I feel like a Mad Scientist! 10 or so years ago, when I started cooking foods for M, I had to come up with all new recipes. This food allergy thing was still really on the fringes, and the internet was not was it is now. I did find some very helpful groups, but I was mostly on my own.
Fortunately, now I have a couple of SCD books and there are lots of good webpages. I even found the Yahoo group for GAPS diet help. Phew! It is a really busy group too. The upshot of that is there is no shortage of information. The downside of course is that there is so much information it is hard to sort through all of it.
One thing I have learned and really resonates with me, is about fermented foods. For most of human history, fresh food was scarce. Sure, you could butcher that animal, or gather those roots, but it would only be fresh for a very short period of time. Then what? You weren't going to throw it all out! Not after all the trouble to procure it in the first place. So you preserved it somehow. We think of drying or salting, but by and large, people counted on the friendly local bacteria to do that job. After all those millenia of consuming local bacteria, our bodies have become dependent on them. We are symbiotic beings! Isn't that cool?
Fast forward to modern Western society where we have germophobia big time. Without our bacteria friends, we are unable to synthesis key nutrients or fight off the bad guys that enter our system. Essentially, our digestive system is a wimp and needs "big brother" microbes to defend it. In kids like M, who've had a host of issues, it is pretty obvious that the microbes got beat out a long time ago. That leaves the door open for not-so-friendly bacteria to move in. They release toxins and cause all kinds of trouble needless to say.
Now, I could give M a pill. And that would help some. But there are 2 main problems with that. First, no pill has everything, and is mass produced, so it's lacking in the "local" part. But the best defenders against local bad guys are the local good guys. They know their opposition! Secondly, the price! Oy! They price! I could easily spend over $100 a month on just probiotics. I think not.
But cabbage, now that's pretty cheap stuff. And around here, it grows pretty much all year. If I shred it in the good old food processor, toss it with a goodly helping of sea salt and pack it in a glass jar, I get yummy saurkraut, full of powerful local good guys! And I'm not limited to cabbage. Pretty much any firm vegetable can be fermented. Well, grains too, but grains are out. LOL
Then, in the not-so-local realm, are things like dairy ferments and kombucha. I have been making dairy yogurt for all but M. He's been eating some store-bought goat yogurt. I started the dairy yogurt from some Stoneyfield Farm yogurt. I described this process last post, but one thing I neglected to mention is that GAPS/SCD calls for 24 hour yogurt. So I let the yogurt culture for 24 hours instead of the regular 6 or whatever. This ensures that the lactose is mostly used up. It also makes a firmer yogurt. It's yummy, especially with some cucumbers. Mmmmm
The kombucha has been my big project. It is a bit involved, but the good guys that make up kombucha are really fairly complex and really, really good. Some people claim to have cured their cancer by drinking it! Here is a link the Wikipedia article on kombucha and the Synergy page, which is the brand of kombucha I used as my starter.
So my process went like this:
Purchase Synergy Raw Kombucha. and empty 1/2 the jar's contents (trying to get some of the stringies especially!) into a clean glass bowl.
Cover with a light towel and set aside for about a week, or until a film develops on top.
Brew up a quart or so of Rooibos tea with plain sugar. When cool, carefully add to the bowl. Recover and let sit another week.
At this point, the film had become a mass that was sturdy enough to lift. Success!
I brewed up more rooibos tea and sugar, this time 3 quarts. I used a cup of sugar for the 3 quarts.
Move the SCOBY (mass) and 1 cup of the brewed kombucha to the jar. Cover and set aside.
The rest of the kombucha I poured back into the bottle (cleaned ;-) ) that the original came from. Screwed on the lid nice a tight and let it sit on the counter for another 3 days. Then I moved it to the fridge for a day to chill. I prefer cold kombucha. It was awesome! Tasted quite a bit like store bought!
So, then I went and bought swing top bottles from the local homebrew supply store. Like these. My next step will be to bottle my big batch when it is done. The kombucha can sit on the counter for a while, improving, until I'm ready for it. That will save space in the fridge. The tight swing caps will help it build the carbonation.
I have a couple of experiements planned. First, is to add dried fruit to the bottle for the second brewing. That will give it a fruit flavor that should appeal more to C and M. G and E love it straight, but they're not the ones on the diet. Go figure.
Next, I want to play with alternatives to the white sugar. Kombucha is older than refined sugar, so obviously it doesn't NEED it. I'm thinking apple juice or grape juice as part of the liquid. We'll see.
So with all that going, plus soaking my seeds, I feel like I'm surrounded with bubbling pots. Like a mad scientist. It's kinda fun.
The bad news is that the diet is hard. Especially on M. I think he may be having some Candida die off issues. He is having an incredibly hard time with his school work. Concentration, normally very minimal on things he doesn't want to do, has flown out the window. And the frustration tolerance is quite minimal. i'm experiencing headaches as well. I think part of M's problem really is low blood sugar. He is fairly picky in that he's very addicted to sweets. So he refuses to eat much of what's available. He especially dislikes the strong fermented flavors. He had a huge meltdown today. But now he's making a smoothie, so hopefully that will help.
Last night we had pot roast for dinner. Tonight is honey mustard chicken. Chicken, honey and mustard with salt and maybe a bit of lemon. And veggies. Always the veggies. Lunch has been mostly leftovers. Breakfast, yogurt, meat patties and fruit for snacks. Oh, I've been having fresh juice/yogurt drinks. Can't get my guys on board with that yet for some reason. One day at a time, right?
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