(Names have been abbreviated in this post because I did not receive prior permission to name them!)
Recap: Ellie has successfully had the bone broth and pureed, boiled meat of grass fed, organic lamb, beef, buffalo, venison, and pork. Chicken was not going to be available for some time, I had exhausted the resources of what is found in the supermarket and local farmer's markets, and buffalo and venison are outrageously expensive ($24.99 per pound??!) That left lamb, beef, and pork, and not a very large variety for her.
None of my leads for wild game had panned out, so I thought I would give it one more try and posted what I was looking for to our home school group. One of the moms (P.) sent me a note saying that her brother had a friend who was an avid hunter, and she would see about contacting him.
The next day or so P. passed the contact information on to me, saying that this 'hunter' would be expecting my call. Nice! The name was familiar - S. Moore (the same as someone we knew at the church plant I mentioned in the Vitamix post). I blew it off as probably just a common name, and what were the chances? I called and spoke with S. Moore, and explained how we were trying to avoid soy and corn. He said he would do some research and get back to me, and I was grateful!
A couple more days passed, and P. asked if I had been able to speak with S. Moore and had any luck. I said I had, and that I was waiting to hear what he had found out. Her response caught me off guard: they live in West Sacramento, and his son is also an avid hunter. Uh. Hmm. NO WAY. Really? Seriously? How many Moore families could there be in West Sacramento that fit this description? It WAS the family we knew, and who we had not seen in several years? GOD IS SO WEIRD! ha!
S. Moore's son, A. Moore, was a facebook friend of Ellie's daddy, so I jumped onto facebook and sent him a message:
HI A.!
God is sooo weird so I had to send you a note. I am Jason's wife.....not sure if you remember me. We used to go to Southport with you and your folks in WSac. Anyways I have a new friend that I met after moving to Elk Grove, who gave me the name of her friend who does hunting and might be able to help us out with some wild game that I have been trying to get my hands on for my daughter. (My daughter has a rare immune system condition) Anyways, she gives me that contact info for a S. Moore. I think to myself...that is bizarre but probably a common name. I called YOUR DAD and never put it together. Tonight my friend emails me and says 'did you get a hold of S.? Was he or is son able to help? They are avid hunters...they live in West Sacramento.' !!!! More than one S. Moore in WSac? I doubt it! SO hilarious! :)
His response:
HOLY SMOKES!
Wow, yeah... small world. That's crazy, my dad was telling me and all of my hunting buddies about your daughter at a wedding over the weekend. I'd like to help..... see if we can get a network of folks to help you out.
As for what I can do for you right now, is provide you with some venison and waterfowl meat.
The next day S. Moore left me a voicemail (something to this effect):
Nichole! S. Moore here! I spoke with A. and can not believe it is you guys...we'll fix you guys up.
Amazing! Within days our freezer had duck, venison, and bear for Ellie. Two answered prayers in one shot - access to these meats, and donated as well. Nevermind the astonishing way that God is using friends from our past in combination with new friends in our lives right now.
Years ago, when we were actively involved in that community and church, we were able to donate a lot more time and energy to leadership activities than we are now. Many times we were tired and over extended. And once again, God does not guarantee we will see His ways or His plan. We are to trust, and keep trudging, in hopes of hearing 'well done good and faithful servant' at the end. But instead of expecting us to just plug forward, this most gracious God has allowed us the comfort of old friends when in need, and connection with new friends to reassure us of the move we made to Elk Grove during this most stressful time only 14 months ago. What word is there to use, except for amazing?
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Ketosis
I have been asked if I worry about ketosis in Elianna - a condition created from too much protein and not enough carbs (or something like that). I just discovered a response to this question by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, author of GAPS, on her website. Dr. Natasha has an MD in neurology and an additional MD in nutrition. For more information please check her FAQ page. Here is her response:
Ketosis and GAPS. Is it induced via GAPS Introduction diet? Is it a danger in doing GAPS Intro? Is it one and the same as die-off? How to prevent it?
There is a popular myth that sugar is the main source of energy in the body; this myth has been created by commercial companies selling sugary foods and drinks, and by funded by them “research”. Mainstream nutritional institutions are funded by food industry, so they are the main propagators of this myth. Here is the truth: vast majority of all cells in the body use fats as a source of energy: your heart, your muscles, your inner organs, etc. Whenever fat is used as a source of energy ketone bodies are created. There is no need to fear ketosis, as we all have it now and then almost every day (it is very different from diabetic ketosis, induced by non-functioning pancreas). It is possible that during the Introduction diet there will be periods of ketosis, but don’t worry about it as normally you would not feel it at all. Eating vegetables will prevent ketosis. Ketosis is not the same as die-off.
Friday, March 4, 2011
How To Make Bone Broth
The difference between bone broth and meat broth, is that the bone broth needs to be cooked longer to extract the nutrients from the bones. While meat broth can be boiled for only a few hours, bone broth should be boiled for at least 12 hours (though I have boiled it for less in a pinch). Bones and marrow are richer in nutrients than just meat, and for Ellie I make sure and boil a piece of meat in with the bone broth to add more variety of nutrients and then have something to make puree (or pate') out of when it is done.
If you are not happy with the density of the broth when you are done, you can take off the lid and continue to cook it down until it is more condensed. The thicker, or denser in color, the better the broth. Also, if you are going to make bone broth with something other than a bird that will easily come apart, you need to make sure that the bones are not whole and the marrow is exposed. Adding pork skin or poultry skin into the broth will add additional nutrition.
It is abest to use grass-fed, organic meats and bones. If you use regular commercial meats you will be extracting the anti-biotic residue, chemicals, and other various things that will not be conducive to healing!
To make the broth:
Defrost the bones and meat. Place them in a large pot and cover with COLD water. Add a handful of coarsely chopped peppercorns. Peppercorns add other nutrients supposedly, but I don't know what those are!
Place the pot on the stove without a lid and bring to a boil. Skim the foamy funk off the top and discard. Do not remove the fat. Not now, and not at the end. The animal fat is super nutritious and good for you! (And once you add vegetables in to make a soup, it is much less noticeable.)
Add sea salt 'to taste'.
Reduce the pot to a low rolling simmer/boil, and put on the lid. Cook for as long as you can! (but not more than 24 hours)
When the broth has finished, it is easiest to strain it right away. If you let it cool then you have to deal with the solidifying fats and meats left in the pot. Use a fine mesh strainer and pour your broth through it. Discard the funk in the trash. Separate out the bones, and knock the marrow out on a cutting board if it has not cooked out into the broth already. It is a goopy gelatinous stuff that is not very appetizing in appearance. Don't let preconceived ideas turn you off to it's value!
At this point you can put the meat in the fridge to add to the broth later and make soup, or freeze it, or puree it, or combine the bone marrow and the meat together and blend it up. There are lots of options.
Use the broth as a warm drink, cold drink (?), use to make soup, or to cook with. Keep some in your freezer for help battling viruses and colds.
If you are not happy with the density of the broth when you are done, you can take off the lid and continue to cook it down until it is more condensed. The thicker, or denser in color, the better the broth. Also, if you are going to make bone broth with something other than a bird that will easily come apart, you need to make sure that the bones are not whole and the marrow is exposed. Adding pork skin or poultry skin into the broth will add additional nutrition.
It is abest to use grass-fed, organic meats and bones. If you use regular commercial meats you will be extracting the anti-biotic residue, chemicals, and other various things that will not be conducive to healing!
To make the broth:
Defrost the bones and meat. Place them in a large pot and cover with COLD water. Add a handful of coarsely chopped peppercorns. Peppercorns add other nutrients supposedly, but I don't know what those are!
Place the pot on the stove without a lid and bring to a boil. Skim the foamy funk off the top and discard. Do not remove the fat. Not now, and not at the end. The animal fat is super nutritious and good for you! (And once you add vegetables in to make a soup, it is much less noticeable.)
Add sea salt 'to taste'.
Reduce the pot to a low rolling simmer/boil, and put on the lid. Cook for as long as you can! (but not more than 24 hours)
When the broth has finished, it is easiest to strain it right away. If you let it cool then you have to deal with the solidifying fats and meats left in the pot. Use a fine mesh strainer and pour your broth through it. Discard the funk in the trash. Separate out the bones, and knock the marrow out on a cutting board if it has not cooked out into the broth already. It is a goopy gelatinous stuff that is not very appetizing in appearance. Don't let preconceived ideas turn you off to it's value!
At this point you can put the meat in the fridge to add to the broth later and make soup, or freeze it, or puree it, or combine the bone marrow and the meat together and blend it up. There are lots of options.
Use the broth as a warm drink, cold drink (?), use to make soup, or to cook with. Keep some in your freezer for help battling viruses and colds.
Our Special Order Chickens
After the borrowed Vitamix arrived, Ellie began chugging her bottles with liquid meat. I felt the long time burden of feeding my daughter begin to lift, and a relief that was unexplainable. The missing link at this point was providing a variety of meats to give her a variety of nutrients, and also finding a 'bird' to round out her needs. Ideally, we could go purchase a chicken and give her chicken soup, but finding a chicken that has not been fed soy or corn is literally impossible. I have been hunting for soy and corn free chickens and eggs for months. Chickens in North America have been fed commercial feed, and corn and soy for so long, that I couldn't even find a generation that knew otherwise.
You have probably heard someone say at some point that homemade chicken soup really does have healing properties to it. Well, it does! It is bone broth! You throw in a chicken, cook it up, and make soup. I find it almost humorous that we are OK with chicken bone broth, but think other animals are funky. Sometimes when I make these realizations I shake my head at myself. How goofy I have been!
Finally on craigslist I found a farm in the Apple Hill area that is raising chickens for meat, and selling them at farmer's markets. They were in their second year, and going to begin selling their organic chickens to a local restaurant as well. I emailed the business owner (Tom), and told him what I was looking for. To my amazement, he offered to look into raising chickens for slaughter for me, special order! Special order chickens. Who would have thought!
Tom is very knowledgeable, and did extensive research on my behalf to find a soy and corn free alternative to feeding the chickens, and also make it himself so that the per pound charge for these chickens is not outrageous. (Of course, 'my' soy and corn free chickens will be leaner and smaller than the 'other' chickens.)
Real Food Farms in Camino, CA will be beginning soy and corn free meat chickens this month. Please contact them (realfoodfarms@gmail.com) if you are interested in purchasing chickens that are soy free, or both corn and soy free. They are competitively priced, and very impressive. I am unsure if they ship, but you can always ask. After all, look at the accommodations they have made for Ellie!
You have probably heard someone say at some point that homemade chicken soup really does have healing properties to it. Well, it does! It is bone broth! You throw in a chicken, cook it up, and make soup. I find it almost humorous that we are OK with chicken bone broth, but think other animals are funky. Sometimes when I make these realizations I shake my head at myself. How goofy I have been!
Finally on craigslist I found a farm in the Apple Hill area that is raising chickens for meat, and selling them at farmer's markets. They were in their second year, and going to begin selling their organic chickens to a local restaurant as well. I emailed the business owner (Tom), and told him what I was looking for. To my amazement, he offered to look into raising chickens for slaughter for me, special order! Special order chickens. Who would have thought!
Tom is very knowledgeable, and did extensive research on my behalf to find a soy and corn free alternative to feeding the chickens, and also make it himself so that the per pound charge for these chickens is not outrageous. (Of course, 'my' soy and corn free chickens will be leaner and smaller than the 'other' chickens.)
Real Food Farms in Camino, CA will be beginning soy and corn free meat chickens this month. Please contact them (realfoodfarms@gmail.com) if you are interested in purchasing chickens that are soy free, or both corn and soy free. They are competitively priced, and very impressive. I am unsure if they ship, but you can always ask. After all, look at the accommodations they have made for Ellie!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
My Little Carnivore
After 18 months, the bone broths have finally allowed me the small chance to do a little breathing and reflecting. What a wonderful feeling to 'come up for air', even if it is short lived! I am amazingly aware of the amount of answered prayers we have had, and people who have responded to our needs without asking for so much as a thank you in return. It has been a truly humbling experience for me, and continues to be. Not long ago I felt God reprimanding me and saying I needed to make our needs more transparent, so I started a running list of things we are researching and in need of. That was hard! But as a result we have been blessed even more, and the hardest part has been not feeling the incredible push to repay somehow.
Thank you to those of you who have gone out on a limb to offer buckets, and juicers, and peach trees. Those of you who have purchased Pampered Chef to help with my kitchen needs and who have made me aware of local resources and sent notes of encouragement. And thank you to those of you who have prayed.
Though we are never guaranteed when or how God will answer, He is faithful in His promises and He DOES answer. And though I am not certain what the future still holds for Ellie, or how big her safe food list will ever be, I am certain that we have entered a new stage. Is it a new stage of healing? Perhaps. Or is it just a new stage with mommy doing more letting go and letting God? Perhaps. What I do know is that my little carnivore is being taken care of, and there is nothing in the world that makes me happier.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not ONE of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the hairs on your head are numbered! So do NOT be afraid; you are worth more than sparrows! Matthew 10:29-31
Thank you to those of you who have gone out on a limb to offer buckets, and juicers, and peach trees. Those of you who have purchased Pampered Chef to help with my kitchen needs and who have made me aware of local resources and sent notes of encouragement. And thank you to those of you who have prayed.
Though we are never guaranteed when or how God will answer, He is faithful in His promises and He DOES answer. And though I am not certain what the future still holds for Ellie, or how big her safe food list will ever be, I am certain that we have entered a new stage. Is it a new stage of healing? Perhaps. Or is it just a new stage with mommy doing more letting go and letting God? Perhaps. What I do know is that my little carnivore is being taken care of, and there is nothing in the world that makes me happier.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not ONE of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the hairs on your head are numbered! So do NOT be afraid; you are worth more than sparrows! Matthew 10:29-31
More Than A Building
We have now lived in Elk Grove for a little more than a year, and moving to a new community in the middle of these struggles has proven to very painful at times. Though we have prayed for a new church home, we have not had the ability to put much effort into the search as our Sunday's we can attend are irregular, the risks for Elianna are hindering, and changes in environment are hard on my 5 year old, just to name a few. But God has used this as a chance to remind me that the church is more than a building - it is a community of believers, meeting needs and looking out for each other.
There have been two particularly astonishing events that have made this hard to ignore. Both originate with a church plant that we were blessed to be a part of, yet it has been several years since we attended there.
One family that we spent a lot of time with (and miss terribly) now lives in Arizona. Many months ago Mr. Family-in-Arizona sent me the contact information for a friend they have there who has her own miraculous story of healing, and who feeds her family a gluten-free diet. She has been a fantastic resource and often helped me to figure things out when I have gotten 'stuck'.
I recently posted a survey on facebook about food processors versus blenders, and raving reviews for the Vitamix kept coming up. I needed to figure out a way to get pureed meat into Ellie, and due to her eating delays she was certainly not going to just pick up a hunk and chew. I tried adding it to her bottle after putting it through my Cuisinart, but it did not make it smooth enough and she refused it. Then came a message from my new facebook friend. She offered to ship me her Vitamix and loan it to me for a year while she was out of the country. Say what?!
My immediate response was - no way! What if it broke? And what about the cost of just shipping it to me? This was not your Walmart blender - this was several hundred dollars! I thanked her but declined.
In the meantime I realized I was stuck. I had to get food into Ellie other than the broth in order to get her off of the formula, but I could not figure out how to do it. Could we scrape together enough to buy a Vitamix and try it? Would it even do what I needed?
She messaged me back. Her Vitamix was under warranty, and it would be insured while in transit. And she wanted to cover the less than $20 it would take to ship it. Please pray about it.
*Smack* (That was God telling me to get over myself)
I accepted, amazed at the generosity from someone who has never met me or my child.
Within a few days it arrived, and I quickly whipped up a buffalo and pork smoothie for Ellie. She gladly slurped it down! This amazing gesture of kindness is feeding my Ellie, and has eliminated the stress of funding a Vitamix on our own during this already stressful time. I am humbled and reminded every time I use it, and can only hope that she is blessed even half of what we have been. I certainly know she is earning jewels for her heavenly crown!
There have been two particularly astonishing events that have made this hard to ignore. Both originate with a church plant that we were blessed to be a part of, yet it has been several years since we attended there.
One family that we spent a lot of time with (and miss terribly) now lives in Arizona. Many months ago Mr. Family-in-Arizona sent me the contact information for a friend they have there who has her own miraculous story of healing, and who feeds her family a gluten-free diet. She has been a fantastic resource and often helped me to figure things out when I have gotten 'stuck'.
I recently posted a survey on facebook about food processors versus blenders, and raving reviews for the Vitamix kept coming up. I needed to figure out a way to get pureed meat into Ellie, and due to her eating delays she was certainly not going to just pick up a hunk and chew. I tried adding it to her bottle after putting it through my Cuisinart, but it did not make it smooth enough and she refused it. Then came a message from my new facebook friend. She offered to ship me her Vitamix and loan it to me for a year while she was out of the country. Say what?!
My immediate response was - no way! What if it broke? And what about the cost of just shipping it to me? This was not your Walmart blender - this was several hundred dollars! I thanked her but declined.
In the meantime I realized I was stuck. I had to get food into Ellie other than the broth in order to get her off of the formula, but I could not figure out how to do it. Could we scrape together enough to buy a Vitamix and try it? Would it even do what I needed?
She messaged me back. Her Vitamix was under warranty, and it would be insured while in transit. And she wanted to cover the less than $20 it would take to ship it. Please pray about it.
*Smack* (That was God telling me to get over myself)
I accepted, amazed at the generosity from someone who has never met me or my child.
Within a few days it arrived, and I quickly whipped up a buffalo and pork smoothie for Ellie. She gladly slurped it down! This amazing gesture of kindness is feeding my Ellie, and has eliminated the stress of funding a Vitamix on our own during this already stressful time. I am humbled and reminded every time I use it, and can only hope that she is blessed even half of what we have been. I certainly know she is earning jewels for her heavenly crown!
Moving Forward
At this point I have been able to find and introduce the following bone broths into Elianna's diet: beef, lamb, pork, fish (salmon and trout) and buffalo. For a couple of weeks she had been eating bottles that consisted of broth and 2 scoops of Nutramigen AA. I attempted to puree up some of the meat to add back in with my Cuisinart blender but could not get it liquefied enough for her to take it without crying and raking at her tongue.
Respiratory symptoms and eczema got steadily worse, but I wanted to wait until after her procedure to remove the formula from her diet entirely. I wanted to be sure that her biopsies showed inflammation from the formula if that was the case, so we were in a short hold pattern.
After her procedure it was time to try getting her off the formula entirely. But to do that I had to add in additional nutrients with the boiled meats, or she would not be getting enough calories or nutrition. I wondered what to do. OK actually I panicked a bit. Amazingly, someone I have never met lent me her Vitamix and I was able to liquify some pork and buffalo to add to her broth. Within a couple days she was drinking 2 ounces of puree with 6 ounces of broth and 2 scoops of formula.
And the weaning began. We finally got her down to one scoop after a few days. I think it was purely a taste issue. And three days ago we took her off entirely.
As of right now, she is eating 8 to 16 ounces at a time, depending on the time of day. She eats every 1 to 2 hours, and that seems to becoming the case at night as well. She gets about 2-3 ounces of meat puree in each 8 ounce bottle of broth.
From the research I have done, she is missing very few nutrients on this diet, if any. And if we can continue to rotate through the types of meat she is eating, she will get even more! The low calorie content and the fact that it requires very little digestion is what keeps her eating so often. And it is extremely healing. Even Livestrong.com has an article on how great bone broth is.
I do worry about what she may be missing, but as the nutritionist I spoke with this week said, we don't really have the luxury of worrying about that right now. We are moving forward. That is what counts. And it is more than we have ever had before.
Respiratory symptoms and eczema got steadily worse, but I wanted to wait until after her procedure to remove the formula from her diet entirely. I wanted to be sure that her biopsies showed inflammation from the formula if that was the case, so we were in a short hold pattern.
After her procedure it was time to try getting her off the formula entirely. But to do that I had to add in additional nutrients with the boiled meats, or she would not be getting enough calories or nutrition. I wondered what to do. OK actually I panicked a bit. Amazingly, someone I have never met lent me her Vitamix and I was able to liquify some pork and buffalo to add to her broth. Within a couple days she was drinking 2 ounces of puree with 6 ounces of broth and 2 scoops of formula.
And the weaning began. We finally got her down to one scoop after a few days. I think it was purely a taste issue. And three days ago we took her off entirely.
As of right now, she is eating 8 to 16 ounces at a time, depending on the time of day. She eats every 1 to 2 hours, and that seems to becoming the case at night as well. She gets about 2-3 ounces of meat puree in each 8 ounce bottle of broth.
From the research I have done, she is missing very few nutrients on this diet, if any. And if we can continue to rotate through the types of meat she is eating, she will get even more! The low calorie content and the fact that it requires very little digestion is what keeps her eating so often. And it is extremely healing. Even Livestrong.com has an article on how great bone broth is.
I do worry about what she may be missing, but as the nutritionist I spoke with this week said, we don't really have the luxury of worrying about that right now. We are moving forward. That is what counts. And it is more than we have ever had before.
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