Monday, July 16, 2012

SCD, Here we Come!

Alright, we’re ready. On Saturday we went shopping and bought everything we need for the SCD Intro Diet. This is supposed to last for three days (give or take a day), and it cost us R164. That’s really, really good for three days for our family, so I think perhaps it won’t last as long as I’m hoping. But some of that stuff will last longer than three days, like the eggs, so we’ll see.

I spent most of Sunday (the bits where we weren’t at Church), preparing for the diet. I have given my family their “last meals.” (Pies and crisps. I know. Don’t judge me). I have cooked up a gigantic pot of chicken-and-carrot soup, 36 meatballs, 8 bowls of grape jelly and a dish of purèed carrots. I also have 40-odd eggs in the fridge, just waiting to be breakfast!

Now, I don’t know how long this lot is supposed to last, but it feels like about two days’ worth. Except the jelly – that’ll get us through today only. Again, we’ll see. The intro diet is supposed to take between two and five days, so we’ll re-evaluate on Tuesday night and decide what to do next. I foresee another full day of cooking in my future, though.

Here’s what I hope to achieve from all of this preparation:

  • Fewer headaches;

  • Fewer stomach cramps;

  • Better concentration;

  • Fewer mood swings;

  • Better skin;

  • Fewer allergic reactions;

  • Fewer nightmares;

  • Better sleep;

  • More energy; and

  • Better focus.

When I list these like this they really don’t seem that serious. One might even wonder why we’re bothering with such a strict diet and lifestyle change. But the thing is that the headaches are really debilitating at times, leaving the girls in tears and me wishing I could get away with tears! The girls spend a lot of time doubled over in agony at their stomach cramps (and their relief is our demise as they expel the offending bubbles. Sorry to share but this journey is important to me and I need to remember as much of where we started as possible so that when I look back I can see real change).

My skin breaks out all the time. It’s painful and decidedly embarrassing, given that I really am too old for this kind of thing. I’ve even had to cancel client meetings because of my skin (or headaches, or tummy troubles). Papa Bear and Goldilocks battle to concentrate and often Papa Bear’s not even here, despite being physically present. He also battles terribly with hay fever, and his hay fever, tiredness and tummy troubles have kept him out of meetings and appointments, too. Not being able to concentrate affects us all and I imagine things can only improve if we have better moods and better focus.

My vision for the outcome of this new eating plan is that we will have energy, joy, focus, time (because of better sleep and better planning), success (because of more confidence and fewer canceled appointments), and all-round awesomeness. I know the beginning is very tough indeed, and I don’t expect it to be easy, but I am looking forward to the long term results. I’ll keep you posted.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Every one a coconut.

After the coconut milk had been made,  I still had no inclination to get to “work”, and besides, I was technically in the middle of home school. So while I listened to the girls reading, I made ice cream and macaroons.

The ice cream was a big hit and super easy:

  • 1 banana

  • 1 cup of coconut milk

  • as much vanilla essence as you like (or none at all – I used just shy of a teaspoon)

  • honey (I used aboout 1.5 tablespoons, and found it rather sweet)


Blend everything well in a food processor, then freeze. This amount of mixture made six ice lollies, and froze reasonably fast. It was delicious but I think next time I will take it out of the freezer and beat it a couple of times to get the crystals out. If chocolate was allowed on the SCD I would definitely dunk the ice lollies in melted chocolate. So much of nice.

The macaroons were less successful. I’ve made macaroons many times and while I’m no Daniela, they’ve always been edible and in most cases people ask for more.

Not today.

I think I hadn’t squeezed enough coconut milk out of the coconut, and I also substituted honey for sugar, so almost immediately my light and fluffy egg whites swirled into slightly separated strangeness. I thought a tablespoon of macadamia nut butter would help to reconstitute the mass into something that would sort-of hold together, but that was a mistake and I knew that before I even opened the jar.

It wasn’t all bad, because after 20 minutes of baking, the macaroons began to resemble the correct consistency. I let them cool, scraped them into a bowl, and formed the lot into 9 little balls. Baking these yielded something … well … something. But it’s edible. And you don’t need a spoon.

I won’t post the recipe until I have one that works.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

So, why the coconut?

Cracked-open coconut. (Kimi’s, not mine).

Have I mentioned SCD? I’m sure I have and you’re probably like everyone else who knows me by now: over it! But whether or not you’re over it or you’ve never heard of it, it is fascinating and I can’t wait to get started. All I need to do is read the book, understand the book, and get started.

I have started reading the book, so I know that coconuts make up a big part of the diet. They are a good source of a lot of the things our bodies need, and easily digestible. Coconut milk can be used as a regular milk substitute. It can be turned into yoghurt, and used for smoothies and ice cream. The liquid inside the coconut is a valuable source of electrolytes and the flesh is delicious and multi-functional.

Empowered by all of this information and ready to act, I headed off to the green grocer and bought the first coconut I have ever personally owned. Nestled among the bananas (to make it feel at home), we admired it for a few days, then finally decided to depilate it on Monday morning. I had expected the process to take long, and I supposed it did, but not as long as anticipated. Removing the hairy husk was followed by driving a nail into the eyes to see if any liquid came out. It did not.

Next up was the extremely satisfactory process of hammering it open. I wrapped the coconut in a dish towel, took it outside, and holding it down firmly by the dish towel I hammered away with semi-gay abandon. It was fun. Highly recommended.

Once it was broken open, I faced the tedious task of scraping off the softish brown outside of the flesh with a sharp knife which, despite the element of danger, was rather dull. The blender served well to break the flesh into the recognisable consistency of dessicated coconut, though without so much of the dessicated. I really enjoyed discovering the thick, waxy white by product smeared on everything (not sarcastic, I promise), and used that to great effect in lieu of cooking oil for frying the onions I used for dinner.

Using the method I found here, on the wonderful Nourishing Gourmet blog, I made coconut milk. I thought it was delicious, and really enjoyed it in my coffee. It was a little thin, but I think that’s because of the ancientness of the coconut I’d bought, which had not even a drop of liquid inside.

Given the cost of the coconut, the labour involved, the sheer delight of hammering the thing open (which in my mind is worth the cost all by itself), the by products (“oil”, coconut pulp), and the health benefits of it all, I think this is a potentially worthwhile pursuit. I could have made more coconut milk by using more water. (I used two cups, then one cup, while the recipe suggests two cups, then two cups. That made 2.5 cups of coconut milk). I could also have squeezed the pulp harder to get more out, I later found, and I now know that I need cheesecloth. Is that stuff reusable? I should probably have let it stand in the water for longer too. Some people even simmer it gently, which I may try next time.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Coco Mojo

Yesterday was a good day. Full of energy and accomplishment, it was the kind of day I wish every day was. Having worked until nearly 2AM the night before, when I had put my house in order by 7AM, I was disinclined to do any billable work. (Funny, that). So instead I “supervised” the girls as they sorted out their room. This process was made both more and less difficult by their best friend spending the day with us. She helped a lot, but the three girls can never spend more than a few minutes together without collapsing in giggles, and I didn’t have the heart to unleash Mean Momma on their hilarity.

We only started “school” around 9:30!

"Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild" has great special features, including an art lesson!

“Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild” has great special features, including an art lesson!

BFF (Tinkerbell) was visiting because she’d begged her mom to let her come and try a day of home school with us. We started by hacking open a coconut*, moved on to reading, made coconut milk, studied the Bible, made coconut ice-cream, then took a break. After lunch Papa Bear helped them to make hovercrafts to study the effects of air pressure, then moved on to an art lesson. Since we’re currently looking at identifying the shapes within objects, we decided to use the “learn to draw” part of the Stuart Little 3 DVD for today’s lesson. We drew Snowbell and Reeko, but by Stuart we were pooped. Although Goldilocks was up to the challenge of creating the little mouse, and did a good job, too.

I made the left over “dessicated” coconut into arguably the worst macaroons in the world, although they were better after I rebaked them, having dried out a little the first time around.

Papa Bear played tag with the girls out front while I made supper. They laughed and played and frequently declared, “Daddy needs to be disciplined!” This out burst was followed by well-intentioned beatings with a miniature yard broom, rendered utterly jelly-like as a result of mirth-overdose.

Dinner was delicious, despite Tinkerbell’s absence (she’d already gone home), and everyone relaxed in front of an animated movie afterwards. *Bliss*.

Why can’t every day be like this?




*More on the coconut to follow.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Money Management and Real Food: lessons we can learn from both

Some years ago Papa Bear and I attended a Dave Ramsey Money Management course in our Church. It was great, and even though we’re only starting to implement the principles now (#1: emergency fund. Hmm..), we learnt a lot and it certainly affected our attitudes and perspectives.

This week I discovered a clever application of these principles in my research  into SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet), so I’m sharing it here. The article comes fromKelly the Kitchen Kop and the full post (and others) can be read here.
Dave Ramsey’s Money Principle #1:

  • Implement the Debt Snowball – Attack one debt at a time, the smallest first.  When that’s done, attack the next smallest debt.  Soon you’ll have gained the momentum you need to keep it going.


Kitchen Kop’s Real Food Principle #1:

  • Implement the Good Health Snowball – Start with one thing at a time so you’re not overwhelmed.  (You could go through these Rookie Tips.)  Change that one thing in your kitchen or in your diet, and when you’ve got that down, move to the next goal.  Soon you’ll have gained the momentum needed to keep you motivated for each next step!  (My Rookie class could help with this, too!)


Dave Ramsey’s Money Principle #2:

  • “Live like no one else so later you can live like no one else.” Drive beaters without payments, don’t spend money you don’t have, live within your means, save your money.  Then later when you’ve built up wealth, you can live like no one else.  You won’t be too buried in debt to have peace in your life.


Kitchen Kop’s Real Food Principle #2:

  • “Live like no one else so later you can live like no one else.” Don’t load up onsugar any old time you feel like it. (A good reminder for myself, too.)  Cook most of your food at home.  Don’t eat out for convenience sake.  Don’t keep processed foods around.  Then later when you’re in your 50’s or 60’s and haven’t been to the doctor in years, or you’re in your 70’s, 80’s and 90’s and still on the floor wrestling with your grand kids or out walking each morning pain-free, you’ll be living like no one else.


Dave Ramsey’s Money Principle #3:

  • Don’t be “normal”. Many may mock you for being “weird”, but remember that “normal” is broke and in debt.


Kitchen Kop’s Real Food Principle #3:

  • Don’t be “normal”. Many may mock you for being “weird”, but remember that “normal” is sick and tired.


Dave Ramsey’s Money Principle #4:

  • Don’t take advice from broke people.


Kitchen Kop’s Real Food Principle #4:

  • Don’t take advice from those whose advice has kept us sick.


Dave Ramsey’s Money Principle #5:

  • “The Borrower is slave to the lender.” (From the book of Proverbs.) Debt does not create peace in your life.


Kitchen Kop’s Real Food Principle #5:

  • The Truth will set you free.” (From the book of John.) Nutritional advice that makes common sense can free us from health issues that may have weighed on us for years or that could be right around the corner.  Good health can set you free to enjoy the life you’ve been given.



This week I’m starting SCD with my family, so I’ll let you know how that goes.