08.29.2012

I ♥ August

Is it just me or did August go by way to fast?

Because I woke up today and realized that September is a few days away! What?! The hot hot days are long gone and only a few more semi warm days are in the future (I hope!). The water is slightly cool to touch and the air just feels a little crisper then normal. The smell of leaves and apples are floating in the air.

Talking about this just makes me sad, because I LOVE summer too much! I know many people who really like fall better, but I am not one of those people. I can live in shorts and a tank top and do you know what Fall means?

That mean I have to wear real pants!! Ahh, sound funny but I hate long pants. I sometimes wear shorts in the cold fall and winter, until too many people start to comment. Not that I care what people think, but there comes a point where I can’t go anywhere without the conversation being brought up about my bare legs!

So I got a little side tracked. Where was I? Oh yes. Things I love about August. Let me list them out for you……

I got 20,000+ views this month on my blog!! Hip hip hurry for all you gutsy readers out there! Don’t be scared to spread the gusty word :). I also reached over 600+ likes on FB! Keep up the love (lets shoot for 1,000).
Gear up for school with Gutsy’s deliscious snacks. Coconut flour banana bread anyone? Try the exotic Salmon Jerky or Kiwi Fruit Leather. Turn a chip healthy Carrot chips!
Baking banana bread for my growing brother. Nourished Kitchen can help introduce you to the wonderful coconut flour.
Making kefir and coconut ice-cream way to much! 🙂 I made strawberry, chocolate, pistachio! (The picture above is the strawberry kefir ice cream).
I don’t drink coffee but my sister and Dad do. I just love waking up to the smell of coffee. Fearless eating can give you tips to actually make your coffee healthier!
Who doesn’t love Mama Natural?! Her healthy jello recipe is simply the best! (perfect school snack!)
Take a peak at Gutsy’s new resource page, created by Real Food Media!
Finally I think my whole family has caught onto making “real food” with out cheating and buying the nasty processed stuff at the store! Even my sister in college is hooked. If a college student can make time and afford the food..you can too! Butter Believer’s “10 Easy Steps to Turn Any Recipe Into a Real Food Recipe” is really helpful! Or read Transitioning to a traditional food diet by Dines2Vines.
These cookies from Mommypotamus really hit that chocolate/cookie craving! ..and it uses Gutsy’s GAPS chocolate drops! Yeah!
If you are a nerd like me…you will love this post by thank your body! Hehe 🙂 hello potty talk.
Have you seem my guest posts around town? Is your mattress toxic? Gutsy Kitchen tour (you got to see this!). Does the GAPS diet make you more sensitive?
Waking up everyday and rubbing this homemade moisturizer in my skin! Thanks Holistic Kid.
Lazy Summer mornings and the smell of eggs or even better, frittatas by Grass Fed Girl?
I learn something new everyday! Thanks Nourishing Roots for teaching me about Vitamin K2
Do you want nourished kids? Well if have not read this, then you are missing out, big time!!
I came down with a bad bug that put me in bad for a few days with a bad rash! The worst part was the nausea…Thanks Honest to Goodness Living for these tips on Nausea
With school around the corner (at least it has not started here yet) Food with Kid Appeal knows how to serve “real food” snacks at school! You go mama!
Figuring out the PicMonkey exits! I love editing photos (have you seem my FB page photos?)..I wonder when I will get board of it?!
Summer BBQ are the best…well only if you have healthy meat to grill. Small Foot print family knows her pork, do you?
We reorganized and restocked a few bake ware in our kitchen this month. Too Many Jars has the perfect solutions for real food gadgets on a budget!
I’m still on the GAPS diet. It’s almost my 1 year GAPS anniversary (I started late September! 2011). Are you still confused about the GAPS diet? Cheeseslave can unravel your questions.

What were your favorite things this August? What do you look forward to in September?

~Stay Gutsy, Caroline

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Posted By Caroline Lunger Leave a Comment

08.28.2012

Gutsy is back!

Hey, so sorry for being gone for so long!

I have exciting news.

Gutsy reached 20,000 + visits this month. Do you want to know how many readers there were last month? only 2,000. WOW, honestly this is unbelievable! You guys are AWESOME! Thanks for spreading the Gutsy word!

So if you know anything about blogging or websites you would know that every site needs a host. I was hosted by blue host, but I was getting too many views (thanks to you guys!), my site was getting slow, so I had to migrate to WP engine. Any Word Press bloggers out there, should really switch to WP engine. They are super nice and helpful, and spent hours on the phone with me 🙂

Now you guys will have an awesome resources page sponsored by Real Food Media to use. The giveaways will be even better too!

Everything you will need in a real food household can be found under my Resources page! How cool is that?

Check out these great company’s…

Cultures for health :LOVE their dairy fermenting supplies and starters!

Wise Choice Market: They carry pre made fermented veggies!

Kombucha Kamp: Who Loves SCOBY’s? I do! check out a good Kombucha recipe here and here (flavored).

Wilderness Family Naturals: My favorite company personally, coconut products galore. I made my coconut flour banana bread with their coconut flour! Don’t forget about their great spices and teas!

GAPS diet online store: This is a GAPS blog anyways 🙂

Reversing Food Allergies: A e-course to teach you how to cook and heal with GAPS! Such a good resource.

Pantry Paratus: Real Food kitchen essentials: water filters, dehydrators, grain mills, cheese kits..etc.

Vintage Traditions: They have a body butter with a surprising ingredient! Love their stuff 🙂

Weston A. Price Foundation: Who can forget the people that started it all!

Nutriton therapy Association: Hello! I am going to take the nutrition course here. This is the only place I would ever trust to teach me nutrition the right way!..I can’t wait to start in March 2013!

I am so happy to be back! I have so many fun posts and mind blowing delicious GAPS recipes for you! See you tomorrow 🙂

~Stay Gutsy, Caroline

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Posted By Caroline Lunger 4 Comments

08.19.2012

Coco Kefir GIVEAWAY!

Hello Happy Sunday!

I have exciting giveaway news! A local company called Coco Kefir is giving one Gutsy reader some of their products! They make their fermented products out of young coconuts.

Overwhelmed with GAPS?

Before I started making coconut water kefir and coconut milk yogurt, Coco Kefir was my go-to-fermented drink. When I first started GAPS, it was overwhelming and I did not make fermented things because I simply did not know how. This is why company’s like Coco Kefir exist. To help you 🙂

What is it?

This coconut water kefir is the water of a young coconut with added beneficial bacteria in it to eat up the sugar. This creates a drink full of vitamins, minerals, and best of all bacteria! They add in stevia to sweeten this fermented drink.

Their coconut yogurt is different from the kind I make. They just use the young coconut flesh and create it into their own smooth yogurt! How creative.

* you can use this Coco yo as a starter to ferment GAPS coconut milk yogurt.

Do they taste good?

These two young coconut ferments taste amazing! I love them so much, I have to savor them 🙂 They are slightly sweet with a light taste . You feel energized and alive after eating or drinking Coco Kefir or Coco yo.

GIVEAWAY

Coco kefir is giving away a package with 1 jar of coco yo (yogurt) and 1 bottle of coco kefir! Hurray.

This giveaway if limited to Minnesota readers only, sorry. Coco knifer is a local business.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~Stay Gutsy, Caroline

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Posted By Caroline Lunger 15 Comments

08.19.2012

Coconut Flour Banana Bread

Its about time I show you this Coconut flour banana bread! For those of you who follow me on Faceboo k, I gave you a big tease about 1 week ago. Sorry about that!

We LOVE coconut flour banana bread

Now I have to admit that this recipe was voted as the “favorite” in my house. This coconut flour banana bread outdid my last GAPS banana blueberry bread! For those of you who tried my first recipe, you know that it is hard to top. After making way to many loaves of banana bread, I finally got the PERFECT recipe!

Texture

No too dry but not mushy in the middle. Its JUST right, spongy yet moist! The texture of this coconut flour banana bread reminds me of the kind my mom used to make when I was little. That one was full of flour, which we don’t eat anymore, due to my severe sensitivities. I use the Wilderness Family Naturals (WFN) coconut flour (my favorite) or Bob’s Red mill Organic Coconut Flour (make sure you sift it first)I feel like the WFN flour is slightly fluffier then the other brands I have tried. This fluffy characteristic makes it easier to bake with because it leaves the finished product light and fluffy. Though no need to worry if you don’t have WFN coconut flour. I also use Organic Coconut Flour and it works (I sift and then measure). This is surprising, because coconut flour is known to make baked goods dry. Not this bread! It is moist and oh so perfect.

Coconut flour banana bread nutrition

Coconut flour has a reason to always be tooting its horn! It is paleo/nut-free/gluten/grain-free/celiac/GAPS/SCD/anti-candida friendly! It is full of protein and fiber and low in carbs. Coconut flour is also full of good minerals. A plus side to its density, is that you don’t have to use as much!

Butter it up!

Not to mention, the butter and honey just add in a powerhouse of good nutrients as well. Who can argue with butter? My mom spotted the pieces of banana bread covered in butter after my photo shoot. I happily gave her the 2 pieces, though she spread about 4 more pats of butter on each . She always says, she like to “have a little bread with her butter”. 🙂 Do I have to convince you any more? I think these pictures will do the talking! Happy GAPS baking!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup coconut flour (Organic Coconut Flour) ** see below in steps
1 1/2 cup very ripe bananas (2-3 bananas)
4 pastured eggs
6 tbsp butter or coconut oil (melted)
5 tbsp raw honey or vanilla honey
2-3 squirters full of stevia (40-60 drops drops in a squirt) *optional
1/4 tsp sea salt
1tsp-1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

*Preheat your oven to 300 degrees

1. Oil or butter your bread pans (I used 2 mini). Line with parchment paper. Cut 2 pieces and fit them in the baking pan. (It is easier to oil it first, so the paper kind of sticks to the sides of the pan)

2. Smash the bananas. These are nice and spotted!

3. (In the banana bowl) mix in the honey, butter, vanilla, eggs, and *stevia until combined.

4. In a sperate bowl mix the coconut flour, baking soda, sea salt, and cinnamon. **If you are using a more dense coconut flour like Bobs Red Mill Organic Coconut Flour, it will turn out much fluffier if you sift it first. (WFN seems to be already sifted and fluffy). Use 1 cup of sifted coconut flour. This step is added so you remember to sift the flour.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined.

6. Spoon the batter into your lined bread pans.

7. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The top and edges should be a golden brown color. Remove form oven and let it cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Store in a nontoxic container in the fridge.