Ginny's Blog

Resolutions - Step Two - Make My Own Baked Goods

2012-01-10T19:36:00.000-07:00

The first resolution that I made, drinking broth daily, is off to a pretty good start. For the last week, I have had at least one or more cups of broth most days. We had a bit of a family emergency, so I wasn't able to keep up with the broth that was in the slow cooker. I need to get another chicken and start again.

Even with that slight set back, I am starting my next step. Step two is to make my own baked goods. I've started by making hamburger rolls and hotdog buns. Today, I made my fifth batch, and I have to say, they are so freaking good! Brian asked me to never buy buns at the store, again! I've gotten the hamburger roll shape down, but I'm still working on getting a good size/shape hotdog bun.

Although the rolls and buns are a huge hit, they are nothing compared to the my Gram's cinnamon rolls that I made the other day! When my Gram passed away, she left boxes upon boxes of recipes. She was the best cook EVER!! We are so lucky to have these wonderful recipes of hers. Right now, the recipes are split between my mom, my brother and me. So, when I was craving some cinnamon rolls, I knew right where to turn. I instant messaged my brother (yeah, that's how we usually "talk") and asked for the recipe. The kids raved and raved about how great they were, and once they were getting stale, we made cinnamon roll toast. Um. yum! We ate them up before I could snap a pic, but I'll be sure to get the pic next time. :)

So far, I have two steps to being successful with my resolutions, this year.

1. Drink broth daily
2. Make my own baked goods

Do you do your own baking? What do you make and what do you not like to make?

Stay tuned for Step Three!

How I Plan on Keeping My New Years Resolutions

2012-01-06T14:34:00.001-07:00

I made some resolutions for the new year; of course, I've made resolutions for previous years, too. But, I plan on keeping my resolutions this time. I need to keep them. They are the difference of doing things the same way and getting the same results or changing things now and living healthier and happier. Like a lot of people, if I make too many drastic changes at once, I'll get overwhelmed and go back to my old ways. I've heard it takes anywhere from 21 to 28 days to form a new habit, so that is what I am committing to with my resolutions.

My plan for tackling all of the things on my list is to start one change at a time. I think one to two changes per week is fairly doable. First up on my list is to drink a cup of 24 hour broth every day. Good broth has tons of minerals, plus gelatin and collagen. Since most people are deficient in at least one mineral, due to depleted soils and other reasons, broth can provide an easily assimilated mineral source. The gelatin in the broth helps out joints and is said to reduce wrinkles! I'm all about my skin looking better, so that's a benefit I'm looking forward to.

If you've done your math, you can see how I'll be easily going through at least a half gallon of broth BY MYSELF each week! That doesn't even take into consideration all the broth that my family will be drinking, plus the broth that I cook with. I can see us going through at least a gallon or more of broth each and every week! Constantly making that much broth each week seems like a daunting task, but let me tell you how to make that much (or more) without much work.

I recently read a blog post about how to make "perpetual" broth using a slow cooker. It's so simple, it seems almost too good to be true! Really, it is! What I do is put a whole chicken in the slow cooker and fill with water. Add a little apple cider vinegar to the water and let it set for about an hour before turning the slow cooker on. You can add some chopped onion, celery and carrots for flavor. I also like to add a palmful of dried Italian seasoning. After the initial hour, turn the slow cooker to high for about 3-4 hours. The chicken should be completely cooked after this time and it is a good time to take the meat off the bones to use for another time. Put the bones back in the slow cooker and turn down to low. The broth is now ready to use as much as you want, for the next week. When you take some broth from the slow cooker, simply replace that amount of water back in the cooker. Voila! It's as easy as that. At the end of the week, compost or toss the bones and cooked veggies and start all over.

Two other resolutions that I've already begun to tackle are quitting drinking soda (again) and cutting back on sweets. I started those on January 1st.

Have you made resolutions for the new year? Tell me what they are!

p.s. When I find the link to the original post for the perpetual broth, I will post the credits here, and link to it.

Laid-back Breastfeeding – A Lifesaver!

2011-11-27T17:00:00.005-07:00

As I posted previously in Eli’s birth story, Eli and I were having problems with breastfeeding. It wasn’t working out very well and I was in excruciating pain with cracked and bleeding nipples. Ouch! There were many times that I felt like giving up. I didn’t think I could handle the pain I was going through. The turning point came one night when I was breastfeeding Eli and the pain became more than I could handle. By the time he was finished eating, I was crying out in pain and continued to cry for over 45 minutes. My wonderful husband couldn’t bear to watch me go through so much pain He told me that he would like it if we could feed Eli bottles for the rest of the night until we could get to our lactation consultant meeting, which was the next night. I reluctantly agreed to feed Eli formula, since I didn’t have a breast pump. I felt like such a failure. I had successfully breastfed two other babies, but it was just not working out this time.

The next day was our lactation consultation. It was so nice to have someone to talk to who could help. She suggested pumping exclusively for at least 5 days, until I was healed enough that I wasn’t screaming in pain. By the end of the 5 days, I was to start trying to nurse for a little while, then pump and do that until I was back to exclusively breast feeding. With her help and suggestions, along with using a nipple shield, I was able to breast feed again. The only problem was that it still hurt every time I nursed, but at least I wasn’t bleeding any longer. I so wanted to be able to nurse and have it be an enjoyable experience.

It wasn’t until I visited a La Leche League meeting that I finally had a break through. The wonderful leaders sympathized with me and presented a technique I hadn’t thought of. They called it laid-back breastfeeding. In laid-back breastfeeding, the baby finds the nipple on his own and latches on. Mom lies back in a relaxed position, either in bed or in a chair. The baby is laid on the mom’s chest, but not straight to the nipple. Babies have an instinct that allows them to find the nipple, and then latch on. You can read more about laid-back breastfeeding, or Biological Nurturing, here.

Long story short, that day was the beginning of a new nursing experience for both Eli and me. It changed everything. It didn’t automatically quit hurting, but since Eli was finding the latch that worked for us, it started hurting less and less. Within a week, I was no longer in pain and was much more confident with breastfeeding and mothering this new little baby, in general. I wish that more women knew about this technique. I’m sure it would make a difference for so many that are having troubles with breastfeeding.

Today, Eli and I share a wonderful breastfeeding experience. We are comfortable with each other and enjoy nursing anywhere he’s hungry. Before going to the La Leche League meeting, I was ready to give up and feed him formula. It wasn’t something I wanted to do, but having a relaxed and happy mommy is more important than whether I nurse him or feed him formula. He would be healthier and happier if I wasn’t stressed and in pain every time he needed fed. If you know of anyone that is having troubles with pain while breastfeeding, let them know about laid-back breastfeeding and refer them to the La Leche League. It made a world of difference for me and I know it can make a difference for a lot of women.

Baby Boy's Birth Story

2011-11-26T21:22:00.000-07:00

I'm catching up on posting, so there are a couple of posts for today. I actually wrote this on 8/30/11, so there is even more to add to this later.

As you all know, the last couple/few months have been fairly stressful for me. Moving while 9 months pregnant is no fun! Baby's due date came and went and still no baby. I was again getting stressed out, because the 21st is Monster's birthday, the 22nd is our anniversary, school started for Monster and Princess on the 22nd and my "baby" Bean was starting kindergarten on the 23rd. I really wanted to be there for his first day of K, but it didn't happen.

So, there I was trying to sleep in a bit on 8/20 and my water broke in bed. I quickly woke up hubby (who was momentarily confused) and called my OB. My last pregnancy went very quickly. So quickly, in fact, that Ian almost didn't survive the contractions. The midwife called me back and said to give them another call when the contractions were regular and less than 10 minutes apart. Within 30-45 minutes, my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart and it was time to go. My mom made it to the house and hubby and I left quickly.

We live about 5-7 minutes from the hospital, so we arrived in no time, got in and went straight up to the birthing center. I was able to stand just enough to get weighed and got to my room, but I wasn't able to get changed or do anything else. My contractions immediately started to "camel-back", which is to say, they peaked, then barely backed off, then peaked again before they would go down for about 30-40 seconds. I literally had no break from them and no time to breathe. I had planned on doing everything naturally, but I since couldn't breathe and I asked for an epidural. I refuse to be disappointed in myself for that. I feel strongly that I would have had another c-section if I hadn't gotten the epidural. Anyway, my OB ended up giving me something to slow down the contractions, because baby's heart rate was being affected by them and to give me a better chance of a VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarian).

Things slowed down a bit, but not too much. I was still having contractions 3-4 minutes apart and was dilating quickly. Finally, it was time to push and that lasted for over 1 1/2 hours. Baby's heart rate was still dipping with every contraction and I could tell that everyone was really nervous about it. My OB said that one part of my cervix was refusing to move away for baby's head. She also made a decision that he needed to come out, and it couldn't wait. So, I ended up with a fairly large episiotomy and they vacuum-suctioned Baby out, which all went really fast.

So, now I am a bit sore and can't do much for a couple weeks and baby has a nice size cone on the top/side of his head. We are both doing well, for the most part. I definitely feel better than when I've had my c-sections, but am still in some pain. Plus, I'm not sure what happened, but I've breast fed both my other babies with little to no difficulty, but for some reason, I'm having a really hard time now. By day 2, I could tell that something wasn't right and by day 5, I was so cracked and bleeding that I couldn't do it any more. This is what I am having the most troubles with. I rented a pump from the pharmacy and am pumping every 2 1/2-3 hours, but I'm still having to supplement with a bit of formula. Baby and I had an appointment with a lactation consultant, who said that we should still be able to re-latch once everything is healed, which it almost is. We have another appointment with her tomorrow to give it another go. I'm really nervous about it, mostly because I was in so much pain before I started pumping. Being able to breast feed again would make things so much better. Pumping then feeding takes twice the time and work, but he's worth it, so I'll do what I have to, to make sure he is getting the best nutrition I can give him.

But, the most important thing is that baby is doing really well. He's beautiful and perfect! I already can't imagine life without him! It's funny how things change so quickly. Someone enters your life and, BAM, everything is different forever.

So there you go... some of it not so pretty, some of it absolutely beautiful! I got the VBAC that I wanted so badly, even though it didn't go as planned, I still was able to avoid a 3rd c-section. (Does anything ever really go as planned?)

Deciding Where To Start

2011-05-06T14:15:00.001-06:00

I've realized that the best way to get what I want out of life is to first figure out what it is I really want. So, I spent some time envisioning where I wanted to be in 5 years, 10 years, 30 years... I posted what my ideal life would look like a little while ago.

After I figured out all of that, I had to come up with a good way to make it happen. I came up with two lists, one of things that I could start changing now, and one that would take some more time or other resources. After putting the second list aside for the time being, it was time to prioritize the first list.

Originally, I had planned on starting with yogurt making (which is part of learning how to ferment foods). Since I haven't made yogurt before, I went online and started looking at the many ways that yogurt can be made. One way that caught my eye was crock pot yogurt, which I found here. Here's where this plan got sidelined: Our milk is delivered by a local dairy, usually on Tuesdays and Fridays. I ordered an extra half gallon of milk to be delivered on Tuesday, but instead, they only delivered one half gallon...not the three I had ordered. The milkman assured me that he would return later that evening with the rest of the milk, but alas, he did not. Scrap yogurt making until the weekend.

Early in March, my mom called and told me about a class that our county's extension office was offering. It was all about making sauerkraut and other fermented vegetables. This seemed like a perfect class for me to take, given one of my goals is to learn how to ferment foods. I thought that this would be a good second change for me, since we went ahead and took the class. With being shorted on our milk order, I decided that I would give sauerkraut a try. It's kind of a lazy change, since we got to take home a jar of sauerkraut that we made in class. The sauerkraut is now finished and ready to eat. I’m sure it’s good, but I’m kind of having a hard time convincing myself to eat it. Silly, I know!

I'm hoping to finally get to the yogurt this weekend, but we'll see. I kind of fly by the seat of my pants, so I haven't really figured out what I'll change after that. Maybe I'll work on posting here more regularly, which is one of the changes on my list.

Do you have any changes that you are working on? How are you going about making the changes?

Making Changes: Two Lists

2011-03-08T21:20:00.002-07:00

A few days ago, I wrote about My Ideal Me. It's what I picture my life looking like, if everything was perfect. In that post, I listed quite a few of my ideals, some of which I'm already doing, some of which I'm not. Today I'm going to post a list of changes that I can make, in my current situation. I'll also post some changes that will take a bit more time and resources that I don't have, yet.

Changes that are currently possible:

· Grow a garden (at least in containers, for now)

· Learn to ferment foods

· Learn to can/preserve foods

· Bake bread weekly, including hamburger buns

· Make homemade goodies, like cookies and muffins

· Make our own condiments, like ketchup and mayo

· Have a stocked and organized pantry

· (Re)learn to knit

· Post on my blog regularly

· Learn woodworking

· Have a clean house

· Have a clutter-free house

· Make sure all bills are paid on time and filed in an organized way

· File all important receipts

· Do laundry daily - washed, dried, folded and put away

· Replace paper napkins with cloth napkins

· Replace paper towels with cloth towels, as much as possible

Changes that will take time, money and other resources

· Live in a house that we design and build on 5-10 acres, with the guest house, cute barn and unattached garage

· Have farm animals, such as cows, goats, chickens, pigs, and horses

· Build an amazing play area for the kids with the play equipment and playhouse, sandbox and even the pool

· Have a built-in fire pit and outdoor/summer kitchen

· A fridge filled with raw milk, cream, and handcrafted cheeses

· Solar and wind power, as well as the wood cook stove

Looking at the two lists, it is apparent that the list of possible changes is about twice as long as the changes that will take some time. And, you know, after looking at the two lists together, the first list are things that I can do, and the second list is more about things. Some of what I included in the Ideal Me post are things that I'm already doing, like making most meals from scratch. And that is a very short list.

My plan is to start tackling that first list, one or two at a time. I'll keep you updated on my progress, which will help me cross "Post to my blog regularly" off the list.

My Ideal Me

2011-03-05T23:12:00.002-07:00

Photo credit: Deamstime.com

My ideal me is the me I always dreamed I would be. It's a picture perfect of what my life would look like if I had unlimited resources, like money, time, energy, etc. What is ideal to me most likely isn't what you would dream of as ideal, and vice versa. That's the beauty of having a dream; we each are entitled to one (or more), even if that's all they are: dreams.

In a perfect world, my family and I would live on 5-10 (or more) acres in a house that we designed and built. It would have a little guest house for the expected (or unexpected) visitor, a cute barn and an unattached garage. We would have 2-3 cows for milk and meat, a dozen or more chickens for eggs and meat, and maybe a pig, a goat and a horse. The garden would be large enough to supply us with ample fresh produce throughout the growing season, plus plenty to can or ferment (culture) to last us until the next growing season.

Other than a garden, the backyard would include a great play area for the kids with playground equipment and a sandbox...maybe even a cute little play house big enough for sleep-over’s and tea parties. A pool would be a great addition to the backyard, as well as a fire pit and spectacular outdoor/summer kitchen.

Inside the house, I would be making all sorts of ferments like water and milk kefirs, sauerkraut, and yogurt, to name a few. The smell of fresh, homemade sourdough bread would waft from the kitchen while yummy cookies baked in the 2nd oven. Raw milk, cream, and handcrafted cheeses would fill our fridge. Our family would enjoy the best that traditional foods can offer and everything would be homemade, including our condiments, like ketchup and mayonnaise.

My pantry would be full and completely organized. If we were stuck at home for an emergency, like being snowed in or if there was a power outage, our solar or wind power would allow us to still have lights and would keep the refrigerator running. The wood cook stove would keep us warm and let us continue to have hot-cooked meals.

If I were really ambitious, I would find time to knit and blog in the evenings, learn woodworking on the weekends, and home school during the day. My house would always be clean and there would never be any clutter. Bills would be paid and filed, and I would know where every receipt was. The laundry would be done daily, washed, dried, folded and put away. We would even replace our paper towels with cloth napkins from the second-hand store, to help reduce waste and be more eco-wise.

Now, I know what you're thinking, and you're right. It's all very idealistic and probably a lot harder and more work than I could possibly know right now. But, here's the kicker...there are people already living very similarly to my ideal, my dream. They may even have the summer kitchen and the pool. They know the reality of what it takes to pull it off. And maybe, just maybe, if I make little changes as I am able, I can come just a little bit closer to living that dream.

In the posts ahead, I will be comparing my life as it currently is, to my ideal me. I'll be making those little changes and letting you know how it is coming along. It certainly won't happen overnight, but if I can make the effort, things will change...for the better!

Tell me, what is your ideal YOU? It can be anything. You can separate the possible and the not-quite-so possible, later!

Excuse the dust!

2011-02-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

In the next few days, I will be messing with layouts and designs for my blog. Please excuse the constant changes that will be made while I 'play'.

Thanks!
~Ginny

Just write/right!

2011-01-24T11:04:00.000-07:00

Working on my blog and writing at least one new post a week is one of my New Year's resolutions. It's a little on the late side to finally get around to starting my "New Year's" resolutions...um, about 24 days late! But, I have a somewhat good reason and excuse. First, I didn't really come up with a list of resolutions by New Year's day. Second, by the time I got around to thinking about resolutions, I became pretty sick. I went to work on January 6 feeling fine, but by mid-morning I started to get stomach cramps. You know the kind of cramps where your stomach clenches and makes you want to throw up and then takes a few minutes break before starting back up again? Well, by the time I got home, there were more cramps than breaks and I ended up on the couch, unable to move. That is, unable to move until I had to make a sprint to the bathroom to throw up. I spent the next 2 1/2 days like that. Ugh! Then my 5 year old baby boy caught whatever it was that I had and was sick for another 2 + days. Poor thing!

Just as I thought we were on the upswing and everyone was getting better, my 6 year old princess came down with the flu a few days later, on a Monday. She was sick for 2 days with aches, stiffness and a sore throat, but was better by the 3rd day. Then, baby boy got sick again, this time with the flu...another 2 days. Not to be left out, big boy (8 years old) got sick for another 2 days with the flu AND strep at the same time. I had at least one, sometimes two, kids home from school each day of that week. So, what happens when mama is home all week with sick kids? She ends up catching whatever it is that they had. So, I caught the flu on Friday night. It started with a horrible cough and sinus problems and by the next day, I was achy and couldn't move. Lucky for me, I have the best husband in the whole-wide world and he took care of me all weekend. I took what the big boy took (Oscillo) and my flu symptoms left by the second day. However, everything still decided to settle in my chest and by Wednesday, I went to the doctor because I felt like I was drowning. She put me on antibiotics, as much as I hate them, and told me that if it wasn't better by Saturday to come back in. Today is Monday and I'm finished with a 5 day course of antibiotics. I've never had antibiotics not work by the 2nd day, but this time it's been different. I'm still coughing and I can still feel a little bit of congestion in my chest. I definitely feel about 92% better, but not 100%. I know I'll be better within a couple days, because it is getting easier to breathe and I'm coughing a lot less.

I'm not telling you all of this because I want sympathy (at least, not a lot!). I'm actually amazed that my kids were able to beat the flu within 2 days without the prescribed Tamiflu, which I don't agree with giving. Even I beat the majority of the flu symptoms within 2 days...just not the congestion that landed in my chest. Eating the whole foods and traditional foods diet that we eat may not completely prevent all illness, but it definitely shortened the duration. For that, I'm thrilled!

The whole reason I tell this story is to give a "good" excuse for not posting, yet, this year. My goal for this year is to just write. It doesn't have to be perfect, just right. ;) I think one of the reasons I procrastinate on writing my blog is that I want it to be perfect. That could be a huge problem, because I'm not perfect, so whatever I write isn't going to be perfect. Doesn't practice make perfect? So, wouldn't it make sense that I would have to continue to write to get better? From today forward, please don't judge or critique my writing, just know that it's going to get better, but it will never be perfect. Hopefully, I can include some interesting content, and that it will at least make sense.

My hope is that everyone has a wonderful year. Thanks for continuing to read my blog and I hope that you stick around to see if I actually make my goal of at least one post per week!

Take care!
~Ginny

Oh, No, She Didn’t!

2010-08-15T18:34:00.002-06:00

Oh, yes, she did! I'm so embarrassed to admit I went to the grocery store without a plan. It's really not one of my more shining moments, that's for sure! My normal thing is to write out a two week meal plan, make a shopping list, go shopping and stick to the list. Although I may end up with an extra item or two, it's already been included in my budget, so I can come home either on or under what I planned on spending. That did not happen today. Not even close!

So, what happened? Well, it's my oldest son's birthday next week, so I brought him shopping for some party favors. (We're having a water party; so many Splash balls are needed.) Since school started last week, I've needed to make lunch to send with the kids. This weekend was a little bit unorganized, so nothing I had planned on doing got done…this includes planning for lunches. So, I figured I would do a quick stop at King Soopers for some organic fruits and snacks, since we were already shopping. I mostly stuck to the organic snacks, but remember, just because it's organic, does not mean it's good for you. Annie's Bunny Graham's are organic, and delicious, but not necessarily the best choice to send to school with your kids. They are definitely not "Real Food." Organic flavored yogurt in a tube is fun and yummy, but has a ton of sugar in it. And those Ramen noodles I bought are definitely not in Nourishing Traditions! I did manage to buy some organic apples, peaches and bananas, as well as organic bread (not soaked or sprouted, though).

The next time I go shopping, I will definitely stick to my "normal" way of doing it. Making a plan, sticking to that plan and getting out of the store without a bunch of unneeded items are key. For our family, shopping twice a month helps to keep our budget in check, and helps us stick to healthy, real food.

We all make mistakes and have our moments. I may have more than my share, but I'm working to be better and someday, I may just be perfect! ;) NOT!

Tylenol and childhood asthma

2010-08-13T19:12:00.000-06:00

It seems that Acetaminophen has been linked to childhood asthma. This knowledge is a little late in coming for some people. My youngest son has had asthma since he was 18 months old, which was his first of four stays in the hospital, because of this disease. Although I would not be able to prove that I gave him Children's Tylenol before then, I know I did. For whatever reason, be it teething or fever, it happened. If I would have known that I was possibly subjecting my son to a future of asthma, I would have obviously not given it to him, or any of my children.

It's possible that taking Acetaminophen had nothing to do with him having asthma. After all, it has only be "tied" to asthma, and not proved to cause it. It could be a coincidence. Maybe it was the stress I was under while pregnant, or the mild asthma my husband sometimes has. Who knows? Is he sensitive to the milk he so loves? Is he allergic to something I'm not aware of? I just don't know. What I do know is that I can avoid Acetaminophen in the future and research more natural cures and remedies for ailments.

Here is a link to an article I found on MSNBC reporting on the link between Tylenol and asthma:
Tylenol tied to childhood asthma

Tell me what you think.

Chiptole is supposed to be better than most, but...

2010-06-10T11:26:00.002-06:00

So, my brother and I were talking about sodium and he sent me a link to find out the nutritional value of Chipotle's burritos. Most of it seems ok, since I never eat an entire burrito and always get it without a tortilla. However, when I looked at the sodium levels of what I usually get, I couldn't believe it! More reasons to cook from scratch!! (The ingredients that I used are at the bottom of the box).

Nutrition Facts

Amount Per Serving

Calories 935

Cal from Fat 410

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 44g

68%

Saturated Fat 17g	83%
Trans Fat 0g

Cholesterol 185mg

62%

Sodium 2220mg

93%

Total Carbs 80g

27%

Dietary Fiber 21g	84%
Sugars 15g

Protein 58g

Vitamin A	0%	•	Vitamin C	0%
Calcium	0%	•	Iron	0%

*	Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

INGREDIENTS: Rice,Black Beans,Fajita Veggies,Chicken (4oz),Corn Salsa,Tomato Salsa,Cheese,Sour Cream,Guacamole (4oz),Lettuce

Click Here to view

Family Movie Night on the Cheap

2010-05-20T11:47:00.003-06:00

We have a family movie night once a week. The kids look forward to it every week. Most of the time we either rent a movie or watch one on demand through our cable subscription; other times we go to the theater and watch a movie there. I'm sure everyone is aware at the cost of going to the movies, these days. Even if you go to the early showing, ticket prices can be $6.00 per person, and if you go after 6:00 pm, it can go up to $9.00 or more! Forget seeing a 3D movie, because you'll spend an extra $2.75 per ticket for the privilege. Figure this price for a family of 5, and you're spending around $50.00 just for the tickets. Of course, you can't go to the movies and not get popcorn and something to drink, so figure in another $20.00 or more! You're simple evening of going to the movies is costing around $70.00, and you haven't even had dinner!

As a family that likes to go to the movies, we've looked for alternatives so that we can save a little money. We rediscovered the discount theater, where tickets cost $2.00 before 6:00 pm and $3.00 after. Wow! If we go before 6:00 pm (which we most often do, because the kids can't stay up for later movies), our tickets total $10.00! Add in some popcorn and drinks, which usually cost us $13.00 for the combo, and our movie night costs us $23.00!! That's almost a $50.00 savings!

The movies might not be the newest releases, but we've seen some great movies there. Recent movies we've seen include Alice In Wonderland and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.

Another great place to watch movies is an old-fashioned drive in theater. There aren't a lot of these around anymore, but we are lucky enough to have one less than 5 miles from our house! Tickets are only $6.00 per adult and $2.00 for kids 6-11. Kids 5 and under are free! They play more recent movies than the discount theater, and you can bring in your own food. Plus, each screen shows two movies for the price of one ticket!

Since movies at the drive in don't start until after 9:00 pm, we don't do this option often. When we do, the kids either take a nap before we go, or sleep through the second movie. The fun thing to do is fold our mini-van seats in the back down and lay with blankets and pillows while we watch the movie. And, the kids don't have to be super quiet! Last year, we saw Wall-E. Against the starry sky, it almost seemed the screen had no boundaries and went on forever. It was a very cool experience.

Staying home and watching a movie can be just as fun as going out to the theater. It gives you a chance to show your kids older movies that you might have watched when you were a kid. My kids love E.T., Back to the Future, and even The Wizard of Oz! We spread a blanket out in the middle of the floor and pile on the pillows. Our favorite snacks are popcorn, sliced apples, cheese, and summer sausage. I also like a bit of pate on bread or crackers. Yum!!

Each of these ideas gives you a different movie watching experience. Our kids never feel deprived of seeing movies in the theater, and we're creating memories that will last their entire lives! Plus, we're not breaking the bank each week!

Breakfast and Behavior

2010-05-15T13:04:00.001-06:00

Question: What's the difference between cereal and pastured eggs cooked in butter and coconut oil, for breakfast?

Answer: My four year old son's behavior.

For many reasons, including nutrition and cost, I decided that cold cereal wasn't worth buying. First, most cold cereal goes through an extrusion process, contains tons of refined sugars and flours, and has synthetic vitamins put back in to replace the vitamins that have been stripped away in the beginning; even the so-called "healthier" cereals that I bought. (Btw, organic cold cereal can be just as bad as the conventional stuff). Cereals are really convenient and take no time to prepare, just three little steps: get bowl, pour cereal, pour milk. For busy families, this seems like the easiest thing to do. And, especially in the mornings, we are a very busy family!

So, now that we no longer had cold cereal in our cupboard, what else was there to eat? I tried oatmeal, which was fine for a while, until my daughter decided she didn't like it. She needs to eat and I don't have time to make separate breakfasts for everyone. So, we tried Cream of Wheat (farina). In my opinion, this is barely a step up from cold cereal, if it is a step up, at all! Oh, I try to make hot cereal as nutritious and tasty as I can. We add honey and raisins, or butter and cream...maybe a little sucanat...still doesn't make up for the cereal itself. I mean, all of these grains have phytates that are supposed to be anti-nutrients. Some of the phytates can be removed by soaking, but that is another post! (And adds another step to making breakfast!)

What else does that leave for breakfast? Eggs, bacon, soaked pancakes, yogurt, smoothies, sprouted or sourdough toast, etc...The list could go on and on. We usually have eggs and sourdough toast for breakfast. It honestly doesn't take that much more time than pouring a bowl of cereal, and certainly no more time than making hot cereal. The way we make them varies by day: over-medium, scrambled or omelets, sometimes with cheese and/or veggies, maybe a little leftover steak or ham. We love our eggs!! According to Dr. Sears, “Eggs are an excellent nutrient-dense food that packs six grams of protein, a bit of vitamin B-12, vitamin E, riboflavin, folic acid, calcium, zinc, iron, and essential fatty acids into a mere 75 calories. Second to the lactalbumin protein in human milk, eggs have the highest quality protein of any food.” Click here to read more from Dr. Sears.

Back to the question that I posted at the beginning of the post: What’s the difference between cereal and pastured eggs cooked in butter and coconut oil, for breakfast? The answer is my four year old son's behavior. What does this have to do with everything else that I posted? We have been eating eggs for breakfast for a long time. My kids are typical kids and see commercials for cereal and have friends who eat mostly cereal for breakfast. Sometimes, they want cereal! Of course, sometimes my husband wants the cereal! (He’s the one that most often makes the breakfasts during the week). The other day, I obliged and picked up a box of “toastie-o’s” from the store. The kids were so excited that mom actually bought a box of cereal! And, I have to admit that it is mighty convenient to have something that allows my oldest son to fix his own breakfast. He’ll even pour bowls for the youngest two!

The kids had toastie-o’s on Wednesday morning. It was then that I noticed my youngest son’s behavior. He can be, um, spirited, but this morning was different; he refused to cooperate at all! He threw a fit getting into the car, another fit trying to get him in his booster, another fit when we were dropping the older kids off at school…fit after fit! Now, like I said, he’s spirited, but he isn’t usually so much so. We ate eggs and tortillas on Thursday and his behavior was just fine. No problems until Friday, when we had cereal again. The funny thing is that he actually acts better when he doesn’t eat before we take the kids to school! I don’t know if I want to test my theory again, and I know there needs to be more evidence before I can come to a true conclusion. This definitely didn’t put in play the Scientific Method! However, my current thought is that the cereal is not good for him. Now, before you say it could be the oats, or the wheat, I should tell you that it doesn’t happen this way when we eat oatmeal or cream of wheat. We also put lots of fats in those, which we can’t do as much with cereal, except for the milk.

If I ever buy cereal again, it will be strictly as a treat, not for breakfast…that is IF I ever buy it again! I wonder if that organic granola cereal with the chocolate chunks would be better…

Flavored Rice - Forget the box!!

2010-05-08T17:13:00.000-06:00

I know this post is written out of order. The previous post requires this recipe, and it's better late than never, right? So, here goes...

My kids love flavored rice. And, admittedly, so do I. The only problem, though, is that most of the stuff you get from a box has all sorts of not-so-good things included, such as msg and corn syrup! The good news is that it is really easy to make your own flavored rice from scratch, without a lot of extra work. And, the taste is so much better than from a box, you'll never go back.

Flavored Rice
1 cup uncooked rice
2 cups broth
Seasonings - This can be pretty much anything. I usually use some garlic powder and Italian seasonings, but you could also add in some Parmesan or chili powder, to make it interesting.
Salt & Pepper to taste

Heat the broth to boiling. Stir in rice and reduce heat to low or medium-low. Mix in seasonings, cover and cook for about 20 minutes. One way of making sure that you don't burn the rice is to take the rice off of the heat after about 10 minutes and keep covered another 10-15 minutes. The retained heat cooks the rice without burning the bottom.

Email me if you have any questions!! vioburn@gmail.com.

Egg and Rice Cakes - My kids' new favorite snack

2010-05-06T17:30:00.001-06:00

I love to make chicken stock. It's so good for you and is a very important part of any healthy diet. The only problem I find is that my kids just don't want to drink it straight all the time. They will have a 1/2 cup now and then, but not every day. So, the trick is to find other ways of getting it in them. One of their favorite ways to have broth (well, they don't actually know that they are eating broth) is to make flavored rice. I quit buying boxed flavored rice a while ago, so I came up with my own recipe. (I will post the recipe soon). I usually make way too much rice and it doesn't get eaten on the first or second day, so I have to come up with creative ways to use it. One obvious way to use leftover rice is in soup. Heat up some broth, add the rice, some veggies and maybe little bits of meat, and voila! You've got soup. Or you can simply freeze the rice and heat it up at a later time.

The other day, I was trying to figure out a good after school snack for my kids and it came to me: Egg and Rice Cakes. They have loads of my good 24-hour stock and free-range eggs, so they are much better and more nutrient-dense than a lot of other after school snacks. And, the kids like them. My daughter, R (6 years old) said, "They don't really have a taste, but they are so good!" Um, I'm not sure what that meant, but one of these "cakes" fill her up. And, she's asked for them at least 2 times this week.

Let me know if you give them a try and what you think.

Egg and Rice Cakes
1 cup flavored rice (or plain, but you'll need some spices)
1 egg
1 tsp or so butter

Heat a pan over medium heat until hot. Melt butter and coat pan. In a small bowl, beat egg well. Add rice and mix. Once the pan is hot, take a handful of the egg/rice mixture and place it in the pan. Pat down and form a patty or cake. It's easier to do this in the pan, than in your hand. Fry cake for 2-3 minutes, then using 2 utensils, flip to other side and fry at least 3-4 minutes. You want to make sure that the egg is set in the middle of the cake. Both sides of the cake should be brown.

My kids like to dip the cakes into some organic ketchup, but I think a little sour cream with chives is yummy. The next time I make these, I was thinking of adding some onion or broccoli. I'll let you know how they turn out.

Announcing A New Message Board

2010-04-07T19:17:00.002-06:00

I am so very happy to announce that I have a new message board for my blog. Please check it out and introduce yourself!

GinnyV Message Board

You Can Make Green Bean Casserole with NO Cans!!

2010-04-07T14:51:00.001-06:00

Green Bean Casserole is a holiday favorite in our house. I've been making it for years and don't plan to quit making it any time soon. The only problem with the recipe on the back of the can is that, it's a recipe on the back of a can! It looks something like this: Mix one can of cream of mushroom soup with green beans, add a little milk and Worcester sauce, some canned fried onions and mix. Then, top with more canned fried onions. In the past, I never really thought much about it. The ingredients went into my cart at the store and got mixed together at the house.

Since I've been trying to get away from the S.A.D. diet, the simple Green Bean Casserole all of the sudden seemed gross and unappetizing. So, I decided to come up with a much healthier version for Easter, this year. I don't usually measure out ingredients much, but I'll try to give the best guesstimates for this recipe.

Ginny's Green Bean Casserole

3 cups green beans - if using fresh, snap off ends and cut beans into 1" pieces. (Frozen would be ok, canned beans would be less ok).
2 cups mushrooms - I used button, but you could use whatever you like.
1/2 medium onion - finely chopped
3 tbsp oil - I used 1/2 butter, 1/2 coconut oil.
3 tbsp flour - I used non-bleached, but whole wheat might work, too.
2 cups milk or cream - I used 1/2 cup 1/2 & 1/2, plus 1 1/2 cups milk.
salt and pepper - maybe 2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper? I told you, I don't measure!
1-2 tbsp. Worcester sauce
homemade fried onions (recipe below)

First, make fried onions. You will need 2 tbsp. butter, plus about 1/2 cup olive oil, a medium onion, sliced very thinly, and a few tbsp. flour. Separate onion slices and coat with flour. Heat the butter and olive oil in a skillet until hot. Throw onions into the skillet and cook until brown. Drain on a paper towel on a plate and let cool.

Heat oven to 350°F. Put the green beans in a medium to large bowl. If you are using frozen beans, make sure to thaw them before using them in this recipe. Drain any liquid, if you are using canned beans. In a large skillet, get the oil hot. Add mushrooms and chopped onion and saute until onion and mushrooms are soft and done, about 5 minutes. Add flour and mix well. Let cook for about 1 minute. Next, add milk and stir well. Mix in salt and pepper to taste. Let cook until mixture starts to become a little thicker, about 7-9 minutes. Stir frequently, so that the milk does not burn. Once the mushroom mixture is done, set aside for one minute.

Mix mushroom sauce, Worcester sauce and about 1/2 of the fried onions with the green beans and put into a casserole dish. Bake until bubbly. Top with remaining fried onions and bake an additional 5-10 minutes.

This was a huge hit at Easter dinner. I hope you enjoy!

Confessions of a Recovering S.A.D Eater

2010-01-12T08:19:00.001-07:00

I have a confession. My diet and eating habits have been less than spectacular. Shocking, I know. As most Americans that were born and raised here, I grew up eating Rice Krispies, Pizza Hut, McD’s, and all sorts of candy while washing it all down with a can or bottle of soda or glass of Kool-aid. Not everything I ate seemed so bad for me; my Gram made lasagna, baked steak and salads and my mom made goulash, tater-tot casserole and porcupine meatballs. Sometimes, there was even a salad made from iceberg lettuce, carrots and cucumbers. At supper, there was a relish dish on the table that usually included green onions, radishes, pickled beets, black (and sometimes green) olives, pickles and celery with cream cheese. We drank skim or 1% or 2% milk and, for a while, used margarine on our white bread.

When I was a teenager, I worked at a pizza place and ate lots of pepperoni and mushroom pizzas. Sometimes I had a Greek salad or cheese steak sandwich, instead. After a while of eating like this, I started to gain weight…and I knew exactly why. It had to have been the pizza and Cokes, so I decided the best thing to do was to switch to Diet Coke. I later found that the switch was a BIG mistake! My health and skin suffered from the aspartame used to sweeten the Diet Coke; however, it was about three years later before I discovered my mistake. The effects didn’t show up immediately, so it took some time to realize that all of my problems were due to one offender. Of course, after I realized my mistake, I made the switch back to regular Coke. Hmm…

Fast forward a few years. I was married to my wonderful hubby and we were happy. Neither of us was making much money, but we didn’t care. He worked at Pizza Hut and I worked at a movie rental store. Life was perfect! If we weren’t eating pizza, we were eating ramen noodles (which I had made “healthier” by adding chicken and a handful of frozen veggies), stir-fry, or spaghetti. I didn’t think I had anything to worry about; I was skinny and had enough energy to rollerblade every day PLUS play roller hockey 3-5 days per week for almost 2-3 hours each time. At that time, I didn’t link my dandruff, dry skin and random acne to the food I ate.

A few years later, I found an old book written by Nathan Pritikin. He advocated eating a low-fat, high carb diet. It seemed to make a lot of sense, so I changed my eating habits in that direction. I didn’t last long on the diet, though. I’ve always felt better eating lots of protein and fats. In the years that followed, more and more nutritionists seemed to agree with Pritikin. Everywhere I turned, everyone was saying fat was bad. Next was the “good fats, bad fats” advice. It was very common knowledge that saturated fats were bad and that unsaturated fats were good. “Don’t eat butter, eat margarine instead.” “Soy is a much healthier source of protein than meat.” It seemed to make so much sense, until I started doing my own research. From my previous experience with artificial sweeteners, I knew that I needed real foods, as opposed to fake foods. It became obvious to me that butter had to be better for me than margarine. I didn’t know why, but I just felt it in my heart. Even with this important revelation, I still thought that too much saturated fat was bad. The most important part of the revelation was that I was starting to think about what I ate and understand that “new” foods were not what my body needed.

When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time with my grandmother. She even lived with us for a few years. She cooked with real butter and cream, made lots of meat and potato meals and loved her pickled foods. She ate eggs and/or bacon every morning for breakfast. In fact, I’d have to say that bacon was her favorite food. Once, when I was an adult, I took her to the store for some grocery shopping. There was a sale on bacon, so she bought 10 pounds. I asked her why she bought so much, and she replied that she cooked a pound a day. I was flabbergasted! But, she was in her 80’s, and I had no right to “correct” her way of eating. She would tell me that when she was a child, her favorite treat was a lard sandwich. I used to think that was so gross! (I still don’t think I could eat one.) How could anyone just take a big slab of lard and eat it? She would take a chunk of the solid cream that rose to the top of the milk and put it on her mom’s homemade bread. She ate real sauerkraut from the barrel that was kept in the cellar. It was made the old German way, with salt brine, not vinegar. She lived to be 89 (well, one week before her 89th birthday). Most of her 12 siblings lived well into their 80’s and 90’s or older! Even though I would scoff at her diet, thinking I was so much more advanced in that department, I would still make the comment, “She must be doing something right to be so healthy at such an old age.” Oh, how little did I know!

Gram passed away on January 18, 2007. It wasn’t until a little while later that I found a forum online that talked about Traditional Foods. My eyes were opened and I realized that I knew absolutely nothing about nutrition. I needed to clear my preconceptions and learn a new way of thinking. It’s been around 2 years since I first heard about Traditional Foods. It’s been a very slow change, eating new foods, cutting out others. Part of the reason for the slow change has been my husband. Not every change has been well-received at first, but eventually has become normal. Another reason for the slow change has been me. It seemed like a very daunting challenge to change everything about how we ate. My saving grace has been baby steps. I’ve had many relapses into my old way of eating. Even Sunday, I had a Dr. Pepper and some of a Totino’s Pizza. (gasp!)

So, here’s the deal. I’m not perfect. I make a lot of mistakes. But, if I can take two baby steps forward and only one step back, I’ll still be ahead. The positive, permanent changes that we’ve made include drinking organic, grass-fed/pastured cream top whole milk (unhomogenized, but unfortunately, pasteurized), and using coconut oil, olive oil, and butter and eliminating most vegetable oils and canola oil from my homemade cooking. We also drink a lot of kefir and take cod liver oil. I regularly make good, homemade 24-hour chicken stock. We no longer buy white sugar, but use sucanat. And, I’ve replaced my Coffee-Mate with real half and half, from the same dairy as our milk. I tried to make my own bread, and it worked for a while, but it was a lot of work and I don’t do it right now. It is on my to-do list for this year. There are a lot of things on my to-do list, and I’ll share those in a later post.

For now, I will continue to do the things that are already normal and work on the things that aren’t, yet. An online friend sent me some water kefir grains and I can’t wait to try my first water kefir. I have milk kefir grains, which I plan on using again, too. Making my own water and milk kefir is my next baby step.

So, I’m a recovering Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) eater. I’m also a newbie Traditional Foods (TF) eater. I’ve got so much more to share with you, but I think this is enough, for now.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T12:40:00.003-07:00

Happy New Year! (a day late)… I was going to post yesterday, but I was having such a good time relaxing and enjoying being home again. We went to Texas for Christmas and visited a ton of family. It was a really good time, except for my “baby” being sick most of the time.

We’d been planning our vacation for a few months, had most details in place and our route set. Of course, the two months prior to this vacation were probably the busiest months we’ve ever had! I was finishing up with my student teaching and working on my Capstone Project, plus trying to be mommy to my kiddos…it was crazy busy and I didn’t know how it was all going to work out. Well, just before graduation, I ended up with a sinus infection AND an infected tooth, which required antibiotics. I HATE antibiotics and avoid them at all costs, but nothing else was working and I was in so much pain, I couldn’t sleep for two nights. The Tuesday after my graduation, I had to have a root canal and an extraction. But this was just the beginning of our Health Disaster 2009!

Since we were going to be in Texas for Christmas, we had a family get together with Brian’s side of the family on the Saturday before Christmas. My “baby” wasn’t feeling 100%, but didn’t seem too sick. Well, that night, after he had been in bed for a few minutes, he started screaming. He was in pain. His chin hurt, then his cheek, then his ear. So much so, that he screamed every 10 minutes until 8:00AM, the next morning. He had an ear infection. For the next two days, all he did was sleep and cry. Forty-eight hours of sleep with around only five hours of being awake. If we were going to make our vacation dates, we were going to have to leave while he was sick, or cancel all-together. To make matters worse, I had started to get a sore throat on Monday night and when I woke up Tuesday morning, I could hardly breathe. Urgent Care was open early, so I went first thing in the morning. My uvula (the little dangly thing in the back of your throat) was so swollen, it was almost blocking my airway. The doctor gave me a steroid shot to help reduce the swelling and another dang antibiotic to get rid of the strep in my throat. It took two days for me to start feeling better.

Now, back to my baby. The last time one of our kiddos had an ear infection, the doctor wrote a prescription for antibiotics, but told me to give it a few days to see if it cleared up on its own. As a last resort, I was to get the prescription filled and start my kiddo on the dreaded course of antibiotics. Most ear infections are viral and antibiotics are meaningless, in these cases. So, we decided to take the “wait and see” approach with this latest ear infection. The fever never got higher than 102°, so I wasn’t too worried, at first.

There is a huge change in elevation between Colorado and Texas, and with the first change, baby’s ear drum perforated. It was draining fluids like you wouldn’t believe. Each subsequent change in elevation caused more pressure to build up, and thus, another gush of fluids. Gross, I know. We were finally able to find an Urgent Care when we got to our destination, but they were not open on Christmas, so we took him in the day after Christmas. Of course they prescribed antibiotics, but this is one of those necessary times when nothing else will work. Within 10 minutes of his first dose, the color started coming back in his cheeks. By his second dose, he was well on his way to being back to his “old” self.

This was the way we ended 2009. Fun, huh? The last two months have been crazy and I haven’t been able to give my kids the nutrition and nurturing that they so desperately need. My main goal for 2010 is to make sure that my family not only stays healthy, but that we establish habits to keep them healthy throughout their lives.

Welcome to Ginnyv.com, where I will attempt to document our family's journey into eating a more Traditional Foods diet and the adventures along the way.

By the way, today is my "baby's" 4th birthday and he is healthy and happy and having a great day.

Real Food

2009-08-18T18:01:00.005-06:00

I really love Real Food by Nina Planck. She has such a great writing style, it was easy to read the entire book very quickly. One of the best parts of Real Food is the indepth research and wonderful references that Nina has included. I lent my copy of the book to my mom, who finished it in under a week, despite her incredibly busy schedule. Since she still has my copy, I am going to wait to do an indepth review of the book, at this time. But, since it was requested, I am including a link to where Real Food can be purchased.

A new school year

2009-08-18T17:40:00.007-06:00

Wow! Last week was quite a week! R started kindergarten and G started 2nd grade. They are getting so big. G has the same teacher as last year, since the 1st and 2nd grades loop. She was great last year, and G is very happy being in her class again. R's teacher is really sweet. She seems to really like the students and R thinks she's great. R did really well during the first week of school. I'm sure part of it is because she's so independent and did really well in pre-k. Another part of it is probably because I'm student teaching in the same school as G and R are at. They love being able to see me at different times, and I love it just as much as they do.

Don't they look so cute in their little uniforms? I think so, and it makes getting ready in the morning a lot easier.

Sorry for all of the confusion! And a new web-address!

2009-07-17T11:47:00.003-06:00

I had decided to move my blog over to wordpress, which seemed to be working out fairly well. However, after some emails protesting/questioning the move, I am back at my "old" home. I will not move my blog to wordpress and you can continue to read this blog right here. I may make some changes in the appearance, but rest assured that everything else will continue on here.

And an announcement! I have purchased the domain www.ginnyv.com! I'm very excited about this, especially since it will bring you right to my blog. Please change/update your bookmarks, if you've got one. Thanks!! :)

Grilled “Fried” Chicken

2009-07-17T11:46:00.000-06:00

I offered to bring fried chicken to our July 4th picnic with our friends. Since we are eating a more traditional foods diet, I wanted to make the fried chicken “TF”, but I wasn’t sure how. I searched online and found a recipe on www.kraftfoods.com that I modified and made more like the diet that we eat. It turned out so good! My friends thought that they were eating fried chicken, when in reality, it was grilled. When I told them it was grilled chicken, they were amazed. Here’s the recipe with my modifications.

6-7 chicken pieces, including legs and thighs
1/3 cups or more mayo
fresh or dried garlic
1/2 cup of crushed organic butter crackers, I used Late July brand
1 tbsp crushed dried Italian seasoning

Remove the skin from the chicken, if desired. Next, mix mayo and garlic, to taste. Crush the crackers and mix in the Italian seasoning. It’s best to have all of this done before you move to the next step. When ready, preheat grill to medium-low. Lower temps take a little longer, but will help you to not burn the cracker crust. While the grill is preheating, coat the chicken with the mayo mixture, then roll in the crackers until the chicken is coated well. Grill the chicken for about 15 minutes on each side. It’s helpful to have a meat thermometer to make sure that the chicken reaches 180* before serving. That’s it. The coating on the chicken may get dark or even burn if the temp is too high. That’s ok, because it’s easy to remove the dark bits without ruining the rest of the piece of chicken.

This isn’t completely “tf”, but pretty darn close.
This is really simple and the meat is really juicy and good. Let me know if you try it and if you changed anything. I’d love to know how it turns out!

Sorry for the long break...

2009-06-23T10:37:00.006-06:00

I want to apologize for the long break since the last post. The last two years have been occupied by going to school full time, both during the regular school year and during the summer. Last semester almost killed me! (ok, not literally, but I was so busy!) I actually get a summer off, which I've been enjoying. I will start posting again, hopefully regularly, after my brother's visit with us is over. Until then, check out some of my links and I'll write soon!

Great article from Mother Earth News...

2008-11-21T11:41:00.002-07:00

I wanted to post a link to a great article I read in the Oct/Nov 2008 issue of Mother Earth News. Lucky for us they also posted it online.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Natural-Health/2008-10-01/Dietary-Fat-Health-Weight.aspx

Traditional Foods

2008-10-05T10:59:00.003-06:00

What foods are good for you? What foods are bad? There's a lot of conflict over this issue; More than one would think. Is soy good or bad? Is fat good or bad? How about carbs? Artificial sweeteners? What's a mom, who wants the best for her family, to do? Well, I think I've found the best answer, for my own family. It's called traditional foods. Never heard of it? That's not surprising! I had never heard that term before, at least not in this context. Traditional foods are basically the foods that your great-great grandmother would most likely have eaten, things like grass-fed meats, eggs from free-range poultry, raw milk and cheese, kefir, lacto-fermented vegetables, etc. The list just goes on. What you wouldn't be eating is processed foods, pastuerized, homogenized milk and dairy, hormone-laden meats and eggs, high fructose corn syrup, and artificial colors or flavors.

Did you know that heart disease and obesity increased after the low-fat recommendations were announced and put into place? Why is that? Could it be that fat really isn't the culprit? Well, I believe that it is not the culprit. Studies have shown that an increase in fat, with a decrease in carbs can help you lose weight and keep it off. When you increase carbs, you gain weight. (Read Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Sally Fallon).

The occurrences of chronic diseases keep increasing, despite our medical advances. Diseases that used to be considered as elderly diseases are showing up in younger and younger children. These diseases include diabetes type II and obesity. And let's not forget autism and ADHD, which were hardly heard of when I was a child. Mothers know that the food that they feed their children with these problems can have an impact on that child. Artificial colors and flavors have been known to exasperate the problems, while a more whole foods approach can help immensely. Cutting out the "artificials" can have a changing effect.

But, I think it's more than that. It's not just what we're putting into our bodies, but what we're leaving out. Cultured and fermented foods contain valuable probiotics that help our digestive system to remain healthy. When was the last time you had kefir or lacto-fermented sauerkraut? How about kimchi? Raw dairy contains the "x-factor", which is essential to good bone structure and healthy teeth. Check out the Weston A. Price Foundation.

I invite you to check it out for yourself. I am definitely NOT the expert (yet!) on the subject, so don't just take my word for it. Here are some resources to get you started.

Two great books to get you started in eating traditional foods are The Maker's Diet by Jordin Ruben and Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. Both books have a lot of valuable information. Another good place to look for information is www.cookingtf.com. KerryAnn is very knowledgable about traditional foods. I also visit the traditional foods forum on MDC (mothering.com). http://www.mothering.com/discussions/forumdisplay.php?f=365

I've just started our journey to eating traditional foods (TF) and will post more, as I go. If you have experience with a TF diet or want to take the journey with me, leave a comment or send me an email.

Update on my No Pooing...

2007-09-02T17:17:00.001-06:00

Ok, it's been over a week since I posted my progress with this.

The last week, I started to mix in some honey (about 1/2 tsp) in with my baking soda. I've been having some flakes and thought that might help. It didn't help too much and my scalp was worse than ever! So, I'm going back to just the BS as my wash. I'm still using 1/2 cup ACV, 1 tbsp honey in a 20 oz jar and filling the rest with warm water. I've started adding a few drops of tea tree oil, in addition to the lavendar oil. My hair was starting to seem a bit dry, too. I figure I'm doing something a little off, probably the amounts of BS or ACV, so I'm going to have to adjust one of those.

I started reading about the incredible benefits of coconut oil. It is used to treat all skin conditions, including dandruff and psoriasis. It can be used for conditioner, facial lotion and a ton of other things. You can find out a ton of info if you Google 'topical coconut oil' or 'uses of coconut oil'. From all of the websites I've found, it's practically a miracle oil. So, anyway, I started putting some coconut oil on my scalp at least 30 minutes before I shower and wash it. I've even put it on before bed and let it set until the next day. So far I'm having great results with it, but just like the BS and ACV, it will take time to see if it works long term. I've also put it on my face as a lotion and I love it. It is non-greasy after a minute, because it soaks in immediately. And it works as a yummy tasting lip balm, too.

Be careful not to use too much coconut oil at a time, though. A little goes a very long way! If you want to buy it, I went to Whole Foods and they had a huge jar for $17.99 and a bigger jar for around $25!! That was way more than I was wanting to spend. I went over to their body care area, that has their supplements, shampoos, lotions, etc. They had much smaller jars (around 12 oz) for $6-$15. From what I've read, as long as you keep it under your sink in the bathroom, it should be fine for at least a year or more. It will not go rancid quickly, because it is a very stable oil. It has a very high melting point of 77 degrees, so until it reaches that, it is somewhat solid. IF you put it in the refrigerator, it will become extremely hard and not very usable, so I suggest keeping it at room temperature. Plus, you don't want it keep going between extreme temperatures.

Oh, I wanted to add that you should get Virgin Coconut Oil. Don't get hydrogenated coconut oil or even Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. The Extra virgin is just a waste of money and ANYTHING hydrogenated is really bad for you.

Let me know if any of you tries this! I'd love to hear your feedback!

Different uses of honey...

2007-08-29T11:23:00.000-06:00

There are so many different uses for honey, you'd be amazed! September is National Honey Month, so this is a good time to check out The National Honey Board's website.

I thought I'd list some of my favorite ways to use honey.

Beauty
Face wash - You can make all sorts of face washes with honey. To wash your face with honey, just wet your face. Pour a small dab of honey onto your hand and smear all over your face. You can rinse right away with warm water or wait a couple of minutes. Either way, your face will be very smooth and soft. Put on a light moisturizer, like pure shea butter, and you'll never go back to your old way of cleaning your face again!

Face mask - There are a lot of different face masks you can make with honey. One is a handful of uncooked oats with a tsp of honey and a tsp of milk. Mix the honey and milk until the honey is dissolved, then add the oats. Smear on your face and leave for 10 minutes. Rinse off and follow with a light moisturizer.
Another mask is just honey and milk. One teaspoon of each, mixed together. Smear on your face and leave for around 10 minutes. Rinse and moisturize.

One warning. Honey will remove the toxins from your skin, which is a good thing. But, sometimes you may break out a bit for the first couple days. Nothing too bad, but maybe a pimple or two. I didn't, but I have heard that some people do.

Another thing you can do is if you do get an unexpected pimple is put a dab of honey on the pimple and cover with a bandaid. Do this right before you go to bed and you'll wake up and the pimple will be gone or greatly reduced!

Coffee
You can sweeten your coffee with a bit of honey, just like you would tea. It's a great alternative to sugar and gives it a really good flavor. My favorite is a honey latte. I make a plain latte in my espresso maker, then add in a tablespoon of honey, instead of a flavored syrup. It's my favorite way to have a latte!

First Aid
Honey has natural anti-bacterial properties, so it makes a great ointment for cuts and scrapes. It is also very good to put on a burn. Some women have been known to put it on c-section's and have great results with quick healing of the incision area. Remember, honey is sticky, so you're going to want to put some sort of bandage over the honey, so it doesn't get everything else sticky, too!

If you have a sore throat, take a tsp of honey every couple of hours. Not only does it sooth your sore throat, but the anti-bacterial properties will help it heal.

Allergies
Did you know that if you have seasonal allergies, honey can help? You have to get some local honey. Honey from another part of the country or world isn't going to help with this one. Take a teaspoon of honey every day and it will help reduce your allergy symptoms!

I'll update this post when I think of more great uses for honey. I know there are tons! Please let me know what you think of this and if you have any other great ways to use honey.

Updated Grandmother's Recipe

2007-08-29T11:12:00.000-06:00

I've been updating Grandmother's Recipe and would love to know what you think. Feel free to visit the site and add your comments! Also, don't forget to go to the forum and add your own recipes!

School update

2007-08-29T10:46:00.001-06:00

G is having a great week at school. At his birthday party on Friday, one of our friends brought their nephew, who is also a kindergartener at G's school. They have been playing with each other this week and have been having fun. It's so nice for G to come home and say that he's excited to go to school the next day!

My semester started this week. My first classes were yesterday. It took me over 10 minutes to find a parking space and when I finally did, I got to my class and all the power was out throughout the entire campus! It finally came back on right before my second class. I think this semester is going to be fairly challenging, especially my Math class, but I think I'll do well.

I've been teaching R how to write letters and count this week. She's really enjoying it. It didn't take her long to learn how to write a capitol A and learn the sounds. She's doing great! She's also been learning to trace her hand and color it in.

I's been a little parrot this week. He's copying everything that everyone is saying. My favorite is I wa vu. (I love you). He also wanted to sit on the potty today, so I put on the trainer seat and put him on. He absolutely did not want to get off! Well, that turned out to be a good thing because HE WENT PEE PEE's in the POTTY!! I couldn't believe it. He was so excited, he threw a temper tantrum when I told him it was time to get down from the toilet. :)

My baby started kindergarten!

2007-08-18T08:22:00.001-06:00

G started kindergarten last Monday. I can't believe he's growing up so damn fast! Of course, Brian had a harder time than me. We had to leave so that the other parents wouldn't see his tears! :D Too funny! Ok, my turn came on Wednesday, when G was just so sad, because he said that he wasn't playing with anyone or talking to anyone at lunch. I was almost ready to pull him until next year. He's still so young (much younger than a lot of his classmates), so I thought that maybe he just wasn't ready, socially. Turns out that a lot of the other kids in his class were having the same problems. Brian dropped him off at school on Thursday and talked with a couple of the other parents. They all had the exact same concerns as we do. They can't get their kids to talk about school and their kids are also saying they aren't making friends or talking to anyone at lunch. (I found out that they are not allowed to talk during lunch for the first few minutes, in order to encourage eating). So, this first week was hard, but we got through it. G came home from school on Friday and he was in a much better mood. They had show-n-tell, and I think that may have allowed the kids to get to know each other a little more.

5 down, only 195 more school days to go this year...

I'm going No 'Poo!!

2007-08-10T13:51:00.001-06:00

Yes, you read right. I have decided to try not using shampoo! I've been reading a lot lately, and I found about the great uses of baking soda and ACV (apple cider vinegar). As of Tuesday, I decided to try washing my hair with a handful of baking soda and then doing a hair rinse of an ACV mixture (1/2 cup of ACV and 2-3 cups of water...some people use less ACV). The first day I just used the baking soda, my hair seemed fine, but my scalp itched just a little. My hair seemed a little messy, but I solved that with a pony tail. The next day I used only the baking soda again, but took a little conditioner to my hair, because my hair hits below the middle of my back and was a little hard to comb through the first day. The third day, I searched online and found the ACV rinse idea, so I decided to give it a try. It made it so that I didn't need conditioner. I added a couple of drops of lavender essential oil to the mixture, to try to cover up the vinegar smell. I always let my hair air dry, so after it dried, there was no ACV smell at all. Just a little hint of lavender. I had two people tell me that my hair smelled great and asked what I had used. Brian told me that my hair was beginning to look better than it has in a very long time. I have to admit, it is looking smoother than it has in so long.

I was warned that most people's hair goes through a transition period and your hair may not look that great for up to 2 weeks, but after that, it will be soft and hold a style without effort. I also read that this is a great idea if you have dandruff or an itchy scalp, because after about 2 weeks, you will be saying good-bye to flakes and itching forever. The ACV rinse helps make it so that your hair is easier to comb through and it also closes the shaft of the hair, to make it lay smoother and look shiny. If your hair seems to be getting dry, add a little honey to the ACV mixture and that will give your hair more moisture. The ACV rinse was huge in the 50's and 60's to make girl's hair shine, except they poured it on straight, not diluted...I think that is too much. I would recommend diluting.

I read the following articles, which give directions and amounts of the baking soda and ACV.

http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/go/index.php/389/why-you-should-go-no-poo/
http://farmlet.co.nz/?p=40

If you google "baking soda hair" or "vinegar hair rinse" you will come up with all sorts of support for both of these. Imagine not ever having to buy shampoo or conditioner again! I'm just trying to figure out what I'm going to do with my mega bottles I already have of the stuff! :p

Mika the Amazing!!!

2007-07-18T20:45:00.001-06:00

I absolutely love Mika and this song! I listen to it every day!!!

Stupid Chipmunk!

2007-06-29T21:32:00.001-06:00

Happy Mother's Day!!!

2007-05-10T18:31:00.000-06:00

I would like to wish all the mothers out there a Happy Mother's Day! I got the best Mother's Day present from Gavin. He made me a jewelry box at school, painted it red (because he thought that was my favorite color) and decorated it with colorful spongy things. It about made me cry. It's the first handmade present my baby has given to me, for Mother's Day. Inside, there was a beaded leather string. It's so precious. I think I'm going to hang it from the van mirror.

I hope all you mothers out there have a great Mother's Day!!!

Lovely weather, eh?

2007-04-24T16:21:00.000-06:00

I absolutely love the rain. So the past two days have been wonderful! Thunder and lightning, very very frightening....We even got some hail and, luckily, it was pea size, so no damage. It's been drizzling all day and we have been in a "winter" storm warning since yesterday. Lovely. I really like walking in the rain and it soaking my hair. I don't know why, maybe it makes me feel like a kid. :D The only difference between storms now and storms when I was a kid, is that you were guaranteed the power would go out when we were kids. No chance of that happening, since the city just finished burying the last of the power lines. Kids these days are missing out! When we knew there was a storm coming, my mom would pop up a bowl of popcorn, slice cheese and apples and we'd have a picnic by lightning and candlelight after the power went out. Sometimes we have special nights like this, where we turn off the tv and the lights, set out a picnic on food trays and eat popcorn, cheese and apples in the living room. It makes for special, memorable times for our kids.

Do you know what day it is?

2007-04-20T18:35:00.000-06:00

Today is 4/20/07. It's the anniversary of the Columbine shootings, Hitler's Birthday and it's the day of too many threats on schools across the country. What the heck is wrong with people? Why do they feel the need to try to copycat a horrible thing? Are they really in that much need of attention that they are willing to destroy countless lives to get that attention? Jerks. Selfish little jerks. That's what they are. Nothing more. I am sick of the horrific images blasting out on the tv screen, showing that gun-wielding maniac pointing his weapons at the camera. If the media would just quit 'exhaulting' the murderer and put more of their focus on the victims and the heros, I think things would be different. I don't care about his psyche, I don't care that he was rejected as a human being, I don't care that he felt picked on. I care about the Holocaust survivor that endured hell, only to be murdered teaching the subject that he loved. I care about the RA, who had a triple major and worked hard to get where he was. That's what I care about. That's all I want to see about the matter.

As you can tell, I am feeling much better than I felt the last time I posted. And a lot has happened since then. A lot of no good.

As Disturbed would say, we are "Down with the Sickness"

2007-04-10T18:23:00.000-06:00

Easter came and was good. Pretty much. The sort of normal family stuff one does to get them to the next holiday. Well, that evening, I started to get a scratchy throat and then it started to feel like it was swelling inside. That's a pretty scary experience, to have your throat feel like it's closing. That night, Gavin started to have a horrible night terror, which he has had a lot in the past, but this was the worst one he's had in months. Maybe even close to a year. After we were able to settle him down, I went to check in on Ian. The moment I opened his door, the smell of vomit and diarrhea hit me in the face. So gross. He had thrown up in his sleep and had diarrhea, so I had to change his bedding and Brian and I gave him a bath, before putting him back down. Well, he wouldn't go back to sleep. He just kept crying, so I brought him into our bed to see if I could coax him into sleeping with us. That was at 1:30 AM. Well, he finally fell asleep around 3:30 AM. Then Gavin had a nightmare. I woke up with him and calmed him down and got him back to sleep and was finally able to go to sleep, myself, around 4:00 AM. I slept until around 7:30, when Ian woke back up again for the morning. Brian got up with Ian, so I slept in a little while. When I woke up, my throat felt so sore, I could hardly speak.

Ian pretty much had a fever for the next 2 days and has slept a ton. Even when he's awake, he's just laying everywhere, not wanting to play or eat. Poor guy. I'm starting to feel better, but now Brian started to get the sore throat and Gavin's voice is getting hoarse. Hopefully this all clears up soon, since Ripley's birthday is Friday and we are planning a birthday party with some of her friends.

Grr...I hate being sick! I keep telling myself, "I am not sick. I am in perfect health." I think this makes me feel better. :D

Candle Making & Gardening

2007-04-05T10:59:00.000-06:00

I've decided to learn how to roll my own beeswax candles. I've been getting catalogs from a great company called Glory Bee. They have everything to do with bees, including making your own candles, beekeeping, making lotions and soaps...pretty much everything. This week I am ordering beeswax sheets, wicks, and supplies for dipped candles.

I've also decided to start a small garden, this year. I spoke with a friend who bought some raised garden beds from Garden Supply, an online store with tons of gardening supplies. More things than I ever thought one would need to garden! The raised garden beds I want are 3" x 3". I'm thinking of planting carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, spinach, leaf lettuce, radishes, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, and a bunch of herbs. There are more, but I don't want to do too much my first year, although I may add some fruit to the list, like strawberries. I'm also going to buy a composter and compost pail for the kitchen. May as well make my own nutrient-rich compost for planting in. It will be nice having fresh from the garden produce.

My sweetest kids

2007-04-02T19:02:00.000-06:00

Ian learned a new trick today. Peek-a-boo. He covers his eyes, and waits for you to say, "Where's Ian?" a couple times and then moves his hand from his eyes and laughs really hard. So cute.

Gavin and Ripley were in the bathroom washing their hands after dinner. Gavin turns to Ripley and says, "You have beautiful hair, Ripley". She says, "Thank you, Gavin, so do you!" It's so funny. And so super cute! They love each other so much!

Ripley had hiccups at the table while we were eating. She says, "Scare me, Mommy". I tried a few times, but it's hard to scare someone that knows it's coming. So, I tell her that. Gavin says, "I'll scare you!" He tried a bunch of times, but I think the hiccups just wore off, by themselves. :D

The other day, Gavin tells me, "Mommy, I love you to the big blue sky". How sweet is that? And, he always tells me I'm the bestest. The other day, I was the "bestest of the bestest of the best". Daddy was the bestest that day.

Ripley tells me everyday, "I went peepee's in the potty and didn't go in my bed last night. That means I get to go to Princess School soon." I'm not sure of where she got that, so today I tell her that I'm not sure that there is a Princess school. She tells me it is by the Dollar Store. I realized that she is talking about Princess Paradise. It's a princess dress up store. We're going for her birthday!

Made a great recipe

2007-04-02T18:55:00.000-06:00

So, I've tried a couple of recipes now from The Family Homestead website, and I must say that they have been winners, so far. A couple nights ago, I made the Red Beans and Rice and tonight it was the Saulsbury Steak. I do have to say that the Saulsbury Steak was a tad bit different than I am used to, but it turned out quite well and was a big hit at the table, even with my (almost) 3 and 4 year old. We served it with toasted bread, topped with gravy and a 'super' salad made with just about every kind of veggie you can think of.

Wednesday I'm going to try the Crock Pot Spaghetti sauce. It looks yummy.

The Family Homestead

2007-03-30T17:48:00.000-06:00

Here is a website that I've been going to a lot lately. They have a lot of good recipes and advice.

I think you should check it out. It has a ton of pages, so set aside some time and enjoy!

Winter Storm Warnings?

2007-03-29T12:16:00.000-06:00

After a few weeks of wonderful weather, we woke up this morning to a surprise snow storm! It was so windy last night, but it wasn't freezing, so I thought we might have rain today. Nope. We had snow and the news said up to 10 inches in some places! (Probably more in the mountains, than here) The sad news is that the wind and weather caused a tornado in Holly, CO (far, far south of here) that killed one person and injured 10 others. 60 homes were damaged and 5 completely destroyed.

It's still snowing, on and off, but not a lot. Even though I love winter, I really was starting to enjoy being outside in the 60 & 70 degree weather, biking with my family and playing in the park. Oh well, I know we'll get to do those things soon.

Another fun day

2007-03-22T09:42:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we decided that it would be fun to pick Gavin up from school on our bikes. I never realized before that there was a slight hill on the way there. Hmm. Anyway, it didn't take long to get there, so we've decided to do it as often as possible. We hadn't had lunch yet, so we rode to the Noodles and Co. by our house to eat something light. You know, it's been next to our house for a few years, but we've only eaten there 2 times! Surprising, because it was so good and not expensive at all. I think our tastes have changed, because we found ourselves ordering more of the healthier foods, instead of cream and meat pastas. Ok, the one thing that wasn't oh-so-healthy was the Rice Krispy bars...by super yummy!! Anita was taking her lunch break and just happened to stop by while we were there. It was good to see her.

Grandmother's Recipe

2007-03-19T15:44:00.000-06:00

James (my brother) and I have set up a website dedicated to Gram's great recipes. I'm trying to add at least 1-2 recipes a day, although I haven't been keeping up as much as I'd like. Visit and leave some comments or one of your own recipes.

Grandmother's Recipe

Enjoy!

Our bike ride

2007-03-19T11:24:00.000-06:00

We went on our first official bike ride yesterday. We couldn't have picked a harder route!! We rode to a park, which is probably only 3-4 miles away. The only problem is that it is one of the ONLY places we could have rode that has that steep of hills! Try lugging 50 pounds of kids, plus the weight of a trailer up a steep hill that is probably a full 2 blocks long! You may be able to do it, but for someone who hasn't been on a bicycle in years, it was pure torture. Surprisingly, I'm not nearly as sore today as I thought I would be. Last night I couldn't hardly move. But, if it's like any other time I've started working out, I'll be my sorest tomorrow. Always on the second day, for some reason.

The kids had a blast! The park that we went to is one of the best in town and has all sorts of great things to swing on and climb. Ian fell asleep in the trailer on the way back and Ripley was almost asleep. Gavin was a little nervous on the third wheel seat, but got the hang of it. He still won't help peddle, but at least he's used to it. He'll be peddling in no time!! We brought our friend Ray with us. He played with the kids and had fun, too.

Getting in shape

2007-03-18T11:43:00.000-06:00

Brian and I both (finally) got bikes! Yea! It's been many years since either of us had bikes and I am looking forward to riding all over town this summer. We got a trailer for Ripley and Ian and an attachment for Gavin that goes on the back of Brian's bike and makes it have a third wheel. It turns it into a tandem bike, with the seat lower so that Gavin can get on and off by himself. I'll post pictures when I take them. Before we were married, Brian and I rode our bikes everywhere, sometimes as much as 20 miles a day. We were in great shape and hardly ever drove our car. That is my goal for this summer.

On another note, I just got the Yoga Booty Ballet (YBB) DVD's and did my first workout yesterday. It was pretty fun and I can feel it today. We also went to a club to watch a disco cover band and danced my booty off there, so I'm not sure if I'm feeling the YBB workout or the dancing I did for 3 hours!! Probably a little of both. :)

I hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's day! We went to Old Town and watched a parade. After, there was an Irish festival with a live band playing in Old Town Square. They didn't sound too Irish, but we had fun. We were thinking about biking to Old Town (9 miles), but that would have been just a tad ambitious, seeing as we've only been out once on our bikes, so far. Gavin hasn't even had a chance to try out his new attachment thing for the bike. We decided to drive, instead, and go biking today. I never realized all the things you have to buy for your bike! A tire repair kit, bike locks, tire pump, helmets... Yes, I bought a helmet and will wear it to set a good example for the kids. I would like to learn how to tune up my bike, so I don't have to take it to the shop for tuning and repairs. Oh, well. Off to get the kids ready and go on our bike ride!

Here is a picture of me :)

2007-03-16T20:56:00.000-06:00

First post of my new blog!

2007-03-16T09:15:00.000-06:00

I'm sure this is a fairly generic first post, but I finally have my new blog set up. Yea! So, I'll be posting to keep friends and family up to date on what's going on with us or just to post my opinion on anything I feel like.