Day 6

Let's see if I can remember how yesterday went.

Breakfast (Stage 1 for soup, Stage 2/3 for eggs and sausage, Stage 3 for pancakes)
Almost Borscht (leftover from Day 5), eggs, beef sausage, chicken pancakes

Each person had a small bowl of soup.

Some had scrambled eggs, some had over easy.  I used lots of ghee.

I tried to re-create sausage using fresh thyme, rosemary, sage and ground beef and boiled the patties in water for a bit.  The meat was tough and it didn't taste very sausagey.  One son loved it, the rest only ate a few bites.  I'll have to work on that.

I used this chicken pancake recipe.  Instead of a banana I used a yellow crookneck squash (cooked).  They tasted a bit chickeny to me, but the kids ate them.  They said they preferred the pancakes from the night before though.

Lunch (Stage 4 for salmon (baked) and fries, Stage 5 for applesauce, Stage 3 for pancakes)
Baked salmon, butternut squash fries, applesauce, more pancakes

We're starting to bake some of the meats (Stage 4) and veggies instead of boiling them.  I kept the salmon simple and just baked it without anything.  At the table some added salt and/or ghee.

The butternut squash fries were not a hit.  I melted some beef tallow to coat the baking sheet and then salted them partway through baking.  They never got hard/crispy-ish like potato fries, they just stayed sort of mushy.  Good for our digestion, I guess, but not for the taste and texture.  I'll work on these in the future.

For the applesauce - peeled, cored and sliced 2 large apples and simmered them in water until soft.  I blended them with some ghee then stuck it in the freezer to help it cool.  I thought it was super delicious, but nobody else ate it.  One son said the 'ghee was too much'.  I couldn't really taste it, it was just the barest hint and added a pleasing 'fat' taste.  I guess I'll keep working on that too.  The kids are dying to have fruits so we're trying to transition them into that Stage soon.  Also, according to NCM we're not supposed to eat fruit with our meals, only as a snack in-between.  I need to pound that into my head because it's very different from how we've been doing things.

They also ate some leftover pancakes from breakfast and dinner the night before.

Dinner (Stage 1 for soup, Stage 3 for cilantro and avocado)
Mexican Chicken and Cauliflower soup
I made this pretty much as written, but didn't use as much onion or garlic.  And my stinking garlic press broke after the second clove!  We added the cilantro and a squeeze of lemon.

My husband and I really enjoyed this and I will most likely make it again...I'd like to try it with avocado as well.  My 11-yr-old had 2 big bowls, the 10-yr-old finished his but had to really work at it and the other two wouldn't even touch it.

Reactions
So far I've lost 9 pounds!!!  Aside from a few aches and pains now and then I feel good.  I'm sleeping much better than I have in a long time, but maybe it's because I'm exercising more as well.

My husband and I are getting pretty worried about our youngest, who is 5.  He just isn't eating much.  We decided to transition him to Full and are letting him eat raw fruits (his favorite) and some veggies right now.  I don't have the emotional strength to coax/cajole/bribe/threaten four kids every meal, every day to eat foods they aren't used to and don't like as well as cook these marathon meals, homeschool, do laundry and dishes and a million other things.  We've had no reactions that indicate they need to stay on any particular Stage for weeks at a time so we're going to move through the next 2/3 stages quickly.  If, once we've been on Full for a while, we feel that additional healing is necessary, we'll go back down to Intro (all or just the ones that need it).  This will also (hopefully) help me get me feet under me as this way of cooking is a bit more labor intensive and time-consuming.