Day Ten

The day is over, kids are (finally) asleep, and I'm ready to crash once this is posted. The menu worked, though we veered from it a little, and the day went more smoothly. The issues we started the diet for are definitely getting more pronounced  (hopefully a good sign), so we're staying put on Level 3 for now. That will give me time to get even more creative about incorporating bone broth into meals. At least they are enjoying the yogurt and sauerkraut.

GAPS friendly store bought sauerkraut is EXPENSIVE, though!! So, my next adventure will be attempting to make sauerkraut. It is a little intimidating, because I know it can go wrong and be messy and probably stinky. But, when I can buy a cabbage for about a third of what a jar of sauerkraut costs, it doesn't make sense not to try!! The process takes five to seven days, so I won't know if I've done it right until next week. Wish me luck. Depending on how my phone is behaving, I will share photos.

One aspect of this diet that is quite surprising to me is how quickly my taste buds are changing. I love sugar. Actually, I love it so much, I really try to keep it out of my house (especially in the form of candy) because it is so difficult for me to resist.

So, I expected major cravings when we started this journey. Amazingly enough, I haven't really had any?! Once in a while I really long for a sweet treat (like a coffee with syrup and real cream), but it hasn't been nearly as bad as other experiences I've had.

Instead of craving sugar, like I expected to, I'm beginning to enjoy healthy foods much more than ever, foods I've never enjoyed in my whole life!! Foods like squash and avocado. I've never liked squash. But, it sure smelled good simmering in my stew the other night. And the creamy squash soup I made (by blending cooked squash and bone broth in my Vitamix and adding yogurt) was devoured; a feat made even more amazing when you consider that my family was turning their nose up at squash as I was making the soup. In the past, I'd eat guacamole with nachos (a hint to my Spanish heritage, maybe), but not plain avocados. Knowing we needed to add more avocado to our diet, I intentionally hesitantly took a bite of a piece of freshly opened avocado; it was delicious!!

One side note - it is important to pick ripe avocados, but not too ripe. Dr. Campbell-McBride explains why you need to eat ripe fruit in her book, so I very carefully picked very soft squishy avocados from the local fresh fruit stand. They were too ripe, and had a funny yucky taste to them. My husband didn't notice, but the rest of us did. I won't make that mistake again, lol.

So ends Day Ten on my GAPS diet journey. Good night.