Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Great recipe for granola

My sister-in-law sent me the following recipe, and I love it! The recipe is very easy and quick, it's much cheaper and fresher than store-bought granola, and it tastes DELICIOUS!

Put in a pretty container, this would also make a nice gift for a new mom, a busy friend, or anyone else that you would like to show some kindness.

1 box (6 cups) rolled oats - I used quick-cooking oats
1 cup chopped nuts - I used sliced almonds
1 cup ground wheat germ
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup honey (or honey mixed with maple syrup)
1/3 cup oil, any kind - I used coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup dried fruit, optional


Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Combine the first 5 ingredients. Warm the honey, add the oil and vanilla. Drizzle the honey-oil over the dry ingredients and toss to coat. Spread the mixture onto 2 cookie sheets. Bake about 30 minutes until golden, stirring every 10 minutes.

When done, remove from oven and stir in dried fruit if used. As the granola cools, it will lose its stickiness and become crunchy.

Makes about 9 cups.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Another bread recipe

Recently, I blogged about the recipe I use to bake all of our breads. It was taken from the book "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day", and it's true, it takes me no more time than that. Every couple of days, I make a batch of dough, bake 2 loaves of bread from it, slice both when they are done baking and cooling, and then stick one in the freezer and leave one out to eat.

However, this dough is not suitable for crusty breads like French bread, or for pizza crust. The authors of the above book came out with a new book recently, called "Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day". In this book, they give a great recipe for dough that works wonderfully for breads that need more crunch. It is not 100% whole grain, so if your family doesn't like whole wheat they may still like this one.


INGREDIENT
VOLUME (U.S.)
WEIGHT (U.S.)
WEIGHT (METRIC)
whole wheat flour
5 ½ cups
1 pound, 9 ounces
720 grams
all-purpose flour, unbleached
2 cups
10 ounces
270 grams
granulated yeast
1 ½ tablespoons
(2 packets)
0.55 ounces
15 grams
salt
1 tablespoon
0.55 ounces
15 grams
vital wheat gluten
¼ cup
1 3/8 ounces
35 grams
lukewarm water
4 cups
2 pounds
900 grams


I included the weights because rather than measuring my ingredients, I weight them with my digital kitchen scale, which is much faster and more accurate. I simply put the mixer bowl on the scale, pour in each ingredient, and then hit "zero" before adding the next.

Add all ingredients in a large bowl, and stir with a wooden spoon until all ingredients are combined. If using a Kitchenaid, mix with paddle (not dough hook) for about 1 minute. No need to proof the yeast, knead the dough, etc. The dough will be wetter than bread dough typically is, which will allow it to rise even without being kneaded.

Allow dough to rest for 1-2 hours, until doubled in bulk. At this point, you can either refrigerate your dough in a covered container for later use (for up to 2 weeks), or use it immediately. The dough is easier to work with if it has been refrigerated first.

To use, wet your hands, and tear off as much dough as you will need. This batch makes enough for about 3 baguettes/pizza crusts/small freeform loaves. Sprinkle dough liberally with flour, and shape into whatever you are making. Allow to rise until doubled, and then bake.

I let our bread rise on a pizza peel that has been sprinkled with cornmeal. When it is done rising, I slide it onto a pizza stone that has been sitting in the oven at 425 degrees, and bake until the top looks golden brown. Adding a glass bowl with water to a lower rack in the oven makes it come out even crunchier.

freeform loaf
tastes great dipped in olive oil as a side dish to pasta, or sliced with ham and cheese on top

For pizza, I roll the pizza crust out on the pizza peel that has been sprinkled with cornmeal, prick it all over with a fork, and then slide it onto the stone immediately without letting it rise. I bake it at the highest temperature on my oven for about 5 minutes, then take the crust out with the peel, add the toppings, and slide it back onto the hot stone in the oven until the toppings are done. The crust comes out fantastic!

chicken pesto pizza

Please let me know how you like the recipe if you try it.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

An inexpensive Christmas gift idea

If you have lots of little kids in the house, especially boys, you may like this gift idea. It is a book. A book on how to build practically anything from cardboard boxes:


Don't let the title deceive you, there is much more than castles and cars in this book. I can't even begin to list all the fun projects that it covers, but you can look inside of it on Amazon and check out the contents page. Some stuff is easy enough for a 2-year old to make, and some projects require the help of an older sibling or parent. Our boys have LOVED having this book from the library, and yes, they are getting a copy of it for Christmas.

In addition to buying the book for $11.07, there are a few other things that are handy to have on hand as your children will want to start making something from it immediately:

- cardboard boxes in all sizes - appliance stores usually give these out for free, but call around and ask, because not all do. We keep an assortment of sizes in stock year-round.

- box cutter - about $2 at the hardware store. Definitely for use BY ADULTS ONLY!!!

- big bottles of tempera paint - teaching stores usually carry these for $2/bottle. Tempera paint washes out of most fabrics, and it can be diluted with water if you are painting a large project and want to "stretch" your paint.

- mailing tape - the paper type used to seal packages is best, but the plastic will work, too, it's just a little harder to paint.

- cardboard tubes, milk jugs, pie tins, extra pieces of PVC pipe, blankets, and anything else that can be turned into something new.

For a total cost of less than $30, you can give a gift that will bring hours upon hours of constructive, cooperative fun. Sure, I could buy a video game for my son to play by himself and rot his brain, but why would I when instead he could be playing outside with his siblings and building something tangible. The real sacrifice with this gift is not that I throw down a bunch of money that my husband worked long and hard to earn, but that I will have to dedicate some of my time to help them build whatever it is they pick, rather than keeping up with the never-ending housework or taking a break.

I already shared a picture of the castle I built with the kids a few weeks ago, which they are still playing in (even though it's in a state of disrepair by now). Today, we made a behemoth of a "fireplace" out of three medium-sized appliance boxes. This project was not in the book, but I thought it was fitting anyway because it was just like all the stuff in there.


We have since added yellow and red tissue paper "flames", and I am thinking about a way to make them "light up". We also need to hang stockings this year, which is why the kids wanted a fireplace to begin with.

Enjoy your child(ren) today, they grow up too fast!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Important information regarding miscarriage

First of all, I would like to say that I will make every effort to be very sensitive about such a painful subject. I myself have spontaneously miscarried twice, once just days after finding out I was pregnant, and once around 8 or 10 weeks. The second time, I actually passed a little sac with the baby and all, and it was heartbreaking. I understand the heart of a mom who has suffered miscarriage, and I am in no way trying to be insensitive. I did not need a D&C either time, and suffered no ill after-effects.

This subject has weighed on my mind since a young lady (an old school acquaintance of my husband) contacted me through my blog to ask my advice. She had been told by her doctor that she had a blighted ovum, and needed a D&C. Her question was whether I would recommend the procedure or not.

Ever since then, I have wanted to share the information I found on my blog here, because I think this affects many women. Every time I set out to write about it, someone would write to me saying they either were having or just had a miscarriage, asking for my advice and/or prayers. I receive about a dozen emails a day from readers all over the world asking me all sorts of things, but the last thing I wanted was for them to think I was singling them out and addressing them indirectly through a blog post. Nothing could be further from the truth. My goal with this post is simply to present information so that women who find themselves in this situation in the future can make their own, informed decisions.

Before I responded to my husband's childhood friend, I spent several hours that night researching the subject on the internet. What I found was shocking. I had never been in favor of routinely performing D&Cs after miscarriage. A friend of mine once was thought to have miscarried, because she was early on and had a period just a few days after finding out she was pregnant. She was told by the doctor that there was no heart beat and that she needed a D&C because her body was not naturally expelling the baby, but she waited for weeks for it to happen naturally, thinking her baby was dead that whole time. Lo and behold, weeks later it was found out that she was still pregnant, and the baby is now a healthy 4 year old.

When faced with a miscarriage, a woman has three choices, called expectant management, medical management, and surgical management. Expectant management means the mother does nothing and waits for her body to spontaneously expel the baby, which in very rare cases could take weeks. Medical management is taking certain drugs to induce labor and/or cause the shedding of the uterine lining (these are higher doses of the same drugs as "morning after"pills and birth control pills). Surgical management is usually carrying out a D&C - the cervix is mechanically dilated and the womb scraped out. It is the same procedure as early abortion. In cases of an ectopic pregnancy, sometimes the fallopian tube is surgically removed.

Even in cases of absolutely certain miscarriage, a routine D&C is dangerous business. It could lead to severe complications such as a punctured uterus, but even when it goes well, the uterine lining will have been stripped to the point where another pregnancy is not safe for several months following, after the uterus has had a chance to build a layer thick enough to sustain a new pregnancy. Unless the mother has a fever and is showing signs of infection, or is losing dangerous amounts of blood, there is no reason to do a D&C, and it is only every risky. Of course, doctor use fear to try to push this procedure, as they do with most anything relating to obstetrics. There just isn't a whole lot of work or money in doing things naturally.

That aside, I do not believe that most cases of miscarriage are really "absolutely certain". During the first trimester, no ultrasound or doppler can ever with 100% certainty say that the baby has died based on the fact that no heart beat was detected. A much more reliable test would be to check the mother's hcg levels twice within a span of several days, and see if the levels have dropped (which would indicate a miscarriage).

What I found so shocking in my research into this subject is how many times women are wrongly diagnosed with a blighted ovum. Sometimes, it is just because the person doing the exam does not know how to use the equipment very well, the dates are off, or the woman has a tilted uterus (this is very common), all of which could lead to there being "no heart beat". In other cases, doctors are simply misinformed, such as telling a woman that a blighted ovum means she was never really pregnant and there never was a baby, when in reality there was a fertilized ovum, but for whatever reason it did not survive. This may seem like an insignificant detail, but for Bible believing Christians it means that they had a child whom they will meet when they get to Heaven.

In fact, there is a whole website dedicated to this subject, The Misdiagnosed Miscarriage. There is much great information, and stories of women who were diagnosed wrongly.

I am sure that most women are diagnosed correctly. Nevertheless, I have felt greatly urged to share this information. If your feelings were hurt or you are upset by this post, I sincerely apologize. Every mother who has miscarried struggles with guilt and the question "Did I do anything to cause this?" The last thing I want to do is contribute to that. At the end of the day, all any of us can do is try our best, to the best of our knowledge.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Great article on VBAC

This is a great article I stumbled across about VBACs. If you have had one or even more C-sections in the past, and would like to have a natural birth, please take the time to research this subject and your options for future pregnancies.

Sadly, some states (including Arizona) would like to stamp out and even criminalize VBACs altogether.

I am not saying that everyone who wants to have a VBAC can or should have one. I am just saying that you should inform yourself rather than trusting your OB to give you the right advice (he/she won't), and then pray about it.

Psalm 22:9,10 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.

Flu Vaccine

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Another Q & A

I know you said you do not have a television in your home, but I know you read the news, and I was wondering if you had an opinion on the John and Kate plus 8 happenings. I for one have no respect for a mother who uses her children for her own personal gain, but I wanted to know if you had an opinion on it, and what it was.

I do indeed have an opinion, but it is just that - an opinion. Since I don't know practically anything about the family, and what I do know about them I got through the public media, I really don't know anything at all. Having been on the receiving end of how deceptive the media can be, I am cautious to believe anything they say about any subject.

Having said that, I think it is sad that their family has fallen apart, although I would not try to play the blame game. Both parents seem to have their own set of issues, and the kids are caught in the middle of it. Ultimately, though, I think that the husband has the role of taking charge in the home and making sure the ship stays afloat.

As far as using children for financial gain, that is an interesting subject. We own a business, and as our kids get older and more able (i.e. young teenagers) I am sure that we will expect them to help and pitch in without being paid, or paid as much as an employee would. Children the world over throughout history have been expected to help the family. I read that the Amish say a child is a liability until they are 7, that they pull their own weight until they are 14, and bring the family profit after that, and I think there is a lot of truth in that. I think the question should rather be, would anybody want cameras filming their children regularly and plastering their personal lives on TV for financial gain? I for one certainly wouldn't. But I think it is a better option than to leave the kids to rot in daycare while both parents go to work to pay for a family of ten. I do not watch the Jon & Kate episodes, but I do watch the Duggar shows on Amazon every week, and find them entertaining/encouraging/informative. But would I do it? No.


I was just curious, after I read the bit about China, do you ever discuss other religions with your children?

I don't mean this is a 'nasty' way or anything, just wondering. When I was in school I was always fascinated by other people's religions and what they believed.

I've known several families who would discuss other religions and how it was different from their own, etc etc.

That's a good question. Yes, we do touch on the major world religions as we learn about different countries. We don't waste our time doing any in-depth studies, just a brief synopsis and then tie it in with the Bible, talking about how the religion differs from God's word and making it clear that they are false religions.

The world's religions are not that different from one another, as they all have one major common theme: What must man do in order to go to heaven or reach some other state of higher existence? True Bible Christianity says that God has already done everything, and offers it to us as a free gift that is simply received by faith.

Other cultures have always fascinated me, and back when I was in college (before I was a Christian) I studied Cultural Anthropology.


I have an unrelated question for you - as a new mom and baby-wearer I have been very thankful for your post on different slings/wraps/etc. I remember you saying that you were in the process of making a mei-tai though. Did you make one? How do you like it? I am getting one soon so I'm curious what you think of yours. :)

Yes, I made one, and yes, I like it, but I didn't end up using it much. When the baby was very little, she was more comfortable in a wrap. By the time she was big enough to be comfortable in the mei tai, I usually would use the ring sling because it was faster and more convenient for me. The mei tai is not my first choice of favorite carrier, but everybody has different preferences. Maybe you could borrow different slings and see which type you like best.


I remember reading somewhere on your blog that your kids rarely get sick or have to visit the doctor. Recently i've been catching colds left and right, and I was wondering how to you keep your family so healthy? My mom usually buys organic/"healthy" foods at the grocery store and I stay pretty active so what's your secret? I really hope you respond because I can't take another runny nose!

Your best chances of avoiding a cold/flu is sufficient rest, lots of vitamin C from fresh fruits (not vitamins or ready juice), and washing your hands frequently with mild (not antibacterial) soap.

I think the number 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 reason why we rarely get ill is due to life style. It is NOT because we are isolated (we are not), never go in public (we go to several public places every single day), or are just a rare exception of health. Diet plays a huge role. We always ate mostly at home, cooked from scratch, with whole foods ingredients. We would all get a mild cold about once a year.

Several months ago, we switched to 100% organic foods, and have tried to eliminate eating out as much as possible. I also try to use all natural body care and household products in an effort to eliminate toxins. Organic foods have not been genetically altered, and are grown without pesticides, herbicides, and artificial fertilizers. We only consume raw dairy products, which are much easier on the immune system. I am currently working on a blog post about how to afford organic without spending a fortune.

None of us has become sick in over a year in spite of people all around us being ill frequently. I have lots of energy and feel great, even on limited sleep and working with 5 young children every day with little help from anyone (including my busy husband). I have no family living nearby, so while other moms cannot even function unless they can pawn off their children on Grandma regularly, I am planting a garden, replacing the flooring, or working on some other major project almost all of the time with all the kids there with me 24 hours every single day. On average, I work from 5 or 6 AM until 9 or 10 PM every single day, with few breaks in between, yet I am in perfect health. It's not because I'm supermom, it's because I eat well. Even one meal eaten out at a semi-decent fast casual place will make me tired and sluggish for the rest of the day, and fast food makes me downright ill.

A great book to read to learn about nutrition is "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon. Two great documentaries about what is wrong with the food in the US, most notably genetically engineered food, are "The Future of Food" and "Food Inc.". Both are available for purchase or online viewing on Amazon.



This is the link to the trailer for "Food Inc." (embedding has been disabled on YouTube). Below is a clip of the first few minutes of the film. I saw it at the theater this summer when it first came out, and just like it promises, I never looked at dinner the same way again. I walked out of there and immediately made changes to switch us over to all-organic foods as quickly as possible by shopping and eating differently. Since then, I have not set foot in a supermarket ever again for more than a couple of minutes a handful of times to pick up an organic staple that I ran out of unexpectedly. Food Inc. was just released on DVD this week, and I highly recommend it.




What is your opinion about dental care for yourself and your children?


As with everything pertaining to medicine, I think prevention is the key. Proper nutrition and hygiene will prevent most if not all dental problems in children and young people. Of course, we do see a dentist if there is a need. The one we use was highly recommended to us by my midwife, and it's worth the 1 hour drive each way to have a trustworthy doctor who is not just trying to make business for herself.


Thank you to all who have written and asked my opinion. This is just what I think, and I make no claims to have the right answers and views on any and all subjects.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Infant Mortality in the United States

The CDC just released data from the United States’ Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set and the European Perinatal Health Report.

Their findings? In 2005, the latest year that the international ranking is available for, the United States ranked 30th in the world in infant mortality, behind most European countries, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, and Israel. This in spite of the fact that we spend more than any other of these countries on medical care and equipment, and have the most sophisticated facilities.

  • Infant mortality rates for preterm (less than 37 weeks of gestation) infants are lower in the United States than in most European countries; however, infant mortality rates for infants born at 37 weeks of gestation or more are higher in the United States than in most European countries. I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that 1 in 3 children are born via Cesarean in this country, and that almost all "natural" labors are "managed" with induction, epidurals, pitocin, etc. These procedures are not just unnatural, but also place great stress on both the mother's and the baby's body, and endanger their wellbeing and obviously also their lives.
  • One in 8 births in the United States were born preterm, compared with 1 in 18 births in Ireland and Finland. There are many underlying causes of prematurity, some of which are preventable and some of which aren't. One major cause is preeclampsia (also called toxemia), which is almost 100% preventable and in most cases reversible through following a healthy diet that included plenty of protein. I am a very strong believer in following the Brewer Pregnancy Diet.
  • If the United States had Sweden’s distribution of births by gestational age, nearly 8,000 infant deaths would be averted each year and the U.S. infant mortality rate would be one-third lower.
I mean, I have been to the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary, and their hospitals are somewhat like you would expect to find in Mexico. Even Cuba ranks better than the US. The more Western countries on the list that I have been to (ten of them) have newer hospitals and better equipment (although Britain, who has had socialized health care for the longest, is the worst of these by far), but the fanciest and most modern hospitals I have ever seen are those in the United States. Most maternity wards are made to look like a hotel, but looks can be deceiving.

The best gift any expectant mom can give her child is that of a natural, unmedicated birth that is allowed to progress in its own timing. Midwife-attended home birth is the safest and most satisfying option for low-risk pregnancies.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

5-Minute Recipe for 100% Whole Wheat Bread


Makes 2-3 loaves. Recipe can easily be doubled or halved.

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (1 1/2 packets)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
5 tablespoons neutral-flavored oil, plus more for greasing the pan
6 2/3 cups whole wheat flour (I use freshly milled hard white wheat)

Mix together the water, milk, salt, honey and oil. I use boiling water and milk from the fridge, which together with the oil and honey make just the right temperature for the yeast when all is mixed.

Add yeast and stir (don't worry too much about it all dissolving).

Add flour and mix in without kneading using a big spoon, food processor, or KitchenAid with dough hook (speed 2). You may need a little more flour - the dough should basically somewhat hold its shape and pull away from the bowl, but still be very moist and not dry at all. The secret to this dough is that it is very wet, which is why it will rise without kneading and also keep well in the fridge.

Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough doubles.

The dough can be used immediately, but it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container. Dough can be stored in the fridge for up to five days. I keep mine in a 1 gallon plastic pitcher with lid (vented).

When you are ready to bake, wet your hands and tear off a piece of dough about the size of a cantaloupe. Quickly shape and place in greased bread pan. Cover and allow to rise until about doubled.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place an oven-proof bowl with cold water on a rack in the oven below the rack that the bread pan will be on. Bake bread for about 50 minutes.

When bread is done, rub top immediately with a stick of butter, which will make the top very soft and easier to slice. Take out of pan and cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.

Alternatively, the equivalent of one loaf also makes about a dozen rolls, which I make by simply placing balls of dough in a greased muffin tin. You can do this the night before and let them rise in the fridge overnight, setting them out in the morning for only 15 minutes or so for the dough to warm up a little before baking. I bake them at 350 degrees for about 20 or 25 minutes - just going by the color of the rolls and not really timing them. Again, I rub a stick of butter on the top of them as soon as they come out of the oven and then put them on a cooling rack. This recipe also makes fantastic hot dog and hamburger buns.


The dough is suited for any sweet baked good that uses yeast dough, such as cinnamon rolls, although if you have it on hand you may want to replace the hard wheat with soft wheat (pastry flour). Do not use the pastry flour for making bread, though.

This recipe is NOT conducive to making pizza crust and french bread, because it contains milk and bakes up too soft.

I got this recipe from "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day". Most of the recipes in the book use white flour, BUT they just released their new book TODAY: "Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day". I ordered a copy on Amazon and will let you all know how I like it - supposedly, it has many recipes that use 100% whole grains.

I calculated that using all organic ingredients, raw honey, and raw milk this recipe comes out to less than $1 per loaf, with very little time or effort expended. Right now I am experimenting with using other grains, and adding sprouted wheat berries.

If you find yourself baking all or most of your family's bread (as I have done consistently since discovering this recipe), you may want to invest in an electric slicer. I found several on craigslist for $10-$30. You will be able to use the slicer for cutting meats and cheeses as well, which can help save money by buying in bulk.
Please leave me a comment if you try this recipe and let me know how you like it.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Financial reasons to turn off your television


(This was not written by me, but I thought it was too good not to share. Copied and pasted from here. There are many other reasons not to watch TV, most notably moral standards, but looking at the financial aspect is certainly worthwhile, too.)

Cable / satellite bills Our cable bill used to cost us roughly $60 a month. That adds up to $720 a year spent just to get more programming. Three years worth of that and we’re looking at a very nice vacation. Five or six years of that, put into a savings account, potentially replaces a car.

Electricity We had two televisions, and they would each be on an average of four hours a day. Given a cost of $0.10 per kilowatt hour, and the fact that the smaller television used about 100 watts and the larger one used about 160 watts, that meant we were using a bit over a kilowatt hour each day. There’s another $40 a year that vanished.

Guilt Television programs often create a glamorous image of a life that is far outside the financial capabilities of most people watching. When viewers watch such programs then reflect on their lives, it creates a set of negative feelings. For me, the most prevalent feeling was guilt – I can’t give my family this stuff, I would think. Thus, my sense of self-worth would go down. This would put me in a mindset to be more susceptible to the ….

Commercials Those wonderful short little programs that are designed to sell you stuff, period. Even better: they often work in concert with the programs to create a sense of guilt – and they offer a psychological way out. One commercial isn’t powerful, but when you’re inundated with them… very powerful.

Less time for other opportunities If the television is on for four hours a day, that’s four hours where I could be doing something more constructive with my time, like starting a successful blog (*ahem*) or starting a business or working on a novel or getting household chores done and so forth.

Stress When we spend a lot of time watching television, we put off other things that we should be doing, like paying bills, playing with the kids, and so on. After a while, these things build up and we begin to feel stress in our lives that wouldn’t be there if we didn’t spend so much time watching television. Over time, elevated stress leads to health issues.

Poorer dining habits Instead of spending time preparing a healthy, inexpensive meal from scratch, we would hurry up and eat an more expensive prepackaged meal (or takeout) so that we could catch certain television programs. These costs added up, not only on our wallets, but also around our waists.

Poor health / obesity Television is almost always a sedentary activity. Over time, it begins to show. Television is the big reason for the “obesity epidemic,” because Americans simply don’t get the natural exercise from doing non-sedentary activities that they once got. The health costs from this can be tremendous.

Less communication When the television is on for hours each day, it’s much more difficult to have real conversations with the people in your life. Over time, less communication means weaker relationships with the people you love, and this means that quite often you have to “supplement” the relationship with additional spending.

Monday, October 12, 2009

When "raw" is not really "raw"

There is not enough time in my life to write about all the things that are wrong with the FDA, USDA, CDC, and on down the list of government agencies who think their job is to parent grown citizens and line the pocketbooks of large corporations under the guise of "safety." I'll have to be content to just occasionally expose one of their deceptive lies.

Probably everyone has heard about the health benefits of eating raw nuts, particularly almonds. But did you know that when you buy a package at the store that says "raw", these are really pasteurized by steam pasteurization or fumigation with propylene oxide? You can read about it here, as well as lots of other online sources. How this can be called "raw" is beyond me. If I gave you a baked potato and told you it was raw you'd know the difference. And if you planted the baked potato, it would not sprout. The Bible talks a lot about the health benefits of fruits and their seeds, but the FDA apparently does not concur.

I honestly believe that they want all people to die slow, painful cancer deaths just before they are old enough to retire. That way, we pay into the social security scam, but don't "withdraw". We will also be more than happy to pay astronomical insurance premiums to cover ourselves in case we get seriously ill.

And while we are it, most cheeses labeled as "raw" (meaning they were made from unpasteurized milk) are not really raw, it means that they were pasteurized for shorter or at a lower temperature.

Thankfully, I found a great source for raw, organic almonds that in bulk are actually much cheaper than conventionally grown "raw" almonds at the store are.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Tips to prevent flu

This information is all from Gloria Lemay's blog. Since she is a midwife, this is all geared at pregnant women, but it works just as well for anyone else.

I am not affiliated with Ms. Lemay at all. Her website is always full of great information on natural childbirth, but personally, I would classify some of the content as only appropriate for other ladies. So if you go visit her blog and take objection to something, please do not write to me (or her!) to complain.

Regimen to help prevent flu:

1. Go to bed at 10 p.m. or earlier in a very dark room. Healthy sleep is important. Get rid of lighting in the bedroom (nightlights, electronic clocks, etc.)


2. Change your bedding and towels once a week.

3. Eat foods high in Vitamin C. Grapefruit, oranges, kiwi fruit and red peppers. Get used to these fruits as dessert.

4. Eliminate white sugar and flour from your diet.

5. Eliminate caffeine (coffee, tea, colas, chocolate).

6. Buy a wool scarf and mittens and be sure to bundle up warmly when you go out into the cold. Scarves help maintain your body heat and can be unwrapped and stuffed into your pocket when you go into a store or office building to adjust your warmth level.

7. If you feel the first tickle of a cold or sore throat, cancel everything and go straight to bed with hot herbal tea and a bag of grapefruit. Nip it in the bud with rest, Vitamin C and inner warmth.

8. Here’s a link to herbs that are safe in pregnancy. Learn to love your herb teas.

9. Slow down and enjoy your pregnancy. This is a special time in your life. Say “no” to overbooking yourself and consider quitting work earlier than you planned.

10. Keep your partner healthy, too.


Nutrition to prevent flu (a guest post on her blog by Aliss Terpstra)


Handwashing can minimize the spread of live virus
from hands to our own mouth, nose and eyes which are the portals to the mucous membranes that the virus needs to enter in order to cause infection. Handwashing can also reduce transmission to others, but will not protect anyone from airborne virus at close range. Handwashing and laundry do not aid the immune system once exposure has happened! I think it is irresponsible and unethical for our public health officials to harp on handwashing but deliberately avoid informing the public about solid scientific information on nutrient supplementation that is safer and more effective than an untested vaccine costing Canadian taxpayers millions of dollars. We can not adequately control our risk of exposure from others unless we are willing to live in a bubble until the ‘pandemic’ is over, but we can aid our bodies to resist infection and produce true immunity with mild illness or no illness at all. This kind of immunity tends to be permanent and will be passed on to the baby.

In addition to good quality uninterrupted sleep (not always possible with other children to tend, discomforts of pregnancy and need to empty bladder more frequently) and a diet with adequate natural FAT and PROTEIN during pregnancy, there is now good evidence that three nutrients protect against flu infection when supplemented. Not coincidentally, these three nutrients are needed in greater amounts during pregnancy and nursing, and CDC-NHANES recent studies found a high percentage of women of childbearing age to be mildly to severely deficient in at least one. They are:
Selenium
Iodine
Vitamin D

Drinking fluoridated tap water and consuming processed foods, tea and reconstituted bottled fruit juices increase the requirement for all three nutrients. Those of you living in B.C. are so lucky. Southern Ontario is 75% fluoridated and the grocery food supply is 100% fluoridated. To boot, our agricultural lands are selenium and iodine deficient so local foods are low in these nutrients.

Prenatal vitamins do not contain adequate amounts for optimal immunity. Health Canada does not approve of vitamin supplement formulas that produce optimal immunity in pregnant women. Ironically, factory farmed animals get optimal supplementation! Health Canada would also like all drinking water systems across Canada to have added fluoride from industrial waste source, to a level of 0.7 mg per liter. Hmmm I wonder why.

Check Dr. Mercola’s website for more info, Mike Adams, the Vitamin D Council (Dr. John Cannell), Harold Foster’s site, or the works of Marc Sircus OMD.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Calling all bread lovers

You do not have to be a bread baker to appreciate a good loaf of fresh, artisan bread. But if you are, you could save some serious "dough" by making it yourself. Then again, who has the time and inclination to any more these days, right?

In comes this book, which I read about in an all-natural type magazine a few weeks ago and then checked out from the local library:


Just as the title suggests, you can learn how to make artisan bread in mere minutes. The book explains how to mix a big batch of rather moist dough without kneading or raising it, which is then kept in the refrigerator and baked into individual loaves whenever you want to. It really works, and tastes wonderful.

Here is a picture of a loaf I made this week - it was gone before it ever even cooled down completely.


The only downside is that the book uses mostly white flour (which produces a crunchier crust than whole grains that contain more plant oils), but the authors are releasing their new book, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, on October 27th. Maybe my husband will read this and get it for me for Christmas.


And speaking of Christmas, I would also really like it if he built a bread oven in the backyard. Just saying...

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

How to book hotels inexpensively

We book hotel rooms with Priceline on a weekly basis for my husband's business. We also use priceline for all of our family's personal travels. We have stayed in resorts that cost several hundred dollars per night for about $60, or at exclusive hotels along the California coast for a fraction of the price that we would have been given at the door. For vacations where we stay in the same place for several days, I like to get an extended stay hotel with a kitchen in the room, which cost about $25-$30 per night.

Whenever somebody asks how we get such great deals on hotel rooms, I recommend them priceline, but more often than not, they later tell me that they could not figure out how to do it right.

Priceline
has two different offers for hotel rooms: a) Pick a room at one of the hotels they offer and book it at their price. This is more expensive, and really no different from any other travel site. If we ever need to do this for some reason, we prefer travelocity.com OR b) Chose "Name your own price". You will not be told which hotel you are staying at, you simply chose the area you want, how many stars, and what you are willing to pay. Priceline then either accepts your offer and gives you the info on your hotel, or rejects your offer, in which case you have to change your search or wait until the next day to try again.

This concept does take some getting used to, but with as much as my husband travels, we know exactly what the best deals are where, and what the minimum price is that will get accepted. The star levels really do not say much about how nice the hotels are, as they are almost always major chains, just how many extras that particular hotel offers (e.g. room service, shuttle, etc.). For example, the Extended Stay America hotels are rated as 1-star, and they really are far from being the bottom-shelf, worst hotels out there.

So here is a step-by-step explanation.

1) Go to priceline.com, and click on "Name your own price". IMPORTANT: If you just go the "Hotels" tab, you are picking and booking a certain hotel at a certain price, which is not nearly as good of a deal.


2) This little window will pop up, where you enter the approximate vicinity of where you are staying and when. You can book rooms for the same night until 8 PM Pacific Time. For demonstration purposes, I am going to enter "Indian Wells, CA" where we stay frequently.


3) The next screen shows the various areas that are available in the particular city you are looking at. For Indian Wells, there are only 3 areas. Major cities such as Phoenix can have a dozen or more areas, so it's not like you will end up at a hotel across town even though you are not picking a particular hotel.


4) Here is a close-up shot of the same screen as above. You will notice that area 3 has a "Best deal" symbol by it, meaning that this area will offer you the nicest hotels for the lowest price. If this is an area you can stay in, it would be your best option to chose.

This is another close-up of the same screen, showing that the resorts are the best deal. So even without being able to chose a certain hotel, you now know that your best option will be to chose "Resorts" in area 3.

5) At the bottom of this same screen, you then enter your price and information. When you hit "enter", you need to confirm that you understand the offer is non-refundable and non-transferable. We also always opt-out of travel insurance. After that, priceline will tell you whether or not your offer was accepted.

In my example of Indian Wells, there are several different resorts that can be booked at $55-60 per night, even though per priceline the median retail price for resorts in that area is $199 (you can see that info in the box next to where you enter your price; see above image).

Resorts are great for families with lots of children because they usually offer huge rooms, sometimes even two-room suites, with 2 queen-size beds, a queen-size sleeper sofa, and playpens on request. Booking through priceline only guarantees one king-size bed, but hotels are almost always happy to substitute a room with two queen/double beds instead at no extra charge. As another rule of thumb, the nicer the hotel is, the nicer the staff will be, and they are not likely to complain about there being too many people in the same room.

That's it. Not nearly as complicated as it may seem. Please let me know if you tried this after reading about it here.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Recommended reading for pregnancy

Pregnancy is a great time to learn about all things relating to childbearing, birth, breastfeeding, and the like. Especially first time moms should be able to eek out some spare time to read and educate themselves. Sadly, most women trust that they will get all the right and needed advice from their health care provider (as they should), but such is rarely the case. "Informed choice" is really no choice at all if no alternatives are given.

For any mother-to-be, pregnancy is a very emotionally-laden and vulnerable time. We all want what is best and safest for our children, and there is a certain fear of the unknown involved, even for mothers of many children. Death and life are forever entwined in the process of childbearing - we practically have to brush up against death in order to bring forth new life. It is therefor no small wonder that mothers will do whatever they are told is best and safest for their baby.

Unfortunately, the information they are given is more often dictated by current medical fashion, rather than fact. Our grandmothers gave birth under "twilight sleep", strapped down to their hospital beds because the drugs would make them thrash uncontrollably. Our mothers were shaved, given enemas, routinely administered IVs, denied food and water, had baby monitored with internal fetal monitors (that screw into the baby's scalp; these are still in use today when the external ones don't work), and were not allowed the support of a husband or friend by their side.

Today, hospitals offer "birthing suites" that are intended to curtail the fact that births take place in the hospital, a place intended for the severely ill, as if pregnancy is inherently a pathological condition. C-section rates are higher than ever before. This is one of my pet peeves. These days, with one in three babies born by way of major surgery, you are a candidate for sectioning if you are too old, too young, to short, to fat, too petite, your feet are too small, your baby is too big, you have had a Cesarean before, baby is presenting breech, the weekend is approaching, or your last name starts with any of the letters from A to Z.

I am not trying to say that all pregnancies are low-risk, and that no babies should be born at the hospital or via Cesarean section. But for the vast majority of women who are having babies naturally (as in, not having high order multiples or getting pregnant for the first time in their 40s thanks to reproductive medicine), pregnancy and birth are straight-forward and safe. Which makes them not very lucrative for doctors. It also doesn't provide them with something to "fix". Some doctors are motivated by greed, some may be ignorant, never having witnessed a natural birth, or been taught how to deliver a baby that is presenting bottom first. Some may be sick and twisted and enjoy torturing people, such as abortion doctors who also work in labor & delivery.

Ultimately, however, it is our responsibility as parents to educate ourselves and to take charge of the care we seek out and receive during pregnancy. None of us would buy a new house or a new car without putting some serious thought and research into it. Nobody would want to invest $1 million not knowing exactly how to best do it. Each of our children is infinitely worth more than any of these earthly possessions, and naturally, I want what is best for them. Having a good birth is more than just having a living baby and a living mother, no matter what condition they are in or how much they suffered during the process. By God's grace, birth can be a time of great rejoicing, with only minimal physical discomfort.

The following are some books that I think are great reading for achieving just that. I highly recommend them to any expecting couple.



Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care

From Publishers Weekly
According to writer and editor Block (Our Bodies, Ourselves), "the United States has the most intense and widespread medical management of birth" in the world, and yet "ranks near the bottom among industrialized countries in maternal and infant mortality." Block shows how, in transforming childbirth into a business, hospitals have turned "procedures and devices developed for the treatment of abnormality" into routine practice, performed for no reason than "speeding up and ordering an unpredictable...process"; for instance, the U.S. cesarean section rate tripled in the 1970s, and has doubled since then. Block looks into a growing contingent of parents-to-be exploring alternatives to the hospital-and the attendant likelihood of medical intervention-by seeking out birthing centers and options for home-birth. Unfortunately, obstacles to these alternatives remain considerable-laws across the U.S. criminalizing or severely restricting the practice of midwifery have led the trained care providers to practice underground in many states-while tort reform has done next to nothing to lower malpractice insurance rates or improve hospital birthing policies. This provocative, highly readable expose raises questions of great consequence for anyone planning to have a baby in U.S., as well as those interested or involved in women's health care.

The author, Jennifer Block, also has a blog with lots of great information. Given the nature of the subject at hand - natural birth - I recommend this link for ladies only.




Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born

This book gives a historical tour of birth practices throughout time, how our Western approach to pregnancy care came to be what it is, and who let men into the birthing room. Very well researched with lots of fascinating info. I do of course disagree with the premise that our troubles during childbirth have to do with our evolutionary-imperfect pelvis that was made for a monkey walking on fours, not a human walking on two legs. Instead, I believe that this is the result of the curse pronounced upon mankind after the fall. I skipped the first chapter of the book, and found the rest to be extremely informative.



Born in the USA: How a Broken Maternity System Must Be Fixed to Put Women and Children First

From Booklist

*Starred Review* The outspoken former director of Women's and Children's Health at the World Health Organization believes maternity and perinatal care in the U.S. are seriously flawed. To make the point, he cites recent Centers for Disease Control findings that 28 countries have lower maternity-mortality rates; 41, lower infant-mortality rates. This despite the fact that the U.S. spends twice as much or more per capita on health care than any other industrialized nation. Wagner places responsibility squarely on the shoulders of obstetricians and the lobbying power of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Interested in one thing above all else--maintaining control of a lucrative market--that group, he avers, foists unnecessary, expensive, and invasive medical interventions upon women when none are needed. Obstetricians are only necessary, he says, in a minority of cases in which serious medical problems threaten the life of mother or child. For the most part, childbirth isn't a medical condition, and infant and maternal mortality rates are lowest in countries in which midwives attend to it. Speaking from his experience as a clinical perinatologist and a perinatal epidemiologist and supplemented by the hoard of credible sources cited in the copious endnotes, Wagner pulls no punches in advocating a woman's right to control the entire reproductive process, from conception through birth. Donna Chavez



The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth


"In Henci Goer, thinking women have a champion, and maternity caregivers have a challenger. Henci has applied her impressive intellect, wisdom, writing skills, common sense, and wit to produce *The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth*. She analyzes and makes sense of a prodigious amount of recent obstetric research, boils it down, and summarizes its findings. And, on the basis of these findings, she makes practical recommendations for better births. Not one to pull the wool over anyone's eyes, Henci lets the reader in on her whole thinking process, providing scientific references, summaries of the articles, and logical recommendations--all in a highly readable, user-friendly format." -- Penny Simkin, P.T. internationally known speaker, birth educator, doula, doula-trainer co-author of *Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn* and author of *The Birth Partner*


Your Best Birth: Know All Your Options, Discover the Natural Choices, and Take Back the Birth Experience

From Publishers Weekly
Former talk show host Lake, producer of the documentary The Business of Being Born, joins with Epstein, the film's director, to further probe the subject of birth in America. Asserting that the high tech, low touch trend in medicalized births has usurped parents' sense of power and choice, the authors present a detailed examination of the birthing experience, beginning with their own personal accounts. Employing the premise that although one can't predict what will happen during birth, one can prepare, they present options that women should consider, including home birth and the use of a midwife or doula. Lake and Epstein point out that while 99% percent of births in the U.S. take place in hospitals and one-third are cesareans, the vast majority of births are not high risk and may not require medical intervention. But the fear of pain combined with unnecessary hospital protocols cause many couples to narrow or relinquish their options. The authors discuss the pros and cons of such interventions as episiotomies, epidurals and electronic monitors, and encourage women to carefully question their practitioners and hospital personnel. Above all, the authors advocate a safe and empowered birth, whether one chooses a hospital, home or birth center.


1Timothy 2:15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

Friday, September 18, 2009

This year's curriculum

I thought some of my homeschooling readers may be interested in our curriculum choices this year.



Our main curriculum this year is going to be "Galloping the Globe", a geography based unit study. I found a copy of it at the homeschool convention this summer, and immediately fell in love with it. A unit study covers all subjects - except math and language arts - for all grades (at various learning levels). For moms with several children, this means that much time is saved by not teaching children individually. Unit studies often also use available public resources such as libraries and the internet, which saves a lot of money. One main goal of unit studies is to teach children to love learning by making it fun and interesting.

For example, next week, we are going to learn all about China. The curriculum gives lots of suggestions for books that can be borrowed from a local library. Learning about the Great Wall of China, Marco Polo, and various emperors of the past covers history. Social studies that week will focus on studying Chinese holidays. For literature, books that are set in China or relate to the country in some other way are listed. There are suggestions of Bible passages that relate to themes in these various books. Science next week will focus on animals that are traditionally found in China, such as panda bears and orangutans. The book also lists many other activities that tie in with China, such as playing ping-pong or making a Chinese meal to conclude the weekly study.



For Math, all kids will continue to do Harcourt Math. I really like this course a lot. The books thoroughly explain new concepts in simple terms, which is conducive to self-teaching on days that I am pinched for time. The books are advanced, without being frustrating or overwhelming. Plus, because the books for 3rd-6th grade are non-consumable hardcovers, I only have to buy them once. K through 2nd grade are consumable workbooks, but all can be found quite easily and inexpensively on ebay etc.




For English, I wanted to find something that had a relaxed approach and would engage young minds rather than bore them to tears. In past years, we used A Beka and Bob Jones, both of which were nice but required too much involvement from me, were too repetitive, and often not mentally challenging. With that in mind, I tried to find something different and better, but so far, we really have not had enough of a chance to use the new books and give an opinion on them. First impression is very good, though.

These are the subjects we will be working on Monday-Thursday. In the chart below, subjects that will not be studied on Fridays have a gray background.

Fridays are reserved for music lessons and field trips. All three boys are getting free violin lessons from a wonderful teacher in town, whom God put in our path. For field trips, we try to do something every week, such as visiting a museum, touring a factory, or going on a nature hike. I also signed the boys up for homeschool science classes at the Arizona Science center. They last about 2 hours, and we go one Friday each month. This week, the boys learned all about magnifiying and got to use various microscopes. Of course, they totally loved it. The science center also has loaner boxes available to take home, which contain all the info and materials needed to complete projects on certain subjects. We took home "Light and Colors", and Solomon has eagerly been working through it. Fridays are also our library days, where we go and check out the books for the following week's subjects.

Solomon

Isaac

John

Bible reading –family

daily reading of the One Year Bible as a family

Bible reading - independent

continue to read OT 2-3 chapters/day

continue to read the book of John, 6-8 verses/day

-

Bible memory

undecided

undecided

undecided

Reading – family read-aloud

Little House series. Currently in “Farmer Boy” (book 3 of 9)

Reading - independent

Whatever they choose – once our kids finish learning to read, the problem is not getting them to read, it’s to get them to stop and instead work/play/run around.

A Beka Handbook for Reading, mics. A Beka readers for K5 and 1st grade

Math

Harcourt Math grade 4

Harcourt Math grade 2

Harcourt Math K

Spelling

Natural Speller

Natural Speller

-

Handwriting

Daily copywork – copy Proverbs (cursive), about 4-5 verses/day

A Beka Writing with Phonics grade 1 (cursive)

A Beka Writing with Phonics K5 (manuscript), ABC Writing Tablet K4 (cursive)

English – Grammar

Simply Grammar

Primary Language Lessons

A Beka Letters & Sounds K5

English – Composition

Writing Strands

Social Studies (Science, History, Geography, etc.)

Galloping the Globe – this is a wonderful one-year unit study that focuses on one country per week, tying in science, history, literature, cooking, etc. Very fun and educational!!!

Foreign Language

Spanish: weekly class at church

German: online Auralog course through library, practice with Mom

Spanish: class at church

German: practice with Mom

German: practice with Mom

Arts & Crafts

The World of Little House

Little House in the Classroom

These are just two books we are using this year to go along with our family read-aloud. The kids make lots of crafts on their own every day. They love to draw, color, cut, glue, build, and generally make the school/dining room a complete mess EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Yes, there is some frustration in that sentence. We have too many books with great craft ideas to list them all here. The kids really like most of the ones in the “Williamson Little Hands Books” series.

Music

weekly piano and violin lessons, daily practice

weekly violin lessons, daily practice

weekly violin lessons, daily practice

P.E.

one or two 1-hour meetings/week at the park with Sportskidz Arizona


Hope you gleaned some ideas from this post if you are still looking for school books this year!