DIY Lotion Bars are Easy Beesy

I am shocked yet tickled at how easy it was making these lotion bars.  I followed my usual MO - researched it to death then kind of just did my own thing.  This was one of those times it pretty much turned out perfect.  Gotta love those times.

Here's what my research looked like:

Hard Lotion Bars by Simple.  Healthy.  Tasty.

How do you make lotion? None of your beeswax! by Frugal by Choice, Cheap by Necessity

Ditch the Jar...Pick up the Bar! by OneGoodThing by Jillee

Homemade Sunscreen Bars by Wellness Mama

How to Make Lotion Bars by Crunchy Betty

Here's what I did:

I melted equal parts beeswax, coconut oil, and a combination of shea and cocoa butter in a double boiler.

Then I poured that mixture into mini muffin pans.  I don't have any of those new fangled, fancy molds.  I had a little bit extra, so I made one big muffin bar.

I got it everywhere!

Seriously, how do people do this without spilling? All those links above show perfectly filled molds.

What I lack in cleanliness, I make up for in craziness frugality.   I scraped all that excess off with the knife I used to pop the bars out.  (They easily came right out, by the way.)

And rolled it into a little ball.  See?

I made this as simple as I could, and it turned out great! Many of the recipes I have linked to use a few other ingredients, like almond oil, essential oils, or vitamin E.

I also didn't worry about preservation - I just popped my extras into a plastic storage container, surrounded by wax paper, and put them in the freezer.  We use a lot of lotion here in the desert.  If you're worried about preserving your lotion, you can use rosemary extract, cinnamon, potassium sorbate, or citric acid.  Read this wiki article for more information.

My lotion bars melt at just the right temperature - the minute they touch the skin, the soothing ingredients take effect.  I'm keeping one by both the kitchen and bathroom sinks.

I may never buy lotion again!

12 Ways To Help a Friend Survive the Hospital

My daughter recently spent about 10 days in the hospital with Recurrent Kawasaki Disease (KD).  This meant a hospital stay for me too, because when a child is living in the hospital, a parent is living in the hospital. 

It was an agonizing 10 days, as any hospital stay is, and I sometimes found myself overwhelmed and swimming in self-pity.  When I would find myself questioning, “why us,”  all I had to do was take a walk through the hallways of the PICU.

A peek into the other rooms would reveal just how fortunate we were.  I saw parents squished together in an uncomfortable bed, trying to get a few desperate winks while their infant lay sedated and intubated.  I saw a mother of a child fighting cancer, who knew the floor better than some of the nurses.  I saw bedsides filled with wilting flowers and cards pining for homecomings long awaited. 

Yes, we were definitely some of the lucky ones.

Having a child in the hospital not only affects where that parent will live, eat, sleep, and brush teeth, but it also affects the way a parent functions, how they think, when they eat, how much exercise they get, whether or not their bills get paid, and their relationship with their other children.  Having a child in the hospital is a life changing event.

Loved ones desperately want to help in any way they can.  The sentence I probably heard more than any other was, “What can I do?” The problem is, a parent’s mind is so overwhelmed with what is going on with their child, it’s extremely hard to come up with a useful answer to that question.

It was only after our nightmare was over that my head became clear enough to say, “THIS! This would have been helpful!”  So I’m here to list 12 ways you can help a parent survive the hospital.

1.  Bring Food

This is probably the most popular request by parents in the hospital.  As surprising as it may sound, eating healthily in the hospital is very hard to do, for both child and parent.  And when you think about it, a hospital stay is a crucial time when both child and parent need the mental and physical stamina that good, nutritious food will provide. 

Now, if the parent requests you bring them Wendy’s, by all means, bring them Wendy’s! (That’s what I asked for after the small medical airplane ride from hell.)  But if a parent is staying in the hospital for a week or more, living on Wendy’s and hospital food just isn’t going to cut it. 

Many hospitals will have a family room, where patients can store food in a refrigerator or freezer and have access to a microwave.  Keep this in mind when shopping for food. 

During our stay, my dear friend brought a veggie plate and salads.  She also brought a resealable bag of organic frozen veggies already in a butter sauce.  It was the BEST thing we could have gotten.  Whenever I wanted, I could have a piping hot bowl of buttery veggies for me or my child. 

Keep in Mind: When bringing food that must be stored or cooked, you may also want to bring along some plastic storage containers.  All that was available to me were small styrofoam bowls -- not the handiest. 

2.  Provide an Opportunity for Music

When we fall out of harmony with ourselves or our world -- when we are nervous, afraid, or unhappy -- our inner sounds become discordant and we don't feel well.  In ancient Greece, medicine was used to keep the body in tune -- in harmonic alignment with nature and the universe.  All forms of sickness, both physical and mental, were considered musical inconsistencies.  Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, often took his patients to the healing temple of Asclepius.  There, music was used to reestablish the natural harmony of the body.  Compare this to our modern hospitals, where noxious, hazardous sounds are ubiquitous. ~ The Yoga of Sound by Russill Paul

If you still have access to the increasingly archaic boom box, bring one with a small but eclectic selection of cd’s.  Include some classical music, which can be particularly useful during the night.  It is almost impossible to sleep in a hospital, but some soothing classical music can go a long way towards blocking out the beeps, blips, screams, and cries. 

If you have an ipod or MP3 player you can spare for a while, bring it with headphones.  It could give a child that has been tortured (and, yes, in their minds, it IS torture!) a much needed sense of control, privacy, and normalcy.  It can do the same for the parent.

Keep in Mind: Make sure you bring the music THEY would like, not the music YOU would like, if those two things differ. 

3.  Ask if the Pillows are Comfortable

I think it may be some kind of rule that all pillows in hospitals and hotels suck.  I know somebody must like those slippery, airy feather pillows, but those people are nuts.  I spent two sleepless nights futilely rearranging five different pillows in an attempt to sleep in the wackiest recliner I’ve ever seen.  But did I think to ask someone to bring me a decent pillow? No.  Why? Because, as I described above, my brain was in semi-functioning mode.

So ask the parent and child if the pillows are comfortable.  If they live close by, offer to bring in their own pillows.  Familiarity is always a positive in such a sterile, impersonal place.  If they are out of town, bring in some pillows from home or spend the money on a decent new pillow.  Believe me, the 20 or 30 bucks will be much better spent on that than on a big arrangement of flowers or balloons that will most likely be in the way. 

Keep in Mind: Don’t forget clean pillow cases!

4.  Ask if They Need Any Specific Toiletries

It’s the stuff we use everyday, numerous times a day, yet it is some of the first forgotten.  It’s also the stuff sometimes missed the very most.  Most hospitals will usually provide small forgotten things like a toothbrush or cotton swabs, but there’s something to having the specific brands or items you are used to.  When you’re stuck in a foreign environment, the small comforts of home - like your own toothpaste or conditioner - can bring small moments of joy and strength. 

Keep in Mind: There is usually no where to store toiletries in hospital bathrooms, and that’s considering you’re lucky enough to have a private loo in your room.  One of those cheap, hanging baskets that college kids use in dorms could come in very handy!

5.  Offer to Wash the Clothes

Laundry is really the last thing that should be on a parent’s mind, yet clean clothes should definitely be on a parent’s body.  Everyone feels better when they are clean and fresh.  Sometimes there will be facilities in the hospital where you can do laundry, but even then it is so hard for the parent to get away to do it.  And many times, no facilities are provided for patients. 

It’s also a pretty sure bet that the half-brain-numbed parents didn’t do a spectacular job of packing.  The first time we were admitted, my husband packed me four pairs of shoes and no socks.  The second time, I packed myself four pairs of lounge pants and one shirt. 

Children can often go through quite a bit of clothing as well.  They may be in a gown, but my daughter often preferred a shirt of her own.  Because she was constantly eating and drinking in bed, she would understandably spill quite a bit. 

Something else I never would have thought about until it happened to me was how many pairs of underwear she would go through, because she kept wetting the bed.  This was understandable as well -- she was extremely sick, weak, exhausted, sleeping on and off, and her poor little body was constantly being pumped full of fluids.  I swear, the pee just kind of burst out of her.  So there also might be a lot of underwear to wash, considering parents probably don’t think to bring every pair they own.  I surely didn’t. 

Keep in Mind: This one definitely depends on your comfort level with your loved one.  I wouldn’t be comfortable with just anybody washing my dirty skivvies.  But my wonderful aunt who came to the hospital to help out? Heck yeah, woman, wash those clothes all you want!

6.  Be the Best PA (Parent’s Assistant) Ever

Many, many silently pressing issues can fall through the cracks while you sit by your child’s bedside for days, waiting for a diagnosis, a treatment, or the sight of a doctor.  In that hospital room, time seems to stand still; but outside those walls, life keeps a-movin’.  There are bills that need to be paid, dentists appointments to cancel, schools to update, and a million other things a normal mom can get done no problem.  But hospital mom, she could use some help with this stuff.

You can casually bring up some of these mundane things to gently remind a parent of their ‘real-life’ obligations.  Or you can whip out your laptop or cellphone and take charge.  Like the previous example, this really depends on your relationship with the person staying in the hospital.  Personally, I hate talking on the phone, so someone to help with phone calls would be a dream.

Keep in Mind: A parent may also need some gentle reminders with things like taking a shower and brushing their teeth.  It’s amazing how you can forget to take care of yourself when you are so overwhelmed with taking care of your sick baby.

7.  I Deem You, List-Maker

This is an additional task of your new PA job.  If parents aren’t remembering the mundane things they do everyday, you can be sure it’s going to be hard to remember the information being told to them in the moment or the thoughts and questions that randomly run through their scattered brains.  Nobody can think on no sleep.

Lists are a hospital-bound parent’s best friend.  Go out and buy a new and simple notebook.  You can probably find one in the gift shop.  Make it a vibrant color, which will be easier to spot in a messy, lived-in hospital room.  Also get a pen that you can somehow attach to the notebook, otherwise it WILL get lost. 

Start headers for some helpful lists; each list gets its own page.  Here are a few good ones:

• ~ Names and specialties of every doctor/health care provider that comes into the room.
• ~ Questions for health care providers.
• ~ New symptoms your child exhibits when a health care provider is not in the room.
• ~ Information given by health care providers.
• ~ People the parents may want to send thank-you cards to afterwards.

Keep in Mind: It’s also a great idea to always ask for a business card of all the health care providers that treat the child.  Even knowing their name and specialty, it may also be helpful to have contact information later on.  These can be taped to the back of the notebook.

8.  Be the Errand Runner

You want to know what sucks? Being in a strange, new city, finally getting a break from the hospital, going out to your car to get away for an hour, and realizing you have an empty tank and absolutely no idea where the nearest gas station is. 

Whether or not the hospital is where the family actually lives, running some mundane errands can really help out.  Offer to gas up the car or get cash out of an ATM (for those midnight vending machine runs).  I never seem to have cash when I need it.  If the parents are in a foreign city, help them map out routes for where they need to go. 

Late one night, the only thing that was going to make my daughter happy was a slice of cheese pizza from Dion's.  I was so tired, I didn’t know if I could find my car, let alone a restaurant I had never been to before.  My wonderful friend wrote out step by step instructions on how to get there, how to get from there back to the hospital, and how to get back to her house again.  She even knew me well enough to keep me off the freeway, something google maps wouldn’t do. 

Keep in Mind: Don’t write down their pin number! Haha.

9.  Help with the Constant Updating

There is not a person in the world who can stand the thought of a sick child, so when it’s your child, it’s no surprise when everyone from your neighbor to your 4th grade teacher starts calling and requesting updates. 

Modern inventions like cellphones, texting, and social media sites like Facebook can certainly make updating loved ones easier.  But it can still be a tiring and tedious task on an already overwrought parent. 

Offer to take over some of these duties.  Mostly likely, depending on how close you are to the parent, you are going to know a lot of the people, so updating would be easy.  For a more indirect approach, many hospitals now have special websites to help make staying in touch easier. 

CarePages.com is the site utilized by our hospital.  Once you set up an account, you have a place where you can post updates and pictures, receive messages of love and support from friends and family, and even connect with other people in a similar situation. 

Keep in Mind: Make sure you understand just how much the parents want others to know; privacy of the family is key.

10.  Help with Research

Personally, I’m a research junky.  I want to know as much about a subject as I possibly can, especially one that involves the health of my child.  But when I haven’t slept in a week and I can’t read for five minutes before my daughter asks for a drink of water or a leg rub, there isn’t much chance of me accomplishing anything coherent. 

It is imperative that parents remain informed, so help by doing the leg work.  Sort out the informative articles from the junk, send links to the parent’s email so they don’t have to search for it, or print out hard copies for them to physically hold in their hand. 

Keep in Mind:  Make sure you are getting your information from trusted sources.  The last thing a terrified parent needs is to receive wrong or harmful information. 

11.  Get Your Craft On

Many of the examples I have discussed may be a bit too aggressive for some personality types.  Though their desire to help is no less sincere, they may not be able to physically be there for many different reasons.  Some loved ones may want a more indirect way to provide support.  If you are at all crafty, here are some simple and inexpensive ideas that could make a horrible hospital experience a little easier for both child and parent.

None of these crafts were designed specifically for this purpose, but they could be invaluable in a hospital environment.  They can be used as distraction during painful and scary procedures.  They can fill the time spent waiting for consults.  They could simply be a source of comfort when the scary doctor comes in to do the 15th exam of the day.

Calm-Me-Jars

Also referred to as mind-jars, these are typically used as a tantrum soother.  It’s simply a bottle filled with water, glitter glue, and glitter.  When you shake the bottle up, the glitter performs a mesmerizing dance before slowly settling to the bottom.  I made some myself and wrote about it here.  I also link to a variety of other calm-me-jars in that post.

I-Spy Bags

An I-spy bag is a small bag with a transparent window that is filled with rice and a bunch of small objects or toys.  The object of the game is for the child to find all the objects hidden in the rice.  The simplest I-spy bag I have seen uses a pencil holder and requires no sewing.  You can find the tutorial here.

Do-it-Yourself Stress Ball

Most people have heard of those little balls filled with some sort of pliable material that you can squeeze and mold in your hand.  Here is a great tutorial for making them yourself using Playdoh and balloons.  You can also dress them up with silly faces and hair to make them even more kid friendly. 

Keep in Mind: You can find examples of these and many other craft ideas on my Pinterest boards.

12.  Just Be There

When all else fails, just sit down, and be there.  Be the shoulder to cry on.  Be the bitch to the crappy nurse.  Be the target of a much needed vent.  Be there while the parent runs to the bathroom.  Just be there. 

And even if you can’t be there, you can still be there.  Send a prayer or positive thought.  Light a candle or send a card.  I have loved ones scattered all over America, and even though I couldn’t see them, or hear them, or feel them, I could still sense their love from miles and miles away.  I could feel the positive energy they sent to me.  Who knows, it may have been that extra ounce of energy I needed to make it through one of the scariest ordeals of my life.

Keep in Mind: If you have one of those totally together, organized, calm friends who assures you over and over again that they don't need any help? Don't believe them. 

Sundays With (Grandma) Granny: The Healing Power of Garlic

I have recently befriended a fellow momma blogger.  That's right, I got peeps now.  Christy at Adventures in Mommyhood: Mommy Outnumbered writes about the joys and trials of raising four small children.  I am in awe of her awesomeness, both as a mommy and a blogger.  I participated in her very first blog carnival, Parenting in America, with a piece called Parental Civil War.

Now I am thrilled to team up with her to present a weekly (mmmm, more like monthly) theme: Sundays With Grandma.  I have to change the title to Sundays With Granny, since that's what I always called my mom's mom and it just feels weird to call her grandma.

Granny's Senior Picture

My granny died when I was only 12 years old (not health related).  Though she has been gone for 20 years now, (crap, I just dated myself didn't I?) she remains one of the most influential people of my life.  As you will see, because I was so young, I took Granny's wisdom for granted.  As I embraced the fast paced, mass produced, chemically ridden world in my young adulthood, Granny's "old-fashioned" ways seemed to fall even farther into the back of my mind.

But ever since I have committed to living a more holistic/crunchy/green life, I feel her influence sweeping over me more than ever before.  It's such a comforting feeling - one I am so happy to share with Christy, and with you.  For our first installment, we bring to you Grandma and Granny's garlic wisdom.  To check out Mommy Outnumbered's post, click here.

The Healing Power of Garlic

Granny definitely knew the therapeutic powers of garlic.  But, as I said above, I was so young at the time.... this is an example of how our conversation on the wonders of garlic probably went:


"What are you eating, Granny?" I ask with a mouthful of no-bake cookies.

"A garlic sandwich," she informed me with a wrinkled up nose, already predicting my response.

"Ew, a garlic sandwich?" I mimicked her wrinkled nose.

"That's right, a raw garlic sanwich.  I know it sounds pretty icky, but it is very, very good for me.  One reason I stay so healthy is because of these garlic sandwiches."

"Oh.  Can we play Chinese checkers now?"

So, yeah, not very interested in the healthy magic of garlic at 10 years old.  And I have to admit, Granny's raw garlic sandwiches still sound pretty gross.  But I certainly admire her convictions.  Cut to a few weeks ago when I caught a cold and went on a frantic internet search for natural remedies.  Low and behold, garlic is great for colds! 

As I sat at the computer reading all about garlic, I was instantly transported back to Granny's yellow kitchen, watching Granny eating her raw garlic sandwich.  It was such a warm feeling - I could almost feel her over my shoulder, nudging me deeper and deeper into my research.

"Eat your garlic, Leachen Beachen! Live long and be healthy!" I could almost hear her voice in my ear.  (The explanation of the crazy nickname will have to wait.)  What I learned - what Granny would have told me if she were here - is that garlic really is a natural wonder drug, and has been utilized as such for thousands and thousands of years.  Here are just a few of the numerous ways garlic can improve health:

1. Fight the Sickies

Many studies have shown that garlic has significant antibiotic qualities and can help the body fight off illnesses caused by bacteria, fungi, yeast, viruses, and protozoa.  Garlic also works cooperatively with other remedies; combining it with prescribed antibiotics can be more effective than the antibiotics alone.

Many women praise garlic as a natural yeast infection remedy - taken either orally or vaginally.  Garlic has been used in place of vaccines in poorer countries and has also been successful in the treatment of viral herpes and pneumonia.

2.  Prevent the Sickies

Like with Granny's sandwiches, raw garlic consumed on a regular basis can boost the immune system.  Studies have shown that garlic increases the activity of a certain type of white blood cells called Natural killer (NK) cells.  Garlic can also aid the body's production of interleukins, which help regulate the immune system. 

3.  Help Guard Against Heart Diseases and Cancer

For decades now, garlic has been used to treat high blood pressure and numerous studies have shown reductions in systolic and diastolic pressures.  Garlic has been successful in the treatment of arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) and has also been used as an antithrombotic.  It should be noted that people with anticoagulant diseases should take caution when using garlic for therapeutic benefits.  The correlation between garlic and cancer definitely needs further study, but many experts now agree that garlic can produce therapeutic benefits with some cancers, including stomach and colon cancers.

Even with my new garlic knowledge, the thought of Granny's raw garlic sandwiches are still pretty intimidating, so I tried something a little different.  I crushed and minced one glove of organic garlic, added it to two tablespoons peanut butter, and spread onto wheat crackers.  I must say, not only was it eatable, but it was actually enjoyable.  Thank goodness my palate has matured from my no-bake cookie days.

How do you eat raw garlic?

References:

The Complete Book of Garlic: A Guide for Gardeners, Growers, and Serious Cooks by Ted Jordan Meredith

http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20090105/garlics-cancer-benefits-challenged

http://www.learningherbs.com/garlic_remedy.html

http://www.hellolife.net/cardiovascular/b/garlic-for-natural-cardiovascular-health/




***This post was originally written under my previous blog name, Zen and the Art of Cloth Diaper Maintenance.***

Changing Momma's Recipes - Taking Out the Unhealthy, Keeping the Love

My mom was a wonderful cook.  I can’t count how many times she made everything in my life seem all better simply by cooking me dinner.  Now that she’s gone, I find myself clinging to her recipes.  When my house is filled with the familiar aromas of momma’s cooking, it's as if she is there with me.  I can almost taste her love.  When I cook her recipes for my children, I feel like I’m giving them memories of their Granny Jo that they will never otherwise have.

Many of the recipes were actually passed down from my mom’s mom - my granny.  So many times my kitchen is filled with the love of many generations.  It's such a comforting feeling.  The problem is, many of my favorite recipes don’t exactly fit into my plan of a healthier lifestyle - lots of sugar, gaggles of butter, white flour galore.  I am 100% committed to cooking healthy meals for my family, but I miss my mom and my granny too much to give up something that brings me so close to them.  What’s a girl to do?

Granny secretly started a cookbook for me, we found it after she died.

So, I promised my daughter we would make no-bake cookies tonight.  This is probably my most beloved of my granny’s recipes; I have been eating them since birth and making them myself for the past 15 years.  Best.  Cookies.  Ever.  Here is the recipe:

2 Cups Sugar
1/2 Cup Cocoa
1 Stick Butter
1/2 Cup Milk
1/8 Teaspoon Salt

In heavy pan mix well and over medium heat, bring to a boil stirring constantly.  When boiling good, turn heat to low and boil 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in:

Love reading recipes in their own handwriting.

1/2 Cup Peanut Butter
3 Cups Oatmeal (quick type)
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 Cup Nuts (optional; I usually leave this out.)

Line cookie sheets with wax paper and drop by teaspoonfulls.

Right when we were getting ready to make them, I realized I was all out of cows milk.  I did, however, have some coconut milk.  The thought of messing with this meticulously written recipe really freaked me out. It felt, somehow, disgraceful.  Not to mention I was worried they wouldn’t taste the same.  And even if they were still good, if they didn’t taste the same, well, it just wouldn’t be the same.  But a promise is a promise.  So we substituted 1/2 cup coconut milk for the cow’s milk.

They tasted EXACTLY the same! I was so excited I was literally dancing a jig of glee in my kitchen, with a mouthful of cookie.  And as I stuffed one cookie after another into my mouth, I was overwhelmed with inspiration.  I could do this to all my mom and granny’s recipes! It will take courage, patience, and a lot of trial and error, but I can keep on substituting ingredients until the recipes are healthy - or at least healthier.  The no-bake recipe will definitely need some more tweaking before it can be considered healthy - but hey, Rome wasn't built in a day.

This is what love looks like...

Healthy meals, wonderful memories, and still the taste of love.  You just can’t beat that. Happy dance!




***This post was originally written under my previous blog name, Zen and the Art of Cloth Diaper Maintenance.***

The Farmers’ Market: Crunchy 101

My family spent a simply lovely morning at the local farmers' market yesterday.  We ate breakfast burritos and authentic Belgian waffles.  We guzzled down three hefty cups of lemonade as we braved the heat already entering the 90s.  We chatted with local vendors and other market dwellers, seeing a few familiar faces.  It was hot.  It was crowded.  It was tons of fun.  And it was so educational.  Who knew?

One of my main goals with this blog is to chronicle the health changes I have been implementing into my family’s daily living.  I guess you could say, I’m trying to give our lives a little more crunch.  Who knew that one trip to my local farmers’ market would give me so much to talk about! From wonderful produce to the power of honey to breastfeeding support (that’s right, breastfeeding support!) our day at the farmers’ market turned into a crash course in healthy living.  Crunchy 101. 

Local Produce

Our first stop, after breakfast, was to visit the many produce vendors, as these usually sell out very quickly.  Summer squash and corn on the cob were among the favorites.  Our basket was quickly filled with red onions and zucchini.  Next came watermelon and the cutest little cantaloupes I have ever seen.

I also found some delectable yellow tomatoes that are so good I can eat them with a little mayo in a sandwich by themselves (although they would also be fantastic in a BLT).  One giant red tomato also mysteriously found its way into our bag (I didn’t want the reds to feel left out).

There are many benefits to buying local produce.  Its healthier; all the produce vendors had signs up stating that their produce is pesticide and herbicide free.  No chemicals or synthetic fertilizers are employed.  Unlike food you find in a grocery store that has been picked days or weeks ahead of time and then transported up to 2500 miles, local food is fresh.  Local farmers can focus on breeding produce for taste rather than focusing on preservation.  They also have a more positive impact on the environment by keeping shipping distances short and saving community land that might otherwise go to developers.  Its also nice knowing I’m contributing to my local economy and I’m supporting local farmers, a job becoming more and more endangered all the time.

Fresh Herb Leaf Tea

Between produce vendors, we found a gentleman who sells herbs, spices, and teas.  His booth was small and his white beard was long, almost down to his legs.  It also smelled fantastic - the booth, not the beard.  Because of my recent tea challenge, I was especially happy to find a local tea vendor! We chose Children’s Calma Te, a combination of lemon balm, lemon verbena, lavender, gota kola, and rose petals, which is supposed to calm and relax both children and adults; and Roobios, a sweet and nutty red tea that is reported to help with nervous tension, allergies, and asthma.

Like with produce, buying local herbs, spices, and teas means I’m getting a fresher, healthier product with no chemicals, preservatives, or additives.  I also have the producer right there in front of me, ready and willing to answer any questions I may have about the product.  It turns out, the maker and owner of New Mexico Herbs turned out to be the midwife who attended the HBAC (homebirth after cesarean) of my second child.  Talk about trusting your seller!

Local Meat

Our next vendor was not a planned stop on our journey, but one I was overjoyed to find.  We picked up some ground beef and a beautifully marbled chuck roast from Kate and the family-owned Maynard Cattle Co.  Her excitement in her product was beautifully tangible and refreshing.  She answered all of our questions about her beef (and we had many) and even delved into a huge spiral binder filled with a collection of mouthwatering recipes. 

Right outside the city I live in, there is a huge cattle ranch.  It smells horrible.  The cows are literally on top of each other; hundreds of them shoved together into small pens.  There is not one piece of green grass in sight.  The cows literally look sad, and it makes me sad every time I pass by.  I don’t even want to know what kind of steroids and antibiotics they are subjected to. 

The meat I bought from Kate at the farmers’ market is naturally raised and aged.  The ranch employs no concentrated feed lot conditions; cows eat quality grass, nothing artificial.  Cows are not subjected to any hormones, antibiotics, steroids, or animal by-products.  This meat really does come from happy cows! That makes me happy too.

Breastfeeding Awareness and Support

Our next stop was definitely the biggest surprise of the day.  Breastfeeding? At the Farmers’ Market? What huh?! That’s right.  My local W.I.C. office (an office I once thought synonymous with formula) had a booth set up with an overwhelming amount of breastfeeding information.  I walked up to the booth carrying my ten month old daughter, and was immediately showered with excitement, and a free bottle of cold water, when I told them I breastfeed on demand. 

I received a bumper sticker stating, “Affordable healthcare starts with breastfeeding,” and a “license to breastfeed,” which was a card small enough to stick in my wallet quoting the state laws concerning breastfeeding in public and pumping at work (section numbers and everything!).  I also took two of the many brochures: one was about knowing if a newborn is getting enough breastmilk and the other was a hardcore look at formula vs. breastmilk.  This brochure even admitted and denounced the fact that formula companies compete for “multi-million dollar contracts” with WIC clinics and bombard mothers with free coupons.

Local Honey

Cutting the refined, processed sugar out of my family's diet was one of my first steps to a healthier life and the local honey vendor was a major reason for our trip to the market.  Not only is honey a wonderfully sweet replacement for sugar, but many studies are now proving that the antioxidants found in natural honey have superior health benefits, including a reduced risk of heart disease and cancer.  Raw, local honey has been shown to significantly relieve symptoms due to allergic reactions and is the most nutritious way to consume honey because it contains all the natural enzymes and live pollens absent from processed honey.

Knowing how your honey is gathered is very important for utilizing the natural health benefits.  Buying locally makes it much easier to know how the honey has been processed.  This particular honey is strained, not filtered leaving as much of the natural occurring pollen grains as possible.

Handmade Soap

Our last visit was to one of the local soap makers.  We took advantage of the buy five, get the sixth free deal and found ourselves surrounded by addicting scents like lavender-sage, nag champa, oatmeal, milk-n-honey, coconut, and vanilla berry.   

Cutting out the chemicals in my life has meant significant changes to my personal hygiene products.  I've lived my whole life thinking I had dry skin, which meant a plethora of moisturizing soaps and lotions.  It turns out, those soaps and lotions were there very culprits making my skin so dry! In less than a month of using homemade soaps, I have all but eliminated my need for lotion.  And when I find that my skin is in need of some extra moisture, I use unrefined Shea butter, also available from New Mexico Soap.

I See a Theme Developing...

I plan on making my local farmers' market a weekly event.  So why shouldn't I make blogging about it a weekly event as well? Ok, I'm getting a little over ambitious there.  But I do want to make 'The Farmers' Market' a recurring theme here on my blog.  Maybe I'll start profiling individual vendors.  Maybe I'll have more crunchy 101 lessons to talk about.  Do you attend your local farmers' market? How do you utilize local merchants and how has it affected your health, family, and life? I would be ecstatic to have some guest bloggers talk about their experiences with local farmers' markets around the country.  Any takers? Hit me up on Facebook.

References:

http://lascrucesfarmersmarket.org

http://guide.buylocalca.org/whyLocal.html

http://katiamidwife.com/herbal_products

http://breastfeedingnewmexico.org/

https://www.sunmountainhoney.com/

http://www.newmexicosoap.com/store/Default.asp




***This post was originally written under my previous blog name, Zen and the Art of Cloth Diaper Maintenance.***

Switch To Tea, Stupid

The proceeding is a conversation I had with myself recently:

I feel like crap.  I’m so tired.  Its only 2 in the afternoon.  Why am I this tired?

Maybe because you had two cups of coffee with creamer and sugar in it with breakfast.

...... Maybe.... (Yes, I get sarcastic even with myself.)

Really? (But that bitch always gets sarcastic right back.)

It doesn’t have to be the coffee.  It could have been the breakfast.

You mean the veggie omelet with mushrooms, red peppers, spinach, and feta cheese using the organic, cage-free eggs and ghee?

Uhhhhh, yeah.

Why don’t you give up the coffee?

I have been drinking coffee since I was about 14 years old.  My mom and dad were/are both coffee drinkers.  My whole family is full of coffee drinkers.  I cherish my cup (or two) of coffee each morning.  I have even spoken the cliche line, “not before I’ve had my coffee, please.”  There’s no way I could possibly give it up.

Really?

Yeah.

So what if you give up the creamer and the sugar? You know that is one of the last places you are using sugar on a daily basis and is a big reason why the coffee is unhealthy. 

I can’t stand black coffee.  I have to have creamer and sugar.  Sugar in the raw is ok, but it has to be sugar.  My creamer of choice is Nestle Peppermint Mocha Coffeemate, except every time I go to buy it, I think about the thousands of people boycotting Nestle (with good reason) and I feel like shit. 

So then I stand there for five or ten minutes trying to decide what to get.  Nothing from the fridge because I hate that it cools down the coffee.  Can’t do those little individual packages - talk about a waste of materials.  Fat-free or sugar-free? French vanilla or hazelnut? Will it never end?

Gee, that sucks.  Maybe you should give up the fucking coffee.

I would still be getting the calories from the sugar and milk.

No you wouldn’t because you can’t stand sugar or milk in your tea; you always drink it straight.  You would probably lose five pounds in the first month.

Oh yeah.  But with coffee, I get to use a coffeemaker that will make as many cups of coffee at one time as I want.  I can’t do that with tea.  I’ll have to make each cup individually.  Ugh.

Wrong again.  You can use a tea pot.  Remember the song? And you actually own two of them - one from Mom and one from Aunt Bobbie. Tea pots are also much more decorative than coffeemakers, it will make your kitchen look pretty.

You know, that song is functionally inaccurate; a tea pot doesn’t whistle, only a tea kettle does.  Or maybe I’m wrong.  I wonder if a tea pot can whistle.

Ok, seriously?

Right.  Right.  Right.  Back to the subject matter.  Ok, what about the times when I want something cold? I love my frappuccinos when it is hot and disgusting outside.  Yeah, they have even more sugar than the hot coffee but at least its cold.  You can’t drink tea cold.

Actually, you can.  Its called iced tea.  Your mom had a pitcher of iced sun tea in the refrigerator every summer day of your childhood.  Remember? Plus, you don’t like sugar in your iced tea either.

Tea is so expensive.  Especially the organic.

Its cheaper than coffee, even at the expensive organic co-op.

There’s not enough variety.

Black tea, green tea, red tea, grey tea, chai, herbal, caffeinated, naturally decaffeinated, jasmine, lavender, berry, echinacea, peppermint, orange, raspberry, chocolate mint...

Ok, ok.  Maybe this isn’t as big of a deal after all.  Maybe I really could switch to tea.  I could just try it for a month, right? I sure would love to lose five pounds.  Wait, did you say chocolate mint?!

I am now on day five of my month-long “Switch to tea, stupid” challenge.  I will admit, I have already missed my sweet, sweet magical bean water and have contemplated cheating.  I am surprised by how addicted I seem to be, but I have a feeling that the sugar may be the culprit and not the coffee.  Well, maybe 70/30.  I haven’t cheated though, and I have already found a playful interest in the tea culture.  I will probably have purchased my first leaf tea and little plunger thingy by the time this challenge is over.  I should also probably learn the correct term for little plunger thingy.

Challenge: Could you? Would you? Have you given up one addiction as long as there was another, healthier addiction waiting in the wings?

Want to learn even more about tea and the advantages it has over coffee? Click here!

Want to yell at me for giving coffee a bad name? That's cool too.  Leave me a comment, yo!




***This post was originally written under my previous blog name, Zen and the Art of Cloth Diaper Maintenance.***