Idiosyncrasies

We are going "home" tomorrow. After breakfast, we'll load up the car, get some gas and head to Ben and Tracy's Christmas party and then to the airport. We have been talking with Owen about whom we will see, and he has a whole list he tells us: Ma, Anne, Grandma, Pa, Granddaddy, Keiko, Roman, Alison (this seems to mean both Allen and Alison???), Micah, Kailey, Roman, Steve. I'm impressed he remembers all those names!
So, what are we packing? Each of us obviously has different priorities:

Owen said, "Dump!" and opened up his pants drawer and tried to unload it into the suitcase. He also got into picking out some books to take along - Hairy MacLary's Bone, My First Christmas Board Book, and The Night Before Christmas.

I am packing a cooler of food - 4 gallons of stock reduced to 4 pints, sauerkraut, sausage, coconut cream, lard, ghee, soup, and some other things it's too late to remember.

Right this minute, Abram is going through his D&D stuff to figure out what he can fit in his backpack along with his computer.

So, there you have it. You can tell what our priorities are. We are also taking along enough complete outfits for each person that we won't have to do laundry every night, and we will be cloth diapering Owen throughout the trip (except nights when we always do 'sposies.) Mostly, we just like to make the Homeland Security folks work for their pay and give them good stories to tell at family gatherings about the weird stuff people travel with.

Snow Cream

We had another snow today. It started as a frozen rain but turned into a lovely snow that blanketed everything about 2 inches. When Owen woke up from his long nap and looked outside, he said, "shovel, rake, . . . bucket. . . Owen. . . snow." That's Owen-speak for, "I would like to take the shovel, rake, and bucket outside to play in the snow." I finished getting a pot of soup cooking for supper, and Owen had snack before we bundled up and headed over to the park near Abram's office to play in the snow while we waited to pick him up from work. Owen enjoyed digging with the shovels, and we made a small ice castle, but Owen really, really, really wanted to taste the snow.
After dinner, I sent Abram and Owen back outside to collect some snow to make snow "cream." We all enjoyed having a sweet treat.

Snow Cream
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
3/8 c. honey
big bowl of snow
Beat the eggs, egg yolks, and honey well while the men-folk go out for the snow. When they return, add the snow a little at a time, stirring as you add. Add snow until the mixture becomes fluffy (rather than slushy). Eat immediately.

Train Ride

Yesterday we took a ride on the Strasburg Railroad 1915 steam train. It was a fun trip. Owen enjoyed sitting in the seats, walking up and down the aisle, visiting with the other children in our car, seeing "Santa" (with whom he is fascinated lately - he is everywhere after all - I guess he's a toddler celebrity ;-)), getting a coin bank from the jolly elf himself, and looking into the coal stove to see the "fire." We also enjoyed hearing some carolers and musicians pass through our car during the trip.
This evening Owen told one of his stories. He's been telling these stories a lot lately, and although he is starting to speak in small sentences, his stories are generally a series of single words. Tonight's story was about our train trip yesterday:
"Train. . . loud. . . bank. . . Santa. . . sank you (thank you). . . fire. . . hot. . . noder (another). . . person. . . off." Lots of head nodding accompanied the story to affirm the truth of the events.
Do you get the picture? We went for a train ride. The train was loud. He received a bank from Santa and said "sank you" (after Santa was long gone). There was a hot fire, and another hot fire - a coal stove at each end of the car. There were other people on the train. Then we got off.

The Results Are In

I was just not satisfied with the dentist's and doctor's take on Owen's teeth, and I had some nagging worries about the root of the issue, so Owen and I sent off some stool samples to Entero Lab to get a bit more information about our digestion.
Yup, I'm telling you about our, um, poop analysis!
So, we got the results back this week, and here's what they say:

• Owen and I are both sensitive to gluten; specifically, our intestines are making antibodies to gliadin which is part of the gluten molecule.
• We also "have an autoimmune reaction to the human enzyme tissue transglutaminase, secondary to dietary gluten sensitivity." This autoimmune reaction causes a breakdown in the intestines.
  
• We each have two copies of a gene that predisposes us to gluten sensitivity, but neither of us have a "celiac gene."
• We are both sensitive to (bovine) casein (milk protein).
• We both have elevated fat in our stools. Mine is in the "mild elevation" range, and Owen's is in the "moderate elevation" range. This is a measure of how efficiently we are digesting our food and absorbing the nutrients from it. The damage to our intestines from the autoimmune reaction has made us less able to absorb the nutritients in our food. (This, in turn, has resulted in Owen's tooth decay.)
  

What does this mean?

• This is a confirmation of what I have suspected all along, and we were already on the right track. I think the mild and moderate levels of fats in our stools indicate that significant healing has already started over the last few months of our diet.
  

• Owen and I will continue the diet we have been doing to heal our "guts." This diet is full of bone broths (very healing to the digestive system), meats, eggs, good fats, and vegetables with some fruit. It does not include any starches or grains (so, by default, no gluten). Eventually, we will transition to a diet that will include limited gluten-free grains (such as rice) and starches.
  
• Owen and I will be excluding dairy (except butter oil and ghee which are both essentially casein-free) from our diets for a while. We also figured out that Owen is reactive to dairy in my diet. His persistent (2 month) cold that climaxed on our fall visit home, cleared up and has not returned since we took dairy back out of our diets. We will try re-introducing dairy after 6 months or so.
  
• We will retest (just the fat test this time) in about a year to see if our absorption has improved.
  
• Eventually (in a couple of years) we may attempt to re-introduce gluten very carefully, but that's a long way off.

At this point, you may be thinking I'm off my rocker again. You've never heard of someone who was sensitive to gluten and never had a problem with it yourself. But, in fact, many people are sensitive to gluten and do not know it. Besides an observed reaction to gluten, the best way to determine gluten sensitivity is through a stool test. Blood tests and skins tests are sampling far away from the site of the reaction, and often do not indicate a sensitivity when it really present. As almost 1/3 of people who have stool analysis, have anti-gliadin IgA (antibodies), it is likely that you or someone you know (besides Owen and I) is gluten-sensitive. Allergies and food sensitivites present themselves in a myriad of ways. Chronic colds or infections such as "strep throat" or ear infections, digestive issues, hyperactivity, seasonal "allergies," autoimmune conditions, and many other commonly accepted conditions are signs that you may be reacting to foods. They are signs of negative overall health. If I had a nickle for every time someone told me they or their kid was healthy - despite need for tubes in their ears, braces, dental fillings, (diagnosed) hyperactivity or AD(H)D, tonsillectomies, rounds of antibiotics, dark circles under the eyes, . . . - I could pay for next year's stool analyses.

Santa's Surprises

Although we don't "do Santa," we will be putting some surprises under the tree just before our family celebration. For Abram, well, I'll give you a few hints:

• something hand-made
• something from Freecycle (yes!)
• an activity (to go with Freecycled gift above)

You can submit guesses via the comments section if you would like.

For Owen, we just completed a play kitchen made from a $5 night stand found at Goodwill, painted with paint from the Habitat Re-Store, and complemented with an "antique" faucet, knobs, and a towel bar from there too as well as some hooks we had on hand and two burners made from CD labels. We also collected a variety of tools for the kitchen from Goodwill and the Salvation Army. All told, this cost us less than $25 in materials. I think he will really enjoy it.

Early Christmas!

Owen is already enjoying two of his Christmas presents. In November, we picked up a wagon on behalf of Anne. Owen likes riding in it - sometimes sitting down and other times doing death-defying escape moves. I'm glad he got to use it a bit before the COLD set in. Last weekend, we picked up a pint-sized table and chairs for Grandma from Ikea. We also got to visit with Ben and Tracy since they live really close to the store. Owen seems to like it, and we have had several family meals there at Owen's request (read, insistance). Thank you, Anne and Grandma Sharon!

Oh, those helpful cats

Here's how Zoos decided to make sure Owen stayed nice and warm for his nap Sunday afternoon - how thoughtful of him.

Brussels Sprouts

Owen begged for "more Brussels" (accompanied by the sign for more) when I made these Tuesday night, so we had them again tonight. He still likes them. This is not a real recipe; the amounts are all approximate.


Brussels Sprouts With Bacon and Onions
8 pieces of bacon
1/2 small onion
quart of Brussels Sprouts
balsamic vinegar

Cut bacon into ~1" pieces and brown. Add onion as bacon begins to brown slightly. While bacon and onion are cooking, wash and trim sprouts and cut them into 1/4's. Add them to the bacon and onions. Cover and cook until sprouts have reached desired tenderness (about 10 minutes for us), stirring once or twice. Dress with balsamic vinegar if desired.

Greased Lightening

Here's a shot of Owen at the park today. He really does move so fast he's mostly a blurr!
This is some of what he did today:

• Went to the farm to get milk, cream, and ghee (They were out of eggs.)
• Ate bacon and avocado with a little scrambled egg for breakfast
  
• Played at the toddler gym
• Had dried apples for snack
• Took a good nap - almost 2 hours
• Picked out Daddy's hat to wear rather than his own
  
• Visited Daddy at his office and posed for a Christmas card photo
• Played at the park near Daddy's office in the cold (high just above freezing!)

Leftover Turkey

Our Thanksgiving turkey was about 12 pounds. We ate some for Thanksgiving, of course, and I made stock with the carcass the next day. We froze some right away. We had soup with some of the extra meat, and a re-run of Thanksgiving dinner. And there was still some looking me in the eye today when I opened the refrigerator door.
So tonight we had two tasty, GAPS-friendly, turkey containing recipes that did not go together at all, but they were good enough I'm going to share them with you. I've got no pictures. You can imagine what these look like, and we were a bit hurried at dinner time tonight. Maybe you still have a bit of bird hanging around too.

Turkey Caesar Salad
salad:
Romaine lettuce
green onions
left-over turkey
Parmesan cheese (optional)
Wash and chop greens and onions. Cut turkey into bite-sized pieces. Grate cheese, if using. Arrange salad.
dressing (adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe that I may have passed on to some of you already - This one is adapted a little.)
1 large egg yolk
1t. Dijon mustard
1 large clove garlic
4 anchovy fillets
5T. lemon juice
1t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
~1c. olive oil
Blend egg yolk, mustard, garlic, anchovies, lemon juice, salt, and pepper with blender until smooth. Slowly add in olive oil as you continue to blend, processing until the dressing is a little thick. Dress salad, and enjoy.

Coconut Turkey Soup (inspired by Sally Fallon's Coconut Turkey Soup in Nourishing Traditions)
1.5 quarts stock
1/2 cup coconut cream concentrate or 1 can of coconut milk
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 green onion, chopped
juice of 2 lemons
1t. freshly grated ginger
salt to taste
1 cup left-over turkey, chopped
Bring stock to boil. Add veggies, lemon juice, salt, and ginger. Cook ~10-15 minutes until veggies are tender. Stir in coconut cream concentrate or milk and turkey. Serve hot.

Cardboard Box

Owen's imagination has really taken off lately. His new favorite toy is the top half of a cardboard banana box that we acquired when we went to the meat shop to get 50 "pounds" of beef stock bones and chicken backs for stock. (Owen calls all meat "pounds" because they weight it and ask us if that is okay when we buy it.)
This wonderful box has been a bath tub and shower - the upholstery attachment for the vacuum cleaner being the shower head and a drink coaster being the soap. I have even had the pleasure of bathing in this tub.
It has been a tunnel for Daddy's and Owen's trains:



















It has been a car:
Owen likes to hand us "money" from the car and say "bye-bye." He seems to be paying for parking.



















This morning it was a horse too. Riding a horse requires Mama to hum "Dum, dum," otherwise known as the William Tell Overture.

O, Christmas Tree, O, Christmas Tree

While I got started on some Christmas wrapping, Abram and Owen went out on one of their ~weekly excursions Friday, and came home with a "Mismas" tree. It is a small, live spruce. After I got a strand of lights on, Owen had quite a timehanging ornaments on it. He was interested in opening some gifts too, but he is learning about "wait"ing. Tonight, he was playing with little chicken who had to "wait. . . wait. . .wait" to drink water from a block.

Thanksgiving

Abram, Owen, and I celebrated Thanksgiving together today.
We prepared roast (local) turkey, green beans (frozen from our garden), roasted veggies (turnips, onions, celery, and ghee - all local - with carrots), cranberry sauce, "gravy" (actually a reduction of turkey drippings and extra chicken stock with the giblets and some hard boiled egg), and sauerkarut.
Before lunch, we played outside in the fresh air, and tried to teach Owen "Follow the Leader;" he sorta' got it and especially appreciated when we did silly things and smiled when he ended up the leader.
I was thankful for Owen and Abram who love me even when I'm grouchy. Abram was thankful for good food. And Owen was thankful for Biokult (probiotic which we were taking at lunch, having forgotten it during a rushed breakfast.)
Despite having eaten a rather substantial and late breakfast, Owen ate quite a lunch too. For dessert, we had two custards cooked right inside of pie pumpkin shells - a pumpkin custard and a coconut custard - really a plain custrad with coconut milk substituted for the milk. It was the better of the two. We ate the cooked pumpkin along with the custard. This was actually my second attempt at this. Last year, it was a flop with a larger pumpkin, but I think the secret is to use a small pumpkin and bake it long and low. I found a website that said the Colonial pumpkin pies would have been custards cooked in pumpkin shells; they would have eaten the cooked pumpkin too! We will definitely be using this recipe again:

Custard in a Pumpkin Shell

1 7/8 cup coconut milk
2 jumbo eggs
1 egg yolk
scant 1/3 c. honey
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1/4 t. salt
1 pie pumpkin ~ 6-8" in diameter

Preheat oven to 325 F. Cut around top of pumpkin and clean out stringy pulp and seeds. Save lid, wash both pieces, and drain on a towel while you prepare custard.
Mix coconut milk, eggs, egg yolk, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk by hand until smooth. Pour into pumpkin shell, leaving about 1/2" at the top. (You can drink any leftover; it's like eggnog!) Place lid on pumpkin. Cover loosely with foil, and bake ~ 2.5 - 3 hours, taking off foil and lid for the last 30 minutes or so. Cool. To serve, remove lid if it has been replaced, and slice through the pumpkin and custard as you would a pie shell and pie.
Enjoy!

Hershey Park

Cotton socks, alpaca wool socks, a wool diaper cover, long johns, pants, two shirts, a jacket, alpaca wool hat and mittens, and a snowsuit - that's what Owen wore out to Hershey Park last night to see the Christmas lights. That's not to mention that he was inside the baby-wearing coat I made! I think he stayed warm enough. It was pretty chilly. I'm not quite sure how cold it was when we were there, but it got down to 20F last night. On our way over, it snowed another 1-2", so there was a nice blanket on everything when we got there. They were just starting to clear it away when we arrived. It really made everything quite lovely!
Owen enjoyed seeing a sled dog show with huskies and Eurohounds (which looked more like Pa's pointers than the Wiki picture - in fact, I thought they were just some hunting dogs that had come along with the folks doing the demonstration until they told about them in the show.) They pulled some bikes and other wheeled vehicles since there wasn't enough snow to use the sleds (bummer!) Afterwards, the dogs came over for a visit, and Owen (who had been eating some contraband pate we smuggled in) got two nice wet kisses right on the lips from two different dogs. I didn't see any of the kettle-corn-eating kids get nice, wet, dog kisses!
Owen enjoyed a show of Christmas music, and clapped politely after every song along with the rest of the audience - even when he was nursing. He'd pop off, smile and say, "clap" as he clapped with the other folks; then, he'd continue to nurse.
He also saw reindeer (which he called cows) and rode on the carousel twice. The second time, Daddy held him on the moving horse. He was pretty tired at that point, but it was still fun.

Snow!

This morning we woke up to the first blanket of snow this season - Owen's first nice snow! Daddy made a "tatta" (frittata), and we enjoyed some warm cider. (Gosh, some homemade hot chocolate would have been nice too!) I poured a mug for me and one for Abram and planned to share mine with Owen. Owen, however, had other ideas. He decided the "cider" needed to sit on his tray, and I could share a bit from time to time. On the way out to the market and the farm to get good things to eat, Owen got to play in the "hnow" a bit while sporting a suit passed down through the Ring cousins.
At the farm, he got a second chance to test out the snow and play with some little Amish kids building a tiny little snowman, and when we dropped Daddy off at work (the "office" in Owen-speak), we saw some big (college) kids building a really big snowman - much taller than they were. After nap time, we are planning to walk back over there to "play" as Owen requested and see the completed snowgiant.

Toddler Gym

We joined a toddler gym co-op for the winter. It was only $40 for the whole season plus open or closing duty twice a month. It is open two mornings and one evening a week, and Owen likes to go and play with the other kids and the toys. Here he is cooking a red hot dog at the kitchen - one of his favorite spots. He also likes the tents and the toddler roller coaster. Last week, he enjoyed wearing a lovely pink tutu around for a while, but he's not usually a fan of dressing up.

Salvation Army Score

I've been on the lookout for a Visions Dutch oven for a while. Owen and I stopped by the SA and found this one in perfect condition for only $7.99. We also found a pair of PJ's for Owen and a string games book.
Here it has chicken soup with broccoli, mushrooms, and onions cooking in it. That's pretty much the recipe. I just cooked the veggies in chicken stock (made from last night's baked chicken bones), added left-over baked chicken, and salted to taste. It was quite tasty.

Yesterday we met Ben and Tracy at Gunpowder Falls (Maryland) State Park to hike. It was a bit chilly, but we kept warm as long as we were moving. Along the way Owen pointed out "leaves," the "river," and "fire" (dead limbs that were begging to be picked up and made into a fire. He also said "turhturh" (turtle), and I think he wanted to see a turtle, but there were none out and about yesterday. Ben and Tracy brought along a warm picnic with soup and hot tea in thermoses. (I didn't get to try Tracy's pumpkin soup as we are still off of dairy; I had some meatball soup instead.) Owen was sleeping in the carrier on Abram, so he had a bit of frittata (left over from breakfast) as we walked along later when he woke up. After eating, Owen needed some milk to wash it down, so we switched the carrier and Owen to me, and he nursed as we walked along. We started out with a hat and socks on his hands. He wore the hat a good bit, but the socks just had to go! His poor little hands were really cold by the time we got back to the cars. I have knitted him some mittens that I was planning to give him at Christmas, but I think he might need them before then!

Sleep

Here's my Sleeping Handsome out for a nap on the couch. These days he normally wakes up around 7 or 7:30 and is cranky and ready for a nap sometime between 10:30 and 12. I nurse him to sleep, and he usually gets anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 hours napping alone in the bed. Sometimes he wakes up part of the way through a nap and needs to be nursed back to sleep. Then he might end up on the couch, the spare bed, or on my lap at the computer for the rest of his sleep. His normal bed time is 8, but occasionally, he stays up as late as 9. He is still waking quite a bit at night and we are looking for a solution to this problem.

Rocks!

Owen's collection of rocks recently got a boost from our favorite geologist, Carolyn!
While back in the states for her sister's wedding, she went through her old rock collection and sent us some; there are some really great ones in there.
We keep them in a little jar on the shelf, and Owen will request, "rock," sometimes. We get them down and talk about them - what colors they are, that they are rough, smooth, big, "bitty" (as in itty bitty). We line them up along the seams in the floor, and recently, Owen has started throwing them. We put them away when this happens. In the picture, Owen is showing me the "puhrpuhr" pumice (sent by Carolyn in another package).

Boys' Afternoon

Although Owen was a bit sick last night and threw up this morning, he seemed to otherwise feel pretty well. Abram had been planning on spending some daddy-baby time with him this afternoon, so they didn't cancel their plans. (No pictures - 'cause I was at home ALONE doing laundry, preparing dinner, and other fun stuff!)
Owen proudly announced, "office!" as he rolled out the door on the bike. I think he thinks "office" is any exciting place away from home although he does identify Abram's office when we drive up or go in.???
They biked downtown to the library which apparently closed on Sundays. I think that's pretty odd. Owen loves the library ("liber") because not only can he pick out new books to read but he can also play in the carpeted circle with puzzles and puppets.
Instead, they went to the North Museum, just a few blocks from here. When they returned home, Owen reported he had seen a "nake" (snake), an "owl," a "dog" (actually a stuffed wolf), and a "cow" (this he apparently did not actually see today), "pa" (Abram tells me this means they saw a quail like Pa Billy raises), and a turtle ("tuhrtuhr"). They have a reptile room with live reptiles and a collection of preserved specimens too. He and Daddy also went by Daddy's office where Owen found the "type writer." It's certainly odd what he picks up.
It was great for them to have some time on their own and for me to have some time to myself too.

Saturday

We got our new (used) camera in the mail yesterday (thus the Halloween pictures!), so I am back to keeping you better updated.
Today we got a new (used) grill off of Craigslist for $35! Abram had to take it apart to get it in the car. Even counting the $15 adapter we had to get for the propane tank, it was a bargain. I guess November 1st isn't the beginning of the grilling season in the Northern Hemisphere.
So after we get this thing taken apart and in the car, we headed by Lowe's to get the adapter, and while we were there, we happened to find a large majesty palm on sale and a wagon for Owen. Actually, it is a small utility cart, but it is a great, sturdy wagon on sale. I had suggested to Mom that this would be a great Christmas present for Owen, and seeing as we're a billion miles away and wagons are usually not checked as luggage onto airplanes, we had arranged for us to buy one here. It was on sale and was the last on left for the season. Owen enjoyed riding around Lowe's looking for the other stuff with the plants.
On our way home, we were a sight rolling down the road with a not-so-small-once-you-try-to-get-it-in-the-car wagon in the front passenger seat (which was reclined all the way back), a majesty palm taller than me sticking out of the back passenger window, a grill stand attached to the bike rack on the back of the car, and Abram, Owen, and I stuffed into the remaining spaces in the car. Luckily we made it home safely without any damage from the stuff falling on us or from the odd looks we got at red lights. I just smiled really big at the people whose eyes got big at us. :o)

Daddy and Owen put the grill back together when we got home, and they cooked some steaks I had marinated in anticipation of our acquisition. They also gave the jack-o-lantern a second spin with a "noder candle" - all things fire!

Halloween

Yesterday, Owen (dressed as "bones" and I attended a Halloween party given by our friend Kelsey and her step-mother, Heather. Owen tried coloring a mummy and dancing during the musical tombstones game (like musical charis) but really enjoyed the selection of toys Kelsey's siblings share. On the way home we picked up a pumpkin at a local garden center. When I asked if he would like to take it home to carve it, he said, "fire." He just loves fire, and somehow had put it together that we would have a lit candle in there.

After Owen got rested up with a good nap, we "open, open, open(ed)" the pumpkin, dug the seeds out (Owen wanted to give these to the birds), and carved it. Owen enjoyed poking the pumpkin carving tools inside the pumpkin and trying to call birds to come eat the seeds.
After dinner, he and Daddy put a candle inside and lit it. Owen requested "candle, noder" (another candle) this morning.
Owen donned his bones costume again (I'd washed it after the party and lunch), and we went trick-or-treating. We didn't actually collect any candy as Owen doesn't eat crap, but we enjoyed walking in the evening and seeing some friends. Our first stop was at Mr. Bob's down the hall; we had seen him in the lobby of our building Thursday, and he bemoaned the fact that he wouldn't have any trick-or-treaters. I suggested we stop by for a visit so he could see Owen in his costume, but warned him Owen couldn't have any candy. He had a big red apple and a magic, fold-out pumpkin for Owen. We walked over and saw our friends Jill, Donna, Shawn, and Angie who were all handing out goodies. Shawn and Angie's cat had a wonderful pirate costume. I was impressed that the cat seemed to like having it on.

Borscht

Two new and tasty recipes in one week! We're on a roll. This one is adapted from The Frugal Gourmet On Our Immigrant Ancestors by Jeff Smith, the Frugal Gourmet. I have a couple of cookbooks by him - this one and one on American folk cooking. They are both really good; I have learned a lot from these books, and he makes use of lots of traditional foods. His books are the where I have gotten the most practice making things with new and different cuts of meat, and he uses a lot of stock. Even the non-traditional items in his recipes are easily edited to make them even healthier. Instead of cooking cabbage into the soup, I omitted cabbage and served the soup with lots of home-made sauerkraut. The original recipe also calls for lamb stew meat, but we bought 1/4 beef recently, so I used ground beef and heart.

Borscht
1 lb. ground beef
2 oz. ground beef heart (taste is not distinguishable in a soup and is good for you!)
1 onion, chopped
1 qt. stewed tomatoes (these were frozen from our garden this summer)
3 very large beets, peeled and chopped
3 quarts home-made beef stock
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
sauerkraut
sour cream

Brown meat and onion. Add tomatoes, beets, stock, vinegar, lemon juice, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until beets are tender.
Serve with plenty of sauerkraut and cream (if you are able to have cream.)

White Bean Chili

Ben and Tracy stopped by Sunday on their way home from Jake (Ben's brother) and Erin's wedding. We were glad to get to visit them, and for this occasion, I tried a new recipe. Navy beans and lentils are GAPS-friendly beans, so this is a GAPS-friendly recipe. We liked it and will definitely do it again. It was warm on a cool fall evening and filling. It was adapted from Paula Dean's White Bean Chili recipe.

White Bean Chili
1 lb dried navy beans
5 cups chicken stock
4 T. ghee (butter would work, but Owen and I are back off of dairy until he gets over his cold)
1 cup onion, chopped
1 ancho chile, chopped
plus enough red bell pepper to make 1.5 cups total
meat from 1 chicken, boiled, removed from bones, and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 T. (generous) cumin seeds
1 T. (generous) oregano
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
6 garlic cloves
fresh tomatoes and avocado
olive oil

Bring beans to boil in water, remove from heat, and soak overnight.
Boil chicken until done. Cool chicken and remove from bones. Cut into bite-sized pieces and refrigerate until needed. Put bones back into pot to continue making stock.
Drain water from beans, and cook in chicken stock, adding more if necessary. Cook about 1 1/2 hours.
Saute peppers and onions in ghee. Add to beans. Add chicken, cumin, oregano, red pepper, cilantro. Simmer 1/2 hour.
Crush garlic and stir into soup. Remove from heat.
Serve with chopped tomatoes and avocado drizzled with olive oil.

Trip to The South - Tn and AL

We really miss our families. Being so close to home last year was a real treat, and we certainly got spoiled. We've been living north of the Mason-Dixon line for about three months now, and we really needed a visit back in the South by the time Abram's fall break rolled around. We got a good deal on plane tickets, so we were off!
We arrived in Nashville Friday, and Billy and Caleb met us at the airport. Caleb and his family were in for his fall break, so that was lucky timing. Billy started his first batch of beer from grains that day. First all the men had to watch a training video while Billy took notes.

Then he toasted a some of the grains in the oven.

They extracted the malt (mashed it, actually) in a specially rigged cooler. The lautering cooler kept the hot water that they poured over the grains at the right temperature. After mashing, they lautered it - drained the extracted malt water into. The grains themselves acted as the sieve. Billy's planning to make a batch from all his own stuff - water from his farm, grains he has grown, and hops he grew and collected from the hops vines we gave them this summer. Maybe by then, I'll be able to try some.
While the men were doing the manly art of making beer, Tayla and Owen and I picked the last of the garden offerings - Tabasco peppers, sweet peppers, basil, and tomatoes. I made 3 small jars of hot pepper vinegar, a tomato-mozzarella-basil salad for Saturday, and had some tomatoes and peppers to give away.

We got to meet baby Carter that afternoon. He looks just like a little Steve! He looks huge in the picture, but he seemed so small (compared to my 30 pound chunky monkey). It's hard to remember Owen ever being that size, although he must have been.

Saturday we all went to Will and Alison's house for dinner and games. There were lots of folks there: Will, Alison, Roman, and Keiko (of course), Ma, Billy, Sharon, us, Lauren, Steve, Electra, and Carter, Caleb, Kirsten, and Tayla, Jesse, Rossitsa, Kristiyana, Kalina, and Beverly.
We all had a good time visiting and playing games, oohing over baby Carter, and the babies due in the spring. Kirsten and Rossitsa are both expecting little ones!

Unfortunately, the camera broke at this point, so there are no more pictures of our trip :-(.

Sunday, Sharon lent us her car, and we drove down to visit Anne, Granddaddy, and Micah. Owen started a chorus of, "Micah, Micah, Micah," as soon as we turned into the driveway. We had a fire that evening and had hot dogs roasted on it for dinner. Owen also enjoyed riding in the wagon.
Monday we got a tour of their new office space which seemed quite large, and had a picnic lunch at the hospital. Owen wanted another fire; he's a true pyro! Tuesday we headed back to Hillsboro.
Abram and Billy got to go on a short fishing excursion while Sharon, Owen, and I went to visit Lauren and Carter.
We went to bed early and got up even earlier. Owen wasn't feeling well, so we got up at 2:30 instead of 4 am. He did well on the flight home, but has been a little under the weather. He is feeling better now, thank goodness.
We were really glad to be able to visit with everyone even if it was a short trip. We are already counting the days until Christmas when we can see you all again.

AAP Increases Vitamin D Recommendation

We take Green Pastures' high vitamin cod liver oil (CLO) daily. We each get about 5750IU (115% adult RDA) of vitamin A and 575IU (140% adult RDA) of vitamin D in our morning's 1/2 teaspoon. Soon we will start taking a fermented CLO which will provide a similar amount of vitamins in about 1/4 teaspoon. This CLO is closer to traditional fish/fish liver "supplements."
Upon looking back at the Weston A. Price Associations recommendations, I think I will increase my dosage. Hmm...glad I looked at that just now.

You may have seen my fridge post with the rotting fish - I mean fermented fish sauce. I've still not filtered or tried it. This is what people from Rome to Thailand used as a salty condiment (and still do all over Asia). Norsemen had barrels of fermented cod livers to eat from.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has even realized the importance of plenty of vitamin D and increased the recommendation for babies and children to 400IU (from 200IU).

Vitamin D helps build strong bones through the regulation of calcium absorption and use. It works synergistically with vitamin A, and consuming the the two vitamins in a 1:10 (D:A) ratio seems to prevent the body from absorbing or storing too much of these fat-soluble vitamins.

It should also be noted that the FDA allows many substances to be labeled as the same vitamin that are not really the same: The form of vitamin A that our bodies uses is retinol; this is the form found in CLO and other animal foods including liver. Beta-carotene is often label as vitamin A in foods and supplements, but only about 25% of the beta-carotene we eat is converted to retinol which the body can use - and that's on a good day. You see, the body needs fats to convert beta-carotene to retinol, so it is important to consume things like carrots and greens with fat such as cream, butter, or lard. Too much beta-carotene can be toxic.
We make vitamin D when we are exposed to UVB rays from the sun, but most of us don't spend much time in the sun, and when we do, we often cover up and worse yet - slather ourselves with sunscreen (which is made of toxic chemicals) to block the sun's rays, and "synthetic D₂ has been linked to hyperactivity, coronary heart disease and other allergic reactions." -WAPF

So, it may taste a little fishy, but it's well worth the effort.

Why are you eating all that weird stuff, and when will you eat normal food again?

What's wrong with eating starches, and grains, and . . . ?

Owen and I have been on a special diet for more than 2 months now. To most people, I'm sure it just seems weird - another strange thing we've done in a whole line of odd things. I am posting some excerpts from emails I recently sent to Carolyn and Alison explaining why we embarked on this journey, why we took Owen to a dentist, and where we are headed:

The book Gut and Psychology Syndrome was really helpful, and I have also read bits and pieces from Breaking the Vicious Cycle (http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/). I have learned a lot from mothers on a couple of yahoo email lists including the Weston Price Baby list I own, the leakygut list and the GAPS help list.
We have been eating a mostly whole foods diet with grass fed meats and milk, mostly organic veggies, about 70% of our grains were soaked/sprouted/fermented, and mostly organic fruit for about 4 or 5 years now, and we were still having what appear to be nutritional issues. I am hungry all the time (even before pregnancy and nursing), Owen's teeth (we do brush, but I don't think that it has that much to do with tooth decay - the main issue is nutrition with tooth decay), Owen's crankiness as a young baby, his excess spitting up, his still difficult sleep. . . We also seem to have some food and environmental sensitivities. The dentist referred us to a doctor who works with a nutritionist and does mostly nutritional analysis and counseling, but we can see him until the 24th of Sept.; he is in high demand.
So, until then, we are doing a very strict GAPS diet introduction. Hopefully, he will have some helpful advise. I am also going to discuss celiac testing for Owen as I have a nagging worry over that - not exactly sure why except for the teeth. There is some newer stool testing that seems to be more accurate in younger children than the older blood tests. I'd like to know what the dr thinks.
GAPS is really just the latest iteration of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet which was developed for celiac patients (back when celiac disease was more loosely defined to encompass a broader scope of issues than small intestine degeneration due to gluten intolerance). The ideas set forth by Campbell-McBride are not really all that revolutionary. She is mostly in agreement with the developers of the SCD as well as with tradtional food advocates and researchers such as Weston Price. Her big push to use prepared probiotics is a bit different, but there are certainly people who have seen great results without capsules of probiotics and used lots of probiotic foods instead.
Long term I know it is not realistic to never eat modern/processed starches again, but I do think it is a reasonable goal to steer away from processed foods - especially nutrient poor starches and to eat mostly whole vegetables, meats, carefully prepared grains (if you can), as well as fermented foods. I think that eating these things for a lifetime would certainly be wise and healthful. It is also much less expensive to eat this way. Eating cheap cuts of meat with bones to make stock, fresh local, organic veggies, and pastured eggs is the cheapest we have eaten in years! That doesn't even take into account what we spent eating out occasionally, and food costs overall are rising here in the US. Wheat and corn are more than double what they used to be - almost triple at the store.
I certainly miss my milk - especially buying the most beautiful $5/gallon Jersey milk from the Amish farmers right at the farm, but we will be adding it in, in due time. And I do miss beer; we're still making home brew - just not for me. But mostly, I have realized over the past few weeks that a lot of the starches we were eating were just fluff in our diets; they really aren't necessary. We are getting plenty of simple sugars from the veggies and now limited local fruits that we can get.
I guess our long term goals will be more clear once we have talked with the new dr and had any necessary testing done. With GAPS, you start off with just meats, broth, and cooked and fermented veggies since most people tolerate those well and since these things are rather easily digested. From there you add in foods methodically - ghee, eggs, avacado, olive oil, raw veggies, fruits, fermented dairy (so all the lactose is gone), dairy, then some grains may be trialed starting with rice. Hopefully, we will be able to add back things to make our diet a bit more varied and "normal." I think it would certainly be wise to always keep a variety of fermented foods in our diets, but I am still undecided about the capsule probiotics after we have gone through a course and are back to maintenance.
Sorry for the novel. If you are interested, the GAPS book is really interesting and not too long for a mama to read during nap times. It was just reprinted, so I think copies should be available again.
Sent to Carolyn September 11, 2008

Owen has some serious tooth decay that I noticed just before we moved. I have recently been looking back at pictures to try to pin point when it started. (See pictures for a progression.) His lateral incisors are the worst, and they look fine in pictures from around 12 months, but they have significant enamel loss down to the dentin and are very short now. We pretty much went to letting him eat anything (that was "real" food) around a year, and I have some serious concerns about grains being a culprit.
I have done a lot of research on infant tooth decay since I noticed his problem, and there seem to be a lot of different ideas out there, none of which really make 100% sense to me. I believe the root of the problem is nutritional - probably partly my diet during pregnancy/nursing and partly his diet. Since we have been eating what I consider to be a good diet for some years now, I think we must not be properly absorbing the nutrients in our food - again, I think this relates back to grains.
We have started a diet based on the specific carbohydrate diet that excludes all grains and starches and for a time disaccharides such as lactose. We have now added back kefir and will also do yoghurt as they have all the lactose used up in the culturing process, so we are not dairy-free now. We stared right after we moved and I read a book called Gut and Psychology Syndrome which discusses the diet (which is from the 1950's) and other measures to heal the gut. All of the advice was very practical and jived with my current understanding of nutrition. Basically, polysaccharides (starches in grains, potatoes, etc.) and disaccharides (lactose, sucrose(table sugar)) are difficult to digest and therefore contribute to bad flora growing in the gut, so the only sugars used on the diet are simple sugars which do not need further digestion to be used by the body - honey and the sugars in ripe fruits and in vegetables (mostly glucose and fructose). We are also eating fermented foods at every meal and taking a probiotic to help colonize our guts with better flora and heal them. Owen, of course, is still getting lactose in breast milk.
We saw a holistic dentist in Philadelphia because I wanted confirmation that I hadn't missed something obvious and to make sure there wasn't anything that ought to be done to his poor crumbling teeth. The dentist mostly confirmed that we should beef up his diet and see a nutritional-minded doctor. He also confirmed that we have bad gut flora, so we were already on the right track. He said Owen wouldn't be experiencing any pain and there is nothing to do to the teeth themselves at this time. So, we are not going back for any check-ups - only if we see a change that needs to be addressed. The nutrition doctor had some supplements to suggest but overall thought Owen was eating really well.
We had started 1x a day brushing, and the dentist suggested 2x and no nursing between brushing and bed. We did add the second brushing to our routine, and I feel conflicted about it as Owen really hates brushing, so I have to hold him down twice a day and force his mouth open to do it; it seems so violating, and I'm just not sure it really helps. On the other hand the actual brushing (as opposed to the violation of his personal space by forcing something into his mouth) shouldn't hurt anything either. What's a mama to do?
We are slowly trying to transition Owen to going to sleep without nursing, but with the big changes that came with the move, his sleep has been worse, so this is really a work in very slow progress. Again I have conflicting feelings on this as I believe nursing is one of the best things I can do for his dental health as well as his physical and emotional well-being. The studies on night-nursing and dental carries are divided and there is no clear information that tells me that the best thing to do for him is to night-wean. He often nurses to sleep and usually nurses 2-4 or even 6 times throughout the night still. Before we moved, he was down to about 1 nursing during my normal sleeping hours.
Abram and I think that the decay seems to have stopped or at least slowed down so much that it is really hard to notice since we moved/started the new diet. So for now, I think the problem is being managed. We'll see how things go.
Sent to Alison September 30, 2008

Click to enlarge pictures.
12 months


14 months


17 months


So, we try to eat plenty of good fats and bone broth at least once a day from properly raised animals. We eat most vegetables and limited fruits. We try to eat as many local, in-season foods as we can because these are the least expensive (in overall cost - see Michael Pollon post) and the most nutritious. We are now eating lacotose-"free" dairy including kefir, aged cheeses, and butter. We take cod liver oil and butter oil daily because of the research of Weston Price.
Sometimes explaining our food idiosyncrasies to people feels overwhelming. Sometimes I feel like people are intimidated by our choices or figure we disapprove of theirs. Of course I think that most people in our country could really use some improvements in their diet. Of course I wish for the people I love and care about most to enjoy long and healthy lives, and I think eating well is a key factor in that. But, believe it or not, I know I don't have all the answers and know that there are multiple paths to wellness and health. That's not to say that I think all views are equally valid, but they are all certainly worth considering and holding up to the light of day to see what they have to offer. So, when you see us eating sauerkraut with almost every meal and drinking broth or soured milk or steering Owen away from bread or potatoes, I hope it'll make a little more sense why we do what we do. I welcome questions and am always looking to learn more, so by all means, speak up if you want to learn or share!

Micheal Pollan Open Letter To the President-Elect

I just finished reading this New York Times article from Micheal Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma. Certainly with my libertarian leanings, I do not agree with all of his policy proposals, but the crux of his argument is sound. It's a long article but certainly worth a read.
As you know, food is very important to us around here. We feel very fortunate to be living in an area with such wonderful and abundant local food. Even when we have been in "drier" climates, we have made substantial efforts to locate and support local food.
Along our journey to eating and living better - finding, building, and maintaining the best health we can there have been some really enlightening books from which I have learned a lot, some books that have helped give me courage to do what I already knew was best, and others that have sent succor to a soul weary of a world that is not ready to hear.
I will be starting a new series of posts that highlight some of these books. So, stay tuned.

Another Road Trip!

Why is Owen smiling? Well, Owen smiles a lot, and he especially likes to smile for the camera. Mama and Daddy are smiling because we bought gas in Delaware for $2.889/gallon!

He's also smiling because he made two new friends this weekend and went camping and to the beach. What's not to love about that?
We met Allen, his fiancee Karie, and her little girl Kailey near Cape Henlopen State Park for camping. The state park was all filled up, so Allen and Karie found a private campground with fishing ponds, a huge stack of free firewood, and no other tent campers. We cooked over the fire Saturday night and this morning. Owen and Kailey especially liked the fire. As soon as Owen woke for the day, he tried to get out of the tent, and repeated, "fi, fi, fi," ("fire, fire, fire"). It was a good think Allen had rebuilt the fire before his early morning run, as both the kids enjoyed keeping warm first thing in the morning, and we could get breakfast going.

Allen and Kailey brought along their fishing poles, so they did a bit of fishing in the pond this morning. I believe all the catch were bream and were released. Sunny tried to take a bite out of the first fish of the day, but seemed to get a bit of a rough touch on a sharp fin.
After we packed up out tents, we went to the beach at Cape Henlopen where Owen and Kailey enjoyed the COLD water, playing in the sand, and looking for shells. We had a tasty picnic on the beach, and said our good-byes.

Owen got a great nap on the way home, and we got gas for $2.779 in Maryland to boot!
Thanks for a great weekend guys!

Dried Tomatoes

My friend Dianne gave me some of the last of this year's tomatoes when we were down visiting in Virginia, and I decided to keep a few to eat sliced, but to dry the rest. Dried tomatoes are great as a snack or added to tomato sauces to give it a rich flavor. We like them chopped up and mixed into meatloaf, boiled with a little water and blended to make pizza sauce, and just plain. Most of the tomatoes were Romas which are great for drying since they are really meaty - not watery.

Dried Tomatoes Wash tomatoes. Cut away stem ends and any spots. Quarter Romas, or cut other tomatoes into ~1" wedges (or for crispier ones, 1/4 -3/8" slices). Place on dehydrator trays, leaving room for air to flow. Dry overnight at 135F. Cool. Pack into glass jars for later use.