Update on the nettie pot

Ok, I'm sorry. I know I promised an update. The truth is that I haven't consistently been using it to know if it works or not. After the day that I used it four times, I felt like I had a head cold. I even had sneezing. The next day, I only used it once. It did give some relief but it was only temporary. The relief lasted about an hour. I did buy some oil of oregano but I haven't used it yet so I don't know if it makes a difference. I'm not giving up on the nettie pot yet. I think it's something that you need to do consistently until the symptoms are gone. I could be wrong though...what do I know?

The Nettie Pot

I've been having sinus problems for about the last 3 years. I was so hoping that it would resolve itself by being on this diet but so far it hasn't. I decided to take matters into my own hands and buy a nettie pot. I've had it for about a month and haven't used it because I was scared, lol. I watched a YouTube video showing how it worked and it looked easy enough. The other day I decided to finally try it. I guess my sinuses are more messed up than I thought because instead of a stream flowing through my nose, I had a drip going on. In the mean time my sinus cavity was burning up!!! I've used the nettie pot about 4 times now and I swear it seems like my sinuses are getting worse with each use. I have so much sinus pressure right now. I'm hoping that it's actually working and I just have to push though until all the junk is out. I've heard people using some oil of oregano in the netti pot. I might have to buy some and try it. I'll update in a few days.

Another food to add...

To Shawn's growing list. He now likes raspberries. I gave Joshua some mixed berries and Shawn asked to try the blackberry (which he didn't like), the raspberry (which he continued to eat), and a blueberry (which he said was good but didn't want anymore). They ate the berries the first day (there wasn't really that many). Shawn has been asking me since then if I bought more raspberries yet. I'm kind of nerveous buying them though because I've heard they can contain mold but I bought some today anyway. I need to look and see if raspberries can grow in this area and see about getting us a bush.

Today we saw Dr. Tappan...again. Don and I had a little argument because he thinks I'm being too strict with the diet. He thinks that it doesn't have to be an all or nothing thing. He totally doesn't understand the science behind the diet. It is an all or nothing type of diet. You have to be fanatical about it. I admit that I'm not but I strive to be.

Anyway, Don was concerned that Shawn wasn't healthy because sometimes he gets cramps when he has a bowel movement and it makes him puke. It doesn't happen that often and even though I can't prove what it was that made him have cramps and puke, I'm pretty sure I know what it was and it doesn't have anything to do with food. It has to do with some supplements. Don didn't want to listen to it though and he said he wanted Shawn to see the doctor because it wasn't normal.

So off to the doctors we went today. Dr. Tappan said that Shawn was perfectly healthy. He's maintaining his weight and everything else looked good. He asked us a bunch of questions and wrote down all the supplements we were giving him. He even said he would do a little research on the Betaine HCL with Pepsin because I asked him if he would write a note for us so Shawn could take it at school. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one because it really has helped him digest cheese. He asked me to keep a food journal for two weeks so he can see exactly what he's eating and even mentioned maybe reviewing it with a nutritionist (which I'm not too thrilled about). This diet does not follow the food pyramid so I don't have much hope for a nutritionist to agree with the diet.

Just so you know- I did not say I told you so to Don but I sure was thinking it, lol.

Repercussions

As much as I try to be 100% GAPS, sometimes I just get so overwhelmed and there is no prepared food to feed the kids. On those such occasions, I will allow them to eat pizza (because they've got to eat). It's been a while since I've had pizza but 2 days ago we ordered pizza for dinner because I didn't have anything that could be cooked fast and that the kids would eat. It was really weird because I could actually taste the sugar in the sauce, lol. Although the sauce didn't really appeal to me much anymore, I still found pleasure in eating the crust. I should know better by now not to eat illegal food.

Yesterday was a tough day. Joshua woke up in the middle of the night and then woke up earlier than normal. He was a whiny mess all day (except for when we were at the playground, lol). He also didn't take a very long nap. Shawn had trouble getting ready for school and when he came home, he had some attitude! It was tough dealing with them because I had a huge headache. There is no doubt in my mind that this was all caused by us eating pizza. I still have the headache this morning and some sinus congestion. I wish I would learn my lesson!!!

I made some bone broth the other day and last night I made vegetable beef soup out of it. I got some yogurt started. I made some banana bread and carrot bread. Today I have to mass produce some almond flour pancakes to last us through the week. I need to peel, cut, and cook some apples so I can make some applesauce. I need to make some ice cream and nut butter brownies for snacks. If I can get all that done today, I'll feel much better and a little more caught up. Well, off to do some cooking.

The BEFORE pictures

We still have to buy and add the netting that will go onto the supports for the tomatoes, green beans, and peppers.


There you have it...a nice, tiny veggie garden. I will post pictures from time to time to show the progress or lack of progress, lol.

Time for planting...

It's time to plant veggies if you have a garden in central Florida. This is the first year we've had a garden. Don installed our raised garden bed a few weeks ago and over the weekend we made our mix (compost, vermiculite, and peet moss). Now it's time to plant.

We are doing a square foot garden since our yard is so tiny. Right now, our plan is to have two tomato plants, two bean plants, four leaf lettuce, four Romain lettuce, 9 beet plants, 32 carrots, 32 onion/scallions, 2 broccoli , 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, and that leaves us 2 square feet left. Our bed is 2 feet by 9 1/2 feet so we have approximately 19 square feet. The garden doesn't look that big. It's hard to imagine that many veggies are going to come from that tiny space. I'm so excited. Of course this year is a learning year so my expectations aren't that high, lol. I just joined an organic produce co-op though so what ever doesn't grow, I can always supplement with the co-op. I will post some before planting pictures in the morning.