Bits and Pieces

A blog post not solely devoted to Emerson!? I'm as shocked as you are! Here are a few things from our daily lives that seem worth sharing:

1. Toasted coconut flakes. These little puppies are rocking my world lately! They're reminiscent of popcorn but maybe healthier? Still some calories because of the coconut oil in them (but that's a healthy fat, right). You'd have to try these to believe how addicting and delicious they are. Even Blake liked them and he's not particularly a coconut fan. Toast a couple cups of coconut flakes, add a tsp of your preferred spices and a good quality mineraly salt (e.g.), mix and you're done! Pictured below are cinnamon and garlic-turmeric.

2. Moving. We knew when we decided to move into this house that we would be moving back out of it. I knew when we decided to get pregnant that I would be sad leaving the house that I (literally) birthed my child in. The house where I paced the halls in labor, paced the halls in lulling a baby to sleep and now pace the halls while she enjoys 'walking'. I knew it would be hard and... it is. As I rock her to sleep looking at our room, out the windows, at the decorations I put up while expecting her arrival. I remember swaying in the doorway to the deck, praying and singing 'Lord I Need You' while letting the sun shine on her back when we were worried about her jaundice. Now I look at that door and am reminded of God's provision and faithfulness. Besides the emotions, just practically, I'll miss the space, the open floor plan, the enormous master bedroom, and don't even get me started on how much I'll miss this kitchen. Again, I knew this would happen but that doesn't make it any easier. Also... I HATE MOVING! We're in the beginning stages of packing and purging... ugh. I just dread it.

3. Plastic vendetta. Bottom line: I read too much. I read this awhile back and it sent my plastic vendetta into overdrive. Our food related kitchenware has been pretty polymer free anyway, kind of following an 80/20 rule (80% ideal; 20% less ideal) but we do still use the occasional plastic container for Blake's cold lunch, plastic cutting boards and (guilty confession) we use too many zip top bags. I did recently start using wax paper 'bags' for some things though and I've stopped using plastic wrap for the most part (did you know it says on the box that you should keep it at least one inch from the food - because it can leach junk!?).
It's one small step but I found a beverage solution for our smoothies and for Emerson (most of the kid beverage containers are plastic, even stainless steal have plastic tops). We have a ton of mason jars for canning and they make different tops for them, but until recently I could only find plastic. Well, I finally found some that are stainless steal and also got some stainless steal straws. Loving them! I've used a few different sized jars but I'm always needing to drink more water so I finally just committed to the quart jar. For Emerson, I went for a silicone straw because I worried about the stainless steal jabbing her gums or palate. Silicone is still a polymer but is considered one of the safest plastics... I'm still not going to bake in it but until she's ready for stainless steal, it works.. and bonus, she loves it. She doesn't need to drink water yet but we've been practicing anyway. It's pretty cute.

Emerson's little pint jar cup. It's pretty
water tight and I'm planning on getting a silicone
sleeve for it. 

4. Hair loss. My postpartum hair loss started a little over a month ago, so now I have all those little hairs growing back in and it's as fun as it sounds or as you remember. The funny thing is it took me awhile to figure it out. I noticed I was losing a bit of hair but (guilty admission) I don't get it washed as often as I used to so I just thought it was from that. I also couldn't really figure out why my hair was a little funky but then I finally noticed all the little hairs at my hairline and put it all together.

5. Salve. I love this salve to the moon and back. I used to use another salve that was very similar but it was a little more expensive and shipping was more, so at the suggestion of a friend I tried the Eden salve. It's a little herbal smelling (like rosemary mostly) and it's green but man does this stuff work! We put it on anything and everything. Burns, scrapes, cuts, dry skin, diaper rash, bug bites.. everything. Comfrey is known for it's healing properties and aides in cell proliferation/regeneration. I recently had something removed from my skin and my doctor couldn't believe how fast I healed... it was the salve! Anyway.. it's awesome! In general comfrey salves are all pretty similar, so if you ever see one you should pick it up and give it a try. I do love this one because the company that makes it is Christian owned and it is organic, but that's mostly personal preference. I promise if you try it you'll never buy another tube of antibiotic cream again!

6. Hair love. Last time I was ordering more of the aforementioned salve, I decided to also try out this product. It's a herbal hair treatment that restores shine and health to your hair and enhances your natural highlights. I was a little skeptical but I was also feeling a little blah about my hair (likely from #4) and wanted to do something to liven it up, but I didn't want the upkeep or toxic load of chemical highlights. I'm happy to report that it worked! I left it on my head for about 2 hours and happily washed it out to find noticeably brighter blond streaks. I added peppermint essential oil to the mix so I didn't smell like herbs for a day (you rinse it out but don't shampoo until the next day). My hair feels and looks great! One order is a half a pound, but I only used 1/4 cup, so it should last me a long time!

7. Liver. At one point I said to Blake, "Well I might drink raw milk and add raw egg yolks to my smoothies but it's not like I'm going to start eating liver or anything!" And then one day I started eating liver. It's so good for you!! We follow the nutritional guidelines of the Westin A. Price Foundation and the book Nourishing Traditions (or we try to anyway.. again, 80/20). I started this journey because I'd been lactose intolerant for some time and my mom had been into WAPF for a while, and suggested I look into raw milk. I was reading the WAPF recommendations for pregnant and nursing mothers just before I said the above quote to Blake. I admit I don't get enough raw milk, liver or pasture raised egg yolks but it's a goal anyway. We're also following their guidelines for introducing food to Emerson, which primarily suggests not to give grains or legumes before at least age one, or preferably when molars erupt (indicating their digestive enzymes are ready to digest such carbs.). My neighbors butchered their (grass-fed) cows and I was thrilled when I found out they had a liver for me! I never thought I'd see the day when liver made me so excited (it was mostly the free part of the scenario that was so exciting). The thing was huge and we spent the better part of a day cutting it up and processing it. I pureed a bunch and strained it, then froze it in an ice cube tray so I can add it to soups, chili etc (I even added it to these chicken nuggets successfully! Blake had no idea!). Clearly, I don't eat it straight, I'm not saying that one day we wont (I've learned that lesson) but for now.. neither of us actually like liver.. we just hide it in our food for its nutritional benefits. I also swallow small pieces of frozen liver (aka liver pills) which don't have any taste unless you let them thaw. It's seriously a super food!

Processing liver.. seriously, that thing was HUGE! (I know, I know, plastic!)

8. Vanilla. So as not to end with liver.. I'll share this little project with you. Last fall I bought a bunch of bulk vanilla beans for a steal of a price (it was a group co-op order). I also bought some (very) cheap vodka at Costco. Put them together and wait 2-6 months and viola! Pure vanilla extract. It's darn tasty and was dirt cheap! It was usable at 2 months, but it's delicious now.

Bonus bit: I've reached the point that I miss blogging so much that I'm willing to make a few compromises to try to get a post out now and then (as well as the few other things I try to accomplish on my computer). So sometimes that means sitting at my desk with Emerson on my lap. Now I don't know if you've been offended by seen my choice to 'ban' screen time until Emerson is two but it's a pretty important decision for me. I really don't want her staring at my computer while I work/write, which has stopped me from getting much of anything done lately. However, recently I was doing something legitimately important and she was being particularly clingy so I just sat her on my lap and typed.. darn the consequences. I opened up the desk drawer and let her dig around. Turns out she could care less about the screen (unless there's a picture of her on it!) because throwing the pens etc out of the drawer is apparently AWESOME!. It's probably the most entertained I've seen her in a long time (I have a lot of pens). Today she discovered that the drawer goes in and out.. mind. blown. (I keep something sticking out so it doesn't get her fingers). Who knew something so simple could be so entertaining!

Day 27: A Picture of Your Handwriting

Oof. I have horrible handwriting.. or rather good handwriting takes considerable effort from me and I can't keep it up for very long without hand fatigue. I'm pretty sure that if entrance to med school was based on 'doctor handwriting' I'd totally get in. I can write fairly legibly if I try/take the time... but I know if I wrote something for this I'd make sure it was neat.. to the point of redoing it several times! I'd try to do something artistic and meaningful.. but that isn't really very realistic. I have been cleaning and organizing my desk this weekend and came across this list of recipes:

Day 25: Personal Entry - The Crunchies

A little over a year ago, I found this quiz after reading this post from a friend's blog. At the time I scored a 'Pretty Crispy' (based on my assumed choices later in life). Now that I've actually had a baby I could answer more questions for real (there were still a few about weaning and tandem nursing that I have to guess on) and I came out as 'Super Nutty, Ultra-Crunchy, Granola Earth Mama!' (175). I'm not saying that I'm proud or that my goal is to be super-granola or anything.. it's just funny the difference that a year makes. 

Four years ago I was just health conscious. Up to a year-ish ago, I hadn't even heard the term 'crunchy' until I google searched it and found that quiz. I used to refer to crunchies as 'granolas', which was strongly associated with the people from Fairhaven at WWU. My family growing up was pretty down-to-earth and healthy but not in any way what you would think of as crunchy/granola/hippy. I've realized that over time, like the association or not.. I am crunchy. However, I do try to be what I am without looking too much like it on the outside. As in, it is what I do but not 'who I am'. I'm not wearing advocacy tees or hoping that people know I make my own deodorant.. the point is to be all of this that we label crunchy but still live a normal life and hopefully look fairly normal. If I'm going to 'look like something' or be an advocate for something, I hope it's representing Christ well. 

Even though all the extensive and sometimes conflicting information can be overwhelming, I try to take it all in stride. My priorities go like this: God/faith, health, frugality, sanity, planet, fun (I know... fun last, but at least it made the list!). Now, Blake's priorities go a little differently (probably God/faith, fun, frugality, health, sanity, planet) ;), but we make our compromises where we need to, and he trusts me to be the keeper of our home and family. We balance each other out well and our kids will be so thankful that daddy puts 'fun' way higher on the list than mommy ;).

I try to just adapt new changes one at a time and of course, I try to do my research too. My one-at-a-time philosophy has been adapted a little lately because sometimes with a baby things come at you faster than that. However, when it's in my control I try not to take on too much at a time. I'm not too worried about when I get to the next things, but I just try to keep working towards being a little healthier, day by day. If I can incorporate one thing into our daily lives before adding another, it helps to keep living natural actually feel natural instead of burdensome. 

I guess I sort of break it into categories: personal care/household items, food, baby, healing/medicine (or lack thereof) and other. So right now I'm trying out no shampoo for personal care (using baking soda sparingly and ACV rinses), I just started making (growing?) kombucha for food, in baby we're cutting back on soap baths and using just water more (we just use baby castile soap, but I used to use it every other day and really she doesn't need soaped that often) and in healing/medicine I'm figuring out a realistic or practical (i.e. keeping my sanity) way to deal with our MTHFR and trying to replace OTCs/mainstream remedies with essential oils or natural remedies. There are several things in each category that I want to try or incorporate, but I just can't do it all at once and that's okay. Sanity trumps at some point ;) (and so does our budget!). 

These projects might take me weeks to move on from, or they might take months. And if at some point any or all of this starts to take precedence over our relationship with God or showing Christ's love to others, then these things take a back burner. God wants us to be good stewards and treat our bodies as temples, but He also wants us to put Him first, trust Him and be others-centered. If I get cancer because I was serving God and didn't have time to keep up with fighting free radicals.. well then I trust Him to get me through it. God trumps everything.

So, all that said.. here are some of the projects I hope to take on eventually (in no particular order):

  Dishwasher detergent

  Monthly menu planning/fewer shopping trips 

  Oil cleansing method of skin care

  Homemade toothpaste (either this one or I'm leaning more towards clay toothpaste)

  Sprouting grains/sprouted grain flour

  Makeup makeover.. make my own vs finding better brands

  Fermenting foods

  Green juicing as part of vitamin supplementation (or being more consistent in juicing anyway)

  MTHFR supplementation regimen streamlined

  Essential oils in cooking

  Reduce our energy consumption

  Unpaper towels

  Incorporate liver into our diet (!!?!) for its high vitamin content

And really, the list goes on.. but that's a taste of it. I won't give you a list of the things we've changed or accomplished because that just feels like bragging :). 

It's kind of like a life-long hobby to see how I can make us healthier, while hopefully saving money (isn't it crazy how so many of the healthy alternatives are cheaper - like baking soda is super cheap but has a billion uses). I don't let it control our lives and I try to keep it from overwhelming me. It's not a contest, it just what we can do with what we have. It's our story being written as we live it. Sure, I may look back and realize that something I thought was healthy really isn't so healthy, or maybe I'll never quite get to that simple change that other people have been doing for years.. it's okay. I can only do what I can do, and I'm okay with that. 

I know sometimes it's easy to compare ourselves with where we're at in our journey to where other people are at in theirs, but remember - we all have different strengths and weaknesses. For everything that intimidates me about another person, I remember that {usually} they feel intimidated about something else in other people and everyone has something their working on (whether they know it or not). My to-do list might be longer than some in this area but maybe it's shorter in another area. At least that is how I navigate the Pinterest driven world we live in ;) and in thinking so, I can just be happy for and learn from other people. No pressure, lots of grace!