Berry Thickie - & our newest way of eating

Since becoming a parent, my mindset hasn't necessarily changed, but my focus has. Areas of my life that I thought important have taken a back seat, and others have shot up the priority list. I've long had an interest in health - especially after spending much of my adult life wondering why I didn't feel like I thought I should and, even after a few diagnoses from doctors that explained a few things, not feeling as if I was progressing. Actually, when I got pregnant for the first time after a miscarriage a few years prior, and it had been so easy, it seemed like the first time my body was doing something right! I'm sure it's a pretty similar sort of story to many who decide to look into a fuller picture of health. But even with that behind me, and my desire to feel better, I wasn't exactly dedicated. But children can change that. You see in them such promise, such life. You love them beyond anything you could have imagined and you want to protect them, nurture them and nourish them.

My children are my motivation for so many things that I felt I should be doing anyway. I want them to be healthier and happier than I have been. And, for that, I believe a large part is played by getting good nutrition from the start.

I always felt we were doing pretty well. We've been gluten free for some time now. I am strict about it for myself as I have been shown to have antibodies to my own thyroid; an auto immune disease. There are many doctors and experts out there now who highly recommend anyone in this situation steers well clear of gluten, and possibly other foods too. One Doctor specialising in thyroid disease whose book is highly informative

I've kept my girls from having sugar (except by accident - namely the fruit smoothie in a cafe I later learned was made with ice cream, much to my dismay!) Recently, I decided to try the 8 week 'I Quit Sugar' programme by Sarah Wilson and was surprised how easy I found it.

However, around Christmas/New Year, my eldest daughter, who has for as most of her life, had very mild eczema, had a flare up like never before. To many it would still be classed as very mild, but most of her torso was dry and rough to the touch. Then, my now 10 month old, got a nasty bout of nappy rash which would NOT go and turned out to be thrush; both are signs of gut dysbiosis (imbalance of gut flora). Good gut health is key to general health. I'd not long seen the back of a long term fungal infection of my own and now all this was happening. I couldn't avoid it any longer. Something needed to change: for me and, more importantly, for my children.

So, after a few recommendations from people whose opinions value, I looked into the GAPS diet, anti Candida diet, paleo and so on. I decided that paleo made a lot of sense to me without being as full on as GAPS. But I liked some of the ideas for food that GAPS used; namely regular bone broth based soups, even though we had bone broth at times it was not regular like this. It's only been a few weeks maximum, but I'm very happy with how my nearly 3 year old, in particular, has taken to the changes. I was expecting her to be pining for our home made 'healthy' muffins and biscuits, or demanding rice...instead, quite regularly, without any prompting, I am privileged to hear the sing-song words: 'I love my soup,I love my soup!'

Our main diet currently consists of these very hearty soups, usually with sauerkraut and perhaps with some meat or avocados; fresh smoothies with berries and green, leafy stuff eg kale; lemon bliss balls; eggs; for raw fruit and veg platters; salmon or sardine patties; nuts and seeds and, now, this:

Basic Berry Thickie

1 can/400ml coconut cream
1/3 cup soaked dates
1/2 cup shredded/desiccated coconut (flakes worked too)
3-4 tbsp chia seeds
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup raspberries

If serving straight away, make sure chia seeds have some time to soak in coconut cream first. 10 -15 minutes

Combine all ingredients thoroughly in a blender (we use stick blender). You can add some water (perhaps the water the dates were soaked in if you'd like it as more of a drink).

Refrigerate to set, or serve as is. Would make a tasty addition to some kind of home made muesli amongst other things! Also delicious on its own, for pudding, breakfast or a snack.