Making Cow's Milk Yogurt

Ingredients:

• 1 gallon cow's milk, preferably raw and grass fed
• 2 containers - 6oz, of Dannon plain yogurt, room temperature

Equipment:

• a large pot
• a large glass bowl
• a ladle
• a whisk
• 5 quart mason jars w/lids, or other glass containers, preferably right out of the dishwasher (still warm)

Heat the milk slowly on the stove. While the milk is heating, empty the yogurt containers into a large glass bowl. If your mason jars are cold, fill them with hot water and let them sit.

When your milk reaches a temperature where you can comfortably insert a pinky finger for 10 seconds (as per my Armenian mother, grandmother, great-grandmother. . .), take your pot off the heat.

Temper the starter: Ladle a couple tablespoons of milk into the large glass bowl containing the yogurt starter while whisking. After a 15 seconds or so, add another ladle full of milk while whisking. Do this 3 or 4 times before pouring all the milk into the bowl (or all the yogurt mixture into the pot. I prefer to mix my yogurt in glass or enamel lined pots. I've read that metal can be a problem for ferments, though the times I've mixed it in my stainless steel pot I've had no problems. Never ferment the yogurt in metal.).

Once the starter mixture is combined with all the milk, begin whisking like you've never whisked before! Whisk your heart out! I've had 'grainy' yogurt once. I've learned my lesson and now -- I whisk away!

When finished, pour or ladle the mixture into the warm mason jars (or empty the hot water from the jars, dry with paper towels, and then fill with the yogurt mixture). Leave about an inch of space at the top of the jar, just in case (I've read people stating to leave 2+" at the top of the container because yogurt 'grows' when fermenting. I've never found that to be the case. I've filled them just shy of the rim and never had any expansion.). Cap the jars/containers -- not too tight.

Place the jars in the oven with the oven light on. Place balled-up dish cloths in the oven door to leave it cracked open. Let the yogurt sit, untouched, for 24 hours.

TIP! If you do have to move the yogurt -- let's say -- to use your oven -- do so very, VERY, gingerly. The yogurt will not set if it's bumped, shaken, jolted, etc. I've moved my jars from the oven to the counter. When I do this, I place them very close together and wrap a heavy towel around them to keep them warm.

After 24 hours, place the jars in the refrigerator and let them firm up for at least 4 hours (best overnight).

To thicken the yogurt, strain it:

Place a colander inside a bowl. Line the colander with cheesecloth or coffee filters. Place yogurt in the lined colander. Cover with plastic wrap and set in the refrigerator for 3 hours. Check consistency. Need it thicker? Let it drip more.

For Greek style yogurt: strain for a few hours.

For yogurt cheese: strain it overnight.

For cream cheese: strain it overnight and in the morning mix in salt.

Enjoy liberally!

Wild Cherry Cough Syrup

First, make an infusion of wild cherry bark:

Add one ounce by weight of dried wild cherry bark to a quart jar. Then fill to the top with boiling water, tightly lid and allow to steep for 4-10 hours. Overnight is ideal.

After steeping, strain the liquid from the herb, squeezing the herb to get every last drop possible. Save the liquid, discard the herb.

Second, make a decoction of the wild cherry bark:

Measure the infusion liquid and pour into a pot. Heat the liquid until it begins to steam (before it simmers). When the steam begins to rise, turn the heat down as low as possible. Steam the liquid until it's reduced by half. This can be done by observing the water/liquid line on the side of the pot as the level drops and liquid decreases.

Third, make a syrup:

For every cup of decoction, use 4 oz. of honey.

Add the honey to the hot decoction liquid in the pot. Increase the heat until the mixture just comes to a boil. Pour the boiling hot syrup into a sterile bottle/jar and cap it.

Optional: add one tablespoon of brandy, vodka, etc. to further stabilize the syrup.

Let the mixture cool and store in the refrigerator. Keeps for 3 - 6 months.

Dosage:

• For a 125 - 150 lb person, dose is 1 tsp.
• For a 60 - 75 lb child, dose is 1/2 tsp.
• For 30 lbs and smaller, dose is 1/4 tsp.

Dose can be repeated as needed up to 8 times daily.

Fill Your Broth, Egg Yolk and Fat/Marrow Quotas with Puréed Vegetable Soups

The easiest way to fill our broth quota for the day is to offer Puréed Vegetable Soups during breakfast and lunch or as a snack.

Prep and slice vegetables and add to a soup pot (this soup is tastiest and creamiest when a winter squash is used). Add enough bone broth for the broth to come 1-2" from the top of the vegetables. Add in fat/marrow if not already in the stock. Simmer at least 20 minutes. With an immersion blender (the easiest way! Invest $30!! Save time!), purée.

Set aside the amount of soup that you'll eat right away and let it cool a bit. Add desired amount of raw egg yolks and whirl again with the immersion blender. Add some fermented vegetable juice or yogurt for a different flavor and to add probiotics. My kids drink it with a straw.

This is an easy addition to breakfast when pre-made and wonderfully warm on cold fall and winter mornings.

Whipped Banana Recipe

This is a perfectly satisfying 'banana ice cream.' The easiest recipe you'll ever make AND can always have the ingredients at hand. Enjoyed by GAPSters and non-GAPSters, alike!

Serves 2

1 1/2 - 2 bananas, very ripe and frozen

Top with any combination of: dried coconut, fresh ground flax seeds, almond pieces, fresh fruit, berries, yogurt whip cream

Push bananas through a juicer configured with homogenizing attachment. Top with desired "fixin's."

My favorites are coconut and flax seed as well as coconut with almond pieces (best when they're salted!).

Day 98, Full GAPS

We've been home from our vacation for a week and a half now. So much has gone on since we left for our trip!

We left for the beach with no less than 4 coolers -- yes, that's right -- full of GAPS food. One large cooler, 3 medium, plus an insulated grocery bag and an insulated lunch box made their way 4 hours to the coast. I had a slight panic attack on the way. . .what if everything didn't fit?!?! I talked myself down with the thought -- hey I'll just 'rent space' from the neighbors if I have to!

Fortunately, everything fit but a few containers of soup which I put in the fridge to thaw. Whew!

The trip was great. The kids became one with the sand as I got my annual, and much needed, ocean/beach recharge.

I kept the kids to the diet, though we wouldn't juice or take supplements everyday (I re-introduced those, though not as slow as when first starting). I tend to remember those things when they're a part of the daily routine. Vacation days are anything but routine. We did go out to eat and they'd have steamed shellfish or broiled fish and steamed vegetables, for the most part. We did find a great little whole foods restaurant that served the most deliciously GAPS friendly dessert called Banana Whip.

Notice how I said 'kept the kids to the diet?' I strayed. It took me a good week to fall off the wagon, but I did. I'm bruised! I'm not getting into the nitty gritty of it. Just know that I've been back on track since returning home with the exception of decaf coffee with cream. And with that, I'm weaning.

Also, as much as I 'kept the kids to the diet,' I didn't appropriately move through Intro stages there at the end. Stages 5 and 6 were flew through, if not combined. We were on Full GAPS in no time.

I've concluded that this Intro go 'round was my Learning Intro. It slowly introduced me to how to prepare and serve GAPS foods as well as what to look for in 'reactions.' Though we are not technically on the GAPS Intro as of now, I am still giving the girls bone broth, raw egg yolks, fermented vegetables and oils. At some point, like many GAPSters, we'll do the GAPS Intro again . . . with experience and confidence!

Daddy made breakfast! Scrambled eggs with ghee.

I supplemented: Puréed vegetable soup

Snack: Banana

Lunch: Turkey cheeseburgers with provolone, fresh tomato, fermented pickles, lettuce, raw red onion. Puréed vegetable soup.

Snack: 1 fresh fig

Dinner: Chard, onion, spring onion, delicata squash and zucchini cooked in lard. Served with crumbled crispy bacon and shredded provolone cheese.

I'm still trying to organize myself from the vacation. I did come back with some frozen food, which was great! I'd heat it up while unpacking, laundering, going through mail . . .

Symptoms/Reactions: While on vacation, I allowed my oldest to have some of the foods that she reacts to. She had some tomato, broccoli, cauliflower, and green beans. Her eczema did flare, but not nearly like it did before. Is it because the eczema spots are 'dormant.' Or because her body is handling it better?

No one is constipated or has been at all for at least a month and a half (Stage 4?).

Right before leaving for vacation, my oldest began showing signs of seasonal allergies -- itchy eyes, sneezing, eczema flares. The ocean definitely helped with this.

Upon return, and the start of preschool, my oldest (and now my youngest) had what I thought was allergies, but now I realize was her first cold of the school year. Last year was back to back to back to back colds (never saw anything like it!). I'm hoping with the GAPS Intro under our belts AND the continued Full GAPS diet, her system will fend off a lot more than last year. Her cold began with watery eyes and nasal congestion. It moved to nasal congestion and a phlemy cough that came in spells. Both my kids are at the age where cough/cold medicines are not approved. Fortunately I was able to make my own cough/congestion medicine.

On a slightly depressing note, my oldest had a hair cut today. As the stylist began spraying her hair with water, my oldest exclaims, "I'll take a wash." She's too much. After her 'wash,' back in the chair, I notice her ear is bright red (I could only see one). And she couldn't stop itching her eyes. I started wondering what was in the shampoo. I came home and looked it up -- Brazil nut extract or protein or something. She's allergic to Brazil nuts. Also wheat protein, but I don't think wheat would have created that sort of a reaction. Sigh. . . not a good sign.

Bone Broth

Attempt to get bones from a reliable source, ideally an organic farm that raises livestock naturally (grass fed beef, pastured poultry, etc.).

Place bones in a stock pot. Add water to cover and about a tablespoon apple cider vinegar (which helps to extract minerals from the bones and into the broth). Add salt (start with a tablespoon). Let sit for no more than an hour. With the lid off, bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer.

You must babysit the pot for this first 10 - 15 minutes. This is when scum forms on the surface of the not-yet-broth. Skim, skim, skim.

When skimming and scum-forming is finished, add cracked pepper (otherwise you'll be skimming it, too). Then cover with a tight fitting lid and turn heat WAY down. You'll want to check it in a half an hour or so to make sure that there is still movement in the broth. You don't want a full simmer, but you do want to see 'bubbling.'

Leave the pot to 'bubble' like this for 24 hours (give or take).

When 24 hours is over, or it's convenient for you, take the pot off the heat and let cool for a couple of hours. Strain, keeping the bones as well as the broth.

Bones: Go through the bones and pick off any fatty, meaty, slimy parts and put in a bowl. Be especially vigilant not to include any tiny bone fragments. Look inside the bones. Beef bones are easy -- search for any jelly-like substance. This is marrow. You can 'slam it out,' but I have too much drama in my life as it is. I use a little butter knife and guide it into the bowl. Poultry bones are a little harder. You have to open them up, which isn't too difficult considering how long they've been boiling. Use your thumbs and break them open -- an apron is appropriate here, since they're known to splash -- and scrape any reddish brown matter into the bowl.

Now you have a bowl of goo. Scrape it all into a food processor and blend till it's pâté-like. You can A) add all or some of this back into the stock, B) freeze/refrigerate all or some of this to be used at a later time.

TIP! After adding some of the bone broth pâté back into my stock, I freeze the rest in ice cube trays. Once frozen, you can pop them into a container to easily retrieve when needed.

Congratulations! You now have a nourishing stock for drinking, soup making, or cooking with. Your great-grandmothers are so proud!

GAPS Intro, Day 81, Stage 6

It has been difficult, to say the least, to stick to GAPS while on vacation. I came, more than prepared, thankfully. However, I struggle with feeding the kids "the same 'ol same 'ol" when we're in a different place with different foods, tastes, sights -- experiences to be had! Every experience is a learning experience. Just yesterday we had dinner on a porch in front of a marina. My oldest asked questions about boats and the youngest would 'find' and point them out. Not something that would've been done sitting in the kitchen. True, we could have packed up and picnicked there . . .

The hardest part of sticking to the diet has been vacationing with non-GAPSters. Vacation food to me is not having to prepare anything from scratch (it's all made and frozen). Vacation food to non-GAPSters consists of chips, pretzels, candy, pizza, ice cream, etc. Even after 3 months of not eating it, seeing this stuff everyday -- I'm only human. I gave in. Now I'm in the trenches trying to pull myself back out. I liken the 'need' for caffiene, processed flour, sugar to the 'need' for drugs by a drug addict. You do it 'cause it feels good. It's really not about the taste.

Fortunately (trying to see the brighter side of things amidst my failure), the girls are still on the diet. The 'cheating' that they've been allowed has been mostly vegetables to which they have food sensitivities -- broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower, green beans. This is because we have been going out to eat and most restaurants have limited vegetable options. I take what I can get.

My dear oldest daughter, the one with the worst of the allergies/sensitivities, LOVES all vegetables. A lot of kids would be glad to not have to eat broccoli or brussel sprouts. Mine cries for them! Even though she was 'so so happy' (her words) to once again enjoy these offenders, her little body wasn't quite ready for them. Surprisingly, her body did not react in it's usual way which would be an eczema flare up about 10 minutes after ingestion. Instead, red areas appeared on her face and have not disappeared. The area adjacent to under her eye is a little red and puffy. Her cheeks are also a bit spotty -- asymmetrically, no pattern. She doesn't seem to have purple circles under her eyes, which is a very usual symptom for her.

The other 'cheating' has to do with not going as slow as we should with adding foods -- mostly fruits. It hasn't been too bad, just not as 'slow and methodical' as I would have liked. Moved into GAPS Intro, Stage 6 without thinking!

My youngest daughter, who's now 18 months, has had an eczema flare up for about a week and a half now. No real change with it regardless of the new vegetables.

Both girls are having GAPS legal fruit. Bowel movements are just fine -- better than fine. I'm trying to have them have soup/stock at least once a day. I'm juicing about every other day.

Kids' menu today (I'll leave mine out till I get back on the wagon -- with head hung low!):

Carrot juice, diluted with added fermented cod liver oil

Scrambled eggs and sausage ala Daddy!

Pumpkin seed bread with ghee

Yogurt with cantalope

Frozen fruit smoothie from GAPS friendly restaurant

Asiago cheese

Little bit of yogurt

Salad with olive oil and lemon and salt

Sharp provelone cheese with roasted peppers

Broiled salmon with fresh fruit salsa (tomato free and very much a condiment)

Summer squash, zucchini, peppers, broccoli, broccoli rabe

I do need to pull the offending vegetables from my oldest's diet and give her body more healing time. I expect to do an integrated GAPS Intro/Full GAPS diet on our return home. Want to up the soups and stocks, get back into ginger tea meanwhile enjoying a bit of fruit, nut or seed breads, roasted meats, etc. Also smoothies with raw egg.

I'm needing to incorporate more of the healing foods.