Before Fiona was born we cooked and froze a whole lot of food to have for the post-partum period. It was one of the best ideas ever. I highly recommend it to anyone who is pregnant if you have a deep freeze. We filled ours to the brim (the picture below was before we [...] No related posts.]]> Before Fiona was born we cooked and froze a whole lot of food to have for the post-partum period. It was one of the best ideas ever. I highly recommend it to anyone who is pregnant if you have a deep freeze. We filled ours to the brim (the picture below was before we had finished) but had enough meals that we didn’t really have to cook for about 6 weeks afterwards. We also made some lunch and snack foods that were easy to pull out and throw in the oven.

One of the recipes I get asked for the most is the one for the burritos we made. So rather than constantly retyping it I am just going to post it here so I have somewhere to direct people to! I believe the tortilla recipe is originally from my friend Annie and the yam and bean burritos are from another friend who does not have a blog. The refried bean burritos I believe we just got the recipe off the internet. I have them written down in Evernote now and didn’t think to write the sources for them. We quadrupled (or maybe even more) the recipes, so we would have lots. It was a lot of work but with two of us working on it it didn’t take too long and they are so worth it. The tortillas are amazing.

• 360 ml (1.5 c) unbleached flour
• 120 ml (.5 c) whole wheat flour
• 5 ml (1 tsp) sugar
• 7.5 ml (1.5 tsp) baking powder
• 5 ml (1 tsp) salt
• 75 ml (5 tbsp) shortening, lard, or unsalted butter (shortening/lard is better and butter will make it “poof”)
• 180 ml (.75 c) hot water

In a large bowl mix together flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening or butter until pea sized balls form. Slowly add hot water while mixing with wooden spoon. Knead with hands for a couple minutes  when dough is stiff and hard to mix. Shape with a ball and put in a bowl covered and let rest 1 hour.

Line a baking tray with parchment and set aside. Pinch off a bit bigger than golf ball sized balls of dough and roll in hands. Dust lightly with flour and set on sheet. Finish with rest of dough. Let sit for another hour.

Lightly sprinkle flour on counter and roll out ball of dough into a thin circle. You can put these aside with parchment stacked in between but I usually cook and roll out at the same time. To cook heat an oiled cast iron pan (or non stick skillet) over medium heat. Turn tortilla when you see bubbles form underneath and finish the second side when it’s golden. Keep warm until serving.

Makes 10-12 smaller tortillas

Yam and Bean Burritos

2 medium sweet potatoes
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 19 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed (or use dried beans that have been soaked and cooked)
1 cup stock
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
4 large flour tortillas
1/4 cup of salsa

Boil sweet potatoes in large pot. While potatoes are cooking saute onions in medium sauce pan until translucent. Add black beans, stock, garlic, chili powder, mustard, cumin and salt; simmer, uncovered over med-high heat for 15 min. Drain water from sweet potatoes, return to pot and mash with potato masher. Set aside. Once bean mixture is done, mash with potato masher and set aside. Spread tortillas on counter. On each tortilla put: 1 tbsp of salsa, 1/4 of the sweet potatoes and 1/4 of the beans. Roll up each burrito and serve as is, or bake in oven until crisp.

Refried beans

To make bean and beef burritos, we browned some ground beef and added garlic, onions, taco seasoning, tomatoes, and chili peppers before rolling them into burritos.

We wrapped all the burritos in pairs in tin foil, labeled which kind of burrito was in each, and froze. When we wanted to eat them we put them in the oven with the foil loose until they were warm all through.

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A friend gets raw milk from a local farm, and they have lots of extra this time of year, so we took a bottle to try out. Though I am confident Kris and Meredith at least, and Fiona likely, are allergic to the store-bought, processed milk, I do wonder if raw milk would be [...] Related posts:

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I used to read another blog that did something similar to this every month or so, though I don’t remember whose it was. Every month there are always posts someone else writes that are particularly funny or thoughtful or that just say something that I could say in better words than I ever would. [...] No related posts.]]> I used to read another blog that did something similar to this every month or so, though I don’t remember whose it was. Every month there are always posts someone else writes that are particularly funny or thoughtful or that just say something that I could say in better words than I ever would. Sometimes I bookmark these, but then they get lost in with all my other bookmarks. I thought doing a monthly blog post about them would make them searchable for me, as well as giving me one spot I can go to to go through my favourite blog posts. I don’t know if I will do it again, but there were so many posts this month that I keep going back to that I will at least do it once.

Cosleeping

Two of my favourites this month were about cosleeping. I love cosleeping. I can’t imagine not having my babies right there next to me all night long, where I can reach out to touch or stroke them. Meredith has started sleeping in her own room, sometimes more than others, and I’m really cherishing the times she’s in our room now (which recently have increased again). It’s hit home how short a period it really is in the scheme of life. Yes, we have hard nights, and often the ones with Meredith in the room are harder because my stirrings with Fiona can disturb her too, but waking up with two little girls snuggled into me, being able to kiss their heads and hug them close to me, having them wake up and see me watching them and smile up at me… it’s priceless. Nothing can replace those moments. Meredith napped on me every nap in the mei tei until she was 14 months old (and still many naps after that too), and now that’s generally where you will find Fiona napping too. Either there, or in my arms if she’s fallen asleep nursing.

Annie wrote about A Sleepy Moment and also shared a favourite album, which we ended up downloading from iTunes. Meredith loves it. Rachel shared her thoughts on Co-Sleeping, Night-Waking, and Growing-Up. I loved this post. Her descriptions of nights with a small baby are so spot on. And though Meredith isn’t as old as her son yet, I often have the same feelings about her growing up when we’re cuddled up together at night. Her post is so eloquent and beautiful, and has really made even some pretty difficult nights recently a lot easier. As she says: “I chose to have both of my kids know that I was there and I was their mama, no matter what the clock said.”

Living and Learning

September is back-to-school month, and so I think school is at the forefront of most parent’s minds, even unschoolers whose thoughts are how nice it will be to have the parks back to being quiet again. I loved this post on the Flow of Love blog about Limiting Beliefs and Freedom from Fear. She discusses the messages that we as parents send to our children through our words and actions. We try hard not to use labels (even unschooling), because I feel like you can become stuck in this rigid box with limited sides, and labels can be interpreted differently by different people. I try not to label Meredith in front of her (she’s shy, she’s outgoing, she’s a leader, she’s a follower), because she can be all of these things, and none of them, depending on the situation. Even positive ones can create a box. I was labelled “gifted” as a child and suddenly I had this label I had to continually live up to for fear of disappointing those around me. This post is a reminder that children and people aren’t the only ones who are labelled, but the world around us as well.

I loved the Solace comic on Mama-Is. There are many times while wearing my babies (either of them) out and about that I just have to stop and kiss their heads and give them a hug and forget all about whatever’s happening around us. It’s one big reason I prefer to wear them on my front as long as possible.

A local unschooler wrote a post on her blog in response to an article about stay-at-home moms that was going around Facebook that really connected with me: Thinking SAHM. I adored this post, and I think it’s one I will be going back to. It is another that pretty much sums up my own feelings much better than I ever could. And I love Wendy Priesnitz’s comment to the post too: “If we don’t value our work as mothers, how can we expect society to do so?”

Another great post is Sarah‘s guest post at the Mahogany Way on Allowing Ownership. It’s a great reminder to me to really look at the reasons behind any rules or requests we may have, and to examine my underlying fears. It was timely too. Shortly after reading the post, Meredith started drawing on her Jenga blocks. It’s a not-even-full set we got with a bunch of other wooden blocks from Value Village for something like $3.99. My first instinct was to ask her not to draw on her toys, but I was able to step back and just watch her having fun and being creative with her own things.

Nutritionism

I first heard the term “nutritionism” when I came across the Food Renegade post Food – Not Nutrients – Is the Fundamental Unit in Nutrition. It’s not a September post but I just came across it so I’m putting it here. It makes so much sense. For a class I’m taking, I recently had to do a report on my eating habits and how well I follow the Canada Food Guide. I had to answer questions like “Do I choose low-fat dairy products?” My husband and I joked about how easily I could make a case for a McDonald’s diet being healthy using the criteria listed on the homework page. There is still no emphasis on real foods… ones that don’t come from a package. As long as you’re meeting some arbitrary minimum based solely on gender and age (but not body type, weight, health), you’re supposedly getting the nutrients you need, but are you really getting the food you need?

This month, Breastfeeding Moms Unite had a great post on Understanding Nutritionism and The Problem with Infant Formula. It really puts into perspective for me what the problem with formula really is, and why it’s only fourth or fifth best and can never be “just as good”. (First being directly from mom, second being pumped from mom, third being pumped from someone else (preferably not pasteurized), fourth is debatable but some say a homemade formula made of raw goat’s or cow’s milk, and last comes formula.) I feel for those women who can’t breastfeed for some reason, I really do. I would be devastated if it were me. But there is no way I could honestly say that formula is “just as good” or even “almost as good” as breast milk. It’s just not. It doesn’t mean I think women who knowingly choose to formula feed should feel guilty, especially not those who really can’t breastfeed (I know it’s hard to get enough donor milk), but just because you don’t have any other choice doesn’t suddenly make it better than what it is. I think this post had a very good point, in that formula alone is certainly not a deciding factor in future health, and a lot of the studies done on the effects of formula may not take into account that people who formula feed may not place as much importance on food as a whole and may be more likely to feed less real foods later in life too.

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The Food Renegade blog is giving away stainless steel bakeware. Go check it out, and while you’re there, if you have any interest in “real” food, fermentation, raw dairy, healthy fats, etc, have a look around the rest of her site too.

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We did baby-led introduction to solids with Meredith, and will do the same with Fiona. Proponents say that this method of introducing foods is more natural and that kids are less likely to be picky about what they eat. One of the keys is to offer variety. I find this part hard sometimes. For [...] No related posts.]]> We did baby-led introduction to solids with Meredith, and will do the same with Fiona. Proponents say that this method of introducing foods is more natural and that kids are less likely to be picky about what they eat. One of the keys is to offer variety. I find this part hard sometimes. For instance, neither Kris nor I like calamari. We were out to eat with some friends a couple of months ago and they ordered calamari and Meredith loved it. But it’s not something we would ever order ourselves because if she didn’t eat it it would go to waste and she’s unlikely to eat a whole plate of it anyway. But if we never have it around, I worry that (and things like that) will end up being just a weird foreign food in her mind.

I feel that we eat very healthy compared to most of the population. Our suppers are pretty much all home cooked and from scratch. I make my own broths, and I plan to can tomatoes and make sauces and salsa this fall. We have grown quite a lot of our own vegetables this summer, and I’m trying out a winter garden this year. I started that pretty late so I’m going to try and not be too disappointed if that’s a bit of a flub though.

All that being said, we eat healthy, but we don’t eat a huge variety. We have lots of great tried-and-true recipes, but I find it difficult sometimes to get out of the comfort zone of recipes I know we all like, and try new things. There’s also a lot of vegetables we’ve never really tried. Not because there’s anything wrong with them, but because I know we like other ones. In fact, when I was looking over the list of vegetables that work well in a winter garden, I almost gave up on the spot simply because a lot of the vegetables on the list are things we just don’t eat. (Cabbage, swiss chard, beets, parsnips, to name a few.) But then I changed my mind and went ahead and ordered them.

While I wouldn’t consider Meredith overly picky, she’s certainly suspicious of foods she’s never seen before, and she doesn’t like leafy greens much (though she ate almost an entire bunch of fresh spinach from the garden to herself once!). I think a lot of it is a texture issue. She used to eat mushrooms and onions no problem, now she pulls out even little pieces from ground beef. If any of the above foods actually do grow this year, I obviously want them to get eaten. So I’ve been reading a bit about hiding vegetables in food. There seem to be two sides to the issue: those who feel it’s best to get vegetables in your kids any way you can, and those who feel kids should be exposed to lots of foods and that you’re not doing them any favours (or giving them much credit) by hiding vegetables in food.

I agree with both sides. I want vegetables to get eaten, but I want them to be seen and enjoyed for what they are too. I don’t agree with forcing kids to eat things they don’t like. We don’t have a one-bite rule of any sort, though there have been times I’ve encouraged her to try something. With Meredith’s personality, it often works best if I offer it to her and then drop it and leave the food in front of her. Often she says no, but then if I drop it she will try some and before I know it she’s done hers and trying to steal mine too!

My way of going about “hiding” foods isn’t so much about hiding as it is about masking flavours and textures. When having pasta, we’ve always cut up and added onions, peppers, zucchini, mushrooms; basically whatever we have on hand. But even that she will sometimes pick out. I was reading about pureeing foods and decided to give that a go this week. Meredith often helps me cook, so it’s hard to hide something when she’s the one adding it to the food processor. She still sees the vegetable, I tell her what it is if she asks, she helps me pick them out of the garden, and she knows it’s in her food. My plan is that as she gets used to the tastes, I can puree it less and less and hopefully eventually just be chopping it coarsely. We also still offer other vegetables that we know she does like at every meal as well, so she’s still getting lots of exposure to different vegetables.

So far, it’s been fairly successful. We made sloppy joes with zucchini, green peppers, carrots, and onions pureed into the sauce, and then corn and mushrooms  in bigger pieces. We had curry last night with lots of peppers, mushroom, and onion. I have a menu plan for the next week all ready to go, with plans to add things like cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, and most of the above vegetables to various ones. We’re going away next week, but when we’re back I want to try buying some vegetables that may be out of my comfort zone and starting to add those in as well. Hopefully this will help get all of us eating a larger variety of vegetables, not just Meredith.

This post is my contribution to Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday this week.

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