Week 3 slow down

Working out took a bit of a back seat to the increased demands of a round of colds giving our immune systems a specialized workout. An already hectically paced week full of doctors appointments, recitals, and snow, which brought a few heaven sent cancelations, resulted in a couple necessary off days. Though, I managed to squeeze in a round of Ab ripper one day. While this week has brought gains in strength and increased ability to do even more of the exercises, I can see a little less endurance on cardio movements. Since 90% of my respirations take place through my mouth these days, decreased oxygenation is a very real excuse, so I'm taking it easy as it seems prudent.  

Today I picked up where I left off and completed yoga. This workout seems very helpful, but requires so much time. I blow off the three minutes of meditation at the end so I can get back to caring for the masses in my home. I can lay around in a fetal position some other time, or relax several times a day while nursing the baby. In fact my session was interrupted for about 10 minutes to nurse the baby in dire need. That's what the pause button is for after all. And any how, nursing a baby a workout in and of itself, requiring a lot of high quality care and nutrition to ensure success. I don't need to work very hard to feel the taxation on my body, so judicious prudence stresses that it's good to slow down when needed.

Don't be like me...
remember mozzarella!

Fuel is very important. Last night we had The Pioneer Woman's Potato Leek Pizza. I missed the part about mozzarella, and simple used goat cheese and parmesan only, which might explain why the kids weren't so thrilled with my latest experiment. However, Ree's pizza dough recipe yield much better results than the one we'd been using before, which redeemed my potato pizza enough that no slice went uneaten.

Diverting from tradition

...Oh, but just a little bit. Usually, we make pumpkin pie and sometimes apple pie for Thanksgiving dinner. This year my husband balked at pumpkin pie filling from a can, however, neither of us had time to render down a pumpkin. My original plans called for just an apple pie, but I to be spontaneous too.

Yes, I over baked
the coconut flakes too.

I've had a bag of coconut flakes in my pantry needing to be consumed. So, I found a Coconut Cookies recipe, which we made, that was awesome! This resulted in left over coconut milk. Heeding the author's suggestion we were determined to make something else to use up the milk.

For the first time ever, we had Coconut Cream Pie, and even though I over scalded the custard, and the pie had a slight burnt flavor, it was still a big hit. We're looking forward to trying this again, only next time, not burnt.

Since I'd used up my only pie pan for the Coconut Cream Pie, I had to get creative with my apple pie plans. During an earlier point in our army life we were stationed with a woman who made "cheesy apples." Fondly recalling her delightful desert inspired me to make an apple cheddar cobbler instead. This worked better for me, because I still haven't mastered mixing and rolling pie crust. I'd rather just mix the dough and then pound it into the pan then have to deal with rolling it. I've just never been able to do it. Cobbler is way easier.

Probiotics

After reading a few books that have touched on the subject of gut health, our family has been on supplemental probiotics. Your gut is naturally lined with bacteria that are essential in aiding digestion and protecting your body from infections. Probiotics compete with bad bacteria that interfere with the good flora your body needs. In nursing school my instructor taught that acidophilus should be recommended for patients on antibiotics to help with gastrointestinal side effects. Acidophilus can be found in just about any grocery store. However, there's so much more to probiotics than just Acidophilus.

What really inspired my quest to learn more about probiotics was the hospitalization of my 6 week old son for urinary track infection (UTI), which led to a couple courses of powerful antibiotics. While he tolerated them well enough, his gastrointestinal track was showing signs of distress and he developed a snorting upper respiratory nasal congestion sound accompanied by frequent sneezing and occasional teary itchy eyes. Perhaps most folks would shrug those symptoms off, but I was concerned he might develop allergies or worse, asthma. Thus began my research on alternatives to both warding off future UTI's, avoid the need for future courses of antibiotic, and restoring my son's immune system. 

Gary B. Huffnagle's, The Probiotic Revolution, is a great introduction on the topic, in a format that is easy and quick to read. Originally, I'd began Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride's, Gut and Psychology Syndrome, because of hearing raving reviews of how GAPS diet had helped children on the Autism Spectrum. I wondered if there was some sort of connection to my older son's spectrum diagnosis, my allergies, and my newborn's freak UTI. The GAPS book is time and academic intensive and I'm a busy mom. Since I had a hunch probiotic were the direction to go, having read through comparative studies of the utilization of probiotics vs. antibiotics to combat UTI,  my attention shifted to Huffnagle's book, intending to get back to Dr. Campbell-McBrides's book later, which hasn't happened yet. At best I've skimmed her book, whereas, I read Huffnagle's cover to cover, word for word, and enjoyed it very much. From the GAPS book I gleaned the importance of weeding out refined carbs and sugars in the diet in preference to wholesome proteins and nutritive fats, as well as essential fatty acids (fish, krill, flax seed, chia seed are just a few examples). Both books extol the virtues of probiotics in developing a healthy GI track, immune, and neurological system. My energy was pretty low at this point, so I needed to find something that would help not just my baby, but myself as well.  

Several different probiotic brands have been ushered into our fridge in the past several months.  Originally, I started the baby on Biogaia Infant probiotic drops because I'd read L. reuteri, which is cultured from breast milk, is one of the first probiotics babies receive from their mothers. Since I was not breastfed as a child, and having completed countless courses of antibiotics in my lifetime, I speculated that perhaps my own breast milk might not be as ideally cultured. Thus, it was important that I beef up my own flora as well. A few months later, BioGaia, was bought by Gerber, and there was none to be found anywhere. Nature's Way's Premadophilus Reuteri became our replacement for BioGaia, while I looked for something better.

  Consistently, the guidelines for picking a probiotic are to find one with many different strains and with a larger cell count, no less than 1 billion. Huffnagle also recommends rotating through different probiotics because different strains have been found to be effective against different pathogens. Thus having more varieties in your pantry, might be better for you then just sticking to the same probiotic for years on end. Before I ran out of BioGaia, we began using probiotics by Udo's Choice Infant and Toddler, which has 3 billion cells and was well tolerated by all the little people in my home, and available at Whole Foods, in the refrigerator section, in the middle of summer. Probiotics shipped in the heat might be useless on arrival. When our bottle of Udo's was done, we gave Seeking Health's Probiotic Infant 10 strain, 10 Billion cell product a try. Usually, I administered about half the recommended dose,  giving approximately 5 billion cells a day. Since Seeking Health is expensive, the search continued and when this bottle is finished we'll be trying the children's formula by Natural Factors, which is a 7 strain, 3billion cell count variety.


The older folks in the house took a few different probiotics as well. We also took L. Reuteri, which has been studied for it's effectiveness in combating H. Pylori, a bacteria that both my husband and I had to take antibiotics to eliminate a couple years ago. However, we soon moved on to an easy chewable by Roex, which had 10 billion cells, but only three strains, and remains a favorite for their convenience and sweet tangy flavor.

Food Science, makes an affordable, 5 billion cell (per capsule), 8 strain probiotic. It's advertised as 15 billion "if" you take three capsules, which doesn't seem totally necessary for us at this time. With 150 capsules, I can give each person in the family one a day, and since dad isn't always home when I hand them out, one bottle can sometimes last a whole month. For the little ones I'll just open a capsule and put the probiotic powder into their drink, food, or strait into their mouth. This is definitely my "budget" probiotic of choice.

If money were no object I'd buy more probiotics from Seeking Health, because they seem to have the higher culture varieties and cell counts. However, a cheaper alternative, is Natural Factors 12/12 formula with 12 strains and 12 billion cells for about half the price of Seeking Health, which also has 12 strains, but twice the cells, and twice the cost. Since we're also eating probiotic rich foods (such as plain yogurt and kefir), I think we'll be fine with the products in the 3-10 billion range. I've read a few reviews that make me suspect that the higher cell count formulas might work a little too aggressively in some folks. I'm a less is best kind of gal. If 1 billion works, then it's enough, why go higher if you don't need to?

Radishing Radish

We started a fall garden in our little cold frame green house. Today I harvested a sizable radish. Radishes are lovely grated and sprinkle over a salad, which gives it a bit of zest.

Dutch Oven

It's really red, but
the camera turned it
fuchsia

Having been married for over a decade, some of the pots we received at our wedding were giving up the ghost. Several had lost their handles making them very difficult and a little dangerous to use. Thus my birthday request was "something" to replace those pots, preferably something versatile, large, and indestructible. I saw a Le Creuset Dutch oven and fell in smitten with the big red pot. However, I found nothing to love about the price.

We've had a cast iron skillet made by Lodge for over 14 years, which is still serving us very well. It's our go-to pan. While researching Dutch ovens, I was sidetracked a little when I realized a second skillet would come in handy, as there are often times, especially when my husband is cooking, that having more than one skillet would expedite our meal preparation. These skillets are still made in the U.S.A, and are reasonably priced. We got our second one for less than $20 at a local store. Coincidently, the iron skillet is the sort of pan you used to see cartoon characters using to smack intruders and give them big goose bumps on their heads, with little stars and birdies flying about, as they would lay knocked out on the floor. In a pinch you could defend yourself with one of these pans. Lodge could advertise, "Cooking and home security all in one!"

Since we like our Lodge skillets so much I was pleased to see they make Dutch ovens as well. The only down side is their enameled products are made in China. However, I read that the Le Creuset is also made in China. So I put the Lodge on my wish list and I've been happy with it thus far. While the price seems to fluctuate, we were able to get my super large Dutch oven for about $75 online, and less than a week later the price shot back up again, making me feel really good about the timing of my birthday and that particular sale.

So far I've used my Dutch oven to make chicken broth, broccoli cheddar soup, butternut squash soup, mashed sweet potatoes, and just the other night my husband made Sheppard's pie with it in the oven. Indeed, this is a very heavy pot, definitely a two handed operation when picking it up. Surely, we'll be using this for years to come.

Local Shoutout for Nalls Produce

I love to visit Nalls Produce when I want to get a farm life fix. This semi-local farm is more of a nursery, but since they have livestock on the premises, it's feels a bit like visiting a farm. There are very few properties in this county that are large enough to meet the zoning rules for keeping chickens. The chickens and roosters are completely free range. Amazingly, they have quite a number of roosters, which always seem to get along really well (everyone with beautiful feathers) and I never once heard one cock-a-doodle. I wonder how they managed to keep the birds so quiet.

 We visited this weekend to select pumpkins for Halloween. Since our attempt at growing our own pumpkins in past years have resulted in Frankenstein Pumpchini, a bland cross between pumpkin and zucchini, we decided to forgo that crop in our small garden this year. Yesterday I saw many different gourds, most of which I'd never seen before in my life. It was a fabulous experience!

This is also the only place I know of to get our favorite black licorice by Backroad Country otherwise known around here as "licious". I once found it online, but it's been out of stock for quite a while. However, not only does Nalls carry the black licorice, but they had at least five other flavors as well. Yesterday we bought some of the green apple licorice. It was superb!

Meatloaf, Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Almond Green Beans

Meatloaf

There's no one way to make meatloaf, especially around here. This particular loaf was made with oat bran and chia seeds and everyone liked it. Usually I like to add diced onions and carrots, but we were out of those when I made it this week.

2lbs ground chuck (or ground beef)

1 cup oat bran (or rolled oats work too)

2 tbsp. chia seeds

2 tbsp. ground flaxseed

2 eggs

1 tbsp. Lawry's Season Salt or spices of your preference

Optional: tomato paste, onions, carrots, or whatever else you want to sneak into your family's diet...minced kale, spinach, beets, whatever.  

       Mix together all ingredients, press into large casserole dish, bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Add  tomato paste and bake 10 minutes more. Bake until meat is cooked all the way.

 



Mashed Sweet Potatoes

 3-4 large sweet potatoes

1/4 cup butter (or your favorite spread)

1tbsp. minced garlic
2-4 tbsp. milk (if you like your taters extra smooth)

      Peel and dice sweet potatoes. Bring 4-6 cups of water to a boil (enough to completely cover your potatoes. Boil potatoes in a low simmer until they are tender (about 25-30 minutes). Strain out water, and mix with remaining ingredients until smooth and fluffy. Serve warm! If your kids are used to putting ketchup on their mashed potatoes, like mine are, then be prepared when they whip out the ketchup and ruin the appearance of this vitamin A rich, eyesight preserving, super food.

     Garlic is supposedly a natural antibiotic, only without the negative side effects... well except perhaps garlic breath. I didn't notice any garlic breath after everyone ate this. So I suppose that means there isn't any harm in add raw garlic to your food.









Green Beans

 1 tbsp. lemon juice

1/4 cup butter

frozen or fresh green beans 16 oz. or family sized bag

diced almonds
      Melt butter in your favorite skillet, ours is cast iron! I've heard that acidic food will bring out the iron from the pan and infuse into your food, which could be helpful if you're iron deficient. Once the butter is melted, add the remaining ingredients and cook till they look good to you. Unless you don't like green beans in which case, don't let them burn silly!