: soaked buttermilk scones from 'Nourishing Traditions'
Son 2:  soaked oatmeal from Traditional Cooking School

Lunch
Husband: Two sandwiches (home-made soaked loaf in bread machine) usually with cheese and cake.
The rest of us more varied, soups or salad or baked spuds and cheese the boys having bread alongside. The boys had cake, I had fruit.

Tea
A nutritious home-cooked meal, but always with a pudding to follow! Of late it's mainly been stewed apple, or a quick cheesecake made from cream, soft cheese and frozen fruit and honey, or a custard tart, so more protein/fat foods than carbs and all served with cream!

​Meals this week are a fortaste! I'm already finding out that sandwiches can't be replaced with a bit of meat and veg. but rather another big meal as they are starving! Rather I'm cooking more at teatime to eat left-overs for lunch. Or making double batches of soup one day to last for the next. The sons are enjoying saying 'What's the snack Mum?' - only they seem to be saying it all the time!

Here's todays lunch offering (the light meal of the day!!). Seemed like a feast!

​I can't say we are looking forward to it! It's going to be very hard to start with I know. But we hope we will feel better for it eventually. We don't know what healing to expect, but I will share with you as we go along. My husband and I feel it is the way to go for us as a family at this time.

Bags packed, fridge stocked - Ready to Go!

​Days 1, 2 and 3 of the GAPS Intro diet

I miss my porridge, It cant be helped, but until recently I could not find anything to replace it with, and so have resorted to scrambled eggs every day for breakfast. As I am not an egg-lover, I can't say that I always enjoy it. However, son 2 has recently started having breakfast with Husband at an earlier time, leaving me just making scrambled egg for myself and something in me decided to try a variation. What I came up with is surprising delcious - well I think so!

Eggs are a good choice for breakfast

Eggs are easy for breakfast - they cook quickly - a real fast food, and are also very nutricious, especially if they are from hens that are free to roam in pasture. 

And so.....

I put my beaten eggs along with a small quanitity of frozen raspberries and a dash of milk kefir into a pan with a knob of melted butter, and stirred, until the egg began to solidify, but took it off the heat before it properly scrambled. I poured it into a bowl, stuck in an extravagant spoonful of raw honey, topped it with dessicated coconut and sour cream and....took the first mouthful.
It was warm, cozy, creamy and surprisingly, just like porridge in texture - only with eggy lumps rather than oaty lumps.
Now it is my every day staple!!
And so I though I would share it with you, just in case anyone else fancies trying it out!

It only takes minutes to make!

Substitutes

Any frozen fruit can be used - or even cocoa powder!
Any milk or milk substitute can be used if you want dairy free.
The butter can be replaced with coconut oil.
The coconut could be replaced with home-made granola.

I don't know about you, but it seems to me that feeding the family seems to be getting rather complicated these days. By this I mean that the recipes seem to be turning into copies of gourmet restaurant meals, needing all manner of complicated ingredients and the photos of the end product look like they are barely enough to feed a flea let alone teenage boys and men!  I believe in keeping food simple. That means - less time spent preparing, less time clearing up afterwards and less time on my feet! There are all manner of enterprising recipes for those with the time and energy to create them for those on the GAPS diet, but for busy people, I want to show you that you can eat well, enjoy your food and all without spending hours at the stove. This post will provide you with plenty of ideas for easy meals to prepare in under an hour, or that cook themselves leaving you free to do other things. These recipes can be enjoyed by all.

Do remember that when you are doing GAPS, your personal list of tolerated foods will be different to other people, so when followingh these recipes, please replace items your family cannot tolerate with something they can if possible.
​

By far one of the most simplest meals and loved by all - this is sure to be a winner!
For 8 servings

Ingredients:
2 packs 500g mince (beef/lamb/turkey/pork etc..)(1kg total)
onion (frozen makes it even quicker)
2 tsp sea salt
Black pepper
herbs (of your choice - sage for beef/turkey, mint for lamb for example)

Method
Simply squish the mince with the onion/herbs/salt/pepper straight into a large baking dish (save on wahing up!). Flatten it (as above) and pop it into the oven for 30 mins Gas 6, Fan 180C, 400F until cooked through and there are no pink juices.
Serve with baked squash/carrots, greens of choice and plenty of butter. Tomato puree straight from the bottle makes a good tomato sauce.
Pour fat from dish over meal as gravy.
​

For these I love to use my big cast iron frying pan. these are fantastic as you can have as many different meals as you fancy using one method. Like hot stuff? Then throw in the spices. Like it mild? Then make it as you like! Some like to add a dollop of peanut butter or tahini (it does make a flavoursome sauce) - be creative!!

For these I use either mince (beef/lamb/turkey/pork) or cubes of chicken breast or pork.

Ingredients Basic:
Large knob of fat
1 large onion
500g meat of choice
Mushrooms if desired
Herbs
1 tsp sea salt/pepper 
500ml stock or toamto passat

Method:
Melt the fat in the pan and sautee the onion (and mushrooms if using) until soft. Then turn up the heat and brown the meat all over. Then turn the heat down and continue to cook the meat in its juices, stirring occasionally for about half an hour - until no pink meat remains and meat is heated right through. I cover the pan with a splatter guard which keeps some heat in and keeps the stove clean! In the meantime, prepare and cook the vegtables to accompany the meat. Finally, add the stock/tomato passata, salt/pepper and herbs/spices and bring back to the boil.
Serve with vegetables and plenty of butter.
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We are not great fans of fish, and I mostly use frozen or tinned fish - but fresh fish is delicious and so easy to cook.
Simply place the fish on a large piece of baking foil, add a little water, pat it with butter, you could squeeze some lemon juice on - or not as you like, and pop it into the oven about Gas 6, 200c./Fan 180C, 400F for about half an hour. Then prepare your vegetables as desired. It goes well with roast squash done as for the roast chicken legs - just pop the squash in the oven a bit before the fish, but it doesn't take long to cook. For children and some adults it is best to use boned fish, or the whole meal is ruined picking out the bones and worrying about swallowing one!

These are so easy I made them in a tiny galley went we went on a boating holiday. Using tinned salmon, these are a breeze to make - great for when you are caught out and the meat hasn't defrosted for the meal you planned!
Find the recipe here.

For the GAPs diet you need sausages made with just pork, salt, pepper and a pure herb. We are fortunate to have a local butcher who is prepared to make us a months supply at a time. However - they do make an easy meal. We always have them on Friday - so I don't have to think what to cook: Friday night - sausage night - and we always have them with squash chips. This meal replaced our pre-GAPS diet 'fish and chips' night!
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Cook the sausages as usual - I like to put mine in the oven as they then do not need my attention - just pop them in a roasting tin. If you want them quickly - then don't cover them but if you can leave them down low for longer, then do cover them. while they are in the oven the butternut squash chips can be cooking too - though be aware that they will take longer. I often put the chips in about 3 hours before tea and go out and leave them, coming back in for the last hour to put the sausages on and turning up the oven. At this point I uncover the chips so that they get a little crispy - they taste good that way!!
Sausages in the oven cook well at about Gas 7, 200C/Fan 180C, 425 F for about 45 mins. Check that they are nicely browned on the top before serving.
​

I love casseroles as they cook themselves. Funny that children will often love a casserole, but the same meal made as a stew they don't like as much. Prepare it straight after lunch and tea will be a breeze!

These can be as simple or as complicated as you like. I will give the recipe for a simple version with ideas for ringing the changes.

Basic Recipe - serves 4

Ingredients:

Knob of fat: lard/butter/beef dripping
1 large onion
5 large carrots 
500g meat - diced beed, stewing beef, or mince of any sort are all good.
1 tsp sea salt
Black pepper
herbs (of your choice - sage for beef/turkey, mint for lamb for example)
750ml stock/water

Optional: 1 tin tomato puree
                 other vegetables (frozen peas/beans, mushrooms, peppers etc.. as tolerated.)
            
Method:
Melt the fat in a large pan and sautee the onion until soft. Meanwhile prepare the carrots and set aside.
Brown the meat in the pan with the onions. Add all the other ingredients (including other vegetables if including) and bring to the boil. Skim the scum from the top and carefully pour into a large casserole dish.
Cover and place in the oven for 2.5 to 3 hours at Gas 3, Fan 150C, 325F.
Twenty minutes before serving time, prepare the vegetables.
Serve with plenty of butter. I love my silicone spoon for effortless serving.

Another meal to pop in the oven while you go out or get on with life! 
Simply place the chickens legs into a roasting dish - pat with butter and sprinkle with herbs if you wish, but I rarely think to do this.. and pop them in the oven and turn it on (some may need to preheat).  I tend to like to cook them for at least 1.5 -2 hours with the cooker on at about Gas 3, 170C/Fan 150C 325F. Practice the first time and see how your oven performs.
Then Prepare the squash - cut off the ends and then slice it horixontally into thick chunks. Then cut each chunk in half. Arrange the pieces in a baking tin and fill with about 1 1/2 cm water and put them in the oven too. You can take the seeds out before if you like but I usually leave them in as they are easier to remove once cooked. 
Half an hour before serving cook the vegtable to accompany the meal.
Serve with plenty of butter and pour the meat fats and juice over the meal as a gravy. 

​Check out our family meal crib sheets for easy GAPS friendly family meals - print them off and keep them handy in the kitchen!
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This post contains affiliate links.

When we first did GAPs intro, I knew very little, other than what was written in the Gut and Pyschology book by Dr. Natasha Campbell Mc.Bride. This is indeed the place to start, but as you start the intro diet, sooner or later a whole host of questions arise. You start googling to try and find answers, but few blog about their problems and so very often it turns into a struggle. I agree with the wise sages who reccomend that only one member of the family go through intro at a time, preferable mum first, so that she is then strong to help those coming along after (but of course, this is hindsight!)

​What this adds up to is that GAPS Intro can become a very ANXIOUS time. We would love to just start eating right and have all our health difficulties melt away, but unfortunately it doesn't happen like that. Very often we get old symptoms back, albeit briefly, we have days when we feel pretty awful (even second time round of intro!) We can be very tired, overwhelmed with all the food preperation, and then little minor says he is hungry and you have run out of soup! Then there is the confusion between die-off and food reaction, and soon you can find yourself unsure, uncertain and feeling low which aggraveates the whole situation. In fact there are times when I have been sorely tempted to stop eating (which obviously wouldn't solve the problem at all, but make it far worse!!) 
​

Doing intro for the second time, I found the Gaps Guide by Baden Lashkov. Oh how I wish I had read this book first time round, It really does go into detail about those nitty gritty questions like bowel moevements and the difference between die-off and detox that the official GAPS book is rather vague about. And here I learnt about the possibility of increased anxiety during Intro as the the intro diet is lower in magnesium than the full diet 

Well, being rather prone to anxiety anyway, I felt that this was probably a good explanation of what I was experiencing. . Magnesium is found in the broth, yes, but in higher quantities it is in nuts and dark green leafy veg which are too fibrous for the intro.

Now why should this matter?
​Well, having learnt the hard way, a magnesium deficiency can AGGRAVATE ANXIETY - the last thing you need! So if you are finding that you are struggling with anxiety and/or panic attacks, and feeling particularly overwhelmed, then consider magnesium. Acording to the GAPS GUIDE author, Baden Lashkov, it may even help with constipation, depression, muscle aches, insomnia, headaches, stress, restless leg syndrome and cramping - which we can testify to after several months of using it.

When I first read about magnesium, I was encouraged, until  tried to look to purchase a supplement. Of course, on GAPs we have to be very careful of the 'other' ingredients in supplements, or we could find ourselves sabbotaging our efforts. Of course, you can use epsom salts for bathing, but we are supposed to rotate our detox baths, so this would not give daily magnesium - but an epsom salt bath can be great for managing detox feelings.

​My main concern was that I learnt that supplementing with magnesium can cause loose stools. Seeing as I am more diarrhoea prone, I did not think that was a good idea. But then I found the 'Hormones for Balance' website. The author explains the different kinds of magnesium supplements and which are the best. It was here that I discovered magnuesium oil which being topically applied (on the skin), by-passes the gut and so is suitable for people with sensitive bowels. So I went looking for magnesium oil to purchase. A quick search on 'Amazon' will show you that it is not cheap. However, reading through the reviews, it soon became clear that there was another solution (excuse the pun!). Make your own, for a fraction of the price!
​

You only need two ingredients. Water (preferably distilled to extend the shelf life, but I use filtered water) and magnesium flakes. 

• Bring one cup of water to the boil.
• Stir in one cup ofmagnesium flakes until they dissove.
• Leave to cool.
• Fill spray bottles.

There is no oil in magnesium oil, however it 'oils' the body! Some say it feels oily when you apply it, but I don't find that is always the case,

Magnesium oil is very safe to use, however always consult a health professional if you are at all unsure. You will need to apply the oil daily, preferable after bathing or showering, but not necessarily.
​Spray the body with between 6 and 30 sprays and remember the soles of your feet. You can start low and increase the dose as any sensitivity decreases.
It may sting to begin with, and you can dilute your mixture a bit until it gets more comfortable, but this should subside after a few applications. Applying the oil to fattier regions of the body may make the sting less noticeable, or remove it entirely.
You can add essentail oil/s to the mixture. I like to appply the 'oil' before going to bed.

You may find that it helps other problems you didn't know were related to a magnesium deficeicy!  I hope you find this as helpful as I did!

It is nearly three years ago that we started the GAPS diet - and three years of being flouride free. It was quite a brave thing to ditch the flouride, but having read of the dangers of flouride and knowing that it would not help us in our quest to detox our bodies, we sought out a brand of natural toothpaste, as I didn't feel up to making my own - and our journey began. So far we have not had any major difficulties.
​

This is our favourite, which we buy in bulk!

Of interest is our Sons' recent visit to the dentist last week: we were very surprised to find her in a panic about their teeth. On walking in to the surgery she asked me if we were still flouride free, to which of course I said 'Yes'. She then asked me how SHE was supposed to keep their teeth in good condition if I didn't let her use flouride and sealants (which we also refused as according to Ramiel Nagel in 'Cure Tooth Decay' they stop the teeth breathing). I assured her that I would take full responsibility.
​

She went on to inspect their teeth and found nothing - except a little plaque as they both have quite severe overcrowding. She then poured over the X-rays she had taken last time to try and find 'shadows' indicating tooth decay - but again found nothing. So instead of praising the Sons for having good teeth and looking after them well, she sent them away saying 'I think you had better bring them in every four months rather than six while you are not using flouride - just so that I can keep a closer eye on their teeth!'. I'm afraid we will be sticking to the six monthly checks as we see no need of extra care. Neither Son has a filling or any trouble of any sort. She is generally a good dentist and I know she is genuinely concerned, but her theory is that of most dentists - that it is bacteria in the mouth which attacks teeth, rather than the body chemistry being out of kilter, that causes decay - which is the reasoning of dentists such as Weston Price and Ramiel Nagal. This leads her to conclude that putting lots of sealants and flouride on chidlren's teeth will protect the from cavities. Unforunately, it won't, it would seem from reading the research on the web.
​

Plaque build-up
​Now being flouride-free has not all been plain sailing: we have found significant plaque build up that we did not experience with flouride toothpaste. In his book 'Cure tooth Decay', Ramiel Nagel explains how plaque is not from what we have done/not done to our teeth, but rather a indication that our diet/body chemistry balance is wrong. He says that if the phosphorous /calcium balance is right, then plaque will not occur. It is interesting to note that plentiful milk products should be eaten/drunk to get plenty of calcium but work must be done on digestion to ensure the full goodness is absorbed. Calcium absorption, he says, is reliant on adquate levels of Vitamin D. Raw milk and fermented milk products are highly reccomended.
    The GAPS diet is very close to the diet the advocates and after following it for so long, you would think that we would be free of plaque by now. Unfortunately, not so!  We have to conclude that our body chemistry is still not quite there. So we are still battlng with working from the inside out and in the mean time, trying to keep on top of plaque - hoping that it will ease off in time. Hopefully, our bodies and teeth are stronger for doing GAPs for so long and so cavities will be kept at bay, even if the plaque hasn't yet been conquered!

Plaque busting
Seeing as we are not in good health yet and live in imperfect bodies, we are not taking any risks, as none of us like the dentist cleaning our teeth for us! Son 1 has always struggled with the co-ordination necessary to clean his teeth well - so we bought him an electric toothbrush early on. He has had the least plaque build up.  I have resorted to regular flossing, which along with regular brushing seems to be helping.  Husband has had the most trouble. The dentist has told him he has receding gums - though his gums look healthy. We are still working on this one. He has many amalgams that we couldn't possibly afford to have removed.
Dr. NCM suggest brushing purely with olive oil, but Husband finds that very hard to do! Oil pulling is an option but it is hard for him to find time (and motivation) to do it.
​
We are normal - we are still finding our way, and have ups and downs, but I feel that our diet must be having some good effect: the dentist's assistant at least remarked on how healthy they looked!
​

​Useful links for more information:
​
Ramiel Nagel - Cure tooth Decay Website
Gaps.me - FAQ
GAPS Australia - Home-made toothpaste recipes


​

We were invited to our nephew's 18th birthday party last week. My sister-in-law messaged me to check the menu and said that the non-GAPS attendees would be having sausage rolls alongside cooked chicken and salad. That got me thinking as I liked the sound of sausage rolls but obviously pastry is pretty hard on the GAPS diet! So I rolled up my sleeves to see what I could create. The family were delighted with the result! We certainly didn't feel as if we were missing out. We had our 'sausage and chicken' flavour along with the rest! So I thought I would share it with you.

Gluten and Wheat Free pastry (nuts)
Of course the pastry had to be both so this recipe is ideal for any gluten-free friends. It is made from soaked nuts (I used cashews, but you can use a nut of your choice), coconut flour, butter ( though you could substitute coconut oil or lard) and egg. I like to soak my nuts to make them easier to digest. I have been working on a pastry for a while and this is my best yet. It holds together well and bakes well - just like ordinary pastry. It does not roll though, so sadly it had to be a pie rather than sausage rolls - but non-the-less tasty! If you are not on the GAPS diet, feel free to use any gluten/wheat free pastry recipe.

You will need to grind your nuts - soaked or unsoaked. I like my mini processor - it fits neatly on the work top, without stealing all the space in my small kitchen.

​The grain-free sausage filling
 I used organic pork mince as I like to get the best pork I can, preferably out-door raised.  I added some sea salt and pepper and sage to add flavour. I could of added 1/4 cup diced onions too. I didn't this time, but will next time. ​
​

Versatile - sausage pie for breakfast, dinner and tea!
Great for breakfast, cold with salad for dinner, great in a packed lunchbox, or served hot with vegetables for the main meal. You choose!
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​How to make the GAPS/grain-free sausaage pie
​If you are using my pastry recipes, you will need to soak your nuts 2 hours ahead of making the pie.
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We have been having beautiful weather here in the UK for the last month - warm, and glorious sunshine from early morning until late at night. It has made me go searching for lighter recipes to have with salad and reduce time spent over the hot stove - after all I spend enough time there as it is, even though I try and make life as simple as possible! Unfortunately, my family are not fans of too much salad, so main meals always have to include cooked veggies. I can however get away with a bit of salad for the lightest meal. These recipes will go with either so are truly versatile.

Husband is not yet eating cheese (which is a shame as many easier meals include cheese), but we have found some where cheese can be excluded. I hope you enjoy browsing these recipes! Where cheese forms a large part of the recipe, I have substituted a pack of Parma ham (no additives/nitrates). I like adding herbs so often pep up the recipes with, for example chives. I have been serving light meals with mint leaves for a delicately fresh taste (which we have growing fresh in the garden). Spring onions also make a great addition. By keeping the basic recipe the same and simply changing the add-ins, you can make each souffle/quiche different!

Needless to say, these recipes are all grain-free and where dairy is used (cheese and fermented dairy), it could easily be substituted.

You can, of course, simply take any recipe from any book and give it a grain-free/dairy-free twist. Make a grain-free pastry and use sour cream/kefir/other milk substitute to make the filling. Prosciutto (nitrate free) makes a great healthy alternative to bacon and ham.

Happy cooking and happy eating!

​This post contains affiliate links.

Followers of my blog for any length of time will know by now that I love recreating those classic family favourite snacks and sweet treats that we enjoyed pre-GAPs diet. Well this time it's flapjack, oozing with butter and raisins, without the oats and treacle.

This bake had my family craving more (oh dear - not the aim of GAPS!) - but obviously the sign of a good treat! It took a couple of tries to get the recipe to perfection, but we think this is as near to real flapjack as we will get. Try it and see!

Packed with nuts and desiccated coconut it fills a gap (excuse the pun) with plenty of fat and protein to keep you from feeling hungry, with just a little honey to sweeten them.

The recipe is easy, so why not bake a batch and watch your loved ones tuck in knowing you are giving their guts a nutricious treat? Or invite some friends round to share them with you - if there are any left by that time!

Well, there I was congratulating ourselves on doing GAPs for two years, when  now BUMP, I have had a setback and found myself right back on intro again, without any warning! To say it came as a shock is an understatement, but I intend to make the most of it. After all, no-one relishes the thought of deliberately doing intro again - but if you have to, thats a different matter! I'm afraid I can't tell you why I am where I am - I don't know, but I suddenly started having bouts of diarrhoea. Admittedly, I was on holiday at the time, but I hadn't eaten anything unusual - except I was experimenting with seed cycling. This inlcuded (the whole time we were away) a fortnight of 1T flax and 1T pumpkin seeds daily. Now I know that I had tried this before and ended up with a lot of stomach discomfort, but for some mad reason I decided to try again and ignore the bloating etc... After one day I spent the night in the bathroom and less than a fortnight later - an even worse episode took place, Loose stools took centre screen and something was definitely off kilter. I did visit the GP, who basically wondered why I had bothered going. He assumed I was worried about cancer, as apparently every one (according to him) who enters his surgery thinks even their itch must be cancer. He wasn't really interested as it hadn't been going on for 6 weeks! So I decided to take things into my own hands - intro INTRO!
My big question was what should I expect - after all, I'd detoxed the first time hadn't I? Surely I should swim through it this time?
Apparently no! The body recognises the deep healing opportunity every time you do the intro - these foods are powerful - and it can be different each time you do it! But it's not proving so easy this time!
Now to punish myself (I was very tired after our very energetic holiday), I decided to go veggie free for a few days - just meat/fats and meat stock... in fact this lasted 6 days! In the end Husband pleaded with me to put veggies back in, albeit cautiously, as I felt so awful and weak and tired! Just for the info of anyone else who might benefit - my bowels went crazy and I took this to mean I wasn't tolerating veggie. In fact, it didn't make a tiny bit of difference when I put them in! I was so relieved to read in the GAPS GUIDE, that it is wisest to ignore ones bowels and focus on other symptoms, as they will be 'all over the map' possible for some weeks and months (by the way, this book is an essential to read before starting intro, once you have read the official GAPS book.)
My first carrot soup with meat balls, was sooo delicious - I wolfed it down hungrily. Savouries have defintiely become more delicious. Even on a limited full diet, you can become overly dependent on the snacks, nuts and dried fruit.
My bowels have now calmed down a bit, though still not anywhere near 'normal' - apparently a type 4 on the Bristol Stool Chart. However my stomach seems very sensitive to anything (including a veg,) it doesn't like, giving me horrible stomach discomfort. Carrot, butternut squash and leek seem safe at the moment. It seems I will be going slower through this time than last.

Have I seen any other benefits: Yes, my carpel tunnel which had insiduously been coming back has receded once more. I am sleeping very deeply. But at this stage I am still quite tired.

I have pulled out my copy of What to Eat on the GAPS Diet, with its invaluable store of recipes and ideas.
I will keep you posted of any other bits of good advice I come accross, including recipes! Don't we all crave recipes on this diet!
​

​On another note, with holidays in mind, watch out for my latest publication, coming soon:
The Self-catering holiday Menu Planner for GAPS/Grain free/sugar free/dairy free diets
How to feed a hungry family simply, cheaply and still have time to enjoy yourself.

This little book will take the stress out of planning the holiday and then making sure you keep to your diet while you are away. It uses the simplest of ingredients so that you can be sure of finding them wherever you are. It includes suggestions for batch cooking to free up even more time! It is very versatile, so you can get the idea and spice up the meals as little or as much as you like. It provides for lunch and tea, presuming you will have your own ideas for breakfast.

Yes, incrdible though it seems, we have completed two years of the GAPS diet, so I thought I would give you an update on how we are doing.

Son 2 is very strong, fit, active and healthy. He has no sign of winter congestion despite the bitter cold winter spells we have had in the UK this year and has no signs of asthma. He eats like a horse and is always starving as all good teenagers are. He eats a wide range of foods, but 80% is meat, veg and fat. He does enjoy fruit too and I have to watch he doesn't overeat it though. He has just introduced cheddar cheese into his diet, with a view to widening his choice of foods and hopefully gradually moving him back onto a traditional diet and away from solely GAPS foods.
He initially got quite thin, but has now filled out into a stocky, but not fat figure. This son did weigh 12 pounds 2oz at birth!

Son 1 has made good progress. He stopped growing very much when we started the diet - he was already 6 ft. but at that point was still going up quickly. Therefore he plateaued for a long time, but a recent measure shows he has grown 1 cm in 6 months, the most in ages. In the meantime it seems that his muscles have been healing. At birth he was diagnosed as being on the lower end of the normal hypermobility scale. He was definitely more flexible than most, with elbows clearly bending in the wrong way. At a recent visit to a physiotherpist, I asked if you can grow out of hypermobilism, as I could see his joints wouldn't move backwards as they used to. She answered, she didn't think so. I told her that Son1 was born rather more hypermobile than most, so she tested him, and all that remains is a little hypermobility in his knees, With a little more research I found that hypermobility can be caused by an ability of nutrients reaching the muscles. I only asked as when he (again) dislocated a knee cap, the consultant seemed to imply that being hypermobile had nothing to do with it. So when I discovered he still has some hypermobility in his knee joints, it would seem reasonable to think that it might not be helping his problems, which every one we see gives another reason from, ranging from his height, to funny shaped/positioned knee caps! Say no more - thank you GAPS diet!
     His stutter is still noticeable but only if he gets tired or stressed. His eczma still exists in a few small patches but it does not bother him and he only knows it's there because I looked and saw it! Before GAPs, he was plagued every summer with a horrible rash, either on his back  and chest, or between his thighs. We would invest in every potion possible in an attempt to find something to ease the itching and soreness. We have discovered that he has a very sensitive stomach: sensitive to stress, which in most forms for him comes in the form of excess excitement, causing loose stools; and there are more foods that he has difficulty re-introducing than the rest of us.

I have had an interesting ride. Initially, I lost weight and gained heaps of energy. My cycles were fairly regular and light. Then I started to miss - first two months, followed by a 3 week very light bleed, then back to normal for two months. I didn't worry and just presumed I was getting old! Then I mised three months and then bled for nine days, a week later again for twelve days and two weeks after that for nearly four weeks at which point I  went to the doctors, The doctor ruled out other possible causes and the gyneacologist said it was 'just hormones'. Well that was a relief, but my doctor had put me on a two month does of a progestin, but the gyneacologist said  I must take it for 6 months as my periods were likely to be very heavy. Boy - they were! I have never had heavy periods of any form so this was a complete shock to me. Flooding and losing up 230mls in 2 days (I use a moon cup). Thankfully, the bleeding would quickly subside after 2 days. I was so grateful to a friend for introducing me to Wellsprings Natural Progesterone Cream (the only one available easily from the UK, other countries may have more choice) and with my docotor's permission, started to use it. Following their very helpful advice, I reduced the bleeding after one month, and further reduced it after two of continual double dosage. This has gradually elimated all symptoms. However I was perplexed as GAPS says the diet regulates hormones so I asked Dr Mc. Bride and she said all bodies are different in how they heal and some may need natural progesterone to ease the transition, Well as I am now 50, I will continue with it to smooothe my passage through menopause.
Around this time I also started to gain weight. I thought at first it was the synthetic progesterone that had caused it (listed as one of the side effects) but now several months after stopping, the weight still stubbornly persists. The natural progesterone says it helps with weight loss as putting on weight is a sign of estrogen dominance. That hasn't worked either. Since my waist has not increased greatly, I can only presume that I  must have very solid bones!
I have started seed cyling to help balance the hormones. Agnus Castus ( I have used this one in  the past to good effect) is another good alternative to gently help the body regulate progesterone levels. 
I am currently having days when I am extremely tired after lunch, but flying before and flying again the next day (i.e. doing too much!). I am investigating the cause! Husband thinks my thyroid is now working more efficiently, which blood tests have shown it is, having a reduced TSH from a steady 1.4 for several years, to a 'optimum' 1.1. The natural progesterone cream can help to improve thyroid function as the thyoid hormone is closely linked to the sex hormones - one reason why many ladies aged 50 + develop thyroid problems as progesterone levels get lower. If so, I must monitor it closely and learn to regulate my new found energy!

Onto Husband. Apart from his weight, husband very rarely has other symptoms to gauge his thyroid function by. Therefore he monitors his weight every week and has blood tests every 6 weeks. Consistently his labs showed that he needed to reduce his medication (cheese seems still to have been the biggest culprit in his case). The consultant however, would reduce him in big doses which just seemed to kick him back more hyper again. So in the end, after seeing the FAQ on the GAPS diet webpage, where Dr. Mc.Bride explains that thyroid medication must be reduced very slowy as drugs become part of our physiology, he took his medication into his own hands and has slowly reduced 5mg every 6 weeks or so, using blood tests as a guide and his weight in between, sometimes increasing a dose if he feels he went too fast and he lost weight, all under the supervision of his doctor. This is a slow but effective process. We have learnt that by and large, endocrinologists know little about the thyroid, preferring to simply take it out, make you underactive and put you on Levythyroxine for life, as soon as possible.

​We have found these websites to be most helpful:

www.hormonesbalance.com/
www.naturalendocrinesolutions.com/

I have been getting more and more post through my in box recently, advising me that in order to heal the body, we must consider more than just food and look to our minds as well. I hope regular readers of my blogs will know that that is something I often stress - the importance of looking at our lifestyle too. However, the latest emphasis - and it's funny how everyone seems to jump on the same bandwagon a lot of the time - seems to be on the care of the mind. Why? Because the state of our mind does have a direct impact on our health. I don't doubt that, having experienced it many times myself. It is also true that the state of our gut affects the state of our mind - its a two way thing. Stress is the main thing we all battle against in this fast-paced world in which we live. With ever more efficient targets to aim for, more work to be done in less time... you know how it goes! As an aside, I do often wonder where the inventors of all this think we are heading. What is the purpsose of more 'efficiency' when actually, from what I see, as a people we are becoming far less efficient for all our techniques! But never-the-less, we are caught up in a rat race to...???? Where? Now if the emphasis was rather on doing things to a higher standard, and better quality, that might change things a bit - we might actually slow down and start to take more care! I think though, that in many people minds, efficiency equals quality, but sadly it doesn't always. Reducing the number of workers and rushing them off their feet and paying them a pittance is hardly the way to produce better quality anything. So it is not surprising that to counter this, we are told we need 'time to ourselves', time to 'destress', space to think, contact with nature to help us get a sense of focus, etc.... Many ways of doing this are propounded, for example: mindfulness, 'Tapping', Yoga and  meditation. 

What we are basically being reminded of is that we are not just made up of a body. We have a mind too, but more importantly we all have a soul and that is often overlooked/forgotten/ignored, posssibly because it makes us feel uncomfortable; its an area we would rather not look into. Many link the mind to the soul and there is no doubt there is a link, anf many ignore the link to their peril. The mind is very powerful and tampering with something you don't understand can be catastrophic. The soul, though, deals with our moral nature, not just how we handle stress. But, as we all know, one part impacts on the other and you cannot deal with the mind and body, without also dealing with the soul. Whether we like it or not, we cannot escape the fact that we all have a spiritual component to us. We might say 'I'm not religious' as a way of pushing it under the carpet. Others ignore their conscience and push it out of the way and pretend its not there. But you can't. It won't go away. It's part of you. What is more of note, is that what you do with your soul doesn't just affect life now, but it affects your eternal destiny, as again, although you may wish to deny it, your soul will never die. In other words, while you are lavishing much care and attention on your body and mind, these will one day fail and come to an end. Your soul, will not come to an end. It will carry on going. Now that's a scary thought. Carry on going where? Maybe that's why many of us care not, for all our mindfulness, about our soul. It's too troubling. It's too confusing. It just makes us feel out of control - the opposite of what we are trying to achieve! But its too important to neglect! Eternity will be much longer than your life, however long, on this earth.

What do we do about it? Ignore it? Go to church? Which church? Be religious? Which religion? Too many questions, and many of them unfavourable to us, crowd our minds. See - they crowd our thoughts and trouble our soul (see, we can't seperate them) ...troubling thoughts and uncomfortable feelings. So we shut them up and hope they will go away. But they don't, they fester, like an open wound.

Now I don't want you to get the wrong impression. I'm not telling you all this to improve your health. I don't want you to consider your soul just as a means of prolonging your days here on earth. No! I'm telling you, because eternity matters. We are so mindful of lengthening our days here, we forget eternity is longer - much, much longer.
So what is the answer? Is there one? How can I know what will happen to my soul? What can I do to look after it when I am gone? 
Well , once you are gone, it will be too late. So you must do it now! It is urgent.
Do what? Well first you need to know the state of your soul.
The Bible tell us the state of our soul:

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (King James Version)
and
"For the wages of sin is death" (KJV)  This talks of eternal death - seperation from God for ever.

This is a gloomy picture you say. I thought you would tell me what to do.
I am - listen. Listen to what these verses are saying about our souls. All of us - not just you. All have sinned. Many will deny this and say, "But I'm a good person really. I haven't stolen, or robbed  a bank, surely I am ok?" But this verse tell us we have no excuses. ALL have sinned. 

So what do we do about it? Is that it? No hope for any of us?
No, there is hope! The second verse goes on to say,
"For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

A gift? you say. Yes, a gift, not a reward. We wrongly think that our soul will be rewarded in the afterlife. We wrongly think that what we do to earn credit points counts something for us. You have been misled if you think this.The Bible tell us otherwise. We CANNOT do anything to earn our way to eternal life. I repeat, NOTHING! We are sinners, and we must pay for our sin by our own eternal death - unless..... and there is hope, we accept the gift. What is the gift? Forgiveness of our sin and eternal life as a consequence. The Lord Jesus Christ, who was perfect all his earthly days, allowed himself to be crucified, the most cruel death, in your place and in mine. He has paid the price for our sin, The gift is ready to be taken, but you must take it. You can't say 'Oh that's alright then, there's no problem." and do nothing. First you must admit that you are a sinner. Own up to it, see that you can't save yourself. Then you reach out in faith for the gift: "Lord, I'm a sinner, Save me!" 

This is a gift indeed, for not only do you receive eternal life, but you are also made at peace with the all powerful, all knowing, wise, God. His son the Lord Jesus Christ is your saviour and promises to look after you all this life. His love for you is great and will He use all His powers to look after you. He will no longer be an impersonal God to fear, but a friend and Saviour. What peace! What joy! What comfort! Be troubled no more my soul, you have found a pearl of great price, a treasure beyond compare! You will want to please Him out of love for saving you, not fear. 

If you would like to know more, then I would encourage you to listen to these messages from the Metropolitan Tabernacle in South London. Services are available live. There are many counterfeits out there. It is confusing. Basically, if anyone tell you to earn your way to heaven, don't listen. Its not a case of being good enough, trying harder, but "Lord, I'm a sinner, Save me!" 

If you missed the first post in this series, read it here.

​Last month I set you the challenge of looking at where your money is going. How did you get on? It is surprising that when you stop to analyse where the money goes, you are sometimes amazed. I know I am.

Okay, this time we will start to look at little ways to free up money in the kitchen. It has to be understood that we are not going to skimp on the quality of food consumed. The aim is, to free money to be able to buy the best food we can afford. After all, we are seeking to heal the gut, and seeing as the diet is going to be very restricted and it will be hard, we don't want to be doing it longer than we have to! Neither do we want to have to spend more money out on expensive supplements if we could have got more nutrients from our food.
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My first piece of advice is to find the best value produce at the best price. This will most probably mean getting things in different places. Supermarkets are not the best place for vegetables (not even organic ones) or meat, as a general rule. I wouldn't say that I never get these things from a supermarket, but I try to limit it a mcuh as possible. Often the land on which the food has been grown/raised, has been intensely farmed and is lacking in nutrients. This will involve a fair amount of research and you wil be continually modifying your food sources, as you become aware of other options. Don't expect to sort it all in one go! So look instead for a local vegetable supplier - not necessarily organic, but fresh. Look for a butcher that sells local meat... preferably grass-fed, and if you are in the UK, it does not necessarliy need to be organic; local and fresh can be adequate, but see what your body can take. These will be your main financial outlays for food.

Look to buy in bulk where you can. Other things, like salt, dried herbs, cocoa powder, cheap honey (which I use for baking as heating destroys the enzymes, so it makes sense not to use your expensive raw honey), vinegar (for chemical free cleaning) can be purchased in a supermarket.  I tend to be careful where I get olive oil from.
Do watch for convenience foods and try not to buy them. I can hear you saying "But we can't eat convenience foods on the GAPS diet," and most we can't, but we can still drink water, and little bottles of spring water are a very expensive form in which to purchase water. Either buy your own filter, or buy in larger quantities. Or things like raisins, which you can buy in snack packs for a much greater price gram for gram than buying a big packet of raisins and putting them in little pots yourself. Of course, snacks, like NAKD bars are very expensive. See our snack recipes for delicious ideas that are much cheaper making yourself.

I mainly shop in small shops now - butchers, greengrocers, health food shop and order milk from an organic delivery service,
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Try and develop the practice/habit of filling the oven as much as you can when you switch it on.
Make twice as much, one portion to eat and one to save/freeze for another day. This is a great time saver too - less time spent preparing and washing up afterwards. The other main advantage is that one day, you will have a lovely easy meal - just reheat and eat... FANTASTIC!
Many GAPs diet websites give advice on batch cooking, especially health, home and happiness.
I love to make three litres of soup at a time, and then have three days holiday! I put the slowcooker on all night, and harvest the fatty broth to make three days meat stock for breakfast, then put it on again, with vegetables, to make enough for 3l soup.
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You know, it's amazing how easy it is for food to get 'lost' in the fridge/freezer. Once out of date, or left too long, it goes off and has to be thrown away - like throwing money away! So, keep an orderly fridge. Use things in rotation. Every day, pull things that need using to the front and push the newer things back. Watch those vegetables too as they won't keep fresh for long! The GAPs diet makes using up leftovers easy - veg can go in soups and lefover meat scraps make lovely breakfasts/light meals. Omlettes are great too with leftover veg/meat. In fact, I often cook extra veg, so that I will have some just to reheat for breakfast, as Son 1 likes a savoury start to the day. 
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First, make a list before you go. The best way to do this is to make a meal plan for the week and aim to only buy the things you need. Don't be tempted by offers for more than you need. It is simply false economy. There are times I do go for an offer - if I need that item and know I can use it up. Otherwise I walk on by. Such things might be washing powder (though I mostly use wash balls) or tins, packages and frozen veg./fruit/meat.

Secondly: be careful what you  buy where. I was recently alerted to the fact that anything you buy in a supermarket other than food, you have to pay more than you might elsewhere, for the convenience of buying it there. So don't buy stationary, car things, cookware, plastic bags/tinfoil/plastic wrap etc.. in a supermarket. 

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If you are like me, it is easy to try and return to our old way of eating, albeit GAPS style - you know, a baked treat every day. Either that or we over rely on nuts and fruit. GAPS is about healing with meat and meat fats and vegetables and ferments. If money is tight, then cut the rest and you may even find some of your symptoms improve as a result!
Also, make use of non-dairy fats as they tend to be cheaper - e.g. lard. Don't forget a dash of olive oil is good too.

Household cleaners are no not only full of toxic chemicals, but they cost a bomb too, and green replacements are not cheap. If you think vinegar and bicarbonate of soda don't work think again - they do! I have a little spray bottle, which I half fill with cheap white vinegar, fill to the top with water and add a drop of ecover washing up liquid. This is my 'go-to' kitchen surface/bathroom cleaner. Bulk buy bicarbonate of soda - it's much cheaper that way, and you can use it for detoxing baths too. To remove stains, sprinkle a little on the surface, dampen it and make a paste, leave a minute or two, and gently rub. Wipe off with a damp cloth.

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Now, I know many of these things, you will say "Oh, but I already do that!" I am sure you do, sometimes...but if you are like me, we are human and things slip a bit here and there and it doesn't do any harm (only gives us more money left over) to pick ourselves up on things again. Or perhaps some of these things are helpful to you and you have never thought much about them. Either way I hope this post has been helpful.

​Please do leave a comment if you have any other ideas that readers might like!

Here in the UK, much is made of the shameful wastage of food that occurs daily in our homes. Well I have to say little goes to waste in our house as we can't afford it to. I suppose we have a bit of a war mentality - as if their was a shortage and every scrap was another mouthful for someone. We love left-overs. In fact we love them so much I often plan to have leftovers. They make super breakfasts, for example, plus its amazing what you can turn them into! For want of a better name I call this dish:

Left-overs Casserole

​In fact, it is not one dish, but however many you can think of. The variations are endless and it need never be served up the same way twice! This recipe can be easily adapted for any meat - cold leftover turkey/chicken, or freshly cooked fish.
It is so simple, but it does need some leftover squash. You can adapt it as much as you like and you won't go far wrong, but it does make for a delicious dish. I include some ideas dependent on your diet.
I like to roast heaps of squash and carrot on a Sunday, while the Sunday roast is cooking. Then I have left-over squash/carrot mix (which does fine for this recipe) for soups and casseroles and stir-fries throughout the week.

Variations: Experiment and you will make a new dish every time!

Meat/Fish:

​As it is a left-overs meal, I tend to use cold meat - often left-over from the Sunday roast. However, we also like it with fish. I buy frozen fish, bring it to the boil in a pan of water and let it cook for  a few minutes until flaky (this does not take long!). Then I mix it up with the squash as per recipe.

Toppings:

Mix a quantitiy of ground almonds (almond flour) with a small amount of butter and rub the butter in to make a crumble. Sprinkle this on top before placing in the oven.

Gratin: Gently fry thin slices of swede in a frying pan until they soften. Layer them over the casserole and place in the oven. Ten minutes before serving, sprinkle with cheese and return to the oven until melted and bubbling.

Sauces:

Cauliflower Sauce instead of or in addition to the stock: See recipe here. Make a batch and it will do a couple of meals during the week.

Tomato Passata maybe watered down a little with a quantity of stock.

Vegetables:

Add different veg: pepper, frozen peas, tomatoes etc...

This dish is suitable for GAPS stage 4 of the introduction diet, once roast foods are introduced.

You know when out of a disaster comes something good? Like when you forget a key ingredient for the familie's favourite Sunday pudding and so you have to make something else instead? Well, that's what happened to us last week. To my horror, the gelatine (which I knew I had bought) completely disappeared. I searched in all the shopping bags to no avail and then with  many apologies I had to explain that we couldn't have Chocolate Pots (see below)  for Sunday lunch. Fortunately the Family were very forgiving as  I made  Chocolate Tart instead. They all agreed that actually it was nice to have a change.

So this week, armed with the necessary gelatine, I decied to ring the changes and make a Chocolate Mousse instead of the Chocolate Pots. And so something good has come out of my accident!

This is what materialised. It hit the chocolate spot exactly! It would be suitable for a week day dessert, or when entertaining, topped with some fermented cream of course!
Try it and see - super easy to make and sure to be a winner!

For both puddings, diabetics can reduce the honey if needed. If you take it out completely, then add a little more milk kefir/dairy alternative.

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These have been our family's stand-by Sunday lunch dessert since we introduced them. Pep them up with some cacoa nibs and grate some 100% dark chocolate on them for a special occasion!

But a couple more recipes  have come my way and I though I would point them out to you.

The first (above) makes a great sandwich replacement which is great when husband has to travel or we go out for the day. Just be careful - it IS very filling, before you add a filling! So don't do too much. With my round waffle maker I can make four waffles and one is enough each. I like the sound of using it as a pizza base, but that's not for us yet! 
I have to say that we don't indulge in waffles on Sunday as we are in too much of a hurry to get to church, but we do indulge on Saturdays.

The second has the lovely flavours of autumn and is delicious with honey and sour cream!
​ENJOY!