Memorial Day

 

 

 

We said something about “GAPS legal” in our Tea Party post…so we’ll explain a little here 😀  “GAPS” stands for “Gut and Psychology Syndrome”.  In short, it is a way of eating that heals your gut, since you are only as healthy as your gut, or digestive system is 😀  You start out with soups and then add things in as your digestive system is ready for it.  For anything you ever wanted to know about GAPS, you can go here.   We have been on this ‘diet’, or way of eating for nearly a month now…we started with nothing but chicken soup and beef soup and have worked our way up to more and more foods, but still no sugar or grains.   I had always known that food was and could be an idol, but I never realized how much of an idol, and in my own life it really is!

Our eating habits are hilarious, really!

Before, the boys always asked for food; now they constantly think, ask, dream, talk FOOD!  Even their visual journals are full of pictures of food!

Before, there were usually leftovers on everyone’s plate after supper; now every plate is licked clean–sometimes literally.  We have to get after some about what being ladylike is 😀

Before, when we butchered our chickens, all innards were thrown out! Gizzards, hearts, livers, feet? No way were those edible.  Now, we’ve saved all of the above.  We’ve not tried the first three yet, but a couple of feet make their way to our big pot of broth whenever we make chicken broth.  It sounds really disgusting, but people used to do it all the time, and all that natural  gelatin is good for you!  Not to mention, we’ve discovered it actually makes the soup taste better.  Really!  We have not gone so far as to actually eat the feet.  Just boil them with everything and then we throw them out.

This has nothing to do with the diet, but Mommy found out that egg shells have some of the best calcium our body is able to absorb.  It is really supposed to help with teeth and cavities, and the younger girls and the boys are always getting cavities, so along with cod liver oil and butter oil (Noah actually likes the cod liver oil better, strange boy!), they each eat 1 1/2 tablespoons of ground up egg shells every day.  Furthermore, they like it, and get upset if they can’t have it! It is a real treat to them.  I tried it too, since I figured it couldn’t hurt anything.  First we tried it in yogurt–too tangy.  Then in cooked apples–but it made it crunchy and not extremely appetizing.  Then my little siblings started raving over having their eggshells with honey.  It was SO good, they said.  So I tried it, and they were right!  It almost reminds me of having Wheaties with honey–much more enjoyable and almost a treat!

Talk about using every part of the chicken!

Susannah was really an inspiration to me…I was moping because I couldn’t have ‘the old foods’, and she was in the kitchen, excited to try this and that and make recipes ‘GAPS legal’ so that we could eat them.  One thing I really missed was ice cream, so with Memorial Day coming up, and us unable to have our traditional brats, hot dogs and sugar laden ice cream, we girls decided we wanted to make this Memorial Day special.  To tell you the truth, I briefly thought about s’mores, hot dogs and ice cream, but I wasn’t pining for it–supper was  good! It was a feast!  And I even found a GAPS legal ice cream recipe!

So here we get to share some of the pictures we took, and the delicious recipes with you!

 

We had watermelon (which was a treat…we haven’t had it yet this year, plus it’s still kind of ‘traditional’!), baked herb chicken with an avacado-tomato salsa, blueberry muffins, and grilled beets (we’ve come to really like beets!)

 

 

Baked Herb Chicken

12 chicken legs and 24 chicken wings (or whatever kind of chicken you’d like)

5 tsp. salt

2 1/2 tsp. black pepper

3 T. plus 1 tsp. dried parsley

3 T. plus 1 tsp. dry mustard

5 tsp. paprika

5 tsp. dried thyme

2 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

2 1/2 tsp. minced onions

Coconut oil, for dipping chicken into.

Combine all the spices.  Rub each piece of chicken with coconut oil, then roll it in the spice mixture.  Bake at 375°F for 40 to 45 minutes or until chicken pieces are golden brown.  Turn chicken pieces after 30 minutes of baking to assure even browning.  Serves our family of 11 with enough leftovers for lunch the next day.

Avacado-Tomato Salsa

to have plenty for our family, and enough for leftovers, we make 5-6 times this amount

2 ripe plum or Roma tomatoes

2 T. diced red onion

2 T. chopped fresh parsley

1 T. fresh lime juice

1 T. vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 t. salt

1/8 t. black pepper

1 small avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes.  Combine all and toss gently. Serve immediately or wait to put the avocado in until ready to serve.

 

 

 

Grilled Beets

with ghee (or butter), green onions and minced garlic

Cassia brushed some fresh sliced beets with olive oil, and then put them straight on the grill, grilling them for about 8 minutes on each side.  Then at the table, everyone added their own ghee/butter, green onions and minced garlic.  Might sound strange, but it is SO good!

 

 

 

Grain Free Blueberry Muffins

1 c. coconut flour

16 eggs, separated

1/2 c. honey

3/4 c. coconut oil

1 t. sea salt

fresh or frozen blueberries

Soften coconut oil and blend all ingredients except egg whites and blueberries until smooth.  Beat egg whites until foam holds a peak.  Gently fold into batter, along with blueberries.  Pour into greased muffin tins. Bake at 350°F for about 22-25 minutes.  Makes about 24 muffins

 

I like the way the camera focused on the spoon (-:

 

 

Dairy-Free, Sugar-Free Vanilla Ice Cream

modified from this recipe

4 cups of coconut milk

2 cups unsweetened yogurt (we’ve been making our own yogurt, so I put some in here to maybe make it a little creamier.  Update: I just tried it again  and made it with only coconut milk, 6 cups in all…it was even better than the one we made with yogurt!)

6 egg yolks

couple pinches of sea salt

2/3 c. honey (the original recipe says to use 1 1/3 c. but it was good with half that amount!)

2 T. vanilla

1/4 tsp. lemon extract (optional, I just put this in because we always liked it in our other ice cream recipe)

 

Mix it all together in your blender and freeze just like regular ice cream.  You will be surprised how much it looks like regular ice cream…and it is oh, so good!  This served our family (eleven people) once, with everyone getting a small second helping 🙂 )

 

We made banana splits by crushing up some fresh pineapple and some frozen strawberries to put on top of the ice cream.   No chocolate yet, but still so yummy!

 

 

And so that was the end of a perfect and wonderful  Memorial Day dinner 😀

 

 

Subscribe to get our blog posts in your inbox!