Real Food in Little Rock

Little Rock's GAPS Practitioner - Pamela Berndt, RN, CGP

2012-01-31T09:45:00.001-06:00

Lisa Lipe writes:
Within the past month my daughter Jessica and I have embarked on an adventure called the GAPS diet. GAPS stands for "Gut and Psychology Syndrome," a dietary and detox protocol developed by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride of the UK. Dr. McBride developed her protocol to address her own son’s learning problems and has since helped many many people in need of gastrointestinal healing through her personal practice, her books, and website. Dr.McBride’s book, The Gut and Psychology Syndrome, is a must read if you truly want to understand how your gut works, what messes it up, and what can be done to repair it. So many health problems both physical and “psychological” can be traced to problems with our digestive systems.

I first read Dr. McBride’s book several years ago and thought at the time that I should give it a try, but it did seem rather intimidating. Then more recently some health issues surfaced that made me more determined to take on this challenge, but I really felt I could use some help, so you can’t imagine how excited I was when my friend, Pam Berndt, called to tell me that she had gone to Texas during the Weston Price Foundation Convention and taken the GAPS practictioner training from Dr. McBride.

Pam not only has a background in nursing, but has spent many years learning about alternative health treatments. She brought a significant amount of knowledge to the table when she went for her training. Pam has experienced personal healing through GAPS and is excited about being able to share what she has learned with others. She has been working with me on my GAPS plan for the last few weeks. I asked her to share a little about herself on Real Food in Little Rock as a way of introduction. I have benefitted so much from her help that I wanted others who might also want some help to take the GAPS plunge to know that Little Rock now has our own GAPS practioner.

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Journey into the World of a GAPS Practitioner
by Pamela Berndt, RN, CGP

I am no stranger to the belief that “You are what you eat”, or rather, “You are what you assimilate”. Having grown up during the 50s and 60s, on 5 acres of rich, organic soil in the glacial basin of southeastern Wisconsin, I was truly an “organic child”. However, these were the days when traditional ways of preparing and eating nutritious foods were rapidly being challenged by the “convenient”, processed food craze. New mothers were encouraged to bottle-feed their newborns, replacing mother’s milk with pasteurized cow’s milk. During the ensuing 50 years, the American dinner table became a testing ground for an array of processed chemical amalgamations. (If the previous three words sound oddly reminiscent of a typical ingredient list on todays cans, jars and boxes, it should come at no surprise).

As a young mother, I became more and more interested in the principles of nutrition. After all, I was now responsible for the health and development of two precious children. Even then, it seemed somewhat odd that our standard food pyramid was firmly planted in the American grain belt......and taking a deep, cleansing breath, I placed the next 2 loaves of whole grain bread into the oven. Years later, by some quirk of fate, the owner of Serenity Farm Bread in Leslie, Arkansas, introduced me to Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon and Wild Fermentation, by Sandor Katz. Thus, began my facination with the Weston A. Price Foundation - its philosophy, precepts and practice.

This journey has now taken me into the world of a science-based nutritional protocol known as GAPS. Many of you are familiar with the work of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride and may also be following her recommendations. The book, Gut and Psychology Sydrome, acknowledges and supports the fact that intestinal health is key to well-being. It lays the foundation for understanding what causes gut dysbiosis and how to reverse it. There was never any question in my mind when given the opportunity to become a GAPS practitioner. This was simply the next, necessary step. Having integrated these principles into our family lifestyle during the past year, I have experienced, firsthand, their wisdom and value.

By Appointment: Holistic Pathways, PLLC
501-224-2167
holisticpathways@me.com

Kelli's Real Food Resolutions

2012-01-30T13:50:00.000-06:00

This post continues our series on New Year's Real Food Resolutions. It is written by Kelli who wrote here about how real food started for her. She has also written Beef Tongue: Not So Offal.

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In January, 2011 Kelli wrote:
I can’t believe it’s been almost one year since I came home and told my husband I wanted to change our diet and our lifestyle…and my husband thought his world was ending. HA! Looking back over the year I’ve been thinking about a song from “Hairspray”: “I know we’ve come so far, but we’ve got so far to go.” (I know. A bit random, but it fits.)

It’s been a year of firsts: First time to bake bread without the aid of a bread machine, drink raw milk, grind my own flour, embrace fat, wash my hair WITHOUT shampoo, make a sourdough starter, learn that there was something even called “Kombucha”…I could go on and on.

I’m not huge into the whole New Year’s Resolution thing, but I have been thinking about some things I would like to see happen in the coming year.

1. One of the best Christmas gifts I received this year was Nourishing Traditions. I want to read through and absorb the wealth of information.

2. Drink some kombucha everyday – even if it’s only half a cup. (Still acclimating to the slight fermented flavor. Teetotaler here.) Experiment with flavors beyond fresh pineapple – my go-to flavor. An added health bonus is that it seems to help with muscle soreness. I’m training for a marathon and need all the help I can get in that area!

3. Be more diligent about taking my fermented cod liver oil and red raspberry leaf supplement.

4. Focus on gaining strength, especially in my upper body. As a long-distance runner I have plenty of endurance, but no upper-body strength, which is common among us runners. I plan on getting into a routine of pilates and free weights along with my running.

5. Make a better effort to eat well outside my home, which will mean bringing my own food a lot of times. Learn to plan ahead for this. Have a mental list of foods that are quick and easy to throw together in a short amount of time, and are made from ingredients I typically have on hand.

6. Discover the perfect recipe for a natural facial moisturizer: one that moisturizes without drying me out OR causing pimples. No small feat. Any recipes would be appreciated.

None of these things are earth-shattering in their impact, but all of these steps together will go a long ways in improving my overall health and quality of life. After all, it’s all about the Baby Steps!

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2012 Update:

I can’t believe a whole year has past since setting these resolutions! How did I do? I would say…good. Not excellent, but good.

I read a little bit of “Nourishing Traditions”, but still haven’t read it cover to cover.

We were doing great with the kombucha until the cold weather set in. Our house stays too cool for it to ferment, so we’re having to wait until it warms up to start it brewing again. We’ve really come to love it, and I miss it! I console myself by grabbing a bottle from Drug Emporium any time I’m close by.

{JULIE adds her two cents here: I was having the same cold kitchen problem until I ordered this seedling heat mat. It helps to increase the temperature of my kombucha so that it will ferment. Worth every penny.}

Am I still great about taking my supplements? Sadly, no. This is one I am still working on improving.

After running a marathon in March, I’ve been cutting back on the distance running and adding in more Pilates. I cannot say how much I love Pilates!!! I discovered an awesome blog – Blogilates.com – and there are tons of free Pilates videos on there. I feel so much stronger now! The good thing about Pilates is that you get strength without the bulkiness. My belly is flatter and I’m more slim and toned overall.

I have not been diligent about bringing healthy foods when I’m hanging out at someone else’s house, but I HAVE been better at not over indulging and trying to pick out foods that are less evil than the others.

NAILED IT! See THIS post.

I don’t have any resolutions about food this year, because I feel like at this point in my life, eating traditionally is just something we DO, it’s not something I have to sit and think about. I just want to keep on doing as we do, and if I come across something I feel needs to change, cross that bridge when we come to it. My main goal is to get back into blogging on my personal blog. I didn’t have the time when my husband was cramming in classes to finish up seminary, and I have yet to get back into the habit.

Here’s to 2012!!!

-Kelli

Natural Remedies for Cold and Flu

2012-01-26T21:51:00.001-06:00

Today's guest post is by Erin. She is a wealth of information. I asked her to share some natural remedies for cold and flu because, well, 'tis the season! I love that most of these remedies are inexpensive, none are toxic, and best of all they can be done in the comfort of your home.
- Julie

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It's that time of year. The marquee at Walgreens says, “Get your flu shot before the rush!” I won't be rushing to get a flu shot, but Walgreens does have a decent selection of more natural remedies.

Today I am sharing some of the ways Dr. Mom treats the sickies in our home.

General recommendations include increasing probiotics, eliminating sugar, decreasing protein, taking vitamin C, and increasing the intake of warm fluids.

You want the body to be able to focus on fighting the intruders, not digesting difficult foods. Sugar basically paralyzes the immune cells for varying amounts of time (up to several hours). I’ve also seen a recommendation to avoid dairy products since they can increase mucus production in some people. We use sodium ascorbate as our source of vitamin C. It is a powder that is easily added to food—you can use it like you would use salt. It’s also easy on the stomach. If you prefer to use a whole food source of vitamin C, this is a good brand. As soon as anyone starts sneezing or having a runny nose in my house, I make a batch of Children's Composition Tea and GOOT.

Sore Throat
- Sweet and Sour Tea: apple cider vinegar (ACV), honey, and hot water. The proportions of each are up to your personal taste. ACV is pretty strong so start out with just a little—you can always add more.

- Throat Coat Tea by Traditional Medicinals. Comes in a box of 16 tea bags. Available at Kroger, Drug Emporium, and Whole Foods. Tastes great and works wonders. It also comes in a syrup (made with glycerin and honey) and in lozenges.

- A cup of hot homemade chicken stock.

- Frozen blueberries. My kids love this one.

Stuffy Nose/Cough
- The goal here is not to dry up all that mucus. That can lead to infections. You want to work with your body and help get it OUT!

- Did you know that you should only blow your nose gently (if at all) and never hold one side closed? Blowing out of only one side can drive the mucus into your sinuses and cause infection.

- Mullein tincture. Mullein is a great herb for respiratory ailments. Several of our tinctures are alcohol-based (as opposed to glycerin), so if I'm using it for the kids I put the drops into a hot cup of tea. That evaporates the alcohol. The tincture can also be rubbed onto the skin. We buy our tinctures from Mountain Rose Herbs.

- Lobelia. This herb is a bronchial dilator. From the Mountain Rose Herbs website: “Lobelia has emetic and anti-spasmodic effects, which has led to it being used to treat asthma and food poisoning. It is a physical relaxant, and can serve as a nerve depressant, easing tension and panic.” We like to rub the tincture on our feet and chest. There is some debate on taking it internally, so do your research first.

- Marshmallow. No, not the fluffy white things. It’s a soothing herb for the mucous membranes and can be very helpful for bronchitis. This is another tincture we put in hot tea. *Side note: it is also amazing for urinary tract infections.

- Eucalyptus essential oil. Do NOT take internally!!! It is quite toxic. However, eucalyptus vapors are very helpful because they are antiseptic. We like to add a few drops (1 or 2) to a dab of coconut oil and rub it on our chests—a homemade vapo-rub. You can also put the oil on a damp rag and place it somewhere near you while you sleep. Just be sure babies and toddlers don't get a hold of it and put it in their mouths.

- Herbal Vapor Inhalation Treatment. Another option with eucalyptus oil is to make a steam bath using a shallow pot of water on the stove. Heat the water just short of boiling, take it off the stove, and place the pot on a table. Pull up a chair, add 4-5 drops of the oil, and drape a towel over your head to direct the steam. Lean over the pot and inhale the vapors. I would also recommend closing your eyes since the eucalyptus can burn a bit. Continue inhaling the steam for 5 minutes, adding more drops of oil as needed. Rosemary is a good herb to use with this technique as well. If you use fresh herbs, simmer them in the water for 5 minutes before inhaling the steam.

- Sinus Rinse/Neti Pot. Not for young children. We like this brand.

- Prop up. This is a very simple step you can take to assist your body in getting rid of the intruders. We actually put our younger ones in their car seat to sleep if a stuffy nose is waking them up at night. And, no, we don't leave them in the car. We put the car seat in the crib. :)

- For older children and adults with a nighttime cough, we have found the homeopathic remedy called “Bronchial Cough” to be invaluable. It's made by Hyland’s.

- Throat Coat Tea by Traditional Medicinals can also be beneficial for some coughs. Available at Kroger, Drug Emporium, and Whole Foods.

Ear infections
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 80% of ear infections clear up on their own without prescription antibiotics. And who wants all those side effects? But, man, are ear infections painful or what?

- Homeopathic Earache drops. Amazing pain relief.

- Onion or garlic drops. Mince some fresh onion or garlic, add olive oil, and heat gently. Strain, let cool to body temperature, and put 4-5 drops in the ear. Repeat 3 X per day for 3-5 days.

- Heat. Use a rice-filled sock, hot water bottle, whatever—it feels goooood.

- Prop up. It helps keep the Eustachian tubes from getting blocked. See above explanation.

- Onion compress. Yes, food is medicine.

Fever
Fever is your friend. It is how your body kills the intruders. Suppressing a fever can even be detrimental. It interferes with the process of naturally acquired immunity.

- Loose, 100% cotton pjs. Cotton lets your skin breathe and feel more comfortable when it's hot with fever.

- Children's Composition tea. A blend of peppermint, yarrow, and elder flower. We bought the bulk herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs and made our own blend.

- Ginger bath. You can use fresh grated ginger or ginger powder. Ginger is a warming herb and assists the fever in doing its job. Make sure the bath water and the bathroom is warm enough to keep away chills.

- Garlic. It is antibacterial and antiviral. My 5 and 7-year olds will take it off a spoon if I mince a clove and cover it with honey. Don’t chew! Just swallow. GOOT is another great way to get garlic into your system.

- Enemas. Not a pleasant topic for some, but they can be quite helpful. Intruders can’t be eliminated if the bowels are blocked up. Diluted GOOT and Children’s Composition can both be used for at-home enema solutions. Here are some instructions for a coffee enema. You can find other instructions online.

- Elderberry Syrup. Also the preferred treatment for the dreaded flu. This tastes really good and is easy to make. We bought our dried berries from Mountain Rose Herbs.

- Lemon Wrap. We haven’t tried this one, but next time someone gets a fever…

Some of you will probably notice that I didn't mention Echinacea. My husband is allergic to it! It's in the same family as ragweed, so he gets hay-fever symptoms when he takes it. Not pleasant.

These are just a few of the myriads of natural remedies available. Try some out and see what works for your family. If you know of something I've missed, please leave a comment and tell me about it.

-Erin
participating in Monday Mania

Rachael's New Year Real Food Resolutions

2012-01-25T16:13:00.000-06:00

Rachael's daughter is now 5yrs and the twin boys are 4yrs.

This post is written by my (Julie) best friend from Phoenix. Rachael gave me my first kombucha scoby and is ~~to be blamed~~ one of the reasons I'm on a real food journey; she's an excellent mother of three preschoolers and is a preacher's wife.

Get the Junk (Back!) Out

We had been successful in ridding the pantry of all taboo (according to Nourishing Traditions) ingredients, but as time slips past, some of those no-no’s surreptitiously crept in again. They all began as “just this once” or “I need to have something easy for Sunday while we wait for Daddy.” Slowly but surely, they have become regulars.

The following items need to be eliminated again:

◦ Cereal
◦ Packaged Snacks (with all sorts of heinous ingredients, I’m sure)
◦ Too frequent desserts

To be successful I will need to get in the kitchen to prepare the alternatives. This is where the real work begins, right? To help me with my plight, my daughter needs to do a candida cleanse which will necessitate getting my tail in gear. I MUST have something prepared to satisfy the 4-year-old, “But, Mommy, I NEED a snack!”

Removing the poor food choices is never enough though, is it? I also need to:

Add the Good Stuff--CONSISTENTLY!

I have really good intentions, honestly I do. But as they are wont to do, busy days come and we skip the cod liver oil “just this once--we’ll do it at dinner.” Most of the following items have been a part of our healthy lifestyle in the past, but this Mama needs to get back on the wagon! Here are some of the things I would like to add (and keep!) this year:

◦ Fermented Cod Liver Oil
◦ Vitamins and other supplements
◦ Homemade, Soaked Bread
◦ Kombucha for the children (Mama and Daddy have been hoarding it!)
◦ At least one organ meat recipe that everyone loves (okay, tolerates would be sufficient)

Thankfully, my children help me remember their vitamins and cod liver oil, if I’ve been half-way regular in giving it to them. I am blessed that all three of my preschoolers take their CLO right off the spoon!

The big theme that I’m seeing in these goals (and others for the new year) is that I need more routines and structure. From cod liver oil to a regular baking day to having the children help tidy the house,

Rachael milks 3 goats for their family's raw milk.

Mama needs a routine. And I need to stick with it! I’ve never been much good at sticking to a system and maybe I should start out by figuring out why. It may be that I try to overhaul my life in a single day or it could be that I don’t like being told what I have to do, even if I’m the one telling me!

If anyone out there has suggestions or what has worked for them, please leave a comment.

-Rachael

Toddlers and Cod Liver Oil

2012-01-22T21:40:00.001-06:00

Today I'm sharing a video of my toddler eating her fermented cod liver oil right off the spoon. It looks like chocolate but I promise it is cod liver oil. (If you're reading from email, click here to view it.) My family takes fermented cod liver oil from Green Pasture. I aim for 5 days a week - sometimes it is more, usually it is less. Consistently, it is the only supplement we take.

We've shared before reasons to take cod liver oil as well as methods. Cod liver oil contains key nutrients for brain development, most specifically it has ample amounts of fat-soluable vitamins A and D that aid the body in mineral absorption.

Because cod liver oil is actually food and not a man made supplement, you body can more readily absorb the vitamins in it. {synthetic supplements - think: round peg in a square hole} If you are taking synthetic vitamin D, may I suggest trying cod liver oil?

Ramiel Nagel wrote a book called Cure Tooth Decay: Heal and Prevent Cavities with Nutrition (which can be found in the Central Arkansas Library System). He gives convincing arguments that along with other things, cod liver oil can stop cavities and help teeth remineralize. Check out his website for more info.

Antidotal evidence: a friend of mine had severe tooth pain one Friday afternoon and thought with certainty that she would need an emergency root canal Monday morning. After some internet research, she decided to take large quantities of cod liver oil, hoping for relief. I saw her Saturday morning in immense pain; she hardly talked and held her jaw the entire time. To her amazement she did not visit a dentist at all the next week and attributes the healing to cod liver oil.

To reiterate some of the things I learned at the Weston A Price annual conference:

- Vitamins A, D, and K are the activators for minerals. A person cannot assimilate protein or calcium without vitamin A. {Lori's post on Brain Pow-ah is expands a bit more on this.}

- Primitive diets contained 4 times the calcium and other minerals and 10 times the fat soluable vitamins compared to modern diet.

- Green grass that pastured animals eat makes vitamins A&K. Vitamin D comes from the sun as well as from animals who have been in the sun. It is so important to eat animals who have been on grass.

Since we have had a few cloudy days here in central Arkansas, I am motivated to give my family their cod liver oil every day this week.

-Julie
Green Pasture did not compensate me to tell you about their cod liver oil. I told you which brand because I thought someone would ask.

Erin's Real Food Resolutions

2012-01-22T19:54:00.001-06:00

This post is written by Erin, who has written articles before like Real Food Budget Tips, about her food journey in Small Beginnings: Where Do I Start? and the dangers of fluoride in Water, Water Everywhere and Nor Any Drop to Drink. As a side note - Erin's husband, Paul, wrote a song called I Eat Real Food.

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I have to keep things very simple when it comes to resolutions or I'll get discouraged and give up before I even get started.

My theme for resolutions this year is keep it simple and frugal. So here are my simple kitchen resolutions for 2011:

1. Learn how to make (and start making!) my own yogurt. I might try to make it in the crock pot.
2. Grow some of my own food, especially herbs
3. Stop using paper napkins and paper towels

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Here's my update for 2012:

1. I pretty much bombed with yogurt-making because I am constantly using my one crock pot for cooking chickens and stock. However, I am picking up a new crockpot this week!
2. I bought herbs but didn't get them planted soon enough--so they fried. :( I will be attempting this one again.
3. Success! We have completely eliminated paper napkins. I still keep a roll of paper towels around for emergencies, but I hardly ever use them. I found this product to be a nice substitute.

Where to Buy Locally Grown Food

2012-01-20T16:45:00.000-06:00

Several people have included "eating local and in season" for their New Year's Real Food Resolutions. Many of you are familiar with the summer farmers markets at the River Market, Hillcrest Market and my personal favorite in North Little Rock at Argenta. Read the difference between the the River Market and Argenta here. Unfortunately these markets do not open until April.

However, you may not know about a year-round, on-line farmers market option. One option will deliver to your work place if you work at Blue Cross Blue Shield, UAMS, UALR, and ABC Financial Services.

Baby Steps

If you are not in the practice of buying locally grown food (or, you buy all your food at a store), take a baby step this week. Look at an on-line market that works with your schedule. Order something. May I recommend pastured eggs? They are a bit more expensive than their grocery store competitors but are packed with so much more goodness! Read this post I wrote comparing eggs. Pastured eggs are an inexpensive form of quality protein. And did you know - eggs at the grocery store can be up to three months old?!

On-line Farmers Markets
- downtown Little Rock - Saturday pick up 10am-noon order here.
- downtown Little Rock - Wednesday pick up 4:30-6pm order here.
- Around Little Rock - Wednesdays delivered to these work places: Blue Cross Blue Shield, UAMS, UALR, and ABC Financial Services. If you are not affiliated with any of these businesses, you can also place an order for pick up at Eggshells in the Heights or the Kitchen Co. in Pleasant Ridge, WLR. Order here.

- Conway - Friday pick up 4-6pm order here.
- Russellville - Thursday pick up 4-6pm order here.

Julie

Rita O'Kelley's Real Food Resolutions for 2012

2012-01-18T11:42:00.000-06:00

Rita O'Kelley, former Weston A. Price chapter leader, has written in this space before. A few of the topics include: where to start on a real food diet, fats do not make you fat and the short and skinny on sweets.

And, remember - Thursday night is the Weight Loss Edition from 6-8pm at FamilyLife. If you're thinking of going, be sure to let Dr. Bishop's office know. Details here.

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Goal: Eat “In Season”

When I began my “real food” journey in 1999…. I let my Irish spontaneity take me into “all in” hyper drive. I read Nourishing Traditions and got rid of ¾ of the “food” in my pantry and fridge. I realized I needed to take small, manageable bites… what to keep, what to absolutely stop or discard, what to try later.

In 2012… one month at a time, my goal is to learn what foods are “in season” in Arkansas, and more specifically in and around Little Rock not California, Florida, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and beyond.

We go to the store and buy whatever we want (usually) and it is there; albeit tasteless, picked prematurely, shipped ridiculous distances, and subjected to harsh road trips and mishandling.

Read those labels… see where it was born and raised, country or city-fied…. Sprayed or au naturale….green or ripe….USA or foreigner.

If it isn’t fresh, locally grown or “in season” right now, I am going to ever-so-slowly discipline myself to set aside “wants” and plan. Eating what is “now” means winter and requires discipline. In Arkansas there is not much grown or harvested Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb.

It will teach me to put up food for the winter, learn about my farmers and area, and quit expecting blueberries in January… or chicken if I have not bought chickens when harvested locally. I bought chickens. Yea!

January: winter squash, potatoes and onions stored from prior months, lettuces, herbs and other “green” foods grown in greenhouses by Arkansas Natural Produce and other local farms.

Here is link to what is available by month (general rule) in Arkansas.

Good luck and good planning! One day at a time… one month at a time. Eat fresh and local.

-Rita

HB's Real Food Resolutions for 2012

2012-01-17T09:54:00.002-06:00

This week we are continuing our series on Real Food Resolutions. Today's post is written by HB who has also shared with us her real cheese dip, don't hate the okra, and the baby steps her family has taken on a real food diet.

1. Do less, be more.

I've been taking my family on this wonderful, crazy, challenging, totally un-American journey into real food for nearly two years now. It's time to stop trying new things and stick with the basics that are working. So, I am taking a big ole break from incorporating new recipes, making new beverages, and trying to convince my sweet hubster that spaghetti squash tastes just like Ronco pasta!! You know it does! :) I've finally figured out how to make delicious bread, granola, and many other recipes that fill our bellies and nourish our bods. For now, I'd like to take it easy, enjoy nutritious food and live a little outside my kitchen.

2. Get back to my food-budgeting roots.

My man and I got hitched in November of '03. For the first two years of our marriage, our food budget was less than $125 a month. Yes, it's true. We were squeaking!! It was awesome. Actually, I mean, it wasn't really awesome because we definitely ate some processed junk, but I loved the feeling that resulted from conquering the food budget. I was large and in charge and my man was happy. Seven years and three kids later, our food budget is way, way, way more than $125 a month. That figure just makes me laugh. I've given myself plenty of time to get used to eating real food and lots of wiggle room in the budget. Now that I've tackled feeding my family real food, it's time to take this budget DOWN! My goal is to cut it down by 40%. I know that seems extreme, but hey, if you're gonna set a goal, why not get crazy!?!?

Here are some ways that I plan to save some cizash:

• buying wonderful pastured eggs from the farmer who gives me the best price. This is not super convenient, but a gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do.
• ordering most of our organic produce from Azure Standard. Azure has already saved me a load of money. They have great products and dang good prices.
• continue buying our meat in bulk. I buy our pork and chicken from Cove Creek Acres and our beef from Falling Sky Farm. I know these farmers personally and they are great people who work hard to bring the best grass fed meats to my table. Buying meat in bulk has saved me literally hundreds of dollars.
• continue meal planning. I am a die hard menu planner. I love, love, love to plan a good menu. Makes mouths happy.
• once-a-month cook what I can so that we have great meals prepared when we are pressed for time and tempted to eat out.
• eat out less!!! My man and I are trying our darndest to not spend a dime on eating out for the entire month of January. So far, so good. Only 20 something days to go. That's not too bad, right? Right??? I've begun twitching slightly when we drive past Layla's on Rodney Parham. They miss me, I know they do.
• ask my farmers if they will trade with me. I make lots of bread and am happy to trade. Making bread is easy. :) Shhhh...don't tell.
• grow some seriously good veggies this summer. We had a garden last year and it was fabulous. My children snacked out of the garden until there was nothing left. We saved a ton of money by gardening.

I think that's all I'm resolved to do at the moment. When our children are older and don't need every single ounce of my attention and energy from the hours of 7 a.m. till 8 p.m., I will likely add some more food goals to my plate. Get it? :) For now, I'm enjoying feeding my family well, but mostly, I'm just enjoying my family. Happy New Year, friends!!!

-HB

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Well, how did I do in 2011?

Thankfully, I was able to meet many of the goals I set for myself.

I brought our food budget down quite a bit, but not 40%. I would say it's down by about 15 to 20%. Since I posted last January, we have had the privilege of becoming foster parents for the state of Arkansas. We have a very hungry one year old in our home. Adding another real food eating, milk loving baby has definitely increased our food budget. I am convinced that feeding this little one nourishing food while he is in our home is more than worth any extra expense or time in the kitchen.

Though it may not be cheaper than the grocery store, my husband and I have decided to support Kellogg Valley Farms and buy a CSA basket. Kellogg Valley grows local, chemical-free produce and getting chemicals out of my food is important. Though I plant a garden, it just doesn't produce enough for our family.

Speaking of time in the kitchen, I have successfully spent less time in the kitchen this past year. My husband is happy and so am I. Julie and I will continue our batch cooking extravaganzas, and I will continue with my basic standby recipes: oatmeal bake, granola, and soaked sandwich bread.

As far as real food resolutions for this year, I plan to continue cutting back on eating out and make my mayonnaise taste less like olive oil and more like Miracle Whip. I know, don't cringe. I'll admit, I like Miracle Whip and so does my husband. I'll keep you all updated on any mayo making successes.

After a few years of real fooding, I think I've finally come to a happy medium. I am comfortable with my 80/20. Yes, there is almost always a bag of wavy Lay's potato chips in my pantry. There will always be a few things that I like and choose to eat even though it's not nourishing. The main staples of my family's diet are nourishing, whole foods. I encourage you all to embrace freedom and not perfection when it comes to real food. Each one of us can only do so much. Focus on what you can do, not on what you wish you could do, or what someone else seems to be doing.

Happy 2012!

Maximized Living Makeover: Weight Loss Edition

2012-01-16T07:10:00.003-06:00

In the 1980's I watched too much television. Most of it I don't remember but one Oprah show stands out. The guest had lost a lot of weight. A lot. As in over three hundred pounds if I remember correctly. When asked the key to success, the weight loss expert {I will call her an expert since she lost 300 lbs!} said using her long skinny fingers with red fingernail polish to articulate, "There are three. You gotta eat. You gotta breathe. You gotta move."

In the twenty-five years since seeing that skinny woman on Oprah, I have heard many ways to eat, breathe and move in order to lose weight. Not all of those ways are healthy or sustainable over time.

One of the many things I like about eating a traditional diet, like the ones that Dr. Weston A. Price observed, is the fact that the food tastes great. I really enjoy eating. Breathing comes naturally. Moving? Well, my toddler wants me to hold her most of the day. That 25 pounds counts as weight training, doesn't it? :)

Being the first of the year, many people are resolved to lose weight. Below is an opportunity to learn healthy, practical, sustainable ways to loose weight and keep it off. I will be there THIS Thursday, representing the Weston A. Price Foundation at a table. There will be other vendors there as well. I would love to see you there, too. Tell your friends - especially those who are in the beginning stages of wanting to live healthier.

-Julie

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Dr. Traci Bishop, Doctor of Chiropractic, and her staff at Natural State Health Center invite you to the Maximized Living Makeover: Weight Loss Edition.

THIS Thursday, January 19, from 6-8pm will be a free night of learning. The event will be held at FamilyLife just off Highway 10 at 5800 Ranch Drive.

Dr. Bishop will share how eating real food and taking care of your health can lead you to not only a much better looking body but also overall mental, physical, and better emotional health for 2012.

Specific topics Dr. Bishop will cover:

- Why your body needs fat (yes…needs) them in order to function properly. Throw that skim milk and soy milk out the window. Your body needs healthy fats plus they keep you feeling fuller longer.

- Working out in just 12 minutes a day can actually transform your body composition, get you in shape, and keep you healthy. Spending an hour at the gym is NOT necessary. Dr. Bishop will talk about the WHY and HOW this can happen.

- Lose weight eating real food. You don’t have to starve yourself, you don’t have to eat a bunch of pre-made processed foods from some program, and you don’t have to limit yourself to just a couple salads.

Knowledge is power and by simply learning ways to improve your lifestyle then you can make better choices.

So join us Thursday night from 6-8pm at FamilyLife to learn some things about health you have never known or have maybe been taught wrongly about. Learn how to take care of the body you have been given. It’s a new year and it can be a better you!

For questions and/or to sign-up you and your friends, call the Natural State Health Center at 501.224.1224 or email Jordan.NaturalStateHealth AT gmail DOT com

Dr. Bishop (left, front row) and her staff.

New Year's Real Food Resolutions

2012-01-13T21:10:00.000-06:00

This post is written by Christy K.

My family has been eating real food for a while, but there are always areas that we can improve upon. Here are some changes I'd like to see in the coming months:

Plan ahead for meals away from home.

This is a big hurdle for me. I really enjoy eating out, if only because someone else is doing the cooking! Usually though, this is lunches for my husband. But just this step would:

1. Save money
2. Provide better nutrition than restaurant meals and/or junk food
3. Avoid re-introducing foods that are addictive, like sugar and white flour

How?

1. Seek out some healthy foods that can be bought easily and inexpensively if we can't make it home to eat, and keep some cups, napkins, etc. in the car.
2. Keep some individual portions of food or sandwiches in the freezer which will thaw quickly and make a good meal on the run.
3. Keep a few cans of tuna or salmon that can quickly be made into a salad to either put on homemade crackers or bread, or eaten with a fork.
4. Send a thermos of raw milk to work with hubby, and another thermos of hot soup or other leftovers.

Be faithful to take supplements.

Even though I think taking supplements is necessary because of soil mineral depletion, I am prone to skipping them when I don't feel like taking them. We take High-Vitamin Cod Liver Oil and an iodine supplement, but need to add in more minerals (possibly Concentrace and nettles) which would be added to soups. I'm also considering desiccated liver since we don't care much for organ meats.

Find or create a sourdough bread recipe that we enjoy.

This has eluded me for years! But I haven't given up and recently purchased a sourdough starter from Cultures for Health to try in place of my homemade (too sour) starters.

Keep a sufficient quantity of lettuce growing in my garden year round.

I have lettuce in my garden right now - but not enough. So what do I do? I buy organic lettuce. I can't bear to wipe out my salad garden for one meal! Silly, huh? Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew has been great inspiration!

Writing out these goals has been a great way to force myself to think through the best way to accomplish them. Isn’t that the first step? And there is nothing like having a way to look back and see how far we’ve come!

-Christy

New Year's Real Food Resolutions

2012-01-11T20:01:00.001-06:00

Last January in this space, we posted New Year's Resolutions for real people, striving to eat real food. In the 365 days since, new readers have joined us so I have decided to re-post the Real Food Resolutions. The first in this series was written by yours truly. I will post the others over the next couple of weeks.

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Every year when the new year rolls around I like to make lists of resolutions but *dad*gum*it* I can't keep up with half of them.

Today I'm posting my real food resolutions for 2011. I'm loosely following Kimi's four wise tips for success and participating in her carnival:
- make baby step goals
- make goals very specific
- don't plan a whole year
- make one goal per month

That said, the first two resolutions I tried implementing last year and dropped the ball more than once.

1. Take fermented cod liver oil at least 5 days a week. Seven would be great. Five is realistic. Read here for tips to get it down.

2. Eat a fermented food with every meal.

This resolution was inspired by Little Rock's Weston A Price chapter leader, Lisa Lipe. Lacto-fermented foods introduce beneficial bacteria and enzymes that helps your gut digest food, among other things.

Lisa says she doesn't always plan a fermented food with each meal, but more likely just pulls out jars of lacto-fermented condiments and has them on the table for each person's personal choosings. I'm thankful that my family enjoys kombucha, a fizzy lacto-fermented drink. Other fermented options could be: yogurt, kefir, raw dairy, lacto-fermented mayonnaise, radish relish, sauerkraut or kimchi. With lacto-fermented condiments, a little bit goes a long way. A couple of tablespoons is sufficient for beneficial results.

Two new resolutions for 2011:

3. Buy a grain mill (with Christmas money) and use it.

I've been wanting to buy one for a while but not had the cuh-za$h. A friend of mine with a grain mill and has been grinding grain for me.

4. Eat seasonally and locally.

The book that inspired me to think seasonally and eat locally was Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It ranks in the upper echelon on the list of books that have changed my life. Another book my husband read recently, that resonated with both of us, is What Are People For? by Wendell Berry.

Eating seasonally and locally will be the hardest resolution to fulfill. It will require forethought, planning, and self-control. Because it is such a paradigm shift - I am not resolving to exclusively eat seasonally and locally. I have been thinking about this resolution for a couple of years and trying to take baby steps to get there. My specific resolution: I will strive to have at least one meal a week that is exclusively local and supplement every meal with something grown locally. The typical farmers markets are shut down for the winter but I can still buy locally through the Arkansas Sustainability Network (ASN) food club. I love shopping the markets in the summer!

Bonus Resolution {shooting for the stars here, this one will most likely happen in 2012}

Learn how to make awesome soaked, sprouted, or sourdough bread.

Bread making the traditional way seems to be daunting. I have wanted to do it for a long time and is one of my last holdouts.

Stay tuned for more resolutions from others who write for Real Food in Little Rock.

-Julie

Click here if you'd like to read other baby steps my family has taken on our real food journey. Or this article written by my husband (to wives) on how to get your man to eat real food.

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2012 Resolutions

I have not written new resolutions for this year, I will continue working on the ones above. With joy, I am able to report that my family was able to keep up with most of the resolutions. I bought a grain mill - that one was easy!

After attending the Weston A. Price conference in November and learning about the incredible benefits of lacto-fermented foods, I was resolved even more to keep adding the lacto-fermented foods to our plate.

In 2012 I want to strive to do better with eating locally and seasonally. I have invested in a half-share of Kellogg Valley's CSA. He has more shares available if you are interested.

As for the bread, I have been experimenting with Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day. It is not sprouted, or soaked (in the traditional sense) but it is easy to squeeze into my crazy life and much better than store-bought bread. This bread falls into my unhealthy 20% of the 80/20. I can't do it all. I don't do it all.

Batch Cooking: The Menu

2012-01-03T10:27:00.001-06:00

not pictured: french onion soup & burritos

It is super fun to cook with your best friend. We emailed back and forth for a few days about what recipes we would use, based on each family's preferences, what we have been eating lately, as well as what we had on hand.

We were able to create seven different recipes, the most diversity we've ever had. This was possible because of the work we did in advance and we were in the kitchen for 5.5 hours on cooking day, but most of all because my best gal pal is organized and keeps me on track. Seriously, I could not have done all of this by myself!

The Seven Recipes
1. Taco Soup with chicken - similar to this but of course we tweaked it.
2. Mexican Cheesy Chicken - to be served over rice - the recipe is basically cheese, cream, chicken, tomatoes and peppers. You can add broth if it gets too thick.
3. Chicken Corn Chowder - similar to this and this; we used potatoes, milk and cream instead of broth, and didn't add cheese.
4. Chicken Pot Pie
5. Pizza Sauce - tomato sauce and paste, lots of fresh thyme, dried basil and fresh minced garlic warmed in a crock pot for several hours.
6. Burritos - chicken, beef and pork - 24 total, 12 for each family.
7. French Onion Soup (a la Julia Child)

We each took home 14 generous meals (with side dishes to make leftovers it will go further to maybe 20 meals). Plus pizza sauce for 4 nights of pizza; we both make two pizzas once a week. This is a total of at least 18 nights of no cooking, just thawing what is in the freezer.

-Julie for HB

How to Roll and Package a Burrito

2012-01-02T14:46:00.000-06:00

For our batch cooking days, HB is really the master mind behind it all. I'm just the grunt. Whatever she tells me, I do. She plans the menu (with feedback from me) then makes the grocery list and best of all tells me what to do on cooking days (which is welcomed!). She is quite the cruise director. Without her my life would be directionless and I most definitely wouldn't attempt to cook as much as we did.

Below she is filling a burrito while chatting away with friends sitting at the bar. She is an extrovert's extrovert. How she multi-tasks like she does, I don't know. I'm doing good just to get pictures taken. (Please notice pictures of the cute little Santa Baby - that was seven years ago!!)

She set out all the ingredients and put a few on the tortilla at a time. I suggested dumping it all in a bowl and scooping portions from the bowl. Never question the Cruise Director. Her ways are ~~good~~ best.

Ingredients: meat (carnitas, chicken, or beef), fresh tomatoes, corn, shredded cheese, grilled onions, grilled peppers, and black beans. We didn't use rice because the Cruise Director says that rice in burritos turns to water after being frozen. And yes, we used Mission Tortillas as part of our unhealthy 20%.

And this is how you fold:

note: below the first rolling end is narrower.

She rolled them individually in foil. To reheat, I put them in my toaster oven until they were warmed through.

I served ours with sour cream and lacto-fermented radish relish. Avocado would have been yum but they all looked gross at the Kro-ga.

-Julie

Carnitas

2012-01-02T14:25:00.001-06:00

For the non-Spanish speaker, carnitas literally means little meats. But if you like to eat Mexican food, you probably know it is pork.

Here's is HB's carnitas recipe that she used in burritos for our most recent batch cooking day. (Go here to see how she rolls the burritos.) It tastes a tiny bit sweet even though there is no sugar in it; the cinnamon fools your taste buds. It is delicious.

Pork Carnitas

1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon red pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
about four pounds pork chops (locally grown is best!)
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups water

Cook on low in the crock pot until the meat shreds easily.

-Julie for HB

Batch Cooking: The Work in Advance Part 3 and Other Tips

2011-12-31T22:25:00.001-06:00

Batch cooking is not only work on the day of cooking. There is plenty you can do in advance. I have written before about things you can do to make cooking day easier (part1 and part 2).

Work in advance:

1. If you have small children, pay a babysitter. It is worth your sanity. Being Christmas vacation, our husbands were able to ~~distract~~ ~~entertain~~ care for the children.

2. Don't do laundry - or anything else - on cooking day, except cook (and wash dishes!) Stay focused.

3. Decide before cooking what you will eat for dinner that night. At the end of the day, I am tired and my brain doesn't work so well. If I have decided ahead of time what's for dinner life is good.

4. Cook meat and broth the day or two before.

5. Chop what you can in advance. HB likes using the very inexpensive gallon sized bags that require a twist tie to store these chopped veggies. Oh what a feeling to remove the twist tie and dump it all in a stock pot!! Below you see several bags of similar contents. With a sharpie marker, HB wrote which recipe or how much was in each bag.

Below, left to right: mirepoix (celery, onions, carrots), cooked chicken, onions, more chicken, mirepoix, more onions, brats (cooked and sliced).

Below are veggies I chopped the morning of our cooking day, left to right: chopped bell peppers, jalapenos (from my garden in my fridge since Thanksgiving), sliced bell peppers, fresh tomatoes from a neighbor's garden before the frost!

6. If at all possible, start the day with a clean dishwasher. Try to clean as you go and start the dishwasher when it is full. This is easier said than done.

7. Packaging - we use a lot of plastic bags because it is easy. Above you see HB ladling soup into a pitcher that has a gallon freezer bag in it. This method helps you keep the bag upright and not make the bag too full. Remember liquids expand when they freeze.

I am brand loyal and prefer Zip-lock brand because I've had better experiences with it. HB however, uses the Wal-Mart brand (we rib each other a lot about this!).

We also used plastic yogurt, sour cream, etc., containers labeled with masking tape. I plan on eating one of the soups this week so I stored it in a half gallon mason jar. This was also helpful because you can put very hot soup in a glass jar; I would not put hot soup in a plastic bag.

HB packaged some of her pizza sauce in half pint glass jars. I froze some pizza sauce in a (blue) silicon cupcake mold. Once frozen popped it out and put it in a gallon bag.

HB wrapped each of the burritos separately in foil then marked them for the type of meat inside (just as they do at Chipotle). So they don't get "lost" in my freezer, I put them together in a bread bag.

8. Invite more people (if you're extroverts like HB and me). Some neighbor girls joined us for most of the day. At first they took my toddler to the park but later they sat and chatted with us. Occasionally we asked them to help.

That's all the tips I can think of for now. What advice can you add?

-Julie

Batch Cooking - Mission Accomplished

2011-12-30T22:34:00.001-06:00

HB and I finished our fourth batch cooking day today.

We started at noon and were cleaning up and packaging at 5:30.

I had planned a hot date with my hubby and the babysitter was coming at 6. Needless to say we left a big mess in the kitchen.

When Hubby and I came home at 8:00, HB was back to finish cleaning the kitchen!! She is a real friend, y'all.

I will write more details later. I think we both took home at least 15 meals each. Delicious *nutritious* meals.

-Julie

Triple Crocks

2011-12-28T23:12:00.000-06:00

Just outside my door are three slow-cookers. One of which I got for Christmas! I don't prefer the smell of chicken in the morning so they are outside.

We are gearing up for another batch cooking day!! **trumpets sound**loud gong**

It is 11pm and in the two oval crocks are frozen solid chickens, about 4 pounds each. The round crock will be making beef bone broth. All are set on low.

I will unplug them in the morning, let them cool, debone then refrigerate the chicken and toss the bones back in one crock. Add some feet, a splash of vinegar, and cover with filtered (non-clorinated, non-fluoridated) water.

The chicken broth will brew all day. Tomorrow night before bed I will drain the broth then cover the bones again with a splash of vinegar and water and get a second batch of broth from the same bones. I will do a similar thing with the beef bones. This way I can get double the broth from my bones.

As a side note - I've been using the bones twice lately to make broth. The key is to just cover the bones with water. You will know when you've reached the end of the life of the bones when you can squish the bones between your fingers. You read that right: squish bones between your fingers. This means many minerals have been extracted out of the bones and into the broth.

Last week I asked my seven-year-old son if he thought he could squish a chicken leg bone between his fingers. "No way" was his response. I handed him a bone that had made two rounds of broth. It crumbled like a cracker between his fingers.

He was amazed.

I explained the reason he could do that was because the bones had given their precious minerals to the broth for our bodies to use. I asked if he wanted to grow up with strong bones or crumbly bones? Frequently eating broth-based soups would strengthen his bones.

It was a convincing object lesson.

-Julie

Does anyone else find it ironic that a fire extinguisher just happened to be near the outlet?

Healing Tummy Troubles with Real Food

2011-12-19T16:09:00.000-06:00

I love reading real-life stories of how real food heals people. Today's post is from Wendy D. who has seen dramatic healing in her daughter. Wendy is involved with a public speaking club called Toastmasters and this was her most recent speech. - Julie

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What would you do if your child or grandchild came to you and said, “My tummy hurts?”

What if that child came to you every week and said, “My tummy hurts?”

What if they came every day to say, “My tummy hurts?”

What if they came every single waking hour?

This has been my experience with our 7 year-old daughter Caris over the past 4 ½ years. What began as a stomach bug in February 2007 has persisted as chronic and intense abdominal pain, bringing her to tears on countless occasions, flat-lining her personality at times, and, in general, taking away her smile.

Just this week, we have gotten a glimpse of her beautiful smile again, and I am excited to share with you how that has come about; but first, I’ll give you a few details of Caris’s tummy troubles and also of what has tried to help.

Believing the trouble to be a simple stomach bug at its onset that February, we let it run its course. Caris was sick for over three weeks, with recurrent bouts of vomiting and diarrhea (even during a miserably-long car ride to and from a missions conference in Illinois). Since that time, what has remained is a constant ache in her gut – an ache which leaves her lying on the hardwood floor seeking comfort from the bloating or doubled-over the arm of a sofa, moaning in pain.

She is currently under the care of a respected gastroenterologist at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, who has taken much time in considering her needs and in answering our questions. Yet questions linger.

After a liver ultrasound, a barium swallow study, an upper endoscopy, and a complete colonoscopy with tissue biopsies, along with a host of blood draws and stool samples, the only diagnosis has been Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. Her physician has recently suggested a referral to the Functional Abdominal Pain Center for Children in Columbus, Ohio. It is clear that Caris lives in pain, but the true source remains unknown. And questions linger.

Many months of attempting to ward off her known bacterial overgrowth through the addition of a series of over-the-counter and prescription probiotics have only prolonged the status-quo nature of her pain.
Experiments with gluten-free and dairy-free diets also turned up empty for Caris. Only two of many attempted treatments have shown promise: one was the cyclical use of antibiotics targeted to “knock down” all of the bacteria in her system, only to allow the gut to repopulate with healthy intestinal flora over the course of a month or more and then wait for her symptoms to worsen as the “bad” bacteria take over, thus starting the cycle all over again.

The second was the use of an adult dose of Entocort, a corticosteroid prescribed for Crohn’s Disease, which reduces inflammation and swelling in the GI tract. Due to the nature of that medication, Caris could only remain on it for up to 90 days at a time.

We abandoned both methods because of their obvious and potential side effects.

So questions linger.

In the waiting rooms of the clinics at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, I am filled with gratitude for the health and vitality my four children do enjoy.

As you look around and see the numerous maladies which bring families to seek top-notch medical care from around our state and region, it is easy to see that others bear greater burdens.

Yet back home (or even as we climb in the car leaving the hospital), as Caris moans and begs for relief from the feeling that she describes now like “someone just keeps slamming a board against my belly really hard,” I am humbled at my inability to simply do something to help her.

Books and ideas abound on the topic of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (an umbrella term, of sorts) along with its causes and treatments. But do you trust the one your neighbor hands you to read, or the one that currently has the most holds on it at the library? Do you spend your few free hours reading the discarded copy you stumbled across at a book sale, or the one with the most professionals quoted on its back cover?

I can assure you, each one has “THE answer” to all of my daughter’s gastrointestinal woes! The confusion makes my tummy hurt!

Sitting on the floor of the library aisles poring over books and medical journals, as I’ve done on more than one occasion, can be another humbling experience. I hold a Master’s Degree in Clinical Nutrition, and yet feel completely inept at helping my precious daughter.

What’s a mom to do?

Pray!

Pray and read; pray and ask questions; pray and do research; then pray some more. After all, God is the Great Physician, and as the One Who knit Caris together in my womb, He knows and loves her best. So I pray and expect God’s healing, all while asking the Lord to use these years of pain in Caris’s life to make her stronger and to give her a greater dependence on Him. (I need that, too!)

And I journal, though not often enough. Here’s an excerpt from a blog entry I made in October 2010:

. . . her smile has gone away. After putting her down for the night, I literally left her room
and wept. . .

Caris's sweet attitude tonight really broke my heart. A little while after we put her down (and also following two bedtime snacks), she called sweetly, "Mom?" From my bedroom I called back, "Good night, Caris. It's time for sleeping." (not an unusual drill) She called again, "Mom?" "Yes, Caris, what is it?" "Mom, can you please come here so I can tell you something?"

No begging. No demanding. Just "can you please?"

I suspected it was yet another tummy complaint, but walked down the hallway nonetheless. "Mom, could I please have just a little something to eat. My tummy really hurts."

Ugghh. I took the time yet again to explain that the pain she feels must be the food moving through her system, not hunger. Her cues are so confused. How disheartening itmust be to never be able to define what's really going on inside. . .

. . .Caris was only 2 when this pain began to plague her. It breaks my heart to know that over half her life has been fraught with abdominal pain. I've grown afraid that these will be her most vivid memories of childhood. Her personality, her outlook, her attitude all change during "seasons" of greater discomfort. Oh, how I wish I could give her her smile back.

That smile!

We have seen glimpses of it in the past few days. My oldest even reported that Caris laughed when she tickled her on Thursday. We’ve never heard that response before.

I recently returned to a book I’d perused several years ago, called Gut and Psychology Syndrome (or GAPS) by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. It led me to a similar book written by cellular biologist Elaine Gottschall entitled Breaking the Vicious Cycle. Both authors promote the idea that total gut healing must occur before normal intestinal function can return for patients with Crohn’s, Ulcerative Colitis, Celiac Disease, and other related GI disorders. Their work is based on the research and clinical experience of Drs. Sidney and Merrill Haas in the 1930’s-1940’s. I could take a full hour to explain the science behind their findings, which are fascinating, and I believe I will for a future speech!

For today, suffice it to say that starving the gut of all complex carbohydrates – anything that takes two or more steps for digestion – rids the intestinal bacteria of the “soil” they need to overpopulate and wreak havoc in the gut.

This is not an easy approach, by any means. The “Haas Diet,” since renamed to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, limits intake to homemade, high-quality broths for a time, followed by the very gradual introduction of one new food per day (or less) in order to allow the gut a period of one-two years to heal, at which time complex carbohydrate foods may be cautiously reintroduced.

There has been a great deal of cooking going on in our house since we began the Specific Carbohydrate Diet the day after Thanksgiving. All six of us undertook the introductory days for moral support, and three of us are continuing on it for the duration. Excellent attitudes and helping hands have lightened the increased meal-planning and preparation load.

The pain scale on our fridge, which became a regular part of our day before Caris was verbal enough to explain her needs, has always garnered a “7” or “8” response at a minimum over the years. On rare,
rare occasions, Caris has given her pain a “5.”

After one week on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, she said “3”! We are overjoyed.

The holidays are ahead, and with them many opportunities to be tempted with sweets and treats. Even one bite of a “non-compliant” food would mean returning to the intro diet again. This course would seem to be quite difficult, but the hope I have had since seeing Caris really smile, and the resolve she has because of the subsiding pain in her belly leave us encouraged that God has led us further toward healing than we have ever been before.

Caris on far left with her three sisters.

Perhaps, as our questions turn to answers, her childhood memories will be of smiles and laughter after all!

-Wendy D.

linked with Monday Mania

Lacto-fermented Benefits

2011-12-14T22:00:00.000-06:00

Surfing the internet tonight I came across Wise Choice Market a small company that sells lacto-fermented vegetables.

Here are some claims from their health benefits page (and remember, you can make your own lacto-fermented foods.)

The live lactic bacteria that are involved in the production of our products are so beneficial to health that they have often been called "life preserving agents".
They contribute to the protection of the body against infections and stimulate the immune system.
They improve the digestion process by regulating the level of acidity in the digestive tract and by stimulating the production of beneficial intestinal flora.
They act as anti-oxidants.
They facilitate the synthesis of certain vitamins, such as vitamins C and B12 (which can only be produced in the presence of lactic bacteria).
They are known to have a soothing effect on the nervous system.
In producing lactic acid and enzymes, the lactic bacteria also facilitate the break-down of proteins and hence their assimilation.
Our fermented vegetables are recommended for diabetics, since the sugar content of vegetables is transformed by lactic bacteria into a more assimilable form.
The lactic acid contained in our products does not have the harmful acidifying effect on the human system that other organic acids tend to have. In fact, it helps prevent arthritis.
Our fermented vegetables are an important component of a yeast-free diet (as in the case of candidiasis).

Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

If you're not up for making lacto-fermented foods, buy a jar of Bubbies sauerkraut or pickles and eat a couple of tablespoons with your meal. Whole Foods and Drug Emporium carries Bubbies in the refrigerated section. Your gut will thank you.

You know what they say, "A tablespoon a day (of lacto-fermented food) keeps the doctor away."

OK, I just made that up. But it sounds like a good phrase, don't you think?
Just eat it. It's good for you. I promise.

-Julie

Linky Love

2011-12-12T21:48:00.000-06:00

Caroline loves kombucha

My 19-month old loves kombucha. She asked me to tell you to be sure to drink yours, too. Nourished Kitchen wrote a great post on Kombucha: A Reintroduction to This Ancient Tonic.

Sex and the Soybean: A Cautionary Tale - Dr. Kaayla Daniel

Chemicals Linked to Thyroid Disease - Healthy Child Healthy World

Get your peanut butter - before prices soar.

Are Antibiotics Necessary for Strep Throat? - The Healthy Home Economist

Real Food on a Budget by Eat Nourishing.

Ten Worst Kids' Cereals by Nourish MD

-Julie

Lacto-Fermented Cranberry Chutney

2011-12-11T22:54:00.001-06:00

My sister-in-law sent me this link to lacto-fermented cranberry apple chutney before Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving she emailed back to say it was super yummy and that I should try it. I had some of the ingredients on hand, but not all. After consulting with other chutneys in Nourishing Traditions, this is the recipe that I created. And really like. {Keepin' it real: the first batch was waaay too salty, so I made a second batch and it tastes much better - recipe at the end.} This is one more jar to add to my lacto-fermented arsenal in the fridge. Both my children will eat this (my 19-month old has been eating the radish relish by the handfuls!).

Lacto-fermenting is not rocket science. And just a couple of tablespoons at each meal not only aids digestion but also is a powerhouse of nutrition. Go buy some cranberries while you still can!

Before you go chopping everything, start your whey dripping. You can use yogurt or kefir. In the above picture, I poured kefir into a coffee filter that I sat on a strainer/funnel combo on top of my jar. The clear-ish liquid that comes out the bottom is whey.

In a food processor, coarsely chop cranberries and apples. I used my blade attachment but the shredded attachment would work, too. (My shredder ~~fell~~ jumped off the counter and broke. Boo.)

Pour everything into a bowl and stir.

Stuff it into a jar.

I'm pointing to the liquid level. You'll want to add enough filtered water (no fluoride or chlorine) to cover the top of the fruit.

At this point I decided to use the remainder of the can of pineapple and added about a cup of filtered water.

Let it sit on your counter for 2-3 days before putting into the fridge. If your kitchen is cool (less than 65*), consider setting your ferment near an alternative heat source - like run a dehydrator for warmth or plug up your crock pot.

Here's my recipe for a two quart (or half gallon) jar:
10 oz cranberries, chopped
4 small apples, chopped
1 can (18oz?) crushed pineapple, I drained it to use the juice for something else but the juice would be fine in this. Actually a fresh pineapple would be best, but I couldn't bring myself to pay $5 for one.
1/2 lemon, squeezed
1/2 t powdered cloves
2 t cinnamon, heaping
1/4 c rapadura or sucanat (unrefined sugar)
1 t real salt
1/2 cup whey
filtered water as needed.

Mix the above and keep on your counter for 2-3 days then refrigerate.

Unlike sauerkraut that will keep for months (a year?!) in the fridge, Nourishing Traditions recommends eating the chutney within two months.

-Julie

Linked to Monday Mania.

Homemade Applesauce and Fruit Leather

2011-12-07T15:08:00.000-06:00

I bought too many apples from Azure Standard and decided to turn them into applesauce. Having never done this before, I decided to take pictures along the way - thinking that there's someone else out there who would like to learn.

My son requested that we flavor it with blueberries. I used frozen ones that I'd purchased this summer at the farmers market.

Chop your apples. I cored them as I went. For those of you who have a fancy corer/peeler/slicer, use it. I removed about half of the skins because I read on another blog that you could leave the skin on.

I added about 1/4 inch water in the bottom of my stock pot to get things going. You don't need much water, the apples will do the work once you get them started.

Be sure to stir every so often so you don't scorch the bottom. I turned on the heat when my pot was about 3/4 full and kept adding apples, cutting/peeling as I went. I think I put about 20 pounds of apples in my 6 quart stock pot. Amazing.

Once the apples are completely mushy it has cooked enough. You can either use a potato masher or an immersible blender. I went the mechanical route.

Though the picture does not correctly convey the color, it was a lovely purple.

We ate about two quarts as apple sauce and the rest I poured into my dehydrator trays and made fruit leather. My dehydrator only came with one fruit leather tray, so I cut parchment paper to size for the other trays (and reused it the next day for another batch.) I liked the performance of the parchment paper best. The leather was easier to remove from the paper. But maybe your dehydrator would perform differently.

Below is the manufacturer's fruit leather tray.

You can see that the leather was not easily removed. Also from this picture you can see the bits of skin. Perhaps if I had a more powerful blender, it would have resulted in a smoother texture. My texture sensitive 7-year-old son did not complain of the texture in the fruit leather. However, he did not prefer the texture of the skin in the applesauce. My 18-month-old baby did not complain either way.

Was it worth the time?

Well, the apples would have gone to waste if I had not turned it into applesauce. They were a bit mushy when we bought them (it was my first and only box of mushy apples from Azure.) So, in this sense, yes, it was worth my time. In another sense, it was a fun homeschooling project for my son to see how to make applesauce and fruit leather. However, it was time consuming.

Was it worth the money?

The apples were organic and I could not purchase the volume of organic applesauce or fruit leather for the cost of the apples. If your family eats a great amount of organic applesauce or fruit leather, then, yes, by all means - tackle this!

{FYI Apples are on the dirty dozen list. Meaning, if you are going to buy something organic let it be apples. Conventional apples are sprayed with dangerous chemicals called pesticides at least twelve times before they reach your hands.}

Was it yummy?

Oh my yes! We ate all of this in record time, especially the fruit leather. I really liked the additional flavor from the blueberries.

Will I do it again?

My son keeps begging to make more fruit leather. Depending on our apple stash at the end of the month, we might make more. At the very least, I will buy organic applesauce to make more fruit leather, because that stuff is expensive!

Anyone have other tips for me? New flavors I should try?

-Julie

Making Treats

2011-12-05T15:35:00.003-06:00

While most people this time of year are in the kitchen, they're not doing what we did today. I joined Wendy and Coplea Donley at their house and made lacto-fermented radish relish. Good times!

If you like sauerkraut in any way - try the radish relish. It is yummy! Lots of my (skeptical) friends have tried it and like it. I gave some to a friend, who let her children try it on salad. She sent this email to me:

I also wanted to tell you that all 3 of my kids liked the radish relish. They ate it on salad at lunch today. One daughter said, "This salad is the best ever!" and the baby kept asking for "more carrots." :) I'm sold!

-Julie

No Bake Coconut Cookies

2011-12-02T21:40:00.002-06:00

Wanting a sweet treat this afternoon but not patient enough to wait for cookies in the oven, I turned to no bake cookies. And changed the recipe a bit. Instead of using three cups of oatmeal, as the recipe indicated, I used one cup oatmeal and two cups of shredded coconut. Yum.

Don't tell my family - I halved the sugar and they didn't notice. The natural sweetness of the coconut allows for less sugar.

Here's my recipe:

1/2 c butter
1/2 c milk
1/4 c cocoa powder
3/4 c sucanat, or your choice of sugar
pinch of Real Salt
1/2 c peanut butter (I used natural)
1 t vanilla (how to make it here)
1 c rolled oats
2 c shredded coconut

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt one stick of butter. Stir to add milk, cocoa powder and sucanat. Bring to a boil for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter, vanilla, oats, and shredded coconut. Drop spoonfuls onto parchment paper.

-Julie

UPDATE January 20, 2012:: I just made these using all coconut (no oats) and 1/4 c coconut oil (making the recipe 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup coconut oil) = delicious!! I'm not sure this would work in the summer because coconut oil is liquid at temperatures above 78*.