Home Style Chicken Soup ( GAPS friendly)

When I started the GAPS diet this was my " default food" It's simple, easy, easy on the stomach, and tastes pretty good. It is essentially my grandma's recipe and is thereby, for me, sorta kinda.. well, comfort food. ^_^ You know, the same thing that I would revert to if I felt miserable I had a cold. Homey, and comforting and GAPS friendly. So here it is! Enjoy for what it's worth! =)

You start with the same basic way as making the broth in my earlier post about broth. Use this recipe to get started.
Once you have strained out the chicken and peppercorns. Remove the chicken from the bones and set it aside. I would personally also only use half of the broth from the other recipe to make this soup.. (just set the other half aside and save it for later to drink or use) but that would depend on how brothy vs. hearty you like your soup.


OK, so you have your broth.
Next you add this to it:

1/4 cup of fresh parsley (washed and chopped)

1 medium yellow onion (chopped)

and approximately 1/3- 1/2 cup of the leaves and tender shoots from the inside of the celery. (chopped fine)

Return broth to boil while you chop;

3-4 large carrots (peeled and chopped)


2 medium sized turnips peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes.
IF you are NOT on GAPS... 2-3 medium peeled potatoes could easily be substituted here. =)
(Note, on GAPS she DOES allow turnips.. but if you were starting early on I may replace the turnips with a peeled and chopped zucchini or two instead just to be safe. If you do use zucchini, add them with the tomatoes later on.)

2-3 medium sized tomatoes ( remove seeds and chop into chunks)

1 tsp salt

2 cloves garlic , minced. ( This is optional, but it tastes good X)

1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen green beans ( for those who can have them. X)

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Add those to the boiling broth. Wait until the broth boils again; reduce the heat, cover it with the lid and allow it to simmer for 30-40 minutes. ( until the carrots and turnips start to become tender)

add:

2-3 medium sized tomatoes ( remove seeds and chop into chunks)

(if you are using zucchini, add it here.)

And the chicken back in.

Cover the soup again and simmer for another 20 minutes or so or until zucchini is tender.
Tada! It's done! Enjoy. (I'll try to get a picture up here shortly. =) )

Fermented Vegetables ( yes, you heard correctly)

Fermented Vegetables.

If you are looking into starting the GAPS protocol, this is essentially your starting point. It is used daily through most of the diet and health benefit wise, is just plain cool. IF however, you subscribed to this blog strictly for the gluten-free cookie recipes... I'm sorry, this post *probably * isn't for you... in fact.. if you are reading it at all it is quite possible you are doing so out of morbid curiosity as much as anything else. X

BUT, if you are looking for a recipe for easily digestible vitamins and minerals, as well as probiotics... than you've come to the right place. =)

My mother and I had a bit of a run-around with the recipes for fermenting vegetables. Frankly, it's not hard AT ALL, but we..really did not find a single one that was very clear at all. >.< SO! After some adjustments and clarifications. Here is OUR version of the recipe. (Yes, I'll be keeping it as simple as possible. )

This is what you will need.

Approximately 4lbs vegetables ( Carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage etc. You can use many kinds, but cabbage is the important one.)
One VERY large mixing bowl
2 half/gallon (mason style) jars with sealable lids. ( If you are doing a half of a recipe, two quart sized jars are fine.)
A knife or food processor. ( food processors make it go quicker, but really aren't necessary.)

Pure (non city) water,
Culture starter (optional)
Honey ( only needed if using the culture starter.)
Fresh herbs of whatever kind you like to flavor it with (optional)
Sea salt

This is what you will need to do.

Wash the vegetables.

Dissolve the culture starter into a cup of 90 degree water with approximately ½ tsp honey.

Finely chop ( or food processor) the vegetables, leaving several cabbage leaves whole for later use.

Put them in the bowl. ( This step is so complicated I know. ;)

Add 3 TBS sea salt to approximately 2 cups warm (approx 90 degree) water. ( This is a basic starter measurement... you can use a lot more water than this if you would like more brine! You will need enough brine to cover your vegetables once you put them in the jars, so if this doesn't cover them. Make more. =)

Add the brine to the vegetables and “knead” the vegetables. This kind of bruises them a little bit and also makes them juicer. Do it as long as you feel like. There is no need to knock yourself out with this, but a minute or two of kneading would be good. =) Squish them hard.

Add herbs (if desired)

Add dissolved culture starter ( if desired)

Mix very well.

With a utensil, or your hand, pack the vegetables into the jars and fill with brine, making sure to leave about two/two and a half inches of space at the top of the jars. Also, when you pack them in, make sure there are no air bubbles left in between them (the brine helps this). If there is air inside, the vegetables touching the air will rot instead of fermenting.

Take the whole cabbage leaves that you saved and fold them into a little “ pillow” about the same size around as the jar. (you may have to trim them a little..)
Pack the leaf “pillow” into the mouth of your jar making sure it is touching the sides of the jar as well as the vegetables/brine underneath. This creates kind of a natural seal that helps seal it, but also allows the bubbles of gas to escape as the vegetables ferment.

Put the lids on the jars “snugly”. ( You know, Goldy Locks style, not incredible hulk style... Otherwise you will probably *need * the dear mister Hulk to help you get those silly lids off again later.)

Set the jars some place that stays approximately 70 degrees... and (here's the hard part) leave them alone and watch the action. ;)

Leave the jars for approximately a week to 10 days or two weeks. They will bubble an change a bit here and there but really all you have to do is leave them alone. ( Note on this part, we filled the jars too full the first time and they bubbled juice all over the counter, so, be warned. It could get a little messy.)

At the end of that time, you can either use them right away, or put them in the refrigerator. They will store in the fridge around 4 weeks or so.

When you go to use them, open the jars and remove and discard the cabbage leaves and anything touching them or that fell off of them that looks dark or discolored. You will note that the leaves rotted due to being exposed to the air, while the rest of the vegetables ( if done correctly) will be just fine. Pretty cool eh? I have to comment, they will taste SOUR... not sour as in bad just as in.. make you pucker if you're not expecting it. X)

The juice can be used in soups or as a salad dressing, the veggies themselves can be added to a salad, or used like sauerkraut on sausage ( or whatever else you use sauerkraut on...) as a condiment/probiotic supplement or side dish. =)

Note; if you want more and more flavorful brine/juice, you can take up to ½ of your vegetables and herbs with some of the salt water and blend them in a blender to make more brine.

Also note; You honestly don't need the culture starter to ferment vegetables! ( as long as you have not-overly-sanitized cabbage.)
We wanted to make sure we did it right the first time, and also wanted lots of (and several kinds of) good bacteria in ours, so we bought a Culture Starter from Body Ecology. (pictured below) It is good stuff, works well, and is not dairy-based like many others. (in case you are allergic to dairy like I am) It *is * somewhat expensive however, so that may be something to note.

We have since tried fermenting vegetables without it. It works just fine. =)

Basic GAPS Chicken Broth

Broth.

I think the very word is synonymous to most people as... boring. You know, that part of the soup that is the absolute least thought of. It is what happens when you mixed the over-chemicaled-over-salted- condensed soups with water. Or, if you are brave, it is what you, in our busy modern life, open a carton for when you make " homemade" soup. Perhaps if you are recalling the 70's it may be even what you put a cube of practically nutrition-less bullion into a hot cup of water to drink as a diet food.

Not so with GAPS.
In the GAPS diet, broth ( Chicken, duck, beef etc.) is a staple, and here's why. True broth... REAL broth, is a very easily digestible food that is extremely high in nutrients for it's digestibility (and lack of bad-bacteria-feeding-sugar.) In fact, it is one of the best and most healing foods. So, at the beginning of the GAPS program, she has you start with LOTS and lots of broth.
But Dr. Campbell-McBride wants you to have REAL broth; not the chemical-infested, over-salted, artificially flavored and uber-preserved junk. ( are you sick of my hyphens yet? )
Dr. Campbell-McBride has you do broth the old fashioned way. So my recipe today, is doing chicken broth... like your grandparents did it when they were kids. ( excepting maybe the use of an electric stove and kitchen shears. ;)

So here is the recipe. " GAPS friendly", simple and imho the absolute best way to drink it. =)

Basic GAPS Chicken Broth (Sarah's style)

Start with a 1 1/2 gallon (or 6 quart) kettle or crock pot. ( Yes, this recipe makes a lot... But it goes quick when you're on the diet)

Fill it with pure (non-city) water, leaving a little space at the top of the kettle for displacement.

Add:

1 to 1 1/2 TBS salt.

15-20 whole black peppercorns. Cracked, not ground. ( We, honestly, put them in a little plastic lunch bag and smack them with a hammer a few times. ^_^ It works great!)

AAAaaand of course the chicken.
In this case, 1/2 of an organically grown (thawed and rinsed) chicken.
(The easiest way to end up with half of it, that we have found, is to cut it right down the middle with big pair of kitchen shears. Put the other half in a baggy in the freezer and save it for later. )

(This could also be done with about 3 lbs of organic chicken legs, and thighs etc. (approximately 6 of them)

So yes.. All of this goes into the kettle, and you put the kettle and turn it on. When it boils turn it down to a simmer, put the lid on the kettle and let it boil for at 3-4 hours. (8 hours or so on low for crockpot) Turn it off, make sure the chicken is tender. Strain the chicken and peppercorns out, and voila! You have homemade chicken broth!
*nom* It can ( and for GAPS is supposed to be) drunk as it is. It can also be made into any chicken-based soup you wish. It can have various fresh herbs added (to broth or soups ) for different flavors, or simply left plain, cooled and stored in the freezer for use at a later date.
Enjoy! =)

Note: For old style, "bone broth" once you have removed the boiled chicken from the bones; (to eat or put in soups) save the bones, skin and gristle; put them back in a kettle of fresh water; follow the same recipe as for the chicken broth with everything except put the bones and skin in instead of the chicken. Let this new kettle boil for 6+ hours, strain out the bones and you've got yourself another entire pot of broth! =)

Another Note:
Organic chicken, or better yet locally grown free-range chicken is FAR FAR Better than the anemic store-bought kind. Not just for the chemical content either. No lie. My mother and I did several pots of broth, and you can literally see an extreme difference in color of the store bought normal chicken vs the organic or free-range chicken. The taste and nutrition difference is profound as well. The broth I have pictured is made from a local free-range chicken. It is covered in golden fat ( that is full of vitamin A) and tastes positively amazing compared to any of the broth I've previously made. =) =)

The (almost) Epic start of the GAPS diet

Sooo... My life has been a little bit... insane for the past while since I have posted last. (My mother having cancer; my sudden trip to Ecuador with her to get natural treatment; her eventual healing; and simply trying to re-prioritize and make life work since then... etc. etc.) In spite of those excuses though, I apologize for not posting for all this time! I also apologize for not yet posting some of the recipes I promised a few of you! ( I still plan on it though!) Please be patient with me! I will get them up eventually!

Otherwise though, this post is basically to introduce a new set of posts that I will be doing. This past year, my mother and I started doing research on the GAPS diet. ( For those of you who do not know, GAPS stands for Gut And Psychology Syndrome) It is based on the studies and research of Doctor Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, MMedsci(neurology), MMedsi (nutrition)
All of those letters put into other words, she is a doctor who is also a medical scientist in the fields of neurology and nutrition.

Dr Campbell-Mcbride studied the relation between many of the neurological diseases (Autism, depression, dyslexia, ADHD, Crohns, Celiac etc.) and other digestion issues, made some amazing discoveries and healed her autistic son. She basically, goes through and shows you what to do to use the proper nutrition (in ways that a compromised and weakened body can handle) to heal the body of digestion problems and a lot of those neurological problems as well. Amazing right?
You can find the book on Amazon here.
Or see a website explaining more about the GAPS diet here:

So, like I said, essentially, she shows you how to heal your digestion. (from intolerance, food allergies, parasites, non-beneficial bacteria overgrowth, yeast overgrowth etc.) and helps you learn to feed your body the proper nutrition to heal not only your digestion, but so it has the building blocks to re-build the rest of your immune system, including a compromised neurological system, hence aiding greatly in the healing of those diseases.

Because I am someone with A) Multiple food allergies (and other digestive issues) and B) other chronic health issues. When I found someone who basically put every bit of research I had found valid over the many years of searching and studying concerning things that I had (as well as what many other people had) and what I should to to recover/heal from it... Iiiiii was pretty excited! She not only puts a lot of the medical research into fairly shirt-sleeve English, but she combined what I already knew and gives a step-by-step on what to heal from it.
My mother and I found this diet that basically teaches how to be healed from almost every food allergy, as well as parasites and such ( which I have fought with endlessly over the years) So that they don't come back. So, since it doesn't contradict most research I've done, (and actually supports practically all of it) you better believe that I am going to do it!

... Ok, sounds vaguely interesting, but kind of complicated, and NOT like a recipe, right?

Let me bottom line why I am telling you about all of this. *stands on a shoe box and proclaims * HENCEFORTH, All recipes on this blog (unless otherwise clearly stated) are going to be what I and my family have dubbed " GAPS friendly"! ^_^ They may not be * as* interesting to some of you. I apologize if that is the case, but I hope that many will still be... fairly interesting!
For anyone else wanting to heal from food allergies or digestive issues, or if you are otherwise wanting to implement the GAPS diet --
Here is the recipes for what I made and am making, so, if you wish, you can do them yourself. Also, at my new blog will be (a revised version of this post) AND the extent of my path and (a probably greatly simplified version of) the day-to-day happenings of living on the GAPS diet, as well the process of my gradual healing. I'm doing this in order for anyone wanting to do the GAPS diet themselves to see what I am doing, how it works, and what tips there are that I would give any fellow GAPSters from my journey towards a healthy- allergy free body. =)
*Woot!* =)

(P.S. for anyone actually starting the GAPS diet, I would also highly recommend the "GAPS GUIDE" book, as it is a bit more of a comprehensive guide to actually implementing the GAPS protocol. )