Day 23 - Stage 2 of Intro

Die-off!  We had a bit of die-off today from increasing the kraut juice very gradually over the past four days.  Our 11 year old and our 5 year old woke up achy and were very lethargic and emotionally reactive.  They both have had more solid BMs, which is not at all normal for them, but is often associated with die-off.

All day, our 5 year old kept getting into it with the other children.  Our 11 year old just didn't feel like being nice.  When someone asked him to get them a spoon while he was up, he very bluntly said no and got his own spoon and sat down.  That is not how we treat people in this house!  Our 8 year old seemed fine most of the day, but in the afternoon she started to get very angry with her siblings and later with me.  Could be die-off, or it could just be the stress of having to deal with the "stuff" we have to deal with when the others are reacting/detoxing.

So I kept them busy and seperate or under my watchful eye most of the day.  We had a great time cooking together.  When it appeared that they were not going to play happily together, I called them all to the kitchen to help prepare the veggies we would need for our casserole tonight.  Our 11 year old peeled and cut 5 pounds of carrots (something he would not have been able to accomplish before starting the GAPS diet) and only got one small cut, for which I am thankful he will recover quickly.  Our 8 year old peeled and cut up 10-12 yellow squash and zucchini.  Our 5 year old did a fantastic job of snapping the tiniest bit off of the ends of the fresh green beans so as not to waste any of the good food.  Our 2 year old helped cut a few pieces of zucchini with his toddler knife and he helped by breaking the green beans in half and putting them back in the bowl.  I think it is so much fun to have our 5 year old and our 2 year old "help" in the kitchen.

Casseroles were a big hit again!  Everyone ate too much!  Our 11 year old and 5 year old had tummy aches and became burpy/nauseous, but soon recovered.  I will have to watch them to make sure they don't overdo it on favorite foods.  However, I am very happy that they like the food.

We did not try avocado yet, or ghee, because of the obvious die-off reactions.  If everyone looks well in the morning, we will introduce ghee.  It has been 6 weeks since any of us have had any dairy.  I am hopeful.  I will keep the kraut juice at 1 teaspoon for at least a few more days.

Everyone had ACV baths today.  Our 2 year old went to bed without a fuss.  That is always nice.  My dear sweet husband is putting the other children to bed as I am holding the baby.  It sounds as if all is going well.  The baby cut his 2nd tooth today!  WooHoo!  Maybe, maybe he will sleep a little better for a while.

QUOTES FOR THE DAY:  "I can't believe we are real chefs cooking real food!"  (5 year old as we were snapping beans for dinner)  "My forehead is cold and stiff.  It got that way while I was finishing my chores."  (5 year old - I have no idea what this feels like to have a cold and stiff forehead.)  "Mommy, these vegetables look deeeelicious!"  (8 year old)  "Daddy, more water!  Green cup!  Right here!"  (2 year old)  "Ooooooh!  I think I ate too much."  (11 year old)  "Everyone at co-op keeps telling me how sorry they are for me that I can't eat all of the stuff that they are eating.  I try to tell them that it's not that bad and that you don't crave that sugary stuff when you are not addicted to it.  They just don't seem to get it."  (8 year old girl)

WHAT WE ATE TODAY:

Fiji water with lemon

chicken broth

chicken

carrots

chicken and vegetable soup - it was a hit!  (Chicken broth, carrots, zucchini, chicken, and sea salt)

sauerkraut juice

leftover hamburger soup

casserole - 1 chicken and one beef

I plan to have some fried eggs later.

LESSONS LEARNED:

We do not love the flavor of the beef shanks from the FM at Erma's.  We will try some shanks from other sources to see if we like beef shanks at all.  They are inexpensive and full of all that we need for healing.  I do hope we can find some we like.

It might work to cook lots of meat on one day and lots of veggies on another day and have a bit of a rest on the third day.  I am still working to streamline the cooking and make it more manageable.  It will come.  It has to, because we are in this for the long haul.