I’m not going to lie. Doing GAPS has seriously messed with my love of cooking. My love of food, even. Early GAPS was tremendously overwhelming. Not only was I dealing with a sick child and a very irritable self, I was constantly cooking. And I was cooking foods I wasn’t particularly enjoying. The amount of time I had to spend in the kitchen was really hard on Ellie. There were times she’d just stand in the kitchen and cry while I was too busy balancing three things on the stove and two more in the oven while chopping yet another thing – unable to pick her up or play with her. It wasn’t long before I was resentful of the diet and dreading my time spent in the kitchen.
This summer I acknowledged that the form of GAPS I was currently practicing was not working. While of course GAPS had done wonderful things to help heal Ellie, I also saw that it had created a major rift in my relationship with her, and I had to take a step back from the insane amount of work I was putting into preparing our food. Summer was such a gift. The bountiful produce available in summer became a lifesaver. We started making green smoothies for breakfast, which saved me so much time every morning. I started tossing hearty salads for lunches and dinners and finding time for Ellie again. Snacks are usually an apple with nut butter these days, which takes just a minute to peel, slice and present.
