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Ann Marie's Blog
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| | Tags: | allergies, baby formula, california, eczema, food, immunity, kate, milk is milk, monsanto, nutrition, organic pastures, pasteurization, politics, probiotics, raw milk | | Subject: | Help save raw milk in California! | | Time: | 09:34 am | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/acedia/littlegent/predatory.gif) determined |
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| As it stands, there will be no more raw milk allowed in California next month. I'm really upset about this because I drink raw milk every day and use it to make Kate's homemade baby formula.
More and more dairies are going by the wayside across the country due to pressure from lobbyists from big money dairy factory farms. We can't let this happen in California, where raw milk has always been legal and available in stores.
I've posted before about Monsanto milk and their slimy "Milk is Milk" campaign. This is real, people. Freedoms are not taken away all at once. They are taken away one at a time.
Here's what happened... a couple of months ago, they slipped a few sentences into an amendment of the California food code. It was signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger -- even though he probably didn't even know what he was signing.
Here's the press release from Organic Pastures Dairy: http://www.organicpastures.com/pdfs/ab1735_press_release.pdf
Sally Fallon says, "The legislation is obviously aimed at getting rid of raw milk in California using standards that are unnecessary or impossible to meet."
If you live in California and you want the right to buy raw milk and dairy products, please read the following and do what you can to help. Even if you don't currently drink raw milk, please do what you can to fight for these organic dairy farms where the cows are allowed to be on pasture and eat grass all year long. If they get away with this, who knows what they will do next?
In fact, it was just announced that the USDA wants to start doing the same thing -- imposing ridiculous unattainable federal regulations on small growers and family farms -- for all leafy greens!!!
http://cornucopia.org/index.php/protect-fresh-leafy-greens-and-family-farms/
Pasteurization kills enzymes, folks. Enzymes are the building blocks for the absorption of nutrients. Without enzymes, we can't absorb vitamins and minerals.
Furthermore, pasteurization kills probiotics, or good bacteria. We need this bacteria in our digestive tracts in order to build immunity. Why do you think so many kids are allergic to EVERYTHING these days? They've been raised on pasteurized foods, most notably pasteurized milk.
The guy that sells us our milk at the Organic Pastures hub store said that his first-born son was sick all the time and had eczema for five years. His eczema cleared up in TWO weeks after they switched to raw milk.
Here is the page on what you can do (I am writing a letter to Nicole Parra and sending photos of our family with Kate drinking raw milk):
http://www.organicpastures.com/ab_1735_letter4.html
Write or fax letters (no emails) to Nicole Parra, Chair of the Agriculture Committee in the Assembly. Make it personal and real by including a picture of you and your family holding raw milk containers. Tell her to introduce new legislation that will let raw milk continue to flow freely in California.
Assemblymember Nicole Parra
Capitol Office
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0030
(916) 319 - 2030
(916) 319 - 2130 Fax
Also write your assembly members or better yet make an appointment and plead your case directly.
Please, please do what you can to help. Write a letter today. Not just for Kate, but for the cows! And for the right to continue to buy healthy food in California.
Please forward this post via email or blog. (If you post on your blog, please send me the link so I can send it to Organic Pastures -- they will post it on their site.) | comments: 8 comments or Leave a comment   |
| "Sleigh Ride"
J Mitchell Parish, Leroy Anderson, 1948
Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring ting tingling too
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you,
Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling "Yoo hoo,"
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you.
Giddy yap, giddy yap, giddy yap, let's go, Let's look at the show,
We're riding in a wonderland of snow.
Giddy yap, giddy yap, giddy yap, it's grand just holding your hand,
We're gliding along with a song of a wintry fairy land.
Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy cozy are we
We're snuggled up together like two birds of a feather would be
Let's take that road before us and sing a chorus or two
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you.
There's a birthday party at the home of Farmer Gray
It'll be the perfect ending a perfect day
We'll be singing the songs we love to sing without a single stop,
At the fireplace while we watch the chestnuts pop. Pop! pop! pop!
There's a happy feeling nothing in the world can buy,
When they pass around the chocolate and the pumpkin pie.
It'll nearly be like a picture print by Currier and Ives
These wonderful things are the things we remember all through our lives.
Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring ting tingling too
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you,
Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling "Yoo hoo,"
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you.
Giddy yap, giddy yap, giddy yap, let's go, Let's look at the show,
We're riding in a wonderland of snow.
Giddy yap, giddy yap, giddy yap, it's grand, Just holding your hand,
We're gliding along with a song of a wintry fairy land
Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy cozy are we
We're snuggled up together like two birds of a feather would be
Let's take that road before us and sing a chorus or two
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you.
Does anyone write lyrics like that anymore?
Yes, I'm listening to Christmas music again. It was chilly and windy outside today. No snow -- this is Los Angeles. But it is starting to feel a little more like Christmas.
Did you ever in your life go caroling? I did, once or twice. We went door to door in our neighborhood when we were kids. It was fun! I don't know if anyone does it anymore but it is so much fun.
I guess pasting lyrics on my Live Journal is my way of doing virtual caroling.
I went to the Organic Pastures store this afternoon to buy milk for the next two weeks. Six gallons! Yes, that's about what we go through: three gallons a week. Kate needs almost a gallon per week for her formula and I drink a quart a day since I'm nursing.
When I came home, Seth and I got on the floor with Kate and let her practice crawling. She is really starting to crawl like a champ. Well okay it's more like dragging herself around like Porgy -- she just needs a little wheeled cart. She doesn't actually use her legs. She knows to move them but she doesn't use them -- she just pulls herself with her arms. Soon she'll figure out that she can use her legs and she'll double or triple her speed (although she's already really fast).
Then I changed her (doubled up cloth diapers with two microfiber inserts) and put her in her jammies with snowmen and snowflakes and a pair of warm socks, gave her a bottle while I read to her from Mother Goose and "Runaway Bunny". She drank her milk and listened sweetly, then rubbed her eyes so I put her in bed and tucked her under the blankies with all her animals. She went right out.
I was too tired to cook so Seth ordered Thai food. Now he is catching up on the Hollywood Reporter and we're having some wine and listening to classical music. The heater is on and Rita is sleeping on a pillow next to me.
We're all going to bed early tonight. I wish there was a blanket of snow outside in the morning. We could build a fire and make popcorn and hot chocolate and watch movies under blankets on the couch.
Maybe it will stay windy at least -- and it will feel somewhat wintry. I'll take Kate for a walk in her stroller and we'll pretend.
PS: I just asked Seth if he would make a fire in the fireplace. He said, "Yes, baby." But I don't see him getting off the couch anytime soon. He's so cozy with his stack of magazines. I also asked him if he could make it snow. He said, "Tomorrow."
PS2: Is it really only 6:30? Cripes. It feels like 10:30! | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Tags: | alla, beatrix, broth, cholesterol, food, kate, milestones, nourishing traditions, nutrition, rapadura, saturated fat, seth, stock, sugar, tv, weston price, zucchini bread | | Subject: | Broth, sugar, and healthy people with no cavities | | Time: | 09:23 pm | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/acedia/littlegent/mellow.gif) relaxed |
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| It was a grey day in LA. Rainy and cold and dreary. This kind of weather is so rare in LA, so when it happens, it's kind of fun. Like a snow day or a blackout.
I had soaked some oatmeal last night, so this morning I got to wake up to coffee and a bowl of comforting oatmeal with raisins and maple syrup garnished with a little raw milk.
For lunch I used some of the turkey stock (from the turkey carcass) and leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, added a few carrots, some parsley and sea salt, and made the most delicious, comforting soup for Seth and Alla and myself.
Tonight after dinner I was reading my new friend Beatrix's blog. Even though she lives in the French Alps, I found her online because she and I are into all the same stuff health- and food-wise. Weston Price, raw milk, etc.
Anyway, it was so cool to read that she was feeding her family bone broth today too.
http://quatrepattes.wordpress.com/2007/11/30/comfort-for-a-little-one/
Kate LOVES broth. Absolutely loves it. I feed it to her with a little liver pate mixed in. She likes squash, but she LOVES broth. She can't lap it up fast enough.
This afternoon I made zucchini bread from the "Nourishing Traditions" cookbook. It came out great. Very moist. Maybe a tiny bit too sweet (I added extra maple syrup and uncalled for Rapadura). Next time I'll make it a little less sweet. I might make some other adjustments as well.
I have to say though... I think my taste buds are changing. I don't want sweets as much anymore. I used to eat 2-3 chocolate chip cookies almost every night. I used to crave chocolate and sweets. Now I really don't. I can go days, weeks, months even -- and I don't care about eating sweets at all. Every once in a while I will have a chocolate chip cookie before bed (I got the kind that are frozen but it's all-natural ingredients). I can only eat one. Even then, it feels like a tad too much.
Sweets just taste TOO sweet for me now. That Halloween party where I had the Bluebonnet Cafe cupcake -- it made me dizzy and kind of nauseous. And I only ate half! And I used to be able to devour those cupcakes.
I know part of it is the fact that I am not eating sugar. I don't know the last time I ate real sugar. I've only been eating stevia, maple syrup, raw honey, agave nectar (which I found out I'm not supposed to be eating) and Rapadura.
I think part of it might also have to do with the amount of fat I am eating now. Good fats. Butter, coconut oil, whole milk, eggs. I am satiated. I don't crave anything. I wonder if part of the reason people crave sweets is because they need more fat.
I'm struck by that statistic I read today -- that breast milk is over 50% fat and loaded with cholesterol. If fat and cholesterol are bad for you, then why is breast milk -- the epitome of health food for humans -- loaded with it?
And then you read Weston Price's book (I'm halfway through) and all these people from around the world are eating diets of 50% or more of saturated fat. And they are the healthiest people on the planet. No degenerative diseases. No cancer. No heart disease. No diabetes or arthritis. No obesity. Very, very few cavities. They had no need for doctors or dentists.
What did they eat? Different things, depending on where they lived. The Eskimos ate differently than the people living in the Swiss Alps or African tribes. But overall they all ate a very similar diet -- a lot of saturated fat, some vegetables, lots of meat, fish and/or dairy, and occasionally whole grains. Zero refined flour or sugar.
The people in the Swiss Alps for example, lived on raw milk, cheese, butter, whole grain rye bread, some vegetables, and, once a week they had meat. These people had almost no cavities. And no degenerative diseases. Am I repeating myself? I can't help it. It's just astounding to me! Can you imagine never having to see a doctor or dentist?
So interesting... I read that book about babies and sleep ("Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Weissbluth) and it says that sleep begets sleep. In other words, the more you help your baby get his or her rest, the better and more he will sleep. Likewise, it's eat fat to lose fat. Eat more fat and you will want to eat less and you will lose fat. Counter-intuitive, eh?
I'm watching "What Not to Wear". They're making over a Rastafarian hippie with dreadlocks that look like really long turds. When I was in the hospital with Kate, I watched this a few times while I was nursing her. It reminds me of that special time. It was so wonderful being in the hospital with our perfect baby, so in awe of and in love with her.
I can't believe how big she's gotten over the past several months. She's so alert and curious and she's crawling and babbling and she even did her first sign the other day. Monkey. You make the sign by scratching under your arms like a monkey.
She also waves now -- hi and goodbye. Not consistently -- but when she does it, it is clear that she knows what she is doing.
It's so fun cuddling with her and nuzzling and kissing those cheeks, that belly, those toes. She's such a delectable baby. And it's fun learning about who she is. She has a strong personality. Independent, unflappable, curious, determined. And she definitely has a good sense of humor. That's obvious already. Very bright, too. It's interesting to me that their personalities emerge so early.
Time for some milk and then bed. | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| Daddy came home from a day trip to Denver (left at 6 am, back home at 9 pm) and went in to look at baby while she slept.
Moments later, I heard crying.
I guess he touched her head and it woke her.
I told her he could hold her and rock her in the glider for a while.
A few minutes passed -- there was still crying. She was clearly not relaxing.
I knew she was tired. When Kate gets tired, she just wails. She can't relax in your arms. She has been this way since she was tiny tiny. She's not one to be coddled. When she's really beat, she just wants to go down (in the words of my niece Stella) in her "very own bed".
So I hugged and kissed her, told her it was night-night time, put her back in bed, tucked the covers in tight, and patted her belly. I showed her all her stuffed animals, "Here's your camel. Here's your bear. Here's your kangaroo." And then gave her her favorite, the bunny rabbit, to hug.
And I quickly ushered Daddy out the door.
No more crying.
It's the ritual she responds to. I know the drill. Hug and kiss, say "night night", tuck in, pat pat, show the animals. I really do think every baby is different. This baby is very independent. She needs her space.
Earlier tonight, at bedtime, I was attempting to feed her her last bottle, holding her in the glider. NO GO. She was screaming her head off, back arched, mouth as wide open as possible. I suppose I could have panicked, but knowing our Kate, I knew what she needed. I put her in her bed. She was asleep within 15 minutes.
Poor Daddy. I feel sorry for him, having to be gone all day, away from her. He just wanted to give her some love and instead he made her cry. It must be hard to be a daddy. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Tags: | cloth diapers, creative visualization, food, gratitude, happiness, kate, nutrition, organic, raw food, rawesome, seth, sunsets | | Subject: | Sunrise, sunset | | Time: | 09:04 pm | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/acedia/littlegent/happy.gif) happy |
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| I had to go to the dentist this afternoon (they are putting in a crown on the crownless root canal tooth I had worked on before Kate was born). Driving home from downtown around 4:30 pm, I got to see the most spectacular sunset.
OK not the most spectacular, because every sunset is spectacular. In its own way. Like every snowflake is spectacular. Like every dog. Every cat. Every human being.
Anyway, it was gorgeous and beautiful and breathtaking. I kept trying to focus on driving but all I really wanted to do was breathe in this incredible sunset.
Suddenly it struck me that the majority (like 90%) of the cars were coming in the opposite direction. The majority of people on the road WERE MISSING THIS SUNSET. It then occurred to me that all these people make this commute every day and they all miss the sunset. Not only that, but they miss the sunrise too.
All these people, working so hard, swimming upstream. And a few of us lucky (I don't really believe in luck) bastards get to swim downstream... happily driving west, toward the ocean, marveling at the splendor of the divine.
And to think it was going to the dentist that allowed me to witness this. Clouds with silver linings.
I too miss the sunrise and sunset most days -- not because I'm stuck in a car going the wrong way -- but because our house doesn't have a view.
I decided right then that our next house will have a view of at least sunrise and/or sunset. Heck, why not both? Maybe we'll have sunrise in one room or on one patio -- with our morning coffee -- and sunset on a deck or in a den. Ahh, doesn't that sound fantastic?
Yes, yes it does. And I have experienced enough times in my life the reality of visualization creating manifestations. I have done it so many times. I know it works. So I'm going to create our next house. It's going to be huge and rambling and modern and elegant. With alternative energy and a gourmet kitchen and filtered water and showers and unbelievable gardens and a salt water swimming pool.
Fun to think about. Happy where I am and eager for more, as Abe says.
Tonight I made the most delicious salad -- the "High Enzyme Salad" from the Nourishing Traditions cookbook. Sprouted sunflower seeds, grated carrots and raw cheddar cheese, chopped cucumber, red bell pepper and zucchini (I added that last one) on a bed of greens with a vinaigrette dressing. I forgot the avocado and green onion -- oh well.
We had that and shrimp sauteed in lemon butter sauce along with some ceviche I got from Rawesome. Along with some Gewurtztraminer from Roshambo that didn't taste peppery and spicy like most Gewurtzes -- it was like honey. Nice with this meal.
Went and checked on the baby. Nothing sweeter than a little chubs all tucked in and sleeping soundly. I held her hand and she grunted and tossed.
I can hear Seth snoring now in the bedroom. Life is good.
I enjoy my life so much these days. Washing and drying cloth diapers, folding them and putting them away next to the changing table. Making the homemade formula in the blender, filling glass bottles and lining them up in the fridge. Making chicken stock and baby food puree, storing it in ice trays -- butternut squash, zucchini, carrots, apple sauce, papaya, cantaloupe, and chicken liver pate. Lots to do but it is all enjoyable.
Funny, I was at Rawesome today, doing my shopping. James, the owner, greeted me with an enthusiastic, "Hello!" I was thinking about him as I shopped, thinking about how happy he always seems. He's passionate (just ask him about the politics around raw milk or raw almonds in California and you'll see how passionate he is). But it's not an angry passion. It's a joyful vitality. Something so many people are missing. There is nothing about him that seems depressed or repressed. He is real. He is vital.
And I was thinking about him and how much he must love his job. He gets to bring good, raw, organic food to the people. Food you can't find at Ralph's. You seriously can't. I can't get pastured eggs at Ralph's or Trader Joe's or even Whole Food's. Rawesome is it.
And he is supporting farmers. It's got to feel good to know that the chicken lady has customers for her pastured eggs. She's making money, and people are getting good food.
Anyway, that is how I feel about being a mom. I don't mind washing cloth diapers. I don't mind spending hours researching nutrition and scouting out the healthiest foods and taking the time to prepare them the old-fashioned ways -- instead of just throwing something in the microwave. Like James at Rawesome, I feel like what I am doing is important. I am needed. And I am passionate about this. It makes me want to get out of bed in the morning.
And there's something so comforting and warm about a home with a big basket full of fresh organic fruits on the kitchen counter, a stockpot of chicken or beef stock simmering, a fridge full of fresh raw milk and pastured eggs. I know that I am helping my family become healthier.
I know, the results aren't in yet. We've only been doing this for a few months. We did cure Kate's cradle cap and Seth lost a few pounds... but I predict we will see bigger results in the long term.
In the meantime, I'm just happy.
Happy where I am and eager for more.
Isn't that how little kids look at life? Maybe that's why they spend so much time laughing and tickling each other and rolling in grass and making mud pies and snorting milk out of their noses.
Maybe we should all do more of that. All of that. And watch more sunsets.
| | comments: Leave a comment |
| So much to do... today Kate and I are going to Whole Foods and Rawesome. If there's time (I doubt it but maybe) we will stop off at the YMCA. I want to find out about their swimming classes for babies.
I also need to harvest my basil and freeze a bunch of pesto. Not sure if that will happen today... maybe tomorrow or the next day. I have a thousand other things to do today.
Speaking of harvesting the basil, I really want to do more gardening. This site http://www.homegrownrevolution.org/ has inspired me. I guess I have been sort of busy this past year, what with moving and having a baby and all. :-)
Anyhow, I did manage to grow some edible things this year:
Basil
Tomatoes
Sage
Rosemary
Thyme
Parsley
Flat-leaf parsley
Everything in my garden is doing GREAT. I can grow herbs outside all year long. And I cook with herbs all the time. There is simply no reason to buy them in the store when I can grow them myself.
I want to grow some more herbs:
Dill
Oregano
Cilantro
Mint
I also want to get a Meyer lemon tree. Not sure where we would put it but perhaps I could just keep it in a pot. I bet I could also keep an avocado tree. And a lime tree. Those are fruits we use all the time but they don't come in my CSA box.
I'd also like to grow:
Potatoes
Fennel
Radicchio
Carrots
Celery
Onions
Arugula
Cabbage
Cucumbers (for pickles)
Grapes (I want the grape leaves for my pickles)
All things we either don't get in our box, or, in the case of carrots, we get very few. And I use carrots, celery and onions constantly. I love fresh carrot juice. I've been using Seth's juicer lately to make carrot juice, beet juice, and apple juice. It's so good.
I still have tons of room in the side yard to plant more stuff.
I'd also love to plant some beautiful springtime tulips and other bulbs in the front yard.
I think I shall order some seeds and bulbs.
I need to buy or make a compost bin of some sort. It is such a shame to throw all those good banana peels and eggshells in the garbage. And it will make my soil so much better.
Must go shower and dress now and get Seth's breakfast. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Tags: | allergies, baby food, biodiesel, fats, food, gm foods, immunity, infant formula, kate, nutrition, soy, vaccines | | Subject: | Post-Thanksgiving exhaustion, vaccines, and soy oil | | Time: | 08:31 pm | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/acedia/littlegent/exhausted.gif) tired |
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| Kate is down for the night. I'm soaking raw pumpkin seeds (from the pumpkins I used for pumpkin pie) and simmering the turkey carcass to make stock.
I'm so exhausted. The past week has been a whirlwind of shopping, menu planning, roasting, basting, measuring, mixing, baking and cleaning. I feel like I need a vacation now.
Which of course I'm not getting. I went to bed after 11:30 pm last night (trying to wind down after such a long day) and got up at 6:30 to tend to Kate. And I tended to her all day -- picking her up and kissing her when she bonked her head on the metal coffee table, feeding her ground turkey with chicken liver pate and butternut squash with butter, doing dishes, doing laundry, heating up bottles and changing poopy diapers. She went down at 5 pm, as usual. A 10 and a half hour day -- not so bad. Mothers don't get a day off.
My single friends spent the day at the movies. Last night at dinner, they talked about all the movies they'd seen lately. I couldn't really add anything to the conversation. And for much of it, I had no idea what they were talking about. Being a new parent, I haven't seen a movie in the theater since I tried to go see "Oceans 13" when Kate was a couple of months old and she pooped halfway up her backside and we had to leave the theater.
Ah, memories...
Anyway, I'm not complaining. I have seen enough movies for a lifetime. Okay, not for a lifetime, but I can skip seeing movies for a while is all I'm saying. And Seth gets those "FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION" movies so I guess I could be watching movies if I really wanted to. We just got "Into the Wild" in the mail for example.
But instead I am relaxing with a glass of wine, reading about vaccines. The more I read, the more I am convinced that waiting on vaccines -- or refusing them altogether -- is the right thing to do.
Read this:
Because of the dramatic increase in the number of injuries from childhood vaccines over the past decades, Congress enacted the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, setting up a fund to compensate parents for injured or dead children (as if a parent could ever be "compensated" for the loss of their child due to vaccination). Application to this fund is the first step parents must take when their child has been harmed; thus, the fund serves to shield the pharmaceutical company from all initial liability. To date, the fund has paid out over $1.2 billion to parents with over 12,000 reports made every year. This is a staggering number considering how many reactions occur that medical authorities refuse to attribute to the vaccine. And if David Kessler is correct and 90-99 percent of all injuries are not even reported, the true number of children injured or killed by vaccines would be 1.2 million or more per year.
http://www.westonaprice.org/children/vaccinations.html
Doesn't that scare you? It scares me. And that's just a taste of what I'm reading. I'm not just reading the crackpot left-wing fringe websites either. I told that pediatrician I would research it and I am. I'm reading everything.
Read this, from the CBS News site (not exactly a crackpot left-wing fringe website):
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2007/06/15/couricandco/entry2934107.shtml
Come on, people. One in 160 kids with autism. That is CRAZY. If vaccines are not to blame, something else is. Something is not right.
Here's another heinous thing I read -- about the Hepatitis B shot, which is now administered at birth:
A flagrant example of the poor science behind vaccination development, the FDA approved the vaccine for use after only 1636 doses of Recombivax HB were administered to only 653 children who were subsequently monitored for only 5 days after each dose.6 Since the vaccine is recommended for the first day of life, Merck was asked for safety data on newborns. They replied, "We have none. Our studies were done on 5- and 10-year-olds."7 Further, Merck admitted in 1996 that no data is "available for the simultaneous administration of Recombivax HB with other vaccines" even though children are routinely given other vaccines along with Recombivax HB vaccine.
http://www.westonaprice.org/children/vaccinations.html
Good Lord! They test cough medicine more than that.
Oh, wait. Maybe not: http://www.newstarget.com/022209.html
Do I really want my child to be a guinea pig for the likes of Merck? And Hepatitis B is only transmitted through sex and dirty needles. Hmm -- yeah, I guess Kate was high risk, seeing how there's so much casual sex and intravenous drug usage in the maternity ward. Oh, yes, a mother can infect her baby during birth -- but couldn't they just administer a simple blood test to the mothers instead of giving our newborns a shot?
Oh, right, a blood test COSTS them money. The Hep B shot MAKES them money.
Anyway, I'll keep reading. I'll keep researching. As I said, when and if I find enough evidence to convince me that vaccines are safe and beneficial, we'll get them for Kate.
I have also been thinking a lot about baby food. Since lately Kate is eating 2 (soon to be 3) squares a day.
The recommendation from pediatricians is to start babies on rice cereal.
Have you read the label on a box of Gerber rice cereal lately? I had bought some for Kate -- it was sitting in the cupboard. Needless to say, after reading the ingredients, I promptly dumped it in the trash.
Rice Flour , Soy Oil-Lecithin , Tri- and Dicalcium Phosphate , Tocopherols Vitamin E , Electrolytic Iron , Zinc Sulfate , Niacinamide a B Vitamin , Riboflavin Vitamin B-2 , Pyridoxine Hydrochloride Vitamin B-6 , Thiamin Vitamin B-1 , Folic Acid a B Vitamin , Vitamin B-12 Cyanocobalamin
Number 2 ingredient: Soy oil-lecithin.
Do you know what that is?
First of all, it's a genetically modified food. (http://www.safe-food.org/-consumer/shop.html)
Do you know what that means? No? Neither do I exactly. So WHY are we feeding it to our babies? Genetically modified foods are... well, just google it and look:
http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/AboutGeneticallyModifiedFoods/index.cfm
http://www.organicconsumers.org/gelink.cfm
http://www.netlink.de/gen/fagan.html
Need I go on? No, I need not. Suffice it to say that CLEARLY it would be better to give a 7-month old baby REAL food instead of "Franken-food" that has zillions of websites chronicling its dangers.
OK so we've established that GM foods are sketchy and possibly dangerous and at the very least, should be avoided due to the fact that (a) most people don't know what they are and (b) most people don't know what they do to you.
Let's get back to the issue at hand. Soy oil-lecithin.
Soybean lecithin comes from sludge left after crude soy oil goes through a "degumming" process. It is a waste product containing solvents and pesticides and has a consistency ranging from a gummy fluid to a plastic solid.
Historian William Shurtleff reports that the expansion of the soybean crushing and soy oil refining industries in Europe after 1908 led to a problem disposing the increasing amounts of fermenting, foul-smelling sludge. German companies then decided to vacuum dry the sludge, patent the process and sell it as "soybean lecithin." Scientists hired to find some use for the substance cooked up more than a thousand new uses by 1939.8
Today lecithin is ubiquitous in the processed food supply. It is most commonly used as an emulsifier to keep water and fats from separating in foods such as margarine, peanut butter, chocolate candies, ice cream, coffee creamers and infant formulas.
http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/lecithin.html
But the fact that soy oil-lecithin is a highly refined genetically modified waste food product is not the only concern at hand...
There are a number of potential problems with eating soy:
http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz/03summary.htm
Endocrine disrupter. Reduction of vitamin assimilation. Potentially leads to thyroid cancer. MSG. Aluminum.
Aaaagggghhhhh. Great. Let's mess with Kate's endocrine system, reduce her vitamin absorption, and make her susceptible to obesity, diabetes, infertility and cancer.
WHY is this the number 2 ingredient in Gerber rice cereal? Why is soy oil-lecithin an ingredient in rice cereal at all? Why is THIS promoted as baby's first food?
Why don't they just make rice cereal out of rice? Maybe add a little butter.
Oh, right, then it wouldn't have the shelf life it does (nearly indefinite).
Why is soy oil the third ingredient listed in Enfamil infant formula? (http://www.epinions.com/content_237968723588)
The fifth ingredient in Similac? (http://www.walgreens.com/store/product.jsp?CATID=100367&navAction=jump&navCount=0&id=prod3061)
The third ingredient in Nestle Good Start? (http://www.amazon.com/Nestle-Essentials-Infant-Formula-Powder/dp/B000GCL5HO)
Doesn't that make you go HMMM?
It's in everything -- including baby food -- because it is a cheap industrial-grade product. Soy is cheap to grow and produce.
Makes you wonder if this has anything to do with children's declining immunity, allergies to peanuts, increased diabetes, early-onset puberty, etc.
A better use for soy oil?
Biodiesel!
http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/biodiesel.html
It can make cars run -- just like gasoline. Is that what we should be putting in our babies' bodies?
I leave you with this (a good article on soy):
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/13/CMGJKK1BP31.DTL
Note the last quotation from Marion Nestle: "People don't have to eat soy if they don't want to!" Nestle says. Uh, okay, I guess not -- but what if it's in everything we buy? | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Leaf lard rendered and cooled - CHECK
Giblet stock made and cooled - CHECK
Turkey in brine - CHECK
Pie dough made - CHECK
Pumpkins roasting in oven - CHECK
Porcini mushrooms soaking in water - CHECK
Table set (OK well not totally but the plates, cloth napkins, candles and silverware are out) - CHECK
Seth sufficiently cocktailed and ordering Indian food delivery - CHECK
Am taking short and very well-deserved break with glass of rose.
Whew!
Now I only have the following things to do:
Pump breast milk (sorry if that's TMI, but it's on the list)
Chop celery, onion, leek, garlic, bacon, et al (hello Cuisinart!) and sautee
Chop porcini and sausage and sautee
Combine with bread crusts and bake stuffing (reserving some to stuff turkey with -- I'm flying blind on how much to reserve -- I'll follow my intuition)
Roll out pie crusts and blind bake
Remove pumpkin from oven, let cool and make pumpkin pie filling
Peel, core and slice apples and make apple pie filling
Bake pies (yes, tonight!)
Make homemade ice cream
Pump breast milk again
Go to bed
Get up at 4:30 am and take the turkey out of the fridge, drain, and let sit out
Go back to bed!
Get up at 6 am with This Lady, change her, nurse her
Melt butter, mix with a bottle of white wine, and soak cheese cloth in mixture
Put cheesecloth on the turkey and get the bird in the oven NO LATER THAN 7 am!
Baste and watch turkey like hawk over the next 6.5 hours
Make gravy
Find something to serve the gravy in (??? I don't own a gravy boat)
Set the table for real
Find all the serving utensils (who knows where they are?)
Shower and dress, brush teeth
Put out tray of cheese, crackers, pickles and olives
What am I forgetting? Something I'm sure. ARGH!
Are you exhausted yet?
I think our lovely Alla was right. She said, shaking her head, "This is not a woman's holiday."
I love the wisdom and the sweet morose nature of the Russian people.
Seth is playing me the album he recorded in 1992. It's really good! This is the first time I've heard it. I'm IMPRESSED. Holy crap it's good. It's De La Soul meets Public Enemy meets Cibo Matto (or maybe Fantastic Plastic Machine) meets Lou Reed meets the Beastie Boys. He even covers a song by Hank Williams, "My Love For You Has Turned to Hate".
He's brilliant. Seriously, I would have bought this album if it had ever gone on sale. I think everyone would have. It's that good.
This is why I love him. Among so many other reasons. What a brilliant man he is. | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Tags: | alla, food, giblet stock, kate, kombucha, leaf lard, nutrtition, potions, rendering lard, seth, thanksgiving | | Subject: | Leaf lard, turkey giblet stock, and a German meal made by a Russian | | Time: | 10:21 pm | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/acedia/littlegent/working.gif) accomplished |
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| Tonight, for the first time in my life, I rendered lard.
It was pretty easy!
Actually I'm not quite done yet. It's still on the stove, melting in the cast iron skillet (this is the best way to do it so I've read -- because it has the added advantage of seasoning the skillet). When it's as melted as it's gonna get, I need to strain it and cool it. Not sure how long it will take to fully melt -- we shall see. If it's not done before I go to bed, I'll stick it in the oven on low heat overnight.
It needs to be very cold by tomorrow night however, so I can get my pie crusts made in time. I may just strain it tonight.
I followed this recipe:
http://www.obsessionwithfood.com/2006_01_01_blog-archive.html#113709378997673043
I also made turkey giblet stock -- from the lungs and heart and liver and gizzards (secondary stomachs). It is also still simmering on the stove. The stock will be going into the stuffing and the gravy.
Here's the recipe I used for the stock:
http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.fc77a0dbc44dd1611e3bf410b5900aa0/?vgnextoid=a508d067aa265110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=f48b5d59970e4110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&rsc=recipecontent_food&lnc=5a79cf380e1dd010VgnVCM1000005b09a00aRCRD
YIKES that is a long URL! Ha!
Anyway, turkey giblets are incredibly good for you. Simmering them in water (with vegetables and herbs) turns all those nutrients into a very concentrated broth. Extremely nutritious!
Alla (our nanny) stayed late to help me with the stock and the lard, not to mention the laundry. I didn't wnat her driving home yet anyway because the traffic was HIDEOUS. I guess people were out driving around to get things for Thanksgiving -- or maybe they were leaving to go out of town. I don't know what they were doing but they were ALL out there, clogging up every street and highway. UGH!
After she helped me with the stock and the lard, Alla helped me with the dishes and whipped up some dinner. "You're nursing!" she implored. "You need to eat!"
So she boiled some cauliflower (from my CSA box) and then rolled it in raw egg and then cooked it in butter. I ate that with Bratwurst (also prepared by Alla) and my homemade sauerkraut, and a bottle of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. So delicious! And very healthy. All organic, with lots of good fat and probiotics.
I must go to bed now. I have my 6 am wake-up call from This Lady. And tomorrow I have to get everything ready for Thanksgiving: bake pies, make homemade ice cream, set the table, assemble everything mis en place in the kitchen (there are a thousand details that go into this stuffing -- it's a recipe from Martha after all), and brine the turkey. Plus fifteen other things (phone calls, etc.) that I need to do for Seth.
Good night! Oh, wait, I have to go strain the lard and the stock. OK, good night in a little while!
PS: I also ordered my kombucha baby today. I can't wait to get it and start making kombucha! I also ordered some fil mjolk (Swedish culture that makes something similar to buttermilk), kefir grains, sourdough starter, and various other things like cheesecloth and lids for my mason jars.
PS2: The sauerkraut, as mentioned, has come out very well.
The pickles taste fine (well two of the jars did -- one tasted off so I dumped it). They are not QUITE as crunchy as I'd like them (I couldn't get my hands on any grape leaves) however they are still good. But I'm going to give them a few more days.
The papaya chutney tastes pretty good -- I think I'll refrigerate it in the next day or two (refrigeration stops the fermenting).
The orange marmalade was a miserable failure.
OK really I must go now and strain and cool my potions (that is what Seth calls them) so I can go to bed! | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Tags: | cod liver oil, fluoride, food, kate, nutrition, raw milk, remineralization, seth, teeth, tooth soap, weight loss | | Time: | 06:23 pm | | Current Mood: | happy |
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| This diet we are on is working.
Seth weighed himself this morning -- first time in a month or two (which is how long we've been on the diet). He lost 7 pounds! He hasn't been working out or anything.
And we haven't actually been following the diet plan in "Eat Fat, Lose Fat". I kept saying we would get around to following it strictly, but then I kept being busy with lots of other things so I couldn't put a meal plan together.
Here's what we have been consuming a lot of:
Raw milk
Raw butter
Raw milk cheese
Pastured eggs
Whole grain sprouted bread (Eziekel brand, available at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods)
Whole grain rye bread (Mestemacher German bread)
Whole grain crackers (Wasa and Finn Crisp)
Organic free-range chicken and turkey
Organic grass-fed beef and bison
Organic nitrate-free pork sausage and bacon
Wild-caught fish (mostly salmon, mahi mahi and tuna -- you want wild, not farm-raised)
Lots of organic fruits and vegetables (we have a salad nearly every evening)
Brown or white rice
Oatmeal (unprocessed rolled oats, soaked to improve digestion)
Coconut oil and butter for cooking
Olive oil and apple cider vinegar for salad dressing
Kombucha
Kefir
Chicken stock (homemade, organic)
Some nuts and popcorn (popped in coconut oil and served with melted butter and sea salt)
Sea salt
Organic coffee
Coconut milk in smoothies and sauces and curries
Coconut juice
Filtered water
Sparkling water
The only sweeteners we use are stevia, rapadura, and raw honey
Wine -- I try to get organic (Seth still drinks a cocktail in the evening -- usually Scotch or Bourbon)
What we have been avoiding:
Processed foods
Fast foods
Restaurant foods (very little compared to what we used to eat)
White sugar or anything made with it
White flour or anything made with it
Vegetable oil, canola, shortening, etc.
Industrial corn
Soy
Aspartame or other laboratory sweeteners
Sodas
Juices (unless I squeeze it fresh)
Tap water
Things with MSG or other "mystery" ingredients
I don't buy anything in a box or package unless it has VERY FEW ingredients (under ten) and I can pronounce them all and know what they are
I don't buy anything that is advertised on television
We have not been perfect. We had In & Out one night because we were too tired to cook. Seth eats out more than I do. But he is still losing weight.
A typical day goes like this:
Breakfast is coffee AND strawberry smoothie (raw milk or kefir, organic bananas, organic strawberries, egg yolks, stevia) OR eggs/bacon/toast OR oatmeal with raisins OR toast and homemade cream cheese
Lunch is usually an apple and some cheese and crackers/bread OR a salad OR grilled cheese sandwich OR the like. If we are in meetings, we eat out.
Dinner is wine (or Seth's cocktail) AND a big salad AND either fish or chicken or beef AND vegetables (butternut squash, artichoke, zucchini, what-have-you) AND/OR rice (usually only a couple of times a week)
I'll expand to other grains like amaranth and quinoa and whatnot eventually. Tonight we are eating bratwurst (hormone- and antibiotic-free shipped from Sweet Briar Farms) and homemade sauerkraut and maybe some potoates.
I have not lost any weight but I don't expect to. I think that as long as I'm nursing, I'll carry this extra 20 pounds. I've heard that happens to lots of women. I'm sure the weight will come off when Kate starts walking and I'm constantly running after her.
My teeth are really clean, too, now that I'm using this Tooth Soap. Seriously, when I'm done brushing (and I'm not spending any extra time -- just doing it like I normally do), it feels like I just went to the dentist and had a professional cleaning. My teeth are SQUEAKY clean. They have never felt this way using toothpaste.
They are also not sensitive like they used to be. I used to have a dull pain most of time. It's gone. After only two weeks! I think the diet is helping this too. Especially the raw milk and cod liver oil. I seriously think something good is happening with my teeth.
I read that you can use Dr. Bronner's too. I read that Dr. Bronner's has a very small amount of glycerin (like 2-3%) so it should not inhibit remineralization of the teeth. Just squirt it on your toothbrush and use it in lieu of toothpaste.
Anyway, I like the way the Tooth Soap tastes so I'm going to keep using it. They are having a 25% off sale right now, too. (http://www.perfect-prescription.com/special.htm) Time to stock up!
Meanwhile I'm researching ways to filter our water to remove the fluoride. The more I read, the more I am convinced that fluoride CAUSES cavities. It's an aluminum waste product that they needed to get rid of. Why not put it in the drinking water and say it's good for you? They used to say cigarettes were good for you, too. And margarine. And vegetable oil.
OK I have to go now and get dinner and render the leaf lard which I keep saying every day that I am going to do and I still haven't done it. I have to make the pies on Tuesday!
Oops that is tomorrow. It MUST be done tonight! No more foolin' around. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| I'm so excited! I was able to get a real, 100% organic, pastured turkey that was not fed soy. Woo hoo!
I had put a turkey on order at Whole Foods -- but I wasn't really happy about the decision. While it was organic, it was probably fed soy as almost all turkeys are -- because it's cheap (soy dangers: http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/index.html) and while they said it was "free range", it was not pastured. What this means is that it has *access* to the outdoors -- which means it could go out once in its life.
Pastured turkeys, like pastured chickens and eggs, are SO MUCH BETTER for you.
Mother Earth News did a laboratory test of commercial eggs vs. pastured eggs. They say pastured eggs may contain:
• 1⁄3 less cholesterol
• 1⁄4 less saturated fat
• 2⁄3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene
http://www.motherearthnews.com/eggs.aspx
Anyway, I got the turkey yesterday at Rawesome, the private buying club in Venice. Turns out the farmer who was selling the pastured turkeys is the same one who sells the pastured eggs. I just started buying the pastured eggs last week and I cannot tell you how much better they are. The yolks are BRIGHT ORANGE. James, the owner at Rawesome, even let me talk to the farmer on the phone, and she confirmed that all her chickens and turkey are raised on grass, and she told me she doesn't feed them any soy. Who can ask for better than that?
OK I gotta run. I have to make baby formula, pick up our CSA box, swing by Whole Foods to pick up some things (and cancel my turkey order), make giblet stock, and render my leaf lard.
PS: The Grinch is at it again, slithering all over the floor. She could care less about her toys -- she just wants to play with the metal/glass coffee table with all the sharp edges. And the plastic bags on the newspapers. Sigh. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Busy day today. Got up, nursed, made coffee, did dishes and laundry, and whipped up breakfast for Kate: 1/4 tsp cod liver oil, a soft-boiled egg yolk with frozen organic grass-fed liver grated over it, and some defrosted applesauce (homemade from organic apples).
Then I made a batch of baby formula and packed lunch. Wasa whole wheat crackers, raw cheese, an apple, some raw milk with two egg yolks mixed in for me, and some applesauce, butternut squash (leftover from dinner last night) and formula for her. Then she napped, I showered, and we headed over to the park to meet my mother's group.
I think Kate is going to be a tomboy. She tried to pull grass and eat leaves the whole time we were at the park. I wouldn't really mind if she ate leaves -- I'm sure it wouldn't hurt her. But I don't want her to choke on them. So the whole time I had to keep moving her. She could care less about her toys and didn't want to stay on the blanket. Finally she found the wheels on the stroller and that kept her occupied for a while.
I keep flashing back on Seth's baby photos -- he was probably like a year and a half and he was carrying around a tire. A TIRE. Sheesh!
She is also still *almost* crawling. She creeps and slithers around the floor like the Grinch.
Oh, and did I mention that she is WAVING? She does that backward wave -- opening and closing her fingers. I wasn't sure if she understood that it was a wave, but then yesterday we were at Surfas buying kitchen and gourmet supplies for Thanskgiving and she waved at the people behind the counter! I think it's that "Sharing Signs" video we watch every day. She is learning!
When she gets up from her nap we are going to go downtown to the Organic Pastures store to get milk and cream. I am going to need a lot for Thanksgiving. Sarah's talking about going over to Rawesome too -- maybe we'll go with her. I need more eggs and butter for my pies, and milk and cream for homemade ice cream.
I picked up some chicken livers the other day at Whole Foods. I'm going to start feeding it to Kate. When I saw the pediatrician yesterday, she said I needed to feed Kate cereal for the iron. But I don't want to give her cereal yet because it is not easy to digest (and WAPF doesn't recommend giving it to a baby this early).
In the US, Dr. Nancy Krebs headed up a large infant growth study that found breastfed infants who received puréed or strained meat as a primary weaning food beginning at four to five months grew at a slightly faster rate. Kreb's study suggests that inadequate protein or zinc from common first foods may limit the growth of some breastfed infants during the weaning period. More importantly, both protein and zinc levels were consistently higher in the diets of the infants who received meat. Thus, the custom of providing large amounts of cereals and excluding meats before seven months of age may short-change the nutritional requirements of the infant.
Meat is also an excellent source of iron. Heme iron (the form of iron found in meat) is better absorbed than iron from plant sources (non-heme). Additionally, the protein in meat helps the baby more easily absorb iron from other foods. Two recent studies, have examined iron status in breastfed infants who received meat earlier in the weaning period. While researchers found no measurable change in breastfed babies' iron stores when they received an increased amount of meat, the levels of hemoglobin (iron-containing cells) circulating in the bloodstream did increase. Meat also contains a much greater amount of zinc than cereals, which means more is absorbed. These studies confirm the practices of traditional peoples, who gave meat -- usually liver -- as the first weaning food. Furthermore, the incidence of allergic reactions to meat is minimal and lower still when puréed varieties are used. (http://www.westonaprice.org/children/nourish-baby.html)
So I am feeding her beef liver and chicken liver instead of cereal. Apparently there is almost as much iron in liver as there is in fortified cereal (http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/nutrition/iron_requirements.html) AND it is actually a lot better in terms of absorption (15-30% for meat sources of iron compared to 5% for other sources)
I've been taking beef liver tablets to make sure I get my iron. Because I'm not crazy about liver.
And I just found this recipe for chicken liver pate:
http://www.jacquespepin.net/members/recipes/chickenliverpate.html
Yum! Sounds good! Maybe Seth will even eat it.
I'm also going to whip up some more varieties of baby food for Kate, purees that I can freeze: beets, carrots, ans sweet potatoes.
I also have to render my leaf lard today. | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| I got chewed out by the pediatrician today for telling her that I wanted to postpone Kate's vaccinations. She lectured me for what felt like an hour (but was probably 10-15 minutes). Then she made me sign a document that basically said that I am choosing not to vaccinate and that recognize all the DANGERS of not vaccinating.
Jeez. What's the big deal anyway? She was so worried that Kate would get whooping cough. She acted like I was beating Kate. I was honestly stunned -- because I never said I wasn't going to vaccinate -- I just said that I wanted to wait while we did some more research. Why was I made to feel like a child abuser? I'm a good mother!
Look at this: http://www.vaclib.org/intro/present/index.htm#8
They say on this website (http://www.vaclib.org/intro/present/index3.htm) that for diseases other than smallpox, 90% of the decline of mortality occurred BEFORE THE VACCINE WAS INTRODUCED.
Huh? What?
Just look at the graphs on this page: http://www.vaclib.org/intro/present/index.htm#8
The vaccine for whooping cough was introduced in the 1940s -- look how low the mortality rate was by then.
What's this about?
They say on this website (and others) that it's SANITATION that is responsible for the decline of morality from diseases like whooping cough and measles and diptheria.
"...the largest historical decrease in morbidity and mortality caused by infectious disease was experienced not with the modern antibiotic and vaccine era, but after the introduction of clean water and effective sewer systems."[5] (http://www.whale.to/a/bystrianyk3.html)
So WHY does the medical establishment care so much about whether or not we get our children vaccinated? Why are we being harassed by our doctors?
Because the pharmaceutical companies brainwash the doctors into pushing these drugs. Because the pharmaceutical companies want to make money.
We also highly recommend David D. Kirkpatrick's article entitled "Selling Happiness" in the May 15, 2000 issue of New York Magazine. Mr. Kirkpatrick has certainly done his homework and everyone taking a relatively new prescription drug of any kind would be well served by reading this captivating expose of an industry practice that uses "free gifts, dinners, propaganda and research funds" to "capture the minds of doctors". There can bee little doubt, if any, that an industry that commands an army of 68,000 sales representatives and spends $9 Billion dollars on marketing to its target audience ($12,000 for each doctor in the U.S.), wants (and gets) much more than just name recognition. In fact, many suspect that the degree to which many doctors now fund themselves influenced by this highly questionable practice borders on the unethical. (http://www.vaclib.org/email/marketing.htm)
Here's another article on money/marketing and vaccines: http://vaccineawakening.blogspot.com/2007/11/canadians-follow-gardasil-money-trail.html
Did you know that China had no Autism until 1999 when the DPT vaccine arrived from America? Now they have 1.8 million autistic children.
Isn't that HIGHLY SUSPECT?!
Japan had their first Autistic children appear when vaccines arrived from America after WWII. They quickly learned babies lacking Myelin Sheath, and they realized to wait 2 years. Vaccination very unpopular, so it's all voluntary.
(Both of those quotes are from this site: http://www.trackingvaccinations.com/)
And you must read this: http://www.trackingvaccinations.com/allfiles/about.htm
And here's something about how there are almost no autistic Amish children (most Amish do not vaccinate): http://www.venusproject.com/ethics_in_action/Children_Autism.html
I could keep posting links and quotes for hours. There's so much information out there.
My question is: How can I vaccinate my baby with a good conscience with all of this information out there?
I can't. So I'm not. Until someone shows me data that proves me wrong.
We're talking LOGIC here. Facts. I'll happily do it if someone can show me why I should. If someone can simply show me that the benefits outweigh the risks. I have not yet seen that to be true. | | comments: 6 comments or Leave a comment |
| There is nothing more nourishing and comforting than a bowl of good homemade chicken soup.
I made my first batch of chicken stock a couple of months ago (it is amazing that it took me this long to do it -- I'm almost 40!).
Anyway, it was not very difficult and it was delicious. Here is the link to the recipe: http://ammichaels.livejournal.com/233245.html
I froze the stock into cubes using a few ice trays. The next day, I popped the cubes out and threw them into a Ziploc freezer bag -- for easy access so I can add homemade stock to various stews and soups and sauces.
Tonight I didn't feel like cooking. However, I am tired (sleep deficit from Kate's growth spurt -- she's been getting up between 4:30 and 6:30 am). Plus I just found out Alla (our nanny) is sick with the flu. I want to make sure I don't get sick (and transmit to Kate). I need to eat well, rest and reserve my strength to fight off any germs.
So I decided to make some "weeknight" chicken soup. I couldn't believe how easy it was.
1. I put a saucepan on the stove, set it on medium heat.
2. I rinsed and sliced one carrot and one stick of celery. I didn't feel like chopping garlic or onion (too lazy) so I didn't (but I could have added 1/2 onion and 1 clove garlic, had I had the energy and inclination).
3. I tossed a pat of raw cultured butter (which I got from Rawesome yesterday -- Seth had one taste of the cultured raw butter and now insists upon it) into the saucepan, followed by the carrot and celery.
4. While I let those soften (5 minutes or so), I cubed a couple of boneless chicken thighs. You could also use boneless chicken breasts. Threw the cubes into a cast iron skillet on medium heat with another pat of butter. Cover and cook through.
5. While the chicken was cooking, I tossed 10 frozen chicken broth cubes into the saucepan with the celery and carrots -- and covered. Brought to a boil then turned down the heat to simmer.
6. Went outside to get some parsley. Rinse and chop. (Oh, right, you have to grow your own parsley. But you should! If you don't have parsley growing, it's OK -- you can skip it.)
7. Take chicken off heat, drain on paper towel, add to soup.
8. Add sea salt and chopped parsley (just a smidge of each) to soup.
So delicious. And so comforting on a cool fall night. Not to mention incredibly nutritious.
And easy enough to do on a Thursday. I ate mine plain with a glass of rose but you could add noodles or eat with some sourdough bread and butter.
Of course there are a million variations on chicken soup from many cultures around the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_soup).
Isn't it nice to know that it's so easy to do on a weeknight? Or at a moment's notice when someone you know is sick?
I'm going to make some for Alla for lunch on Monday
Now I'm going to have just a tad more wine then a nice glass of milk and go to bed. My goal is to start going to bed no later than 9 pm. If I'm going to be up at the crack of dawn with This Lady, I need to get my rest! | | comments: Leave a comment |
| I'm exhausted! I just had an 11 1/2 hour day. Kate woke up at 5:30. I tried to put her back down but she didn't want to go back to bed so I just stayed up with her.
Which was, of course, very fun. Kate is very very fun. She plays in her exersaucer or with her toys on the floor, and squeals with delight and laughs uproariously while watching her signing DVD. You really can't do much of anything else when you're with her except enjoy her. Which is not such a bad thing. I'm a pretty lucky lady.
That is what Alla always calls Kate: "This Lady". As in, "What are we going to do with this lady?" Say that with a thick Russian accent and you have our Alla. The other expressions she uses are equally adorable: "OK babies!" and "Mamma Mia!" (said with the requisite amount of Russian angst). And she calls a bottle a "sippy cup".
I can't tell you how much we appreciate and love her. It goes very deep.
Anyway, by 5 pm, when I got her down for the night (I know, early -- that's what time she likes to retire), I was wiped. I did the dishes and the laundry and cleaned up the kitchen and put all the groceries away. And sat down to rest and have a glass of wine and some raw goat cheese and whole wheat crackers and get on the internet. Finally. It's been out all day. Something is wrong with our AirPort.
I'm making some rice now in the rice cooker. Picked up some tuna at Whole Foods for dinner. I am going to marinate it in some rice wine vinegar and scallions and soy sauce and grated ginger, roll it in sesame seeds, then sear it in a cast iron skillet. With steamed kale and edamame.
In addition to Whole Foods, Kate ("This Lady") and I went to Rawesome today. Rawesome is a "private buying club" in Venice. It's $25/year to join and they make you sign something that says you basically disagree with the government and it's rules about food (I guess about pasteurizing everything).
Anyway, it's kind of funny. I feel like I keep taking This Lady to all these back alley places to buy food. Organic Pastures Dairy with their truck pulled up into a parking lot, Rawesome with their railroad car next to the organic coffee shop in Venice -- just several blocks from the beach.
Rawesome has all kinds of great stuff -- tons of raw, organic produce (including fresh coconuts and pineapples) as well as organic pastured eggs, raw honey, ceviche, raw milk, cream, butter, yogurt, cheese, and a wide selection of organic pastured beef (bison and cow) and a fantastic array of wild-caught fish. It's very hard to find wild-caught fish even in Whole Foods -- most of it is farm-raised.
Which, incidentally, you do NOT want -- I heard they are now feeding CORN to farm-raised salmon. Yes, CORN! Can you imagine? Of course it is genetically modified industrial grade corn -- ugh! At least Whole Foods tells you it is farm-raised -- unlike most stores, where you typically have no idea where the fish came from.
There was this guy there at Rawesome, shirtless with long hippie hair, delivering food. I forget what he was delivering -- something he raised or grew or made. Anyway, when he was done unloading his merchandise, he took out a coconut, stabbed it with an implement (some kind of large pointy steel thing), and poured the juice over a strainer into a mason jar. Then he stirred in some organic barley grass powder, and sat down to drink it.
He was super tan and in perfect health. He looked like he lived on an island.
This was in the middle of Los Angeles. On a warm Indian summer afternoon.
I love it. I love the diversity. Love that people feel free enough to be who they want to be.
I guess I am a bit of a hippie at heart. I did usher for the Grateful Dead at one point. And I lived in a clothing-optional vegetarian co-op in college.
I'm not a Deadhead anymore, nor am I a vegetarian. Nor am I a hippie. But I still appreciate people who strive to be better, closer to the earth, connected to community.
Like Alla. She could be back in Russia, but she chose to come here -- seeking a better life. And of course she is totally into natural health, always lecturing me about opening the windows for fresh air and organic foods and exercise.
And I suppose if you added up all my various things -- kombucha, beet kvass, organic vegetables, raw milk, homemade earth-friendly cleaning products, tooth soap (I haven't even told you about that yet!!!), cloth diapers, Crocs (which, except for the plastic, are basically Birkenstocks), -- you very well could call me a hippie.
Eh. In the words of Albert Brooks, "Call me a hippie, send me to Hell."
On the way home from Rawesome (where I picked up two dozen pastured eggs*, cultured raw butter, raw goat cheese, and some fresh ginger), I drove past Venice High School, also known as Rydell High (it's the set they used for Grease). There were all these kids in the front of the school -- and all these seagulls flying around. It was an amazing sight. That, coupled with the coconut hippie guy -- it just made me grateful to live such a different kind of life. I could be stuck in the suburbs somewhere.
Maybe one day I'll have my cow and some chicken and even a vineyard. For now, this is pretty fun.
* why you need pastured eggs instead of just "free range": http://www.hbmag.com/story_eggs.html | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| I made a good dinner tonight:
Organic artichokes (from the farmer's market) with melted Kerry Gold butter and lemon (Kerry Gold is an Irish butter which is extremely nutritious -- made from grass-fed cows -- http://www.kerrygold.com/index.jsp?1nID=93&pID=98&nID=104)
Organic heirloom tomatoes (from the farmer's market) raw, sliced, sprinkled with sea salt
Organic broccoli (from my CSA subscription), steamed and sprinkled with sea salt and fresh lemon juice
Organic free-range chicken cooked in coconut oil and served with coconut peanut butter sauce (coconut milk, all-natural peanut butter from the health food store, cilantro, garlic, and some other stuff I can't remember)
Organic rose wine (from Whole Foods -- really good and only $10/bottle -- it's called Domaine des Coccinelles and it has a ladybug on the label)
It's incredible how GOOD food comes alive on your plate. It's no comparison to the crap you normally eat. We didn't eat anything processed and had no grains tonight -- and yet we feel full and satiated and the food was really good. Maybe I'm speaking for Seth but he said several times how much he loved it.
The weird thing is, now that I've been eating this way, I don't crave bad stuff. I just don't.
You may think I'm crazy for becoming so health-oriented. I suppose a large part of it is the fact that I am nursing Kate. I want to make my milk as good as it can possibly be! I didn't care so much before -- when it was just me. But when you are responsible for another human being, you want to do the best you can.
I was listening to Kevin Trudeau's audio book today, "Natural Cures They Don't Want You to Know About". He is so funny. Especially the part where he talks about food labeling. He gets so worked up about high fructose corn syrup and all these things he can't pronounce. It's funny to listen to. He gets all fired up. And I totally agree with him.
He may be off the mark on some things (he says Scientology is good) but a lot of his information is right on the money. He basically says that you should not eat anything you cannot pronounce. I agree with that.
I'm going to have a big glass of milk now and go to bed. (It's amazing how much milk I drink now that we buy raw milk. It's just so good!) | | comments: 7 comments or Leave a comment |
| I have been reading a book called "How to Teach Your Baby to Read" by Glenn Doman. Starting to use the method with Sweet Pea over the past few days.
Turns out my mother-in-law used the same method with Seth -- back in the mid-sixties (yes, the book has been around that long). I didn't hear about it from Nancy -- just remembered someone telling me about it so I googled it.
Anyway, I guess it works because Seth was reading books by the time he was three. He could read signs and words well before that.
Here's a couple of pretty amazing videos:
This kid is only a year/year and a half -- and they only started at nine months! | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| I'm excited to announce that I have gotten Sweet Pea off the commercial formula totally. I'm still breastfeeding -- but I had been feeding her the Enfamil formula. I just could not produce enough breast milk each day so I was supplementing.
I just didn't have a good feeling about commercial formula. How can I trust the same companies who are producing products laden with high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils to create a decent infant formula? The truth is, you can't. Based on my research, none of them are really any good.
Which explains why Kate got cradle cap after we started using commercial formula. I couldn't say for sure that it came from the Enfamil -- until we stopped using it and started supplementing with homemade raw milk formula (from the recipe on the Weston A. Price Foundation website -- http://www.westonaprice.org/children/recipes.html).
It's been about a week and a half now that she has been on breast milk and homemade formula -- with NO commercial formula -- and guess what? Yep, you guessed it, the cradle cap is GONE. So is her excess mucus -- which she is also had since she started on the Enfamil three months ago.
We were putting natural aloe on it (from a plant I have in the kitchen), and we put dandruff shampoo on a few times like the doctor said to do. But it really cleared up within a week or so after I stopped giving her the Enfamil. I am convinced that that was what did it. She never had cradle cap before the Enfamil -- and once we eliminated it, the cradle cap disappeared.
And I'm eating a lot better now, so I can make my breast milk better. I'm eating almost NO processed foods and no unhealthy oils (vegetable, soy, canola, etc.). I'm eating lots of grass fed organic beef and chicken and turkey, organic pastured eggs, raw milk, cheese and butter, organic fruit smoothies with colostrum kefir, whole grain crackers and cereal (oatmeal and kashi), whole grain sprouted bread, spring water, kombucha, and lots and lots of organic fruits and vegetables. I'm eating 1-2 salads a day now! With organic cider vinegar, high quality organic olive oil, and natural sea salt.
I still have a couple of cups of coffee in the morning but it is organic and I'm using spring water instead of tap -- and I'm doctoring it with stevia and raw milk. I have a glass or two of (usually organic) wine in the evening. I think all of that is fine.
Oh and I'm taking 2 teaspoons of cod liver oil daily and 4 organic liver tablets. Plus I am cooking with organic coconut oil and raw butter.
Here's what's weird -- now that I am eating this way, I really don't get cravings. I mean, not at all. Don't crave alcohol or sugar or carbs. And I have a lot more energy. I'm feeling so much happier, too. It's like something happened and my seratonin got boosted.
Anyway. I'm happy that doing this is making my breast milk that much better and helping Kate build strong bones and all of that. I'm starting her on semi-cooked egg yolks and next week I'll be adding organic homemade chicken liver pate, and the week after that grated raw liver (frozen for two weeks to destroy any pathogens). Also going to start giving her mashed bananas, avocado, melon, and cooked apple. One at a time, like they say, just to be safe. She LOVED the watermelon I let her taste the other day.
I'm going to bed now. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| I'm bone tired. Too tired to even watch House Hunters.
It's been a busy week and I have a bit of a sleep deficit. I've been staying up most nights till midnight or one -- and Kate often rouses between 4-6 am for her first nursing session (we go right back to sleep, but still).
So I think I'm going to get a nice big glass of milk and a book and crawl into bed.
But first, a quick update...
Kate and I went to a Halloween party today at our friend Elena's. A lot of the moms from our mothers group were there. It was really fun. She saw her friends, tasted watermelon (loved it -- was actually trying to chew and swallow it), and played in the grass to the point that she got dirty enough to warrant a bath.
Here are some photos of the party: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27640&id=568126162
I'm also pretty proud of myself because I actually went to Albertson's today and got all the stuff I need to make my own natural, environmentally friendly household cleaners. I've been meaning to do this for years. I bought a few gallons of vinegar, and several boxes of Borax, baking soda, and washing soda.
I remember when Seth and I went to see that Al Gore movie last year, "An Inconvenient Truth", I remember thinking that I wanted to do what I could to help make the world a better place. Now I've joined an organic farm CSA, am buying milk and dairy from an organic non-confinement dairy farm, am buying pastured beef, chicken and eggs, have switched to cloth diapers, and now am switching to all natural cleaning products (dishwashing liquid, dishwashing detergent, laundry detergent, all-purpose and glass cleaner, floor cleaner, bathroom cleaner).
It's funny because when I was at Albertson's today buying all this stuff, I was looking around realizing that the only things I could buy there were non-edible things. Almost everything else was either laden with pesticides or made with refined flour, refined sugar, and toxic oils. I really have never done much shopping at stores like Alberton's. Even when I was in college I shopped at Whole Foods. But lately I feel like the veils have dropped and I really see what food is -- and there is no way in hell I could shop there. There's nothing I can eat!
While I was shopping, I saw this woman who was so fat and unhealthy, she had to drive a cart around the store. She couldn't even walk. It struck me because I don't normally see people like that. You never see them in Whole Foods for example. But when Seth and I were visiting friends in Illinois this summer, we went to the Wal-Mart, and we saw lots and lots of people like that. Driving their carts because they were too fat and crippled to walk. These were young people, too. People my age.
It made me sad. I wish they could see what is in the food they are eating.
Oh PS: I ate half of a cupcake at the party today. It was a fancy gourmet cupcake from my favorite, Bluebird Cafe. I guess I haven't been eating much flour and sugar lately because that half (HALF!) of a cupcake hit me like a ton of bricks. I immediately felt dizzy and nauseous. I came home and drank a glass of kefir and that helped.
I'm laughing at myself. Can't stomach a cupcake, have to wash it down with kefir. Can't shop at Alberton's because there's nothing I can eat there. Making my own cleaning products and using cloth diapers.
Who knew I would turn into a hippie? | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| Have I mentioned how much I absolutely adore my nanny and my housekeeper?
I came home tonight and the dishes were done, glass baby bottles stacked neatly on the wooden rack, rubber nipples scrubbed and laid out on a clean cloth, the pots and dishes lined up in the dishwasher, banana bread fresh from the oven. The cloth diapers had been washed and were tumbling in the dryer. The floors were mopped and there are new sheets on the bed. The baby was snuggled like a bug in a rug in her fleece sleeper and velvet blanket.
Every Monday morning I am happy to see Carla's smiling face. She is never late, and works so hard, dumping garbage in the bins, scrubbing toilets, making the kitchen sparkling clean. She is grateful to be working and I am grateful that she is here to help. She coos to Kate, beaming at her and holding her hands, "Hola, Kate!" I try to give her things to show my appreciation. Coffee with milk and sugar, chicken broth, fresh organic fruit, leftover tortillas, bath products.
Alla is also always on time and always energetic and hard-working. She says, "Okay babies!" She is not referring to any particular babies. It is just an expression, said with her Russian accent. "Okay babies!"
She is so affectionate and loving with Kate -- singing to her, kissing and hugging her, telling her stories and cooing to her. She is so little -- only maybe four times the size of Kate. I feel safe leaving little Katie in her arms. Knowing that she will be rocked and loved and talked to and fussed over. You should see Kate's face when Alla arrives in the morning. It's pure love. And I love Alla, too. She makes me laugh every day, and her presence is so warm and nurturing. Like a nice warm bowl of oatmeal with milk and butter and honey.
Thank you, Carla and Alla. You are both sparkling gems and I am so very happy to have your help. | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
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