Math Books and Vitamins

A friend who confessed to only skimming through all this nutrition talk encouraged me to take a break or two for those of y'all not so keen on greens. We'll get back to healthy eating shortly.

The other day the UPS man delivered a couple of boxes. The kids, as always, got excited. I tried to calm them down; I didn't want their hopes up. The boxes were just vitamins and new math books.

This is the season of math books and vitamins, laundry, baseball games and sleepovers. This is not the season in our family's life for something new and exciting. No new faces will join our crew; this is it-the seven of us. From here on out, it's not growing the family, it's helping each child grow.

This was a bittersweet realization for me. Sure, it's nice to start giving away mounds of baby clothes that won't be worn again by anyone in my home. I can hardly wait to be rid of the bulky baby items we won't ever need again. Diaper bags, I won't miss you!

But there is an element of surprise that will always be missing from our home now. We are absolutely sure (without some serious heaven-sent intervention) our family will not get any bigger. There is no tiny thought of Audrey as a big sister. She won't be one. There's no wonder when I fold up too-small baby clothes...will someone new come along? No, there is no new one coming. This is it. This is us. Who our family is.

Now it's just maintaining, growing up the ones we got. Yep, a little sad, but a bit freeing too. I have to focus on that freedom. You see, I think I'm a builder not a maintainer. I can start a pregnancy center, revamp another one and so on, but I'm not the one to stick around for 20 years making it run in the day to day. Of course, I don't get to switch families and start all over--and I don't want to, not today anyway, so it's a changing of seasons for me.

I was wrong when I said we won't add anyone else to our family. In about ten years (or the blink of an eye, really) we'll start adding sons-in-laws. I've been praying for them for years, I am excited to see who God will bring for my girls and I have much work to do to get my girls ready for a life of service to their Lord, husbands and children.

Food Class: Raw Milk

I hadn't really thought I'd start out talking about raw milk...it's pretty "out there" but since Alison brought it up, I'll jump right in with it. I guess if you hang in there through this, you'll survive the rest!

Okay, to be honest, my friends had to talk up raw milk for some time before I paid attention. I don't know what finally made me switch over but I do know what held me back: the gross factor. Picking up milk in the jug from the store makes it easy to forget this milk comes from an actual animal's teats. Yuck. Meeting the very cow I'm drinking from (her name is Prissy if I remember correctly) makes it a bit different. I had to just push that out of my mind and drink it anyway. And I'm glad I did.

When I started buying raw milk, the "milk lady" gave me a book to read and although I didn't actually finish it, the chapters I did read changed my thoughts about milk forever. Basically, in our country, milk comes from "freak of nature" cows with messed up pituitary glands that over produce milk, are full of hormones, antibiotics, and are fed inferior foods. Sally Fallon in her book Nourishing Traditions, explains that the forced over production of milk causes "slime and pus" to be in the milk. It has to be cleaned with a centrifuge action (I had mistakenly said it was homogenization that cleaned it) that dissolves the pus into the milk so you don't know it's there.

There are so many other compelling reasons to pass on store bought milk. You really need to dig in and research it for yourself (there's no reason for me to retype it all here). Much of the research points to the high nutritional value of raw milk compared to it's super market counter part. All the processes to prepare the milk for our consumption actually strip it of it's God-given vitamins. It's interesting to note that once our milk was no longer raw, many diseases came to be common.

Oh, what about food borne illnesses from "dirty" raw milk? Well, many if not all the salmonella cases reported from milk were from "clean" store bought milk. Also, raw milk has infection fighting properties (just like we've been told human breastmilk has) that can actually ward off bacteria that might come into contact with the milk. Unfortunately, regular milk does not contain these properties (they're killed in the processes of making it to the grocery store).

Here are some websites to get you started:

What is real milk? This has a lot of great stuff on it, from a reputable group. Don't miss the many articles available on this site.

Raw Milk Truth Hey, this one even tells you how to get started with your own cow!

Want it in blog form? Check out this comprehensive series from a raw milk convert.

So, where do you find this magical milk? The Raw Milk Truth has a tab on the sidebar addressing this, but I'll tell you how we did it (actually it came to us, but how you would do it if you lived here...):

If you dropped into my very rural town and didn't know anyone, you could start asking at the local health food store. If that didn't get you anywhere, you could try the local chiropractor (I know this would land you a phone number to at least one dairy woman (there are three local women who have one or two cows each, which they milk with stainless steel equipment), since our very wise chiropractor feeds raw milk to her family, I mean, animals (in Texas you can legally buy it for your animals...). Still a dead end? Try asking local dairies if you can buy their milk (but it may or may not be raw for you-find out. A lot of cyber friends and one in real life has bought from a local dairy, I just don't know how it all works). Finally, if you're bold, put an ad in your local paper. If you keep your eyes open for health conscious people, (not the ones buying Slim-fast, the other ones) you'll eventually track down someone who milks a cow.

Costs: locally about $7 a gallon. We supply the glass jars for fill up.

Gulp-yes $7 a gallon is a lot, especially for a large family. First, you have to remember that store bought organic milk is about $3-$4 a half gallon, so this is a very fair price. To trim our costs further, I've stopped buying so much cereal (which tends to be eaten not only as breakfast, but as an after-karate snack). We can get by with about 2 to 2 1/2 gallons of milk a week for a family of 7 (though one isn't drinking any cow's milk yet).

I'll leave you with my number one reason for not buying store bought milk (if I can help it and I'm not being lazy--truth be told I've been lazy for months but am awaiting the arrival of a new calf so we can get back into this milk thing) is this: the "mainstream" cows are injected with growth hormones, which end up in the milk. This could be why children's bodies are maturing at a faster pace than before. I don't want these hormones in my daughter's bodies. As an added bonus of today's lesson-the toxins (like hormones) are stored in fat (in us and in cows) so eating butter and other food derived from milk fat exposes us to more of the hormones. We currently don't have organic butter available in our town (WalMart had it but stopped selling it here) so we're back to regular butter but I don't like it...

Contrary to popular belief, we may not even need to drink milk (there are no other animals who drink a different specie's milk, especially into adulthood). The calcium in regular cows milk (not sure about raw milk) isn't even digestible to humans. Yet, if the Lord promised a land of "milk and honey" then milk is permissible if not good for us. Notice, the Lord did not hype up the land deal by promising processed milk and honey!

So, there you have it, the scoop on raw milk. What do you think? Jennifer F, please add to or correct my info.

Food Class Session 2

After a really nice weekend that included a trip to Scarborough Fair where I ate a Scottish Egg (hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage and deep fried!), let's get back to our discussion on healthy eating.

We'll start today with the list of "health" foods that aren't healthy, with only a brief explanation as to why they are actually bad for you. I'll explain those reasons more fully in later posts. Also today-foods to avoid like the plague. Here we go!

Commercial, sweetened yogurt-too much white sugar, actually feeds yeast & often has artificial colors.
Store bought wheat bread-processing sucks out the nutrients, sometimes it's not wheat at all, just Carmel coloring (but it's still a bit better than bleached white bread).
Ice burg lettuce-not very nutritious and I've read that little microscopic bugs like to live in ice burg lettuce leaves, bugs that attack your stomach. Some people can't digest it well, maybe this is why? Also, once you leave it behind, your taste buds will thank you! Other lettuces & greens are so much more flavorful.
Graham crackers-hydrogenated oils. Think future heart attack as the oils coat your arteries.
Canned chicken noodle soup (most canned soups, really)-loaded with MSG (mono sodium glutamate) which is a neurotoxin.
Milk-there are so many nasty things about store bought milk, so I'll just leave you with one for today-as a result of the processes that make the cow a freak of nature who has many more times the milk than God intended, there's almost always pus in the milk. Homogenization hides the pus; distributes it throughout the milk instead of little particles accumulating in the bottom of your glass. Mmmm, tasty!
Juice-too much sugar at once (even though it's natural sugar, it still brings havoc to the pancreas), much of the nutrients are gone and there's no fiber like you'd get from the whole fruit.
Pasta-made from nutrient stripped white flour.
Canned veggies-I've read that canned green beans are so nutritionally void, they actually go backwards on the nutrients scale to a negative food (just to make a point, not really). If you're opening up that can out of duty to serve some vegetables, don't.
Kool-Aid (not that people think it's healthy, just a staple of childhood). There's nothing to Kool-Aid except artificial colors, flavors & sugar. Besides, it stains their mouths & the carpet!

Okay, so now that you're motivated to give your family better nutrition, let's talk about what needs to go first: Fake food. These are foods that are very hard to find a source for (other than a factory maybe), they offer little or no nutritional value and may actually include additives that are harmful (like cancer causing agents). Here's a list to start from:

Margarine
Most processed lunch meats
Hot dogs
Colas
Processed Cheese Products (not cheese, just the fake kind, especially Velveeta)
Sugar laden breakfast cereals
Mac & cheese (boxed, not home made)
Frozen dinners (prepared foods, not frozen fruits & veggies)
Chips
Candy
Most canned soups
Canned meals like Spaghetti-Os
Fake juices like Sunny Delight, Hawaiian Punch, Gatorade (think colored sugary chemicals).

I know I'll think of more, but this is a good start. Probably made most of you just click the web page shut. Don't despair, there are plenty of good things you can eat! You just need to adjust your style to accommodate them into your kitchen. Start slowly, eliminating only a few things--or even just one thing--at a time.

The major things to avoid: MSG, hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup. Read labels!

Okay, next time I'll focus on one topic like MSG, milk, or hydrogenated oils. If you all want to hear about one in particular first, let me know in the comments.

Happy Eating!

Food Class

Good title suggestion Vicki!

Two more caveats before we get started: Go slow. I have a friend who uses Klean Kanteen sippy cups (a couple are on my list!), makes her own yogurt, kefir, sprouts seeds and so on. Someone commented on her lifestyle and she wisely pointed out that it's taken her many years to get there. She started with tiny changes and built on them. We've done the same thing, and we've backtracked several times, especially during times of transition like adding a new baby or moving.

Also, remember the best practice is to keep it local. If you have a choice between buying organic carrots from your Super WalMart or Farmer Joe down the road, pick Farmer Joe. It's better for your local economy and Farmer Joe's family.

This thought sums up my whole foods eating law: Identify the source of your food (remember, there are no marshmallow bushes) and love one another (meaning don't offend & buy local).

Okay, as a teaser, I'm going to list some "healthy foods" that aren't so healthy. I'll come back and address why in the next post.

Commercial, sweetened yogurt
Store bought wheat bread
Ice burg lettuce
Graham crackers
Canned chicken noodle soup (most canned soups, really)
Milk
Juice
Pasta
Canned veggies
Kool-Aid (not that people think it's healthy, just a staple of childhood).

Okay, think on those things and I'll be back soon to tell you why it's all not-so-good for you. Coming soon-what to throw out of your house right now!

Eating healthy in America is a strange thing. There is so much marketing that we often are down right deceived into thinking something is healthy when it indeed is not. Even our health care system promotes junk food as health food, for instance when a doctor suggests eating yogurt to keep yeast at bay. Commercial yogurt is full of sugar-which yeast feeds on--so it actually can make the problem worse.

So what are we to do?

I'd like to start talking more about healthy lifestyle choices here, but first we have to go over some fundamentals.

While we think our main goal is to get our bodies in great shape by eating well, that's not really the main priority. No, our first objective is to not offend. I've been the obnoxious dieter telling everyone in sight how fattening their food choice is. Not pretty. I don't want someone to be afraid of what to serve me when I dine at their home. To do this, we must balance our eating goals with love to our neighbors. So, rule #1, don't be offensive with what you learn! Don't freak out if your in laws give your kids red koolaid when you're trying to cut it out of your kids' diets.

Next, you need to develop a strong distrust in all you currently know about food. We've been marketed to our entire lives. Don't be naive-our country's food sources are heavily influenced by big business, politics, and the glorious dollar. The Food Guide Pyramid was changed several times--not because expert nutritionists tweaked it. No, no, no-after big (agri-)business lobbied! So, forget all you know and don't assume anything is healthy. Especially if it's in a package or a commercial told you so.

Stop thinking organic food is for yuppies. If this is true, then the inverse is also true: herbicides and pesticides are for the rest of us. No thanks, I'm not buying into that.

Look at your food closely. Can you identify where it came from? There are no marshmallow trees in nature, no hot dog plants, and no soda streams. If you can't identify it's source, then it's probably not healthy. Along similar lines, the more ingredients on the packaging, or if there are several you can't pronounce, skip it. This goes for all those fun items in the health food store, too. Just because it's in that store does not mean it's not 100% junk. Who cares if it's organic junk, it's still junk.

Okay, for some of you that was overwhelming so we'll stop here for the day, class. Next time we'll talk about what specific items to avoid and what better alternatives are out there.

Critical Health Notice

Just thought I'd let you all know I have the Swan Flu. Bethany (our five year old) diagnosed me this afternoon after I slept all day. Here's a list of the symptoms:

Slight headache

Incredible stomach cramps

Slight fever

Aversion to food

Yep, if you have these symptoms, it's sure to be the Swan Flu, which is so much prettier than the Swine Flu, wouldn't you agree?

Nontraditional Mother's Day Tradition

My mom and Bethany

My brother Scott and Hope

We accidentally started what we hope will be a tradition for Mother's Day. There are no corsages included, but technically we did eat out.

Ashlyn was in need of some batting practice, so we decided to make a trip to our not-so-local batting cages 45 miles away. The only day that would work to go was Sunday...but that was Mother's Day...would my mom understand if we ditched the family for the afternoon and practiced batting instead? Also on site are bumper boats, go carts, mini-golf and laser tag, so I decided to just invite the family.

Well, no one had ever thought of doing that before. My family has never played mini-golf before, not even when I was a kid. We got one of my brothers in on it (the other had to work), made plans to pack some BBQ for lunch and we were on our way!

What a blast we had! It was overcast and threatening rain, so we had the park mostly to ourselves. Ashlyn & Hope used the batting cages for a while, then a few of us adults stopped yelling advice and stepped in the cage ourselves! I hadn't hit a ball in a few years, it was fun-although I don't know how they do it with those cumbersome helmets on! Meanwhile, my parents and brother took the girls in the bumper boats & go carts-even Jaika got in on it. She's ruthless with the boat's water gun-she even squirted the attendant!

We wrapped up our play with a family round of mini-golf. My sister in law has some mini-golfing skills! She let my dad take over her club when she got tired (she's still recovering from colon cancer), which leveled the playing field a bit. In the end, Shane was the champion, and I came in second. He gets bragging rights until next year when we will do it all over again.

Yep, that's right, we all had such a good time, we're planning it again for next year. Next year, we'll remember to bring napkins, since after eating BBQ sandwiches, we looked liked we'd been face painting. Also, we'll scout out a park near by instead of having a tailgate party in the parking lot-or we'll remember our lawn chairs. Soon we'll have this thing down to an art, all the while enjoying each other's company while ducking from Jaika's water gun stream!

I'm heading out to do some thrift store shopping today but wanted to leave you with the address to check in on Grant, our little friend with leukemia. Please keep him in your prayers!

Have a blessed weekend~this may very well be my last sane weekend for some time as baseball games start next week and instead of dropping kids off and running home, I'll actually be at the field many nights a week watching games, attempting to keep Jaika from diving off the bleachers head first and keeping Audrey happy in the heat (ugh and the stickiness right now-it's so humid here my hair is curling like Shirley Temple's and you could wring out my carpet).