Fresh Juice

I don't like to give my kids pop, that is a given, although they get maybe a glass or two a year at a family get together or birthday party. In our house the drink choices are filtered water ( which I plan to talk about in another post ) raw milk, tea, yogurt of kefir smoothies, and juice. I don't buy juice from the grocery store because most of them are as bad for you as pop. I know that sounds like a stretch but if you don't believe me look into it for yourself. Here are a few places to get you started.
truth about store bought orange juice
arsenic in apple juice?
Secret ingredient in your orange juice
None of these articles even address high fructose corn syrup in juice, which can be another problem.
Instead of buying juice from the store for my kids, I really like to make fresh juice for them.  This does require some hardware and software. The hardware would be a juicer. There are a lot of them on the market. They range from $30 to $500. Let me tell you I don't think you really need to spend a fortune. My first Juicer was a cheep $30 juicer and it did the job. I have a Jack La Lane juicer now, and its nice and not to pricey at just around $100.

  Now for the software. I like to use a variety of fruits and veggies in our juice.  Here is what we had this morning.

Carrots, apples, cucumber, pineapple & grapes

I like to have mostly carrot in our juice, its a good base, and its really good for your gut. It also helps to rid your body of toxins.
Here is what our finished juice looked like today. It could be very different depending on the combo of ingredients I use. Like spinach no matter how little I use, turns the whole glass bright green.

All that fruit and veg, made just that amount of juice. Its enough for all of us to have just one glass. 

Here is what we are left with after all the juice is gone.

I know it seems like a waste, but sometimes I take the pulp and make muffins with it. I don't view it as a waste because I know that my family just received a powerhouse of nutrients that they would never get by just eating an apple and a few carrot sticks as a snack. Now don't get me wrong, I love it when they snack on healthy stuff too, but this is much more concentrated. 

Juicing is especially good for people who are on the gaps diet. Here is what Natasha Campbell McBride has to say about it in her book Gut and Psychology Syndrome.

So what do we do about all these heavy metals and toxins lurking in our patients bodies? We can't just forget about them. Well there is a time proven way of detoxifying, taking out of the body not just the heavy metals but a lot of other poisons as well without any side effects or harmful complications. And a very tasty way too. Children in particular love it. This way is JUICING. Thousands of people all over the world freed themselves from the most deadly diseases with juicing. 

Juices provide all the goodness from these fruit and vegetables in a concentrated form and in large amounts.  For example to make a glass of carrot juice you a pound of carrots. Nobody can eat a pound of carrots at once, but you can get all that nutrition from them by drinking the juice. 

For people who have a compromised digestive system the fiber in fruits and veggies can irritate the gut lining, by juicing the fiber is taken out, making it easier to absorb all the nutrients. 

Fiber in fruits and veggies is a good thing for those who can handle it! 

Well I hope I have inspired you to look into juicing, or to dust off the juicer you have had sitting in the basement.  I think it will pay off big for your health.  Right now I try to juice twice a week. That is enough for us to see some of the benefits!  Happy Juicing!

Honey Buttered Nuts

I just needed something sweet tonight. Something fast with little mixing and baking. Ella was right there with me and helped me sweeten up some crispy nuts that we had in the pantry! They hit the spot!

Here is the recipe and some photos.

That's Ella scraping honey into the pot

Four cups of mixed crispy nuts

after pouring the honey butter on

after baking 

Recipe

Oh how wonderful...

Just when things on this diet really get hard, I find some hope in the form of an almond flour crepe! Think of the possibilities, I could use then to make lunch meat roll ups, fill them with taco fillings, chicken salad, sweet fillings too, like fruit and sweetened cream cheese, one lady on youtube used them as lasagna noodles. ( which I will so be trying ) I am really excited! Which most likely makes me sound like a nut case! So be it!
I made my first ever batch of crepes today, and they were really very good! Like good enough to make even if I was not on this diet!  Stand alone good! We ate them with out any filling at all! Here is the recipe, just in case you want to try it out for yourself! I would say go for it even if you are eating grain!  I did not take any pictures of the process because it would have been hard to take pictures while making crepes, but here are some pictures of the finished crepes. I really need a camera man!

You will find the recipe here.

Menu plan for the week ( a little late)

I have not been doing menu planning much anymore because, well, it just seems overwhelming while being on this diet. Trying to combine meals in a way that we can all eat the same meal, but that it serves my dietary needs and my husband is still happy with the food, has been a challenge. I noticed that when I fail to plan a menu, I end up in worse shape, and we scrounge for dinner most nights. So I am jumping back on the menu planning band wagon.  Here is the line up for the rest of this week.

Today
Breakfast  Soaked oatmeal for the family ( eggs for me )
Lunch  : Quesadillas w/ cut veggies ( mine are going to be made with almond flour crepes )
Dinner : Roast Chicken w/ steamed veggies

Wednesday
Breakfast : Sausage, eggs, & fruit
Lunch : Chicken salad wraps on almond flour crepes
Dinner : Burgers

Thursday
Breakfast : Coconut flour pancakes and sausage
Lunch : Deviled eggs, cut veggies and dip, and lacto fermented pickles
Dinner : Pot roast with veggies

Friday
Breakfast : Smoothies and almond flour muffins
Lunch : Quesadillas
Dinner : Chicken Teriyaki stir fry with home made teriyaki sauce

Saturday
Breakfast : Butternut squash baked custard cups
Lunch : Taco soup
Dinner : BLT ( almond flour bread )

Sunday
Breakfast : We eat with our church family  ( I will be bringing mini egg quiches, gaps diet friendly )
Lunch : Sandwiches ( almond flour bread )
Dinner : Chicken enchiladas ( almond flour crepes for the tortillas )

Extra snacks this week, Homemade yogurt, baked apples, homemade crackers, crispy nuts, grass feed raw cheese, fruit, and any other snack my pregnant belly must have!

* From this point on, unless otherwise noted, you can assume that any grain needed for a meal will be replaced by an almond flour or coconut flour equal, or just veggies. You can assume that any condiment or sauce I use will be homemade to the gaps diet standard. ( like my mayo for the chicken salad or the teriyaki sauce. )  That way, when I include,  chicken enchilada's in my menu I don't have to point out that almond flour crepes are subbing for the tortillas or that the sauce is homemade.

Name Change

I have changed the name of my blog. Risky move, but here are my reasons. My new name will reflect my existing web address. www.katiehomekeeper.blogspot.com and secondly there is another blog that I recently started following with the title Keeper of the Home.  Although I love the name, I would rather avoid confusion.
Katie home Keeper is short and cute, and works for me! In the bible, God changed Abram's name to Abraham, and Sari to Sara, and it brought them more grace in their lives. Just a thought! Hope you like the new name!

Gladrags giveaway!

Gladrags is giving away gift cards of $100, $50, $25 on their website, enter to win!
http://blog.gladrags.com/2012/01/05/spread-the-word-win-100-worth-of-gladrags/

Homemade Mayo

There are really good reasons to make food from scratch or all homemade. Usually homemade is superior in taste, and nutrition.  I don't think its out of place or uncommon to make bread from scratch, muffins and cookies, are commonly homemade items, but usually people don't take the time to make their condiments from scratch. Well today I am going to show you how simple and easy it is to make homemade mayonnaise. Homemade mayo is not going to contain any additives, preservatives and unhealthy oils. For an idea on what I consider an unhealthy oil check out this article.
http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/the-great-con-ola
When you are done looking at that get in the kitchen and make some mayo, it will only take about 10 min.

Homemade Mayo
2 egg yolks ( room temp works best )
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
1 T. lemon juice
1/2 t. Dijon style mustard
1c. healthy oil ( sunflower or olive oil are good choices, sunflower oil is more mild in flavor and what I prefer to use, Olive oil is a superior oil, but has a stronger flavor)

Place first five ingredients in a quart wide mouth jar. With an immersion blender, lightly blend. Add oil, and hold  immersion blender to very bottom of jar, pulse blend until you start to see the oil emulsifying, you will know what you are looking for because it looks like mayonnaise. There will still be oil on top and at this point you can  raise and lower the immersion blender while pulsing, to incorporate the oil on top.  Check out this youtube video that I found to show you the process.  ( I did not use his recipe )

Gaps Diet Part 2

This is a follow up to yesterdays post about the gaps diet that I am on. Yesterday I started summing up the problem, but I really just scratched the surface. On this post I have a few more things to say about the problem, and the solution, but again there is so much more info that I don't have the space to share here. Please contact me for any questions that you might have.

 Here is a bit from Dr. Mercola - He has a great news letter that you can sign up for, and some really great information on his website. I will put that in my link section.

  One of the reasons that dietary changes work is because it helps alter your gut flora in very beneficial ways. The beneficial bacteria in your gut have a profound influence on your health, including your mental health. They produce substances that your body needs. And, your gut actually produces more serotonin than your brain does! Your gut is frequently referred to as 'the second brain,' and when you consider the fact that the gut-brain connection is recognized as a basic tenet of physiology and medicine, and that there's no shortage of evidence of gastrointestinal involvement in a variety of neurological diseases, it's easy to see how the balance of gut bacteria can play a significant role in your psychology and behavior as well. With this in mind, it should also be crystal clear that nourishing your gut flora is extremely important, from cradle to grave, because in a very real sense you have two brains, one inside your skull and one in your gut, and each needs its own vital nourishment.


I really love how he talks about the gut being the second brain, and that the gut actually produces more serotonin then your brain. Serotonin produces that feel good feeling. Most people who suffer from deppresion turn to anti depresents, really just need healthy gut flora.
Like I said before I am just scratching the surface here on the diseases that are because of bad gut flora. To truly understand health, you must truly understand the gut and all its functions.


So why eliminate grain and sugar and other starches? Well that is a good question, and not the only part of the solution.

I will address sugar first. I think we all have a general idea why sugar is not so good for us. But do we really have a grasp on how much of it we consume. 20 grams here and 30 grams there.  The average american consumes a whopping 165lb of added sugar per year. ( that is according to the US department of agriculture) that is 31 five pound bags for each of us.  added means that you are not necessarily getting all that sugar from the sugar bowl. Did you know that canned tomatoes have added sugar.  What is all this sugar doing to us? Refined sugar contains no fiber, no minerals, no proteins, no fats, no enzymes, only empty calories. How your body metabolize it by borrowing vital nutrients from healthy cells depleting them. Calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium are taken from various parts of the body to make use of the sugar.
Sugar also effects your digestive systems balance by providing the bad bacteria with food. Yeast especially likes to feed on sugar. This creates an imbalance in your gut.

Although traditional diets did include grain, it was not consumed the way we consume it today. First of all grain has been re-engineered to have more gluten. We are not talking about the same grain that traditional cultures ate. Additionally they did not have our modern bakers yeast, they had to go through the process of fermenting their flour to produce a natural rise for their bread, ( like sourdough bread ) and in that process they broke down the grain and made in more digestible. Here is what nourished kitchen has to say about grain.

Intestinal health is critical to your overall health.   If you’re gut isn’t healthy, you can’t absorb nutrients from the foods you eat.   If you can’t absorb nutrients from the foods you eat, your body is malnourished and is more prone to disease.   Grains are associated with a condition called leaky gut syndrome.   Tiny particles of grains, when ingested, can slip through the intestinal walls causing an immune response.   With your immune system excessively taxed by constantly attacking these out-of-place particles of grain, it cannot effectively fight against true threats like pathogens.


She goes on to say


Due to a high starch content, grains are inflammatory foods.   The more refined the grain, the more inflammatory it is.   For example, unbleached white flour is more inflammatory than whole grain flour; however, whole grains are still moderately inflammatory foods and certainly more inflammatory than other foods like fresh vegetables and wholesome fats.   Chronic inflammation is linked to a myriad of degenerative, modern diseases including arthritis, allergies, asthma, cardiovascular disease, bone loss, emotional imbalance and even cancer.   Unbleached white flour earns an inflammation factor of -421 or strongly inflammatory onNutritionData.com while whole wheat flour earns an inflammation factor of -247 or moderately inflammatory.   Similarly, whole cooked millet earns an inflammation factor of -150 and cooked brown rice earns an inflammation factor of -143 – also moderately inflammatory.


and...


When improperly prepared as they most often are, grains can inhibit vitamin and mineral absorption.   Grains contain substances like phytic acid which binds up minerals and prevents proper absorption.   Essentially, though your diet might be rich in iron, calcium and other vital nutrients if you eat improperly prepared grain, you’re not fully absorbing nutrients from the foods you eat.   However, please note that souring, sprouting and soaking grains neutralizes phytates and renders the nutrients in grain more absorbable.source


When the gut is healthy, properly prepared grains in moderation are fine. When you properly prepare the grains as in sourdough bread, and soaked oats, the process neutralizes phytic acid. But someone with an unhealthy gut should avoid grains all together until the gut health is restored.
Starchy vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams, also pose a problem for the gut, because they are hard for the gut to breakdown. They should also be avoided.

More to come....

Gaps Diet

This post has been a long time coming. I really needed to refresh my memory about the details of this diet.
You know how sometimes you can form an opinion about something, because you researched it and became well informed, but then as you step back and life goes on the details of why get a little fuzzy. Well that is how it works with me, anyhow. Plus with the gaps diet, I always feel like there is something new to learn.  So here it is, the post about my seemingly crazy diet. I hope that those of you who take an interest learn something that will really make a difference for your health.

Gaps stands for Gut and Psychology Syndrome, because doctors and scientist have discovered a that the gut and the brain are hugely connected. In fact your gut is your second brain, they even look like each other in some ways. If the intestinal lining of your gut is not doing its job then it affects how your brain functions as well as your whole body.  Hippocrates said that all diseases begin in the gut. How right he was!

So why would your gut not be working properly? That is a good question. The standard American diet, or SAD as it is commonly called, is made up largely of processed foods, white flour, white sugar, that are void of nutrients. Not only does this not provide your body with anything good, but robs your body of vital minerals, vitamins, and enzymes. You need enzymes to digest your food. Our bodies makes some of its own enzymes, but most of our enzymes come from the food that we eat. These modern processed foods have no enzymes to offer.
So maybe you are thinking your diet is not so bad, maybe you have the occasional bagel made with white flour, and only every once in a while you have a sweet treat, but you still eat plenty of fresh food too. Subway comes with lettuce and tomato right?  Well that is a bigger topic, for another post, but I will say this, if you are not closely reading those food labels then you have no idea what you are eating.  This post is not meant to be offensive just to inform you. Hey I was the queen of poor eating habits. I love junk food just as much as the next guy, but things have changed a bit. I really got sick of feeling sick.
Ok lets just pretend that you have the best diet on the face of the planet. Do you take birth control pills? Have you ever? Have you ever had a round of antibiotics? How about that tap water you are drinking or maybe you have a brita, your water is chlorinated. All of these things kill the bacteria in your gut, the bad as well as the good.   Here are a few things that Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride has to say about it.

Contraceptive pills have a devastating effect on the beneficial bacteria in your gut. One of the major functions of the gut flora is controlling about 500 different known species of pathogenic ( or bad ) and opportunistic microbes get a special opportunity to grow into large colonies, that spread over and occupy large areas of the digestive tract. A modern diet of processed and fast foods provide perfect nourishment for these pathogens. And that is the typical diet that the modern mom had as a child and young adult.  As a result of all these factors the modern mom has seriously compromised gut flora by the time she is ready to have children. And indeed clinical signs of gut dysbiosis ( abnormal gut flora ) are present in almost 100% of mothers with children with neurological and psychiatric conditions. 

She goes on to say...

Why are we talking about the mothers gut flora? Because her baby is born with a sterile gut. In the first 20 or so days of life the babies virgin gut surface gets populated by a mixture of microbes. This becomes the child's gut flora, which will have a tremendous effect on this child's health for the rest of his/ her life. Where does this gut flora come from? Mainly from the mother. So whatever microbial flora the mother has she passes it on to her new born child. 


So even if you eat the perfect diet, your mother might not have, and you have inherited her gut, basically.
The first function of the digestive system is to break down, digest and absorb the food we eat. Good bacteria in your gut break down and pull out the nutrients that we need from our food. If you have abnormal gut flora you are not digesting your food properly. So then what happens? Well a few things... First, your undigested food will go through the wall of your gut and into your blood stream, where your body will not recognize it and attack it like an invader. This will cause you to have an immune reaction. sometimes these reactions come in the form of hives, or skin rashes or eczema., or even an asthma attack. Sometimes these reactions are less obvious, a headache, over all feeling sluggish. It could be any of a hundred symptoms.
Second  you will end up with nutritional deficiencies.

Lets look at just some of the deficiencies that can occur. Vitamin K, folic acid, iron, B vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, and B12, various amino acids, and proteins.  That is the short list!  Apart from nourishing our bodies, beneficial bacteria in the gut will act as gate keepers or guards. They coat the entire surface ( which by the way, if stretched out flat would cover an Olympic size tennis court )  of the gut, protecting it from invaders and toxins by producing a natural barrier. They produce anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal substances that fight infection! When working properly our guts are amazing. They can be our best friend or our worst nightmare.

So here is a little insight to why I am choosing this diet. I will talk more about the actual diet in the posts that follow!

Hello! This is Shane Duffy. I am a special guest author today. God loves you!