We have been following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) in the hopes to cure our food intolerances and possible Celiac disease in Isaac.  The diet requires “fanatical adherence.”  As such, my whole family has been so diligent reading labels, making everything from scratch, etc.

My family has also been visiting different churches looking for a new church home.  Last Sunday we were at one of those churches.  I signed both Isaac and Andrew in to their class.  The church requires you to fill out a sticker for each child that sticks to each child’s back during their stay in class.  The sticker asks for the child’s name, the parent’s name, and asks for special needs or allergies.  It only gives one short line to answer the latter question.  So, I wrote “yes, water only.”

In the past, the teachers understood that neither Isaac or Andrew could have the snack provided by the church.  They were given a small cup of water.  Sometimes I brought their own snack, but this particular day I did not have anything prepared.

When class was over, I walked into the class.  I stopped completely short when I saw that Isaac had an empty paper towel in front of him and a cup of water.  Andrew had a cup of water also, but he had two animal crackers sitting in front of him on a paper towel.  I said, “Please tell me that you did not give Isaac any snack.”

“Why was I not supposed to?”  the teacher asked.

“No, he is allergic to wheat.  Did you read the sticker on his back?”

“Yes, but I did not understand it.”

Now I was mad.  In fact, I was so mad that I truly could not see straight.  She did not understand it?  So, I pulled off the sticker and showed her.  “Allergies: yes, water only.”  By this time, I saw Andrew pick up one of the animal crackers to put in his mouth.  I grabbed them along with the paper towel and threw them away.  And, we left.

I turned around and went back to find out what I had to write on the sticker to ensure that my children would not be fed at snack time, but the teacher was gone.  So, I headed back to the car feeling defeated.  I cried all the way home out of anger, frustration, and worry.

I was angry because the teacher played dumb.  I was frustrated because I cannot be with my little boys every minute of the day.  I had worked so hard to adhere fanatically and in one careless moment, our adherence was ruined.  I was worried because Isaac has horrible reactions to eating wheat.  I was not looking forward to a day of stomach ache and severe diarrhea.

As I calmed down and began to come to terms with the mistake, I began looking for the silver lining.  There was one.  Isaac never had a reaction to the animal crackers.  I have seen what has happened to Isaac with just one bite of bread in the past.  It ain’t pretty.  Isaac admitted to eating six cookies, and he had no tummy troubles, no rash, no itching, no visible reaction whatsoever.  That in and of itself is exciting.  The diet is working!

I had a talk with Isaac even though I did not blame him personally.  I reiterated how important it is to stay away from sugar and starches.  We have to stay on our diet for a whole year before we can begin trying other foods.  I asked him to help me by not eating things he isn’t sure he can have.

As for snack time at church, I guess I am always going to have a snack for the boys.  In addition, I will speak personally with each teacher prior to class and explain the situation.  It is not convenient, but nothing about this diet is.  If it continues to heal our guts and cure our food intolerances, it will all be worth it.

Out of seven in my immediate family, four have problems with wheat.  Isaac, my four-year old, has the most severe reaction of any of us.  An allergy to wheat has been ruled out leaving, according to the doctor, Celiac disease or a food intolerance as the other options.  Intolerances and/or bad reactions to milk affect five of our seven, which is why we have dairy goats. 

For the last three years, we have been living a gluten-free, wheat-free lifestyle with goat milk.  I remember how overwhelmed I felt when Isaac first broke out in head to toe hives from drinking a small cup of cow milk.  Then it compounded when we found out that wheat was also a big problem for him.  Gluten-free?  No cow milk?  What am I going to do?  How will I cook?

Once you figure out what you can eat and how to cook, your life becomes so much easier.  It becomes normal.  For three years, we have been eating this way.  Knowing how upsetting it can be with the diagnosis is one of the reasons that I wrote and published Texas Homesteader Wheat-Free Cookbook. 

It is funny how things happen.  My sister-in-law and her family are on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD).  They are seeing tremendous results physically after just three weeks on the diet.  She first told me about the diet and that its entire purpose is to heal the gut.  I am borrowing  Breaking the Vicious Cycle by Elaine Gottshall from her.  It explains the diet in more detail. 

Then I received my Beeyoutiful winter catalog the other day.  In it, Nancy Webster wrote an article, “Addressing the Gaps in Your Health.”  She quotes the Ancient Greek scientist, Hippocrates saying, “All diseases begin in the gut.”  Ms. Webster recommends the Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) diet. 

She believes that in one to two years of eating the GAPS diet, your family can be free from hyperactivity, autism, dyslexia, acne, Crohn’s disease, etc.  It sounds great.  It sounds almost too good to be true.  Can all those diseases really stem from an unhealthy gut?

The SCD and GAPS diet are very similar.  Both claim similar things, too.  From my understanding, both diets require killing off all the bad bacteria in your gut and building up the good bacteria.  There are different stages of the diets.  The introduction is much more strict and each stage includes more food.  They are both gluten and lactose free diets.  The only sweetener allowed is honey because it is a monosaccharide, which does not require digestion.

With either diet, you must prepare all of your foods.  It is time-consuming and requires advanced planning.  It is a lot of work on the family cook (me). 

So, here are my questions.  Has anyone done either diet?  If so, did you eliminate your food intolerances and/or any problem listed above?  Did you do it for one or two years?

To everyone else, would you consider following this seemingly radical diet for a year or two in the hopes that your family would be healed?  Why or why not? 

For anyone that suffers from food intolerances, Celiac disease, or intestinal problems, I recommend that you look into these diets.  I don’t know if we are going to follow them, but it is nice to be informed.  There is a lot of information out there.  Simply follow the above links to wherever they might lead.

Regardless of your opinion, I would love to hear from you.  Before I make any decision, I like to weigh all the facts.  I like to look at the issue from different perspectives.  In the past, my readers have been very helpful.  I am counting on you for your advice.

For anyone with dietary restrictions, Thanksgiving can be overwhelming and intimidating. What do you fix? What is a good substitution? And since most Thanksgiving dinners are joint efforts, meaning that different households make different dishes, you have to wonder how they prepared fill in the blank?

Even despite careful planning, I watched one family member pour milk into a sweet potato recipe minutes before serving it.  The fact that many of my family cannot have cow milk did not enter her mind.  She was just following the written recipe on the card.  Well, it ruled out the sweet potato dish for four members of my family, including myself.

Believe it or not, a gluten-free Thanksgiving dinner can be unbelievably delicious.  Everyone will love it.  But most people automatically think gluten-free or milk-free or nut-free means feeling deprived or unsatisfied. 

If you ever watched “Everyone Loves Raymond,” there is one Thanksgiving episode that illustrates why people have this reaction.  Marie Barone decides to make a “healthy” Thanksgiving dinner.  Instead on turkey, she serves tofurkey.  A turkey-shaped mold of tofu.  Everyone hated it.  It was not what they expected.  It did not have the same flavor or texture.  It was completely different.

The secret to success is to not change your menu drastically.  One cannot go wrong when they stick with meats and vegetables.  My advice is to keep your menu simple.  When you begin making casseroles, you start running into problems when you are working around someone’s food allergies/restrictions.  Cream of anything soup has milk and usually wheat.  I know there are gluten-free alternatives, but I don’t even try.  Green beans sauteed with onions and bacon taste much better than green bean casserole any day.

Mash your peeled and boiled sweet potatoes.  Add butter or ghee if you can have it.  Stir in brown sugar.  Then place in a casserole dish.  Cover with marshmallows.  Bake until marshmallows are lightly browned.  These are delicious.

Gluten-free homemade rolls are more challenging as is a gluten-free dressing.  I have recipes for both of these items in my Texas Homesteader Wheat-Free Cookbook.  Thanksgiving is not Thanksgiving without turkey and dressing; therefore, dressing is a must-have.  I was excited when my step-sister specifically requested that I bring the dressing.  She loved it last year.

Gluten-free does not mean cardboard-tasting food.  There are a lot of resources available for any dietary restriction.  Of course, there is my cookbook for those who cannot eat wheat or gluten.  I have several great recipes for desserts that would be helpful during the holidays.  Also, search Texas Homesteader.  I post gluten-free recipes often.  My gluten-free graham cracker crust comes to mind.  It makes a fabulous cheesecake.

Elana’s Pantry is a good site for gluten-free foods.  Ms. Amsterdam heavily relies on almond or coconut flours, which give great results.  There are many others.  Simply search the internet for a specific recipe.  And when in doubt, go the simple route when planning your Thanksgiving menu. 

Regardless of who makes what for your feast, focus on being thankful and showing gratitude to God, to your family, and even for your food allergy and/or dietary restrictions.  I firmly believe there is a reason for everything.  Be thankful in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18).  You will have a great Thanksgiving.

Applied Kinesiology (AK) is a controversial alternative to traditional medicine.  Before I continue, I want to reassure everyone that I am not against traditional medicine.  I delivered all five of my children with an obstetrician.  I take my children to a pediatrician for check-ups.  Doctors and nurses are instrumental in our society.

However, I also seek out alternatives to the accepted norm.  I enjoy doing things differently than other people.  I definitely do not try to keep up with the imaginary Jones family.  If I did, I would not live on a homestead.  I like using natural approaches in gardening, cleaning my house, schooling my children, etc.  In addition, I use as many natural approaches to medicine as I can.  I know that I am not the only one.  In 2001, Time magazine published an article, “A New Breed of Healers” describing the interest in alternative medicine by Americans.

AK is typically done by a chiropractor.  It has been called pseudoscience by skeptics.  Regardless of ones beliefs, AK uses manual muscle tests to diagnose a patient and his/her prescribed therapy.  My family first went to an Applied Kinesiologist to find out about our food allergies.  Despite countless clues and suspicious symptoms, I could not get our pediatrician to believe or agree to test Isaac for milk and wheat.  She discounted every concern I had.

This is when my friend, Marjorie, opened my eyes to the world of Applied Kinesiology.  She told me about her doctor and her experiences.  She described in detail what to expect during the appointment.  Even though I was skeptical, I called and made an appointment for Isaac.

Without painful pin pricks or blood testing, Isaac was diagnosed with allergies to cow milk, wheat, peanuts, and aspartame.  To watch the doctor work was fascinating.  He has vials with allergens.  He takes one and places it on the patient’s body.  His/Her muscles are weakened when the allergen is present.  It is the most bizarre thing I have ever seen.  It looks like magic.  I tell people that sometimes “seeing is believing.”

Everyone in my immediate family has now been tested for food allergies.  Not one person came away with the same diagnosis.  My oldest son is not allergic to anything, food or seasonal.  This fact has convinced me further that AK is credible.

I wrote last fall about how my husband was injured in the article, “An Interesting Weekend.”  We went to a doctor about his leg, took x-rays, and consulted with the doctor again when his leg was not improving after two weeks.  The doctor referred us to an orthopedic specialist, who was unbelievably expensive.  As an afterthought, I called the Applied Kinesiologist.  They had a cancellation and told us to come immediately.

My husband left a new man.  He was able to walk without a limp.  The pain was almost completely gone.  It was incredible to see the difference in him.  My husband is a huge fan of applied kinesiology.

In the 1960′s Dr. George Goodheart developed the practice of this alternative medicine.  He is often referred to as the “Father of AK.”  He said, “Your patients will make you the complete doctor if you let them.”

The whole point of this article is to expose more people to AK.  You can read the article, “An Appreciation of George Goodheart,” by Dr. Stephen Kaufman if you would like to find out more about AK.  If you are still interested, I am sure that you will be able to find an applied kinesiologist  in your area.  Like with anyone, make sure that he/she is reputable and experienced.  Ask around.  Get feedback from other patients.   I want to encourage you to be open to other alternatives to the traditionally accepted practices in our society.

Knowing this we were able to continue enjoying butter, most cheeses, and occasionally cream cheese.  We could no longer have ice cream, yogurt, velveeta, american cheese, ricotta cheese, or cottage cheese.  I rejoiced at being able to eat butter and cheddar cheese.  It sure made our lives easier as far as eating was concerned.  I did not have to ask restaurants if they added butter to their vegetables, etc.

One dish we all loved, but thought we could no longer enjoy was lasagna.  Tinkyada pasta makes lasagna noodles so the wheat was not the problem.  We can eat parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, but what could I substitute for the ricotta or cottage cheese?  I kept going back to the obvious answer: tofu.

However, my family was not thrilled with that ingredient so I had not tried.  But this week I had had enough.  I missed lasagna.  I had to try.  I bought a package of firm organic tofu.  The great thing about tofu is that it is pretty much flavorless.  It takes on any flavor you give it.  So I decided to add minced garlic to my tofu.

Since I have started implementing freezer cooking, my children and I prepare many dishes at one time and freeze them for a later date.  Jake wanted to make the lasagna; so he helped me.  When all was said and done, we chose to eat the lasagna first.  In fact, we ate it that night.

Words cannot describe how thrilled I was!  You could not tell that tofu was in the dish.  It tasted exactly like a regular lasagna.  If you cannot tolerate the whey in cow milk, I highly recommend that you make this recipe.  If you are completely dairy-free, use the veggie cheese shreds in the refrigerated aisle of a good supermarket.

Tofu Lasagna

To eat or not to eat tofu.

1-1/2 boxes (15 ounces) of brown rice lasagna noodles
1 lb ground beef
1 lb pan sausage
26 ounces spaghetti sauce
8 ounce can tomato sauce
14 ounces firm tofu
2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
2 eggs
1/4 cup chopped parsley
sea salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees unless you are going to freeze the lasagna.
Brown the meat and drain it.  Add the sauces and simmer for 10 minutes.  In a bowl, mix the tofu, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, the parmesan, eggs, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper.
In a 15 x 10″ dish, pour 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of the dish.  Put a layer of noodles and cover them with sauce.  Then spread 1/2 of your cheese/tofu mixture and top with more noodles.  Continue layering sauce, cheese, noodles, sauce.  On top of the last of your sauce, spread out the remaining mozzarella cheese.
It is very important that your noodles are completely covered with sauce since they are uncooked.
Bake for 45 minutes covered.  Then uncover for an additional 15 minutes.  Let it stand 10 minutes before serving.
If you want to freeze it, do not bake the lasagna.  Cover with freezer wrap and place in your freezer.  To eat, allow it to thaw out completely and then bake as directed.

After reading Heart of Wisdom by Robin Sampson, I made many goals.  One of which was to try to cut down on my time in the kitchen.  One of her suggestions is freezer cooking.  You prepare many meals at one time and freeze them to serve at a later date.  This was not an entirely foreign idea as I used to do something similar when I was expecting a child.  I wanted to make sure that we had plenty of home-cooked meals made and waiting to be heated up in the oven.  It made that time especially enjoyable to me in that I did not have to worry about dinner.

However since being on a wheat-free diet, I assumed erroneously that I would not be able to find recipes in which to freeze.  My old standby dinners had cream of something soup in it which contains either wheat, milk, or both.  I decided to thumb through a cookbook of mine that was stored above the vent hood in my kitchen.  You can tell by its location that I had never really used it before.  Big mistake on my part because it is fantastic.  It is called Once-A-Month Cooking by Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg.  I was immediately impressed by the number of recipes that were already wheat-free as well as even more that could easily be converted.

So, I sat down and read the book.  I marked all the recipes that we could eat and began choosing enough recipes for a two week time period.  I created a menu complete with sides, lunch, and breakfast.  Then I compiled a list of foods I needed to purchase.  It was time for my bi-weekly grocery store trip; therefore, the list was relatively long.  I spent $280.00 at the store.  I thought I did a great job considering that I was shopping for 7 people for two weeks and many products were gluten-free items which are usually more expensive.

The next day I cooked after our schooling was finished.  Even though I spent hours in the kitchen, I had a great time with my daughter.  She helped on recipes that intrigued her.  The rest I did solo; however, Jake did help me chop celery, onion, and bell peppers.  The following is the list of recipes we cooked:

Marinated Flank Steak,
Meatloaf,
Hamburger Tomato Stew,
Savory Beef,
Chinese Chicken Morsels,
Chicken Spaghetti,
French Stuffed Potatoes,
Pork Shoulder Roast (makes 2 different meals),
Teriyaki Chicken,
Sweet and Sour Chicken,
Red Chicken Enchiladas,
Ham Dinner Slices, and
Teriyaki Burgers.

The kitchen was a disaster by the end of the day.  It seemed that every dish and pot was dirty.  On the other hand, I saved time and a mess by chopping up all the vegetables I needed at one time.  I saved money by being able to buy extra large cans of crushed tomatoes or green beans instead of several smaller cans.  The extras do not have to be saved in the refrigerator either.  It was all used in the cooking and preparation phase.

With a permanent marker, I wrote the date, name of the dish, and reheating instructions on the freezing container.  Most of my dishes went into plastic gallon freezer bags, which saved a lot of space in the freezer.  After the food cooled off, I filled the bags, sealed them, and laid them horizontally.  The food leveled out and I froze them.  Some dishes like the Red Chicken Enchiladas had to be frozen in a 15″ x 10″ dish.

Now I just have to follow my meal plan and make a side of rice, potato, salad, or vegetable when I need them.  I am looking forward to these next two weeks.  I hope this is the solution for which I was looking.  By the way, I am happy to report that the Sweet and Sour Chicken and Teriyaki Burgers were both delicious.  So far I am a fan of freezer cooking and I highly recommend that you try it, too.