Saturday, February 27, 2010

Soap Nuts

O.K. So, this is a new one for me, but after researching, it looks like it's for real. My midwife, Holly, is SUPER sensitive to every chemical on the earth. She gets skin rash from all sorts of things (EXCEPT FOR MY SOAP, LOL). Anyway, we were talking about cloth diapering as it sounds like she will sell cloth diapers in her new birthing clinic and her new website. We talked about what to wash the diapers in, and she said she had been using soap nuts and really liked them (not for cloth diapers, just for all her clothes.) Long story short, they are some sort of fruit with saponins in them and they get the clothes really clean. I use Tide which is super expensive...but I kind of scratch my head every time I'm looking at the detergent section. I just haven't found anything that I really liked that much and I'm always distrusting a brand that advertises during the super bowl. I don't want to pay for that...I really just want good product. Anyway, I just ordered the soapnuts on Amazon and we shall see. Holly said they last her about 7 washes and then she tosses them. Her clothes get really clean and they are super soft.
To use them, you just put 5 nuts in a little muslin bag and toss the bag in the wash. When the nuts get squishy and gray (??), you toss them (into your garden if you have one-not me). I'll have to review the soapnuts when I get them. Also, Miley went off of her nursing strike exactly 7 days after she started. Every day I tried introducing my breast again and she cried about it. Finally, the morning of the seventh day, I woke up a little late and she was already hungry and crying. I didn't have time to pump before she ate, so I squirted some milk into her mouth from my breast....she cried for one second and then decided the boob was good enough for her. Babies can be so funny, sometimes.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

CHicken Broth...the Liquid Gold of my Home


























I'm sure you're wondering why there's a photo of my dirty 24 quart pot...but pictures help when you're trying to explain something. At a recent ladies' luncheon, the subject of chicken broth came up, and I think I've never gotten so many blank stares as I have with chicken broth (not just at the luncheon...). If you like my cooking....chicken broth is the secret ingredient. If you like my baking...coconut oil is the secret ingredient. But for now, I"m discussing chicken broth, a natural wonder that should make its' appearance in every woman's kitchen.
We live in a more rural area right now, but upon request, the grocery store gets me 6 whole organic chickens at a time for $65. (country mart...all you branson-ites), and these wonder-birds are used to make lots and lots of delicious dishes around here. If you cook the bird with the bone, you're going to get a FABULOUS flavor...so for anything "chicken", with shredded or cubed chicken, I like to throw a bird (or four) into the oven on a cookie sheet. I salt and pepper the birds and roast them for 30-45 minutes on 350. I then set them on the counter to cool and then de-bone the chicken. By de-bone, I mean, just pull all of the meat you can find and plop it in a bowl. Now you have chicken for soups, chicken enchiladas, chicken salad, chicken tacos, ...you get the idea. Not just ANY chicken. SUPER FLAVORFUL, yummy chicken. One idea is to roast your chickens on one day of the week (in preparation for the week's menus), and then store enough chicken per meal in ziploc bags. Then, you can freeze the bones for later, or make your broth. The above mentioned method is recent for me. Up until a few months ago, I ALWAYS made my broth by making Jordin Rubin's chicken broth recipe. After I feel it's "done", I pour the soup out of the large pot, through a strainer, into another large bowl. This gives me jars and jars of chicken broth (store your broth in 1 quart mason jars from walmart-they are about $1 a jar. Pour hot broth in the jar, but leave an inch of headroom so they won't break while freezing). After separating everything into three parts...chicken bowl, broth bowl, and vegetable bowl, I then put everyone's "soup" together for dinner. Each person gets a bowl of broth and then I'll scoop veggies in and chicken on top. Sometimes, I'll do pasta for a chicken noodle soup. This takes some work, but it's worth it. I use leftover chicken for the next day or two in dishes, the veggies get chopped into a meatloaf or something, and the broth goes into the freezer in jars. The night before I need broth, I put it on the counter to thaw, or I just keep rotating broth into the fridge as I use up the thawed out jar. I use the broth for rice, beans, soups, gravy, or just by itself as a delicious hot drink. The flavor is outstanding~
BELOW IS MY RECIPE FROM JORDAN RUBIN:

1 medium whole chicken

3-4 quarts of water

5 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

4 chicken feet (optional)

8 organic carrots

6 stalks of celery

4 zucchini

4 medium white onions

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

4 inches grated ginger

5 cloves garlic

1 large bunch parsely

5 tbsp. moist high-mineral celtic sea salt


fill the largest stainless steel pot you can find with purified water

add 1 tbspoon of apple cider vinegar

let stand 10 minutes

fill the pot with chicken, vegetables, sea salt, and other ingredients

boil

let boil for 60 seconds and lower heat

simmer soup for 12-14 hours add parsely 30 minutes beofe the soup is finished (i've never done this part). remove chicken from the bones and place the chicken meat back in the soup

remove and discard feet



This is actually from Jordin Rubin’s book: Patient Heal Thyself. He recommends eating this soup once a week for its’ healing powers. I make a huge batch of it, we eat it, and then I save the “broth” in quart jars for future chicken broth needs. When eating it, I like to add a dash of tabasco as well as an extra dash of salt.


Just use the ingredients that you have on hand or can get, but when possible, get the exact ingredients in the recipe. This is the tried and true recipe that Jordin Rubin used when healing from Crohn's disease. Chicken broth making is a "habit". I have the "habit" of keeping the whole birds in my refrigerator and I have a "habit" of making more when I'm down to only one or two jars. It keeps us in the good "habit" of eating chicken soup every two or three weeks. The ONE habit of making my own broth took my cooking up a whole new level. AND, it's better for you than store bought AND you have a substance on hand that heals the body while tasting delicious. The kids drink this warm out of a little cup if I give it to them. Miley drinks it out of a bottle. Yum Yum!

Now, the recipe calls for chicken feet...there ARE ways to get these...but most Americans are repulsed by parts....so let me know if you need help with that. The deal is, the marrow of the chicken has healing properties for the human's body. The feet of the chicken have an especially high amount of the gelatin????? or whatever the substance is that is so good for you. Chicken broth is known by the jews as their "penicillin" and has God given healing properties. Don't worry, you can still be spiritual and not eat the feet.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Birthday Hike

There's something wonderful, even magical, about exploring the "area" in which you live. The only time it wouldn't be magical (in my opinion) is if you lived in the desert. Maybe there's something exciting about the desert, maybe I've watched too many movies, but it seems like the sand and cactus get to ya' after awhile.
Yesterday was my birthday and I wanted some hiking shoes and to go on a hike for my birthday. My husband's so good! He gave me exactly what I wanted and Mackenzie came with us. We hiked at a local conservation area and it was a teeny tiny one, only 1/2 mile with an observation deck to climb at the top. The view was GORGEOUS and hiking always preserves a memory in my brain. I started hiking when I was very very young on the ranch in Texas and then I hiked in college (Pike's peak, girls' wasn't that fun!), and then I hiked in California when I lived there. Now, we're in Branson, MO and whenever I see the little brown signs on the side of the highway for state parks or conservation areas....I want to go see and explore. Right now, it's snowy on the ground, but the temperature gets up to 39 degrees, so it melts a lot during the day. The hike yesterday was paved, which is nice for strollers...and the like. There were two hikes at this park. One was the 1/2 mile and one was three miles. The three miler said it takes 3 hours to complete. I'm hoping it's paved as well so that the kids could maybe bring bikes or something. My favorite hikes are those that are just a little worn dirt path winding through rockes and caverns and trees. You're not sure what's around the next corner...then they open up into a vista view....but how to carry three of the 5 kids??? Maybe we'll stick to the 1/2 milers for now, and work our way up to the 6 mile vista views. I like sharing my life with our kids. Nothing has been more rewarding or more fulfilling than teaching, exploring, and living life with and through the eyes of our children. What a blessing. What a great birthday.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Bottles, Pumps, Breastmilk.....and a Nursing Strike

SO sorry the photo is that large. I copied and pasted and moved and grooved...and this is the best I could do.

Basically, one night I was nursing and all seemed fine, and the next morning, Miley WOULD NOT nurse. I did what I do best and after 1.5 hours of "persuasion", she sleepily nursed. She took a nap, then when she woke up, no nursing AGAIN. And profuse loud crying when she saw my breast. This was and is, definitely a "first" for me. All of the children so far have had the following things in common; they hated bottles, pacifiers, and the like and the breast was best. Thankfully, a few things were lined up and ready for me. One, Miley had shown an interest in bottles, so I had gone to Babies R us this last time and purchased a few (WOW! THOSE DUDES ARE EXPENSIVE), and then, I had been feeding chicken broth to her in a bottle just to curb her appetite, water, and silver water...so the stage was sort of set for her to drink milk out of a bottle. Also, I had JUST talked to a friend a couple of days prior about pumping, because, I was thinking I needed to leave at least a bottle or two for sitters in case I did not make it home or she woke up prematurely from a nap or something. We were JUST in Texas, and my pump was there. Every morning I woke up, I felt in my heart to go get my pump out of the closet (my in-laws live in my room right now), and I shook it off.
The stage has been set, but no pump, and I am majorly engorged right about now. SO, now what's a girl to do? I called the local hospital to see if they rented pumps. They stopped renting two weeks ago. Target had electric pumps for $250 (at least the kind that I had back in Texas), and we're on a strict budget right now. So, I went online and looked at the other pumps Target carried. They had a handheld pump by Medela on sale for $33. Not too bad. The thing that interested me about it was all of the positive reviews. I have to admit...I HATE my electric pump. You have to be "plugged" in to a wall, and it's loud, and I never could get the suction "just right", but I have always assumed that was the best way to go. Needless to say, I drove to Target as fast as my car would go, and I bought the handheld Medela pump for $33. On the way home, I jerked up my sweater and started pumping as fast as I could go. By the time I careened into the garage I had four ounces and was in love with a new best friend....the harmony pump by Medela. It says "for occasional use" on the package, but don't let that fool ya'...it's an all time best friend. I stuck it in my purse and pumped in the church bathroom that night, proudly presenting a "warm" bottle to the church ladies in the nursery.
Needless to say, the emotions run high when your baby won't suck your boob. They just do. Especially if you think it's your last. Well, anytime, I think it would be emotional. But, God has awesomely gotten me through this one. I woke up and praised and praised for two mornings in a row and prayed over Miley, and God is SO good. He's just helped me with the whole thing.
My review of the pump is as follows. Easy, comfortable, and the pump/handle part swivels, so you can change hands or positions or whatever you need to do to pump faster or in a different position. I like it better than the electric pump because it's portable, it's small, requires no batteries or electricity, gives my forearm a little workout, is more discreet, is quieter, and is easy to clean.
The next part I need to review are bottles. I have a tendency towards "organic". I will automatically skip playtex or any of those type that you can "smell" the plastic wafting out of the bottle. Read for yourself on plastics, pthalates...hormones going into your baby...anyway, my review is coming from that consumer "position". When I had purchased bottles in Texas, I purchased two different kinds to try. Avent and Born Free. Avent, I had always heard was the "best" bottle. Babies liken it to breastfeeding...yada yada yada....and born free had the cool glass bottle. PLUS, all bottles come with a newborn nipple (what a waste), and I needed the older baby nipple. What to get? Size 2, size 3, size 4???One of each? Then, I had gotten two different brands which took different nipple sizes. Oh brother. This is getting to be a big deal. So, I got the Avent bottle and size 3 or 4 nipple and the Born Free bottle and a size 2 nipple. (I don't even know if she will LIKE a bottle at this point). She DID end up liking the bottle, but the bigger girl nipple seemed to make her feel like she was choking on the flow, so I backed it down and gave her the Born Free glass bottle with a stage 2 nipple. Ahh, she liked that. But, the bottle is a little heavy and I don't want the kids TOUCHING it or feeding her with it.
After ALL of this, I come back to Branson from Texas, and Miley goes on a nursing strike, and thankfully, I already have some bottles, but I bought little 4 ounce bottles, and she is now six months old and she sort of "despairs" at the end of the bottle....like it's not enough food. But, but the time I pour more milk in and warm it up, she feels a little full. THen gets hungry again in 20 minutes or so. SO, I wanted to order one more bottle (to add to my collection, right?) and I found the coddlelife bottle on Amazon.com which came in record time and free shipping. It is AWESOME. I can't say enough about this bottle. I think it's totally new to the market and so you can't find any reviews on it, but it's a super lightweight space-age glass that is harder to break and you can submerge in boiling water without it cracking. The bottle itself is smaller around, so easier for baby to hold. For $4.99 you can buy the silicone cover that is also food grade. The nipple isn't smooth, it has tiny "bumps" on it like your breast has and it's stretchy and more shaped like the breast. The stage 3 nipple (I got that one), has an "air release" system that is super cool....it's silicone. REALLY, these bottles are the bomb! And, they are the same price as an avent or a Born Free. I like the glass on these so much better than the Born Free because it's lighter weight. (the Born Free are kind of cool because they remind me of the old fashioned glass bottles-think gerber baby jar or something), but it's worth it to look into the Coddlelife.
I'm out of words. It's been an interesting few days, but the adjustment happened very quickly. I pump, she drinks, she sleeps longer in the morning. I think it's her teeth. I pinch her when she bites and she got four teeth at once on the top and it's almost as if she doesn't know what to do with them and doesn't want to get pinched. Me either.