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Summer Picnic Foods Round-Up

Posted by PattyLA on Jul 1, 2013 in Blog, GAPS, Holiday Foods, Low Oxalate, photo | 4 comments

Well here we are at the height of the summer picnic season. I don’t know about the rest of you but I rather dread having to go somewhere that I am expected to share a dish. This is largely because our food restrictions mean that I will have to also bring everything that my family eats, in addition to something that others can eat. It is rare for us to find much of anything that we can consume at a pot luck type affair that we didn’t bring ourselves. My other dread is the fact that after 3.5 years on GAPS and 2+ on the low oxalate diet (LOD) my taste buds have changed. I’m never quite sure if something that we like will taste good to a SAD (standard American diet) palate. The only thing worse than seeing...

Summer Picnic Foods Desserts

Posted by PattyLA on Jul 1, 2013 in Blog, GAPS, Holiday Foods, Low Oxalate, photo | 1 comment

Don’t miss part one of this post. It has main dishes, salads, cold soups and snacks. Summer Picnic Foods Round-Up Here is part 2. What you really want. Dessert! Cookies and ice cream recipes to delight your family and your friends (if you decide to share) Cookies Thumbprint Cookies (GAPS, LOD) These are quick and easy to make and my family really loves them. They are good along side some ice cream too. Not too sweet but sweet enough. I brought them to a family picnic last summer myself. Date and Nut Bars (GAPS, LOD) Bar cookies are great for how quick and easy they are to make. There are no exception. Quick to make and tasty to eat. Chocolate Coconut Fudge Bites by GAPS Diet Journey (GAPS) Chocolaty but not melty. These look rich and delicious and perfect to share at...

Honibe Honey Candy Review and Give Away!

Posted by PattyLA on May 8, 2013 in Blog, GAPS, Give away, Holiday Foods, Kids, Low Oxalate, photo | 15 comments

Many of my blog posts contain affiliate links. Purchasing through an affiliate link allows me to keep blogging and sharing what I learn with you. It is a bit like leaving a tip for service and is very much appreciated. Thank You! -PattyLA I was first introduced to Honibe hard candy several years ago when my family was following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. That is the diet that GAPS is based on and so many of the “food rules” are the same between the diets. This includes only using honey for a sweetener. It was a delight to discover these hard candies made only of honey. At the time they just had one product. Unflavored honey candies. They were simply dried honey. They marketed them largely as a convenient way to sweeten your tea with honey away from home. My children enjoyed these...

Guest Post: White Chocolate Peppermint Truffles

Posted by PattyLA on Dec 29, 2012 in essential oils, GAPS, Holiday Foods, Low Oxalate, photo, Recipe | 3 comments

It is a pleasure to have another guest post from my friend Starlene. Starlene blogs at GAPS Diet Journey where she chronicles her journey on the GAPS Diet and creates GAPS Friendly recipes. She also has recently released her first book, Beyond Grain and Dairy. This is a cook book filled with dairy free, GAPS approved recipes for everything from appetizers to deserts. ~PattyLA My original goal in creating this treat was to create a white chocolate version of my Chocolate Coconut Fudge Bites. Then I wondered if I could make it low oxalate as well. My curiosity was piqued recently when I read a blog post at Roo’s Clues which talked about how oxalates “…injure and kill the mitochondria” and it made me wonder if I should look more closely at avoiding oxalates. Patty has written a very informative post called What Are...

Date and Nut Bars

Posted by PattyLA on Dec 13, 2012 in GAPS, Holiday Foods, Kids, Low Oxalate, photo, Recipe | 3 comments

This holiday season I set a goal for myself to figure out 2 new cookie recipes. This one took a couple of tries but I think I got it. It is very versatile. Use any nuts you have on hand to mix it up or even shredded coconut for a different texture and very low oxalate count. You can also replace the dates with other dried fruit to change the flavor. As written this recipe has less than 3 mg of oxalate per bar! Over half of the oxalate in these bars comes from the nuts so replacing them with shredded coconut will drop it much lower. I hope you enjoy them! We sure like them! Date and Nut Bars 2 tbsp melted butter 1/3 cup Honey 3 eggs 4 tbsp Coconut Flour 1/8 tsp baking soda dash of salt...

Ginger Spice Bread

Posted by PattyLA on Dec 4, 2012 in essential oils, GAPS, Holiday Foods, Kids, Low Oxalate, Recipe | 9 comments

I discovered this recipe last fall and have made it many times. Everyone who has eaten it has loved it no matter what they usually eat. I like to bring this to get togethers this time of year because it is popular with a wide spectrum of tastes. Also everything in it is a staple in my pantry so I always have the ingredients on hand to throw it together if I haven’t planned anything for a party. I hope you enjoy it! Ginger Spice Bread 8 eggs 1/2 cup melted Expeller Pressed Coconut Oil, butter or Palm Shortening 1/2 cup Coconut Milk about 8 Medjool Dates 1 tspVanilla 1 tsp Ground Ginger 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon or 1 drop cinnamon essential oil* 1/4 tsp Ground Cloves or 1 drop clove essential oil* 2/3 cup Coconut Flour 1/8 tsp baking soda *Use essential oils for the cinnamon and...

Peppermint White Hot Chocolate

Posted by PattyLA on Nov 25, 2012 in essential oils, GAPS, Holiday Foods, Kids, Low Oxalate, photo, Recipe | 15 comments

Those who are on the Low Oxalate Diet know that chocolate is not allowed. It sadly has far too many oxalates. However, white chocolate is allowed! It isn’t the same thing but it is rich and tasty and makes a great hot winter drink. I almost don’t miss the brown stuff. My kids had this for the first time today. I made it for them last week but drank it all before they appeared. Oops! They liked it a lot and I love how quick and easy it is and it is filled with healthy foods and even some sneaky gelatin! Peppermint White Hot Chocolate 1 oz Cocoa Butter Wafers(my wafers were 13 to an oz. These may be different.) 1/8 tsp Ground Vanilla Beans 1-2 drops Be Young Peppermint Essential Oil (How to order) 2 eggs...

Winter Cranberry Roast

Posted by PattyLA on Nov 24, 2012 in essential oils, GAPS, Holiday Foods, Kids, Low Oxalate, photo, Recipe, Traditional Foods, Uncategorized | 2 comments

Turkey Day is over and you may be finding yourself longing for some different flavors. You may also find that you still have some cranberries in your fridge or at least they are still plentiful in the store. This roast is very popular with my children and it gives a new twist of flavor to a plain old roast. Best of all it doesn’t take very long to get ready and then sits in the oven for hours breaking up the chores of making dinner. Serve this with some sauteed kale and winter squash and you have a perfect hearty winter meal. I hope you enjoy it! Winter Cranberry Roast 3-4 lb chuck roast or other similar roast. I get mine from Missouri Grassfed Beef 3 tablespoons lard or other healthy fat 1 teaspoon salt pepper to taste (use...

Thanksgiving Menu on GAPS

Posted by PattyLA on Nov 17, 2012 in GAPS, Holiday Foods, Recipe | 4 comments

I’m going to go ahead and put this up and pretty it up and add a few more links later. We are getting close to the big day and I hope that my plans will inspire some of you.-PattyLA This is last year’s turkey. It was a 32lb monster bird! It was hard to cook it evenly because of the size hence the burnt parts. I know how difficult it can be to plan holiday menu when you can eat anything you want. It is even more difficult to plan them when you are on a special diet like GAPS. For me, consider what foods mean the most to me for that holiday and try to emulate them and any foods that we don’t really love (or that are too difficult to make with our current diet restrictions) I...