Teething and Constipation

I can't seem to find time to post.  I'm sorry.  I miss writing, I really do.  However, my life has been consumed by work, family, and a teething baby.

Elliot has been an angry teething little monster.  Okay so he hasn't been THAT bad but still, he must have the world's lowest pain tolerance (which, I'll admit, he gets from his mother...) because cutting teeth is like the END of the WORLD.  He's not happy about it.  Drool, crying, fussy, chewing on everything, the whole nine yards.  And he wants constant attention.  It's frustrating, because I can't get much done when I'm holding a crabby baby all the time.  So, what does this natural mama do about teething?  Heck I don't know, this is kind of my first rodeo with that, Harlee handled it pretty well so I didn't have to bust out any tricks.

So this is what I've been doing with Mr. Elliot.  Aside from letting him chew on things and holding him and trying to comfort him constantly.

Hyland's Teething Tablets.  They've been fabulous - the babysitters have been thrilled with their effectiveness too.  They're homeopathic, too, so they won't have any scary adverse effects like Orajel which can cause your kid's mouth and throat to go numb.  Which does not sound like a good idea to me...

If it seemed really bad, and the teething tablets weren't cutting it, I'd switch to homeopathic arnica tablets, which is good for pain relief.  Followed by homeopathic chamomilla about 30 minutes to an hour later, which is good for soothing and calming.

But I was doing this stuff all. the. time.  So my next step was an amber teething necklace.  Amber is really fascinating - it contains a naturally-occurring substance called succinic acid that is released from the stone when heated, such as when in contact with body heat.  It's a natural pain-reliever (as well as providing many other benefits), which is why it helps ease the pain of teething.  Seems like he's been a much happier kid since he's been wearing it!

He looks like a little jungle baby with his camo diaper and amber beads!

It was also time to start thinking about solids.  Usually it's recommended to wait until after baby is 6 months of age, but Elliot was showing signs of being ready to delve into the world of solids.  Here are some signs that show readiness, taken from Kellymom.com:

• Baby can sit up well without support.
• Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically push solids out of his mouth with his tongue.
• Baby is ready and willing to chew.
• Baby is developing a “pincer” grasp, where he picks up food or other objects between thumb and forefinger. Using the fingers and scraping the food into the palm of the hand (palmar grasp) does not substitute for pincer grasp development.
• Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food and put it in his mouth.

He hit these marks at 5 and a half months, plus his first tooth broke through, and our naturopathic pediatrician agreed we could start trying solids.  So he got some homemade sweet potatoes and loved them.

He loved everything we gave him, especially bananas.  We've been trying all sorts of foods both homemade and store-bought, and he's been a happy little eater.  Then came some possible TMJ (jaw) issues, and nursing became a chore, as did bottle feeding.  He's got an appointment with the chiropractor to help sort that out tomorrow, but in the meantime he hasn't been nursing well.  Which led to his system getting a bit backed up.

He strained and strained and grunted and cried to poop, and when he finally did it was hard little rabbit poops that definitely showed I was right, he was backed up.  Sometimes he'd strain and grunt and push and nothing would come out at all.  Poor guy.

I've been limiting my use of essential oils, which I will explain why in a future post, so I tried bicycling his legs and rubbing his tummy.  I also tried homeopathic Nux Vomica.  I fed him some prunes too.  Nothing seemed to be getting things moving and I was getting concerned - having a backed-up digestive tract can cause some problems systemically and I did not want that!

Finally I remembered how effective reflexology can be.  I had even taken a class on it and got to see how beneficial it is.  I found a great video on YouTube for constipation in babies (here it is, check it out!) and followed the instructions.  He wasn't real happy about that - the thing with reflexology is that each point on your foot corresponds with an organ or part of your body.  If an organ or part of your body isn't functioning at its best, that corresponding point on your foot will hurt, or will also have little bumps or "grittiness" in the muscle tissue.  I rubbed his feet and he squirmed and cried (and I felt bad), but after I complete one circuit he farted!  I was impressed just by that, but shortly after I was impressed even more as I made another circuit around his feet and he grunted and pushed and finally made progress!  Off to change his diaper I went in total amazement.  I rubbed his feet again and he didn't cry as much - I guess it was feeling better.  I did that on and off throughout the day until finally his BMs were coming more frequently and normal-looking.  He pooped all day and didn't have to strain anymore at all.  Needless to say he was definitely a happy baby after that!  And I was a very impressed, happy mama!

Now here I am taking advantage of Elliot finally sleeping normally again, which was another benefit of all this - teething pain gone, tummy trouble resolved, all that good stuff.  Maybe, with any luck, I can get back to normal blogging!  (Ha ha ha...)

It's so awesome to be able to help my kids naturally.  I helped get his little system moving again without using any drugs.  I helped relieve his teething pain without any conventional pain-killers.  I was able to tap into resources of plant-based medicine - the original medicine - and ancient wisdom to help heal my kid.  That's a really awesome feeling.  I hope this inspires you to do the same!

Happy Baby!

Confessions of a Human and New Year's Wishes

I can't believe I haven't posted ANYTHING for a whole MONTH.  It's been a crazy busy month, though.  To the point where I haven't really been able to make time to sit and write.  We hosted two Christmas gatherings plus New Year's Eve, so the month has been spent catching up on little projects around the house plus decorating, gift shopping, all that jazz.  I attempted to make cookies and candies but for some reason they didn't turn out... I wasted a lot of ingredients in the process too, which was a total bummer.  I made chocolate covered peanut butter balls, though, and they were a success - I'll try to post that recipe before Valentine's day, if you don't mind the wait!

I have so much to talk about, because so much has happened!  So hopefully this means a lot of exciting posts for 2015.  This past month I've learned more about essential oils, I'm about to acquire a salt room so that I can offer salt therapy at my office (awesome for respiratory ailments as well as skin conditions from minor to acute), I'm selling homemade soaps so I'm excited to tell you why those are better than store-bought, and I cured two earaches (never got them diagnosed as infections so I can't say that) and a case of pink eye using natural remedies!

To kick off the New Year, however, I decided to write a simple post admitting that I am human, just like everyone else.  The only thing I've succeeded at this past month is sticking to my drug-free way of life - no pharmaceuticals were used to treat any ailments we came across, including the two ear aches and pink eye mentioned above, a furiously teething baby, several sore throats, coughs, runny noses, etc., plus a case of sciatica that decided to randomly revisit me (hadn't had to deal with that since my pregnancy with Harlee...).

I wish other areas of my life were as second-nature to me as avoiding conventional medicines.  Like diet and exercise.

I have a confession to make.  I've been experiencing a growing case of burn-out...  I stopped going to Flex sometime in November, because I could feel it coming on and didn't want to force myself to do something I was slowly losing interest in - I do NOT want to lose interest in CrossFit!!  It changed my life, it's a fun and effective way to burn fat and build strength, and it makes me feel good both physically and mentally.  But I've been doing a lot of the same thing, and because of the weather I'm now confined to a spot in my basement rather than being outside.  I look forward to Sundays when Rachael and Cassie come over, because working out in a group setting still keeps me going and I thoroughly enjoy it just like I always used to.  But, I must say, I'm becoming more and more amazed that I did what I did while pregnant.  I'll crank out 20 burpees without stopping and imagine having a big pregnant belly hanging off of me while doing that.  I did that.  I push-pressed 95lbs of weight over my head WHILE in labor.  I did that.

And now I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight and I don't even feel like push-pressing a bar over my head.  Or cranking out one burpee.  Okay okay, who wants to do burpees anyway, really?  But they're a great form of exercise and I like working them into a WOD under normal circumstances... What's happening to me??

And diet.  Oooohhh have I fallen off of the Paleo wagon...  I try not to beat myself up TOO bad - I mean at least one meal every day has managed to stay completely Paleo.  But I think snacking on candy all day, or loading up on carbs the many times we've gone out to eat, and the way-too-frequent trips through drive-throughs we've made, completely negates that one Paleo meal a day.  Added to the fact that I haven't been working out anymore to burn some of that junk off... well...

Yeah.  That's pretty much me.  I look in the mirror and TRYYY so hard to say, yeah, I look good for being 5 months postpartum!  Because in comparison to 5 months after Harlee was born, I look pretty good!  But when I look at pictures of myself at just a couple months postpartum after having Elliot and see that I look BETTER than I do now... that's just sad.

But it's not just about physical appearance.  I know that's a big thing right now - social media is trying to help people feel better about themselves no matter what kind of body they have and stop comparing ourselves to photoshopped celebrities in magazines, which is awesome, and I do want to focus more on my health and well-being rather than just my appearance , but regardless, physical appearance does play a huge role.  I don't expect to look like a photoshopped celebrity.  I don't want to, anyway.  I'm perfectly fine with the stretch marks on my belly.  I'm perfectly fine with my droopy boobs.  Why?  Because I worked my ass off a couple summers ago and I felt REALLY good about myself and my appearance.  I know what I CAN look like, and I was almost back to that just a couple of months after Elliot was born.  And because of all the crap I ate this past month and my lack of exercise, I'm losing my progress.

And I feel like crap.  I've been tired and sluggish, I've needed to get back on St. John's wort to help manage my moods when normally diet and exercise do that for me, and I've been noticing aches and pains creeping in - my knees have ached, I had a sciatica flare-up, my wrists have been sore, and some days I've just felt sore and achy all over.  I know it's because of the junk I've eaten.

I guess it's a good reminder of how much diet really does affect us.  We are what we eat.  If we eat junk, we'll feel and function like junk.

So, I'm going to challenge myself.  The holiday celebrations are finally behind us, so there's no reason for me not to get back on the Paleo wagon.  I'm going to experiment with different things, like meal prep so I have lunches pre-made for me throughout the week, and menu-planning so dinner is thought out ahead of time.  I need to go back through and flush the house out of junk food.  I'm a chocoholic, there's no hiding it.  I just need to manage it a little better.  I'm sure I'll still grab a pack of peanut M&M's when I swing through a gas station, but I don't need a bowl of them sitting on my counter to eat every. single. day.  And I need to remind myself that it takes work to get rid of the cravings, but eventually they will go away.

I'll share my stories as I go, too, so maybe you'll feel inspired to try simple things to make your lifestyle a bit healthier.  Mainly, though, don't beat yourself up if you slip up.  That's what I've been working on.  I'm trying not to be too angry with myself for being a complete slob with my diet and exercise all month.  I know I can get back on track, and I will.  And so can you!  We all have to start somewhere.

So, it's a new year.  Time to hit the reset button and strive to be better than we were the year before.

Before I sign off, I have a few New Year's wishes for you.

I wish you motivation to try something new to get your body moving - join a gym, buy a new piece of exercise equipment - kettlebell, dumbells, jump rope, or even a hula hoop! (I bought one and it's actually a blast!)  Try something you haven't tried before - running, weight lifting, spinning, skiing, whatever!  Find something you enjoy so you'll stick with it.

I wish you creativity to make healthy eating just as delicious and achievable as eating junk food.  And it truly can be!  Stick with that, and eventually healthy foods will taste even better than drive-through or take-out food.  And learn ways to plan ahead, like I have been, so you'll be prepared on busy days.

Last, but not least, I wish you courage to ask questions.  This is something I'm wanting to delve into more in future blog posts.  Take responsibility for your health and the health of your family.  Don't rely solely on what you're told by doctors or healthcare providers.  Take charge of your body.  Take time to learn more about ways to be healthy.  With that knowledge comes great empowerment, knowing that you can heal yourself or your loved ones and not need to run to a doctor for every little thing.  When I healed Harlee's earaches and cured Elliot's pink eye without once having to consult a doctor - that's an awesome feeling.

Ask questions.  It can get you so much farther ahead than where you ever were before.  Before you pick up a drug from the pharmacy - What is in this?  What are the side effects?  Are there safer alternatives?  Before you agree to get on a prescription - How long am going to have to take this?  Is this drug just masking the symptoms of a problem rather than addressing it?  Or if it's controlling a problem, are there healthier ways I can control it on my own?  Blood pressure or cholesterol, for instance, CAN be controlled by diet and exercise.  You do not need to rely on drugs, and you'll be that much better off if you avoid them.  And before you or your children get a shot - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read the package inserts.  They should be given to you at the office, but can also be found on the CDC or FDA websites.  Don't just get a shot because you're told to, because everyone else does it, because of the fear tactics used to make you blindly do it without question - read the ingredients of what you're injecting into you or your child's body.  Read the possible side effects.  Sometimes side effects include seizures, paralysis, even death.  Ask your doctor to look you square in the eye and promise your child won't experience any of those side effects before you agree to anything.  This is something I'll talk more about in a later post, but I at least want to put the thoughts out there, to encourage you to take your health into your own hands and advocate for yourself because your health is, well, YOURS.

I hope to spend more time blogging this year, I have so much to say and share with you.  But I also have a family to care for and spend time with, a business to run and grow, and a new house that still needs its finishing touches, so be patient with me if I slack a bit...

I hope your year is off to a great start!

Paleo Thanksgiving

Part Two of my Thanksgiving post!  So I left off Monday at our Paleo Thanksgiving, and while we finished cooking the last elements of our dinner Cassie and I chatted about the whole Paleo thing, which, as I said, gave me some ideas for a blog post.

So here I am!

One thing I've noticed and I said to Cassie that night was that it seems as though a lot of people tend to over-think the whole Paleo thing, assuming off-the-wall ingredients need to be purchased and a lot of thought needs to be put into it, when really it's not that difficult at all.  Odd ingredients need only be purchased if you intend to do a lot of baking, because that's where you start replacing wheat flour with nut flours, sugar with honey, vegetable shortening with palm shortening, or vegetable oil with coconut oil.  But really, that's not all that difficult either.  Or at least I thought it wasn't.  We've got the internet at our fingertips!  There are websites upon websites, blogs upon blogs created by people who are dedicated to this lifestyle and have tons of recipes to share.  Ditch your Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and look up some Paleo cakes and cookies.  Or look at my growing list of recipes - they're all tried and true and absolutely delicious!

But seriously, how often do you bake if it's not a special occasion?  So why bake up a storm on Paleo?  I usually buy a 5lb bag of almond flour on Amazon and that lasts me a good 3-5 months in the freezer.  Sure, almond flour is expensive up front, but considering how long it takes me to go through it, it's not that bad.

Before I get too much further, if you're not sure what the point of Paleo is, read this blog post I wrote awhile back on the science of healthy eating.  Paleo is basically eating whatever foods would have been available to our pre-agricultural ancestors.  Meats, vegetables, fruits, berries, nuts, and seeds.  It's off-limits if it's been through some sort of process to get to your plate - so no grains, sugars, anything that's packaged in a box or a bag, etc.  Avoiding grains and sugars is a good idea, anyway, as they don't provide many nutrients that your body would need to process and use up all the carbohydrates that are in them.  They spike your blood sugar, putting your insulin to work, increasing your body's inflammatory response, and a whole slough of health issues can potentially arise, added to the fact that if weight-loss is your goal, it'll definitely impede your progress.

There's a bit of gray area to Paleo, though.  For instance, white potatoes.  Just a lot of carbohydrates and not a lot of nutrients to back them up.  Not good if you're trying to manage your blood sugar (which everyone should be doing, not just diabetics).  But, they're still grown in nature and not in a factory, which is why I consider it gray area.  Same with peanuts, beans and legumes.  Some Paleo "professionals" consider them off-limits, I personally think it doesn't hurt every now and then.  I haven't researched it much so don't quote me on that.  But, like potatoes, they're grown by nature and not in a factory.  Dairy is another questionable food.  Milk really isn't good for you.  It's been through way too much processing, most cows are given extra hormones and sometimes steroids to produce more, and that does get into their milk, which then we in turn drink.  Plus, it's just not natural for a mammal to drink another mammal's milk.  We're humans, not baby cows.  If you can find cheese and yogurt from clean sources then I don't have too much of a problem with that, but milk... ugh.  We replaced it a long time ago with almond milk and coconut milk and I haven't missed it.

As for dinner, it's really not that hard.  You can be as basic or as creative as you want.  Throw some chicken breasts in the oven with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper - that's Paleo.  Or get on Pinterest and find things like Peach Balsamic Rosemary Chicken - still Paleo.  And absolutely delicious, by the way!  See what I mean?  Don't be intimidated.  It's not hard.  Our dinners consist of a meat and two vegetable sides.  We're busy - I usually stick to easy, simple things, and if I find myself with extra time then I get on Pinterest and find creative recipes to experiment with.  But what it comes down to is meat and vegetables.

Sometimes it's chicken with green beans and cooked carrots.
Or we'll have pork steaks with salad and sauteed zucchini.
Maybe I'll make fish or shrimp with steamed broccoli and roasted asparagus.
Or maybe beef steaks with roasted tomatoes and brussels sprouts.

Or throw in some homemade applesauce - so easy, just roast some cored, sliced apples with a little cinnamon until tender and send it through the food processor.  Voila.  What's in season?  Butternut squash?  Roast that up like I did Sunday night.  Zucchini?  Saute it in a pan with some oil and spices.  Leafy greens?  Salads - make your own vinaigrette - half oil, half vinegar of choice (usually balsamic or red wine or apple cider is good), a little honey, lemon juice, herbs and spices of choice, boom.

Mix and match the above options.  Try new and different vegetables.  Remember my stir-fry post?  Doesn't get much easier than that!  Steaming, roasting, sauteing - if you've never done it before just look it up on YouTube, then give it a try.  If you've done it once you can do it again.  And sometimes we just don't have time to cook.  I admit, I'll open a can of green beans and boil them in a pot with salt and pepper.  It's fine!

If you have a little extra time and creativity, throw together some paleo tortillas (here's my flaxseed tortilla recipe but hang tight, I've got an even better recipe coming up soon), whip up some guacamole, brown some ground beef with chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, and cumin, saute some onions and bell peppers, and you've got yourself paleo taco night.  Or cook a spaghetti squash, roll up some meatballs, find a pasta sauce with no added sugar (or make your own), and you've got classic spaghetti and meatballs.

See what I mean?  Paleo is not hard.  Eating clean is not hard.

Since converting to Paleo we've only had to go grocery shopping once a month.  I stock up on the basics, build our meat supply back up, and after that I rely on the local co-op for produce.  It comes twice a month (every other Thursday) and has a big enough variety of fruits and vegetables that I've got side dishes figured out for me and I didn't even have to think.  Get a meat out of the freezer in the morning to thaw for the evening, or the night before if I want to make it in the crock pot, and I'm good to go.

Breakfast is always some variation of bacon, sausage, ham, eggs, veggies, omelets, etc.  Easy.  Sometimes I'll make some pancakes and store them in the freezer if I'm wanting a break from bacon and eggs, but honestly I'm not interested in those kinds of breakfasts anymore - I've gotten myself to the point where the first thing I crave upon waking is some sort of protein.  It's nice to have more kid-friendly options on hand though.  Harlee loves scrambled eggs, but sometimes he's not interested in that.  I grew up eating Pop-Tarts and sugary cereal, like most kids I'm sure.  But there's no way I'd willingly start my kids' day on a heap of sugar like that.  Sometimes I'll cave and allow that stuff as a snack, but not very often, and not very much (but I have a little weak spot for that kind of stuff yet soooo... yeah.).  However, I can throw together some sweet potato brownies in my sleep, they're so easy, and they're GOOD for you while being sinfully delicious at the same time.  I have NO problem with Harlee eating those for breakfast!

Then lunch is usually something left over from the night before, or a salad, or tuna salad, or whatever.

Get it?  Paleo is easy.  Eating clean is easy.  You can do it.

Okay so I had a little Paleo Thanksgiving Sunday night and it turned out great!  It was just me and my kiddos and Cassie and her kiddos, but it was perfect.  I think she's been interested in the whole Paleo thing, so hopefully this gave her a good glimpse into what a Paleo meal might look like, and I'm going to share it with you so you can see, too!  I made a little more than I usually do, since it was a special occasion, but honestly I could make this meal any night of the week.

dinner!

The main entree was chicken drumsticks.  Since kids outnumbered adults 3:2 I figured creating a kid-friendly meat would be a good choice, and I know I always liked drumsticks as a kid!  Still do, honestly...  Anyway, this recipe was a Pinterest find and it looked yummy.  It's from GimmeSomeOven, and I must say, I was right!  It was yummy!

 Lemon, Garlic, & Thyme Drumsticks (with my modifications)

10 Chicken drumsticks, rinsed
5 tbsp olive oil
zest of one lemon plus 3 tbsp lemon juice
5-6 garlic cloves, minced (or 3-4 tsp garlic powder)
2 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

I split everything in half into two ziplock bags (except the salt and pepper - save that for later) and tossed to coat.  Put the bags in the fridge and marinate for a few hours.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and arrange the drumsticks on a greased baking dish, then season with salt and pepper.  Bake for 55 minutes or until the juices run clear.  Serve hot and enjoy!


I prepped these earlier in the day and when Cassie and the kids arrived I popped them in the oven and we went downstairs to workout while they baked.  They were just about done when we were finished so it worked out perfectly!

I also made green beans, which I prepped earlier and sealed in a bag in the fridge until it was time to cook them.

Garlic Parmesan Green Beans





1lb green beans, trimmed and washed
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder or 1-2 minced garlic cloves
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Toss green beans with oil, garlic, salt, and pepper and arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Roast in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until tender.  Sprinkle with cheese immediately after removing from oven.


So easy, and so yummy!  I chose this weekend to experiment a bit with Elliot's tummy... I know I consumed dairy at my parents' house and at Justin's family's house, and so far Elliot was doing just fine, so I thought maaaaaybe he was outgrowing his dairy intolerance.  I'm not so sure though.  I ate the Parmesan green beans and the next day he wasn't too happy.  But he is dealing with teeth too, so hard telling.

While the chicken was finishing up and the green beans were doing their thing, I made butternut squash in the skillet.  Usually I roast this too, but it worked out great on the stovetop so I'm thinking I may go this route in the future.  It was certainly easy enough!

Savory Butternut Squash

1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, and cut into cubes
2-3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2-3 tsp dried parsley

Toss ingredients together, transfer to a skillet and cook, stirring frequently, over medium-high heat until cooked through and easily pierced with a fork.


I'm not a huge fan of sweet vegetables, like the butternut squash or sweet potatoes, unless they're prepared more on the savory side.  Sweet potatoes with butter and cinnamon and marshmallows?  Barf.  But as crunchy salty fries?  Sure, I can work with that!  Same with the butternut squash... I'm a bit picky... but prepared this way, they're delicious.

Cassie brought a quinoa dish, which was super yummy!  Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is a grain, so it's technically not Paleo, but it's one of the healthiest grains you can consume, plus it's a naturally gluten-free grain, so that puts it on the nice list too.  I'm not really on a weight-loss mission, so avoiding carbs for that reason isn't high on my priority list, but instead I'm trying to get a few more healthy carbs into my diet for the sake of breastfeeding.  Quinoa is a good option!


Harlee was like a Snickers commercial after dinner.  He was such a monster up until he had something to eat, then he was his happy self again.  He and Cassie's kids chased each other around the house and had pillow fights in the living room, which I found quite entertaining to watch.  I love seeing Harlee interacting with other kids and having fun.  It's a great feeling as a mom :).

pillow fight!

Cassie's kids provided us with dinner music

That's when we decided to bust out dessert - I revisited my vegan pumpkin "cheese"cake.  In case you missed that post, here's the link!  You HAVE to make this.  It's easy, it's healthy, okay so it's a bit high in calories but - it's healthy!!  Just take it easy and don't eat the whole pan.  You'll want to, it's that good, so just try to have some self-control.  I can't wait to start experimenting with other varieties of this cheesecake.  Cherry... Turtle... Chocolate raspberry... So many possibilities!

So good I was halfway through before remembering to snap a picture!

I guess Cassie didn't get enough baby holding in during the workout :-)

Getting selfies with Harlee is hard - he hates the camera!

Stella, on the other hand... :-D

Helping Henry with dessert, or stealing it...?

 And that was our dinner!  Yummy, easy, and healthy.  Does it get much better than that?  I'm so grateful that I found Paleo.  That I started this journey a few years ago.  It really has been a journey, too, from Harlee's birth to Elliot's birth three years later.

On Thanksgiving Day I scrolled through Facebook reading everyone's declarations of gratitude, which made me think of everything I'm grateful for too.  Of course I'm grateful for my husband, my kids, the roof over my head, but it goes so much deeper than that too.  I'm grateful for the kind of person my husband is.  That I really, truly did marry my best friend - the person I'm excited to see every day, the person I can talk to about anything, the person I want to go out and have adventures with and experience new things with, my rock and supporter.  I'm grateful for the lessons my kids brought into my life.  I'm actually grateful for the difficulties and struggles - the postpartum depression after Harlee's birth, the struggle of becoming a new mom to a colicky baby, the anger and resentment that came with all that, questioning if I made a huge mistake somewhere and I was actually never meant to be a mother... It was so hard at the time.  It took me three years to really heal from all that, and the biggest healing element of it all was facing my biggest fear and doing the scariest thing I've ever done in my life - getting pregnant again.  I'm a totally different person than I was three years ago, and I love who I am today.  I wouldn't be here if it weren't for the struggles I faced.  And that has now become my encouragement for others going through struggles - hang in there, it's happening for a reason, and if you hold strong and pull through it, you're going to be an even stronger, more amazing, brilliant human being than you ever could have imagined.

I'm grateful for the things I discovered along the way on my journey towards healing.  Like Paleo, as I mentioned earlier.  A healthy lifestyle that's easy to follow and allows me to be just as creative in the kitchen as I was before.  Crossfit - a workout routine that's fun and invigorating that's developed strength in me that I never knew I had.  Even running - my need to get back in shape after having Harlee was what led me to try running, and I love it!  And the ultimate test of strength - my natural homebirth with Elliot.

I'm grateful I was raised with a natural mindset, and spent the early years of my life learning about herbal remedies and homeopathy, so that I had a good foundation of knowledge on natural healing to build from as began creating a family.  And I'm grateful that I get to share that knowledge through this blog!

 I could go on for days about things I'm grateful for.  This house that we designed ourselves, my job that I love and the clients that I get to help, and my amazing friends that have come into my life, especially my workout buddies!

I think focusing on the things we're grateful for only draws more things into our lives to be grateful for.  That's what I've found, anyway.  So, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend filled with lots of reflection on the good in your life, so that you continue to enjoy more of the wonderful things life has to offer!

A Day in the Life of Jami: Thanksgiving, Viruses, Earaches, and Preventive Health Care

Sooo it's been nearly a month since I've posted.  I've wanted to, trust me, but finding the time to has been next to impossible.  I got both the boys in bed right now without passing out myself, though, so here I am.  I'm going to catch up.  I've got so much catching up to do I don't even know where to start...

In fact, I have so much to say, I think I'll break this post into two parts.  The first on being an update on life, the second one being my Paleo Thanksgiving.

So, first of all, I can say that this fall/entering into winter has not been kind to us.  We've been sick enough, and I'm sick of it!  Okay so it could be worse - Harlee is the only one who got sick this month, the rest of us are hanging in there.  But we've all had our turns!  Wednesday Harlee woke up in the middle of the night/early morning with a 101 fever and a headache.  We put a cold washcloth on his head and rubbed a bit of peppermint oil on his temples and within minutes he said his head felt better and he went back to sleep.  The next morning the fever was still there, so I gave him a FluGuard tablet (homeopathic remedy) but wasn't real sure if that would do the trick - usually those homeopathic remedies have to be used right at the first sign of symptoms.  I made up a remedy cocktail blend in his juice for him consisting of:
Childlife Multi Vitamin & Mineral
Childlife First Defense
Colloidal Silver

He will not take chewable vitamins.  I've tried all kinds, he won't do it.  So I've turned to liquids and I've been thrilled with the Childlife brand.  This was my first time trying the colloidal silver, though.  Silver is naturally antibacterial.  It's pretty amazing, really.  Have you ever heard of the Norwex cleaning products?  Their cloths have silver imbedded into the fibers.  I had a Norwex party a couple weeks ago - she smeared raw chicken on my counter.  Yeah.  Then swabbed it with a sanitation test swab from the health department to show it was, of course, unsanitary.  Then wiped it down with the cloth - no chemicals, just wet with water - and then swabbed it again: sanitary.  Amazing.  So colloidal silver is silver particles suspended in water, so you can get those same antibacterial affects internally.

I went to work and instructed Justin to dilute some oregano oil and rub it on his chest and rub Thieves oil on the soles of his feet.

On my lunch break I ran over to the Healthy Nut and bought some liquid Olive Leaf Extract (seriously everyone needs to own this stuff (though I prefer capsule form) - it's so amazing) to add to Harlee's juice and boost his system even more.

Justin and I started taking more olive leaf extract ourselves, along with Young Living's Inner Defense capsules, added to our regular daily supplements (which includes Juice Plus).  So far we've been in the clear!

Well, either it was a short-lived virus, or all the stuff I gave Harlee worked, because by evening he was all better and the next morning he was ready for Thanksgiving!

It snowed Wednesday, so I snapped a picture of our winter wonderland ♥

We went to my parents' house for an afternoon meal.  I stuffed myself like I do every year...

I was feeling crafty!

Dad and Harlee selfie

Opa and Elliot

Oma and Elliot

No tryptophan crash for us!!

Then Justin had to go to work :-P.  Yeah, gotta love his line of work.  He's a boilermaker, and basically the hall calls him whenever jobs come available and he can either take them or turn them down.  So a job came up this weekend, Thursday through Sunday, night shift, and it's kinda hard to turn that down with that kind of pay soooo he packed up the leftovers and headed out.  Same thing the next day - had dinner with his stepdad's family and headed out again.

Made one for Grandma and Papa too

Harlee playing with Cousin Claire and Uncle Kirk

He discovered the carrot cake...

Elliot getting some love from Grandma and Great-Grandma

Chilling with Great-Grandpa

By the way, Justin is prone to sinus infections and he seems to get one almost every time he starts a new job on nights.  He was hacking and carrying on Friday morning so I loaded him up with even more olive leaf extract, vitamin C, and inner defense.  I also diffused Thieves oil in the bedroom while he slept.  The hacking has since subsided and there are no signs of a sinus infection.  Horray!
 
My friend Rachael came over to keep me company Friday night, which is always fun!  Saturday my friend Kim celebrated her 30th birthday and annual chicken soup gathering, which was conveniently moved to the afternoon so Justin got to go, although it was only for a short while.  I could have blogged that night... The boys both passed out and I honestly thought about sitting down to write but found The DaVinci Code on tv and decided to watch that instead because I love that movie.

I was determined to write tonight, though.  Today (Sunday, which is now yesterday to you readers) was a rather productive day.  Justin came home around 9am and went to bed, I dropped Harlee off with Grandma, and Elliot and I went to town to pick up a few things for dinner that night.  I decided to have Paleo Thanksgiving with Rachael and Cassie after our Sunday workout, and I was super excited!  Picked up Harlee and headed back home where I managed to get a few loads of laundry done, cleaned the bathrooms, swept and mopped the floors, got all the dishes loaded in the dishwasher, vacuumed the rug, tidied up Harlee's playroom, PLUS got the chicken marinading, peeled and cut up a butternut squash, trimmed and prepped green beans, got my vegan pumpkin "cheese"cake started, all while being mom to a 3-year-old who needs help going potty, needs a toy fixed, needs the channel changed, etc., etc., AND a 4-month-old who happens to have the remains of an earache and wants to be held constantly.

How the heck I pulled all that off I have no idea.  But I got pretty much all of that done before Justin woke up at 2:30.

Earache - yeah, not fun.  Elliot had been a bit fussy for a few days and then I noticed he was rubbing his fist on his ear.  I poked around it and he fussed some more, so I put a homeopathic earache drop in it and he settled down right away.  Got him in to see our pediatric chiropractor and she looked in his ear and confirmed that yes, it was a bit red in there.  I started rubbing lavender oil around his ear (not in it - don't do that) and kept up with the homeopathic drops as well as adding in homeopathic Pulsatilla.  Within a couple days he was back to himself again and caught up on sleep.  Then I guess it must have crept back in because he was back to fussing this morning (which, again, to you readers was yesterday morning) and rubbing his ear again.  This time I texted the chiropractor and asked what else I could do and she said put a little breastmilk in his ear.  I had heard of that before... and I had heard of it actually working... so what's the harm?  I'd give it a try.  I syringed a little in his ear from what I had pumped the other day, diluted some Thieves oil and rubbed it around his ear and on the bottoms of his feet, and he was pretty content after that.  I let him play on the floor while I got a few things done (see list above), then when he fussed again I'd hold him, put lavender around his ear, and he'd fall asleep, which is when I continued on with the above list.

Cassie was kind enough to bring over a bottle of wine this evening.  As I recap my day I am amazed that I completely forgot to pop it open and toast my productivity and the fact that my sanity is still in tact...  How did I forget about it??  Crazy.

Unfortunately Rachael wasn't feeling well so she backed out, but Cassie came over with her two kids and we got in a somewhat successful workout!  By somewhat I mean we had to take a break for her son to go potty and for me to call Santa because my son was NOT behaving.  Not sure what his deal was my holy moley he was crabby.  So I got Santa on the phone and told him to put Harlee on the naughty list.  I thought that would work better than it did... no, Harlee continued on with his meltdown so we continued on with our workout and let him be.  With Elliot being fussy with his ear and wanting to be held constantly, we incorporated him into our workout and did:

5 Rounds
20 squats holding Elliot
10 burpees
10 lunges each leg holding Elliot
10 deadlifts (90lbs)


Basically we passed him back and forth - she held him and did squats while I did burpees, I held him and did lunges while she did deadlifts, so on and so forth.  All that up and down motion must have been pretty soothing to him because it lulled him to sleep, which worked perfectly - at the end of the workout I transferred him to his swing and we got on with dinner!

Cassie and I chatted about the whole Paleo thing, and our conversation gave me some ideas of what I can talk about here on the blog.  I started writing my ideas tonight, but it got so long I decided to write a separate post just for that topic!

So that's a wrap for this post.  Hope you learned something from my story about Harlee's bug and Elliot's earache!  Can't imagine rushing my kids to the doctor over things like that and possibly getting drugs to treat them.  Obviously that's necessary in some cases, but I feel like pharmaceuticals are way over-used in today's world.  Being able to treat my kids with natural remedies that don't cause harmful side-effects is definitely something I am very grateful for!

And on that note, hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

A Day in the Life of Jami: My Medicine Collection

So I was all excited about this new series... And now it's almost been a month and I haven't written another post in it.  That's what I get for being busy I guess.  I should try to schedule blogging into my day.  It can't be that hard, can it? I mean, I schedule my clients at certain times on certain days of the week, I schedule appointments for the family on my days off, I schedule working out every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday (and add in work-outs as the opportunities arise). That's just how things get done, it's scheduled in.  Aaaaand that's why my laundry piles up... Because I don't schedule it in... But we won't go there.

Justin got sick a couple days ago.  Pretty sure my mom shared it, because she had the same symptoms.  Nothing major like the virus we all got hit with awhile back, but still no fun.  He was tired and achy and whatever this was attacked the digestive system.  So that was no fun.  I got him taking homeopathic FluGuard, which I had never tried before so he was kinda my guinea pig with that one, he was taking shots of oregano (see his strep throat adventure to learn more about that), and I upped his olive leaf extract, vitamin c, and echinacea/goldenseal (good for the immune system - I should probably write a post about those). He also had a low sugar intake, as I've been trying my best to be more strict with Paleo cooking at home, and I know that helped.  Sugar weakens the immune system - it heightens your body's inflammatory response so it more or less steals all the attention from your immune system, which isn't good when you've got a bug or virus needing attention first.  I believe he recovered quicker than my mom did, and I'm fairly certain diet played a big role in that... But I pester my mom enough about needing to form clean eating habits so I won't drag it out here ;-).

In the meantime, I was diffusing Thieves oil all over the house, rubbing it on our feet each night, plus I made a cleaner in a spray bottle - I put half witch hazel and half hydrogen peroxide (I would have used rubbing alcohol but we seem to be out) with several drops of Thieves, Purification, and Oregano and sprayed it all over everything - the furniture, the bed and bedding, pillows, rugs, surfaces, everything.

All has been well.  Until Harlee and I got hit by allergies.  Our noses are like faucets, ugh it's awful.  My throat is getting scratchy because of the drainage too.  And speaking of sugar earlier, I've been bad and stole more than my fair share of Halloween candy... so I'm really not giving myself the best chance at recovering quickly.  Harlee's been good and drinking more water than juice, plus I rub RC and Raven oil blends on his chest and that seems to help clear him up.  I'm sitting here with a cup of hot jasmine green tea with honey and lemon oil.  It's my fourth cup this morning.  I've been using lavender around my nose, which seems to help but goodness gracious does it make me sleepy... I also rubbed oregano oil around my nose (diluted with coconut because it burns) to help dry things up, which also seems to help.  I'm trying to talk myself into gargling a bit of oregano oil in a shot of my tea, but I haven't done it yet.  It's horrible.  Well, it's horrible for like two minutes, then after the hellfire in your mouth and throat wears off it turns out to be a fantastic resolution to a sore throat.  And that's what I need right now.  It's getting past the hellfire part that has me stuck...

All this excitement made me decide this is a good opportunity to share my medicine drawer contents with you.  I also got several requests for that since I posted that picture of my special delivery on Facebook.  A couple weeks ago my iHerb order came in -  I swear I get way too excited about that.  I usually try to place a big bulk order every so often - all our vitamins, immune boosters, general supplements, etc.  Then when it arrives I feel like Christmas came early.

So in this box I got cod liver oil, which is a great source of Omaga-3s and DHA.  Oscillococcinum (don't ask me how to actually pronounce that) which is a great homeopathic remedy for the onset of the flu, as is the bottle of FluGuard, and after our recent bout of that I decided I should be armed in case we ever get hit again.  I also ordered some colloidal silver, which needs a post all its own.  It's a natural antibiotic, again, a great thing to have on hand in the event of a nasty virus.  There's a bottle of vitamin C, a few bottles of liquid vitamins for Harlee (he will not take chewables or gummies for some reason, so instead I put these in his cup of juice or whatever hes drinking and it's been working great.  There's also a bottle of Echinacea/Goldenseal for immune support and pau d' arco, which is also great for the immune system.

All this got added to my medicine drawer:

I'm super proud of this drawer.  It's so much easier to locate different things than it was when I used to have everything in a cabinet, but best of all it's becoming quite full with a great variety of remedies!  I've got my growing supply of essential oils in the bottom left corner (and that's not even all of them - my most frequently used ones are in the diaper bag), my most commonly used homeopathic remedies in the bottom right corner, then throughout the middle-right I've got a bunch of herbal remedies, vitamins, etc like olive leaf extract, vitamin c, echinacea, vitamin d, and so on.  I've got things in here in place of common conventional medicine cabinet items like papaya instead of Tums or Rollaids (and it works way better and tastes better, too), homeopathic eye drops and ear drops, and the multitude of essential oils play roles like lavender for wound healing (to replace Neosporin), peppermint for headaches (although we do have ibuprofen in there, that's the only conventional medicine we've got I think) and also for digestive upset for cases beyond the scope of papaya, Purification oil in place of anti-itch cream, the list goes on and on, and continues to grow as I learn more and find more!  In the back I've got replacement bottles of things like my Juice Plus and olive leaf extract and cod liver oil - basically the things I take daily as a supplement, plus the things I don't want to run out of like Harlee's vitamins and elderberry syrup, which I add in with his vitamins if it seems like he might be coming down with something or if he's been around other people who were sick.  I'm currently giving that to him with his vitamins.  The temporal thermometer is in there, a tub of coconut oil for diluting essential oils, and a bottle of witch hazel for mixing up cleaners, bug sprays, etc.  Oh I also have Little Remedies fever reducer, too, just in case.  Little Remedies seems like a good brand of products for conventional medicines without the conventional additives, so in the event of a high fever striking that my natural remedies aren't strong enough for, I've got a safe alternative.  Luckily we haven't really needed it though, as peppermint has always helped keep fevers from creeping up too high.

Ta da!  That's my collection so far!  I'll say it again, I'm quite proud of it.  It just makes me feel really good that I've got plenty of things to help us stay healthy or recover if we do get sick, while at the same time not pumping us full of harmful chemicals or risking the side effects of conventional drugs.  Justin's learning his way around the drawer too, which is great.  I'm so glad he's open to learning more about alternative medicine, and I've enjoyed watching his trust in it grow as everything we use continues to work.  We're definite in the same boat as parents - we want to keep our kids and ourselves healthy in the safest ways!

I should get back to work now - I'm off on Fridays so this is when I try to get things caught up like laundry, cleaning, and obviously blogging :) (which obviously doesn't always happen).  Have a great weekend!

Three Recipes in One! Two Vegan Cheesecakes and Glazed Mixed Nuts

I've gotta say, this whole dairy-free thing has led me to all kinds of wonderful discoveries!  These vegans, they sure know how to make some fabulous desserts!  Cheesecake in particular.  Justin and I both love that stuff.  It's so bad for you though... and now it's definitely off-limits for me since Elliot can't handle it when I eat any dairy products.  But that doesn't stop me!  Heck, that's what led me to the Paleo lifestyle over two years ago - I refused to give up indulging in guilty pleasures, so I found ways to replace them with healthier versions.  Same goes for this - I can't have dairy?  I'll find replacements!

In this case, cream cheese is replaced with cashews.  Oh my goodness, do they come to the rescue... I'm not even a big fan of cashews, but you really can't tell that's what this is made of!

Lucky you, I'm sharing three recipes with you in this post!  Two "cheese"cake recipes and an amazingly delicious (and equally amazingly simple) glazed mixed nuts recipe.

I'll start with the original recipe I discovered and tried for the first time.  We were having a couple friends over for dinner, Gordon and Sandy, whom we normally go out to Tequila's with, but now with two little ones it's just easier to have people over rather than hope the odds are in our favor that both babies are on their best behavior at a restaurant (not entirely likely, which makes going out to eat more stressful than it is enjoyable).  So I made this cornish hen recipe, with a salad and roasted potatoes on the side (okay so potatoes aren't Paleo but they're at least tolerable for Elliot!), but I wanted something for dessert too.  Gordon is a major chocoholic, so I knew chocolate had to be involved.  And cheesecake sounded really good... so off to Pinterest I went in search of a vegan cheesecake recipe, and voila, I found this one from Lexi's Clean Kitchen.  It did not disappoint!

So here's the recipe, with my tweaks:

Cookie Dough Cheesecake

For the crust:

2 cups almond flour
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
4 tbsp pure maple syrup
Dash sea salt

Mix all ingredients until combined.

Line a 7x11 (or 8x8, which is what I used) glass baking dish with parchment paper

Spoon in crust mixture and flatten evenly

For the filling:

2 cups raw cashews, soaked in water overnight
2-3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
Dash sea salt
1/3 cup Enjoy Life's mini chocolate chips
Extra chocolate chips for sprinkling on top

Discard the water the cashews had been soaking in.

Combine soaked cashews, coconut oil, vanilla, maple syrup, and salt in the food processor.

Blend until creamy and smooth.

Once blended, add in chocolate chips and spread mixture evenly over crust.  (My mixture was a bit warm from the coconut oil having been freshly melted so the chocolate ships melted a bit, which turned out fantastic)

Sprinkle chocolate chips on top.
Place in freezer for 4-6 hours.

Remove, slice into bars, and store in refrigerator.

Lexi was kind enough to provide nutrition facts: (someday I need to go back through my recipes and include this info...)

1. Serving: 15 bars
2. Amount per serving: 1 bar
3. Calories: 253
4. Fat: 20g
5. Carbs: 16
6. Protein: 6g

This "cheese"cake successfully won the approval of Gordon the Chocoholic (well, all of us, really), and they couldn't guess what the main ingredient was that replaced the traditional cream cheese.  I knew I would definitely be making this again!

And today, I did!  Once again we found ourselves with an opportunity to go out to dinner with a couple friends, Clay and Barbi, but we didn't have anyone available to watch the boys.  So, instead, we ordered from Tequila's (which is where we usually go) and ate at our house instead.  Clay likes to order a cheesecake dessert they have on the menu, and I didn't want him to miss out on dessert!  But since it's pumpkin season, I decided to tweak the above recipe to make it a pumpkin cheesecake instead.  I also decided to top it with a fantastic, yet ridiculously simple recipe I had made for a friend's daughter's birthday party a couple months ago - maple glazed mixed nuts.  They're so good it's crazy.  And I still can't get over how easy they are to make.

Here's what I came up with for the Pumpkin Cheesecake:

Make the crust as explained above.

To make the filling: 

2 cups raw cashews, soaked in water overnight
2-3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
Dash sea salt
1 cup canned or fresh pumpkin puree

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Discard the water the cashews had been soaking in.

Combine soaked cashews, coconut oil, vanilla, maple syrup, and salt in the food processor.

Blend until creamy and smooth.

Once blended, add in the pumpkin and spices, and stir to combine.

Spread mixture on top of the crust.

 To make the topping:

Follow the recipe below, but instead of two cups of whole nuts use 3/4 cup of pecans, chopped, and 2-3 tbsp pure maple syrup.

Spread the glazed pecans over the cheesecake, place in freezer for 4-6 hours, then transfer to the refrigerator before serving.  Slice into bars, and enjoy!

Everyone loved the "cheese"cake!  Again, you can't even tell that cashews are the main ingredient!  The texture and flavor are amazing, and I love how I didn't feel weighted down and almost exhausted after eating it like I would normally feel after eating a real cheesecake.

And now, I leave you with the last recipe, which I got from Bit of the Good Stuff:

Glazed Mixed Nuts:

 

 2 cups of nuts (I used walnuts, pecans, and almonds)
4 tbsp pure maple syrup

Preheat a dry frying pan (skillet) on medium-high heat.
Add the nuts and dry fry for 2 minutes, stirring continuously.  Add the maple syrup and continue stirring for about 3 minutes, until the nuts are fully coated and the syrup has caramelized and become very sticky.
Spread the nuts on a piece of parchment paper.  As they cool, the nuts will dry and become shiny, and no longer sticky.  Store in an airtight container.

Vegan Mozzarella Cheese

Harlee helping spread the sauce

Elliot is definitely dairy intolerant.  It makes things tricky for me when cheese is involved, but otherwise I've been totally fine with it.  Unfortunately, I had been craving pizza for a week or so and pizza is just not the same without cheese.  So I just kept trying to remind myself that one day I would no longer be breastfeeding and then look out, Dicarlo's, because I'd be going on a major pizza binge!

Then I found a recipe for vegan mozzarella cheese on OneGreenPlanet.org.  I thought, what do I have to lose?  I'm going to give it a try!  I'm still pretty strict about eating Paleo (at home... I'll admit I'm not as strict as I should be when we go out) so I made my dairy-free cauliflower pizza crust recipe and tried my hand at this vegan cheese.

Harlee is quite the little chef!

It was so weird... once it thickened up it totally took on the consistency of cheese... Crazy!  Fortunately it's really easy to make, tastes awesome, and keeps well in the fridge.  So all you dairy-intolerant people, fear not, for now you can enjoy pizza again!

Here's the recipe from the website:

• 1/4 cup raw cashews soaked in water for several hours or overnight
• 1 cup hot water
• 2  tbsp + 1 tsp tapioca or arrowroot powder (I used arrowroot)
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 3/4  tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1. Blend all ingredients together in a high speed blender until completely smooth, or with an immersion blender, for about 1 minute.
2. Pour into a small saucepan and cook, stirring constantly over medium high heat.  Once the mixture starts clumping up, reduce heat to medium and keep stirring.
3. Keep stirring for another 2-3 minutes until you have a big melty blob of "cheese" that's goopy and stretchy.
4. Remove from heat and let cool a bit while you assemble the pizzas
5. For pizza, once it's cooled just pick apart pieces of the "cheese" and stretch it out over your pizza crust.  It's weird stuff, but you can work it to make it cover the pizza.  Then just bake it according to the crust instructions posted in the link above!
    

 Enjoy!

Mine is the bottom left pizza and the rest are made with regular mozzarella.  Could you tell?

looks totally legit!