What do I eat in a day

One of my group AIP & Paleo Canada have come up with an idea of posting what a day in our AIP life looks like. Guidelines are state the health issue you are trying to address with the AIP approach and list what we ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner along with any supplements we take. This is a great way to support each other and let others have a glimpse of our one day menu.

Diagnosed mild to moderate Ulcerative Colitis June 1, 2013 confirmed by colonscopy.

Short term ASACOL and Salafolk, unable to control bleeding.
August 12 Went to hospital for pain management and fluid rehydration
Start 5 weeks prednisone

Bought Against All grains book and starting my Paleo journey week 2 of steroids

6 months later, went into another flare, stress and stomach bug triggered. Lost excessive weight, rebuilt with Absorb Plus pre- digested meal replacements for 3 - 4 months. Slowly reintroduce foods.

Explore other diet options, SCD, GAPS, Listen to your gut, AIP

Breakfast: Smoothie - homemade Milk kefir, Coconut milk kefir, frozen banana, baby romaine leaf from garden, grass fed gelatin,  Udo's 3.6.9. oil, stevia drops

Lunch: AIP meatballs - pork and beef, beets, carrots, onions, pink himalayan salt, steamed broccoli and carrots

Dinner: Kombucha, AIP pork ribs - beets, carrot, onions, garlic, ACV, pink himalayan salt, steamed carrots, fresh blueberries, cherries, spinach, melon, cantaloup

Dessert: Acorn Squash coconut milk Faux-nomeal.

Supplements: 5000-10000 UI Vit D, slippery elm and marshmallow root gruel to soothe digestion track. George's Always alive aloe juice to heal bleeding ulcers in colon. Include food source probiotics daily - homemade Kombucha, Water, Kefir, Milk Kefir, Coconut Milk Kefir, fermented vegetables.

Current progress: If my worst flare was a 1 like back in January, I feel I am at a 6. My fatigue, inflammation and digestive systems fluctuate day by day. Diet focus AIP. Find grazing helps digestion.  Starting working with a homeopath beginning of July and seeing progress with improving energy and decreasing gut symptoms.

The best probiotic power shake without the powder

Being on a very restrictive diet often makes me miss foods I used to consume, a regular milkshake is one of them.

When I was battling really intense Ulcerative Colitis symptoms only months ago, I had to rely on an Elemental diet ( pre-digested food supplement ) I used to take 3-4 Absorb Plus shakes a day and that helped heal my gut and gave me energy to carry out my day to day activities. As my body slowly healed, I was able to decrease the number of Absorb plus and slowly introduce easy to digest foods. 

Now, I still start my day with a nutrient packed shake that is much tastier than powder. I use Milk kefir and coconut milk kefir to power up my shake with 50+ strains of probiotics. The kefirs also offer a good source of good fats and protein, then I add my grass fed gelatin for more protein and gut healing powers and joint support. I keep a supple of frozen fruit in the freezer and add to it as I buy fresh fruit. I have found the combination of these ingredient gives me the best thick milkshake like texture and amazing taste. 

This is my go to meal replacement, a treat or dessert. This shake is so good that it makes me forget all about any food restrictions. 

Powderless power probiotic shake

Excitement

Ingredients

• 1/8 c Milk Kefir
• 1/8 c Coconut milk Kefir
• 1 tsp Grass Fed Gelatin
• 1 tbsp Udo's oil
• 1 frozen banana
• 1-2 frozen strawberries
• handful of frozen fruit of your choice, sometimes I add baby greens from my garden
• 3 drops stevia ( optional )
• 2 tbsp water if your blender cannot handful all the frozen fruit

Instruction

1. Put all ingredients in a blender, I use a Nutribullet and let everything sit for a couple minutes to defrost before blending, otherwise I sometimes get chunks of the frozen fruit in the smoothie. If you have Vitamix or Blendtec, you probably can go straight to blending.

Ingredients

Had to share with my son 

always keep frozen fruit on hand

Quick AIP chili

It was 3pm and the kids and I were on the way home in the car when my older one asked if we could have chili or stew for dinner. I thought to myself " chili or stews take forever to simmer to be good…" I agreed anyway because the kids have been so patient when I was down with a UC flare recently. I know I had veggies at home so I picked up some ground meat at the butcher and headed home to try this quick experiment.

When I got home, I posted for advice on my FB AIP Canada group. Of course, my trusted friend didn't take long before they replied with suggestions. I browsed though the links and gather all my ingredients and started cooking. I was concerned how it would taste without the tartness of tomatoes. So I dug in the fridge and found the sour cherries from my Aunt's tree that no one seems to want to eat. I pitted them and set aside for the dish. I also added apple cider vinegar in place of the tomatoes. 

The result was surprising good. I am a planner and prefer not to cook on the spot, but I think with all the cooking and experimenting I have done in the kitchen, I had a good idea what might work with what. Or maybe there was a bit of luck on my side too. "The cherries were a nice touch"my hubs said. and my current favored kobucha squash added great texture and thickness to the chili without thickener or beans. 

I made a big pot but there was no leftover after.

AIP chili

Kid dug into it before I could take a photo

Serve 5  Prep 10 mins Cooking 45 mins 

Ingredients

• 3/4 lbs. ground meat ( I used meatloaf mix - veal, beef and pork )
• 2 strips nitrates free bacon, cut into small pieces ( I use the Trader Joe's ones ) 
• 1 tbsp duck fat ( or bacon, coconut oil) 
• 2 c bone broth
• 1 zucchini, cubed
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 1 small beet, grated
• 1/2 sweet onion, chopped
• 1/4 small kobucha squash, cubed ( about 2 c)
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 stalk celery
• 3tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• 10 sour cherries
•  sea salt to taste

Instructions

1. Heat heavy pot to medium heat
2. brown chopped onions and garlic in fat
3. add celery and carrot, sauté for 5 mins
4. Meanwhile, in a separate pan, brown chopped bacon ad ground meat 
5. add meat into heavy pot of vegetables
6. add kobucha and zucchini, sauté for another 5 mins
7. add sour cherries, apple cider vinegar and bone broth, stir, cover and let simmer until all vegetables are soft. The kobucha cooks down to a mush which will thicken the chili

Added bone broth ice cubes

sprinkled with freshly chopped herbs

Poached Basa in bone broth

Ingredient 

• 1 basa fillet 
• 2 cups bone broth or water
• mushroom of your choice
• 1/4 cup grated zucchini
• couple basil leaves
• Sea Salt to taste

sauce

• Fish sauce to taste
• 1 tbsp Coconut aminos ( this is a great soya sauce replacement ) 
• 1 tsp vinegar of your choice, I used Apple Cider Vinegar
• sesame oil to taste, can omit if you want nothing to do with seeds 

Instructions

1. Defrost 1 frozen basa fillet and pad dry with kitchen towel
2. Bring 2 cups of homemade bone broth to boil 
3. Add thinly sliced mushrooms, grated zucchini, cook for 2 mins
4. Carefully add basa and poach on low to med heat for 5 mins, watch over it as it can boil over easily like milk if you cover pot. 
5. Once cooked, laddle into bowl with some  broth and veggies, garnish with basil slivers and sauce 

For the sauce

Mix sauce ingredients together

PS. I added the veggies first into broth to make sure it's well cooked. It is easier for my digestions.