Deep in my heart I always knew that life was about being happy.  And yet, it seemed like the most illusive thing to me for so many years of my life.  I may have appeared happy on the outside.  I became quite good at putting on a show by appearing happy.  But inside, I felt like I was always on an infinite search for peace and happiness within my heart.  At times I felt like I found it through certain things like creating artwork, dancing and other things I enjoyed.

However, it never lasted.  Life seemed like an endless mountain to be climbed.  I would finally reach one peak, find some joy within my heart, only to be crushed by another plummet into depression.

I talked about some of these ups and downs in this post, and now I am finally writing the follow up story of what happened postpartum.  You may also be interested in this post about all the changes that have occurred while on the GAPS diet.

I will share that the main reason why I am writing this is because I can’t help but share my experience, no matter how hard it is to share it.  It’s one of those things you don’t really want to do, but you feel like there is an invisible string, tugging at your heart, telling you to keep going or doing whatever you’re meant to do in this world.

And some of these things are hard to do.  But it’s for a reason.  I believe we are all meant to help each other in some way.  Even in just small ways.  It doesn’t have to be a huge and giant undertaking.

So, enough with the stalling.

The experiences that transpired in my life after I gave birth to my son are some of the hardest I have ever been through in my life.  What seemed hard before birth now seems like a walk in the park, not to say that all those years of feeling hopeless and depressed weren’t difficult.

Because it was so difficult, I didn’t share it with many people; not until I actually started finding answers (so typical of me, to be so self-reliant).  So many of my family members don’t know the extent to the difficulties we faced as a family the first year or so of Elijah’s life.  And the doctors who I visited never got the full run down because I felt so bad about the situation – namely, I blamed myself.

There is a quote that goes something like, “When things get difficult, keep going.  You are on the edge of breakthrough.”  I don’t know the source and I don’t even think the words are correct, but it was what kept me going on the days I felt like life was falling apart.  Turns out, it was true, for which I am very grateful.

To follow up on my last post just prior to pregnancy, this is where I will start.

The main thing I will focus on in this post will be concerned about the episodes that I began to have postpartum where I went completely crazy for a few minutes a time.  I had other difficulties postpartum, but they seem somewhat tame compared to the crazy episodes where I turned into a monster.

Within a week after giving birth, I had signs of postpartum depression; basically the “normal” feelings of being sad and not having a good reason for it.  I remember looking around our extremely messy house and starting to cry.  During the next several months the sadness came and went but I don’t ever remember feeling really happy during this time like I would have expected to feel with a new baby.

Within eight weeks, my depression and mood swings progressed into times when I felt out of control with frustration and anger.  The first few times were somewhat mild.  One time I got frustrated about something (probably breastfeeding) and kicked over the rocking stool in front of the rocking chair with my computer on it.  It kind of came out of the blue and I was confused why I did this.

Mostly I would just kick things uncontrollably, every once in a while when I was frustrated.  But it was quick and passing.  Brief enough that it just seemed strange.  I wrote an email to my midwife and told her I was kicking things, was unhappy and didn’t know what to do.  But when she came and visited me, the “happy and bright me” was out and everything seemed fine so she never really got the full story.  She thought I was “fine” because that is what I led her to believe.

When I started back to work cooking as a personal chef, this added to my stress.  I was still waking several times a night to breastfeed.  I was also not getting enough to eat because of my limited diet.  (At about 9 or 10 weeks, I cut out dairy, eggs, soy, spicy foods, gassy veggies and other foods out of my diet because Elijah was colicky.  This helped with the colic but I wasn’t getting enough to eat because I didn’t know what to eat.)

I don’t remember exactly when the first major “rage spell” happened but it was sometime within the first three months of Elijah’s life.  I don’t remember why but I started to get completely frustrated and felt very uncoordinated when I was trying to get some food out of the fridge.  I had Elijah in my arms but part of me wasn’t even aware he was there.

I started to “lose it” and for what ever reason, I took my frustration out on the vegetable crisper drawer.  I basically started kicking it and didn’t stop until it was in pieces.  (Now, if you know me personally, this may completely shocking to you.  I seem rather even-tempered, don’t you think?)

Then I ran up stairs (I think I handed Elijah off to my husband) and threw myself in the bedroom in tears.

Part of me was in shock that I could do something like that; another part of me was still steaming with rage and another part of me wanted to ball.  I usually ended up in tears after one of my “freak out” episodes, from the sheer frustration of not knowing why this was happening and feeling so out of control in my life.  I would also go back to being very depressed after one of these “manic” episodes.

These episodes would usually just come out of the blue or sometimes in the middle of the night when Elijah kept waking me up.  I would be feeling pretty okay, and then something would set me off and I suddenly found myself punching the daylights out of something close at hand.  Luckily they were all inanimate objects like the microwave, a wicker bathroom basket, a wooden dish drainer, tea boxes, and other odd items.

These fits didn’t happen every day, and although I didn’t count them, it seemed as though they happened a few times a month for most of the first year of Elijah’s life.  They got worse when Elijah was teething and waking more frequently or if I was working more than I could really handle.

I always had the feeling during these “freak outs” that I was completely out of control.  I also felt completely uncoordinated.  It was like having a new pair of hands that really didn’t belong to me that were doing all sorts of things that I really didn’t want to do but couldn’t help myself.  And I was extremely angry for no reason.  The episodes would usually end by me screaming at my husband to help me, to do something, anything.  He would be holding Elijah to keep him safe from the things I was throwing around the house.

I felt like another person watching a complete lunatic.  Yet it was me, yelling, screaming and throwing stuff, and I was at a great loss as to what to do because I felt such shame about the whole thing.

The worst part of it was how I felt I was harming Elijah by him seeing me in such distress.  I never physically took my anger and frustration out on him or my husband but I felt like I was hurting him by acting this way.

When Elijah was about 6 months, I started doing research about depression and food allergies.  I was still eating wheat (even though I knew I was allergic to it) and one day when I went over- board on eating some home made bread, I felt utterly hopeless and depressed the next day.  I finally (after years of feeling this way) made the connection and felt I had found a big piece to the puzzle.  I stopped eating wheat and also started testing other grains like oatmeal and rye.  I seemed to also react to those as well so I went gluten free.

I thought that going gluten free was the answer.  But I think I was just trying to convince myself that I was doing better.  Sleep deprivation continued and during the fall of 2008 when Elijah was almost a year old, I thought I was going to completely lose it if I didn’t get a good night’s sleep.

The problem was I couldn’t go back to sleep after Elijah woke me in the middle of the night anymore.  It seemed as though the chemicals in my brain that helped with this had been shorted out and I just couldn’t sleep normally any longer.  My chiropractor gave me some “neural transmitter support” supplements, which actually worked like a charm. I could actually sleep again. This helped me to get back on track and eventually I went off of the supplements.

Also, the freak-outs didn’t go away.  During the Christmas of 2008, I experienced more episodes where I ended up either very depressed or freaking out like a crazy monster.

We moved to a larger city the spring of 2009.  We had been living in a very small town which had made life even more difficult in terms of getting the kinds of foods I needed, etc.  Moving ended up being one of the best decisions we made during Elijah’s first couple of years.  Life became easier just because of this one change in our lives.

However, I was still looking for answers.  After we moved I had another freak episode within a month or so of moving (this time it was the microwave that took the brunt of it – luckily my husband was able to fix it).  At this point, it had been happening long enough that I finally asked for some help from a teacher/friend.  She suggested B-vitamins and eating as regularly as possible.  She also pointed out that I needed more “me time.”  All of these things, along with living in a larger city, seemed to help a lot.

Summer of 2009 was a lot better, though not perfect.  Elijah still wasn’t sleeping though the night at 18 months and I do remember having some crazy nights with him.  In general, I think I was still quick to frustrate which I would often direct towards my husband, showing up mostly as nagging and blaming.  Another thing is I had a rash on my hand which I assumed was from Candida overgrowth.

During September of 2009, I was contacted by someone who asked me if I could do menu planning for a specific diet called GAPS, which stands for Gut and Psychology Syndrome.  I checked out the diet and told her it was similar to the limited diet menu planner I had been planning on creating.

I went on vacation to the beach.  At the time I was eating gluten free, but starting to steer more towards whole grains and grain-free instead of a lot of refined gluten free starches.  But I was also still eating some sugar and plenty of starchy veggies like potatoes and sweet potatoes.

I returned from vacation and was contacted by the GAPS lady once again.  She told me that the diet was starting to help her.  She had previously not been able to eat chicken and could now eat it.  Symptoms started clearing up and she said she could actually think straight. Before, she had difficulty even carrying on a conversation with people and now she could actually focus on the conversation.  All of this intrigued me and I looked at the GAPS site again more closely.

I realized that this diet was also largely based on traditional foods like nourishing meat stocks, fermented vegetables and dairy, and whole, unadulterated real foods.  These are all things I loved so I became more and more interested in the diet.  What intrigued me the most was that the diet aims to heal the gut lining, which in turn helps to heal the mind.  (The science behind this diet is really too in-depth for me to write about here – if you’re interested in learning more about it, please read this book:   Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride.)

I read the testimonials and was astounded at the changes that people have experienced through implementing this diet.  I was basically sold.  I am a very believing person by nature, and since many of the symptoms my son and I had been having were described as possible symptoms on the GAPS site, I decided to give it a go.

I ordered the books and didn’t jump in right away, but within a few weeks, I was grain, sugar and starch free.  Because my son had colic, food allergies, slow weight gain, prolonged night-wakings, and at times aggressive behavior, I decided to put him on the diet at well.  I thought it would be easier if we were eating the same things anyway.  As for my husband, he slowly adjusted to eating GAPS dinners but still eats non-GAPS foods at work.  It took a while to find replacements for the things that Elijah and I love to eat but we eventually adapted.

It wasn’t overnight that I started feeling better.  I started having “die-off” reactions after eliminating starches and grains from my diet.  I was also taking coconut oil, which can also create die-off.  There were days I felt awful, like I had been hit by a truck or like I was getting the flu.  Then it would clear up in a day or so and I would feel better.  One time it lasted 3-4 days where I felt like I had every possible symptom I’ve ever had.  After it cleared, I remember feeling like an onion whose skins had been pulled away.

I slowly started feeling better more often and eating the GAPS way got easier.  I started having more energy; I started feeling happy for no reason.  I was even-tempered and was able to focus on my work in a way that had previously been impossible.  I was excited about life again.  I was inspired!  I was no longer anxious for no reason.  My digestion was slower to respond but is now better than it’s been for a long time.

My life with Elijah became much easier.  Keep in mind we started the diet a few months before his 2 year old birthday.  When I told my doctor that things were easier now that he was two, this spoke volumes to both her and to me about how the diet had started to help us.  Oh, and he started sleeping through the night consistently which was a god-send.

I simply felt a lot more patient and Elijah was more relaxed too. Instead of having struggles on a day to day basis, we started actually having peaceful days without any major events.

Even now that Elijah is 2 ½ and he has a temper tantrum about something he wants but can’t have, it is much easier for me to handle this than a year ago.  Because I am even-minded most of the time, I feel much stronger and able to deal with his tantrums.

I also notice that my emotions are much more appropriate.  Before I would fly off the handle because of something very small and my frustrations wouldn’t be very appropriate.  Now, instead of just feeling sad or frustrated for no good reason, I feel these things when it’s actually appropriate to feel them.  I also don’t get lost in the emotion like I used to and it doesn’t stick around as long.

Oh, and yes, no more crazy rageful manic episodes where I feel out of control.  The last one I had was actually after I started GAPS, but I accidentally tasted some goat’s milk.  I was going to make yogurt, and didn’t think a little bit of milk would affect me.

Within a couple hours I started feeling like my head wasn’t on straight and I started getting anal about everything.  I also felt wired like I had drank coffee and couldn’t calm myself down.  At the end of the day, Elijah dumped a dozen eggs I had cracked into a bowl onto the floor.  I looked at it and my eyes just bugged out and I thought I was going to lose it.  At least I had the ability to call my husband inside to help clean it up.  I tried to help but those crazy, uncoordinated hands returned.  I couldn’t do anything without making a mess or throwing stuff around the house so I stormed upstairs.  Lesson learned:  lactose makes Sarah nuts.  (The yogurt I make on the GAPS diet is fermented 24 hours so that the lactose is eaten up by the good bacteria.)

In general I am just happy.  I realize now this is how we are meant to feel, and it isn’t about having lots of money, having the right job, or anything else.  It’s just about being happy in this life, and then from that happiness, creating a life that reflects your heart’s desires.

I tried getting happy in so many ways throughout my teenage years and my twenties.  There is a part of me that wonders what life would have been like for me if I had gone on this diet a long time ago.  Of course I can’t dwell on the past.  But it does motivate me to share and help people who may be going through similar situations that I have been in.  In short, I can’t keep my mouth shut any longer.

If there is one thing I believe, I believe that food affects us on more levels than just physical.  It reaches into the confines of the emotional, mental as well as spiritual realms.  I am and many other people are living proof of this.  I feel as though this is now a gift that God has given me, even though for so long, I felt like it was a curse I was living.

Since I posted my last blog post, I received some feedback from a family member that I may be Bipolar or manic depressive.  I have to confess I don’t go to regular doctors very often and I’ve never been diagnosed with these disorders.  However, after doing some reading and reflecting, I do believe it’s possible I’ve been Bipolar for quite some time and didn’t know it.

To me, while diagnoses may be nice to have, it’s not vital to my recovery at this point because I found the GAPS diet.  I am very grateful for it, I can’t even begin to really express it.  It’s not easy for me to put this blog post up on my website – I stalled doing it for many months.  But like I said, I just can’t stay silent about this.  Up until less than a year ago, my symptoms affected me on so many levels of my life from the physical to the spiritual to the financial.  Now that my life has completely changed, simply from following the GAPS diet , I cannot help but share.

I know – this diet is hard to be on.  Many people can’t imagine eliminating all grains, sugars, starchy vegetables, hydrogenated oils and all canned and processed foods from their diet.

But if you can’t imagine not eating these foods, maybe for a moment you can imagine what life would be like if you were even-minded, happy, energetic, and healthy every day?

Believe me.  It’s worth it.  Life is worth it.  And above all, our children are worth it.

Egg, nut, and grain free pizza crust

I admit that when things get really limited and you start to use strange concoctions like gooey flax seed meal paste, ground up pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, it is easy to have little hope that the recipe is going to be any good at all!

But even though this pizza crust is free of eggs, nuts, grains, gluten, sugar, dairy and yeast (all the things pizza is normally made with), it is mighty delicious!

I am continuing to be stretched by my own restrictions as well as others who are looking for recipes free of many of the common allergens including eggs and nuts.  I found the original version of this recipe at Grainfreefoodies and from there made it free of eggs and added a bit of honey to balance out the taste of the seed flours.  (It was already grain and nut free.)

I wasn’t sure how it was going to be replacing the eggs with the flax seed meal.  My husband even said he was “scared of this one.”  He actually thought it was going to taste like cardboard when I told him what the ingredients were.

We were all pleasantly surprised.  The crust was a bit crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  It held together very well.  And the crust had a very nice flavor, kind of nutty even though I didn’t use any nuts.  And the last minute idea of adding the roasted butternut squash ended up being a great idea.  Elijah liked it too, and he’s been getting more picky lately.

Not too long ago I never would have thought that you could bake with ground up seeds and nuts and then make things like pizza.  If you haven’t done this and are on a limited diet, give this recipe a try.  You might actually feel like you’re eating pizza again!

Soak and Dehydrate Seeds first:

An important aspect of all recipes that use ground up seeds and nuts is that they should be properly soaked and dehydrated, then ground up.  You can read about why and how to do this here.

After you have dried the seeds and nuts, you can use a food processor to grind them into a fine flour.  My old food processor couldn’t do this very well so I ended up using a coffee grinder which works well but can only hold so much at once.  I got  a new food processor though and hope that it will grind the nuts and seeds up fine enough for flour.

As far as I know, flax seeds do not need to be soaked and dehydrated the same way other seeds and nuts do.

I recommend soaking, drying and grinding seeds and nuts in large batches.  I have a dehydrator that holds many shelves of nuts and seeds so I can do several different kinds at once.  If you don’t have a dehydrator, just use as many pans of nuts or seeds in your oven as possible.  (@ no warmer than 150 F.)  Then I usually grind half of each kind to make flour out of them as well as have some whole seeds and nuts for other recipes.

Here is the recipe:

Gluten free Pizza Crust (grain, egg, nut, gluten, dairy, sugar and yeast free)
Adapted from Grainfreefoodies

Ingredients:
1 c ground pumpkin seeds, soaked and dehydrated
1 c ground sunflower seeds, or a little more depending upon consistency, soaked and dehydrated
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp ground flax meal
6 Tbsp boiling hot water
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp honey
1/2  tsp garlic powder or 1-2 cloves of fresh pressed garlic
2 tsp total of any of the following:  dried parsley, marjoram, oregano and/basil

Steps:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grind the seeds before measuring out 1 cup each.    Combine the flax seed meal and hot water and let sit for 5 minutes.  Combine all of the ingredients together in a mixing bowl.  I like to knead the dough with my hands until everything is mixed.  The dough will be very stiff.  Add more flour if dough seems too wet and a little more olive oil if dough seems too dry.

2.  Grease a cookie sheet and sprinkle it with coarsely ground pumpkin seeds.  Pat the dough into a ball shape and place it in the middle of the cookie sheet.  Beginning in the center and moving outwards, squish the dough flat with your hands.  I like to make the edges slightly raised for the pizza dough.

3.  Bake for 20 minutes (or longer if it looks very wet).  Remove from oven, top with sauce and toppings, then return to oven for as long as it takes for the toppings to get hot and cheese to melt if you are using cheese.

For my pizza, I used Bionaturae bottled strained tomatoes and bottled tomato paste, garlic, salt, honey and Italian herbs to make my sauce.  Bionaturae uses glass bottles for these two products, which I love because they are BPA free and GAPS friendly.  Compared to other store bought tomato sauces that are free of sugar, it is also much less expensive to make the sauce this way.

I also added some leftover cooked ground beef or turkey? that I had made for another dish earlier in the week as well as roasted butternut squash fries I had made that afternoon as a snack.

I hope you enjoy this allergen-free pizza crust!  Let me know how you topped yours!  I would love this crust with a yummy pesto sauce.

Enjoy!

I have thought a lot about how to write about my life and how I have come to the place I am right now.  I feel as though I have walked over a landscape of mountains in my life and have arrived at a cozy meadow in a beautiful wood.  Things are pleasant and beautiful right now.  And while I believe that life is about growth and continually walking towards deeper healing and love in our hearts, there is something different about the meadow I am finding myself in right now.

While I know I will continue growing, something really profound has opened up in my life the past few months.  In short, I believe this beautiful meadow is here to stay as a presence of happiness in my heart and in my life, despite any changes life may bring on the outside.  A couple months ago, I wrote this in my journal:

“This is how we were made – all of us – full of joy, happiness, beauty and creativity.  But what happens to us during our life can take this away, and it is our journey to find it again, and to know it is the truth and realness of who we each are.

“Although there is suffering in life, life is not about suffering.  It is about finding a way through our suffering to find the joy again.  To discover that it was there all along, but we simply didn’t see it.”  I would add now, “couldn’t feel it” as well.

And while I have touched this experience and knowing before in my life, it had been quite some time since I had felt it when I wrote this in my journal.  I remember running an errand that evening and on the way back, I felt myself start dancing (in my car seat) to the music on the radio.  I was happy again.  I wanted to dance again.  And it was coming from a deep place of joy in my heart.

Now that more than three months have passed since starting the full GAPS diet, I can whole-heartedly say that my change in mood and ability to cope with life without freaking out with inappropriate frustration is greatly due to eliminating grains, sugars and starches from my diet as well as taking coconut oil, cod liver oil, and probiotics daily.

I will add something here; things are not perfect.  I am still very much healing in the inside (namely my guts) and I have yet to do the Intro diet for GAPS yet because I am still nursing my son.  And it is suggested that people adhere strictly to the GAPS diet for at least two years, so I have a ways to go.  But with the results I am already getting, I am so grateful and I wouldn’t give it up.

So, let’s rewind a little bit.  I’ve told you about where I am now, but little about my symptoms or where I’ve been previously.

I pretty much consider my life in two parts as of now – before pregnancy and postpartum.  Everything that happened before pregnancy was important but everything that happened after the birth of my son was life changing.

I’ll start with my life before pregnancy.  In my next post in the series of my healing journey, I’ll  focus on what happened postpartum.  This is where things get really interesting, so make sure to read the next post about my postpartum adventures.

I’ve had signs of digestive distress ever since I was a baby.  I was a shy and introverted child but I loved art and was very creative.  I had several different skin rashes as a child and was sick very often with strep.  I took antibiotics very frequently for these infections and later for urinary tract infections.  I also had hay fever.

As a teenager, my digestive problems worsened into terrible stomach aches.  I also remember being fairly depressed in high school and was extremely anti-social at school, having only a few close friends.  The only thing I was really interested in was art and looking forward to college and traveling.

After high school I discovered by doing an elimination diet that I was sensitive/allergic to wheat, dairy and sugar.  I later was tested and rye also came up as a problem food.

Despite this knowledge, I wasn’t able to  stick to my diet free of these allergens.  I was essentially addicted to them and I couldn’t break free of them.  Gluten free products and cook books simply didn’t exist or I didn’t know about them.  So, I continued to go back and forth with my diet.  I gained and lost weight several times, and a few times I was at least thirty pounds over weight.  Then there were times I was too thin and malnourished.  I also continued to have skin rashes and digestive problems for years.

Much of this time, I felt like I never really fit into life and I was often depressed without realizing it.  It was almost like I had been dropped on this planet but it really wasn’t my home and I didn’t know how to cope here.  In essence, I was extremely unhappy on the inside and looking for all kinds of “things” on the outside to make me happy.

I was mostly interested in spirituality, art, creativity, and children but had a hard time finding work to support these interests.  I was also very much interested in alternative healing modalities, mostly because I was seeking help for myself.  I studied/tried out acupuncture, acupressure, essential oils, chiropractic, breath work, art therapy, meditation, and others.  Everything helped a little bit.  But I continued to have emotional highs and lows, never feeling stable or very grounded in life.

Another key factor during my early twenties was my inability to stick with anything.  I never finished college, became a nun at an ashram for a year, then studied massage, then acupuncture and then art, each for a year’s time.  Every time I tried to commit to something, I couldn’t finish it.

During this time, I met my first husband and married, but this ended in a separation after only six months.  My heart was broken, but when it broke, it showed me all the places I already felt so lost in myself.  I really didn’t feel like life was worth living.  I had several thoughts during this time that I just wanted to die.  I was also very depressed even before my husband asked for a separation, so it wasn’t necessarily the separation I was depressed about.  But everything that I thought was stable in my life was being taken away which deepened my despair in life.

The only thing that pulled me through this time was my experience with healing in the Sufi tradition through a healing school I had recently started attending.  The people I met at the school supported me and helped me to find a new life for myself, even if I wasn’t sure I wanted one.

The Sufi healing school changed my life and I wouldn’t be where I am today without it.  Mostly, it reconnected me to God and helped me feel the love in my heart amidst all of my feelings of despair and hopelessness.

From there, life really started improving.  I started to sell my paintings after years of dreaming of doing this and moved across the country to start a new life on the east coast.  I ended up taking a job as the head cook at a spiritual retreat center and ended up finding my passion in cooking for people on limited diets.  Within a year or so, I decided to start my own business as a personal chef.  It took a commitment on my part that I had never had before, and business shortly took off.

During this time, I focused on personal healing with close relationships.  Eventually I met and married my second husband who I am still married to and enjoying a beautiful relationship with.  We quickly became pregnant after we married and here is where the second part of the story begins.

Despite all the great changes that happened during this period, I still went through periods of depression.  At this point I was still eating some wheat while trying to use spelt most of the time as an alternative.  I didn’t eat much refined sugar but plenty of agave and maple syrup.  And if bread was put in front of me I still couldn’t keep myself from eating it. And, even though my diet was causing a skin rash on my legs, I didn’t really want to change it.

I hope I am not boring you with all these details, but I felt that I needed to preface my life a little bit before I go onto writing about my postpartum experience.  It will just make more sense that way because my experiences postpartum were quite intense.  And while I don’t normally share the details of my life so in depth  for public view, my heart is telling me to share my experience with others because I feel there are some who may read this and see the potential benefits of the GAPS diet in the context of their own lives.

Again, if you didn’t read my previous post about my healing journey and what has changed for me the past few months, you may want to take a peak at it.

Have a happy day!

Hooray and thank you for all who participated in the Free Give-away for the Holiday Menu Planner and Just Desserts for Limited Diets recipe e-book.  The winners of the give-away are: Tina, Emily, Michele S, Rebecca and Robin.  Congratulations and I hope the book and planner bring a wealth of goodness to you holiday season!

GAPS update:

As for me, I feel like I’ve ran a dessert marathon these past few weeks.  I have never baked or created so many sweets in such a short amount of time. I have to say that my enthusiasm, energy and ability to get this done in time is largely due to following the GAPS diet.  I have never had so much energy, been so even-minded, centered, happy, and enthusiastic for such long periods of time.  Yes, and it is all because I am no longer eating grains, starches, and refined sugars (only honey).  I plan to write a lengthy post about all the changes I have been experiencing on GAPS soon!

Thanks Mom!

I also really have to give my mom some credit here because she helped me test/create several of the candy recipes and a cookie recipe.  I was a little over-zealous with how many recipes to put in the e-book so it was so great to have her help with this project.  She used to make lollipops for us when my sister and I were kids and I still have a vision of her making them over the stove with the star and heart molds.

My flops:

I have to share a few of my flops while testing recipes for the Just Desserts for Limited Diets recipe book.  I unfortunately didn’t take pictures of them.  I cleaned out the refrigerator tonight and tossed them in the compost.

1st of attempt at Butter Cream Frosting:

I was following a recipe from Nourishing Traditions for Butter Cream Frosting – pretty traditional.  It consisted of butter, rapadura (sugar), egg whites and vanilla.  Many people can have butter even if they can’t eat other dairy products so I thought I would give the original recipe a try, substituting honey for the rapadura.

It didn’t work!  I don’t know if I just didn’t get the butter warm enough, or if this recipe just doesn’t work with honey.   Basically what happened is no matter how much I beat the mixture, the butter and the honey and egg white just wouldn’t gel together.  When I refrigerated it, it just got worse.  It was very runny, even after I tried mixing it again.  It tasted good – who doesn’t love sweetened butter?  But it was definitely a no go for a cake.

I am suspicious that I was careless with the temperature of the butter and maybe this would still work out.  I may have to try it again when I have some extra butter.

I ended up created a whole new recipe with coconut milk and coconut butter that was so yummy!  This goes with the Spice Cake recipe in the desserts book.

1st attempt at Almond Brittle with honey:

Unless you like extremely sticky candy that is almost impossible to get off your teeth, this was also a flop.  My mom tested this one and I told her just to use honey and almonds to see what would happen.  Even when it cooled all the way, it was way too sticky to eat.

I ended up adding coconut oil to the honey and it was much better.  Butter worked even better to make it more like almond brittle.

Fortunately, these were the worst of the crew.  I had other recipes I had to adjust but I was happy that they most turned out yummy.

More cakes?

I thought I was done making cakes, but my husband’s birthday is this coming Saturday.  Actually I knew I was going to have to make another one, but I have to be honest that I am a little “sweeted out”!  But I’m looking forward to creating the cake my husband has requested.  He wants cake make with coconut flour with a lemon flavor and a cream cheese frosting.

Fortunately, we are all doing great on the homemade goat yogurt I’ve been making every week.  And from yogurt, you can make lacto-fermented cream cheese that is not only much better for you than the processed stuff but also tastes much better in my opinion.

I made an extra batch of yogurt yesterday so I’m going to be “dripping” the yogurt through a sieve and cloth tomorrow.  It takes several hours but you end up with whey in the jar and the cream cheese in the cloth.  I’m going to follow the cream cheese frosting recipe in Nourishing Traditions once I have my cheese.

For dinner we’re going to have Chicken Parmesan and Eggplant Parmesan (some family members are vegetarian and I don’t do well with eggplant).  For the breading I am going to use almond flour and for the cheese, I’m going to use Manchego Sheep’s cheese.  We’ve been doing well on this cheese.  It is aged for several months and so there isn’t any lactose in it.

Anyway, that’s enough updates for now.  Stay tuned for a recipe for Almond Rocha!

If you’re looking for healthy, sugar-free and gluten free dessert recipes and a delicious allergen-friendly Holiday Menu Planner this season, you won’t want to miss the 20% OFF pre-order offer that will be expiring tonight at midnight PST.

All of the recipes on both the Just Desserts for the Limited Diet recipe e-book and the Holiday Menu Planner are free of the following ingredients:

no gluten

no wheat

no grains

no starches or nightshade veggies

no refined sugar – only honey is used

no dairy – butter is used but coconut oil can be substituted

no soy

no corn

no peanuts

egg-free options and dessert recipes are on both the menu planner and dessert e-book

Some of the recipes that you won’t want to miss out on include:

Dairy-free Egg Nog

Egg-free Egg Nog

Gingered Cranberry Raspberry Relish

Dairy and Gluten-free Coconut Cream Pie

Gluten free Pecan Pie

Gluten free Pumpkin Pie

Gluten free Cookie Cutter Cookies

Gluten free Cookie Press Cookies

Spice Cake with “Butter” Cream Frosting

Walnut Torte with Lemon Whipped Cream Frosting

Almond Brittle

Almond Rocha

and many more!

Also, the desserts e-book and the holiday menu planner make great gifts for the holidays for someone who is limited in their diet.

To read more about the allergen-friendly Holiday Menu Planner and the Just Desserts for Limited Diets recipe e-book and to pre-order, click here.

I hope you’re having a relaxed and blessed holiday season!

Cranberry Raspberry Relish from Eatingwell.com

I had so much fun with the Thanksgiving Menu Planner that I am very excited about creating menu planners for the coming holidays as well!

So excited, that I am actually going to create both a Holiday Menu Planner as well as “Just Desserts” recipe booklet for people on limited diets.

I grew up celebrating Christmas, but if this is not the holiday you celebrate, these menu planners and recipes could most likely work for any festive celebration and holiday.

The Holiday Menu Planner:

I think for many families, having a nice breakfast on either Christmas morning or another special day during the holidays is very common.  So I decided to include a breakfast menu to the holiday menu planner as well as a dinner menu.

Once again, the menu planner is going to be free of the following foods, so that it can work for almost any limited diet:

no dairy -  (butter may be used in some recipes but there is always another option that is dairy-free)

no wheat or gluten – all grains and products containing gluten

no grains

no sugar - only natural sweeteners will be used, such as raw honey and maple syrup

no soy – no soybean oil, lecithin, and other soy products

limited starches

no corn

no beans and legumes

egg-free options

What kinds of foods will be used:

Chicken, eggs, vegetables (non-starchy), nuts, seeds, fruit, honey, coconut, and other whole food ingredients.

So far, this is the menu I have, but it is subject to change, based on feedback I get:

Breakfast:
Egg Frittata
Apple Clafoutis
Egg-Free Banana Muffins or Fig and Nut Spice Bars
Festive Fruit Salad with Almond Crème

Snacks:
Squash Fries
Holiday Pecans
Egg Nog or Almond Nog

Dinner:
Pomegranate Mandarin Salad with Creamy Poppy seed Dressing
Creamy Butternut Squash Soup
Rosemary Roasted Chicken
Cranberry Raspberry Relish
Steamed Green Beans with Sliced Almonds
Roasted Veggies with Honey Mustard Glaze
Coconut Rolls

Dessert:
Spice Cake with Butter Cream Icing
Egg-free option (TBA)

Just Desserts Recipe e-Book

I got a little carried away with the desserts on the Thanksgiving Menu Planner that I decided that for the holidays, I would create a booklet of holiday dessert recipes.

I think when anyone thinks of Christmas and food, sweets come to mind.  I grew up with my mom making peanut brittle, peppermint bark and lots of other delicious desserts.  These made great gifts for friends and family and we also really enjoyed them!

I already have a long list of candies and desserts that I want to include in the booklet.  And they’re all going to be free of refined sugar, wheat, gluten, grains, soy, corn, and dairy.  Most of the desserts will also be free of chocolate but I may include one or two for people who can eat chocolate.  Here are the ideas I have so far for the Just Desserts Recipe e-book:

Candies and Nuts:
Holiday Pecans
Rosemary Walnuts
Toffee Candies
Almond Brittle
Almond Joy Coconut Bark
Peppermint Patty Coconut Bark
Honey Caramels
Cinnamon Truffles
Almond Rocca
Fudge

Cookies:
Gingerbread Men and other Christmas Cut-out Cookies
Christmas Cookies
Cookie Press Cookies
Coconut Macaroons
Fig and Nut Spice Bars

Cakes:
Christmas Fruit and Nut Cake
Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
Spice Cake with Butter Cream Frosting
Walnut Torte
Flourless Carrot Cake

Pies, crusts and toppings:
Berry Almond Pie Bars
Berry Pie
Coconut Mousse Pie
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Almond Pie Crust
Coconut Pie Crust
Coconut icing
Coconut whipped Cream
Cashew Cream
Butter Cream Icing

Free Give-Away of the Holiday Menu Planner and the Just Desserts recipe e-book!

Last time for the Thanksgiving Menu Planner, I offered it free to people who offered ideas and recipes for the planner that I ended up using.  Thank you to all who participated and gave me your ideas!

For the Holiday Menu Planner and the Just Desserts recipe e-book, I am offering a FREE give-away to 5 people who would love to receive them for their holiday planning.  That means, five people will receive both the Holiday Menu Planner as well as the Just Desserts recipe e-book for FREE!

How to Enter the Giveaway

There are 7 possible entries

1. Take a look at the menus for the Holiday Menu Planner and the Just Desserts recipe e-book in this blog post and then leave a comment telling us what you think about them and why you’d like to win them.
2. Twitter about this giveaway. Link to (http://bit.ly/7lTKeh) and mention me @Heartofcooking so I can track it.
3. Follow me, Sarah Schatz, on Twitter: @heartofcooking.
4. Share a link to this give away post on Facebook. (http://www.heartofcooking.com/2009/11/coming-soon-limited-diet-holiday-and-just-desserts-menu-planners-plus-free-giveaway)
5. Send an email to a friend about this giveaway. Give them the URL to this post. (http://www.heartofcooking.com/2009/11/coming-soon-limited-diet-holiday-and-just-desserts-menu-planners-plus-free-giveaway)
6. Subscribe  to my blog via email or blog reader.
7. Blog about this giveaway. Refer your readers to this post: (http://www.heartofcooking.com/2009/11/coming-soon-limited-diet-holiday-and-just-desserts-menu-planners-plus-free-giveaway)

As you complete each item, come back here and leave a comment letting me know. You can also leave one comment saying everything you did.

Who Will Win?

Five readers will win FREE copies of the Holiday Menu Planner and the Just Desserts Recipe e-book .

Menu Planner Release and Free Giveaway Dates

The Holiday Menu Planner and the Just Desserts recipe e-book will be available for pre-order starting the first week of December.  People who pre-order will receive them in their email the day they are uploaded to my website, the 16th of December.  They will be complete and available for purchase on Wednesday, the 16th of December.

The deadline for the Free Give-Away will be Monday, the 14th of December. The winners will be announced by the 16th of December.  So, you have over two weeks to share and spread the message of the Holiday Menu Planner and Just Desserts recipe e-book for a chance to win a copy of each for your holiday planning.

So, let’s get going!  Have fun and Happy Holidays!

Sarah

First of all, the brain isn’t separate from the rest of our bodies.  Of course this is obvious when we look at the human body.  But somehow, we have been led to believe in our culture that our stomachs and the food we eat don’t really affect our brains and how we think.

In Five Element Acupuncture, the body is viewed as an intricate whole.  There are separate systems but each one of these systems or elements affects and relies on one another.  It is also said that the Earth element, which is connected to the stomach and the spleen, is the most important element, or the Mother of all elements.  If out of balance, this can lead to many other imbalances within the body, mind and spirit of a person.

To understand this, you only have to imagine the Earth.  When the Earth is diseased – unhealthy plants, too many toxins, pesticides, etc. – this has a detrimental affect on the living organisms on the planet.  We have seen the result of pollution on the Earth over the past several years and can attest that an unhealthy planet leads to diseases in plant, animal and human life.

Another example:  Imagine a bicycle wheel and the spokes that come out from the center.  The stability of the center is vital for the bicycle wheel to function properly.  Now imagine a broken center, where the spokes don’t connect properly or there isn’t any real substance of the center to hold the spokes.  So what happens?  The wheel falls apart.

Now return to the human being.  The stomach or Earth element is our center.  It is the place where the nourishment and food we eat becomes digested and transformed into energy in order for our bodies to be healthy and happy (hopefully!).  It feeds every cell in our bodies, especially our brains.  So in essence, the food we eat fuels the way we think, how we feel, and how well we are able to accomplish a task at hand.

We don’t usually think about food in this way.  But when you take into consideration that alcohol can affect speech, actions and thoughts, it is easy to understand that the food we eat also affects our minds, either positively or negatively.

Now imagine the Earth element or digestive system that is imbalanced or unhealthy in a person.  The result is that the food doesn’t become digested properly.  Toxins, yeasts, and unfriendly bacteria build up simply because there is a shortage of the good bacteria or normal gut flora to keep these toxins in check.

The Earth element is very unhappy in a person like this.  And what’s more, the gut lining of this person becomes damaged.  This is what is termed “leaky gut syndrome,” where undigested food and toxins leak through the gut and into the rest of the body.

Where do these toxins go?  They can go all over the body, unfortunately, and wreak havoc on any other body part.  Skin rashes, eczema and psoriasis can begin this way, from an unhealthy, leaky gut.

Where else do you suppose these toxins swim to in our blood stream?  Unfortunately, these toxins reach the brain and cause all sorts of malfunctions.

What are some of these problems? To name a few; depression, autism, ADHD, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, learning disabilities, schizophrenia, anxiety, nightwakings, behavioral problems, hyperactivity, bipolar disorder and others.

Is this for real?  Yes, and a lot of people, including some doctors, still don’t believe that a poor digestion has anything to do with the way one acts, thinks or feels.  But fortunately there are doctors, parents and other people who can vouch that this is indeed true.

One of these pioneers is Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride who wrote Gut and Psychology Syndrome.  She is a doctor of Neurology and Human Nutrition and she herself has a child who was diagnosed with learning disabilities.  But through a specific diet, she was able to heal her child who now lives a normal and healthy life.

Reading this book has been like finding the missing piece I’ve been looking for over the years.  Everything she writes makes perfect sense, even if sometimes I have to read it 2-3 times because it is a little technical.  I haven’t even finished reading it yet, and when I do, I’m going to start over at the beginning.

In my recent posts, I have written about how my diet is going the grain-free direction.  Actually, it’s already there, I think for at least a couple weeks now.  I have decided to do the GAPS diet, which is a grain-free, sugar-free, starch-free diet.  (I am waiting to do the Intro. diet until my son is no longer nursing.)

This diet is based on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet with a few modifications.  From the GAPS guide book:
“GAPS relieves symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Celiac Disease, depression, colitis, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, learning disabilities, diverticulitis, Cystic Fibrosis, chronic diarrhea, schizophrenia, Attention Deficit (Hyperactive) Disorder, anxiety, Crohn’s, rheumatoid arthritis, nightwakings, eczema, non-anaphylactic allergies, asthma, behavioral problems, gas, bloating, constipation, feeing difficulties, coilc, reflux, food intolerances, vomiting, heartburn, psoriasis, dyspraxia, hyperactivity, urinary and fecal incontinence, malnutrition, tummy pains, stool abnormalities and more.”

Why have I decided to do this diet?  If I stay away from certain foods, such as most dairy, gluten, soy, beans and most sugars, then I can keep my food allergies and symptoms in check.  However, I don’t feel that eating a limited diet like this is ultimately going to heal me from my food allergies.

What I have been learning  is that through a specific protocol of avoiding all grains, starches and sugars (honey and fruit is okay), while giving the body probiotics and nutrient packed foods that are easily digestible, the gut lining can begin to heal.  After about two years on this specific diet, people’s guts have normal gut flora, their linings are healed and they will no longer have the symptoms they once had from eating certain foods.

This means that for many people, they are able to eat dairy products again, maybe after years of avoiding them.  People become “un-allergic” to other foods too, such as eggs and nuts.  It is also said that after the gut lining heals, you can deviate from you diet and eat some grains (even glutenous ones) here and there and you won’t have the symptoms you used to have from eating these foods.

Now, would I rather continue eating a gluten-free diet for the rest of my life?  Or will I be able to stay grain-free for two years in order for my body and gut lining (the source of the problem) to heal so that I can live a healthier and happier life?

Although this diet is not easy, I am choosing the latter.  For many people with children with autism or other mental and digestive problems, this diet is their last straw and hope.  Although this diet is not a “quick fix,” there are many families, individuals and families who have done the diet with success and have had some amazing results.  Click here for testimonials.

I think I’d better stop here.  I am very passionate about this subject, this diet and what it can do for millions of adults and children who are suffering right now.  Please help me spread the word, check out the diet or tell someone you love about it today!

Raw Zucchini Chocolate Cake

For whatever reason, many of the recipes I worked on this week ended up being raw or mostly raw.  In part, I was continuing my quest for some travel-friendly treats for my son and decided to try some raw fruit and nut balls, similar to Larabars.

I was also testing recipes for my menu planners for limited diets free of gluten, grains, dairy, eggs sugar and other common allergens.  Many raw recipes work great for people with a lot of food limitations.  The only drawback I find is that they use nuts extensively, which is a common allergen.  I find though, that seeds such as pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds can be used in place of nuts in some of these recipes.

As far as eating raw nuts goes, it is really best to soak them for a varied amount of time, depending upon the nut or seed.  This process is what releases their enzyme inhibitors and unlocks their full nutritional value.  In terms of soaking, you can either soak just long enough to germinate, or longer to sprout (however it’s difficult to sprout some nuts).

I have to admit that I didn’t soak the nuts and seeds in the recipes I tested this week.  This was partly due to the recipes not asking me to do this and in part laziness and impatience on my part.  However, if I were to do them again, I would soak the nuts and seeds in these recipes.

Here is a list of some new and yummy things I made this week:

Cashew Apricot Bliss Balls and Cherry-Walnut Bites

Cashew Apricot Bliss Balls (raw).  These turned out pretty good but if I made them again, I would use a different kind of dried apricot.  The ones I used were from Trader Joe’s.  They are unsulfured but I had forgotten how tart they are.  I also used lemon zest instead of orange zest, simply because I didn’t have an orange.  But they would be a lot better with the orange zest.  I also would up the cardamom and ginger powder as they were not that noticeable.  Also, like I said above, I would soak the cashews for 2-2 1/2 hours.

Cherry Walnut Bites (almost raw;  can be made raw with raw chocolate or leaving out the chocolate).  These are delicious.  If I made them again, I’d use raw chocolate or raw cacao powder.  Again, I would soak the walnuts – they require 4 hours germination time.

Seed Cheese from Rawvolution (raw).  This cheese if made from sunflower seeds so it is great for dairy-free and nut-free diets.  The original recipe for this raw and dairy-free cheese calls for a raw soy sauce called, Nama Shoyu.  But since many people I cook and plan for can’t eat soy, I left this ingredient out.  I balanced out the recipe by adding a little salt and water.  I also used only about 3 cloves of garlic, verses the 5-6 called for.  It was plenty garlicky for me and my husband really liked it.  We’ve been enjoying it on pasta and toast.  When I make this again, I plan on soaking the sunflower seeds – they require 2 hours germination time.

Curried Kuri Squash Soup

Curried Kuri Squash Soup (from the Kuri Squashes from our garden – not raw).  I didn’t write down this recipe as I made it this time.  But I normally cream this soup with ground up cashews and season it with curry, ginger, and salt.  I think I also added a bit of honey to sweeten a bit this time.

Raw Zucchini Chocolate Cake

No-Bake Zucchini Cake (almost raw; can be made raw with raw cacao).   This is a quick and easy, yummy dessert.  It may seem strange not to bake the zucchini but you really don’t need to!  It is rich, moist and dense.  But also so healthy, you could have it for breakfast.  When I make this again, I’m going to soak the nuts for 6 hours.

Raspberry Cream (raw) This is my new favorite smoothie or dessert.  Don’t let the avocado in it fool you – it is simply delicious and you wouldn’t even know the avocado is in there!  I made it as the recipe called for and also with dates instead of banana.  Both were yummy.  Sorry, no picture.  Both times I made it, it disappeared too fast!

Balsamic and Basil Salmon: cooked in a cast iron skillet, this was Monday’s dinner. Fast and easy, I simply cooked the salmon with a bit of lemon juice and olive oil.  Seasoned with salt and dried parsley.  When it was done, I drizzled a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top and garnished with freshly chopped basil from the garden.  Very fast and very good!

Raspberry Cream Recipe – adpated from www.WildHealthFoods.com

• ½ cup frozen or fresh raspberries
• 1 large ripe banana or about 4-5 soft dates
• 1ripe Avocado
• Pinch salt
• about 1/2 cup or so homemade almond milk

1) Blend all ingredients until smooth.

2)  If you want to make your own almond milk, soak 1 cup almonds overnight, drain the water, then blend with 5 cups filtered water and a bit of raw honey.  Strain through a mesh strainer or “nut bag.”  Yum!

And once again, I am writing this post as part of the Tuesday Twister Carnival at GNOWFGLINS.com. Make sure to check out the other wonderful and nourishing foods the other participants cooked up this week!

Our lovely cherry tomatoes

I have been enjoying the Tuesday Twister blog posts by Wardeh Harmon at Gnowfglins.com for the past few weeks or so ever since I found her website.   These blog posts have been a synopsis of her week in the kitchen and what has been twisting in her cooking.  I love reading them, mostly because she focuses on nourishing, whole foods!

Last week she announced her new Blog Carnival, the Tuesday Twister Carnival and her invitation to participate in the weekly postings.  I started thinking about doing this and then a couple days ago, inspiration struck I finally decided to give it a go.  I can’t promise I’ll do it every week, but we’ll see what happens.

My Meal Un-Plan

I started thinking about my week in the kitchen and what it is normally like during our busy days.  And what stood out to me the most was the fact that I hardly ever meal plan.

Okay, so I menu plan for my clients and I create different menu planners for different diets.  But I have to be honest with you.  Rarely do I plan my whole week in advance before I go to the store each week…which usually turns into 3 x a week visiting the store.

What usually happens is I look around in my refrigerator, freezer and pantry, think about what I’d like to make, then see what I can make with what I have.

Sometimes while I’m shopping I will get ingredients for something I have been wanting to make (like my tomatillo salsa) but oftentimes, dinner is a creative process of coming up with something new, yummy and healthy for the family.

Curried Chicken Salad with Coconut Milk

So this week’s menu which is gluten-free, dairy-free, legume free and I think soy-free…

Of course, the menu was created after the fact…

Tuesday: Garam Masala Lamb burgers and Sauteed Zucchini

Wednesday: Chicken Legs with Caramelized Onions, Basmati Rice and the Tomatillo Salsa I had made on monday.  My mom was having dinner with us and she loved it.

Thursday: We went to the Farmer’s Market and bought fresh produce.  But I didn’t much feel like cooking so I took some frozen dairy-free and gluten-free pizza out of the freezer that I had made.  We enjoyed it with fresh corn on the cob and watermelon.

Friday: I was craving Tortilla Lasagna, even though I knew the oven would heat up the house.  Made a special trip to the store for the ingredients, and made it with ground turkey, spinach, olives and tomato sauce.

Saturday: Made my first batch of Pot Pie muffins for Elijah.  We took them to Surreybrook Farms for an incredible outing.

For dinner:  Made Chicken Curried Salad and Baked Yukon Gold Potatoes.  I usually would add celery to this salad, as well as green onions, maybe even cherry tomatoes.  But I had none of these so I steamed some green beans, and cut them into 1-inch lengths and put them in the salad.  It was tasty.

Sunday: Made my second batch of Pot Pie Muffins.  I liked these much better.

Made the Chicken Salad again because my husband loved it so much and his parents came to visit.  Also finished off the last of the Tomatillo Salsa.

Monday: My husband made Wild Salmon and Sauteed Zucchini with Marjoram ( nice not to cook every now and then!)

Our first garden harvest (well besides the sugar snap peas):

Sunday was also a day of harvesting our first crop of potatoes.  My husband planted blue, yukon gold, and fingerling and he harvested some of the yukon and fingerling.

Yukon and Fingerling Potatoes from our garden

This week, our beautiful and big Kuri Squash plants became infected with a white mold.  We treated them with a garlic spray and some baking soda.  However, we don’t think they liked the baking soda because they started to wilt shortly after.  But at least we have received two beautiful Kuri Squash from the plants.  Here’s one with some wilty leaves:

‘

One of the two Kuri Squash

We ended up harvesting the squash on monday and getting rid of the dying plants.  We also discovered that our yellow (not red like we expected) cherry tomatoes were actually ripe and we enjoyed some of the first ones.  There was a few left for a picture with the squash.  (The zucchini is from my in-law’s garden.)

Kuri Squash with Yellow Tomatoes and Zucchini

I think that’s all I have to report for the week.  I’d love to hear about other people’s week in the kitchen!  And please do check out the Tuesday Twister Carnival.

I recently checked out the book, The Kid-Friendly ADHD and Autism Cookbook at my library to see what new recipes I might find for the GF and CF diet.  I haven’t completely finished perusing the book but for the most part I would highly recommend it.  One great thing about it is that it has many soy, nut, egg and corn-free recipes as well.

One recipe that caught my eye was the “Sensory Sensible Pot Pie Muffins.” This recipe is a muffin for kids who can’t eat gluten and dairy and who may not like to eat regular chicken or vegetables.   To solve this problem, they put the pureed chicken and veggies right into the muffin.

This, I gotta try, I said.  My son used to eat literally anything I put in front of him.  But with the toddler stage, he has become a bit more picky.  He still loves cooked veggies, especially green beans but isn’t too fond of chicken these days.

Also, since we’re on the go a lot, I was looking for a snack that was travel-friendly, healthy, gluten and dairy-free and high in protein.  These muffins seemed like the answer!

Pot Pie Muffins made with Namaste muffin mix

I really tried to follow the recipe for the first attempt.  But I have to say that although it looked easy, it turned out to be confusing.

Here’s the recipe:

• 1 box (14.8 oz) store-bought GFCF muffin or quick bread mix

• 1 cup pureed vegetables (one or more of the following:  carrots, squash, peas or green beans)

• 1/2 cup applesauce

• 1/2 cup pureed chicken*

Steps:

1. In a large bowl, prepare cake mix batter according to package directions.  Add pureed vegetables, applesauce and chicken and mix to combine.
2. Lightly grease muffin tin or line with paper liners.  Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling each about 2/3rds full.  Bake at 375 F for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.*To puree chicken, combine cooked, chopped chicken with a bit of water or stock in a blender and blend until desired consistency is reached.

Easy right?

Okay, so first of all I have to tell you that it’s a production to make these muffins.  If you want to make them, make the chicken the night before and make extra veggies when you make dinner for the muffins.  That way you are already half way done.

The other thing that was a bit of a challenge was finding a muffin mix free of sugar.  I personally don’t like using cane sugar in baking and every mix I picked up had this in it.  Also, I couldn’t find one that was exactly 14.8 oz and I didn’t have time to figure out mathematical calculations in my head with my toddler yelling at me, “down, down!”

So, I ended up grabbing the Namaste mix because I wanted to make it simple and follow the recipe as best I could.  It is also made of brown rice verses white rice flour and is free of most allergens.

When it came to baking, I measured out just under 2 cups which is about 14.8 oz.  So I have a bit of mix left because it was a full pound.

So when I went to prepare the muffin mix, I felt I should modify the muffin mix directions because 1) I wasn’t using the whole bag and 2)  I felt like these muffins were going to be way to wet when I added the chicken, veggies and applesauce.  So I decided to use one less egg than was called for in the mix (called for 2).

They seemed like a good consistency so I went ahead and baked them.  They were actually good, but still a bit wet.  They taste more like heavy cake than a muffin.  They also deflated a bit due to the heaviness.  I personally like my muffins a bit more muffiny than these turned out to me.  It may have been that the extra egg would have helped, I am not sure.

No matter what I think of the muffins, Elijah loved them.  So there you go!

I decided to take a new approach and sack the prepared mixes.  I started again with one of Elana’s recipes with coconut flour because I was interested in making them grain-free as well.  They already called for carrots since they were her carrot muffins so this was a good start.

Pot Pie Muffins adapted from Elana's Carrot Muffin Recipe

Here is her recipe and what I did to change the recipe is next to her’s:

Gluten Free Carrot Mini Muffins
¼ cup coconut flour (I used 1/2 cup)
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt (I used 1/2 tsp)
¼ teaspoon baking soda (I used 1/2 tsp)
1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground (I used 1.5 tsp)
3 eggs (I used 5 eggs)
¼ grapeseed oil (I used 1/2 cup)
¼ yacon syrup (I used 1/3 cup agave nectar)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (to tell you the truth I forgot to add this, but would do 1.5 Tbsp)
1 cup carrots, grated (I used just over a cup and I grated them instead of cooking and blending)
¼ cup currants (I used 1/3 cup)
I added:
1/2 cup chicken puree
1/2 cup applesauce

1. In a medium bowl, combine coconut flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon
2. In a large bowl, blend together eggs, oil, sweetener, (applesauce, chicken) and vanilla
3. Blend dry ingredients into wet, then fold in carrots and currants
4. Grease a mini muffin tin with grapeseed oil and then dust with coconut flour
5. Spoon approximately 1 teaspoon of batter into each greased mini muffin cup (I used regular sized muffins and it made about 15 and took 25 minutes in the oven)
6. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes
7. Cool and serve

I had a good feeling about these muffins as I was mixing them and as they were baking.  They smelled yummy with the added cinnamon and I felt like they were going to be better than my first attempt.

Besides them sticking to the pans a bit, they were much better than the first recipe – much more springy and muffin-texture-like than the first batch.

The only thing that my be a problem for people is they definately need eggs – I used 5.  With this amount of eggs in them, it would be hard to convert this particular recipe to be egg-free.  They also have coconut flour in them but if one is allergic to coconut, you could use a GF baking blend with rice, tapioca and arrowroot.

As far as making these little babies last, I wrapped each one in plastic wrap and then put them all (except a few to munch on) into a freezer bag and froze them.  That way I can just take out one or two when we need them and they will last a lot longer.

And what did Elijah think of the second batch?  He gobbled them up too!

Anyone else have some great travel-free healthy snacks for kids?  I’d love to hear about them!  Thanks so much!