Gluten Free Crockpot Stew

We've been weaning ourselves from a dependency on grains. As far as I know, my prince and I are not intolerant of grain, but I suspect that we are sensitive.

I listened, recently, to several interviews with leading doctors, nutritionists, psychiatrists, pharmacists, researchers, and clinicians at a recent e-conference on the effects of gluten on the body and brain. I learned enough to convince me that grains (and specifically wheat, barley, rye, and foods containing any form of gluten from these grains) are irritants to the body, causing inflammation in some people, and allergic reactions in others ~ even causing ADHD, autism, Asperger's, migraine headaches, MS, fibromyalgia, IBS, arthritis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and their brothers, arteriosclerosis and metabolic syndrome ~gulp ~ to name a few.

While much research is being done, and while the armies line up on either side of the issues surrounding this topic, it makes sense to move toward a diet as rich in organically grown veggies, fruits, meat, raw nuts, cultured foods and healthful herbs, moving away from processed foods, added sugars and a dependence on grains. Here is an easy recipe I made in just a few minutes. Someone on the GAPS diet would need to ditch the potatoes, but they could easily substitute turnips.

Gluten Free Crockpot Stew

Chop into bite sized chunks:
2 stalks celery
2 carrots
3 small red potatoes
Mince and add:
½ large onion
2-4 gloves garlic

Brown: 1 small tray of stew meat with 1 tbsp. coconut oil.

Sprinkle: 1-2 Tbsp. of your favorite seasoning
(Just make sure it is gluten free.) 
I used Sprouts Organic Garlic and Herb and freshly ground Himalayan salt.
1 Tbsp ground turmeric* (optional)
1-2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
About 6-10 sprays of Bragg's Liquid Aminos
I also added a pinch of love. (I use this in everything!)

Put all ingredients together and cook: For about 4+hours in the crockpot on low, or 2+hrs on high. Obviously, crockpots vary in heat and size, but with precooked meat, it doesn't take long at all. When *turmeric* is added to a dish, it takes on a distinctive, yellow-green hue. I add it for its anti-inflammatory properties, but in this recipe it can be left out if you want a brown stew.
Thaw: 1 cup frozen peas in hot water and mix into stew about 5 minutes before serving.

We ate tonight's stew with coleslaw. I found a recipe for "healthy" coleslaw dressing here and followed the recipe, except I didn't think it needed as much salt. I used Himalayan salt, but...in fact, I wished I didn't add any. And to help counteract the salt, I added a little bit more honey and cabbage, as well as some caraway seed. At dinner my prince remarked that the slaw needed sugar, so I got out my new box of turbinado sugar and sprinkled some on top and renamed it ~ Dessert Slaw. Next time I'm going to make a recipe for homemade mayonnaise that I found here.

It's easy to print the recipe using the Print Friendly button at the end of this post.

~Blessings to you and yours.