Momday Musings

Well, I came here to write my message about pampering and taking time for you, but I have to be honest.

Momdays are the only day of the week that I don’t have my children with me. Which means, it’s the only day of the week that I can work like a maniac without interruption.

And so every time I came here to consider what bits of inspiration I could write, I was sent away by my own quitly knowingness that I, on Momday, would be choosing not to do ANYTHING for myself other than GET STUFF DONE.

And sometimes that, too, is a part of how we look after ourselves. The peaceful state of being when things are in order is awfully therapeutic. Some say production is the basis of morale. I agree. I mean, it’s not that I need a day at the spa to feel pampered.

You want to know the truth?

Yesterday the only time I got up from this crazy little fold up computer I carry around with me was to pee and to eat. Even then, most times I’d bring the fruit back here to eat.

But, at a certain point, I actually decided that I should take a few moments for myself. Just a few. And so what I did, was I peeked at something I’d been putting off reading. My super spunky friend Ellen Atkin, recently treated me to an astrology chart. All I had to do what submit the day, place and time of my birth. I received an 8 page report, and I haven’t read it all yet, but what I did read, just about FLOORED ME!

I couldn’t BELIEVE it.

If I could cut and paste, I would, and you’d say, “Oh my GOSH! That is SO you!!”

I’m totally going to get my other charts done, and I’ve figure out a new technique for internet dating! First message I’m just going to ask what time they were born, send the info in to Ellen for my compatibility chart and take it from there.

Hehe…

Seriously, though, treat yourself to an adventure. It costs less than a chocolate addiction and it’s calorie free! What’s more, it really makes you look up at the stars in a whole new way.

Even though the time I took “for myself” yesterday was a matter of minutes and even then I didn’t leave this work corner, I took it. Like I said, I’m easy to please. Sometimes it’s enough to just have a change of perspective and I’m smiling.

Besides, today when I go outside and feel the sun on my face and take my kids in my arms, how much more will I appreciate the warmth and tender smiles?

Oh Gee! 5 Things About Me?

Okay… well, first of all, that little bundle of Sunshine, Charissa, is the one who tagged Amy and I. But I know Amy’s packing and preparing to move today, so her turn to post might have to wait a day or two. Anyway, thanks, Charissa. We appreciate all your kind words and playful support.

Here goes…

1. My Dad is one of the most inspirational entrepreneurs I’ve ever met.

This picture was his great idea, along with a bunch of other special shaped hot air balloons like a flying cow and a house.

At one point he held the World Record for long distance flight in a hot air balloon. Now, he’s given up hot air balloons for inflatable shelters and hospitals and stuff. It’s pretty intense compared to floating around in the sky with a giant dinosaur.

2. I almost exclusively wear skirts. It’s rare, rare, rare that I’ll wear pants.

3. My survival kit includes: a curling iron, waterproof mascara, lip liner, lip stick, lip gloss, eyebrow tweezers and eyebrow curlers. If I have those, I’m a happy diva no matter where I go. Oh, and a razor, because even if it is natural, nature untamed can be ugly.

4. I had a spaghetti eating hamster named “Lint” that escaped through a hole in the wall of my apartment when I was in university. And every once in a while, I kinda wonder how he might have ended up. Dried? Fried? Lost and alone? Yuck.

5. My mom’s real name is Gertruida Jocoba Maria Hof. She’s “mom” in The Powder Room. And for every project I ever did, I never had a better supporter than her. I loooove you, Mom!

If we have to tag people… I’m going to wait for Amy to finish hers, first.

Mmmmuah!

Food and Memories

One of my favorite memories as a very young girl, is visiting my grandparents and sitting at the bar in the kitchen next to ‘Pepaw,’ reading the newspaper with him (i.e. looking at the pictures and reading the titles) and drinking ‘coffee milk,’ (milk with a tiny splash of coffee). I started very young with this little addiction! I felt so grown up, sitting there early in the morning reading very grown up news and drinking a ‘for-grown-ups-only’ drink.

Coffee has another very strong memory association for me, in a way that makes me feel very close to my mother. I used to wake up in the wee hours of the morning and sit with her in the bathroom while she got ready for work. I would get her coffee (with lots of milk and sugar…just the way I like it now!) and pretend to put on make-up and curl my hair.

It is easy to picture different times in life when you think of a certain food, meal, smell, or song, event, etc… Sometimes a memory can feel very real, as if you are actually there reliving it.

That is how coffee became a comfort food for me. It wasn’t my past habit of drinking a pot of coffee while pulling in an all-nighter study session in college. I let go of the caffeine habit long ago. It was the memory of what coffee means to me, that kept me coming back for more.

Decaf coffee was my new thing (yeah…I know it still has some caffeine…). I wasn’t drinking it in the morning for a pick-me-up. I was drinking it in the afternoon for my special quiet time during nap/homework hour. It was hot, sweet, and the perfect calming, soothing, special drink.

Food is a social and emotional thing. No matter how we try to make it a purely physical, nutritional experience, it still holds other, much greater powers over many of us. This does not mean that enjoying it is a negative experience, but simply that trying to avoid emotional ties to food is almost impossible. The little traditions that revolve around our food can create very strong bonds to certain foods by memory association. Being too restrictive about food can create emotional bingeing on ‘no-no’ items.

Eventually, I successfully gave up the coffee habit for good. I gave away my machine and tossed everything that went with it. It feels great now, but it was a long, hard struggle.

I want to create positive emotions and memories around healthy food choices for my children. I want them to remember great things about the way we eat and not dwell on the fact that they can’t have all the other stuff that they used to get and that everyone else still does.

For my son with sensory processing disorder (SPD) and ADHD, (problems on the autism spectrum), this diet is not a choice that we want for him simply because it is healthier. It has become a saving grace for us. There is no room for special treats, one time cheats, or eating the junk that the nice neighbors/relatives give the kids.

Literally, one time to eat ‘something special’ (meaning the non-raw foods that we avoid) will send him off on a minimum of 3 days, if not a week, of the old symptoms we used to see in him. That is not acceptable for us or him. He knows the difference. He feels the difference. He doesn’t want to eat it…most of the time. So, how do I set up a positive attitude toward food restriction?

• First, educate! The more the kids know about the effects poor food choices have on their bodies, the stronger their desire is to not choose it.
• Second, make it fun! Get them in on the process of preparing food. Present it in a fun way. Make it look good, in a kid-kind of way!
• Last, but most importantly, make great memories by setting up new traditions and special things surrounding healthy foods. For instance, when I go grocery shopping with the kids, I let them choose a new fruit or vegetable to try. They can read about what it is, how you eat it, where it came from, and what it has inside that does a body good! That’s lots of good learning to go along with trying and experiencing new foods.

Since my son has sensory issues that make him a very picky eater, this has been a great way to get him to try more types of food and go beyond what he thinks he likes. When he chooses it, he is excited about trying something new. Now, he might not like it, but he is at least trying. He has even started trying things a second or third time around, realizing that he has learned to like other foods that he didn’t before.

Another little tradition we have started is looking for a new raw dessert recipe to make. The kids get to think of an old non-raw favorite and we think of ways to “rawify” it, or we look online and see if someone else already has. We do it all together of course, and sometimes the end product is a great success, and sometimes not. The fun part was doing it together and trying something new.

We also have a ‘Make Your Own Smoothie’ night, where everyone gets to choose what their ingredients, and they get to do the blending, too! We have come up with some interesting combos that I never would have tried without their imagination!

We have competitions to see who wins the gold medal for finishing their carrot juice. That one started during the last summer Olympics when we were introducing the juice to them for the first time. The game that started as a way to get them to drink it is now a tradition to our almost daily carrot juice, after we get past the fight over who gets to make it!

The kids have also started some new things all on their own that have taken root. Thanks to Daddy’s one-time joke, every time we drive by a McDonald’s, they all start chanting, “Yuck-Donald’s, Yuck-Donald’s” and giggle about how they will NEVER eat there again!

Some things I have to quickly pull the plug on, like the time when they made a game of finding things in other people’s shopping carts that were unhealthy and exclaiming it in the loudest, most-impulsive voice possible! Yep, ‘I Spy Junk in that Cart’ game came to a very sudden and quick end.

Can you imagine? Child 1 (ADHD, who still talks loudly without thinking): “Look at that guy! – while pointing – check out the load in his basket!” Child 2 (Innocent, Younger, but just as loud in response): “Where? Oh, I see! Look at how much Coke he has in that basket! Mommy, why does he drink that junk? Doesn’t he know it is BAD for you?” Child 1 (even louder now): “He probably doesn’t care how much coke he drinks. Look at how much junk FOOD he has! – sing song loud voice – chocolate bars, sausage, cheese, chips, canned food, frozen pizza…where is the fruit? Mommy, maybe he doesn’t know better. You should talk to him….” All while I race the other direction and once around the corner, quietly tell them not to talk about other people’s food choices while we are right in front of them!

Of course, special memories can and should be made revolving around many things, not just food. There is the ‘first snow’ snowman building and snowball fight that we have every year. Or the planting of the garden with each child getting their own section and choosing what to plant and doing it on their own. (Ok, so that one does relate to healthy food!)

Since this is Easter weekend, we will be eating ‘Bunny Food’ (carrots, greens, and other bunny favorites), and making raw brownies in easter egg shapes in a pre-formed pan. The baskets full of ‘junk’ that the kids bring home from the elderly neighbor’s yearly invitation to hunting eggs and candy in her yard will be eagerly traded in for acceptable treats or money.

Here is my last thought to you on making healthy food fun and memorable: We offer these trades to make it easier for the kids to give up the stuff that they can no longer eat. Most often, my son trades for the money as he has learned its value and is saving up for a great toy. (His thoughts… “I only get to taste the junk food once, but I can play with a toy forever!”)

What fun, healthy memories will you be adding to your list this year?

HAPPY EASTER!

Let’s Do Shots!

Shots of wheatgrass, that is ?

We’ve all heard stories of the amazing regenerative and curative powers of consuming wheatgrass – from restoring gray hair to its natural color to overcoming cancer – but did you also know that wheatgrass has a profound impact on fertility?

In fact, what we know about wheatgrass today all started back in the 1920’s when a food chemist by the name of Charles Schnabel conducted a search for a “blood building” substance that could be fed to chickens to increase their egg production and decrease their mortality rate. Here are some fascinating discoveries of his and subsequent research on the effect of grass consumption on fertility :

• Schnabel found that feeding hens a mere 10% ration of young wheat and oat grasses increased egg production from 38% to 94% in one winter! Moreover, the eggs’ shells were stronger and more likely to hatch healthy young chicks.

• Dr. George Kohler, in the mid 1930’s, discovered that rats and guinea pigs did well on the summer milk of cows, when the cows were eating a lot of grass, and failed to thrive on the non-grass fed cow’s milk of the winter. This gave rise to a search for a “grass juice factor” that would explain this impact of grass on fertility and growth.

• In a 1935 study, it was shown that when human nursing mothers consumed milk from grass-fed cows, their children developed more quickly and were healthier than when they consumed milk from non grass-fed cows. This suggests that this “grass juice factor” holds true for humans as well.

• In the 1940’s, scientists in several labs isolated a substance present in green plant food that, when injected directly into rabbits, induced ovulation! This substance proved effective on cats and ferrets as well. Whatever this “factor” was, it tended to be most effective in the Spring and Summer and seemed to act like a hormone, stimulating the pituitary gland to secrete another hormone to induce ovulation.

• Later, two more researchers, Spitzer and Phillips, demonstrated that another substance in green supplements, when fed to rats, increased both fertility and lactation.

• Cattle farmers in the Midwest continue to use wheatgrass therapy on sterile cows and bulls today .

While it is still unclear what exactly this “ grass juice factor” is that has such an impact on animal reproduction and wellbeing, it has been theorized that perhaps it is vitamin K that helps jump-start ovulation. Or perhaps the high magnesium content in cereal grass is responsible for generating enzymes that boost the sex hormones. Or that it is high in folic acid, calcium, iron, protein and fiber, and other key nutrients needed for pregnancy…. However, these nutrients do not in themselves sufficiently account for the amazing benefits of wheatgrass so there must be other unidentified factors contributing to them. Regardless, here are some of the things wheatgrass does do to possibly increase fertility:

• It is a great detoxifier and removes heavy metals from the body. It has been proved that a reduction in heavy metal body load increases the chance of spontaneous conception in infertile women and decreases the odds of miscarriage.

• Grass juices have been successfully used in the treatment of cervical inflammation.

• Chlorophyll, particularly the concentrated kind found in grass juices alkalinizes the body and restores PH balance. An acidic vaginal environment is extremely hostile to sperm and an alkaline uterine environment is necessary for implantation and may prevent miscarriage.

• Chlorophyll improves problems with blood sugar metabolism. According to a recent Harvard study, elevated blood sugar and insulin levels are directly related to ovulatory infertility.

So, ladies, with that I say “Bottoms up” and cheers to your fertility!

~Ardis

______________________

References:

1. Chavarro, Jorge E., M.D., Willett, Walter C., M.D., and Skerrett, Patrick J. “Fat, Carbs, and the Science of Conception”. www.newsweek.com. NEWSWEEK, Dec.10, 2007 Issue.
2. Gallagher, Melissa. “Wheat Grass Shots – Benefiting Fatigue to Fertility”. www.ezinearticles.com.
3. Gerard, I., Monga, B., Waldbrenner, A., and Runnebaum, B. “Heavy Metals and Fertility”. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. PubMed – Indexed for MEDLINE. PMID: 972682.
4. Lewis, Dr. Randine. “The Infertility Cure – How Nutrition Makes a Difference”. www.parenting.ivillage.com. Little Brown & Company, 2004.
5. Seibold, Ronald L. 1990. Cereal Grass – What it can do for You! Chapter 2.
6. “Wheatgrass”. www.falconblanco.com

Reconsider the Roasted Ham! Ham-Free Raw Food Holiday Feast!

Well, our friends Heidi and Justin Ohlander have done it again!

Seems they’ve just got the celebration bug in their veins, because every time festivities roll around they surprise us with another recipe book!
Click here to view more details

If you haven’t already defrosted your poultry for a mega-Easter feast, then it’s not too late.

It’s not JUST the fact that you’ll know you’re feeding everyone healthy foods!!

Think of the sticky, grimy dishes that most people have to deal with after your aver

No nasty pots and pans. Just a rinse and a wipe and away she goes!

And you’ve got to admit, this tasty loaf looks better than a roasted ham! Every time we mention Heidi’s holiday feasts, we always get back rave reviews!

Skip the ham, buy the book, and keep us posted on the family’s reactions when Aunt Gertie raves about your deviled eggs, only to find out that they’re NOT EGGS and they’re certainly not “deviled!”

Why try and “resist” the cooked food at the Easter banquet when you can just bring the good stuff to them!

At least a couple appetizers to change the scenery!

Happy Easter! and Happy Snacking…

Muah!