Our new houseguests

They are here! Aren't they cute? The kids certainly think so. Jonah had trouble going to sleep last night because he kept crying "Cheep cheep" and doing the chicken sign.

 Pictures are hard not just because of the red light but I really need an extra hand. I don't quite trust my littlest chicken lover not to be a too rough if I get distracted with the camera. But surprisingly, Lucy has been a bit nervous to touch them, she keeps asking but when I hold them out for her, she changes her mind. I think she's afraid she'll hurt them but maybe tomorrow.

The naming process was also a hard for her, she did not like our suggestions at first but we finally decided that each of us (excluding Jonah) would name one set. If you want to play a little guessing game, can you match the sets to their namers?

Mary and Rakel - Buff Orpingtons

Henrietta and Jane - Silver Laced Wyandottes

Letitia and Rose - Gold Laced Wyandottes

Let the chicken obsessing begin!

No Sugar Challenge - Week 1

I've decided that while I'm ruminating over other dietary changes, we'll start with the ones I know we need to do. Up first, sugar. We only eat natural sugars around here - sucanat, honey, maple syrup and some molasses - but even so I've gotten pretty lax about quantity. I also love to bake and have a major sweet tooth so you'll often find cookies and muffins around the house. That's not bad in moderation but it had slowly crept up until it was too much. This isn't a resolution, but a challenge for January specifically. Once I break some habits, I'll loosen up a bit. January happens to be conveniently located between the holidays and my birthday so I think it will work out well.

The challenge:

• No outside hfcs or white sugar at all. No sugary snacks or desserts except fruit. And for me, no adding sweeteners to things (tea, oatmeal, etc.) I'm currently out of honey so I won't buy more until February. This challenge is for me although the kids are mostly along for the ride since if I'm not buying it or making it, I'm not sure where they will get it. I will put maple syrup on their pancakes/oatmeal still, just not mine.
• Cheats #1 - I have 1/2 cup sucanat to play with for those odd times where I need to add 1/2 teaspoon to start yeast or 1 Tablespoon into a big batch of spaghetti sauce. 
• Cheat #2 - I used sucanat (normally honey but I'm out) to make bread but since I'm cutting down my bread intake at lunch, those 5 loaves should last us all month. If they don't, I'll make more but won't eat any.
• Cheat #3 - My anniversary is January 13th. If Craig happens to buy me a dessert, I won't be rude and reject it. But if he doesn't, then I'll thank him for being considerate of my sugar challenge - win/win for the husband!

Day 1 - Did fine until naptime which is not surprising because that is normally when I would grab a treat or a piece of chocolate. I ate a clementine and a handful of nuts which were tastey but not what my body wanted. I stood firm though - I can't give in on Day 1! After the kids went to bed was rough too because some of the Christmas treats are still around (Craig will take them to work later on) but a cup of tea with raw milk helped and I survived!

Day 2 - Oops. Put maple syrup on my pancakes and didn't even think about it until I was putting the jug away. At least it wasn't willful sugaring? My resolve is strong but my memory is weak.

Day 3 - Remembered to leave the sucanat out of our baked oatmeal. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup on top and 1/2 cup mixed in (9x13) but I have always left off the topping and reduced the mixed in amount to ~1/4 cup. This time I left it all out and it still tasted really good so that is now a permanent change. Fruit for afternoon snacks is something I've warmed up to quickly but evenings - those are rough.

Day 4 - Left the sugar out of the brown rice pudding and didn't even miss it. I think the creaminess mixed with vanilla and cinnamon just tricked me into thinking I've having sugar. Also, we should have rice pudding for breakfast more often, we all love it but I never remember to make it.

Day 5 - Snowed in all day with Craig stuck at work for 24 hrs. We had a fun day of preschool but I forgot that our treat was date/nute "snowballs." I used coconut flakes instead of powdered sugar for the outer coating which the kids liked. Although I never really declared dried fruit to be forbidden, these are a sweet snack and I should have refrained but Jonah took an extra 1.5 half to fall asleep without his daddy and I needed a bit of chocolate so I caved. :-(

Day 6 - Used 1 Tablespoon of sucanat for Naan (as allowed in Cheat #1) but left the sugar out of the curry recipe and it wasn't missed. But now it's 9:30 pm, Craig is out shoveling (aka - not around to distract me) and my body wants sugar! Luckily, we really don't have anything for me to eat. I think I'll go make a cup of tea.

First week results - So far I've used 1T (Naan) +1/4 t (carmelized onions for french onion soup) Sucanat to cook with. Not bad. I consider both of those to be good choices for splurging. 1/4 teaspoon to make a large batch of grass fed beef broth based french onion soup of which Jonah at 4 bowls - worth it! I've also messed up twice already which is kinda lame of me.  Pressing on though, tomorrow's another day with no mistakes in it!

Cleaning out the drafts: UHF - Start 'em young

Wow, I haven't written an "undercover hippie files" post in a long time. This was was started almost a year ago! Perhaps I was waiting to add another book, I have no idea. I also have no idea why the formatting is weird but in an effort to save my sanity, I'm not worrying about it. 

All the World

I just happened to pick this up at the library and both Lucy and I loved it. The poem itself is fine although some may think it is bit deep for kids. The words sound lovely and that is enough for Lucy. It's the illustrations that are great. Beautiful pictures of families having fun together in a variety of settings. It really just gets better as you read it more because the illustrations are the real story and they have so many wonderful little details that Lucy discovers each time we read - the ball that gets left behind, the baby having "milk-milk" and another being worn while the mom is gardening. Update: After multiple readings, I noticed that there seems to be a depiction of a lesbian couple in the illustrations. I didn't notice it we had returned the book to the library and thought bought a copy for ourselves so I doubt Lucy will even notice it but I thought I'd mention it. 

Baby Brother

This was a Lucy selection that turned out to be great. Lovely illustrations and cute story. Mia is writing a letter all about how her cat was acting funny and ended up having kittens while you see mom preparing for a new arrival herself and actually having a home birth (not at all graphic though, don't worry). We checked this out pre-Dewey but I think I'll make sure we check it out again several times before September.

The Biggest Bed in the World

A more comical take on co-sleeping. As his family gets more kids (and more pets), poor daddy gets tired of having no room. He keeps building a bigger bed but it doesn't seem to help. Lucy doesn't quite get the comedy of this one, but I think Craig and I can appreciate the humor. We love co-sleeping, but it does have it's moments too.


Nursies when the sun shines 

We read this as "Milk-milk when the sun shines" since Lucy got this for Christmas with the hopes that it will ease the night weaning process. It perfectly illustrates the reason for this post. My post title aside, I don't really pick up books like these because I think I need to indoctrinate Lucy or because I am horrified to see her read a book about a baby drinking from a bottle or sleeping in a crib. I search for books like these because Lucy really likes to see babies doing things the way she is used to. She got so excited when she saw the mommy, daddy and baby snuggling together in bed and was overjoyed when she saw the cat was at the foot of the bed too. She kept pointed to them and then to us. I'm pretty sure she won't be excited when I tell her no more milk at 2am, but it can't hurt to encourage her along. The words are very simply, as they should be, the point is to convey the idea that everyone, mommies, babies and nursies, sleep at night, but wake up in the morning. The illustrates are pretty but be forewarned, baby does get nursies in the morning as promised and the mom isn't using a nursing cover! But I'm guessing if you want this book, that won't be much of an issue for you.

Green Choice #1

Since we are hippies and all, of course we will want to be making some eco-friendly choices on our kitchen remodel journey. But we are also on a strict budget and trying to do it ourselves to we have to be reasonable with what we can do. Straw bale walls and solar panels will have to wait for our next house.

But when possible, we do want to think about making a greener choice, for us and the environment. When looking at insulation, we had several options. We didn't like the traditional fiberglass batting.

Craig's a big fan of Holmes so he would have liked to go with a spray foam insulation but that was out of our budget, especially since our area wouldn't have met the minimum so we would have had to pay for insulation we weren't even getting.

In terms of super eco friendly insulation, there are really neat options out there, like natural wool or recycled denim. In my dream world, I probably would have chosen one of those, but they are more expensive and not easily available.

Our final choice: Roxul. Roxul is a stone wool batt insulation. Holmes recommends it because it is non-combustible and won't burn or release toxic gases if it contacts flames. Also unlike fiberglass - it's water, mold and pest proof. It is R-15 so comparable in efficiency to fiberglass, didn't cost much more and we could get it from Lowe's (required a special order but came in just a few days). That made Craig happy.

It is still a spun batt insulation so I had to wear long sleeves/pants and a mask during insulation so I wouldn't be breathing in the fibers. Some would say it isn't any better than fiberglass in terms of healthy and safety but unlike fiberglass with its offgassing dyes and formaldehyde, Roxul doesn't have volatile components that will off gas after installation which I think is a bigger issue. And while I couldn't even walk through the kitchen without itching during the time between drywall and old fiberglass insulation removal, I worked with the Roxul all evening and didn't really feel very itchy until I was cleaning myself up at the end of the night.

And it was really easy to use. I did it myself with just a measuring tape and a old bread knife. The pieces cut easily and I was able to get a nice fit without much trouble. And the batt was thick and held in place without flopping over. Overall, I think it is a great compromise product and if we have more insulating requirements in the future, it will probably be our choice.

UHF: Adventures in Early Potty Training

I haven't done any undercover hippy file posts in a while. It's not really intentional. After our homebirth, I kinda feel like my "undercover" part should be stripped from me but I'm still chugging away with my hippiness, it's just old news hippyness and not new fun to talk about stuff - until now.

We've started potty training!

I know, I know, Lucy is only 10 months old. That's the crazy part. Unlike my normal UHP, I'm not going to wait until we've done it to write a how post about how great this is or how that worked for us. I'm not sure how this is all going to work but in the research I've done I've found books about it and been reading about success stories on the mothering forum but not a lot of step by step stories or blog posts so I thought I would share our story as it happens.

First off, the why -

I had heard about elimination communication (e.c.) and even attended an information about it and know several moms who love it. It sounded neat but honestly, it just didn't really appeal to me. I definitely think it is one of those things you have to really want to do if you have any hope of making it work. But several things happened a few weeks ago that got me started thinking about starting potty training.

First, Lucy started upping her solids and all of a sudden, I could really tell when she went. In fact, I would see her and know, then wait ~30 seconds before taking her off to be changed. I had to change her right away because she absolutely hates being poopy. But it seemed so ridiculous to wait there when I knew what was happening.

Then I was reading some Montessori resources where she recommends starting at 12-18 months. That seemed really early compared to what I normally hear so I tried to find other information and the more I read, the more it just seemed to make sense and fit with our philosophy of giving Lucy opportunities to learn skills and become independent gradually (baby led weaning, shot glass not sippy, etc).

Lucy already dislikes being dirty and since I use cotton diapers most of the time, she knows when she is wet. I want to build off that. And since we are starting so early, there is no pressure, we are just slowly going to introduce the idea and incorporate it into our routine just like most of the other skills she will be learning in the next year. So I stopped asking why, and starting wondering why not? If we are both having fun with it, even if the progress is slow, why not just give it a try. So we are!

A number of people recommended Diaper Free Before 3 which I got and read and between that and late starting e.c. protocols, I've come up with a plan to get started. Stay tuned to hear more about the fun times we are going to be having!

Pregnancy Tea

I like to drink tea but once I got pregnant, I stopped. Although I really only drank decaffeinated and herbal teas, it was still confusing which ones were okay and which weren't and I didn't want to take any chances.

But I had heard good things about Red Raspberry Leaf tea and was excited about trying it out. There is some conflicting information about taking it during the first trimester so I played it safe and waited until late in my second when I bought some Traditional Medicines Pregnancy tea. It's mostly red raspberry leaf mixed with nettle, mint and a few other herbs. It took a few tries before I liked the taste but I do enjoy it now. It is expensive though and to reap the best benefits you are supposed to starting increasing your intake in the third trimester to 3 cups a day. I needed to come up with an alternative.

So I made my own! Most of the basic recipes I've seen include the same four herbs so this is what I settled on:
8 parts Red Raspberry - Tones and nourishes the uterus
3 parts Alfalfa - High in vitamins and minerals including iron and calcium.
3-4 parts Peppermint - Aids in digestion, covers up flavor of Alfalfa and Nettle :-)
2 parts Nettle (I left out for now, see *) - Increases urine production, helps with bloating, UTI prevention

I made a big batch of the mix using a 1/2 cup as my "part." Once you mix it up, you can prepare it several ways. If you have a tea strainer or infuser ball you could make a cup at a time. I have a little pot with a strainer insert that makes about two cups of tea. Both would be good options for the second trimester but I knew if I had to make more than one batch of tea a day, it just wouldn't happen plus it was starting to get warmer around here so I came up with plan B - Sun Tea!

Isn't that a great idea? I though so but no, apparently sun tea is forbidden now because the water gets warm enough to brew the tea but not warm enough to kill bacteria so you are basically risking your life if you drink it. Who knew? Not me, at least not until I had already bought a sun tea jar.

My final solution? Instead of letting it steep outside, I heat several quarts of water on the stove, add in about a cup of the loose tea mix and let it steep for 30 minutes. (If it is too strong for you, just dilute it later on.) At this point, you could add in sweetener and to be honest, it would probably taste better made southern style with several cups of sugar but since I am drinking so much, I leave it unsweetened :-( It's still tasty sugarless just not as tasty.

Then I strain it as I pour it into my non-Sun Tea jar and keep it in the fridge. The strainer doesn't take all the little particles of tea out but it gets most of them and the remaining ones float. Since I take the tea from the bottom of the jar, I don't ever get floaters in my glass.

The big batch lasts all week and since it is kept cool and ready in my fridge, it's easy to get several large glasses down a day. And it isn't real tea but just an herbal drink, I can count them as hydrating liquids too!

*I get my coconut oil and castor oil from Mountain Rose Herbs and would have ordered my herbs from them too but they were out of Red Raspberry Leaf at the time so I ended up ordering from Bulk Herb Store. Unfortunately, B.H.S. was out of nettle so I left that out for now and will add it next time I place an order with M.R.H. I would recommend either company but the shipping is kind of expensive to try to get everything you need from one or the other if you can :-) You can also order it pre-mixed from the B.H.S. but I plan to use all three of the herbs I bought to make a batch of Mama's Milk Tea later on.

Dirty Baby Business

I am so excited about cloth diapering it is ridiculous. Sometimes Craig has to remind me that I'm getting all giddy about something that will soon be covered in poop. But I can't help it.

We pretty much knew from the beginning that cloth diapering was something we wanted to at least give a try. For one, it's better for the environment. Most studies, as well as common sense, say that washing and reusing a diaper is more environmentally friendly than making a new one and having to dispose of it. Otherwise we would all be wearing disposable underwear, right? But as nice as I think our planet is, environmental reasons weren't really that big of a factor for us.

For me, it was the health factor. Neither of us have a good track record when it comes to skin issues so genetically, this kid has no chance and the idea of putting a chemical filled plastic sack on his/her skin just doesn't sound appealing. One argument I've heard several times as a negative to cloth diapering is that they need to be changed more often. Now, a baby in cloth diapers shouldn't be peeing more than any other baby so for me that is a plus. It will force me to make sure my baby isn't sitting in a dirty diaper just because I don't have to worry about leaks.

For Craig, it was definitely the money factor. Cloth diapering is so much cheaper. Even factoring in additional water usage (3-4 additional loads a week) and accounting for coupons and sales for disposables, we are going to save quite a bit. And the more kids we have, the more we save!

Yes, it will be more work but there is so much additional household work that comes with a baby that, I figure what's a few more loads of laundry? And since I won't have daily access to a car, at least I won't have to worry about running out of disposables and being stuck. The dealing with poop issue isn't a big concern to me either since the changing of the diaper is the worst part and that is the same no matter what type of diaper you use. All I have to do is take the whole wet bag, empty it into the washer, toss in the bag itself and run the load. I don't even have to touch anything until it's all clean again.

I think the biggest thing about using cloth diapers is that you have to want to. If you don't, no amount of saving money or health issue will make it worth it. Right now, as about to be evident by my excessive number of pictures, I'm really excited about them and most cloth diapering mamas I know are just as excited as me. But there may come a day when other things have to take priority or it really weighs me down and I have to be willing to adjust.

My biggest dilemma when it came to cloth diapering was what type I wanted to use. There are soooo many options out there. There are a 4 main types and withing each type there are different options such as sized or one-size, material options, and different brands to choose from. It's a lot to take in.

In the end, we decided to do a mix to start out with. The least expensive option is pre-folds and covers and that is what I am planning on doing for the bulk of my diapering. This is the old-school style but better (no pins and way more options than just gerber plastic pants). I've heard the pre-folds from green mountain diapers are some of the best quality. They come in more sizes than traditional pre-folds which means a bit more expense but the fit is better. I hope to get 1-2 dozen of the infant size to start out with. Pre-folds need covers to be waterproof but don't need that many covers since they are just the outside protective layer and can be reused a couple times unless you have a big blowout.

Here are my two flip covers which are one size. They will work from itty baby to toddler but I plan on also getting one of each of the most popular types of sized covers in small to see what works best with our baby. (Some work better on chunky thighs, others with long torsos, etc). I've also made a few wool covers to use too. (More on those in an upcoming post!)

Then I got a few fitteds. Fitteds are shaped like a diaper but still need a cover. They are one of the more expensive options so I wasn't planning on getting any but my mom and I were able to find some great bumgenius bamboo fitteds for 50% off since they were seconds. And the only reason they were seconds was because there is an extra tag!

They are supposed to be the best for the younger stage at holding everything in when it is more, uhm, flowy. Plus, the bamboo is really soft. They will use the same covers as the pre-folds.

Then I wanted a few one-sized pocket diapers. These are normally $17-20 a diaper but they can be used from ~8lbs up to toddler and work basically like a disposable except you wash them so they are handy for when you have a babysitter or grandparent who is confused by things that need to be folded or pinned/snappi-ed. I'm planning on using these for overnight since the pocket can be filled with extra absorbency pads (called doublers) and seem like they would be the quickest thing to try to use in the middle of the night when I'm barely coherent.
I'm now got two BumGenius ones and hope to get at least one from each of the other two brands I've heard great things about: Happy Heinies and Fuzzibunz.

I've also got this one as a gift.It's really neat but I'm not sure what to call it, it's not quite a pocket but it does have a snap-in liner and doubler so it's a complete diaper or I can use just the yellow wool part as an additional cover over pre-folds/fitted.

So that's my little but growing stash. As you can see, when I said before that I had finally decided what I wanted to use, I meant I didn't decide, I'm just going to go with them all! Once baby grows out of the smaller size pre-folds and covers, we will see what has worked best and go with that for the next size. I think the key to making cloth diapering work is being flexible and willing to try things to see what works best for us. (Well, that, and not going crazy and buying a lot more than we need.)

UHF: There's no place like home.

If you missed "The Clause" I put up earlier today, please start there.

We are planning on having this baby at home.

There, I've said it. No doctor, no hospital, just us and our (Certified Professional) midwife here in our nice cozy home welcoming our little one into the world.

Now comes the why part. I wanted to start off now talking about the main reason we are choosing a homebirth but honestly, there isn't just one main reason. So I'll just go over the mental journey we took to get here.

It started off with the idea that it was possibility. This was definitely one of those things I had never even considered before several bloggers mentioned theirs. Until then, I didn't know anyone who had ever had there baby anyplace other than a hospital so I probably wouldn't have even considered it if it wasn't for them.

And then, still way before I even got pregnant, I heard that in there were those who didn't want it to be a option. Well, that made me mad. But also curious as to why one would be so opposed to it, not just for themselves, but for others. So I did some more research and found out some interesting things:

Home birth is safe:
Despite what you may have heard, in terms of infant and maternal mortality rates, home birth is just as safe, if not safer, for mom and baby as a hospital birth is. In fact, in the last study I linked to, newborns in the home-birth group were less likely to require resuscitation at birth, oxygen therapy beyond 24 hours or meconium aspiration. There is a ton of information out there but the two pamphlets and two study summaries above will give you a good start if you are interested.

Many medical and public health organizations consider homebirth a good option for low risk mothers:
While the America College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists opposes homebirth, the American Public Health Association, the World Health Organization, Britain's Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada all support midwifery and an individuals choice of birth locations. (Links go to policy statements or recommended birth guidelines)

Inquisitive Reader: Okay, so it's one option, but why are you two choosing it?

Our research taught us that there were two main ways of looking at birth and that as a family, our thinking about birth was very much aligned with the midwifery model of care and not very much aligned with the typical medical model of care.

Basically, I don't think birth is a problem, an illness, or anything that needs to be fixed or solved. Birth is the way life is supposed to begin. A woman's body, including mine, has been specifically designed to go through this process. It doesn't mean it always goes perfectly, but it also doesn't mean that the whole thing is one big medical mistake that needs to be managed. I hate the saying "Giving birth is like trying to fit a orange/watermelon/grapefruit/fruit of choice out your nostril." Well, that is just stupid. Nostrils are not made to have large pieces of fruit go through them, birth organs are (well, not fruit, babies, but you understood that right?)

With that knowledge base already in place, when the time came for us to make a decision, the right one (for us) was obvious.

Inquisitive Reader: "Why can't you just have that mindset while having your baby in a hospital like a normal person just in case something goes wrong with this whole natural, normal process?"

That was what we probably would have tried to do if I didn't know about home births. But along with my midwifery mindset came certain ideas of things we want:

• chance to labor in multiple places and positions
• option to eat and drink during labor
  
• the baby placed immediately on my chest
• the opportunity to breastfeed within the first hour
• allow the cord to stop pulsing before it is cut
• nothing going inside the babies mouth unless it is attached to a human being. (Fingers and boobs = okay; water, glucose, pacifier = not okay)
  

and do not want:

• Induction
  
• membranes artificially ruptured
  
• drugs of any kind
• an IV
• electronic fetal monitoring
• to labor on my back
• episiotomy
  
• any forceps or vacuum assistance
• c-section unless absolutely necessary
• any shots to be given to the baby right away

Now some women are fine with all those things and that is their choice. I hope that they make well-informed decisions but either way, it's up to them to figure out what is best for them just as Craig and I have looked at each of those things and determined what we want and why we want it that way - we think it is the safest option for me and the baby.

And yes, it is technically possible to have a completely natural childbirth in a hospital, but it isn't easy. And to be honest, I know quite a few women that wanted it but not a lot that have actually managed to get it. You have to be willing to fight for want you want and have a bit of luck on your side.

Midwifes are experts on birth, they are trained for this and they see so much "normal" that they can recognize abnormal and take the appropriate action. And unlike doctors who you will likely only see for a short period during the labor and the nurses who come in every so often and check the fetal monitoring system, the midwife is with the laboring women the whole time. She knows her and her body and is there for her.

Doctors are trained to find problems and solve them. And they are very good at finding problems. In fact, they find so many problems that the national c-section rate is now around 30%. But maybe those problems weren't there until they started messing around. Because those things I listed that we don't want, they can cause problems and they really aren't individual requests like it may seem but are tied together.

Induction means you get an IV and drugs, which pretty much guarantee you need electronic fetal monitoring. Even if you can take the extra long and hard contractions that come with Pitocin and don't get an epidural (and that is a big if), you will still probably need to be on your back and that means you will probably need at least an episiotomy or "help" getting the baby out. But you probably won't be able to take them, so you'll get an epidural which might slow things down to much so that now you need more Pitocin. And you may be numb but the baby is still feeling all those super strong contractions so due to fetal distress a c-section becomes necessary to "save the baby's life." Suddenly, all your hopes for a natural birth are out the window. There are lots of ways to get sucked into the non-natural birth cycle and very few ways to get out of it again. It's a vicious version of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

From our very first doctor's appointment, I felt like I was already fighting the system with the testing that we didn't want done. And I don't want to fight during my labor. I don't want Craig to have to fight for me during out labor. I want to work on getting this baby out and I want Craig to be able to help me without either of us stressed or distracted.

When we met our new midwife, she had just gotten home from an 18-hr birth and had barely had time to shower before we got there. I could tell she was exhausted and at first, I was a little worried and wondered if we should reschedule. But unlike the 10 minutes quick visits I was used to with my doctors, she sat with us for about an hour talking with me and examining me to see how things were going. I feel very confident in both her ability to guide me through this process and my ability to deliver my baby and am sure those feelings will only increase as we spend more time with her.

One common misconception, perpetuated by the ACOG, about women who want home births is that they are willing to trade safety for comfort. Not only is that not statistically true, I hope I showed above that is is not the attitude we, and I believe most other home birthers, have. We are doing this because we value safety.

But beyond that issue, that misconception fails to recognize the link between the two. And there is a link between the two, but you don't have to take my word on that:

Routine, though unfamiliar, procedures, the presence of strangers and being left alone during labor and/or delivery cause stress, and stress can interfere with the course of birth by prolonging it and setting off what has been described as a "cascade of intervention." -World Health Organization's Care in Normal Birth, pg 11.

A cascade of interventions - that is exactly what Craig and I feel want to avoid because it is unhealthy, for both my body and the baby.

I'm not saying home birth is for everyone. Decisions are about weighing the risks and benefits. For some high risk pregnancies, it just isn't worth it. For others, they wouldn't be comfortable laboring at home and believe the risks and benefits are again on the side of the hospital. Even with us, if something arises later on in this pregnancy or during labor that warrants going to the hospital, we won't hesitate to do so. If we get to the point where our midwife says go, we know that the benefits will far outweigh the risks. Our midwife will become our doula, supporting us and helping us make the right decisions at the hospital but allowing us the medical support that we will need in that case. I hope we don't ever have to deal with that, but if we do, I know we can trust our midwife to help us make that call.

Inquisitive Reader: But what about the pain!

Ah, yes, why go through the pain of childbirth if you don't have to? I have heard those that choose natural childbirth described as supermoms who obviously have more pain tolerance than normal women to martyrs who are only doing it for selfish egotistical reasons. I honestly don't think either is true of me. I'm doing what I'm doing because I think it is best but also because I think it will benefit me the most in the end.

While I have heard stories of women that through natural childbirth methods have been able to labor pain-free and would not mind at all if that happens for me, for most women pain seems to be part of childbirth no matter what route you choose. Without drugs, you feel the contractions but have a better chance of a normal delivery without episiotomies, non-superficial tearing and c-sections. With drugs, you might not be in as much pain during labor (if they work), but your recovery time is often longer. I would rather suffer for 12-48 hrs before the baby comes then get to enjoy my first few weeks with the baby with as little pain as possible than try to juggle the care and feeding of a newborn while balancing a bag of peas on my crotch for the first month. But that is just my opinion.

To summarize, I think home birthing is a great option. I don't think it is for everyone but I do wish that more women would look into it for themselves and make an informed decision. They might like what they find.

UHF: The clause

I've been debating for a while how much I want to talk about certain baby issues and whether I even want to bring up a couple in particular.

Mostly because when I write about things I am super passionate about, I worry that it comes across as judgmental towards those that choose not to do them which is almost* never the case. I know we are making unconventional choices. I know that most people won't choose to do many of the things we do. Just because Craig and I can't imagine not doing them doesn't mean we don't have enough of an imagination to understand why others wouldn't want to. So if I continue y'all have to pinky promise not to take anything I say to mean I think badly of people who disagree.

I also hesitated because I don't want to rock the boat. I don't necessarily want to fend off "loving, helpful" advice and this may sound silly, but I don't want people to think I'm weird. I can say I'm weird, my close friends and family can tell me that (lovingly of course) but second cousins three times removed or my neighbor from down the street - not so much. I want those people to think I'm normal.

One of my favorite things about the blogosphere is the niches. I love reading other hippie mama style blogs because I find myself saying "exactly" all the time and it makes me feel so normal. But then I snap back into reality and realize despite what it might feel like in one small section of the internet, to a lot of the world, we're kinda freaky. I don't think that's all bad and I certainly won't change my actions because I'm worried about what others will think but sometimes a girl just wants to fit in, ya know?

But I've decided to write away. We started this blog as a way to keep up with friends and while that is still one of the way purposes, it isn't the only one. I feel like I have to work harder to keep it edifying but that is one of my main goals. Sometimes it means I struggle with the line between being honest and being too open but I think if it has the potential to help someone else, I would rather fall on the too open side.

Which brings me to our main reason for wanting to talk about our decisions. Blogging and the internet is often times how we first learned about things and without that information, we might not be making the same decisions. I don't mean that we read some random blog post and it convinced us. That would be silly. But because without my hearing about things like home birthing, co-sleeping and cloth diapering on several blogs, I wouldn't have even known they were options. But when we did hear about them, it became an option that we could research and talk about. And we are excited about them and want to share that information with others so that they can research and talk about them as options too.

So coming up later today - our birth choices!

*I say almost because some choices are just too stupid not to judge. I may choose to get a convertible car seat because I firmly believe that car seats are for cars and I want to avoid the temptations to act otherwise. Others may choose to go the traditional infant system route. Those are both reasonable choices. If you choose not to use a car seat at all then I will judge you because that is just ridiculous. Unless you don't have a car, then it makes sense I guess :-)

2009 Recap

I had a nice deep "start the new year" post planned where I went over this past year and all I learned and yada yada yada but I'm not in a pensive mood right now so I decided I would do that next month when my birthday comes around.

Instead I am going to do this superficial blog recap carnival. You just post the first line of the first post of every month.

January: We went with my in-laws to the Maker's Mark Distillery in Loretto, KY a few days ago to learn all about their bourbon-making process.

And despite my dislike of bourbon (and 99% of alcoholic beverages for that matter), I enjoyed myself.

February: When reading the sorts of hippie books and blogs I tend to read, sometimes you get the feeling that everything you touch will kill you, especially in the kitchen.

And it's gets worse when you start reading about hippie baby stuff.

March: I think it is fairly widely known that we like free stuff.

You don't have to be a long time reader to know that's the truth.

April: This commercial is great.

Now that's a statement you don't hear all the time, but at a second glance, you'll realize it was sarcasm.

May: Whew, I am sure glad it is May.

I'm pretty sure I'll be saying that again next May but for entirely different reasons.

June: I finished!

My May-Day Grocery Emergency challenge that is. This is the end to what I think may have been my most thought-out, well written series of the year.

July: Okay, now that you have a idea of how I feel about food, what do we really eat around here?

Oh, this was part of another series, the Nourishing Beginnings one. This has reminded me that I had a lot more to say about the subject of eating and now that I can talk about it again, I think I'll have to follow through with those post ideas.

August: I talked about kefir a bit when I first got my grains but wanted to wait until I was proficient before passing on my know-how.

Water Kefir, how I miss thee. You died while I was too sick to feed you but I'll be starting you up again soon.

September: We currently receive Money magazine here at the BRC household.

This is no longer true. After a while we found the articles to be repetitive or not applicable to us.

October: In the past week, I've read two different blog posts about Twilight.

Twilight. It's still my guilty pleasure. I can't help it.

November: Well, I'm back again and I lied, all I have to talk about is Nigel.

But it's a pretty good subject so expect that trend to continue in 2010. On a related side note, you may have noticed that the widget's "days so far" is now greater than the "days to go" meaning I am theoretically over halfway done being pregnant. Yah!

December: We had a good but noisy Thanksgiving with my family.

Ditto for Christmas.

Well, that was fun. Going over old posts reminded me of why I like to blog and what I like to blog about. Let me know if you do something similar on your post, I'll love to read your recaps.

UHF: Water Kefir

I talked about kefir a bit when I first got my grains but wanted to wait until I was proficient before passing on my know-how. The first batch was icky and I thought it was going to be a big fat fail on the whole kefir thing but I got a few tips and every batch since then has been great.

Rember, kefir grains aren't really a grain but a mother structure of a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast used to ferment liquid. The more common milk kefir grains are used to ferment milk (if someone is just talking about kefir without specifying, they probably mean milk). Water kefir can be used to ferment water and juice which is what I will be talking about.

There are two methods, the one step and the two step. With the one step method you directly ferment your final product, juice or sugar water with flavor/fruit. With the two step, you ferment sugar water into your kefir base then add your flavorings/fruit/juice to make different types of "soda". I like the two step because it leaves my options open and I don't have to worry about anything adversely effecting the grains. Because kefir is a living thing, there are things that help it grow and survive and other's that hurt or kill it. I'll go over them in a second.

One Quart Kefir Base:

Supplies:

• Plastic*/Glass container - I use a one quart mason jar
• Lid - You want the kefir to breath during fermentation but you don't want bugs or dust getting in there. I cut up an old tea towel into ~8" squares and use those in what I like to call my "bible character technique", (I think you'll see why later) but you can also use cheese cloth or coffee filters along with a rubber band.
• Plastic* Strainer/Grain bag - You can either keep your grains in a little pouch so they are easy to transfer from batch to batch. Another option is to strain your grains. I have tried both and thought the pouch would be easier but I actually like straining as I can know they are doing okay. I tend to be a grain-hypochondriac so I like to see them bopping around in there. *Don't use metal utensils as that can supposedly hurt your grains. Some people have gotten away with a metal strainer if it is necessary but try to limit contact with metal as it hurts the grains.
  

Ingredients:

• About a quart of water - You want a non-chlorinated water (It's in the water to kill stuff and but you don't want it killing your kefir!) but minerals also help your kefir prosper so don't use filtered water or distilled water. Your best bets are either to buy spring water or use tap water but boil it first to get rid of the chlorine. Since one costs money and the other doesn't, I bet you can guess which I do :-) You can also add a small piece of eggshell to increase the mineral content of the water. I add it to the water while it's boiling if I remember.
  
• Sugar - 1/4 to 1/2 of sugar. I started with using 1/2 cup but am now down to 1/4. Don't use less than 1/4 because the kefir needs to eat the sugar and you don't want them starving. As for type of sugar, you can use really anything but honey (it's antibiotic properties are not helpful in this particular instance). Rapadura is good for growing your kefir but it's pretty strong and I personally don't like the overpowering flavor but others don't seem to mind. I use your basic white sugar. After fermentation only about 20% remains so that ends up being less than a tablespoon of sugar in a quart.
  
• 2 Tablespoons of water kefir grains. I bought mine from cultures from health. They sent me more than 2 Tablespoons and I'm pretty sure mine are growing now so pretty soon I'll have some to pass on if your interested, let me know and I'll put you on my list.
  

What to do:
Mix the sugar and water in the jar. If you don't think the sugar is dissolving, you can start with a bit of hot water, dissolve the sugar, then let it cool. Just be sure to wait until the water is room temperature before adding your grains.

Add your grains and cover. Let sit for 24-72 hours on the counter. The speed of fermentation will depend on your room temperature but I would suggest starting with short times and working your way up to the stronger ferments. If your grains are loose you should be able to see them raise and lower every once in a while and if you gently bump the jar, a few bubbles will rise to the surface.If you ferment for a longer time, the water might start getting slightly opaque and if you taste the water, it should be getting less and less sweet. Those are all signs it is working.
Here's mine about 48 hours later, slightly opaqua and with a few floaters. It's ready to go! After 24-72 hours, strain the grains, rinse with water and repeat for your next batch, saving the water kefir. It won't be very tasty until you flavor it but it shouldn't taste bad, only slightly fermented. If you get ahead of yourself and need a break, you can keep the grains in sugar water in the fridge for a few day.

Flavoring the Kefir:

Lemonade - Add juice from one or two lemons (or limes for limeade). (You can also soak the lemon in water the whole time but I find that leaves a bitter taste)

Berry /Lemonade - Microwave a couple tablespoon of frozen berries (any type) then smush with a fork, add to water and proceed with lemonade recipe. This is first one I made and really enjoyed. The stawberry flavor completely coveres up the fermentation.

Grape soda - Add about a 1/4 of grape juice to 3/4 water kefir. Yummy! (Supposedly apple juice works too)

Ginger-ale - Grate 1/4-1/2 inch of ginger into a quart of kefir water. This has a much stronger flavor than store ginger-ale but I really like it.

Cream soda/Root beer - Add a teaspoon or so of rootbeer extract or vanilla to a quart of kefir water. I've never tried this (it is next on my list) but I've heard reports it is good.

Finishing the Kefir:

Once you flavor the kefir, you can let it sit, tightly covered, on the counter for another 12-24 hrs to build up carbonation before moving it to the fridge unless it is a juice and I want to lower the sugar content more, I normally don't wait that long before drinking it. Serve cold and enjoy!

I store mine in these cool glass bottles but if I leave it out, I have to make sure to vent it occassionally. I don't want any explosions.

P.S. - Since this is a fermented product, technically it is slightly alcoholic just as any home fermented product will be (kimchi, sour dough, overripe bananas). I have no way of measure for myself but what I read seems to indicate that at 48hrs the alcohol level tends to be vary (depending on starting sugar level) from 0.2-1%, In comparison, non-alcoholic beer is anything less than 0.5%. Since I typically only add 1/4 c of sugar and 24-36 hrs fermentation, I didn't worry about giving some to my little brother while he was here (I just called it homemade soda, what he doesn't know won't hurt him) and I know of others who drink it while pregnant, but I wouldn't go around serving it to unsuspecting Baptists or Muslims without their knowledge.

P.S.S. If you want to read more about water kefir, here are some resources.

Another Home Alternative

MacKenzie has written about home birthing before, but this NY Times article covers the other end of things: home burial. The article focuses a lot on actual burial of people on private property, but I think the more interesting part is about the care of a body in the day or two after death. Just like we've lost touch with the natural aspect of giving birth, we've done so with dying. People just don't know what to do in either situation, because we're used to just calling someone else to take care of it. Just as people have become more interested in birthing alternatives, they are thinking about after-death alternatives:

Advocates say the number of home funerals, where everything from caring for the dead to the visiting hours to the building of the coffin is done at home, has soared in the last five years, putting the funerals “where home births were 30 years ago,” according to Chuck Lakin, a home funeral proponent and coffin builder in Waterville, Me.

Not only does this seem to be a more intimate, personal experience than the funeral home method, it's much less expensive. Plus, much of modern burial seems wasteful. Why pay for an expensive coffin and vault, just to stick them in the dirt? And why pump a body full of chemicals to make it look good for an extra day or two? Charles Lindbergh had something like this done when he died.

But just like medical groups go to state legislatures to try to restrict competition from midwives, funeral directors are trying to restrict alternatives:

Recently, some states, with the backing of the funeral industry, have considered restricting the practice of home funerals. Oregon legislators last month passed a bill that would require death midwives to be licensed, something no state currently does.

Most people who do this go the cremation route, it seems. As far as I can tell, most cemeteries won't let you be buried without a vault, unless you can find a "green cemetery" that is set aside for natural burials.

I think this is an intriguing idea, one that I hope I don't have to consider anytime soon.

UHF: EcoSneaks

I didn't really feel like it was necessary to include this as an Undercover Hippie File, but Craig wasn't going to let me get away with buying them and not telling you.

You see, I needed shoes for d.c. I wanted them to be somewhat fashionable (i.e. even I didn't want to wear running shoes with skirts) but I knew we would be walking all over dc and my cute work shoes are okay for working in the lab all day but would definitely have given me blisters by hour 6 of our 12 hr sightseeing days. So off to the mall I went.

I had a type of shoe in mind but as soon as I saw these
I loved them. I didn't even notice till I was actually trying them on that they were Ecosneaks made by Simple Shoes (shoes for a happy planet).

Now, a happy planet sounds nice but I didn't buy them because the sole is made from recycles tires, or the lining is organic cotton and hemp, or they use old plastic milk jugs for the cushion. I bought them because I liked them. But since they costs less than the other shoe I also liked so I was getting them anyway, I will say that it's pretty cool they are so UH friendly. And they did an excellent job of keeping my feet happy during my trip too.

May-day Grocery Emergency Challenge: The End

I finished! I had to buy a loaf of bread mid-week but that was it so I finished the month at $77.99. That is $122.01 under my normal budget. I did so much better than I was expecting and I think we ate well. I also tried a number of new recipes that we ended up really liking so all in all I would say it was a smashing success! My biggest concern is that I would have to overspend the next month to make up for it but we went shopping today for the next week and I was right about where I normally am so I don't think that will be a problem. I'll definitely be trying to repeat this challenge once or twice a year.

So do you want to know what my plans for the extra money are? Well, do you remember my fermentation failure? I'm ready to try it again but this time I am going to get a little help. I put in an order for some cultures I've been coveting from Cultures for Health. I was planning on just getting the water kefir kit but since I did so well with the challenge that I splurged and bought the vili yogurt starter too. They arrived on Saturday and I started them up.

The yogurt seems super easy and I am really excited about being able to make my own, without even having to use a yogurt maker or crockpot.

The kefir is something I've been wanting for a while. Kefir is a beverage made by fermenting milk with Kefir grains. Kefir grains aren't really a grain but a mother structure of a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast. Like I said, Kefir is a traditionally fermented milk product that is thicker than milk, thinner than yogurt. You can buy it at the grocery store but just like most commercial yogurts, it is choke-full of thickeners, flavor additives and sugar. Make it yourself and you can avoid that.

Hopefully I will like it as I think it will be a easy source of good probiotics.I've heard it can help with eczema which would be great and mine is difficult to deal with.*

I didn't actually get the normal milk kefir grains but instead went the water kefir route. The grains are a little different and allow you to ferment water turning it into kefir lemonade, homemade ginger beer or fruity kefir juice, depending on what you add to it. The fermentation naturally adds carbonation in addition to probiotic benefits so the end result is supposed to be tasty and nutritious. (My grains came dried and take a few days to rejuvenate so you'll have to wait a few days to know what I think they taste like.)

I choose water kefir instead of milk because I already eat my fill of dairy products with yogurt and milk and I need another way to stay hydrated. With my heart condition, it is important that I don't get dehydrated but it is really hard to do that in Texas. Ten minutes outside and I am feeling woozy. But water is boring, juice is sugary and hot tea is not appealing when it is in the 90s. (Yah, I made it to June without complaining about the weather, I am very proud of myself). There are so many fun options to try with water kefir that I hope I can keep my palate entertained. I'll start with the easier things, like lemonade, but I really want to try ginger beer.

*On a eczema side note, mine has gotten better as my diet has improved and it actually completely disappeared a few months back when I was off sugar for Lent and drinking raw milk, but right after that we took a trip and I started being lax about sugar and milk and it came back. So I don't know exactly why but at least it gives me hope. I'll be working on narrowing down the reason this summer, but if it was the milk, the kefir might help.

Undercover Hippie Files: Moo is me

Sometimes I wait to write posts so they will be a complete little story with a nice ending. But then, the ending doesn't come. That is how it is with this, but I guess I will tell y'all anyway.

As I have gotten more and more into nutrition and eating natural whole foods, I have been questioning our dairy intake and whether we should go raw. Now, I'm not convinced that pasteurized milk is the devil (right now we have a gallon of milk from HEB in the fridge) but I do think real (raw) milk is healthier.

So a while back we visited a Class A raw milk goat farm. We toured their facilities, met the goats and saw the milking process. It was a really neat experience but still a bit weird. I mean, I knew it was raw but when I saw them milk the goat, the pour the milk through a paper funnel into jugs then put the jugs to chill, I kept thinking - "That's it? Shouldn't you do something else?" But then he took out another jug, already chilled, with milk he collected that morning, and I took a sip. It was tasty. I was really worried that I wouldn't like it since it was so much fattier than I was used to and I don't like store bought whole milk at all. It wasn't like that at all, it was just like the milk I was used to, except...milkier.

So we bought ourselves a gallon. At $12.75 raw milk doesn't come cheap but we learned to use a little less on our cereal and dilute it slightly for baking and were able to make that gallon stretch for two weeks (raw doesn't go bad the same way pasteurized does, it sours but doesn't spoil in the same way or as quickly).

The farm is quite a ways away from where we live but the farmer said he delivers to town twice a week so we called him up and the next weekend he dropped another gallon off at our front porch - but this time it came with a $3 delivery charge. Now, he didn't mentioned this when I emailed about prices, when we visited the farm and he told us about the delivery service, or when we called to request a delivery so it took us by surprise. It was a little annoying to say the least but I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and I know gas costs money but still $15.75 for a gallon of milk? The most aggravating part was that I don't think it is an option anymore, it is just too big of a stretch on our budget.

So this month, we are back on store milk. I've looked into other options (pasteurized but non-homogenized, or just organic, etc) but I am not happy with them and am really conflicted. I think I might be able to swing raw again this summer since less milk consumption will be occurring with Craig being gone for work, but after that I don't know. How many more bean meals are we willing to eat to make it work? For now, I'll just have to be content with my memories of raw milk while I drink pasteurized cow milk. Oh, woe moo is me (sorry, I couldn't help myself).

I'm not out to convert any of you to raw milk drinkers, but if you are interested in some of the articles I first saw that got me thinking, here you are:

Nourishing Gourmet talks about raw milk
Kelly has a series about raw milk
A Mercola report on raw milk benefits
realmilk.com

UHF: Shampoo - Hair today, gone tomorrow (Part II)

What, you don't remember part I? Well, think back, I wrote it about 8 months ago. But Katie asked last week and it just so happens that some stuff has changed so I thought I would update y'all.

For 7 months, I was happy just washing my hair every 5 days. My hair was in the best shape it has ever been. So, why mess with that? Well, for a long time I didn't. But there is one really annoying thing about only washing your hair every 5 days...and it probably isn't what you think.

You have to remember 5 days back! I couldn't do it. It was fine when I washed every 3-4 days, I just picked Sunday and Wednesday as my days. But every 5 days, I kept forgetting when I last washed it. And I tried to stretch it out to a week so it would be easy to remember, but my hair was not having it - at all. So I hung out at 5 days.

But then I saw Life in a Shoe's "No Shampoo" trials (and yes, they have had some extremely funny trials) and for some odd reason, felt the need to try it again. At first, I just stopped washing, and was doing good until I hit that 6-7 day mark. All of a sudden, my hair was gross. So I tried the "egg technique" where you mix an egg with some lemon juice and a little warm water. (The warm water isn't necessary but I always forget to let my egg get to room temperature and I don't like the idea of an ice cold egg on my head). Just make sure you rinse with lukewarm water or you will cook the egg on your head. (See my note above about "extremely funny trials," but they learned the hard way so I didn't have to).

And it worked surprisingly well. I made it through my Easter trip and all the way to the next weekend. I would have been fine even then but we had Craig's prom. Okay, technically it was a ball for his department, but realistically - it was a prom. And I had to do my hair all fancy. Hairspray and no-poo do not mix so I shampooed and then I was back at square one. But worse, my hair felt so dry and awful. I don't think it was really any worse than when I used to wash more frequently, it just felt dry in comparison. So I started my second trial.

But this time, I had castile soap as my secret weapon. I made up Lindsay's recipe but I used a lot less Dr. Bronner's because in my experience, Dr. Bronner's soap can, and should be, diluted a lot. I'm not sure that was such a good idea because what I didn't count on was that when you spray it on, you use very little, so it does get diluted - just on your head! Right now it has been almost three weeks since I used shampoo. I used an egg once, about a week in and now am just using my homemade shampoo every 3-4 days. My hair is not great, but not awful either. It feels thicker than normal and I like to wear it up if it has been more than two days since I wash it but after my experience with shampoo I am confident that my hair is better than it was when I first started this whole thing (and to be honest, I like to wear it up most of the time anyway). I actually think I would be better off not using even the homemade shampoo and just trying to work through with just baking soda and vinegar with maybe an egg a week but I am too nervous to go full steam ahead.

I wish I had a nice summary for you, but I don't. My head is a work in progress. I can't even actually tell you why I am doing this, I have no idea at this point. Maybe it is the thought that my hair might be better off in the long run. But I think it is really my curiosity and stubbornness. Some people have gotten this to work, so surely I can figure it out, right? I'll let you know.

UHF: Crackers - they are not controversial.

Since I am now feeling better and back at work, I don't have those boring time periods between naps when I don't feel like getting up but can't possible sleep any more. Which means I no longer have time to write lengthy blog posts and replies alienating friend, family and readers with my conservative views on social issues. So I thought I would posts about something everyone loves - crackers! You can't have an argument about crackers, can you? Well, unless someone asks Cheese-its or Cheese-nips - but let's just not go there.

"But can't you just buy those?" That was Craig's response when I made my first cracker recipe. Make crackers? Who does that?

I do and so do other hippies. I have actually found a couple good recipes from other Nourishing Traditions style foodies. Yes, you can buy them but why not make them? The ones I make are simply, don't use fancy ingredients and quite tasty. Not only are they cheaper but they are fresh and I know exactly what is in them and can make sure it is all good stuff.

Here is what are in commercial wheat thins:

ENRICHED FLOUR , SOYBEAN OIL, WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT FLOUR, SUGAR, DEFATTED WHEAT GERM, CORNSTARCH, MALT SYRUP (FROM BARLEY AND CORN), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, MONOGLYCERIDES, SALT, VEGETABLE COLOR (ANNATTO EXTRACT, TURMERIC OLEORESIN), SOY LECITHIN.

For a processed food, it's really not too bad. But sugar and high fructose corn syrup? No thanks. Enriched flour? That a fancier way of saying white flour. I can do better.

My wheat thin recipe: *This recipe is an altered version of one I saw on Raising Peanuts

• 3 cups ground oatmeal (Just put it in a food processor or blender for 30-60 seconds)
• 3 cups wheat flour (I like King Arthur white wheat, if you can't find white wheat, you might just want to use part white, part wheat)
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 3 Tabl. honey
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt (plus more for topping)
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup warm water
  

Mix all ingredients and let sit for 30 minutes. Roll out quite thin. Sprinkle with salt and roll a bit more to embed salt in dough. Cut into squares and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until slightly brown around edges (depending on your oven and the thickness it varies quite a bit).

Pita Crackers: *From a recipe on 101 cookbooks
These are quite tasty. We eat them alone but they are a great cracker to serve with cheese or a dip. I think hummus or guacamole would be a nice accompaniment, or this roasted red pepper dip.

• 3 cups white wheat flour
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
  
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• Toppings: salt, pepper, parmesan, herbs...basically whatever you want. The cracker is your canvas. I've topped them with salt and parmesan, salt and pepper, and just salt. We liked them all. Check out the original recipe for more ideas.
  

Mix together in a kitchan-aid with a dough hook then leave on low to knead for about 7 minutes. The dough should be smooth and silky. You could probably knead it by hand but it would take a bit longer. Divide the dough into 8 pieces, roll into a ball, coat with olive oil and let rest for an hour. About 40 minutes into the resting period, start heating your oven to 450. You want it to be nice and hot. (If you have a pizza stone, it would probably be good. I don't have one and cookie sheets work well enough).

When it is done resting, roll out each chunk of dough fairly thin (you can experiment here, the thicker pieces kinda puff up which I like, but thin is better if you want a nice crunchy cracker, or if you want to be able to get the dip to stay on). Add your toppings, roll a bit more to embed, then cut into pieces. Bake 5-7 minutes until golden. Enjoy!

Mac n' cheese crackers: Originally called cheese pennies
These taste just like my homemade mac n'cheese, but in a cracker form. These are obviously not low fat, but that isn't the way we roll here and I consider a good homemade cracker made with real butter and cheese to be healthier than any low fat processed cracker I could buy.

• 2 cups cheddar cheese (Use block cheese that you grate yourself, I've used frozen pre-grated cheese and the dough just can't stay together. You will end up frustrated.)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup white wheat flour
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• 1/8 tsp cayenne (you can use more but we are woosey)

Mix together. You might need to use a couple of tablespoons of cold water to get it to stick together (like a pie crust). Divide it into two and roll each section into a thin (1-2 inches in diameter) log. Wrap logs in wax paper and place in freezer for 30 minutes. (If you want to keep in freezer longer, just leave it out for 20-30 minutes before you try to slice it or it will crumble.)

After chilling, slice log into pieces about 1/8-1/4 in thick and place on ungreased cookie sheet. You can sprinkle with paprika if you like (I do, Craig doesn't). Bake at 400 for 12-14 minutes until very slightly brown around edges.

Overall Cracker tips:

• If the recipe calls for salt sprinkled on top, don't be a miser. The salt adds a lot of flavor and if you don't use enough, you will have boring crackers. I like Kosher but sea salt would also work, I don't think regular would be as good.
• Experiment with thickness. Thinner is generally better but see what you prefer. I meant to steal my mom's pasta maker when I was home for Christmas (what? She never uses it!) so I could get a nice thin cracker but a rolling pin does work.
• I keep them in big ziplock bags in the fridge. I think they last longer that way, although we normally eat them up in a few days so I'm not sure why I bother.
• Try it! Why buy processed crackers when you can easily make a tasty and healthy version at home?
  

UHF: Drink your veggies

I'm taking off for the weekend to head to Austin and visit my brother. I thought it would only be appropriate to fill the void with an Undercover Hippie File. Have a Happy Easter!

I could have easily titled this post "How I have been survived Lent." Whenever I get the urge to eat ice cream, I just make a green smoothie. It isn't quite the same, but it's healthy. In fact, now that sugar is basically out of my system, these taste super sweet and delicious to me. For a while, I even felt like I was cheating with Lent since I liked them so much! And while I feel like green smoothies have been all over the internet lately, when talking to a few real like friends who read my blog they seemed interested in how we do them, so I am posting it anyway.

It isn't complicated. A green smoothie is a smoothie with some sort of greens in it. (I like spinach, it has a mild flavor that is easily hidden but I have heard others use kale. And we already grow wheat grass for a kitty snack so I have thought about trying to add that.) It's a great way to sneak in more veggies to your diet because you can't taste the spinach. Really, you can't. And even though I'm the pickier eater in our family of two so I don't really need to sneak veggies for Craig nor am I fooled when I make myself a smoothie, we can always benefit from more greens in our diet. Especially raw vegetables.

You can use any smoothie recipe you like, just be sure to blend the liquid ingredients and the spinach first then add your frozen items. That way the spinach gets fully mixed in. Here is my basic recipe (sorry, it is really vague):

• A couple big spoonfuls of yogurt
• A squirt of honey
• A few tablespoons of orange juice (I have used milk and water instead when we are out of juice, but I like the sweetness and flavor of the orange juice. Last time I made it without orange juice, Craig asked why it tasted so "different." So use it, unless you don't have any or are really avoiding sugar - how is that for ambiguity)
• A cup or so of fresh spinach (You can work your way up to a cup if you are skeptical but from what I have heard, do not try to use frozen spinach. You will end up with yucky chunks in your smoothie.)

Blend until smooth. Then add:

• some frozen bananas (They are both super cheap and make smoothie sweet and creamy)
• other frozen fruit (Anything works but peaches and strawberries are our favorites, mostly for budget reasons. Raspberries and blueberries are great if they come on sale though.)

The amount of frozen fruit you add is really dependent on taste and thickness*. Less fruit makes a drinkable smoothie, more fruit and you might need a spoon.

If you are serving others who are unsure about the whole green smoothie thing, start with a berry smoothie.The dark color hides the green very well and you can't even see that there is spinach it it. Peach is a great flavor but the smoothie will be very green!

*It also depends on your blender. My old blender was a hand me down from a friend when he moved away, at least three years ago. It was in sad sad shape and couldn't handle a thick smoothie. That is why I also started making smoothies in two steps. We finally threw away that old blender (sorry Lance :-) and got a super awesome new one which can handle anything but I still like the two step method. It's not only powerful but it is vintage looking and only has two options, pulse and on. Why do I need 7 options in a blender? If you are in need of a blender, I highly recommend the Osterizer Classic Beehive. It's loud but gets the job done well.

Make Something Monday: Homemade face scrub

So it has been about a year and I still love the oil cleanse method for washing cleansing my face. A lot of people just use it once a week as a special treat, but I use it as my daily cleaner. It's great but I do find that every once in a while I need a stronger exfoliation method. So I made my own sugar scrub. About once a week, I just mix my normal amount of oil mix, about a teaspoon, in with about a teaspoon of sugar and there you go - instant sugar scrub. Just use it gently, don't grind it into your face. And for those non-ocm people, you could just use olive oil straight with sugar but castor oil is really cheap and does a nice job balancing the oil in your skin.

I do it a little at a time because I just haven't gotten around to making it as a batch, but you could easily mix it before hand and keep it in a small jar. I think I am going to try to find some tea tree oil to add in there, just to make sure it stays good for a while (tea tree has anti-microbial properties). And here is a fancier recipe if you wish to go all martha.

Undercover Hippie Files: Material Girl

When reading the sorts of hippie books and blogs I tend to read, sometimes you get the feeling that everything you touch will kill you, especially in the kitchen. Don't use plastic because of BPA, or non-stick surfaces because of Teflon (unless you can keep your pots only on low), or aluminum or any item that begins with the letters a-k. Okay, I made that last one up but it can get overwhelming. What am I supposed to do, get magical powers so I can cook my food without it touching anything and then never save any leftovers?

First off, I remembered the old saying anyone who has ever taken a toxicology class should know by heart, "It's the dose that makes the poison." There is really no need to throw out every item of questionable content all at once and replace it with something that is currently deemed more safe (I say currently because who knows what some study will say tomorrow). There are some easy and cheap changes I can make right now, and for the bigger stuff, as things need replacing, I will do so with the best materials our budget will allow. And for determining the best, I will stick with more classic materials. Here is rundown of what materials I use:

For Storage -
For freezing, I use mostly plastic containers and Ziplock bags. However, I recently won a Tickle Trunk stainless steel storage container from Keeper of the Home and I have to say, I love it. The way that it seals is very secure so unlike some plastic storage containers, I don't worry about the lid popping off when I am rummaging in the freezer. And it cleans very well. I hate how plastic stains and looks dirty. They aren't cheap, but they aren't super expensive either (I'd say similiar to classic Tupperware - the website price is in Canadian dollars so when you convert you get a sweet surprise, unless you're Canadian that is). The Tickle Trunk has other things too, including water bottles, ice cube trays and cups - all in food-grade stainless steel. As I need new items (or as I have a big enough kitchen to fit them) I will probably go this route for most of my storage needs.

Until then, I will continue to use my plastic. And for for freezing soups and stews in a space saving way, I don't think you can beat Ziplock. I let the food cool before putting it in the plastic and I try not to heat/microwave items directly in the plastic, but instead move them to a regular dish to microwave.

And for temporary storage in the fridge (leftovers, marinading meat, etc) I use my bowls with a plate for a lid. With my fiesta ware, the sandwich plate fits perfectly on top of the soup bowl. And my dinner plates work for lids for my mixing bowls. It's cheaper than buying aluminum foil or plastic wrap and it means less dishes than if I used a new storage container. This is one of the first changes I made and it is really is the easiest and cheapest thing you can do if you want to avoid plastic and aluminum touching your food.

For Cooking -
I didn't like my non-stick I inherited when I married Craig but I dealt with it - until it started flaking. Not acceptable. I spent quite a while looking at my replacement options:

Cast Iron - I have one cast iron pan and it's good for some things, but I couldn't see using if for everyday cooking. I would love ceramic coated cast iron (Le Creuset) but it is too expensive. Also, it's really heavy.

Anodized Aluminum (aka - the new "green" pan) - Supposedly the way these pans are processed encases the aluminum so that it doesn't actually touch your food. And the coating is ceramic and free of PTFE and PFOA so it is safe. I've heard good things about it so far, but it is new and I tend to be skeptical, mostly of it's general cooking ability, but also it's safety.

Stainless Steel - This is the choice I went with. I bought a Wolfgang Puck set and so far, it is great. My set was on the lower end of the price scale but you really can spend as little or as much as you want on a stainless steel set. My main reason for choosing stainless steel was that it has been around a long time and is generally considered to be safe. Plus, it's what chefs use. They must have a reason for doing so! And I think my cooking has improved, as you can't really get a nice brown on anything in a non-stick pan.

There are some downsides, mostly that it has no nonstick properties. But I haven't really had too much of a problem with stickage although Craig had a bit of trouble with omelets last week. Mostly you have to make sure you heat it up thoroughly before adding the food, and be sure to use some fat to stop the sticking and use Bar Keeper's Friend for cleaning.

So if you visit my house, you won't find a plastic, aluminum and Telfon free kitchen, but you will see someone trying to slowly make changes to improve our material usage. Have you made any changes with how you cook/store foods?