Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Why My Family Drinks Raw Milk

Wow- It's hard to believe that it's been nearly six months since I made all these dietary changes!  I need to give it a name.  How about "The Change" ?  So, six months since The Change.   People like to talk to me about the changes I've made (well, sometimes.  As long as they're the ones bringing it up :)  But anyway, I love to talk about it. Sometimes I find that I remember what I should be doing, but I forget WHY and can't explain it.

One of the latest questions I faltered on was "Why do you drink raw milk?  What's so great about it?"  I told the story of how when I was weaning my youngest, I had switched her to regular whole, pasteurized milk from the grocery store.  She immediately started having a bad reaction, and a terrible diaper rash, like her skin was burned.  I had heard that raw milk was gentler, and bought some for her.  The rash immediately went away!  I also toyed with the idea of going to raw milk when I thought my oldest daughter might have a milk allergy.  But as for other health properties?  I decided to brush up on my raw milk info & explain why we drink raw milk.

I found an interesting article on rockrivertimes.com that gets into the debate between raw & pasteurized milk.  It mentions some of the main benefits of drinking raw milk:


Studies at the Price Foundation show humans grow bigger and more dense bones when consuming raw milk. They say there is more efficient use and better absorption of vitamins and minerals, that children on raw milk don’t get anemic and that there is an improvement in children’s behavior. They also claim there is better overall growth and fewer cases of tuberculosis.
Price research showed raw milk is designed to create an immune system that uses beneficial bacteria in our intestines and that those beneficial bacteria are killed during pasteurization. Other benefits cited by raw milk users include protection against allergies, ear infections and skin rashes, and the prevention or elimination of asthma.
Fewer and fewer people can consume milk each year because of the increase of those who are lactose intolerant. Raw milk proponents say 82 percent of those who are lactose intolerant can drink raw milk.
I have to admit I do still get a little nervous that I might get some illness from raw milk.  But I feel the health benefits are worth the risk.  And I feel that my milk sources are dependable and follow proper raw milk safety practices.
So there you go.  

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Chiptole Super Bowl Commercial

Did you watch the Super Bowl a few weeks ago?  We didn't.  We got rid of satellite TV a few months ago, and we have old TV's that need a converter box to get TV signal for local channels.  Instead we watch things online, on Netflix, or go without.  And in this case, we went without.  We didn't go to any Superbowl parties or anything, since we don't get into watching sports on TV anyway.

I just watched a cute commercial on Pinterest, and just had to share it.  They said it was played during the Super Bowl.



Very cute!  I did miss being able to watch the commercials during the Super Bowl, but I love that I can watch them later on You Tube!  :)

Have a Great Day!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Keeping My Big Mouth Shut (?)

The last two weeks have been kind of eye opening to me.  I've been happy- like REALLY happy, and it's awesome!  I love it!  Last year at this time I wasn't happy.  For no reason, really.  My life is good, with it's normal ups and downs.  I'm very blessed.  So then looking back to last year, why wasn't I happy?

I'm very confident that my change in mood this year is because of my dietary changes.  I had a follow-up visit with my doctor last Monday and told him how happy I am. He says it is because I am no longer in adrenal fatigue.  Sweet!  I still have ups and downs for sure, but on a whole, I very happy.  Yeah!

Well, what I'm learning is that not everyone is happy for you when you're happy (GASP!).  Maybe it's worse when you share it online to strangers.  Maybe they think you're bragging or something?  I shared my happiness in  an online forum after Valentine's Day, and didn't get a positive reaction like I thought I would.  I just thought they'd be happy for me.

On Saturday I came across a lecture on youtube (HERE) that is AWESOME.  SOOOOOO good!  I LOOOOVED it.  It's by Dr. Robert Lustig, a professor of Pediatric Endocrinology at University of California San Francisco, and he talks about how sugar should be considered a poison, and should be considered addictive like drugs (alcohol, tobacco, etc).  He backs up his info by research, and it is wonderful!  (You need to listen to this if you can make the time.... it's over an hour and a half long!  I just put it on and listened while I did dishes & cleaned the kitchen).

I was so excited about it that I posted the link on facebook.  Later that evening someone wrote a post scolding me for being judgmental, telling me they'll eat their way, and I can eat my way & just leave them alone.  I was so surprised!  (Yes, I did unfriend this person.)  I was so surprised that my sharing the link would be offensive to one (some?).

After thinking through it more, I think I figured it out.  A few days earlier I shared a cartoon I thought was funny- A fat & skinny bird sitting in a parking lot with the McD's arches in the background, and the fat bird is eating a fry.  The skinny one says "You gotta start eating out of a different parking lot" (or something like that). I thought it was funny, because I never eat there anymore.  But in hindsight, I can see how that would bug someone, especially those who eat there (hmmmmm... millions served?).

So I'm a little gun shy of posting on the internet now.  These experiences will help me be a bit more cautious, and yes, hopefully less judgmental.  I'm just so excited about the changes that I've gone through, and my better mood, that I want to shout it out to the world.  I'll just be more careful how I do it now.

Have you ever been misunderstood on the internet?


Have you noticed a mental lift by which foods you eat?


Are there any books/shows/people (etc.) that have influenced your way of eating?

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Finally! A YUMMY grain-free pancake!

Up to this point the only grain-free pancake I've been using is a coconut pancake, that is mostly eggs with a little bit of coconut flour mixed in.  They're not really that good.  They're flat, and they taste a bit like sandpaper.  I've tried adding a little milk & some almond flour, but not much improvement.  I've just put up with them, because I've figured they're better than no pancakes.

This morning I decided to try a recipe I found on the plantoeat.com blog:  Moist and Cakey Almond Flour Pancakes.    They based the recipe on one they found on elanaspantry.com:  Pancakes Revisited.  I mostly followed the ingredients on the first recipe, but it is helpful to look at both and see the differences.


Ingredients
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup melted butter
  • 1/2 cup plain yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 3 cups almond meal
  • 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • Butter or coconut oil for frying
Directions
  1. In medium bowl mix dry ingredients. In a separate, small bowl mix wet ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into dry until just combined. Set batter aside to set up. (*in the elana's pantry recipe they recommend 15-20 minutes!)
  2. Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium-low heat until hot. Once heated up add 2 tablespoons or so of batter to the pan to make each pancake. The pancakes should be no wider than 2 inches or they will not hold together well. The batter is fairly thick so you can spread it out a bit to thin out the pancakes.
  3. Cook until bubbles start to form in the pancakes and underside has browned. Flip and repeat. Serve with butter, syrup, jam, or other favorite topping.


The pancakes were AWESOME.  So good!  Definitely a keeper.  Today I made regular wheat/white pancakes for my kids, but I'm excited to try this new recipe on them next week.  I think they'll really like it.

2/20/12 UPDATE:  I made the pancakes today for my kids, and YEA!  They were a hit!  I used coconut oil instead of butter because I was out, and I had a harder time flipping them than I did with the first ones I made.  I had to wait longer for them to cook so they were firm enough to flip, but then by that time they were almost black on the one side.  They still tasted good, but they didn't look so great.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Killer Smoothie!

This morning I made the best smoothie!  The bad part is that I don't use a recipe, and I just throw things in.  I'll try best to estimate amounts.  Here are the ingredients:

frozen bananas (2)
frozen spinach (big fist full)
frozen strawberries (about 4-5)
1/4 cup canned coconut milk (full fat, of course!)
fresh pineapple- about 1-2 cups
2 cups water

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.  SO good!  Now I'm just freezing to death.  I already get chilled from my 5A.M. run in 20 degree weather, and the cold smoothie does me in!  But it's worth it.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

A Few Dollars Saved

I'm certainly not writing as much as I need to.  Maybe I'll start to write short daily entries and not avoid it because I'm worried about it taking too much time.  I am making some progress on saving money, though.  Here are a few ways that I've been able to save money over the last month:

WalMart price matching. 
I had heard of this, but didn't realize I could take advantage of it where I live.  Our WalMart is only a few months old, and I thought we could only price match products from the other couple of groceries in my area.  A few weeks ago I found out they'll match the prices of stores within 30 minutes of us, so that opens the door wide open to great deals!  I just go to my favorite $ saving site, www.pinchingyourpennies.com, and I can print out lists of all the best deals on everything.  This is especially awesome for produce, meat, and produce, which you don't often find coupons for.

Truthfully, I'll still try and support my little-guy stores when possible.  But I have to cut costs somehow, and this is one of the way.  I saved about $40 on my last grocery visit over what I would have spent elsewhere.

Honeyville Grain
I bought some bulk blanched almond flour from Honeyville Grain.com, and I LOVE IT.  It's so good. 
I bought 25 pounds, and split the order with a friend.  They were having a site-wide 20% off promotion, so we each paid about $50 for 12 1/2 pounds, or $4/pound.

Amazon.com
In December I splurged and bought a Prime membership for Amazon.com.  I LOVE shopping on Amazon.  I find it odd that the prices change around so much, but sometimes you can get really good deals on things.  I LOVE that I can order it from home, and then in TWO DAYS there it is on my door step.  This is such a time saver, especially since I don't have good selection where I live and what is here is usually marked up in price!.

Another thing that has helped:  I was more strict with my Dave Ramsey envelope system in January, and plan to keep doing so.  A few other projects I have in the works:  making my own laundry soap & packing my kids' school lunches!  Organization- that's the name of the game.