20 min and $20 can save a baby's life

New Zealand did a campaign (beginning in 1998) to encourage parents to wrap their baby mattresses. If you look at this link, there’s about 8 facts that show the history of their campaign: (http://www.babymattresscovers.com/crib_death_summary.html)

Over 190,000 babies sleep on wrapped mattresses in New Zealand.  There have been 0 deaths in of babies sleeping on a wrapped mattresses.  In other words, for over 10 years, wrapping mattresses has been 100% effective in saving babies from SIDS. 

If you research SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) you’ll find that some experts say that breastfeeding and sleeping with your baby helps prevent it, other experts say it increases the likelihood.  In 1994, the American Academy of Pediatric launched a campaign to encourage parents to have babies sleep on their backs.  The response to that was a dramatic drop in SIDS deaths.  But they didn’t go away.  If you look at a graph showing the drop of SIDS, you’ll see that while it dropped in response to back sleeping, it has leveled off.  Deaths from SIDS have not decreased since 2001 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Back_to_sleep_plot.png). 

There are still approximately 2000 babies that die in the US every year due to SIDS.  It is the leading cause of death for babies under one year and typically occurs between 2 and 4 months of age.  So babies sleeping on their back helps, but there must be some other reason. I believe that it is the foam and fire retardant chemicals that slowly off gas and break down coming from the mattress.  Older babies usually are fine because their lungs are more developed.

There is something we do which is not mainstream but totally easy, cheap and potentially life-saving.  It can be done in 20 minutes and never have to be done again and will provide protection for your sweet babies for the entire time they sleep on their baby mattresses.

My posts about it including how to wrap a mattress:

• Baby mattresses (my post)
• DIY Mattress Wrapping (my post)
• Prevent SIDS
• Divergent View (another passionate mom convinced we can pretty much eliminate SIDS.
• Cot (Brit way of saying mattress) life 2000 (the deepest research available)

So maybe you are on the fence about the validity of this. I know I'm a bit on the passionate side...  But really, what's the harm?  It's $20 (less if you split a roll of plastic with someone) and takes so little time.  We buy baby monitors, plug protectors and set up baby gates over stairs.  We protect our babies from what's obvious.  Why not protect them from something not so obvious?

Love, Carra

Homeschool Musings

We're beginning our homeschool journey. Honestly, it is harder to figure out than I expected, but when it goes well - I'm soooo excited. Gracie is somewhere between Kindergarten and First Grade. So I say she's in "Fir-indergarten." It's amazing that we can cover 6 subjects in less than two hours a day! We're only a few weeks in, but I'm hooked.

One of my favorite things is the variety of subjects. I love that she can spend time learning different things from us. Pete shows her all kinds of animals and insects (she is comfortable touching many random creatures including snakes!). He also taught her how to work a tape measure and throw a frisbee. I say that's biology, woodworking and phy ed!

You can see my influence here. Yes, she is operating a hand sander solo. I'm not sure what to call the subject ...environmental science? ...economics? (since she's learning the value of natural renovation and improving older furniture to save money).

Well, it's time for culinary arts (she'll help me make dinner).

Love,

Oh for the want of a healthy home...

My sweet husband made a discovery this week. He just finished this AWESOME computer desk for me and the girls. I'll share a picture very soon (I'm re-working the whole den and I just drug a futon in front of it. So it is not picture-ready yet. :-)

So back to the discovery - I have been loving the ability to redo furniture with zero-VOC paint I can get at Lowes (Olympic). So Pete is researching a safe stain for the top of this table. The wood grain is so lovely, neither of us have the heart to paint over it. So in his research, he finds a site that is pretty critical of zero-VOC paints. [Here it is.]

Not to be swayed by one site (and a site that sells paint), we pressed on. Pete contacted Olympic directly and asked for their MSDS sheets (a government required detail of the ingredients of products). Indeed, the chemicals were present. He even spoke to a representative who was very nice, but stated, "We cannot guarantee that these chemicals are not present in the paint - it is a part of the processing the product." Honesty - that was cool.

Unfortunately that left me feeling a little "creatively inhibited." As you see in the photo, I have projects waiting for some colorful expression. I mean, I'm pregnant after all and this nesting thing is very, very real.

But again Pete brings me back. He reminded me of our choices. We spend less money on movies (aside: we went to see Toy Story 3 yesterday, but I had two free tickets. Before TS3, I think it has been maybe 2 years since we saw one?).

But life is about choices. Pete reminded me that we can choose to spend money on more expensive (truly non-toxic) paint so I can continue to nest and create. We'll just adjust other areas. I appreciate that ;-) So what kind of paint are we headed for? Don't know quite yet. We're still researching the best alternative.

Also - We'll be doing some mattress wrapping in the next week. I'm excited to share the pictures and how it all went. If you missed my last post, definitely read it and share it with your pregnant friends ;-)

Love,

"Real Simple" ...real dangerous

Pardon me, don't let me accidentally drop this on your foot. But my soapbox is getting a little dusty and I'm just compelled to bring it out to comment...

So I got a deal last fall for a subscription to Real Simple (RS) magazine for $5. I'm glad it was such a deal. RS is a thick, visually appealing magazine with articles that sound interesting. A ton of friends read it and just love it. I'm...well... read on...

It is mainstream... I know that Covergirl, Revlon and Loreal are major advertisers - of course they're not going to talk about the dangers of most makeups.

BUT - this got me riled up. Title of the article: "Sunblock, solutions for every excuse not to wear sunscreen." The excuse they were battling was "I want to get enough Vitamin D."
RS's retort: "Some research links vitamin D deficiency to cancer, heart attack and diabetes. But why risk wrinkles and cancer when you can get vitamin D from food and supplements?" (page 108, June 2010 issue)

Seriously?

Watch your toe again... God made the sun. God made the sun to literally create vitamin D inside our bodies. We were not made to worship the sun (or the tan it offers). But there is sooooo much research to show that we are doing far more harm than good by running from the sun.

I used to use sunscreen all summer long, but not anymore. Here are a few interesting pieces from a recent Mercola article (you have to register your email to read the rest, but access to this level of research is so worth a few more items in your inbox - and it's free)

• While excessive sun exposure can increase certain types of cancer, there is a good deal of research that shows that exposure without sunburn actually decreases the likelihood of melanoma.
  
  
• Your body produces the most active form of vitamin D in existence -- calciferol. Also known as vitamin D3. Vitamin D3 is actually the precise form your body needs for the proper functioning of your organs and cells.

• The main chemical used in sunscreens to filter out ultraviolet B light is octyl methoxycinnamate. OMC for short. OMC was found to kill mouse cells even at low doses. Plus, it was also shown to be particularly toxic when exposed to sunshine. And guess what? OMC is present in 90% of sunscreen brands!
  

Well, I try not to wear sunscreen except when I will be out prolonged times that I simply cannot control to I'm in intense sun my body is not used to (like the beach). There are lots of ideas for safely enjoying the sun without a chemical bath. So join Mercola and read up on the best ways to enjoy the sun. Enjoy your Real Simple magazine for the cute decorating ideas, organizing tips and photos, but find your health advice elsewhere.

Love,

Teeth, Teething and Toothpaste

One of my sweet friends (and new mom) from TN emailed me yesterday. She wanted to know how we handled teething. So I began to reflect on our natural oral care.

It's interesting how long teeth issues are well, "issues." Gracie is almost six and has not lost a baby tooth yet. Faith is almost three and is currently cutting some molars.

When Gracie was three months old Pete and I began seeing a chiropractor. Gracie went along to the appointments and Dr. Bourg offered to adjust her as well (for free - yay!). He recommended giving Gracie silica tablets to strengthen her teeth.

We picked up a bottle and began giving her four tablets, twice a day. We have run out a few times, but for must of her life we've been giving silica tablets at bedtime and nap. Faith started on silica when she was about three months old as well.

The tablets dissolve quickly and have very little taste. However the girls think they are like candy. When they were tiny, we'd press one tablet at a time into their mouth. if I could get it under their tongue, I would. Once the teeth began popping out - that became dangerous. Baby teeth are sharp! But they always liked taking their silica. And that's the only thing we've done with aid to teething.

Last minute aside - And while we're taking about oral health - let me share our toothpaste. We used to use Nature's gate but now we use Xyliwhite toothpaste. May I encourage you to consider a fluoride-free product for your mouth.

Love,

New Challenge for Natural Sweeteners

This week at the market, I was so excited that my "bag of CSA goodies" included both muskadines (right) and scuppernongs (left). If you not from the deep south, you may have no clue of the deliciousness of these wood grown wild grapes.

So here's the challenge - my favorite way to consume them is in the form of JELLY! But we gave up sugar - agh! So I am on a search to try to discover if it is possible (and etible) to make either unsweetened jelly or honey-sweetened jelly. I know I have some beef gelatin from my marshmallow experiments (saga part one, part two and part three). So join me (advise me ;-)) as I pursue another hilarious experiment in food preparation. BTW yogurt making with photos coming soon!

Moving with a Natural Twist

Well, I am so excited to tell you that we are about to become homeowners! We've been renting over 3 years and because our current residence is slated to become a parking lot - we feel like it's a good time to move LOL.

Through a series of ways that only Christ could direct - we are planning to purchase a house across the street. So you will likely be invited to the journey of moving and decorating with a natural twist. I'm already recycling ;-) We're using boxes that would have been thrown out from a restoration company.

Because this semester is already delightfully busy (yes - delightfully, I really mean it), I want to pace myself in the process. I have not made any graham crackers, cheese or breakfast cookies lately. I am making yogurt and of course the required food for maintaining a husband and & two little monkeys.

To keep a steady pace of life (or maybe to try to achieve one), I'm packing five boxes per day. We will be moving sometime between Oct 1 and 20th. There are a few factors in that- I won't bore you. Anyway - there are boxes stacked high already and as soon as the camera batteries are recharged - you will have a photo to see for yourself.

Off the fence - agave, friend or foe?

Okay, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it does seem to be that agave is not the super sweetener that it claims to be. It is super though - super concentrated fructose. Agave contains a much higher percentage of fructose even than the evil High Fructose Corn Syrup (boo, hiss)...."junk."

So although it does taste great, it is a not something you really want to consume in quantity. Dr. Mercola and the Weston Price Foundation have weighed in. The low glycemic index (which I thought was good) is apparently something we want triggered to tell us that we are consuming enough food.

Aside ; you'll never guess - bees are being forced to make honey year round and fed high fructose corn syrup. So that's another reason to buy your honey from a local source (nice amish folks have bees and sell honey at the Greensboro Curb Farmers Market). Oh bother (yes that was a reference made to Winnie the Pooh within the discussion of honey :-)

So in light of the research - what will our little family be doing?

Continuing to limit sweeteners. It's amazing how much less sweetener (honey this week) that it takes to make a blueberry muffin taste good. We're not throwing away the bit of agave we still have, we'll use it along with honey in recipes. Don't think we'll be buying more in quantity (i.e. by the gallon - ack!). The truth is I need to eat less sugar. This is hard because sugar - be it agave, honey, maple syrup or a big chocolate bar - is delicious. Personal discipline with sugars - another opportunity to rely on God for strength - I certainly can"t make it on my own. Have a great day!

Invest in your local Farm

This spring we joined a CSA. (Yes I'm from South Carolina, but no - this CSA is not the Confederate States of America, LOL). A CSA is Community Support Agriculture. It is a really awesome, really fair way for those of us who are not in a position to grow all our own veggies to partake in the farming world.

So we joined a new CSA with Faucette Farms in Greensboro. If you're in the area - I highly recommend them. Basically, I pay quarterly (equals about $23 a week) and receive whatever vegetables they have in season. Here's the veggies I got one week in May. Don't they look yummy?

In a CSA the risk of a hard year is spread across many people. By investing in the farm - I get really fresh vegetables, local and organic. I think my favorite part is feeling less like a "consumer" and more like a part of the farm. Now it's summer we're getting fresh corn, cantaloupe and blueberries! I am so grateful that God has blessed us with the Faucette's organic food.

If you are interested in joining a CSA, check out Local Harvest or Slow Food. They have searchable databases you can hopefully find a CSA in your area. Happy healthy day!

Sabbatical from Agave

How long have I loved thee - agaveee?

I suppose it was too good to be true - a sweetener that has no strong taste or aftertaste - that dissolves immediately in liquid. I've heard rumors, caught a little article here and there saying that agave is more processed than we first expected. But I chose to ignore. This stuff is great - there are always nay-sayers.

Alas - two sources whom I trust - Dr. Mercola and the Weston Price Foundation (article by Dr. Ben Kim) both came out recently about the delicious liquid. Unfortunately not only regarding it's degree of "natural" but unfortunately its danger as well. I need to read more carefully and get all the facts straight. (I have been distracted by the other things happening in my life right now).

After I do some more research, I'll share a more put together blog about it. But to be cautious - we are taking a sabbatical from agave. We're now all about maple syrup and honey. I made honey chocolate cake and some honey brownies that were quite good. The cake is from another site, but the brownies are my own adaptation. Here's the recipe:

Brownies Sweetened with Honey
* Between 1.5 & 2 cups honey (depending how sweet you like it)
* 1 cup oil (usually I use 1/2 sunflower, 1/2 olive - all olive is a bit too much of the taste)
* 4 eggs
* 1.5 tsp vanilla
Mix all this together and then grab another bowl for the dry ingredients.
* 1.5 cups flour (it can handle all whole wheat, but for lighter brownies, try half naturally white flour)
* 1 tsp salt
* 1/2 cup of cocoa

Mix this well especially the cocoa chucks. If you are inclined you can sift it and it turns out better. I should, but I usually don't. Kitchen confessions ;-) Mix everything together and bake in a greased 13 x 9 pan in a 350 degree oven (if your oven runs hot - turn down to 325 or they won't taste as moist or sweet). Bake for about 20 minutes. Take out when the middle is firm, but not 100% completely done on top. This takes a little experimenting to see how to get them cooked just right. Happy Honey Cooking!

Save Yourself from Your Cleaners!

The Facts: Have you considered...?
In an industrial setting, the use of bleach, antiseptics or chlorine requires protective clothing. Our precious vulnerable babies are being laid on a plastic mattress that is regularly sprayed down with diluted bleach. This concerns me because chemical cleaners are so dangerous and the available alternatives are both effective and frugal.

What makes bleach so bad?
When bleach (chlorine) comes in contact with organic matter, it creates chloroform which is both a toxin and known carcinogen. So whenever we wipe up some crumbs, pee pee etc, we are adding this toxin to our children’s lungs. Bleach also becomes ineffective as a disinfectant very quickly when it comes in contact with organic matter. What that means is that in order for bleach to disinfect properly the surface must be completely clean before the bleach touches it in order for it to disinfect completely.

It does more harm than good. On porous surfaces, it does not penetrate so for killing mold, it only cleans the top layer. Bleach is not registered with the EPA as a disinfectant to kill mold. It also damages floor and countertop sealers, and damages surfaces, discolors and corrodes hard surfaces over time.

Many natural cleaning products such as tea tree oil or vinegar can be used to both clean and disinfect at the same time which can save a lot of time when you are cleaning.

This does not have to be an area of choosing safety over cost effectiveness. A single bottle of tea tree essential oil (one ounce for $7 = 200 to 250 drops) can make enough spray disinfectant for 8 to 10 gallons of water (that's 40 bottles of spray disinfectant for about $7!). There are so many fantastic alternatives. I keep spray bottles with various mixes of essential oils for disinfectant, odor control and antiseptic purposes. For general cleaning, I use Shaklee Basic H which also is diluted and cleans great. Seventh Generation products also disclose exactly what's inside the bottle. Read your labels - the simpler, the better. Happy cleaning!


Sources
http://www.moldacrossamerica.org/notobleach.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A795611
http://www.thecaretakers.net/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=1
http://www.howtodothings.com/home-garden/how-to-understand-why-bleach-is-bad
http://www.lightparty.com/Health/DangersOfChlorine.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1639812/bleach_health_dangers_effectiveness_pg2.html?cat=5
http://www.twittermoms.com/profiles/blogs/the-dangers-of-using-bleach

Food, Inc.

Hey,
I just saw this trailer on Keeper of the Home blog and I have to continue to share it. This goes right along with my recent posts on mattresses, SIDS and toxins. We as a society are less and less connected to the realness of life. I am not afraid (we are not given a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind - 2 Timothy 1:7). But I do praise God for blessing us with his Word (which is why we eat the diet we do), and the information through wise people face-to-face and online. Life is about choices - choices to eat local or convenient; choices to spend or to save (or repurpose); and the choice to make life about us..... or God. My goal is to eat the gift of food in the manner my Creator created it.

This may make you angry

SIDS aka Crib Death - if you read "back to sleep safe sleep" website you will find that SIDS is the #1 killer of babies age zero through one year old. ....AND they have no idea what causes it......REALLY???

RANT warning: I am not a conspiracy chick, but there is definitely a trail that begins in greed. Follow the money (i.e. FDA drugs etc. but that's a whole 'nuther blog). Did you know that crib manufacturers fought to get the name changed to "SIDS" so that we the consumer would not associate death with a crib? Helps sell more cribs. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

What if it is the toxic fumes, fungus and off gassing of the baby's mattress? When I found out about the four-year research study, the 100% success rate in making a change to your baby's environment - I was angry. I trust that God is bringing you to this blog to open your eyes (or find out from a "real mama") the truth about keeping our babies healthy.

A 100% successful crib death prevention campaign has been going on in New Zealand for the past 11 years. Midwives and other healthcare professionals throughout New Zealand have been actively advising parents to wrap mattresses. During this time, there has not been a single SIDS death reported among the over 100,000 New Zealand babies who have slept on mattresses wrapped in a specially formulated polyethylene cover. The score in New Zealand is now 810 deaths (orthodox crib death prevention advice) to none (mattress-wrapping).

You are currently reading the blog of a mattress wrapper (cue the beatboxing, LOL).

Here's what we have done in our home:

• Our bed - three layer Queen latex from savvy rest which was about $2000 (but it lasts 30 years!)
  
• Baby Bed - Arm's Reach Co-sleeper - awesome alternative to sleeping in literally connected to your bed. The mattress is regular foam, so we bought a wrap ($25 - two years ago)
  
• Big Girls' bed organic futon mattress (seen here). It has a wool cover so it is naturally flame retardant and doesn't off gas dangerous fumes.
  
• Crib Mattress - New mattress from babies r us and we bought a wrap (another $25 - two years ago)
• To have a safe place for me to nap with the baby (now almost two), we purchased a cover for the spare room bed ($38 from No Chem) Our toddler grew out of her organic futon crib mattress so she now has the wrapped full bed mattress from the guest room.

I encourage you to read about the research and 10+ years of use - Cause of SIDS, and Stop SIDS Now. You can buy the covers here (BabeSafe is the manufacturer): Eve's Best, For adult beds at No Chem bed Solutions. Sleep safe!

Going all natural...in BED!

I know what you're thinking...nope - not what you're doing in bed - what you are sleeping on!

Three years ago we became completely debt free!!! That's an awesome way to go natural. And the first thing that we "saved up first, then purchased" was a new mattress. Ours had been a showroom floor discount and after five years was completely shot. As we pondered finding a wonderfully comfortable mattress, we were made aware of an interesting reality.

Mainstream mattresses are full of chemicals. The process that makes foam (which many beds have) breaks down over time and releases CFC's and more. So we started researching and found the option of a natural latex. It is not chemically created and lasts for 30 years! We bought our bed though a local distributor with Savvy Rest.

Honestly - we don't care for traveling too much because the best sleep is right here at home. You can pick your level of firmness and your husband (or wife) can select their firmness. Oh, it feels so great to sleep so well!

The two best things about our bed: I could sleep on my stomach way into my pregnancy. If you have been pregnant and are a stomach sleeper - you know what a pain it is to be big as a house and not able to sleep! LOL! And because it naturally keeps away the dust mites, we were breathing better.

Peruse the guest comments about direct health related experiences with all kind of mainstream mattresses at Chem-tox. Then read some more details about what our mattresses are made of. Watch out - my next blog is going to be able baby mattress toxins!

Things I never thought I would do...

For a girl that grew up on Dr. Peppers and nutty buddy's, I have become some hilarious health nut. If I my 24 year old self ever met my 34 year old self - she would think I was way over the top. And so I am.  So in the last two weeks I have made butter, buttermilk, yogurt and mozzarella cheese! If you are willing to have milk all over your kitchen for a few hours....

• Butter - I tried using the stand mixer, but the food processor was much, much easier (and cleaner)
• Buttermilk
• Yogurt - I actually bought a yogurt maker to keep the cultivating stuff at a constant temperature. It was only about $20 - very worth it since we spend $5 to $8 per week on yogurt. BTW - I don't use the plastic container - a washed out mayonnaise jar fits perfectly inside.
• Mozzarella cheese - mine did not "spin," but it tasted great and was able to be shredded the next day.
• Ricotta cheese - here's the recipe - I'm planning to make it tomorrow from all the whey I had left from the cheese making.
• Sour cream - here's the recipe - I'm planning to make it Saturday after I get a fresh gallon. It also has good info on butter, buttermilk, etc.

Menu and Spending

Okay, I love the title of fellow blogger - frugal granola - if I had thought of it first... ;-) We are in the mission field and we are not rolling in money by any means, but we do have a fairly predictable income. We did the "Dave Ramsey get out of debt thing" a few years back, but never took the leap to use cash inside envelopes.

Well, last fall, we did take "Financial Peace University." I totally recommend it. We were already debt-free (don't own much), but taking the class was very inspiring. We decided to take the leap and use cash envelopes. The cool thing - it coincided with my discovering the bounty of our local farmers market. They prefer cash anyway ;-) My goal is to get 80% of all our food from local farmers. I need to develop a way to track that ;-) So here's a glimpse into my budget and coordinating menus for the week.
This week's grocery shopping / Cost of my meals

Slow Food (local farmers) - all organic and/or natural

• Milk gallon - $8
• 2 lbs butter $9 (will last two weeks)
• One block of Munster cheese - $3.50
• Two loaves bread - $8
• Two pints yogurt - $5
• Head of cabbage - don't recall exactly - $.69 lb?)
• Carrots $5 (discount for bulk - 5 lbs for $1 lb)
• Potatoes $5 (for two meals)
• Roast, 2 lb - $12
• Green peppers (usually can get even in winter) $2
• Ground beef (1 lb) - $5
• Tomatoes (4 large) - $6
• Garlic - don't recall at all
• Lettuce (loose bag) - $4
• Chicken legs (for lentil soup) $5 (I'll be able to buy more in a few weeks - the chickens aren't ready to process yet)

Mainstream Grocery Stores: (Lowes Food / Harris Teeter / Fresh Market/ Super Wal-mart) - mostly organic

• Frozen bag organic veggies - $1.50 each (on sale last week)
• Frozen spinach - $3
• Natural tuna - $2
• Macaroni noodles - $1 (mainstream)
• Dried beans - $2 (kidney beans for chili, lentils for stew)
• Egg noodles - $2 (mainstream)
• Organic applesauce - $5 (Two six-packs at $2.50 each)
• Sour cream - $2 (mainstream)
• Talapia - $15 (wild caught after that nasty "Dirties Jobs" episode we just can't mentally accept eating farm raised)
• Celery - $3
• Bananas - $10 (we buy mainstream b/c we understood that organic has to be sprayed to be brought in to the US, so we just peel them for the girls and wash our hands so (mainstream))
• Chicken breasts - $20 (for Bahmi -$5 lb)
• Leeks - $4 bunch, (I cut up and freeze, so one bunch will last two weeks)
• Tortilla chips - $3
• Expeller pressed mayo - $8 (lasts long time)
• Almond butter - $7 (lasts two weeks, sometimes longer depending on how many leftovers we have for lunches)

Menu We eat pretty much the same breakfast and lunch everyday unless it is a special occasion.

Breakfast: Banana for each person (occasionally two), oatmeal (real, cooked on the stovetop) with sea salt and maple syrup (we try to eat it just soaked and raw - but I forget), and many days - a boiled egg for each person.

Lunch: egg salad or almond butter and honey sandwiches, we have tuna noodle casserole with green peas (when Pete's away b/c mayo allergy), sometimes a green salad with some chicken on top, or leftovers from the previous night's dinner.
Dinners
Monday: Chicken lentil soup (really a thick stew) - enough for two meals
Tuesday: Chicken legs, macaroni and cheese, green peas, leftover lentil soup
Wednesday: Talapia, spinach, mashed potatoesThursday: Bahmi (stir fry of cabbage, leeks, carrots, chicken, celery with egg noodles)
Friday: Chili (beef, kidney beans, peppers, tomatos canned from my parent's garden, leeks, garlic)
Saturday: Roast beef, green beans, mashed potatoes - one of our favorite meals
Sunday: Chicken stew (chicken, potatoes, carrots)

And on Fridays - I make a 8 x 8 pan of agave brownies. We try to make it last the whole weekend - it's hard. Sometimes I make hot chocolate to go with the fabulous agave marshmallows I made (they're still some in the refrigerator). Sometimes on Wednesday, I do a mid-week treat of blueberry muffins (blueberries frozen from summer).

OT Compliant

Are you OT Compliant? In this new year of resolutions and promises, may I suggest an alternative to the standard diet? Try being OT (Old Testament) Compliant. I was surprised and encouraged to find there is scientific proof to the benefits of following OT dietary and lifestyle laws. I praise God that sacrifices are no longer necessary since Jesus has paid the one truly perfect and complete sacrifice. I am not advocating legalism (I am a reforming legalist by the grace of God myself). But if you are convinced in both your mind (that you connect intellectually) and your heart (that you trust that God has your best in mind) - you will find following an OT Compliant lifestyle is actually not so hard.

And to prove I am not a legalist, I confess to all my blog buddies that I did enjoy two pieces of bacon with my Chick-fil-A breakfast platter yesterday. So explore the possiblity of becoming OT Compliant. My best resource is "What the Bible Says About Healthy Living" by Dr. Rex Russell which is in a lot of libraries.

Bye Bye Sugar!

It's our family birthday! It has now been over a year since Pete and I gave up all refined sugars (white, powdered, corn syrup, anything that makes up most of our food choices).

Why? We get this question a lot. Some people are very good at "moderation." For years we tried all kinds of strategies to lower our sugar intake. We tried making sugar a weekend thing, having one serving a day, three a week, etc. They all failed because we are basically gluttonous people. :-)

So last October/November Pete was up late one night feeling shell-shocked from the pan of brownies that we had just consumed and made a discovery. He ended up on a website about drug and alcohol addiction. It was scary how similar the feelings we had about sugar were to drugs and alcohol. This was not a AA site. It was more intense. It suggested we just stop and never go back.

What?!?!?

Pete was pretty excited about his discovery and tried to share it with me the next day. I was less than enthused. After a couple of days (with Pete praying) I finally looked at the website (actually, Pete took me to the website and showed it to me). I thought - "Crap, we're really going to have to do this."

So we made a commitment and it was hard. What made it especially hard was trying to find substitutes for the things we used to enjoy that used natural sugars (honey, maple syrup, etc.). I made some "not so delicious almond butter and carob bars with honey for coaches training. We choked these down while sitting at table with bowls of M&M's right in front of us.

Fast forward a year...
It's great. I've learned to make brownies, cakes, blondies, pancakes, frosting and most recently cookies out of natural sugars that taste incredibly good. Next blog, I'll share a recipe for a natural dessert.

Have I really changed that much?

Seriously - I used to drink a Dr. pepper and eat a nutty bar almost everyday! I know that when people come to my house they are often perplexed by the myriad of weird food that sits in our refrigerator and pantry.

Then I read a book. The Amazing Connection Between Food and Love is an awesome book. Gary Smalley continually refers to this one book as his prime information source - What the Bible Says about Healthy Living. Worth a read!