(Yah, I don't typically do food talk here. And definitely don't do food photos (with the freakin phone, to boot) but this was So Big for P, it deserves a spot... Featured above, our homemade cheese.)
Ahhh, so behind. I'm still planning on getting the rest of our trip pics up (yah, from last summer!) And I
definitely want to get to the holidays, because some of the family balloon blowing pics are priceless. (Yah, Seth, I'm talking about
your face here :)
But the big changes first. The day after the Christmas holidays we started a crazy, gut fixing diet. Which has consumed my every waking moment for the last few weeks (result? shitty blogger). If I'm not up in the kitchen till 1 in the morning, I'm reading the science behind it and trying to figure it all out. Its something we read about a year or so ago. Tossed around for a bit. And finally decided to implement.
It was going to just be Ethan. A few weekends ago, while we were seriously discussing it, the Little Man was mysteriously short on interruptions (my pet peeve of late, never getting to finish a thought to Ethan. Repeat Mantra: The child is only young for a while, he is only young for a while....)
At any rate. The kid was cutting paper, without having us pause our parental musings. So we dug into the diet info and E decided he was game. (I mean, he can't really feel much worse on a day to day basis. And eating most anything makes him feel like shit, so it seemed like an easy gamble to try and straighten out his gut flora and see...)
Then the Little Man jumped in. "I wanna do the Gaps too."
Ummmmmmmmmm.....
Its not that kids don't. They do. Lots of them. With great results. Its not that I don't think it would help P tons. Its that it starts out reeeeeally restrictive, broadens slightly and then broadens again, but still remains, well,
restrictive. Healthfully so, but definitely not featuring Newman's Minty O's.
I informed him of this fact. He said he'd do almost anything if it has a good chance of healing his food intolerances. Which have been growing (now including mango and pineapple and chicory and ....) He was adamant. He'd heard the babble and wanted to follow the book. Period.
So we jumped in, all three of us. Well, jumping would be easy. We read the entire book, the history, the theory, the science. We lugged (ok, E lugged) home tons of groceries and we cooked. And cooked. And cleaned. And cooked. And cleaned. And, well, you get the idea. And we waited for miraculous good health (that is supposed to take, oh, about a year and a half to happen ;) No, not a
quick fix ;)
I assumed E would be ill the first week. Die-off being pretty miserable for everyone in the highly restrictive beginning. I also assumed it would be cake for P, since the intro included his current fave foods, eaten multiple times a day: Fermented pickles, saurkraut, chicken broth, boiled chicken/turkey, and veggie soup made with said broth.
And he
was fairly content the first day. Except for the sugar cravings. Which just about did him in. He had tiny licks of raw honey a few times to get him through. There was quite a bit of (uncharacteristic, I hate to even type the word, but...) whining. The next morning, he woke up puking.
And was ill from die-off allllll day. He even slept. Mid day. While we chatted around him. And cooked and banged next to him. He was ill the next day too.
Lest you think we are doing something scary or starving the sweet babe, go read the book. Or the website. Its all good, promise :)
But the nasties in his gut weren't happy, and they reeked havoc on his little body. E and I were dizzy and faint with die-off, but (possibly because our typical diet contains much less, erm, sugar than his...) we were managing our brain fog decently (Brain-fog being E's constant state and all:). The kid, he was
pissed. After puking up his favorite foods a few times, they were no longer his faves ;) And he had very few options left on the first few days of intro. Thank the stars we quickly added eggs and yogurt. It was like he grabbed a life-line, leaving his former loves behind with a nasty smirk, he consumed more eggs and yogurt than an army. Then it got a little better, and a little better. And the detoxing Epsom Salt baths made it even better.
But, honestly, the road has been much harder than I imagined (such is life..). I knew his gut was messed up (thus the food allergies) but jeez. And then, of course, was the tricky subject of
limits and
restrictions. We talked a good deal about what those would look like, before undertaking this little endeavor, and the kid was all game. In the middle of cravings and a pissed system, determination went right out the window. E and I whispered into the night, should we listen to his guilty gut and give in or help him through the rough spot? We knew his intent, his hopes, his peanut filled dreams. We also knew how his diet had been deteriorating in the last year . This formerly fab eater was reacting to more and more foods, more and more additives and it was sad. He was becoming a much more restrictive eater too, which wasn't natural for him. I also loathed the idea of cooking him separate meals every day. And the disappointment he would have when E is better in the future (my typos to gawd's ears) and he, would not be.
So, it was hard, but we stuck to the plan. Thank the stars above. Now, over a week into it, the story is totally different.
(The kid
loves making the morning veggie juice. The peeling, the cutting, the juicer whirring. Silly kid, he seriously loves it.)
He's drinking broth again. And happy with his roasted chicken now, too. We're nearing the end of intro, and this means more interesting foods and an absolutely ecstatic child. He jumped for joy today for our simple tomato soup. He swoons over asparagus spears for snacks. Begs for sauteed mushrooms in broth and yogurt for lunch. Consumes yogurt and eggs like the hungriest of carnivores. Hasn't needed a titch of honey in days. And went on two grocery runs this week without even glancing at the chocolates. (For real. He has a cabinet full of snacks and sweets and he hasn't, not even once, opened it and pined. Granted, its only been a week... But I'd swear the hard part is behind us. Hopefully, desserts made with seeds and honey are just a few weeks away...)
Moral of the story for me: I'm all for listening to my kid. Letting him listen to his body so it can show him what he needs (as I've yammered about in endless posts). But when modern food fucks it all up (alongside antibiotics), well. I'm really, really glad we helped him stick with his larger goal when he needed the support. And even more glad that it was his goal. Because I'm sure that's what has made all of the difference.
What I'm not especially glad about, is how hard it is to cook for this diet. I'm still getting used to the whole consuming of animals business. And now our grains are out, and that's been my staple for the last 20 years! And everything is from scratch. I mean, we did scratch before, but this is s.c.r.a.t.c.h. Like, we made our own cheese today. Thrilling for the child, who was flashing back to Little House in the Big Woods as he watched the whey drip out the cheesecloth lining. But this is definitely an added step. To make our crackers (to go with said cheese) I had to start days ago. First, to soak the seeds overnight, then, to dehydrate the seeds overnight. Then, to grind the seeds....
But its going to be worth it. To really determine his food intolerances, give his gut a chance to heal and then reaccept those foods. Not to mention the simplicity it will eventually involve, once all of these new methods become status quo. Not to even mention if Ethan, holy schmoly, can eat without narcolepsy ;)
Until that far distant time, I'll look to the immediate pleasures, like the kid is. He's super psyched for tomorrow. He gets acorn squash sunflower seed cakes for breakfast. And our salsa, that's been fermenting on the cabinet for the last two days, will finally be done, to be eaten with our zucchini and chard chips, chillin' in the dehydrator, getting their crisp on through the night.... (Yah, mom, I can hear you gagging all the way up here ;)
