foodie babies

What I learned today...

2009-10-09T07:53:00.000-07:00

I took some of the free magazines from the health food store (and my moms house... everything is free there!) and I learned a lot!
I'm going to start with the stuff on asthma (this is for my 6-year-old's sake). Mainly because I'm scared of this. I know, I can be a bit paranoid, but it's always good to be prepared!

"Pregnant women with adequate levels of vitamin D are less likely to have children with asthma and allergies at five years of age than those deficient in the sunshine vitamin."

"Breastfeeding appears to fight asthma and wheezing in early childhood."

"Omega 3s from fish, flax seed oils, and walnuts are anti-inflammatory."

"resveratrol, a polyphenol found in the skins of red grapes, may also lessen inflammation in asthma."

"'Vitamin C has been shown to help protect the bronchial airways and lungs' from cold temperatures, environmental toxins, pollens, smog, and viral and bacterial infections,"
(vitamin C rich foods include broccoli, strawberries, leafy greens, peppers, and tomatoes)

"Magnesium and calcium can help dilate bronchial muscles."
And, of course, enzymes are great for all bodily functions, including relief from asthmatic symptoms.

Homeopathic remedies that can be helpful for chronic asthma's mild attacks: Arsenicum, Bryonia, Ipecac, Lachesis, and Nat sulf. I don't know anything about these. In fact, I don't know much about homeopathy... but, supposedly it's safe and works for many things that you'd otherwise be using prescription medication for.

~tasteforlife October 2009, pg.52~

Tomorrow we'll learn more about Eczema and those all-important Omega's!

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The information on this blog is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Yummy Food

2009-09-29T22:25:00.000-07:00

And good for us, too!

Here are some pics of the yummy dinners I've been making lately! I found some great recipe's on vegetariantimes.com and (believe it or not!) in my Taste of Home magazine.

These are my Roasted Root Vegetables (Taste of Home) almost all gone:

Cut up Potatoes (I like using Red, Sweet, and Yams), Carrots and Turnips (I think I may try it without turnips next time), drizzle with olive oil and Rosemary. Bake in sprayed dish for 35-40 minutes on 350, then up the temp. to 450 for 10-20 minutes.

This is a pic of Emma's Quinoa pancake (flat bread). She has these for breakfast a few times a week now. She likes them plain, and absolutely refuses to eat them with Brown Rice Syrup... which is fine by me! I got bulk Quinoa and ground it in my mom's flour grinder, then added water and oil. You have to make sure the heat isn't too high, 'cause the inside cooks really slow. I have a major allergy attack every time I run the quinoa through the flour grinder, I don't know if it's allergies or just the fine dust particles, but I have yet to taste the pancakes, I am avoiding a possible food allergy!

This is Ultimate Vegetable Fried Rice (Vegetarian Times). It was Delisioso!!! (I am learning Spanish with my kids) The only thing I didn't like was the black beans. Jason did, though. The recipe doesn't technically call for them, but I added them for protein purposes. It was pretty simple. Just fry up the veggies (in a certain order, depending on the veggies you're using) and then add the cooked brown rice. Fry up the rice for as long or short as you want, depending on the flavor you're going for, and serve! mm-mm good!

AND... Becca, you'll be so proud... I MADE HUMMUS! Avocado, garlic, cumin (you gotta have cumin!), and roasted red peppers! And Jason liked it more than the store bought stuff... hehehe, I am so bragging right now.

BTW, this counter was clean before we started the hummus experiment:

This is the finished product, complete with happy face a la Jason.

After making it, Jason bought me a new, AND IMPROVED food processor. Much bigger and more heavy duty. I have yet to make hummus in it, but I'm looking forward to more pureed Garbanzos...

I've also tried a lot of different ways of sauteing zucchini and yellow squash (yummy!), and some other recipe's that aren't quite so "Emma friendly". We're getting there.

We found a "doctor" for Emily to see about diet and nutrition and healing her leaky gut!!! YAY!!! We see him Thursday night. I'll keep y'all informed. (So go ahead and sleep tonight, I know, it might keep you up... all the anticipation...)

New Hope

2009-09-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks, I've been reading and re-reading (and highlighting and note taking in) a few different books.

I love the Carol Alt book (thanks, Chrissy/Rachelle!), the recipe's in it sound so delicious! I have yet to make one, the first is set for Thursday, but it was so nice and easy to find things that Emily could eat. The beginning of the book was great, too. There was lots of explanation for need-to-know things when eating healthy and/or raw. It was very helpful to me, especially, since I am such a dunce in this area!

After these weeks of "studying" I finally, seriously, started Emily on a treatment that (hopefully) will lead to better health. I've put her on the Candida diet (from The Yeast Connection) - with a few alterations... BECAUSE SHE'S THREE! The food required on that diet is so incredibly bland - and the recipes in the cookbook don't really help for the first two weeks - that we are just trying to stick to the recommended foods, but I am preparing them how they will taste good, with spices, etc (don't worry, no sugar). She also did another two day round of the nasty tea, and is now on to eating the nasty slippery elm bark paste. This is her second day with the paste, 12 more to go. Then two more days of the tea. After that comes a no cream skin-test to see how her insides are working. If her skin stays clear, then we know we've found the problem (and solution)!

I took a trip to the farmers market and the health food store Saturday, where my mom foot the bill (SO expensive... THANKS mom!), and got some necessities for our new eating style.

Lots of vegetables, too. LOTS.

I put the Flax Oil in mine and Emily's oatmeal this morning... hm... it's going to take some getting used to, I had to gag down the first few bites. Emily ate it just fine, though! The Hummus is YUMMY! John keeps begging for more. I got Avocado and Cilantro Hummus, and I even have Jason thinking healthy food might not be that bad! (If only I could convince myself...) Emily begs for the coconut oil spread on her "special bread" (Ezekiel bread), and is grubbing these rice chips we found at Costco, they are her reward for eating her slippery elm paste.

We also got lots of "Earths Best" baby food for her. It's all organic and some of the flavors use Quinoa and other alternative grains instead of wheat. It's perfect.

When I got back from the health food store I was exhausted. My brain hurt. Sometimes I am so incredibly overwhelmed by all of this and I just want to quit. That happens about every other minute. Right now, though, I'm really excited! We've gone 5 days without feeding Emily any sugar (and many other things), and she's doing okay! Yaaay! Join me while I jump up and down... yayayayayayayayayay!

Pizza night

2009-09-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

Funny how pizza was always had tomato and cheese. I didn't know anyone who made their own crust.
It's just not the case anymore.
Pizza night is a big event and everyone is involved. Adia pours the flours together and mixes. Spencer chops and I make the sauce.
My sister gave me this recipe if anyone knows where it comes from please post it. This makes a small amount so I usually doubles it but I only at 3tea xanthum gum when I double it.

1 T yeast
2/3 cup rice flour
½ cup tapioca flour
2 tea xanthum gum (when doubling the recipe I change it to 3 tea xanthum gum and not 4)
1 tea Italian seasoning
½ tea sugar
½ tea salt
¾ warm milk (soy, rice or cow milk) I use rice milk and it turns out just fine
1 tea olive oil
1 tea vinegar

Preheat oven to 425

Blend dry ingredients including yeast. Add warm milk oil and vinegar beat for 2 minutes on high. Put in greased pan, sprinkling rice flour when needed. Make edges thickest. Bake for ten minutes add toppings and bake for another 20-25 min.

Toppings

For "my child can't eat anything" people here is a great topping:

for the sauce puree artichoke hearts, high quality olive oil, garlic, pinch of salt and some spices like rosemary, sage, basil anything really.

I love spinach on pizza and add it whenever I can. I get the frozen organic spinach from Trader Joe's. I add grilled zucchini, yellow squash, and onions.

now for the final touch I know it sounds odd but drizzle a little bit of pure honey. Think about how people honey roast ham, it's like that.

For "my kid can't eat anything but pine nuts are okay"

Get some nice oil (I love truffle flavored olive oil) for those not in the know truffle is not chocolate it refers to a mushroom. Pan fry a whole chopped onion and tablespoons of fresh rosemary. Top with kalamata olives. There is no sauce for this pizza.

(the picture has normal olives they are not as good)

Toppings for everyone
tomato sauce any of your favorites. I like to make it from paste, red cooking wine, spices, lots of basil and salt. We will add any combination of what we have in the fridge:
• spinach frozen or fresh
• peppers (I pan fry them with a little salt if they are frozen)
• mushrooms
• olives
• purple onions
• olives
• egg plant
• asparagus
• zucchini
• yellow squash
• prosciutto, lamb, chicken, sausage (I don't care for meat so I leave it off)
• mozzarella, parmesan or my favorite goat cheese (or just leave off cheese add enough salt and cheese isn't missed)
Really the list is endless
For something new I pan fry all the vegetables with salt. I'm not sure if any of you noticed yet I LOVE salt.

The beet farmer

2009-08-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

I love beets. I've always loved them, since before they were cool.

They are sweet like carrots but you need to cook them to release the sugars. Here is a really basic recipe to bring out the natural sweetness of beets.

I get my child involved from the start. We go to the farmer's market or the store (at the farmer's market you get a better variety of colors). When we pick out the colors I give them names like dragon root, royal root and fairy root. Beets is such an unappealing name. When Adia is a little older I will let her chop the beets but for now I do it. Let your kids hang around for this part though. The colors that come out are beautiful. (I made up these names so Adia would be interested in eating them.)

I chop them up into strips and put them in boiling water. Do not boil the magenta beet with the others only because it will dye the others pink. It dyes everything pink. (It will even dye your pee pink. Don't be alarmed.)

Let them boil for 5 minutes or until a fork can be pushed in rather easily. You just don't want to overcook them or they don't hold up. Don't worry you can't screw this up.

Throw some olive oil on a cookie sheet. Sesame oil would probably rock this dish's socks but I haven't tried it. A sidenote on olive oil: buy a really nice one with additional flavor and put it on topof your or pasta once they are done cooking. Here is a list of some oils.

Put the beets on the oiled pan and salt. In this photo I put potatoes in the middle. I boiled them like the beets but when they were done boiling I threw them in a bowl with olive oil, rosemary, salt, black pepper, garlic and a little pinch of white pepper. Potatoes don't have much flavor so don't worry about overdoing it.

I put them in the oven on broil till the edges are browned. The potatoes were done much faster than the beets so I would do them separately next time.

We had a salad with red lettuce leaf and the left over beet greens. I candied almonds to sprinkle on top with black berries (they grow wild all over the place in the Northwest), goat cheese and Cindy's Kitchen Wild Maine Blueberry, it's one of my favorite dressings next to Brianna's Poppy Seed.
Recipe Rundown

Cut Beets
Boil till slightly soft
Add salt and oil
Bake in the oven till brown

2009-08-21T09:19:00.001-07:00

I wanted to add that you should toast the oatmeal on a pan at 350 degrees until the oatmeal turns brown
If you don't have kefir, use any of the other variations:
buttermilk, lemon juice and vinegar (great way to fight yeast)

The magic of live cultures

2009-08-20T21:57:00.000-07:00

This post is from Rachelle

PROBIOTICS...everyone gets anti-biotics when they are sick, to wipe out the bad bacteria...what about probiotics to help the good bacteria?

You need it if you have allergies, bile, diseases (diaherra, etc), stomach problems, thyroid, or just plain have a cold

GO TO SUPER SUPPLEMENTS, PCC, WHOLE FOODS, and in the fridge section will be PROBIOTICS

What is probiotics?
It is the same thing as yoghurt. The FDA allows 5 strands of good bacteria in yogurt at the grocery store, kefir (a form of raw milk and kefir grains..that aid in milk allergies) contains another extra 5 probiotics; but the only way to get more than 10 probiotics is to make sure you get it at a health food store where the FDA is not involved, because the bad companies have lobbied with money to make sure it is not competing in the supermarket with their crap products.

Is it safe?
If people all over the world in every civilization eats this and lives a long life without cancer...it is safe...as safe as eating yogurt. I can't say that is will "cure" but for me...it has cleaned out my gut and put good flora in my intestines, and I feel more energized and my stomach became flat.

STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT THERE IS NEVER A CASE OF CANCER WHEN THERE IS A HEALTHY INTESTINE

probiotics, protect and clean your gut.

There are different kinds of probiotics, some for adults, some for children...super supplements have both in the refridgerated section

Please do your own research to know if it is right for you

Cost is $12-$15 dollars and if you don't care about health, just take a tablespoon and keep eating whatever you want, at least you can get a flat stomach, it is worth the money.

Since discovering this I would like to tell the world...I feel like this is a start.

Your body only has enough energy to work on certain things in the body...if you are constantly putting food in your body, then your body is constantly using all its energy to digest your food

There is a study done that proved that if you eat food that is prepared right so that all the enzymes in the food is broken down for your body then you will be able to easily digest it...good to know for allergies

How does this work?
When food is not "heated" to high temperatures (which destroys enzymes) or the food is raw (which is why a lot of doctors recommend raw veggies when someone has allergies) then enzymes are released and your body can "digest" the food

You can have grains, milk, and cooked veggies when it is prepared correctly to release enzymes

I will be posting these recipes periodically

A study was done in the raw foods cookbook that explained how if your body is not spending all its time trying to digest processed foods, the body can better be spending its energy on making you look young (cell repair) or fighting cancerous cells (protect from cancer)

This shows that enzymes in your food is so important for looking young, and not getting cancer

Breakfast!

2009-08-20T21:53:00.000-07:00

This post is from Rachelle

Enzyme Oatmeal Recipe

2c Water
1c Oatmeal
salt
4 TBSP. kefir (health food stores, whole foods, fred meyer, haggens,all in the fridge section of the health food section) it is in a bottle like milk I RECCOMMEND THE STRAWBERRY KEFIR

At night in a warm kitchen
Add all ingredients but the salt in a bowl and
Let it soak overnight

In the morning add
1tsp vanilla
1tsp cinnamon
handful of rasins

Cook slowly on low heat

This is sooo good it is better than anything else and you don't need sugar

***If you don't have kefir then just let the oatmeal soak overnight so the enzymes are released
***The kefir is to help make create good enzymes for your body. Read about enzymes online

please know that the enzyme oatmeal was taken from the cookbook NOURISHING TRADITIONS

Enzyme Milk

2009-08-20T21:51:00.000-07:00

This recipe is from my sister Rachelle

ENZYME MILK

2 Tbsp Almond butter

(found at fred meyer groceries, haggens, or grocery store in the peanut butter aisle)

2 C water
pinch salt
Banana
1/4 c. Maple Syrup or
Agava Nector (buy at trader joes or order online)

***You will drink the first batch within 1 hour, so double the recipe

Good for cereal, drinks, recipes

Other options for milk

Rice milk
Hemp milk
Hazelnut milk
Almiond milk

You can buy these at fred meyer, haggens, trader joes,rice milk is available at just about any grocery store, just go to your grocery store and ask sometimes they can order it if you ask them I have done that before because of the small town I live in, they don't carry this kind of stuff

Recipes welcome

2009-08-19T07:18:00.000-07:00

Last night Jason said (and I quote) "I guess we need to change and start watching Emily's diet" FINALLY! Now I will have his support. Of course, that comment was followed up with, "I hate to do that, 'cause it effects everyone and everything around her." But, honestly, if it helps her to be healthy, I don't really care if other people are a little put out! I really only care that she's happy and comfortable. (Was that rude??)
Becca, you'll be glad to hear that if needed I will try a gluten free diet... but for now we're just going to cut all her allergens and start from there.
So.... any recipes without chocolate, dairy, soy, eggs, tomatoes, apples, oranges, chicken, pork, celery... I think that's it...?? Please share!
And, yes, we are still doing the yeast treatment... but it's not going very smoothly. So any veggie only recipes that I could use in the next two weeks would be very welcome! Thanks!

Day 2

2009-08-14T22:29:00.000-07:00

The tea tasted better today... I said better, not good. Still, Emily had an easier time with drinking it. I put stevia powder rather than leaves in with it, and mixed in honey, too.
I was terrible with the diet... It is so hard for me to get my kids to eat stuff that's good for them! I wish it just came easier, but I guess that's a stupid wish. I need to take your advice, kiki, and start loving veggies myself.
I did notice one improvement from yesterday... Emily didn't scratch hardly at all today! That is major. She usually goes into her bed 2-3 times a day to scratch. That didn't happen today... no new scabs, or old ones busted open. I only hope that continues... we didn't finish the entire quart of tea today, acctually she probably only had 1/2, which makes me think if the tea is helping with the itching, there should be more of it tomorrow. I hope not, but we'll see.

EEEW!

2009-08-13T20:51:00.000-07:00

Forget the veggies, if I can just get another quart of that DISGUSTING stuff into Emma's system tomorrow, it will be a miracle! I had to bribe her with a popsicle... I just hope that doesn't negate the entire process. She had more veggies than normal today but it's definately not all she had. I guess it's a start...
Seriously, the tea is nasty. I drank some before giving it to her, and had nothing but sympathy - even with her tantrum. I would have done the same thing, especially if I were 3!! I wish there was a better way to treat this... I know, I know, change her diet permanently...
We're getting there.

Here we go!!

2009-08-13T08:22:00.000-07:00

Okay... I'm officially starting the Yeast treatment today. What did Emily have for breakfast?? Frosted Shredded Wheat. Ya, great job with the veggies thing. I figure I'd rather do the treatment without the strict diet than not at all BECAUSE of the diet. The plan is to give her a lunch and dinner of veggies, and we'll play breakfast by ear. I plan on posting every nite while doing the treatment. Please comment and HELP! Whether I take your advice or not, it's always nice to feel the support.
The tea is brewing right now, It smells like dirt. Pau d' Arco tea is boiled tree bark. Black Walnut is a little better. I put Stevia in it to help with flavor, I hope I put enough. We'll see!! Emily keeps asking if she can have her special juice yet, that tune may change when she tastes (or sees) it!

yeast overgrowth/allergies

2009-06-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

Here is what David Christopher said to do for Emily's (what he thinks is a) yeast overgrowth...

1. Pau d' Arco and Black Walnut Leaf Tea - simmer the herbs for 40 minutes, strain. Drink 1 quart/day or more for 2 days. Is that the adult dosage? Does it really matter?

This is effective with Candida in the intestines, but since he thinks Emily's problem is systemic he added another step that will heal her intestinal track quickly...

2. Slippery Elm Bark and Licorice Root powders. Make a paste/yogurt-like substance by mixing water with 70% Slippery Elm Bark and 30% Licorice Root. Take 1 Tablespoon every hour that she's awake. Do this for 14 days.

3. Repeat step one for 2 more days.

Now here is why I haven't started it yet... diet while on this program: Eat only veggies. No grains, fruit, meat….anything
I don't know how my three-year-old is going to react to that! I'm getting "I can eat a rainbow" from the library as we speak...

Here are the notes my friend took while listening to David Christopher's radio show when he discussed this treatment:
"Step one is effective with Candida that is in the intestines but when it becomes systemic, it a much bigger problem. Antibiotics wipe out the flora in the body. The Candida are hardy and don’t get affected and so it takes up all of that area. Once it doesn’t have any checks on it. It changes, grows appendages and whips against the intestinal track creating thousands of legions which allow the Candida to get into your bloodstream which then carries it to any part of your body."

He also told me that when the yeast and the foods she eats get into her bloodstream, it can cause her body to react as if it is allergic to that food. That explains why she seems to be allergic to EVERYTHING and it's almost as if she develops new allergies the more she eats a certain food. (That explains why her first allergy was milk...) So healing all the legions in her intestinal track sounds like a real solution to the problem, not a treatment for her symptoms.

Wish me luck feeding her only veggies for TWO WEEKS! I'll tell you when I get the courage (and Jason's support...) to do it.

Getting kids excited about food

2009-06-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

I try to get Adia excited about the foods we are eating. It's pretty easy since I LOVE to eat.
Farmers markets and farms are good ways to get her excited about foods. I don't care how picky your kids are, hand picked fresh peas taste nothing like peas from the store.
One thing I try to do is read to Adia about vegetables.
"Look an artichoke," I say. "mommy loves artichokes!" When Adia was 20 months she started screaming in the store "Mommy artichoke! Mommy artichoke!"
We bought it and when she tried it with oil, garlic and salt she didn't like it but I happily ate it all.
A couple of months later we did it again. She tried it and loved it.

books:
I can eat a rainbow / Annabel Karmel.
Night of the Veggie Monster / George McClements.
The bunnies' picnic / by Lezlie Evans ; illustrations by Kay Chorao.
Scarlette Beane / Karen Wallace ; illustrated by Jon Berkeley.

Hope some of this is helpful

Chrissy