Fun with Flax

I think that this was probably one of the coolest things I have made in a while. Who know that you could make an egg replacer from flax seeds. I do have to say that it does slightly resemble that thing from the movie "Flubber." It does work though, I made banana bread later that day and I think it was probably the tastiest loaf that I have made to date. I think that flax seed egg replacer will be a staple in my baking for now on.

After this cool experiment I decided to try another recipe that called for ground flax seed. The kids and I made a batch of raw cookies. Well, ours were semi raw since I didn't have raw carob chips or agave (I used regular chocolate chips and maple syrup). We mashed all of the ingredients together and rolled them into little balls. They were a little hesitant to try them, but the four of us managed to eat them all up by that evening and they have been asking for more ever since.

Many Paths, One Journey to Health

So, I can not believe that I haven't flipped through this book sooner. The Holistic Moms Network has had a cookbook out for a few years and just recently published a second one. Well, on Wednesday Mary brought both with her to our leaders meeting to help give me some ideas for my topic of "Living Green on a Budget" at the next meeting. So once nap time finally rolled around that afternoon I sat down and flipped through both of the books and all I have to say is WOW!!! I think these books are going to be the most useful of all of my cookbooks (and trust me there are many). First of all they aren't just about one way of cooking, the are almost all inclusive with vegan and vegetarian, raw, macrobiotic and even an awesome section on fermented foods. Not only does this book contain many, many yummy looking recipes (even many that I think my kids would even eat) but there is also an entire section for remedies and other recipes.

Seriously, I had never even thought to make my own Elderberry Syrup. If you have never heard of this, it is a great immune boosting syrup that I give to my entire family religiously through the fall and winter. Well, at about $13 per 4oz. bottle of Sambucol passed out to a family 6 (well, only 5 take it) equals not lasting long and costing A LOT of money. The money that is going to be saved this fall/winter will be great.

Well anyway, I have been watching "Julie & Julia" a lot on one of the movie channels the past few weeks and this has given me an idea...I am going to work my way through the second HMN cookbook "Many Paths, One Journey to Health" and write about how it tasted or worked for my family.

The first item on the list was window cleaner. I was out of my natural brand of cleaner and was just thinking about googling a homemade batch when this book fell into my hands.

The ingredients are water, vinegar and a drop of dish soap (or Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap), I mixed it up in a spray bottle (I just rinsed out the empty one I had from the natural brand) and went about spraying the windows. This window cleaner gets an A+ in my book!!!! I sprayed and wiped down the windows with a micro fiber cloth and my windows have never been cleaner. I have sliding glass doors by my kitchen table that seem to always have toddler hand prints all over them. This stuff cut right through those nasty prints and left my windows clearer than ever. They might have even been perfectly crystal clear if I had some old crumpled news paper to wipe them with, but oh well we do not get one.

All I can say is that "window cleaner" will never be on my grocery list ever again.

Please Stop Comparing

Yes, my little 8 month old Peylyn looks like she is starving, right. What is it about people comparing the weight of babies? I am so sick of hearing how much some ones baby weighs!!!

Seriously, this makes no sense to me since we don't sit around as adults comparing our weights. What is it that has people thinking that "bigger is better" when it comes to babies?

I was at a picnic over the weekend and people were asking me how much Peylyn weighs now. To which my answer is always "I have no idea, I have more important things to worry about." Then they start telling me how much some little formula fed baby weighs. I just want to tell them, "Well if I was force feeding my child every few hours maybe she would have a weight problem too."

My beautiful little girl is 8 months old, still exclusively breastfed and is doing amazingly well. To each his own when it comes to how and when you start feeding your child, but just because something is the "norm" in this country, it doesn't make it the best option.

While we are on the subject, yes my son Taj nurses more than 10 times a day!! Look at him, he looks like he is starving too. This little boy barely eats breakfast, naps through lunch and picks at his dinner but has an adorably round breastfed toddler face. And you know what, some days I do feel like a super hero knowing that it is my body that is nurishing my two fantastic babies! I am sending out high fives to all nursing moms, tandem nursing moms, moms nursing toddlers and older. You are all awesome!!!!!