We are hanging out a stage 3 of the diet right now while I wait for the juicer I ordered from Amazon to make its appearance at our house. We are all very excited about the idea of fresh juice!                                                                   

With the introduction of nut butter pancakes to our diet I have run across my first significant sensitivity to foods: peanut butter gives me stabbing pains in my gut and makes my mouth itch and I break out in hives in the back of my throat. I’ve never actually had that reaction to peanuts before, but according to my understanding of the healing process on the GAPS diet as we continue on the path of healing and sealing the gut it starts uncovering issues you may have glossed over to this point. As I continue down this path and continue healing and sealing I will eventually be able to have peanuts again. I’m going to refrain from eating them for several months, then reintroduce a small amount and see what happens then.

The other day my daughter and I went to the zoo and due to a series of events I couldn’t predict (isn’t that always the way?) we were several hours later than I had expected for our schedule. I had made the (very, very grave) mistake of not bringing any snacks with us and we ended up buying food there. What harm could getting just a plain hamburger, no bun be? (Of course it more than likely wasn’t grass fed/pastured meat and I’m sure it had some added ingredients and fillers.)
But then I had some cheese with it. And some waffle cut french fries. And some ketchup. Eeeek, foolishness! Within 10 minutes of eating this food my tummy was telling me what a mistake I had made. I ended up having to turn around and find a bathroom. It’s amazing how quickly things move through you when your body doesn’t want them.
Don’t make my mistakes if you do the intro diet: bring snacks and meals with you so you don’t need to suffer tummy upset or go hungry.

Snack ideas for Stage 3:

veggie egg bake

avocado (I bring a shaker of sea salt with me wherever I go so I can season things to my liking)

chicken thighs

oven roasted carrots

broth or soup in a good quality thermos

nut butter pancakes

bags of peppermint or chamomile tea or you could even go to a tea or coffee shop and order a tea. It’s the little things that give my life pleasure 🙂