Recipe: Butternut Squash Cupcakes (GAPS FRIENDLY)

If there is anything my husband is needing right now, it's comfort food. But baking in the GAPS world can get pretty expensive, so I was thrilled about this recipe! Another thing I love about this recipe is that you don't feel like your eating GAPS, it tastes totally illegal! And I was really excited to have something so moist to use in place of birthday cakes! I got this recipe off of SAHMville, one of my favorite sites! You want to see an amazing GAPS recovery story for autism, you gotta check out her site!!
 

So instead of using Pumpkin I used Butternut Squash, nice and sweet. And I did use the same Meringue Frosting she uses, it is delish and GAPS friendly also. What I did do different is cut the cupcakes in half and loaded on some frosting and placed a dollop on top with a sprinkle of cinnamon, cute!! The thing I noticed, after an hour or so; the cupcake completely soaked up the frosting inside and it just, MMMMM, made it explode with flavor in your mouth!! AMAZING!!! You will blow people away when you tell them your on a diet!! :)

 

ENJOY!!

 

Jeannie

Recipe: PHAT Cup of Joe (GAPS friendly)

This is a recipe I have developed through several other recipes I have come across. It is for that GAPSter that gave up their coffee with hazelnut creamer, white chocolate macadamia nut breve's, or gas station mocha cappuccino's.. Yeah that would be me! Give yourself a big pat on the back, for giving up those delicious, addictious, infatuatious treats!! I know those aren't really words. This recipe is PHAT (pretty hot and tempting) and FAT! We all know how hard it is to get all those healthy fats into our diets. This is an awesome way! Delicious way!!

Any man or woman who goes on the GAPS diet is a hero, in my mind. I know I couldn't do it without a God given conviction.. So this is my gift to you! Don't abuse it, it is something VERY easily abused!!

Jeannie's PHAT Cup of Joe

1 1/3 Cup Organic Coffee (not too strong)
2 tbs Butter (salt free)
1 tbs Coconut Oil
1-2 tsp Cocoa
1-2 tbs Honey
Dash of Vanilla Extract
Dash of Cinnamon
1 egg or egg yolk (I have to use egg yolk, but better to use a whole egg for the protein.)

Blend Baby Blend!!
Blend until frothy, don't over blend, you don't want the whole thing to be frothy!

If you aren't a coffee drinker replace coffee with water or your choice of tea. It will still taste amazing!
And you will notice the fats will separate while your drinking it, so I keep my spoon handy throughout my consumption! :)

Bon Appetit!

Grace, Peace, and Health in Christ!

Jeannie

Finally Loving Yourself!!

So I never really had my home together to begin with. I'm not a hoarder or anything, but I do have a "HOT SPOT" or two!! So since we began eating better, I feel like, all I do is cook.. Speaking of that, better get something out for dinner.. Anyway, I am enjoying cooking, but it gets so time consuming that my house has fallen even farther apart! And I gradually start losing my mind... But I went to visit my friend Dayna who has two kids as well, stays at home and does online courses. I walked into her house and her living room was a disaster, toys everywhere! I always appreciate when I'm not the only one with a mess!! But then I get to the kitchen and it is spotless, not a blemish! The sink was spotless and shiny, she had some hamburger defrosting on the counter, all was well! Well....... she began telling me about this site www.flylady.net. And how amazing it was and how much stress it had relieved and she just raved on and on about it. Immediately I knew that it was an answer to prayer!

So what is this flylady site? Well first of all FLY stands for "Finally Loving Yourself." Flylady is basically an on online coach, to reclaim your life, family, and home all based around the simplicity of a shiny sink which will spread to every part of your home!! When you feel like everything is out of control and you can't even think straight or know where to begin to reclaiming your sanity, this is the place to go! I am a day 12 FLYbaby and can't even tell you how much better I feel about myself. The first thing they help you to realize is that you aren't lousy or lazy, your a perfectionist.. While you can't do anything halfway, you end up doing nothing at all, and it keeps building and building up around you until you start to lose your sanity. Well, I'm starting to feel more and more in control every day.

So just to give you an idea of how it all works. You have daily missions, weekly zones, and monthly challenges. And you have to take baby steps to help you develop good habits. Slowly decluttering your house and developing good cleaning habits. If you are a perfectionist, you won't be very successful with this program if you don't let go of some of your tendencies.. You will get overwhelmed and doubtful of this program. So make sure you just disregard all the emails you receive until you finish your 31 Beginner Baby Steps with your first step being, shining your kitchen sink!! The emails are great for inspiration, so don't hide from them. And they also inform you of the Zones we are in for the week, just don't worry about doing what the emails tell you to until your finished with your Baby Steps. You may get sidetracked and overwhelmed! You work on different zones per week which is why my friends kitchen was spotless and her living room covered in toys! It helps you feel like your making progress and less overwhelmed and thats why your first priority is having a shiny sink!

Day 12 I noticed something interesting. I always put off dishes, ALWAYS!! Hate doing dishes. But I noticed that now that I am doing dishes more often, I have become way more efficient and I do things without even realizing it!

Husband and family? Well you may get really annoyed by them continuing to be messy, but informing your husband and family about your new endeavor is the first best step. There is lots of advice for that situation as well as "Kids Missions!" But one thing to keep in mind, as the house becomes immaculate, you will be creating in your family good habits. When they see something out of place, it will bug them and they will put it where it's suppose to go.. So don't worry about all your efforts going down the drain. They will effect your whole family in a positive way!

So, want to feel better about yourself, or learn some incredible cleaning techniques. Don't wait, go do those dishes and make your sink sparkle.

Grace, Peace, and Health in Christ!!

Jeannie

Body Odor You Can Be Proud Of!!!

HAHA I know it sounds horrible, but if you are attempting a detox and you have massive BO, like you've never had before..... YOU KNOW your doing something right!! 

We HAVE NOT started the GAPS diet, but we are integrating a lot of GAPS things into our diet already. Things like, lots of well cooked meats, veggies, nuts, seeds, and a little fruit, dairy and eggs. Basically we are on the Full Gaps Diet right now except we haven't introduced any fermented foods such as Raw Sourkraut or Kefir since they seem to cause a lot of pathogenic bacteria die-off, releasing toxins and I already feel like I'm experiencing a healthy amount of die-off anyway!

Just to give you a little update on our conditions since we have made some diet changes..

RJ is doing well, he is eating incredible! A great idea to get him use to these foods slowly. We had a stew for dinner and he didn't even weed through the vegetables, he ate them all. He has grown a fondness for Brussel sprouts and asparagus. He isn't constantly saying he's hungry anymore. It seems as though his sugar cravings are pretty low these days! YAY!! His overall attitude is still hit and miss sometimes, but I do see a lot of changes. Not so many tantrums and cleans his room with incredible focus, before we would have to literally sit there making sure he didn't get distracted. So for several days now he has cleaned his room with us only having to ask once!

Venita has done amazing today. I am just elated!! She has been suffering from such horrible gas the past month and a half I was worried if we hadn't gotten her issue resolved, nursing was gonna go down the drain. So I got rid of dairy, most eggs, and of course wheat... Not sure if all of them are the problem or only one of them, but I'm positive diary is the biggest culprit.. After some research I learned that a lot of babies have a protein sensitivity which will usually be outgrown within a year. So it explains why she would be sensitive to all three foods. But I have been able to eat egg yolks since the protein lies within the whites.

Me, I'm feeling GREAT! Not perfect but wow! More energy, better mood! The body odor is quite annoying, but I get a chuckle out of smelling myself getting stinkier and stinkier every day! I like it, for only one reason.. And that is the fact that I'm making progress, and because I'm getting stinky on the outside, it means I'm getting clean on the inside. Makes you think differently about stinky people, huh!! I had a little road bump a couple days ago when I ate something wrong at my brother-in-law's house. Don't know what it was, still haven't figured it out, but within 30 minutes after eating, I knew I ate a no-no.... Which made me feel bad because my sister-in-law tried so hard to accommodate our diet.. I ate nothing abnormal from my diet I'm just wondering if it was a brand of something she used.. So yesterday was a BAD day, throwing up all morning, but my sweet husband took a long lunch so I could take a salt bath which helped a lot. And I bounced back much quicker than I normally do. Other symptoms of die-off I have had are; itchy skin and random irritability.

Hubby, seems to be enjoying the food, but really hates the fact that he's always hungry. I think if he went off all refined sugars it would help. He is trying to go off of pop, and thats pretty hard for him.. He lacks energy and unlike myself is hooked on Caffeine so that makes it harder throughout the day. So he is trying to remember to make coffee in the morning. Hopefully that will help him function better! One step at a time! He does say he has noticed a big change just going off of MSG. He says his brain is functioning better, not so cloudy.

So far the diet has been fun but time consuming. It takes a lot of self control, especially if you don't view yourself as a GAPSter quite yet!! And to be honest I'm NOT looking forward to intro, even though I will do Full Gaps Intro because I'm nursing; I really don't know how much bone broth, with meat and veggies I can handle!! But I'm hoping that with integrating a lot of it into our diets now, we will go through intro quicker. I HOPE!! And today I made the yummiest pecan cupcakes!!

Just grind 2 cups of raw pecan halves, and blend with 3 egg yolks, 1/3 cup coconut oil, coconut sugar to taste or real organic maple syrup. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Smother with salt free butter. And I didn't follow the rule, but though pecans don't sprout like a lot of other nuts, it is good to soak them overnight to make it easier to digest. So whether or not you want to dehydrate them after and then grind dry or just grind soaked, it really shouldn't matter!! But if you do end up grinding dry, might want to add another egg or more coconut oil, to get a softer consistency. It should make 6 to 8 cupcakes. YUMMY, YUMMY!!

Grace, Peace, and Health in Christ!

Jeannie

Diet of Rebirth!!!

Well, as I had mentioned my last post, I was planning on visiting my cousin Teresa and her family, "The Family of Many Colors." Or DeColores!!!!!! Which means, "Look at all the pretty colors!" My Cursillo buddies know what I'm talking about!!

Anyway, just walking in the door I became completely intoxicated by their very presence! Of course I have met all my little cousins, but I never spent any time with all of them, and I admit I still haven't figured out everyone's names! It was almost like walking into the Jim Bob Duggar House "19 Kids and Counting " minus 13 kids! It just felt warm and fun! All the kids were doing the 21 questions, "You're here to see how we eat? Are you going to eat our food? Are you going to go on our diet? Our food is the best!" Needless to say, both my kids were completely overwhelmed but very excited!

Though overwhelmed by all the things going on around us, Teresa progressed to show me a few things.. Immediately I thought, this is soooooo not the diet I thought I would be experiencing today!! Fermented cabbage, raw cows milk that had been sitting on the counter for a couple days, a big bucket full of what looked like pig lard (coconut oil)!! Really?!?!?! I kinda felt like I stepped back in time a few centuries!! And their cupboards were nearly empty!! EMPTY!! Nothing like I had ever seen before! I immediately sensed this feeling of freedom and simplicity. Just a breath of fresh air! Of course this isn't all they eat! We had chicken, fresh salad, and brussel sprouts. Ever seen kids fight over brussel sprouts?!?! Anyway, I'm sure you have sat there looking in your cupboards loaded with lots of food and didn't have a clue what to eat! Doesn't make much sense, but I do it all the time! But in this house, your mind is just "aaaahhhhhh."

Teresa was loading me with information and I was scrambling for something to write on, but as we continued through the day everything just started to click. This wasn't just a STRICT diet, this was a REBIRTH. Every single thing they were doing was serving a purpose. To create healthier bodies and to heal their bodies. This wasn't just an eat healthy diet, this was a MASSIVE OVERHAUL!!! I just recently had a massive overhaul done on my mouth, and the feeling of having a cavity free mouth was amazing. So, to have a brand new body, you can imagine my excitement!!

So I came to learn that the fermented cabbage and raw cows milk is to introduce natural probiotics into your body, the coconut oil is used in everything you eat as a fat, since our diets are naturally low in fat and we need lots of fat for several reasons. The fat and probiotics both help our bodies to digest food properly and beneficially. Without them we aren't able to absorb all the beneficial vitamins in our foods. In a way, healthy isn't that healthy without these essential foods. And for those people who are wanting to lose weight, you need fat to burn fat!! Not to mention over 80% of our brain is made up of fat and is essential for healthy brain development.

I have also come to learn several things through Teresa and my own studies.. Yes, I have an allergy to MSG, but here is why.. And this is my conclusion for most people who suffer through this same allergy..... Leaky Gut Syndrome (list of symptoms). If not for this condition I wouldn't have an issue with eating the wrong things, that is what our digestive system is for, right? Yes, the problem is the wear and tear of our system by not eating foods fit for our digestive system. So eventually instead of your body dumping toxins, like MSG, it seeps through the gut and into our blood streams, poisoning our bodies, causing symptoms such as mine.. Most people know that MSG is poisoning their bodies if they have an issue with it, but they may not understand how. And they end up racking their brains trying to figure out what they ate wrong, because their bodies have become so overexposed to processed free glutamate that they can't even eat cooked veggies that have natural glutamate in them. Food or chemical allergies are usually due to over exposure, there is no wonder so many people develop allergies to eggs, dairy, and gluten. In fact the GAPS diet first developed through treating Celiac Disease.Yeah, I bet you didn't know their is a cure for that!! Our bodies weren't meant to eat the way we eat! Get rid of the chemicals and we have it made! We don't even have the bodies to digest bread the way we eat it! Most foods are processed in the fasted way possible which leaves our bodies doing all the work to digest them! All the grains in breads should be soaked or fermented, broken down naturally so our bodies can digest them easier. So there is hope for those who miss bread and eggs in the morning! Or a big glass of milk with you big juicy steak!

We just beat our poor bodies up to the point of them beating us up! We need to treat our bodies better, so they treat us better and quit giving us horrible migraines. I plan on going into more detail about all this in the future, because there is a lot more interesting things to talk about!

So yes, all this excitement but my husband isn't too thrilled about it?!?! This should be interesting! But I have decided to hold off on the diet until things get settled with my hubby's dad who was just diagnosed with stage 3-4 Esophageal Cancer. This GAPS diet is a lifestyle change, and we already seem to be in the midst of one. Please keep my Father in-law in prayer!

Grace, Peace, and Health in Christ!

Jeannie

Migraines Migraines Go Away!

Well I studied all I could about MSG and everything that contains hidden MSG. I went shopping ASAP because I kept getting headaches. I thought that I would just use up all my food and slowly convert over to MSG FREE everything. But it didn't work that way! My symptoms seemed to be worsening! So I went and got what groceries we could afford! Extremely shocked at the cost of organic foods, ugh... And couldn't find a thing that was MSG FREE. They kept saying that I won't find anything with MSG at the health food store, and I guess they are just as ignorant about hidden MSG as I was!! I quickly came to the realization that pretty much every single thing I cook is going to be from the bottom up. Nothing boxed or canned. But I got some Wheat Montana Bread since I have noticed a lot of people with MSG sensitivity can usually eat that brand..

So a couple days into eating healthy with lots of help and support from my wonderful mom, I kept reacting after every meal. (My reaction consists of a migraine onset, extreme tension in my back and neck, with mild pain behind my eye. A full blown migraine is severe back, neck, head, and eye pain to the point of vomiting). So it seemed everything was bothering me and I couldn't figure out what I was eating that would cause it. But with time I quit reacting to the food, so it seems my body finally got rid of a lot of the build up of MSG. Since my diet has changed and I have been paying more attention, I have noticed that I might have a little sensitivity to milk.. I have noticed it before but never quite connected it to a food, but I tried it again and same stomach upset. So that stinks, I love milk!


I am truly enjoying experimenting with different seasonings! No more Seasoning Salt, no more Mrs. Dash. I love making meals for my family knowing they are extremely healthy. I plan on spending a day in the lives of "The family of many colors;" as my mom likes to call them! My cousin Teresa and her husband Van have adopted 7 children of many different nationalities, such a vibrant family! Anyway, they are all on this extremely strict diet called GAPS, and thought I could learn a few ideas from her. Looking forward to it! Will update on how our little visit goes!

Grace, Peace, and Health in Christ!

Jeannie