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Author: Mary | Just Take A Bite

Today’s The Day…

It’s finally here!!! We get to meet our precious new baby today! Lord willing in about 4 hours we’ll have a 4th member in our family 🙂  Just thought I’d share a couple last belly shots. After our long journey, it’s hard to believe this is finally going to be a reality. Trusting that God will give us peace and that everything will go smoothly with the delivery and recovery. I’m sure my kitchen experiments and posting will be a bit sparse for a while. But I’ll be back. And I’ll post pics soon. Thanks to all of you that have shared this journey wtih me and my family.

And since this is a food blog I just have to add…boy am I hungry!! 😛  I am not the kind of person that can normally skip breakfast…but I guess I can put up with it for today 😛  Looking forward to lunch 🙂

GAPS Sauerkraut

Aside from bone broth one of the most nourishing and healing foods for GAPS is sauerkraut. It is recommended right from the start…starting with just the juice and then adding in the vegetable itself. So I figured I better try some 🙂  This recipe comes right from the GAPS book. Very simple. And only takes 5-7 days to ferment. I made mine even more simple since I didn’t have any carrots in the house…and they bother me anyway. So it’s just cabbage, water and salt. That’s it. It does take a little elbow grease to get the cabbage broken down. But still very easy to make.

I tried my first bite yesterday. It was pretty good. I only took one small bite…start slowly. So I can’t say if it had any impact on me or not. I’ll have to update again sometime. And I probably should be starting with just the juice anyway 😛  As I’m getting more into the GAPS diet I’m realizing that for now I don’t need/can’t handle tons of veggies. I always wanted to load up on them before…that’s how you get rid of constipation, right? When in reality all of the fiber aggrivates your gut when it’s not healed/not able to digest properly. And I think that’s why I’m finding so many veggies bother me. Until I get my gut sealed and healed I need to stick to only food that is very easy to digest…like broth, very mushy veggies, probiotic foods, etc. I can’t handle much fiber right now. The opposite of what I was told for years. No wonder I had so many problems! Slowly but surely I’m figuring this out 🙂  My goal is to start having a little of the juice and/or the cabbage with most meals. Hopefully that will help with digestion.

And not related to sauerkraut, but something else I’m finding…I think it may be the coconut flour that’s been bothering my tummy lately. Same issue…too much fiber for me to handle right now. Coconut flour is particularly high in fiber. So sad. Since it’s so good!! But all in good time. Until I’m doing better I’ll keep my grain free baked good intake to a minimum and stick with nut flours. I handle those better at the moment.

Anyway, here’s the recipe. I only made a small batch…one small head of cabbage. It made 1 quart.

GAPS Sauerkraut

1 medium size white cabbage or combo of red and white cabbage
2 shredded carrots
water
1 – 2 Tbsp. unrefined sea salt

Slice cabbage thinly. Add carrots. Add salt. Knead mixture well with your hands until a lot of juice comes out. If it is not juicy enough add a little water. Put the mixture in a glass jar for fermentation. Make sure the cabbage is covered with liquid and that there is at least 1 inch of headspace in the jar. Cover loosely with lid. Let ferment in dark place for 5-7 days. Check periodically to make sure the cabbage is submerged in liquid.

Grain Free Breakfast Cookies (gluten free, GAPS-legal)

I hadn’t intended to do much baking this week. But Sunday I was looking at some grain free blogs and came across a recipe for breakfast cookies on Comfy Belly. And I had to try them! I’ve loved breakfast cookies ever since I made them the first time. But sadly have not been able to eat them for a while. So I was very excited to see a grain free version. They taste very similar to my other recipe. So good!!! And super easy to make. I didn’t follow the measurements exactly…I was trying to use up what I had on hand. But they still turned out great! My plan was to make a half recipe…but it was kind of 1 1/2. I used 1 cup of my homemade almond-pecan meal and about 1/2 cup of boughten almond meal. I still used 1 egg, but only 1/4 cup of honey. Still plenty sweet. As usual I left out the baking soda and used stiff egg white instead. For add ins I used crispy sunflower seeds, raisin, coconut and a few chocolate chips. I know the chocolate chips aren’t really on the approved list. But like I said, I was trying to use a few things up and I had a small amount left in a bag. I made my cookies a decent size. I got 12 out of this batch. Another great, easy breakfast to have in the freezer! Love it. Serve it with a kefir smoothie and you’ve got one very nourishing, tasty breakfast!

These can be dairy free if you don’t use butter.

Grain Free Breakfast Cookies

2 1/2 cups of almond meal or almond flour (any nut flour will work really)
1/4 tsp. of salt
8 Tbsp. of unsalted butter, melted (or 1/2 cup of coconut oil or vegetable shortening, melted)
1/2 cup of honey
1 egg, separated
1 Tbsp. of vanilla
about 2 cups of nuts, dried fruit, seeds (or anything else your heart desires)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and blend with a spoon. Add the wet ingredients (except the egg white) and blend it well with a spoon.

Beat the egg white until stiff peaks form. Fold into dough.

Drop mounds of batter on the cookie sheets (I used parchment paper lined sheets). Space them about 1 inch apart.

Bake for 12 to 20 minutes (depending on how big you make them…mine took almost 20 minutes), or until they are starting to brown around the edges.

If you want them slightly crunchier (these are on the soft side), leave them in the oven at 200 degrees F for another 15 minutes or so, or in a dehydrator on a fairly low temperature for about 2 hours.

Cool and enjoy. Store in a sealed container

Meal Plans Week of 5-1-11 and 5-8-11

First week of May. Last week before baby. Although theoretically the baby could come any time. So I’m going to post plans for the next 2 weeks today. Not that much going on this week since everything is pretty much ready and I’m trying to take it easy. Just some last minute odds and ends.

Last week was pretty low key. I actually got quite a bit of misc. cleaning done. And the basement is looking much better too. I did try a little more grain free baking – apple cinna-muffins and coconut flour bread. Both very good. I started a batch of sauerkraut. It should be ready in the next day or so. I’m anxious to try that. I also made a batch of mayo and froze 5 lbs. of butter. We had our last day of gymnastics. So glad that is done. I don’t think I could make it through another class. We were able to get outside a little bit…the brief moments when the rain finally stopped 😛  Yesterday’s outdoor play was cut short by Rebecca’s first sliver. Not pleasant, but thankfully we eventually got it all out.

I found one more food last week that did not agree with me at all – asparagus. We roasted some for dinner one night. I think I’m still paying for that 😛

This week I want to really focus on nourishing/healing food in preparation for the birth/hospital stay (with antibiotics and junk food). Lots of probiotic food. Lots of eggs. Lots of broth. I don’t have much on my agenda. I’m trying to take it easy and get rest while I can. The main thing is last minute baby prep. I need to make sure my hospital bag is packed well and add a few snacks to it. Aside from that it’s mostly prepping stuff for Rebecca/grandparents while I’m gone.

One thing on my list is to order our beef and pork for the year. We have never done pork in the past, but I think we will give it a try this year. Probably Grassfield’s. For beef we are still debating about where to get it from. We have a couple options. Our main focus this year is to for sure avoid anything with GMOs or soy. Hopefully we can decided for sure in the next couple days and place our order. One more thing to not have to worry about after the baby 🙂

So, this week…today is church. Nothing going on Monday (not used to that!). Tuesday we’ll be voting. Hopefully that will only take about 5 minutes. It’s just across the street…voting on one item. Wednesday is Kindermusik. And I just realized it will be my last day of KM with Rebecca. Very sad. This is her last semester of Our Time (18m – 3yr class). And the last time I get to go wtih her. Next week she’ll be going with grandma (the last class of the semester). Then next semester she’ll be in the older class…where she’ll be on her own for most of the class. I’ll really miss our special time in KM. We’ll have to decide if we’re going to do the baby class in the fall or not. In the afternoon I have my last OB check up. Hard to believe. Thursday is stock up day. I’ll be going to Harvest Health and Meijer to stock up on milk, produce, etc. for the following week. Friday is our last day of MOPS for the year. I’m hoping to go, but we’ll see how I’m feeling. Sitting for long periods is very tough for me/makes my leg swelling worse. So we’ll see. Maybe I’ll go and just have to make myself get up periodically. Saturday we were thinking about going to Tulip Time, but it’s more likely we’ll just stay home, take it easy and get all of the last minute things done so we can totally relax on Sunday.

Next week…Sunday is Mother’s Day. It’s still TBD whether or not I’ll go to church. Sitting in church is tough. And any final prep. My parents will be coming in the evening for dinner, to get settled, etc. since they’ll be watching Rebecca for a couple days. Then Monday morning bright and early (have to leave home about 5:15 am!) it’s baby time!!! Hopefully by about 8 am we’ll have a new member of our family. Beyond that, no plans 🙂  Recover, introduce Rebecca to her new sibling, etc. We’ll do a grandparent swap on Tuesday (Justin’s parents will come in the afternoon). I’ll either be coming home Wednesday or Thursday. Likely Thursday, but you never know. If I’m feeling well I might be so anxious to get home. We’ll probably have some family visit over the weekend. Mostly my siblings. But nothing is planned at this point. I may or may not have meal plans posted for a few weeks. I’m sure we’ll get quite a few meals brought to us. So no way to plan right now. I doubt most of it will be stuff I can eat. So I’m planning to rely on my freezer stock of meat, broth and veggies. And eat lots of eggs 🙂  Simple and nourishing.

I guess that’s it. Feels weird to have all of the plans set for who knows how long. I’m just so anxious to have this baby and move on from the pregnancy phase. With everything we went through to get to this point I feel like I’ve been pregnant/waiting for about 2 years now! We’re all ready to take this next step and add a member to the family. Not to mention I’m really ready to have my body back 😛  If my swelling gets any worse I think Justin will have to roll me out the door to get to the hospital. Hopefully by next week I’ll still have one pair of shoes I can get on my feet and one shirt I can fit over my belly 😛

In case you’re interested. Here’s how I feel captured in pictures :\

Here’s what’s on the menu.
———————-
Week of 5-1-11
S (prep lunch, church)
  B – avocado w/ egg yolk, coconut flour bread w/ almond pecan butter (me), pancake muffins w/ syrup, pineapple (Justin)
  L – beef veggie soup, crackers w/ cheese
  D – salmon cakes, roasted asparagus and brussels sprouts

 M (living room, kitchen and basement cleaning, put away laundry, pick out Rebecca’s clothes for next week)
  B – leftover salmon cakes, avocado (me), muffins (from freezer), fruit (Justin)
  D – pork chops and apples over rice, peas (Justin), beef veggie soup (me)

T (prep smoothie, make breakfast cookies, vote)
  B – kefir smoothies, breakfast cookies
  D – tacos, peas

W (prep dinner, clean kitchen, KM, Dr. E.)
  B – beef veggie soup (me), chewy granola bar, fruit (Justin)
  D – bacon, peas and broccoli crustless quiche, beans

Th (office/desk cleaning, Meijer/HH, soak nuts, dry nuts)
  B – avocado w/ egg yolk (me), hot cross bun, pineapple (Justin)
  D – roasted chicken, peas, baked potatoes

F (clean, laundry, MOPS?, make broth, soak beans)
  B – bacon, toast (Justin), avocado w/ egg yolk (me)
  D – leftover quiche, beans, roasted asparagus, applesauce

S (make hm dressing, cook beans, chop fruits and veggies, make kefir, feed sd, co-op order, make gf muffins, make hummus, last minute baby prep/packing/cleaning, put away laundry)
  B – avocado w/ egg yolk (me), yogurt, granola, pineapple parfait (Justin)
  D – enchiladas (from freezer), corn (Justin), leftover quiche, avocado (me)

—————————–
Week of 5-8-11
S (Mother’s Day, church?, parents coming, final baby/guest prep, prep smoothie, thaw blueberries, thaw goulash, thaw bread)
  B – avocado w/ egg yolk (me), sd english muffin, fruit (Justin)
  L – leftover soup, crackers w/ cheese (use up leftovers) – enchiladas, bacon, strawberry milkshake, chips, veggie (Justin), yogurt/kefir w/ egg yolks and crispy nuts (me)
  D – navy bean hummus w/ tortilla chips and pepper slices, pear slices, hot dogs, beans

M (BABY!!!)
  B – kefir smoothie, blueberries (Rebecca), yogurt, granola, fruit (Justin), toast w/ pb/jam, fruit (grandparents) (No breakfast for me :\ )
  L – hot dogs, hummus, pepper slices, yogurt raisins
  D – goulash, corn, applesauce

T (my parents leaving/in-laws coming)
  B – blueberries, homemade cherry bar or apple raisin bar (Rebecca), toast w/ pb/jam, cherry bars (grandparents)
  L – leftover goulash, peas, applesauce
  D – chili, corn muffins

W (KM)
  B – breakfast cookies, fruit, yogurt
  L – leftover chili, corn muffins (if any) else pb/honey sandwiches, misc. fruit, veggies
  D – beef veggie soup, sourdough bread

Th (come home)
  B – oatmeal muffins, yogurt, fruit
  L – chicken w/ honey mustard dressing, peas or pepper slices, yogurt raisins (Rebecca), chicken sandwiches, pepper slices, fruit (grandparents…on the road?)
  D – beef veggie soup

F (visitors)
  beef veggie soup

S (laundry)
  salmon egg casserole, roasted asparagus

Coconut Flour Bread

I tried another coconut flour recipe today. This one comes from Maggie’s Nest. When I saw it I knew I had to try it…just a simple loaf of bread. Worked great!!! 

It’s very yellow, like most things you make with coconut flour (I think it’s because you have to use so many eggs with coconut flour). Very mildly sweet.

My daughter sure loves it. I had some with butter. I’m anxious to try using it tonight for a sandwich with cashew avocado chicken salad.

I again omitted the baking soda to make it GAPS-legal (did the egg white trick). I used butter this time. I’ll have to try it with coconut oil sometime.

This is a very simple bread to make. And a great one to have on hand (fresh or from the freezer) for many uses. I bet you could make it savory by adding herbs or make it sweeter by adding fruit. I’ll have to try that sometime.

You can even make it into pumpkin bread by replacing one egg with 1/2 cup of pumpkin and adding some cinnamon.

Coconut Flour Bread

3/4 cup coconut flour
6 pastured eggs, separated
1/2 cup butter, ghee or coconut oil (melted)
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon unrefined sea salt
juice of 1/2 lemon (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease loaf pan very well, or line with parchment paper (I greased it well with butter…had no problems.).

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

Combine coconut flour, egg yolks, butter/oil, honey and salt in a mixing bowl and beat with a whisk or spoon until you have a smooth paste (I used a hand mixer). Add in egg whites. Stir with spoon until well combined. Add lemon and mix lightly.

Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 40 minutes.

*Replace one egg with 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin and add 1 tsp. cinnamon to make pumpkin bread.

NIAW – Bust a Myth Challenge – A Doctor Can Make You Pregnant

Infertility Myth: A doctor can make you pregnant.

I am participating in Resolve’s Bust a Myth Challenge during National Infertility Awareness Week. I debated about which myth to bust…since there are so many! And I decided to talk about the issue I come across most often. Many people know little or nothing about fertility treatments, specifically IVF. And they think that a doctor is trying to play God and can make a woman get pregnant. After multiple rounds of clomid, IUI and IVF I can assure you this could not be farther from the truth! Doctors try to help. But in the end it’s all in God’s hands, no matter what.

I’ve heard IVF described as “taking the easy way” or “a sure thing.” Let’s see. What is easy about month after month of heart break and disappointment? What is easy about pills, injections, treatments, constant doctor appointments, drug side effects, weight gain and pain? What is easy about spending tens of thousands of dollars just to conceive a child? Nothing! I can say that going through infertility and treatments is one of the hardest things a person can do. And the hardest part…more often than not the treatments don’t even work. Sadly for some they never work. As much as we would like success every time it is all a guessing game. And a doctor can not make you get pregnant. Only God can do that.

Let’s explore a couple different fertility treatments…and how a baby is actually conceived.

The first attempt for most people is clomid. It’s just a pill you take for a few days to help a woman ovulate/produce a mature egg. And everything else is done the “natural” way. This works for many people. For me it did nothing, except make me feel rotten and emotional. I did not ovulate while taking clomid. So no chance of getting pregnant…doctor or no doctor.

Next for us was IUI (intra-uterine insemination). If the woman needs help with hormones/egg production she takes medication (clomid or injectable drugs). If the woman does not have problems the drugs are not necessary. Then a doctor injects a sample of sperm into the woman’s uterus around the time of ovulation. And nature takes its course. If a sperm fertilizes an egg and the egg implants in the uterus, then the woman gets pregnant. If not, then not. Again, no doctor “makes” anything happen. And as a side note, IUI is often what results in multiples/high order multiples (even though most people think it’s through IVF) because there is so little control. If the woman produces 6 mature eggs, she has the chance to become pregnant with 6 babies. My personal experience with IUI is limited. We tried it once…and found out we had male factor infertility…so the odds of it working were pretty much zero.

Finally we move on to IVF (in-vitro fertilization). IVF is a little more complicated. First the woman takes hormone drugs (mostly injections) to help her produce multiple mature eggs. When the eggs are mature, the doctor removes them from her uterus. Then the sperm and the eggs are put together to see if any of the eggs will become fertilized. Sometimes this is done without intervention. Sometimes a procedure called ICSI is used where one sperm is directly injected into an egg (in the case of poor sperm morphology/shape). Either way the doctor has no control over whether or not an egg is fertilized. It either happens or doesn’t depending on the quality/genetics of the sperm and the egg. If/when one or more eggs are fertilized then they are placed back into the woman’s uterus. It is up to the patient and the doctor how many to put back. Being able to select only one or two gives less chance of high order multiples with IVF than there is with IUI. Any unused fertilized eggs are frozen. And here is where I think the biggest misconception comes in. Yes, a doctor places a fertilized egg into the woman’s uterus (a transfer). But NO, the doctor CAN NOT IMPLANT the fertlized egg. That is physically impossible. As with any other means of getting pregnant, it is in God’s hands. IF the fertilized egg is viable and IF it implants in the uterus, then the woman gets pregnant. A doctor can not control either of those factors. A baby is not conceived until the fertilized egg is implanted in the uterus and becomes a viable embryo. I know from experience that even implantation doesn’t mean a pregnancy. We had one IVF transfer that resulted in a chemical pregnancy. The fertilized egg implanted, but it was not viable. So it didn’t really grow. The doctor could not control the viability or know ahead of time if it was viable. That is in God’s hands. Doctors can make predictions about which fertilized eggs “look good.” But it doesn’t mean it is truly viable.

So it all boils down to the fact that we can take drugs to adjust hormone levels, we can make sure the sperm reaches the egg, but we can’t make someone pregnant. Doctors don’t create life. Only God does. It doesn’t matter if you’re taking a simple pill or going through multiple procedures. A doctor can only do so much. And then it’s up to God whether or not a sperm and egg will come together viably and implant in a woman’s uterus to create a baby.

A doctor can not make you pregnant. I know that first hand. Here is my infertility journey to prove it. If a doctor could make me pregnant I would never have had to go through all of this.

January 2007 – 1st round of clomid – no ovulation

February 2007 – 2nd round of clomid – no ovulation
March 2007 – 3rd round of clomid/1st IUI – not pregnant, male factor Dx

July 2007 – IVF #1 – OHSS (hyperstimulation, produced over 40 eggs), no fresh transfer, 15 fertilized eggs frozen
August 2007 – FET (frozen embryo transfer) #1 – pregnant, daughter born 4/17/08

October 2009 – FET #2 – not pregnant

November 2009 – IVF #2 – OHSS (produced over 40 eggs), no fresh transfer, 14 fertilized eggs frozen

January 2010 – FET #3 – not pregnant
February 2010 – FET #4 – not pregnant
March 2010 – FET #5 – beta #1 (hcg level) – 2, beta #2 – 5.1, beta #3 – 51, beta #4 – 49…not pregnant, chemical pregnancy

July 2010 – IVF #3 – OHSS (produced over 50 eggs), no fresh transfer, 10 fertilized eggs frozen

August 2010 – FET #6 – pregnant!!! 9/2/10 – beta #1 – 120, 9/8/10 – beta #2 – 1,223, 9/14/10 – beta #3 – 8,220, 1st u/s 9/21/10 – 1 healthy heartbeat: 122bpm!, EDD 5/14/11

I have been on a long journey (that isn’t over yet). And I am so grateful that God has blessed my husband and I with one IVF miracle that just turned 3 and another IVF miracle that we will be meeting in 13 days (or less!). We don’t know what God has in store for the future, but we know it is in His hands…not a doctor’s.

If you would like to know more about infertility please visit the Resolve website.

Apple Cinna-Muffins (grain free, dairy free, GAPS-legal)

Another new grain free muffin attempt today. I found this recipe on Cooking GAPS. I modified it slightly – used coconut oil instead of ghee and did the egg yolk/white trick so I could eliminate the baking soda. They turned out well, but fairly crumbly. I think that’s because I used some of my homemade almond-pecan flour…which is quite coarse. And the quantity of apple made them not hold together as well. I’ll have to experiment a little to get them just right. Or maybe add an extra egg next time. The dough was very thick. But overall a great recipe. Very good flavor. Next time I’ll use muffin liners, too. That will help keep the muffins together. I’ll post the recipe the way I made it. This made 11 muffins.

Apple Cinna-Muffins
10-12 muffins

2 cups almond flour (I used 1 cup crispy almond-pecan flour, 3/4 cup almond flour and 1/4 cup coconut flour)
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 egg, separated
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (or ghee at room temperature)
1/2 cup honey
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 large or 2 medium apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch pieces

In a medium bowl, mix the almond flour, salt and cinnamon. In a small saucepan melt coconut oil. Add honey and vanilla. Add egg yolk to dry ingredients. Beat egg white until stiff. Add oil mixture to dry ingredients. Fold in egg white. Fold in apples. Spoon batter into paper lined muffin pan and bake for 25-35 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.

Grain Free French Toast (GAPS-legal)

This isn’t much of a recipe. But it was a very tastey and exciting meal last night that I figured I’d share 🙂  When you start eating grain free there are a few things here and there that you miss…like french toast. I grew up eating french toast for breakfast almost every Saturday morning. So it was a wonderful treat to be able to eat french toast for dinner last night. Earlier in the week I made a batch of cinnamon raisin nut butter bread. Then I used that to make french toast. YUM!!!!! I drizzled it with honey instead of maple syrup (syrup tastes better…but not so good for the tummy) to make it GAPS legal. I felt like I got to eat dessert for dinner. And I didn’t have to worry about it making me sick. This is a very basic french toast recipe. I made it with kefir this time instead of milk to make it GAPS legal. Worked great.

Grain Free French Toast

6 slices nut butter bread (plain or cinnamon raisin)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk kefir
cinnamon (optional)

Mix eggs and kefir (and cinnamon). Heat griddle over medium heat. Grease griddle with butter, coconut oil or lard. Dip bread in egg mixture, coating both sides. Cook on griddle a few minutes on each side, until lightly brown and egg is cooked. Serve warm with honey.

If you are making a large batch you can keep the french toast warm in a 250 degree oven while you  make more.

Baked Bacon and Eggs (casserole and bowls) (Grain Free, GAPS-legal)

Yesterday for dinner I tried a recipe from Nourished and Nurtured for Baked Bacon and Eggs. Sarah’s recipe is for a casserole. I made them in individual cups  Pretty simple meal. And tasted great!!! What’s not to love about bacon and eggs baked together? 🙂  I lined some small pyrex dishes with the bacon, baked it for about 40 min., drained it and let it cool a bit. Then added the egg mixture and cheese and baked. Turned out really well. I’ll be making this again for sure. I had some leftovers for breakfast today. Still tastes great! I only made about a half recipe since I wasn’t making the full casserole. And I had to bake it at a higher temp since I was also roasting veggies. I used 3 strips of bacon per bowl. And 5 jumbo eggs total. And I just grated a small amount of cheese on top of each. I’ll have to try the full recipe sometime. I’ll post the original recipe and my modified recipe.

Baked Bacon and Eggs (8×8 casserole)

5-8 ounces nitrate-free bacon
10-12 eggs, preferably farm eggs
1/2 cup milk kefir (you can use whole milk, but then it won’t be GAPS legal)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 tsp. Celtic sea salt
freshly ground pepper

Cut bacon slices in half (so they are half as long). Place bacon slices in square 8X8 glass baking dish, covering the bottom. The bacon slices should be overlapping. Bake the bacon at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, just until it starts to crisp. Depending on how much you have overloaded the pan, you may want to rearrange the bacon some after it has cooked for 15 minutes (since it will shrink away from the sides).

While bacon cooks, prepare egg mixture. Combine eggs, kefir, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl and beat with a fork or whisk until well-combined and fluffy. When bacon is done cooking, rearrange the slices as needed to cover the bottom of the pan (since the bacon may have shrunk away from the edges). Pour egg mixture on top. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top and return to the oven. Bake casserole at 325 degrees for about 40-50 minutes, or until set. The eggs will puff up in the middle when they are near done, and will then deflate while cooling. Allow to cool slightly, then scoop and enjoy.

*Time-saving tip: If you will be saving the majority of the casserole to eat as leftovers, do not allow to bake completely. Rather, pull the casserole out when the middle is just starting to puff up, and then eat portions from the sides. This will ensure that the leftover eggs will not be overcooked when reheated. We store our leftovers in small glass containers. Then all that is required on the following days is to place the glass container in the toaster oven set at 250 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Baked Bacon and Egg Bowls (4 individual bowls)

12 strips nitrite/nitrate free bacon
5-6 jumbo eggs or 7 large eggs
1/4 cup milk kefir
1/4 cup grated paremsan cheese
1/2 tsp. sea salt

Cut bacon strips in half. Line each cup with 6 halves to cover dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until starting to get crisp. Drain. Set aside (you can do this ahead and let them cool if you want).

Combine eggs, kefir and salt in a medium bowl and beat with a fork or whisk until well-combined and fluffy. Divide egg mixture into prepared bowls. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until set. The eggs will puff up in the middle when they are near done, and will then deflate while cooling. Allow to cool slightly, then scoop and enjoy

Grain Free Peanut Butter Brownies (gluten free, dairy free, GAPS-legal)

Yesterday was a cold and rainy day (with thunderstorms and hail…at the end of April…yuck!), so Rebecca and I decided to bake. I saw a super simple recipe on Grain Free Foodies recently for peanut butter brownies. We gave it a try. It was very simple. Only 3 ingredients! The verdict…ok. Honestly they don’t have a ton of flavor. I think I’ll add a little more honey if I make them again (I used about 1/3 cup). They would definitely be better with something chocolate in them 😛  They got a little dark on the edges. I think that might be from the palm shortening I used to grease the pan. Rebecca really likes them. So that makes this a great recipe…not very sweet and GAPS legal…and Rebecca likes them. Score 🙂  The original recipe uses baking soda. I left it out. The texture is really good. I think I just still have a big sweet tooth. Hopefully at some point that will change and these will taste sweet to me 🙂

Grain Free Peanut Butter Brownies

1 cup peanut butter (or any kind of nut/seed butter)
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
1/2 tsp. baking soda (not GAPS-legal, it works fine if you leave it out)

Thoroughly mix all ingredients (an electric mixer works well). Pour into a generously greased 8″ x 8″ baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Do not overbake- these are so moist and chewy but get dry if baked too long.