Watermelon: A Pregnancy Super Food

I love watermelon, I always have. Crunchy and refreshing, it’s the Perfect Snack For Summertime When You Don’t Have Air Conditioning In Your House. (That’s pretty common in Israel)

And I just found out some great news. Watermelon is not only delicious, it has special qualities which make it a great pregnancy food. Apparently, watermelon:

Eases Heartburn
Reduces Swelling
Helps Morning Sickness
Alleviates Dehydration
Contains Minerals That Help Third Trimester Muscle Cramps
Contains nutrients important for the development of baby’s brain, vision, nervous, immune systems, and more.

Is high in Lycopene, an antioxidant which increases the skin’s SPF (besides all the other great things that antioxidants do). Who doesn’t want that during the summer?
Lycopene also reduces the incidence of preeclampsia by 50%.

I’m enjoying my second bowl of the day right now. Eat up!

This information came from an article on FitPregnancy. Here's a link to the full article:

http://tinyurl.com/kmzcd4

Summertime Kids-How Scheduling Can Stop The Madness!

I have four children, ages 6,5,3&16 months. And a baby due in about 4 weeks (yay!). The 3 older boys have been at day camp for the last 3 weeks, but today is the last day. They will ALL be home, with me, until school begins again September 1. (*Gulp!) They will ALL be home/out of school when the baby is born and for a few weeks after that. What am I going to do with them?

I am a big fan of homeschooling. I did it for one year of preschool, and am taking a break from it until they get a little bit older; they need to learn Hebrew which I believe can best be done by immersing them at school, and I do not feel I can homeschool when so many of them are so young. So, my plan (at the moment) is to begin homeschooling the oldest after first grade and add a child each year after that.

The reason I bring up homeschooling is that one of the biggest challenges of homeschooling is: how to get schooling AND housework AND playing AND (fill in the blank) done without everyone killing each other?

I find a similar challenge during vacation time. My boys love to play together, and are good at finding things to do. But after 2 days off or so, I find that there is not only an increase in bickering and injuries, but also they are more likely to find things to do that...ahem...I don't approve of. While free time and "boredom" can stimulate creativity, I find that lack of boundaries/expectation/direction leads to less than desirable behavior.

What to do? Just as a homeschooling family must do, you schedule. Schedule, schedule. I know some of you are thinking that it doesn't sound like much fun for them, that you want them to be able to relax and enjoy themselves, and think of their own activities. I'm not suggsting an absence of free time. Instead, I'm suggesting that even free time is scheduled.

Most of the help in scheduling I learned from Teri Maxwell, in her book Managers Of Their Homes. www.Titus2.com It was the only guide I found for step by step help in creating a schedule for a large family that had time slots for all that was necessary.

Some of my favorite tips are:

• Schedule play periods for 2 siblings together. They strengthen their relationships and get along better than they do when there are 3 or more.
• Schedule meal helpers
• Schedule one on one time with Mom or Dad
• Schedule playtime alone; every child should learn to entertain himself
• Choose activities for different days of the week so that they rotate and the children don't get bored. Example: Monday fingerpaint, Tuesday playdough,Wednesday blocks, etc.

Kids love dependable routine. They are much more likely to go along with the program if you already know what the program will be. And I really think it's the only way to stay calm in the eye of the vacation storm.

I've tried it the other way during vacation time. I didn't like it much. This time...I'm ready.

What are you doing with your little ones during summer vacation?

Challah Recipe

When I was growing up, we used to buy our challah from the Publix bakery. (Publix is a supermarket in Florida; I don't know if they're around the country)Publix makes a GOOD challah. (They also make great sheet cake)

Yes! I made this delicious looking challah. Freshly ground whole wheat and delicious!

The name of this bread, "challah" is so due to the word "separate." A challah has a small amount separated and offered to G-d. I never knew this until I moved to Israel; I always thought that challah was just a yummy egg bread.

Here is the Bible reference:

Numbers 15:17-21 The LORD instructed Moses: 18 "Speak to the Israelites and tell them: After you enter the land where I am bringing you, 19 you are to offer a contribution to the LORD when you eat from the food of the land. 20 You are to offer a loaf from your first batch of dough as a contribution; offer it just like a contribution from the threshing floor. 21 Throughout your generations, you are to give the LORD a contribution from the first batch of your dough.

When I learned the importance of using freshly ground flour and started making my own bread, I needed a good challah recipe. I tried variations, but this one has been the best so far.

RECIPE

1 3/4 c water

1/3 c oil

2/3 c honey

1 1/2 tbsp yeast

2 tsp salt

2 eggs, set a little of one egg white aside

6 1/2 c freshly ground whole wheat flour

1/4-1/2 raisins (optional. But I always use them.)

Combine water, oil, honey and yeast, and eggs. Add half the flour and salt, mix. Add the rest of the flour and knead until smooth and elastic (about 10-15 mins). Let rise till double. Shape, adding raisins if desired. Let rise till double again. Bake at 325F for about 25 mins. Brush with slightly beaten egg white for the last 5 mins of baking.

This recipe makes 2 small loaves (usually a regular 3 braid) or one large (4 or 6 braid).

I have better luck getting it to rise and be big and puffy if I do a large loaf, with a braid using 4 strands. Below is a video showing one way to braid with 6; there are many ways. Do whatever you like and enjoy!

If you want to know more about challah, here are some articles and other recipes:

http://www.aish.com/search/challah

Shabbat Shalom!

Easy Hummus Recipe

If you've never tried Hummus, you've been missing out. Hummus is a Mediterranean dish made from pureed chickpeas (garbanzo beans.)It's delicious on sandwiches or as a dip for veggies. There are many varieties and flavors; if you don't like it one way then that only means that you haven't found "your" secret ingredient.

The basic ingredients are:Cooked Chickpeas,Garlic,Olive Oil,Lemon Juice.

Israelis add Tahini, which is a paste made from sesame seeds (like peanut butter, but from sesame seeds). Tahini is a critical ingredient to Israelis; I don't like it, and I make my hummus without it, like the Greeks do.

I can't give you an exact recipe because I don't use one; I just:

1)Put my cooked chickpeas in the food processor and add:

A garlic clove

Some lemon zest, and juice of 1 lemon

Salt

Cumin (optional)

Blend till smooth, adding water as necessary, tasting and adjusting seasonings.

Variations include: Adding roasted peppers, fresh herbs such as cilantro, dill, or parsley, cayenne pepper for a little kick. Be creative! There are many things you can do, it just depends on your taste.

For a nice presentation, spread the hummmus on a shallow dish, with an "edge" higher than the rest, and a slight depression in the center. Sprinkle with paprika and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil; add some olives if you'd like.

I serve this with Roasted Eggplant and Couscous Tabouli Salad, with pita bread for dipping or making sandwiches.

Here is a video showing the basic steps for making Hummus. It's not my video; I don't use all of the same ingredients. But it shows the main idea and what it should look like when you're done. Because there are so many variations, you can take some, all, or none of the ones shown here.

Enjoy!

More Reasons to Birth at Home

For obvious reasons, I have Birthing On My Mind. I can't believe our little GIRL might be here in FOUR weeks! Maybe five or six. But either way, it's soon.

I've been spending a lot of time lately on the web, researching things related to a more Natural Lifestyle for this blog. I've noticed what seems to be a trend: more people are becoming less satisfied with the "standard" hospital birth. Those same people are helping to publicize Natural Childbirth, which almost always means Home Birth.

This is Good.

In getting closer to my own birthing experience and poking around on the web, I've discovered something: I am very passionate about hombirth. I see these interviews and read of people's experiences and tears stream down my face as I feel sad for those who don't know how peaceful and wonderful the birth experience could and should be.

Here is an extremely well-done video which further helps convey some reasons we choose to birth at home. For anyone considering this, or just wanting to know more, WATCH THIS.

It's one video, in two parts.




And here's an article from the LA Times about Ceseareans in hospital births http://articles.latimes.com/2009/may/17/business/fi-cover-birth17

Homemade Almond Milk

Are you looking for a milk alternative? If you are wondering why you should be, then please read my post on milk

Well, we try to limit our dairy consumption to occasional cheese or ice cream for a treat, so when it comes time for eating cereal, we have used rice milk for years. I recommend rice milk over soy milk because soy is quite difficult to digest.

Rice Dream costs about $3.50 per 1 liter box, and our family of 6 easily finishes a whole box for one breakfast. In learning to be frugal, I started thinking....maybe I can make my own rice milk. I haven't really looked into it, because I think it may be complicated (but I still will try to find out at some point), but I realized that I could do what I used to do when I was weaning the boys and wanted to introduce a highly nutritious "milk" for them. I made seed and nut milks!

Raw nuts and seeds are highly nutritious and can be made into butters, and yes MILKS, for babies and adults alike. The most nutritious are almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds.

I prefer Almonds to the others for milk due to their mild taste. Here is how to do it:

1/2 to 3/4 cup raw almonds (depends on how full you want the flavor to be. I used 1/2 c)
3or 4 dates (for a little sweetness)
water

1. Put the almonds and dates(pitted) in your Vitamix or blender. (more on this below)
2.Cover with water not much above the level of the food
3.Blend on high till smooth, adding only as much water as needed to blend. It will be thick.
4. Add water until liquid consistency.
5. Strain through fine mesh strainer, and again through cheesecloth (I used a clean cloth diaper/burprag) DO NOT THROW AWAY ALMOND MUSH! This is nutritious stuff and can be used in your next smoothie or added to pancakes or cookies. Use within a day or freeze for future use.
6. Your milk should be nice and smooth, free of particles. Add as much water as you want to achieve the consistency and flavor you want. I made 1 L of milk from 1/2 c almonds & 3 dates.

Pour on your quick and easy homemade granola or other cereal and enjoy! Also delicious to drink.

Note: this milk will not keep for more than a day or two in the fridge. Use the same day for best taste and nutrition.

About the blender: Work like this is tough on a regular blender. It can be done although it will wear your blender down quickly. For regular smoothie making, nut milk making, creamy soup blending, and other yummy stuff, I highly recommend a Vitamix or similar blender. I use mine every day and love it!

MILK...It Does A Body Good. Or Does It?

When I was little, I remember my grandparents always telling me to “drink your milk”. And my friends’ parents always said the same thing. Mine were pretty lax about it; I really didn’t like milk unless I filled it with Hershey’s syrup (I remember when it came in a can before they invented the squeeze bottle). I guess they were ahead of their time.

So, back to the milk. Is cow’s milk good for you? These are the questions I encourage you to ask yourself:
1) Who/what kind of animal is cow’s milk designed for? (a cow)
2) Are YOU a cow? (I hope not)
3) Do cows continue to drink milk after they are mature/weaned? (no)
4) Are YOU grown? (notice I didn’t say “mature”…I hope you still like acting like a kid sometimes :))
5) Do cows, or ANY animal you can think of, drink milk from another animal, and continue to do so post-weaning? (no, no, NO!))

Each species of mammal creates milk specially designed for that species’ growth needs, at birth and until weaning. Cow’s milk is designed to DOUBLE a calf’s weight in fifty days. I doubt you would enjoy the same affect! It also contains almost three times as much protein as human breast milk. The differences are many more than I will list here.

Besides the differences in the chemistry between human milk and that of cow’s, or any other species, a significant argument for excluding or minimizing cow’s milk in your family’s diet is the fact that it is heat processed (pasteurized). Heat denatures proteins & enzymes; in other words, you are not going to get the “good stuff” from the milk because it’s been “killed”. Also, the typical dairy farm compromises the cow’s lifestyle. They may be fed stale grains, grown in nutritionally depleted soil. Unless they are free to roam, they get no exercise. They often are pumped with hormones to get them to produce more milk, and given antibiotics since they are unhealthy, due to their lifestyle. These chemicals come out in the milk.

Many people are “lactose intolerant”. This is actually a NORMAL condition, because our bodies do not produce the enzyme lactase which is needed to break down lactose after early childhood (because it’s not expected that we would still be breastfeeding) !

“What about calcium?” you ask. While it’s true that milk has lots, it is also so high in protein that your body cannot absorb the calcium it gets at the same time. Not only can't you get calcium, but the high protein content actually causes your body to REMOVE calcium from your bones to act as a buffer in your blood. That’s right, drinking milk actually causes you to LOSE calcium from your bones. The best place to get calcium is from dark green leafy vegetables. If you are concerned you are not getting enough of those, I highly recommend JuicePlus+ to help you get what you need. Almonds are also a good source of calcium; this fresh almond milk is what we use most of the time instead of cow's milk.

As far as osteoporosis, there is NO evidence that increased dairy consumption decreases the occurrence of osteoporosis. In fact, the countries with the highest milk intake also have the highest rates of osteoporosis. This probably is because of what's stated above: your body REMOVES calcium from your bones to deal with the milk you put in. The dairy council has done a number on us! Not that I blame them.

What to drink instead of milk? Well, water is what should be drunk on a regular basis. But as far as milk alternatives, many options exist.

See my post on Making Fresh Almond Milk for milk alternatives.



This made me laugh so much that I had to include it!

Here is a very good article about osteoporosis: http://www.betterbones.com/osteoporosis/top10myths.aspx

And this is a fantastic site with detailed articles on many physical conditions and how they relate to milk consumption: http://www.notmilk.com/