I even met the cows! #GAPS

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/ax53meqWnA/

Just back from the milk run! 6 litres of raw organic milk direct from the farmer! Can't wait to try the yogurt that this milk makes!! #GAPS

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/ax4u6eKWln/

Just got my delivery from The Little Milk Company. Three beautiful organic cheddars, 2 made from raw milk. Only ordered them yesterday! #GAPS

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/afcE9sKWie/

What a Day!!!

I'm just home from the Tipperary GAPS Seminar and I feel elated!! I met so many wonderful inspiring and motivated people today and yesterday. What a weekend. Natasha Campbell-McBride was charming and gracious, and so generous with her time. She spoke to so many people individually after she was finished her presentation. She is incredibly knowledgeable and had something to say on many many different illnesses and chronic diseases. Even though I've read her first book many times, I still learned a lot and came away with some serious food for thought! Ballykisteen Hotel and The Horse & Jockey Hotel really pulled out all the stops in the food they served us, which was all GAPS/SCD friendly.

It was great to hear other parents' stories. We heard from parents of children with Down Syndrome and autism who have had huge success with the GAPS protocol. We even heard about the diet helping a lady who has had narcolepsy for 20 years, her family's story was amazing! I spoke myself at both events and it was a very fulfilling experience, other than my hand shaking uncontrollably and the microphone deciding it didn't like me!!

Thank you so much to everyone who approached me afterwards and thanked me for my own presentation. I was so glad to meet you all and hope we can stay in touch. Thanks so much to all the other speakers, especially Eleanor, who moved us all to tears. And of course, thank you so so much to Anne Maher for organising the whole event. Hopefully it will be the first of many!!

Two Years Later

It has been over two years since we started the GAPS/SCD adventure and it has been quite an adventure. I use the word adventure a lot, I admit, but it seems appropriate for what we've been doing. We went down this road without having any guarantees that it would work. I knew nobody else who had tried this particular diet, other than strangers on an online help forum. I had few places to turn to when the going got tough. And it was tough at times. But sometimes you have to take a leap of faith. You have to trust your "gut".  You have to decide to have an adventure! And somehow, when I read the GAPS book, I believed it was worth the risk.

There have been ups and downs. There were times when I wondered had the progress stopped. There were times when I was exhausted and worn out from the extra work load. There were times when I wanted to throw the yoghurt maker out the window! There were times when I would have given my left elbow for a Dominos pizza.

And then there were the ups. The first time he asked "why". The hugs and kisses. The looking me straight in the eye and saying "I love you Mummy". The "guys, guys, guys!!" to his brother and sister. The constant talk about his new best friend Charlie. The playing in the school yard. The birthday parties where he was so excited to see each and every one of his school pals arrive. The incredible eye contact. The insanely stunning photos of him really looking AT me. The huge improvement in his general health. The positive test results. The lack of vomiting bugs. The end of nappies. The lack of worry. The freedom. The happiness.

Take a leap. It is SO worth it.

Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride

It has been a long time since I've blogged. My only excuse is that last year was a difficult one for personal reasons. But here I am now! And I have great news to share. Natasha Campbell McBride, the author of  "Gut & Psychology Syndrome", the book which got me started on this diet and blogging adventure, is coming to give a seminar on the GAPS diet in March. She will be speaking in Ballykisteen Hotel on Sunday 3rd March. To say I am excited is a gross understatement!! I am really hoping to actually meet her and thank her profusely for her wonderful book and for giving me so much hope for my little Einstein. I am also nervous about it as I am going to give a little speech myself! The organiser has asked some of us mothers to talk about our experience of the diet. How could I pass up that opportunity?

I have seen Dr Campbell-McBride's speeches on YouTube and she is warm and encouraging so I hope it will be a good day, full of positive, motivating stories. The main reason I started this blog was to try to encourage other parents to give the diet a try. This seminar aims to do the same thing, to spread the good news and hope others will join in the experiment!

If anyone is interested in attending, the tickets are 55 euro which includes a GAPS/SCD lunch which should be interesting for anyone who is unfamiliar with the diet rules! It takes place on March 3rd from 10am to 4pm. For tickets e-mail GAPSseminar@gmail.com or you can e-mail me deirdremacmahon@gmail.com as I have a few tickets too.

The Easiest Cake Ever!

After a long drought, it felt great to return to blogging but I can't believe that two months has already gone by since my last one. The blog about chocolate encouraged me to write about some of our other regular sweet treats. We have plenty! This might be a real food, back-to-basics and sugar-free diet but that doesn't mean we are deprived of good stuff.

I bake bread most days here and the second most frequently baked item is banana cake. This is a wonder of a cake, because it contains hardly any ingredients. It has no flour, at all, making it very suitable for people on all kinds of exclusion diets (unless there is an egg allergy!) And it takes about a minute to prepare! So all positive!

Now, I have to admit, it isn't a favourite of mine. I find the texture a bit weird, but it is a HUGE hit with my two boys and with every kid who comes to visit. The other handy thing is that you can vary the size without any fuss, if you find your egg-basket or fruit bowl is running low. The cake works on a 1 banana per egg recipe so if you use 5 bananas you use 5 eggs and if you use 3 bananas use 3 eggs. It works perfectly using 3, 4 or 5 eggs. The honey is totally optional. I haven't put any honey in my cakes for months now and nobody noticed any difference! Banana is sweet enough!

Banana cake

3, 4 or 5 very ripe bananas
3, 4 or 5 eggs
1-2 tablespoons honey (optional)
1 tsp vanilla (optional)

Break up the bananas a bit and throw everything into your food processor or blender and blitz for a minute or two until the batter is smooth and creamy. Pour into a 20-22cm baking tin or silicone mould. Pop in the oven for one hour. The important thing is to keep your oven on a low temperature or your cake will burn. I use gas mark 2 or 3, so 150-170 C is perfect.

It can rise nicely in the oven but it will sink back a bit as it cools. The top will be brown which makes it look a lot like chocolate cake but the inside is a weird grey colour. It is very sweet with or without the honey and children will devour it in minutes!! You can also use the batter in all kinds of silicone moulds, it pours easily and sets well. I used it in Christmas stocking moulds last December and just recently in Easter egg moulds after the chocolate was finished. Make sure to keep it in the fridge, where it will last for 3 to 4 days, if your kids haven't eaten it all before then!