A great “little” God-thing from this week I’d like to share. There is a
kitchen appliance called a Vita-mix. It is a high speed blender that can
break open the cell wall of foods, releasing their nutrition, can make
nut butters, grind rice into flour, etc. With Jordan’s special diet
needs, it would be SO helpful in my kitchen, save time and money and be
able to make foods that have greater nutrition in them (IF I can
just get Jordan to eat them…hmmm). I researched them, checked them out
on e-bay, dreamed for awhile and gave up on it as WAY to expensive. But
as I gave up on it, in an off-handed way prayed, “Well, God, if you want
me to have one, you’ll just have to give it to me somehow” (or
something like that).
Fast forward a month or two. In-laws visit. mom
sees the process I go through in order to make some of Jordan’s food. Conversations about better ways to do it take place. She goes home and
comments to a friend that I could really use a Vita-mix. Friend had a
conversation with a neighbor the week before about how neighbor got a
Vita-mix and only has used it a few times. Friend said “If you ever want
to get rid of it let me know I’ll buy it off of you”. Neighbor said, “I
could really use the money”. MIL makes the above comment to friend about how
I could really use a V-M. Friend thinks “Hmmm…I have one in my garage,
THAT’s why that conversation with neighbor took place”. Friend puts it
in the mail insured for $500. It should arrive Wednesday!!!! A little
thing to God…huge to me, it’s not just the convenience of an appliance;
it’s a message of God’s love and care for ME in the midst of unknowns.
UPDATE - It arrived and not only is it a Vita-Mix, it's a RED Vita-Mix (my favorite), with an extra wet canister AND a dry canister - JACKPOT!!!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Coughs, Colds, & Congestion - A Quick and Natural Fix
With all the learning about toxins that has happened over the past
two years, I’ve become reluctant to give my boys cold medicines when
they become sick. I started taking the wait it out approach. However,
the last couple times they’ve gotten sick it has gotten kind of bad – mucousy
and congestion in their lungs. After a few days of it getting worse and
worse, rather than better, I start to question my wisdom of not giving
them medicine. And it only takes one or two nights of them being up most
of the night, completely miserable (and then cranky all the following
day ) for me to want to wave the white surrender flag and give in to
giving them medication. But, with all the other work I’m doing through
nutrition and everything else to keep toxins OUT of Jordan’s system, I
just can’t stand to intentionally put some into him. So, what to
do…Jordan was pretty sick, very congested – head AND chest.
We have a D.O. for our family doctor who likes to use homeopathic things when she can, so I thought I’d call and see what she would suggest in place of an over-the-counter cough med. All I got was an earful (literal yelling – not at me, but at her nurse in regards to me) about how she would have to see him and evaluate him and what in the world was I thinking not bringing him in, but calling instead, blah, blah, blah… Well, in my mind, how was coming in going to help? I’m telling you, he’s congested, but it’s not THAT serious. I’m just looking for a natural expectorant (stuff that thins the mucous so it can be coughed out), something instead of toxic pharmaceuticals. If I brought him in, she is just going to say antibiotics won’t help and to go home, he’d be better in a few days. In reality, it would take him about 2 weeks to get better, but hey, who’s counting she’s not the one up rocking him every night, ALL night (can you tell we’ve already been down this road a few times). Which is fine, because even if she did think antibiotics would help, I wouldn’t give them to him anyway. We are already fighting the yeast war in his body and don’t need any antibiotics to make it worse and weaken him further, or add more toxicity as I mentioned earlier.
So, getting no help from the doctor once again, I turned to herbs. I had had my eye on a herb book for kids, The ABC Herbal by Steven Horne. I started perusing. Although much of the book contains “recipes” for making different concoctions for treating various things. I came across a section on infections. It talked about garlic being nature’s penicillin with “powerful infection-fighting qualities” and how it can be very beneficial for colds, respiratory problems, earaches and infections, fevers, other infections, etc and how it helps to expel phlegm. Well, phlegm expulsion is definitely what my boys needed and I had garlic on hand! Not knowing much (or anything) about herbs, I didn’t quite understand how I was suppose to use the garlic, but I did read that it could be used internally OR externally. So that night at bedtime, I got out the jar of minced garlic we keep in the fridge (we love to cook with garlic), put some in a small container and as we tucked them into bed, I smeared some garlic on their chests and thighs. The next morning, my oldest son was basically better, just a slight lingering cough. Jordan rebounded after a few more nights of this treatment. Although it worked, I wouldn’t recommend doing it with this method. I’ll explain…
A few weeks later, the boys got sick again and it coincided with a trip to Jordan’s cranial sacral doctor. He recommended chopping up an organic clove of garlic and soaking it in olive oil = this makes garlic oil. Then take the garlic oil and spread it on the bottoms of their feet. I mentioned I had tried something very similar but had put it on their thighs, he quickly commented that if they did fine with it on their thighs, that it would be fine to put it directly on their chest then. Whew, that’s good since I already had. Again, it only took one night of this for my oldest son to be over his cold and congestion. And about 3-4 nights for Jordan. This is way better than the two weeks it had traditionally taken AND it’s all natural and completely non-toxic!!
Additional Note: An experiment I found interesting…in his book, Steven Horne related an experiment a nurse did. Here is an excerpt. ”She worked in a hospital growing bacterial cultures and proved to herself the powerful effect of garlic. She took a petri dish with a very powerful strain of bacteria and set a peeled clove of garlic in the center of the dish. Within two hours, every bacteria in the dish was dead. She told me ( Steven) that it took eight hours for the strongest antibiotic the hospital had to kill that same strain of bacteria when the antibiotic was sprayed over the whole plate. That shows you how penetrating the effects of garlic are.”
We have a D.O. for our family doctor who likes to use homeopathic things when she can, so I thought I’d call and see what she would suggest in place of an over-the-counter cough med. All I got was an earful (literal yelling – not at me, but at her nurse in regards to me) about how she would have to see him and evaluate him and what in the world was I thinking not bringing him in, but calling instead, blah, blah, blah… Well, in my mind, how was coming in going to help? I’m telling you, he’s congested, but it’s not THAT serious. I’m just looking for a natural expectorant (stuff that thins the mucous so it can be coughed out), something instead of toxic pharmaceuticals. If I brought him in, she is just going to say antibiotics won’t help and to go home, he’d be better in a few days. In reality, it would take him about 2 weeks to get better, but hey, who’s counting she’s not the one up rocking him every night, ALL night (can you tell we’ve already been down this road a few times). Which is fine, because even if she did think antibiotics would help, I wouldn’t give them to him anyway. We are already fighting the yeast war in his body and don’t need any antibiotics to make it worse and weaken him further, or add more toxicity as I mentioned earlier.
So, getting no help from the doctor once again, I turned to herbs. I had had my eye on a herb book for kids, The ABC Herbal by Steven Horne. I started perusing. Although much of the book contains “recipes” for making different concoctions for treating various things. I came across a section on infections. It talked about garlic being nature’s penicillin with “powerful infection-fighting qualities” and how it can be very beneficial for colds, respiratory problems, earaches and infections, fevers, other infections, etc and how it helps to expel phlegm. Well, phlegm expulsion is definitely what my boys needed and I had garlic on hand! Not knowing much (or anything) about herbs, I didn’t quite understand how I was suppose to use the garlic, but I did read that it could be used internally OR externally. So that night at bedtime, I got out the jar of minced garlic we keep in the fridge (we love to cook with garlic), put some in a small container and as we tucked them into bed, I smeared some garlic on their chests and thighs. The next morning, my oldest son was basically better, just a slight lingering cough. Jordan rebounded after a few more nights of this treatment. Although it worked, I wouldn’t recommend doing it with this method. I’ll explain…
A few weeks later, the boys got sick again and it coincided with a trip to Jordan’s cranial sacral doctor. He recommended chopping up an organic clove of garlic and soaking it in olive oil = this makes garlic oil. Then take the garlic oil and spread it on the bottoms of their feet. I mentioned I had tried something very similar but had put it on their thighs, he quickly commented that if they did fine with it on their thighs, that it would be fine to put it directly on their chest then. Whew, that’s good since I already had. Again, it only took one night of this for my oldest son to be over his cold and congestion. And about 3-4 nights for Jordan. This is way better than the two weeks it had traditionally taken AND it’s all natural and completely non-toxic!!
Additional Note: An experiment I found interesting…in his book, Steven Horne related an experiment a nurse did. Here is an excerpt. ”She worked in a hospital growing bacterial cultures and proved to herself the powerful effect of garlic. She took a petri dish with a very powerful strain of bacteria and set a peeled clove of garlic in the center of the dish. Within two hours, every bacteria in the dish was dead. She told me ( Steven) that it took eight hours for the strongest antibiotic the hospital had to kill that same strain of bacteria when the antibiotic was sprayed over the whole plate. That shows you how penetrating the effects of garlic are.”
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
A Gluten, Dairy, Yeast, Egg, Honey, Color-Free Happy Birthday! Jordan is 2!
Jordan birthday is still a few days away and my older son still has 3 weeks
until he’s 4, but we celebrated Monday since the grandparents were
visiting. What does a birthday party look like without dairy, wheat, food
coloring, eggs, yeast, honey, and minimal sugar? Well, it was GREAT! It
took a bit of planning ahead of time, and keeping my eye out
for something he might actually enjoy. He has yet to eat a gluten-free
baked item. He takes one bite and spits it out – even things I consider
quite good. So, I happily finish off his blueberry muffins and sweet
potato biscuits (they taste like a pumpkin spice cookie/muffin cross!).
However, I didn’t go to all that work making these special things for my
enjoyment. And, with his birthday fast approaching, what was I going to
make for his birthday dessert? And, with grandpa and grandma here, it
must be something people with normal eating habits would enjoy
too…that’s a tall order. Grandma is known across their region of the
midwest for her wonderful homemade pies and other such delectables. And
grandpa is a self-proclaimed beef and white potatos man, oh, and don’t
forget ice-cream conossier! So, the way we eat here, well, not so much
to their liking. But, we have a birthday party coming…so I started with
what Jordan LOVES – berries – and went from there.
Just in case the food was a flop, I thought I’d get some decorations
this year. We usually do birthdays REALLY simple: normal dinner, special
birthday dessert, presents. I pull out the birthday candles that are
still in the cupboard from last year (well, actually the last 4 years),
and that is the sum total of our birthday celebration. But, this year
just in case we didn’t have food to help us celebrate, I bought some
balloons, foil stars to decorate the table with, streamers, plates and
napkins with balloons on them, and a candle in the shape of a “2″ and
“4″. Jordan LOVES balloons! And they’re 1/3 of the cost of all the
Disney or cartoon character decorations! Ok, so I only spent $7 or $8
dollars for all this, but for us, this constitutes going all out!
Back to the food, particularly, the dessert. I saw a recipe for
biscuits that can be adapted for shortcake, so thought that since Jordan
LOVES berries, maybe, just maybe, Strawberry Shortcake would work for
him AND for everyone else. Although, I had never tried this shortcake
before, and you just never know how something will turn out. But it was
GREAT! Very delicious! Jordan got half way through his, before
he realized he was eating shortcake with his berries. He didn’t spit any
out, but must have tired of it 1/2 way through because the rest of his
bites, he sucked all of the strawberry sauce off and left the shortcake - ha! He was quite delighted with his dessert and with getting to blow the candle out! Even Grandpa had seconds – wow! The shortcake recipe was taken from “Special Diet Solutions” by Carol Fenster.
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