This soup is what I use as the basis for the GAPS™ diet, the vegetables used are usually well tolerated by most people. It is best not to use any green leafy vegetables on the introductory stages of the GAPS™ diet. This soup is very nourishing, delicious and easily absorbed by a compromised GI tract.

The vegetables and types of meat that go into this recipe can be varied and the soup remains just as delicious, for example adding chopped tomatoes can make it quite different.

This recipe feeds 2 people for two days and easily serves 4.

• 1-2 T lard, ghee or coconut oil
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 1/2 t turmeric
• 1 pound ground meat – pork, beef, lamb, chicken, turkey or sausage
• 1 medium zucchini, grated
• 6 large carrots, grated
• 1 pound green beans, chopped 1/4 inch – or peas (optional)
• 8 c or more homemade stock or broth
• 1 T salt
• 1/2 t black pepper
• 2 cloves crushed garlic, optional

Method:
Gently sweat the onions in the fat, add the turmeric and the meat, don’t let the onions or meat begin to brown.

This delicious spiced clarified butter is amazing with eggs, popcorn, sauted vegetables of all sorts, lentils, kitfo, on toast, mashed potatoes, hash browns — pretty much anything. All the spices make it a powerful antioxidant as an added bonus. There are many ways to spell niter kibbeh — I have seen it as nitr kibe, nit’ir qibe — there are also many ways to make niter kibe — everyone has their own favorite combination of spices.

Butter is traditionally made in Ethiopia from soured milk, not cream. The sour milk is placed in a clay churn or a bottle gourd (calabash). The churn may have previously been smoked with Olea africana. Besides imparting a distinct flavour to the butter, smoking the churn has a bacteriostatic effect. After filling, the churn is stoppered with a plug — a false banana leaf, or a piece of skin or leather stretched over the mouth and securely tied. The churn is then agitated — often by simply rolling it around on the lap until the butter forms. (Source)

This is a very simple recipe. This is a grain-free, GAPS, SCD and paleo-friendly, honey-sweetened delicacy. Various layers can be made with fresh fruit, sun-leathers or compotes and candied nuts as well. One of my favorite combos is layers of rich honey-vanilla creme anglaise, grain-free cherry-almond crunch, whipped cream from a local dairy and a honey-raspberry syrup. Oh yeah, you can make them with ice-cream as well 😉

Honey and Vanilla Creme Anglaise

• 2 c raw milk
• 1/4 c raw honey
• 5 pastured egg yolks
• 1/2 vanilla pod
• pinch salt

And I was a wreck. I had made two test pies. One was perfect – the second was a horrific disaster. The disaster pie led to a reworking of my pie plans, a subtraction of sorts. I am definitely the type of person who likes to overcomplicate, subtraction is not my forte. While I know this is my pattern, I generally don’t catch it early enough. Ahhh… getting older.

So there I was the day before the competition, ready to start the most nerve wracking part – the pastry. Here is my process.

I never used to like hot sauce.

That changed during my first camping trip. I was 19-years-old.

Traveling to the site with a fellow newbie girlfriend, en route we picked up a lot of beer, a 12-pack of hot dogs and a sack of buns. That was it.  We had no tent, no sleeping bags, no nothing. Just beer and hot dogs. We joined a big group of experienced campers. They had barbecues, food tents, frying pans, cooking sauces, venison, and…

Sriacha sauce. That lovely fermented garlic hot sauce, you all know it, the squirt bottle with the green lid. The symbol that you’re in a good restaurant. I mean, come on, Morimoto uses it.

This delicious compote is made from local biodynamic cherries from Harvey’s Orchards. Dried cherries are very high in antioxidants and are also helpful in reducing inflammation. I find that cardamom goes very well with any type of stone fruit, especially nectarines, peaches and plums. This compote is delicious with yogurt, as a spread, or to glaze a pork tenderloin. This recipe was made especially for my amazing, antioxidant-rich and grain-free Chocolate Walnut Torte.

This is actually a great recipe for grain-free Swedish pancakes. They aren’t as strong as a wrap made with grain but they get the job done and taste fantastic while they are at it. I also like to use 1/2 this recipe and make a stack of pancakes which you can then cut into thick or thin egg noodles and add to a chicken soup. Alternatively, add them into chicken stock for a very easy on the digestion, nourishing meal (my grandma used to make this). When adding into a soup, add at the last minute and only heat a couple minutes before serving.

I have recently found that I love having fruit syrups on hand to make a variety of fermented foods with. They are useful to add into coconut water kefir or kombucha for a delightful second ferment. They also make a great syrup to pour over a bowl of yogurt and nuts, or just as a syrup for pancakes, ice-cream and many other tantalizing treats. I don’t have the exact amounts here, but the great thing about these syrups is that if you haven’t added enough honey, you can always add more later. Your fruit will also have different levels of sourness depending on how ripe they are so it is probably a good idea to taste test as you make your syrup anyway.

• raspberries, fresh or frozen
• water (use about 1/3 c water per cup of fruit)
• rosehips, fresh or dried (if fresh be sure to remove seeds and hairs before using)
• honey

Method:
Put your raspberries into a pan with water to get the process started. Place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat, cook for about 2 mins. Add honey. I usually will add about 1/4 c of honey per cup of fruit, allow this to reduce slightly. Add in the rosehips and cook about 2 mins. (I add the rosehips in later so that they will get less cooking as the heat destroys vitamin C, rosehips need to be cooked to remove an enzyme that destroys vitamin C faster than cooking)

A GAPS/SCD friendly version of candied citrus peel is very simple to make. Use organic or home-grown lemons, limes and oranges to be sure there isn’t harmful pesticides on the peel. Although citrus fruits aren’t allowed until much later in the diet, small amounts of candied citrus peel can be used on special occasions, especially in the later stages of the diet.

• 4 lemons
• 3 limes
• 2 oranges
• 1/2 c honey

I recently posted about the benefits of miso soup in cases of radiation poisoning. Miso soup is easy to make and is extra beneficial when made with the Japanese stock dashi because of the kelp (kombu) that is used when making that stock. More information on how to detoxify radiation poisoning and other toxic conditions here.

Variations of dashi can be made with only kombu or with an addition of shittake mushrooms. Kombu dashi has a lot of iodine from the seaweed and is helpful if you are exposed to radiation. The addition of traditionally made hatcho miso to your dashi stock has quite powerful radiation detoxing abilities. But commercial miso has also been found to work as well.