Life is a Process

I’ve been on a book buying and swapping spree lately. My Amazon.com wishlist is lengthy and so is my list on PaperBackSwap.com. So, a few reviews…

Being dairy-free and still confronting the “I want cheese” feeling, I recently bought The Uncheese Cookbook. I tried 3 recipes - a white bean dip (yum), a no-bake un-cheesecake (not bad but I’ve got better recipes elsewhere), and fake Brie (i.e., vegan brie cheese - disastrous). I’m now trying to brave it to try a few more recipes but the brie one was just so awful…..

I just recently got my hands on Living in the Raw Desserts. Most of the cakes are variations on a theme - nuts and dates and vanilla/spices for the base, fruit and macadamia/cashew nuts and vanilla for a frosting, and a mound of neatly placed fruit on top. I haven’t explored it in sufficient detail, but since it is strawberry season (almost), I was thinking about doing a Strawberry Torte from this cookbook in the coming weeks.

Some time ago, I also bought Gluten-free Quick and Easy. I think I’ve made something from here, but these recipes are not necessarily dairy-free. They also have some carbohydrate component (GF bread, use of GF flour or something) - I’ve discovered that we do best in our house on, literally, meat and veggies. The preschooler likes his food items separate, so we’re only just now getting him to eat sauce on the Tinkyada rice pasta (at most, once a week). He’s also coming ’round again to chili, avocado, olives and chips. Occasionally, dear husband will ask for my knock-off of Chebe bread - if I have time and the ingredients (i.e., tapioca flour), I usually agree. We did an awesome pizza with this knock-off crust, super easy, and super fast, that I don’t really have the urge to make the GF pizza in this cookbook. The cookbook did jump out at me today again, so maybe it is time to try something in it again…

I re-read (ok, re-skimmed) Wild Fermentation not too long ago. There is a fabulous kefir/yogurt-based vinaigrette recipe that uses 8 garlic cloves (in an 8 oz jar). I’ll try to share the recipe when I have it in front of me again. There are also a few recipes I want to try - sunflower seed sour cream and a jazzed up miso soup recipe (with more than just miso, seaweed and tofu).

Although, not a new addition, I hauled out Nourishing Traditions again. I’ve made the fermented mustard (good but be sure to use ground mustard, not mustard seeds ground in a coffee grinder), the fermented ketchup (try it again without the fish sauce), and the fermented punch (YUM! in a 1 gallon jug, pour juice of 6-8 lemons, 1/2 c. Rapadura, 1/2 c. whey, 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg, 2 quarts filtered water; ferment on counter for a few days; refrigerate and drink). I tried the Orangina recipe but it came out quite awful. I’m itching to try the Sweet Potato Soda but will wait until the fall.

The WF book then got me thinking about home brew with kefir. So I flipped through (and will start to really read soon) another book Sacred and Healing Herbal Beer. Most of the recipes, at first glance, seem to involve regular yeast - and there’s nothing wrong with that; however, with all the kefir we drink and all the kefir cheese I make, I’m toying with the idea of doing some small scale recipes using kefir whey or kefir grains.

I’ve also hauled back out my copy of Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine. Where better to look for good salad, nut-veggie pates, and unusual trail mixes than in a raw food recipe book?

A final new book that just came back into memory: Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning: Traditional Techniques Using Salt, Oil, Sugar, Alcohol, Vinegar, Drying, Cold Storage, and Lactic Fermentation. I’ve already tried 1 recipe in here for radishes - radishes with a bit of their tops, cider vinegar, lemon slices, onion slices, peppercorns. Pack everything except the vinegar into jars (I only had radishes for 1 jar). Heat the vinegar to intensify the flavor, then cool. Pour vinegar into jar. Cap tightly and keep in fridge. Ready in 3 months. If I remember, I’ll post on the results at the end of the summer (darn - I so dislike delayed gratification!).

2 Tbsp coconut oil
2 lb ground beef
3 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1.5 tsp black pepper
1 green pepper (Sweet)
1 red pepper (sweet)
1 yellow pepper (sweet)
1 onion
1 28-oz can fire-roasted diced/crushed tomatoes
2 c. cooked beans
3 c. chicken bone broth
3 Tbsp tomato paste

Heat up cast iron pot with coconut oil; brown beef. Add chopped onion and sweet peppers. Add spices. Add beans, broth, canned tomatoes, and tomato paste. Mix well. Let simmer for 30 minutes. Serve with guacamole, tortilla chips, salsa, black olives.

Sheesh. We’re off to Vancouver for a week and it really has hit how completely “un-green” air travel is. Besides the obvious of fuel for the massive jet (though ours isn’t a huge one), the new TSA regulations are just awful. The silly 3oz - 1 quart bag - 1 bag per person rule is silly. That means that I have no choice but to use disposable cups for the coffee (picking it up after clearing security); bottled water (blech), again after clearing security; airport food (they don’t feed you on planes anymore - gone are the days of free meals and cheap wine) with yet more throw away wrappers and “dishes”; and those plastic ziplock bags. Ah! Big oil strikes again! When the preschooler is older, we’re probably going to bit the bullet and drive.

I can’t believe that it is almost the end of February. Where does the time go?

The toddler is graduating into the preschool class next week. He’s a little growing ball of anxiety. I’m branching out into more unusual modalities and considering trying some flower essences on him. It seems that Walnut is called for in this time of transition.

I again witnessed more development in him following the last illness (the flu, I think?). For a change, we had to deal with a low-grade fever (rare in this boy) - we did nothing for that because science indicates that white blood cells function most efficiently in those feverish temperature ranges. What better way to combat a pathogenic invader than with your own immune system? As the illness was hitting, he regressed behaviorally - wanting to be carried “like a baby” and even using sign language (we haven’t used sign language in at least a year). But then, as usual, this was followed by a series of developmental bursts - better overnight bladder control is the one that has persisted. My son is a camel - he can hold his pee overnight for 15 hours. I wish I knew how he did it because I can’t hold it that long!

His food preferences are changing - he is becoming a bit of a picky eater. Though he still loves my pesto (even if made with cilantro and pumpkin seeds) on “Mary’s Gone Crackers” crackers or on raw carrots or celery. He doesn’t like “regular” potatoes, preferring sweet potatoes instead. He is definitely a meat eater - my latest hurdle is to find a good quality pepperoni (without MSG or other nasty preservatives) that we can use in the evening as a quick snack. He seems to have developed an intolerance to apple skins and anything that may contain apple skins (apple juice and apple cider, specifically) - sudden unexpected and uncontrollable meltdowns, coupled with bright red cheeks are the give-aways here. But it is weird that he is fine with just the apple itself.

I’m itching to get my hands on the book “Good Calories, Bad Calories” by Gary Taubes. I watched a video of a lecture he gave not too long ago. In a nutshell, scientific evidence shows that carbohydrates are a poor source of calories but that fat is a better choice. Since we ourselves have been largely gluten-free, I’m trying to get us into a grain-free state of being (hard especially in the winter when my basal intuitive cravings are for carbohydrates from root vegetables, non-gluten grains, and legumes). The Paleo diet, however, is a goal for most meals as we move towards summer.

Many of the basic tenets of biology, particularly that of evolutionary biology, rely on substantial genetic diversity in the gene pool. Sadly, in big agriculture, those folks have totally forgotten some of those basics. The FDA, as well, is closing its eyes to basic biology. Our fields are filled with monocultures of plants (corn, soybean, wheat). GMOs are increasingly finding their way into our food, in spite of sufficient evidence to convince the Europeans that GMOs should not be eaten. Today, the FDA in all its wisdom has deemed it safe to munch on cloned animals. Remember, this is the same bunch of patronage appointees who decided that Vioxx was safe - then changed their minds after people died and a few lawsuits were filed.

Now, I’m off to hunt down (figuratively) a new supplier for my local, organic, grassfed beef and hogs, and to see if my supplier of super tasty local organic pastured chickens has her 2008 order form up yet.

Not specifically GFCF but worth borrowing, perusing, and buying maybe. I found this at TJ Maxx some time ago for about $4 (who can beat a cookbook WITH PICTURES for that price?!).

Cook’s Library: One Pot.
ISBN 0752599526

Some of the recipes are of the type “dump in the pot and let simmer for a few hours” while others are quick (within 30- minutes or so). Every recipe has a picture, a difficulty rating, time for prep and cooking time.

Most of the recipes are easily converted to GFCF if they aren’t already. Most also require broth of sorts (”bouillon” is specified but it is a weak bone broth, recipe included in the front matter). The only ones that look tricky to convert would be beef and tomato gratin (what’s a good substitute for ricotta cheese?); chicken lasagne; cheese and vegetable chowder; and a few other cheese dishes. There are a few that have a biscuit topping but I bet that would be easy to do still without using wheat flour.

Lots of curry dishes!. Venison, rabbit, and lamb dishes. Bizarre fish recipes (angler fish, mullet, cuttlefish, squid). A few pasta dishes (but Tinkyada comes in handy or rice in place of orzo/risotto). But again, if you’re trying to sneak more broth into the kids, almost every recipe requires broth and some amount of simmering.

I had forgotten about this book for a while and only last week I stumbled on it. I used it for almost every meal this week and might even have to use it again for next week.

Indiana parents are trying to get a midwifery licensure bill onto this year’s state legislative agenda.  The Indiana Midwifery Taskforce is holding a rally from 9:30am to 1:30pm on January 24, 2008 at the Statehouse in the Rotunda (200 West Washington Street, Indianapolis).  Bring kids, grandparents, eccentric relatives, signs (but NO sticks to hold up those signs), a wireless laptop if you have one.  Decorate your car with midwifery slogans and signs.  Learn some songs.  For those who homeschool, this is a good opportunity to teach your kids about how a bill becomes law.

The basic premise of this legislation is that it would allow Certified Professional Midwives to offer legal homebirths to expectant parents.

I don’t know how this slipped past me. I knew that in the realm of personal care products (e.g., shampoo, soap, hair colorings, etc.), the term “organic” is not well regulated. That is, anybody can claim that such a product is “organic” even if it really isn’t. Enter the USDA. As of 2007, the USDA has a “USDA Organic” seal that they are now allowing for use (when conditions are met) for personal care products. Indeed, the Organic Consumers Association has quite a bit of this information on their website: Coming Clean: Organic Integrity in Body Products.

VACCINATION BEFORE CHRISTMAS
WITH HELP FROM Clement Clarke Moore and
Rima E. Laibow, MD (found at this blog)

T’was the night before Christmas and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, they all were too soused
With toxic components of deadly vaccines
To control populations these are excellent means.

The Children we nestled all snug in their beds
While vapors of mercury damaged their heads
The doc in his smock and the nurse in her cap
Were newly empowered to inject kids with more crap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter
I sprang from my desk to see what was the matter
Away to the journal I flew like a flash
Tore open the wrapper and scanned table of trash
The print on the paper, all glossy and bright

Gave the luster of science to the drug company hype
When what to my wondering eyes should be seen
But a company study on how safe are vaccines
With a famous first author, so very renowned
I was totally convinced because his name I found.
More soothing than opera, more comfort I gained
And he skewed all the data, and called them by name:

“Now, Measles! Now Tetanus! Now Pertussus and Meningitis!
On Mumps! On Human Papilloma! On Rubella, On Hepatitis!

To the top of the charts, to the top of the census
Now vaccinate! vaccinate! Vaccinate all! must be the consensus!”

As dry tears before the autism behavioral spectrum fly,
When a parent’s tears are all shed, no tears left to cry.
When doctors mislead, because they are misled,
And lives are destroyed because neurons are dead

Not from dangers unknown, but from profits protected,
And rights trampled down and freedom neglected.

As I shook off the “pseudo” that enwrapped the junk “science”
I did some clear thinking about the logic’s defiance
The great man’s first authorship was “science for hire”
His reputation was tarnished: the great man was a liar.

A bundle of vaccines he had flung on his back,
He looked like a snake oil salesman just opening his pack.
His eyes - how they twinkled! If every one takes them,
Vaccines are a money machine - if you make them!

Of course, there are problem of autism and death,
Just deny all the science, tell parents their crazy and then hold
your breath;
‘Cause the propaganda machine is working just right,
And the lobbying money gleams bright in the night;

New Jersey, the home of Corporate Merck,
Has a commissioner who’ll sign, while smirking a smirk
Clever elf, the commissioner, knows he’s not staying
After December. Just who will be paying?

A wink of his eye, and a twist of his head,
His kid’s not autistic: He’s got nothing to dread!

He said for the good of all moms who work,
He wants them injected with products by Merck,
And laying a finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the corporate ladder he rose;

He finished his job, to his team gave a whistle,
And the spent needles flew like a poisonous thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he took year-end flight,
“Vaccinations to All, Autism’s all right!”

In this season of silliness -er, holiday season, I’ve been thinking a lot about simplifying life. How do we as holistic parents teach our child to not be a consumer in this consumer-driven society? How do we break the cycle of consumerism? How do we focus on the non-material aspects of life in this very material world? I’m glad to know that I’m not the only one who struggles with this way of thinking. Indeed, it is very timely and extremely helpful (for leverage with the materialistic relatives) that this FREE! movie came out. View The Story of Stuff and see if you will join me as I muster the courage to take the leap off the materialistic bandwagon.

Alternative gifts can include a donation on behalf of the recipient to a charity of your choice. A review of nonprofits is available at the American Institute of Philanthropy. Other possibilities include gift certificates for favors or services (”1 free massage”, “1 free housecleaning”, “1 free day sans child”).