What We're NOT Eating

So we've been on the GAPS diet for a whole month now.  I have been keeping a meal log so we can note any reactions and whatnot, and today's log finished 31 days!

I realized that I wrote a long post on the WHY of starting this diet, but I haven't really given much details about what all it involves.  I did post some links for those who were interested in more details, but I'll just give a quick rundown here of what our eating habits look like now.

1. NO sugar, aside from what naturally occurs in fruits.  For sweeteners, we use honey and stevia (I get it in the liquid form and use the dropper--very easy).  And cinnamon and vanilla go a long way toward making one's taste buds think there IS sugar involved in something, LOL.

2.  NO grains.  None.  Period.  This means: no pasta, no corn or corn products, no popcorn, no flour (with the exception of coconut and nut flours), no "normal" bread, no cereals, no oatmeal, no cornmeal...did I leave anything out?!

3.  NO starches.  No potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn starch, rice, etc.  (Is rice a grain?  Maybe that should be under #2.  Hmmm.)

4.  NO chocolate.  Sigh.  I'm still not very happy about this one, but I'm frankly amazed that I've gone 31+ days without it.

5.  NO soy or soy products.  (Do you realize how many items in the grocery store contain soy lecithin?!)  (I have to confess I do cheat and use a canola non-stick cooking spray, which has soy lecithin in it, but this is miniscule, and my diet "mentor" told me she uses it, too!)

6.  NO bad fats--only animal fat, butter, coconut oil, and cold-pressed olive oil allowed.  We use butter and coconut oil for cooking/sauteeing and olive oil for things like homemade salad dressings and mayonnaise.

7.  LIMITED (and specific) dairy--only whole (almost-raw) milk (drunk by itself infrequently), homemade yogurt that has been fermented long enough to be lactose-free, cheese in small amounts (but no mozzarella).  NO cream cheese or sour cream.  (But the homemade yogurt and dripped yogurt cheese works just fine as replacements.)

So, what ARE we eating?  Good, quality meats--grass-fed and humanely treated beef and pork and free-range chickens, for example, all hormone-free, of course.  Homemade chicken broth--drunk plain in mugs as well as in various soups.  Homemade yogurt.  Soaked and roasted seeds.  Eggs and more eggs--scrambled, fried, boiled, etc.  LOTS and lots and lots of approved fruits and veggies.  We have had more vegetables in the past month than we probably ate in the previous 6 months combined!  I've been thrilled to see my kids eating things I probably would not have thought to give them before, when it was easier to give them a cracker or piece of bread because I knew they'd eat it.

For example...we have discovered that little Lucan loves plain spaghetti squash and carrot sticks dipped in hummus.  (His dinner tonight consisted almost entirely of a large serving of green beans and some avocadoes.)  Tobin has realized he loves garlic broccoli.  Arden eats all colors of peppers like there's no tomorrow.  Charis adores our roasted squash bake, and Kenna cheerfully puts away all manner of vegetables.

We've had to be creative to fill up our growing kids, but we haven't been bored yet!