Beet Kvass - Step One!

My first step in starting GAPS is really finishing up a lot of what I have on hand, and just replacing it with appropriate foods.  At the same time I need to start implementing some probiotic foods.  My first attempt at lactofermentation is with beets.  Simple, sweet and sour, and easy!

To start, I cut up one bunch of beets, this time was about 3 medium sized beets.  I added them to my sprouting jar, but a half gallon mason jar is the "appropriate" size.  To the beets I added a tablespoon of celtic sea salt, then mostly filled the container with filtered water.  Stir. 

Cover, and let it sit out on your counter for a few days.  You can also use whey to speed up the process (use a half cup of whey, and only a pinch of salt if you do it this way).  You can get whey from the top of a good organic yogurt, or you can let (preferably raw) milk separate.  The liquid is the whey.  Since I need to cut dairy, I'm sticking to just salt, but it takes a bit longer for the process to get going.

I started my kvass on Sunday afternoon, Monday morning it looked exactly the same, so I left it be.  Tuesday morning there were the first signs of bubbles on top - this is how you know it's working.  I tasted it then, and it was still very sweet, and very salty.  But not bad at all! But I could tell that it still needed time.  So I let it go until Wednesday, and tasted again.  This time it was a little more sour, but I wanted to wait one more day.  Thursday, I could tell that it was good, and so I poured it off and put it into the fridge.  I can tell that this will be an "aquired" taste, however, it wasn't bad! Also note that my body actually FEELS nourished when I drink it.  That's pretty sweet!

Having been drinking the kvass in the mornings, I notice that my cravings have diminished a ton.  Which also has to do with the fact that I stopped eating sugar.  It's amazing how (insert comforting term here - normal, comfortable, relaxed, even, calm, better!) I feel.  This is good. 

So drinking the kvass on it's own is okay, but I decided to make a shake for a snack.  There have been tons of posts about everyone trying these Green smoothies (which I will go into in another post!) using spinach, kale, and other green fruits and veggies, so I decided to try a berry smoothie.  It was goooood! 

I used about one cup of the beet kvass, half a cup of orange juice, two teaspoons of coconut oil, a few frozen mixed berries, a frozen banana, and a handful of spinach for good measure.  I just threw everything into a big cup and used the immersion blender to blend it.  It was delightful! 

It would also be pretty yummy as a popscicle, but that would probably kill the probiotics.....

I would highly recommend this cleansing tonic to anyone and everyone!

The GAPS diet has officially begun!

Yup, the tides have turned.  After having a miserable weekend, in terms of allergy reactions, I have had ENOUGH! I'm sick and tired of wondering which foods are making us sick, being worried about future effects, and the long term effects for always being in a state of inflammation. 
It's weird, after being sick all weekend, I feel as though my body has cleansed itself of a lot of toxic "stuff".  I have felt better than I have in a long time.  But as the week has gone on, I have been slowly returning to the ucky status "quo".  Instead of always living in fear of side effects from the very foods that are supposed to be nourishing me, I want to try to heal my body.  That's where GAPS comes in.  Following the "rules" of the GAPS diet should help detoxify my body and allow me to go from this state of dis-ease to a state of ease...and I'm taking my son (and hopefully my husband) with me!  And anyone else who want to join us on this journey.
This is not a temporary quick fix diet, this is a total lifestyle change.  And I have made the choice to be committed to the change.  I hope those around us can be supportive of this choice - most people who have tried to "diet" or "eat healthy" know that the hardest thing about trying to change, is having the loved ones around you constantly (even inadvertently) sabotaging your efforts.  So I hope that we all have the strength to stick with this.  I know I do.  I have made a choice to do this, because I can no longer accept the consequences of what can happen if I don't. 
It feels really good to make that choice. 
My first job is to find some good GAPS recipes and practice some of the cooking techniques.  Taking long hot baths was also recommended to me...woohoo! Getting good sunlight, a probiotic, Cod liver oil, and a few other odds and ends.  And using up all of the "GAPS Illegal" food in my pantry.  These are things like pre-packaged food mixes and cereal (anything that comes in a box), all grains, all starchy veggies, and all refined sugar.  And for me, dairy for the first six weeks of being on the first GAPS diet.  Oh well. 
Here we go!!

Leeks!

I love leeks, but many of the recipes I know involve using them in a torte.  Which is very tasty, but something I have regrettably had to give up.  So when leeks showed up in my basket, I needed to figure out some new ways to incorporate them into my meals.  I wasn't really in the mood to do a leek soup (I like leek and potato soup, or leek and asparagus is really good too!), although I did use the greens in a vegetable stock.  So I found some recipes for potato and leek pancakes, and then I imagined a neat way to incorporate them into the polenta I had sitting in my fridge. 

Okay, so there are a million recipes for potato pancakes out there, and quite a few with potatoes and leeks.  (If you couldn't tell, potato and leeks go together like cookies and milk :) )  My challenge was to do this without eggs to bind them together.  I didn't really have any egg replacement things on hand that I thought would meld well, so my pancakes did NOT stay together...but it still tasted delish!  For a more suitable pancake add flour and/or egg to bind the potatoes and leek together. 

To start, slice your leeks in half the long way, then rinse very well.  Chop off the very green area, and toss out, or toss in a pot to make a stock with.  The part you want is the white and light green areaa.  I usually incorporate a bit of green too.  For looks, and to stretch out how far the leeks will go.  Then, slice into thin half coin slivers...I usually rinse again in a strainer.   Sautee in either oil or butter for about 5 min, or until tender.  If I have multiple leek dishes to make, I always prepare all of the leeks at once, then divide.  It's just easier.

Next is the really fun part.  NOT! Peel and rinse your potato, and shred into a bowl lined with a clean dishcloth.  You could shred the potatoes into some cold water to prevent them from turning brown.  Feel the burn!  I guess this step will be easier for those of you who just pull out a food processor with a shredder attachment.  You want to have about a 1:1 ratio of potato and leeks.  Once you have shredded enough potato, use the dishcloth to squeeze out as much water as you can. 

Then, add potato, leeks, and about a good cup of grated parmesan cheese to a bowl.  Add about a table spoon of olive oil to coat, and incorporate.  You will probably want to add some salt and pepper.  Thyme and rosemary work well too.  Here is where you would add flour or egg to make a real pancake.  :)

Once ingredients are mixed, form into pancake - like shapes, and put into a hot pan with a little oil or butter.  They should only take a couple of minutes per side.  I did about 5 min per side, and got them nice and brown.  But they kinda fell apart when I flipped them.  It was okay, I topped my potato leek mound with ketchup and sour cream....and then ate the entire batch!

This polenta dish is a way for me to feel indulgent, since the types of breakfast foods I can eat are diminishing by the day!  This idea came to me in a round about way, and when I make it again, it will be really easy to simplify. 

One Sunday, I decided to try out "The Pioneer Woman's" Goat cheese and polenta with braised short ribs.  (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/11/creamy-polenta-with-goat-cheese-heaven-on-a-plate-part-2/).  It was pretty good, but I would have liked the polenta a bit thicker.  She used at least a 4:1 ratio of liquid to polenta.  She also said that it would serve 4 people, and we had a TON of leftovers! Which is saying a lot, since both Jason and I eat quite large servings. 

Since we had a lot of leftovers, and I wasn't totally crazy about the goat cheese flavor in the polenta, I decided to try to "fix" it.  Firstly I wanted to thicken up the recipe a little, and secondly, I wanted to do more than just use it as a relatively boring side dish.  I started looking up recipes, and found some fabulous looking recipes...but none of them were in English! I could tell from what I saw that polenta had a LOT more potential than I gave it credit for.  Baking or frying it could do things that would make it out of this world! So I whipped up another batch of polenta, using a 3:1 water to corn meal ratio.  Then I took the old polenta out of the fridge....and it was solid! Kind of like a jello! Hmm, this could be interesting.

I managed to incorporate the old polenta into the new polenta, then I put it in a glass baking dish and put it in the fridge to cool. 

When the polenta was solid enough to work with, I took it out of the fridge and turned it upside down onto a plate.

 I carefully, but not carefully enough! cut through the middle of the polenta mass, so that I had a top and a bottom.

 I laid the "bottom" back into the baking dish, then I spread the leek, potato, and cheese mixture that I had saved onto that.  It wasn't "enough", so I sauteed some grape tomatoes and spinach in oil, and once the spinach was wilted, I added that over the leeks, then covered that with freshly grated parmesan cheese.  Then I carefully flipped the polenta "top" back into the baking dish, and grated more cheese onto top for good measure.

 Then I baked it all together for about 20 minutes. Yum!

To simplify this entire process, you could sautee your "filling" ingredients while the polenta cooks, then mix them right into the polenta while it's still in the pot.  Then transfer the entire thing into a baking pan and bake for a few minutes.  Much easier, but not as cool looking :)

INGREDIENTS:

Pancakes:
1 medium leek
1 medium potato (or several small, you need a 1:1 ratio of potato to leek)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper to taste,
oil/butter for cooking

 Polenta:
2 cups corn meal
7 cups water (plus a little extra in case it gets too thick)
1 medium leek
1 medium potato (or several small, you want a 1:1 ratio of potato to leek)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
3 oz spinach
1 cup of grape tomatoes
thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper to taste

Note: To make polenta, bring water to a boil, then add corn meal in a steady stream while mixing constantly.  Once cornmeal is in water, turn down to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes while stirring constantly. 

Also, I usually don't add salt to my recipes, since I will just use it to season at the end if needed.  You will probably need salt with these recipes! It really makes an impact, particularly with the corn meal :)