Winter celebrations from a variety of cultures tend to offer a lot of sugar and wheat. In preparation for this, I upped my personal ante by returning to essentially a Stage 5 GAPS several weeks back. I focused on getting plenty of protein (aiming for 100 -130 grams per day for my 5’4 medium build) and fat. This preempted any sugar cravings I might otherwise have experienced when the seasonal offerings crossed my path, plus gave me plenty of joy even under the near-constant cover of grey, lots of energy, copious calm, and a solid ability to cope with noise and chaos.
In the process, I may have developed my strangest breakfast to date! A cup of whole fat goat kefir and two raw eggs chasing a medly of brains, liver, heart, spleen and more. (If you’re new to GAPS, the concept of soup as one’s morning meal may suddenly seem not as bizarre as you’d once thought, yes?) My breakfast seems extreme -to the point of making me laugh- even to this GAPS veteran, but it truly sets me on an excellent track for the day. With a solid dose of ferments, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals in my tummy, I’m good to go. (Note: If I plan on physical play, ie. exercise, in a morning, I start the day with a higher fat ratio -usually cheddar chunks slathered in butter, paired with sauerkraut- and save the protein for immediately following the workout.)
The brains? I’m experimenting with Dr Ron’s Ultra-Pure Organ Delight. The freeze-dried organs and glands provide raw substances in an easy-to-ingest form. My usual, lower-cost approach to organs is to freeze raw liver for fourteen days then use an apple peeler to scrape thin slices off.
How have your breakfasts changed since starting GAPS? Let us know in the comments section below.
Here we start with lemon water and cod liver oil, then a GAPS shake of juice- carrot, apple, ginger, cabbage, beet, and whatever else we have, blended with raw milk sour cream, 2 raw eggs/person, coconut oil, avocado, and elderberry syrup if I have some made… sometimes I’ll add olive oil and whey or kefir too.
When we first started GAPS and added juicing we still needed another breakfast in addition to the shake, so frequently ate leftover soups and stews with eggs poached on top.
Once in a while I crave pancakes and make nut butter, egg, banana or squash pancakes to have after our shakes and through the day as a snack.
Wow, Baden! Kefir and brains…YUM! My breakfasts have definitely changed since starting GAPS and now resemble…pretty much other meals but with ingredients I would not have eaten prior to GAPS (organ meats, sardines, etc). Favorites: roasted cauliflower topped with sardines, butternut squash oil and avocado, cabbage sauteed for a long time in duck fat, sometimes scrambled with eggs and some times as an accompaniment for sausage, meatball soup (with heart and liver in it) with lots of fats and greens, fish hash, and my other odd favorite- taking the marrow/meat/fat from beef broth and pureeing it, adding parsley, an egg or two, salt, and frying them up as “meat pancakes”- they are really rich, and delicious and I eat them with a side of veggies or a fried or poached egg on top. Oh, and lastly, chicken liver simmer- livers cooked in chicken broth with greens, maybe bits of bacon. I’m going to check out Dr. Ron’s Organ Delight. Thanks. And I’m looking forward to reading other people’s breakfast ideas- for some reason I’m happy to be redundant for other meals but I need breakfasts to change and evolve or I get really bored.
Having still not yet started GAPS (VERY soon, hopefully! I even got myself a buddy), and not being a natural fan of organs, yes, that breakfast sounds inherently strange. Though as it is, I have avoided having breakfasts rich in grains for a long time, as I find myself hungrier an hour later than if I had not eaten at all, but one favorite that has been neglected recently is the “breakfast burrito,” egg and either potato, sweet potato, onions, or some tasty looking leftovers, especially meaty ones in a tortilla, something that would actually be very GAPS convertible with nut flour flatbread and maybe the occasional butternut squash, if not quite fatty enough to be a truly good start to one’s day. Nevertheless, it only requires a pan if leftovers are involved, or at most an added cutting board and knife, and I hate morning dishes. It’s also great on the run if need be. Depending on the size of your bread and appetite, it can be as light or heavy a breakfast as needed.
Since I do not have the time to make myself a GAPS shake, my breakfast resembles other meals, but if I had to pick a few favorites I would say: chicken broth with avocado, raw yolk, some cooked veggies if available and turmeric/cumin; raw milk kefir with slices of cucumber or banana and topped with cumin/cinnamon/turmeric; organ meatballs or pate.
Thank you all for the great breakfast ideas. And happy new year to Baden and my wonderful GAPS family, it will soon be 9 months of this journey and am truly grateful for all your support, expertise and wisdom.
Jo
That sounds like an awesome breakfast Baden! So the organs you are taking in supplement form yeah??? Sounds do-able. Do you blend the eggs into the kefir??
Hi Nicole,
Good to hear from you!
Yes, the medley of organs (as opposed to the straight liver which I take whole) is freeze-dried and encapsulated. When I take organs, I see a distinct change for the good in my menstruation.
The eggs I whisk into the kefir with a fork. It doesn’t blend/liquify 100%, but it’s fine.
My body has become very dependent on this breakfast -feeling its absence and begging for it when I skip it!
All my best,
Baden
Me again. Just wondering about what to eat before exercise? So you recommend something high fat but maybe not as high protein? And to eat protein after exercising??
Also, your breakfast is very high protein. Do you think it is ok not to balance that with some veg as long as you eat veg later in the day?? My dietician over here is very big on making sure you eat veg whenever you have protein. Appreciate your thoughts always Baden.
Hi again, Nicole.
As I’m not a health practitioner, I don’t know the ins and outs of this kind of thing, nor what would work for people in general. I really only know how my own body responds to any given food or combination -and I’m always experimenting.
My body just doesn’t love a lot of protein before playing (exercising). My body’s favourite mix pre-play is a veggie ferment (pickles, sauerkraut) plus fat (cheese slathered in butter equal to the cheese’s dimensions) or even just straight coconut oil (which, as it happens, I can’t stand the taste of).
Yes, my current breakfast is high in protein. (I’m now up to three eggs per glass and also add whey to it sometimes.) My body seems fine having all this protein without veggies, but I do also eat a lot of veggies (a single salad for me is 5-10 cups) over the course of a day. Many days I eat every couple of hours, so it’s not long before the veggies follow.
A fitness resource I enjoy is Mark Sisson’s blog Mark’s Daily Apple/Primal Blueprint. I also look to the work of Aajonus Vonderplanitz. For people who’ve completed their initial healing, these complement GAPS in many areas and provide thoughts for enhancing one’s personal approach.
All my best,
Baden
Hi, why freezing 14 days on the liver and how do you eat it? Thanks.
Hi gapsmom,
We freeze liver -and raw fish for ferments- in order to kill off any parasites, etc, that may be present.
After freezing for two weeks, you can prepare it any way you like. I simply peel a piece off with an apple peeler and eat it straight (and frozen). Others soak it in lemon to remove the bitterness, and make a nice dish of it -raw or cooked. You can Google for liver recipes.
All my best,
Baden
So wait, the brains and stuff… That was all encapsulated? Dude, that is totally not weird. I probably would have had a hard time stomaching a chewable medley of organs, but bring on the pills! Incidentally, one of my favorite things in the world is the onion/oil/spice mixture that we cook liver in, with liver cooked in, but without actually eating any of the liver.
I’ve always preferred protein foods for breakfast, so I’ve had strange breakfasts compared to most people in our society for years. Even before I heard of the GAPS diet, I would have bone broth or beef heart or a big steak cooked in butter for breakfast from time to time. We’re new to GAPS, though, and I’m still trying to figure out what works best for breakfasts. Where do you get the freeze-dried organs? I found out that the brand I used to take has a lot of gluten in it, so I’d love to find a gluten-free brand!
Hi Angie,
Wow, I wish that’s how I’d been eating pre-GAPS!
My usual breakfasts are stews or eggs.
I use Dr Ron’s Organ Delight. In the post, if you hover over the reference to that, you’ll find it links directly to the product page.
All my best,
Baden