Since I announced that my family is on the GAPS Diet I have gotten a lot of emails, comments, and questions around town. What do we eat? Do we really like it? Can we share some meal plans?
We eat everything that does not contain a starch or complex carbohydrates, which leaves all of the most nutritionally desirable foods on our menu. No, we don't eat sugar. But we do eat honey. No, we don't drink milk but we love our yogurt (we look forward to putting raw milk back on our menu). No potatoes, yes squash. Those are about the most complicated aspects of it. Yes, we love, love, love it and some of us (mostly my eight-year old) never want to go back. And yes, of course I can share some meal plans with you.
GAPS is wonderful food, whether you follow the diet or not. At the very least GAPS food can provide a nice nutrient-packed break from grain- and sugar-heavy meals now and then.
This morning was a normal GAPS breakfast for us. I made scones and we ate them with yogurt with berries. The Yogurt is cultured for 24 hours, using the same method I shared with you here, but simply leaving it undisturbed in the warmth for 24 hours. It is a touch more sour and a bit thinner in texture, but we all still love it. I added a pinch of stevia and a handful of frozen blueberries.
The scones were a fairly well modified version of a recipe I found in this cookbook for Apricot Orange Scones. I used freshly ground soaked almonds ("almond flour") mixed with coconut flour. They taste like marzipan and contain only 1 Tb. of honey and a small handful of dried apricots for sweetness. I could eat them all day.
In fact, I think I will.
Here are some meal suggestions from our home:
Breakfast:
Eggs with cheese, avocado, (sugar- and additive-free) sausage, and greens
Muffins or scones baked with almond flour, coconut flour, or other nut/seed flours
Yogurt with fruit and nuts
Smoothies (include avocado or cashews for a protein and healthy fat boost)
Quiche with a nut crust
Coconut pancakes
Lunch:
Our favorite stand-by lunch these days is what we call "snack lunch": mountains of raw vegetables served with sliced meats (sugar- and additive-free – we eat Organic Valley turkey and ham and roast beef) and cheese.
Celery and carrots with Apple Dip (Apple dip is from the Specific Carbohydrate book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle and contains nut butter, a drop of honey, cinnamon, and minced apples. My kids go bonkers for this.)
Leftover stews and soups.
Meat and veggie or nut butter sandwiches on what we call "Jennifer's Yummy Bread". The recipe was shared by a friend and we're a little obsessed. It make a light, fluffy flatbread for wraps and sandwiches. To make it, separate four eggs and whip the whites until stiff. Grind 1 C of seeds or nuts (sunflower, almond, etc.) in the blender until it is flour. Add a pinch of salt and a dab of honey, combine with yolks, then fold in the whites. Spread onto parchment and bake at 350 until lightly browned and puffy. Remove from oven, allow to rest for five minutes, then slice and eat.
Snacks:
See entire list above. Mostly we snack on red peppers, cucumbers, cheese, and homemade crackers.
Homemade Jerkey is a fabulous snack too.
Fruit
Dinner:
Stew, soup, and other slow-cooked bone broth fare. Bone broth is a critical ingredient in the diet for healthy teeth, bones, and digestion. I think it is absolutely the most magical thing that comes out of my kitchen. I use it to simmer veggies and cook meat. We have at least one broth-based meal per day.
I cook mine for 24 hours as follow:
Put bones in a pot (all the scraps from a roasted chicken, for example). Cover with water and add 3 Tb apple cider vinegar. Sit for 1 hour. Add stock veggies: onion, garlic, ginger, carrots, celery, etc. (I keep a zip bag in the freezer where I put carrot ends and the outer layers of onions, celeriac peels, etc. Then I just add all of it to the pot). Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook covered on very low heat. Leave on heat for 12 – 24 hours for small bones (chicken, fish), 24 – 48 hours for large (cut beef or venison bones). Turn off heat, cool, and strain. I don't mean to freak you out but I also add chicken feet to this. I know. It's over the top. But they contain vital minerals and after we dealt with early childhood tooth decay we decided it was totally worth it. I'll take a creepy looking pot of stock on my stove over crumbling teeth any day. Just don't let your guests peek into the pot.
Other dinner ideas include:
Shepard's Pie (with pureed buttered cauliflower for the top)
Hamburgers, sauteed vegetables, and homemade sauerkraut
Roasted vegetables and roasted meats
Chili (with white beans and venison or beef)
Stir fry (mountains of sauteed broccoli, pea pods, and red peppers with chicken left over from a previous meal)
"Rainbow Soup" (chicken soup with a rainbow of vegetables)
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
For our family GAPS is nourishing, nutrient packed, easy to prepare and easy to digest. I can't imagine a better plan for us than this. Oh, and I've lost seven pounds on accident by eating this way. We're all feeling fantastic.
If you are wanting more information, here are two great resources:
Oh! I’m going to have to try that recipe for flat bread. Thanks for sharing.
Sara,
It is wonderful and so easy. Enjoy.
Rachel
That flatbread recipe looks EASY! It is stiff or fluffy?
I just bought some almonds to soak and grind up for baking – do I soak the almonds BEFORE grinding? Do I need to dry them out before grinding? I’m so confused by this!
Would you say the GAPS book is worth purchasing (considering someone limited financially) or is there enough information on it available online?
Hi Kim,
The bread it fluffy and wonderful.
To soak your almonds, soak them in a 1/2 gallon glass jar with 2 Tb of salt. Fill with filtered water and soak for 24 hours. Drain, rinse, and freeze without drying (if you wish) for making almond milk or dehydrate. Once dried you can grind for flour.
That being said, the scones this AM were made with still wet soaked almonds because that was all I had. They took a bit longer to bake because of the moisture and I had to lower the heat so they didnt burn.
Did I add to your confusion or reduce it? We didnt even talk about blanching. Ask me about it once the info above makes sense.
Peace,
Rachel
Hi Cassandra,
If you are contemplating going on the GAPS diet I would recommend a cookbook as your starting place rather than the GAPS book. But personally Im glad to have the GAPS guide to read and lead me. Really. I am not sure how much info is online since I read the book and totally got it from there. Library? I never bought the GAPS book itself. I have the GAPS Guide and three cookbooks. (Two are specific carbohydrate and one is GAPS).
Blessings!
Rachel
Have you faced any challenges with the diet like being invited to someone’s house for dinner, potlucks, or traveling?
Sounds really interesting.
In Mexico there is elotes and esquites, that are two ways to eat corn, you cook the complete piece of corn or just the grains, in a pot with chicken feet.
Then you put the corn in a stick, put mayonnaise on it, shredded cheese, salt and hot chili powder, its just great.
Or you eat the grains in a cup with some broth, lime juice and salt, and spice powder, too.
This was so helpful. I have been making broth for years but had never thought to save veggie scraps. You Ziplock in the freezer tip will save me some $$$!!! Awesome!
Glad it will be helpful for you, Smoochy. Blessings,
Rachel
Hannah,
Where there is the crux of it, right? We have several friends who are on the same or similar journeys. Otherwise we are hosting the get-togethers these days. We attended our first potluck last week and I brought something that could serve as our whole meal (a quiche). As it was someone brought a roasted chicken, others brought cheese, fruit, and raw veggies. So we were fine. For traveling we plan ahead and bring plenty of road-stable food to eat along the way.
I ate this way for a year when Sage was a toddler and it was almost seamless. I learned how to communicate my needs and how to pack a cooler!
Blessings,
Rachel
Nahuatl,
Wow. Wow, and yum. 🙂
Rachel
Terry Walters also has some great gluten-free recipes in her “Clean Start” seasonal cookbook (great vegetable recipes, too). It is also vegan, which I know you are not, but her vegetable recipes are really fantastic.
Great. Thanks, Josie!
Rachel
Wonderful, Rachel. I’ve been reading more about this since we FB ‘chatted’, so it is nice to hear a regular breakfast… 😉 Where do you order your nuts/flours? Do you order online since you must use so much?
Hi Denise,
I buy my nuts whole and soak them (more digestible that way). You can do a bulk buy through your coop. My freezer is full of nut meat, not deer meat this year. :0)
Rachel
We like our whole grains, but we eat so much of it, and I’ve looking for more variety that packs more nutrition. I stopped getting milk for the kiddos, and opt for almond milk or coconut milk, but still use milk in cooking/baking sometimes.
I try to have protein with every meal, but am concerned using so many nuts will be expensive. How are your grocery bills now that you’re eating this way?
Mm, think I’ll make that flat bread… Do you add the yolks back in? Love your ideas!
Karla,
In truth I view this change much like I viewed it when we switched from conventional foods to organic. It feels right, we feel healthy, and there is a high value in that. Also, we never eat out anymore so there is a great inherent savings. Id call it a wash, or modestly more expensive. I suppose, too, it depends if you are grinding grains and baking bread or buying bread. Everything is whole food, from scratch which is affordable compared to prepared goods and snacks.
Peace,
Rachel
Where do you purchase your bacon and sausage? I was appalled to read that bacon had sugar in it. Does everything have some sort of sugar in it? I think so! ;0.
Oh, bacon how we miss you. Currently our coop only sells bacon with sugar. But there are brands that use honey and weve gotten some from a local farmer as well. For sausage there is a brand we can buy at our coop, or just buy ground pork and add some garlic, salt, pepper, and fennel. Ta da! Sausage patties.
Peace,
Rachel
Any chance you could share the scone recipe as you make them? 🙂 They sound so delicious!
I will! I just thought that as I made my umteenth batch tonight for a snack. 🙂
Rachel
Hi, I just found your blog via a commenter on a GAPS post I just did. We did the the diet several years ago for about 6mths. One quick lunch/breakfast meal that my then 6yr old son could make was banana pancakes. Mash a banana with an egg and cook in a pan. Very tasty, and very easy. Even though we no longer do the diet he often asks to make these. I think this recipe may have come out of the SCD book.
golly that flatbread recipe sounds MUCH easier than the one I tried the other day. it was a massive failure. how do you get your squash pancakes looking so lovely? i have been trying to make them for the past two hours… the only way I can keep them from falling apart is to make them very teeny tiny. i am getting ready to cry.
Oh, honey. Sorry they are frustrating you. We have had off days on the pancakes, that much is true. Once when I didnt follow the recipe closely I poured the batter on a cookie sheet and baked them in the oven. They made good bread. Try for a thicker batter. I so wish I could come over and make them with you to see what is going wrong! And yes, the flatbread is EASY. Really. I promise.
Love,
Rachel
thanks sweetie! they ended up okay, I think I had too much ghee on the pan and the darn electric was on too high (soon we will have gas!). they don’t look so pretty, but the munchkin (that has recently turned into a super picky eater) ate 5 of them. miss you all so much!
love,
Nettie
Oh! Yes. Cook on low heat. Sorry if I neglected to mention that. They are fragile little buggers but low heat does the trick. Also Pete told me to tell you that ours are small by pancake standards too… maybe 3 across. Just an FYI.
Hugs,
Rachel
Hooray!
I am very excited about the bone broth recipe! Can’t wait to try it. We use a lot of broth here, and I just noticed mine has artificial color / flavour in it. We really try to avoid these things, and I honestly can’t believe it’s taken me this long to check out our broth. You have certainly made it look easy, and we’ll test drive it soon. How do you store it? Are you just making enough for a few days and keeping it in the fridge, or do you freeze it?
Those scones look amazing. Do you have a recipe? And do you make your own coconut flour by grinding coconut? I’ve been gluten free for a while, but am interested in going a step further.
I do have a scone recipe but Ill have to dig it up. It came from http://www.elanaspantry.com/ (her cookbook actually). And yes, I just grind up coconut flour and soaked/dehydrated almonds for flour. We love it.
Rachel
I’m sorry to bring up an old post, but what could you use in place of the almond flour? We have nut allergies. :/
Can you do coconut? Just grind coconut flour in your blender until it is fine and use that instead! No seeds either? If seeds are okay you can use sunflower or other seeds, too.
I wonder if the bone broth could be made in a slow cooker. I am nervous of leaving something on my stove overnight.
Absolutely! Just get it very hot, then set so that it is simmering or almost simmering. (On mine that would be high heat.)
Dear Rachel, What aovy blog you have!! I just started back on GAPS after a chronic intestinal struggle for the past 2 weeks:( I’ve been doing the Paleo diet in the past 8 months ( but I still had dairy that could be what my tummy doesn’t like anymore..) and I have a lot of almond flour I purchased online from Honeyville.com. It is not soaked. Would that be ok to use it to make the scone or the bread? Or is there a way to some ground almond?? Also, I made my first 24 hr yoghurt yesterday and I strained it to make it more like a Greek yoghurt. It is sooo good!! But a lot of whey got strained out. Is that a problem or did the yoghurt keep the beneficial bacterias in it? Thank you, Gabriella
For Intro stage 1, what do you eat for breakfast???
Stage 1… Well, theres soup. Stage 1 isnt much fun, Ill be honest with you. We struggled with it pretty hard and rushed through fast. Had we been dealing with major digestive issues wed have stuck it out longer. But we werent so we plowed through one stage per day. http://pinterest.com/pin/20407004531354966/ You might enjoy this. Blessings, Rachel
I have just read from one of the blogs that nuts are good to have cancer free living. I remember that it has a nutrient to help the body produce the right amount of hormone to fight cancer cells.
I would love to hear your journey with tooth decay, my 4 year old daughter is plagued with this issue!
do you have the coconut pancake recipe on hand to site out for us.
thank you denise
I do not. If you google coconut panckakes paleo or coconut pancakes GAPS I expect you would find several.
Rachel Wolf
Owner and Founder, LuSa Organics
http://www.lusaorganics.com
rachel@lusaorganics.com
blogging at http://www.lusaorganics.typepad.com
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Thank you for the recipe. Would like to try a glutton free bread.
Do you have this scone recipe? I see that this blog is from 2011 and I am just seeing it for the first time. I am starting my two kids on the GAPS diet and I would love a breakfast recipe!
Its been so long that I no longer remember. But since this time paleo recipes have really exploded online. Search paleo scone and Im sure youd find something easily tweaked for GAPS. Be well!
Do you have an article on the childhood tooth decay? We are battling that right now. His teeth are crumbling yet and I’m hoping I can beat it before it gets there. We have started him on a cod liver oil supplement. I will be doing bone broth this weekend. Just wanted to hear your story!
I love your blog and decided to take the plunge and put chicken feet in my broth this next go around. I was wondering- do you peel your chicken feet or just put them in the pot? We raised our own birds and did the slaughtering ourselves today and after a good scrub the feet seem really clean- but I thought I would ask what you do. Thank you!!
If theyre already clean then just throw them in! Easy as can be.
Rachel,
Thank you so much for sharing such vital info…I’m reeling from a lifetime of SAD, ya know that bad diet…I’ve survived cancer and depression but now I’m suffering greatly from digestive disorders, of which i’ve suffered from my entire life but now is causing great suffering…I’ve had my gb removed and if there were ever a time i thought ibs was bad, well this is much worse…having said that and researching hours on end how to heal…what does one do if she has no clue about how to cook…i have never liked it and now realize what it is i must do, only the hitch is, I am too sick to barely get out of bed and have no Husband…I am in this alone!
Digging into your old GAPS posts as we navigate this new journey of healing. Did you guys do the intro stages or right into full GAPS?
I want to eat this way so badly and I started the intro 5 days ago, but so far I’ve already gone over budget for the whole month! So how do you afford to eat this way? Where do you buy your food (high quality for good price)? I shop at costco and can find a few things there but we are trying to stick with organic, and I get my bones from a local farmer who is somewhat affordable, but still a stretch (raw milk is $9 a gal).
We adjusted our family budget to accommodate, and thought of it as health insurance as well as food. Plus when we were on GAPS we never ate out, so that money went toward groceries as well. Our town has a bulk buying club where we can buy ingredients affordably, and Costco is a good choice as well. As for veggies, we always buy or barter directly with a farmer. It makes a big difference!
Read the book “Cure Tooth Decay.” I stopped the progression of a root canal with this. I don’t even eat exactly what it says but my tooth will get more sensitive if I eat too much sweet or grain stuff. His diet is very similar to GAPS.