Given that this is the Hubster's vacation time, we've been doing more family stuff than usual. The weather hasn't been very cooperative but it's been fun. Hubster took CrazyHorse out to his grandmother's property twice to pick mulberries and black raspberries. Yesterday, we found two pick your own berries places and loaded up. Today, there is a double recipe of strawberry=blackraspberry fruit leather in the oven and tomorrow I'll be making a double recipe of black raspberry cobbler for the fourth of july picnic. It was fun to go out and pick the berries with Hubs and CH. Wolverine stayed with Hubster's parents because he would have gotten bored or fussy.
We've added another thing to our Someday Dream - berries. Lots and lots of them. With the veggies and eggs and all that stuff too - maybe we'll even start a side of the road stand on the weekends or something. Having the dream is nice. Working towards the dream is nicer. Living the dream... we hope to someday and that will be fabulous.
This time - it was a success! And it's really really good. Couldn't tell you how much of what I used - maybe a quart of blueberries and three quarts mulberries, give or take, plus 1/3c water to rinse out the blender and get ALL the juicy bits. Sweetened to taste with honey and sugar (both organic) and 14 hours later at 150 degrees - mmmm yummy. Hubster likes it too. Depending on what's going on tomorrow - I might make another batch - this time, raspberry, black berry, black raspberry. As I do believe I have about four quarts. If we lived in a place where we happened to have a huge abundance of berries - I'd make this stuff once a week. It's really really yummy. Better than fruit roll-ups anyway.
The first batch I tried to make was one giant fail. I didn't use enough fruit (was trying to start small in case I messed it up) and it fuzed to the waxed paper. It tasted really great. If you don't mind eating paper. Which I do.
So, today I'm trying again. Definately used enough fruit this time and nixed the paper for the third option of nonstick spray (did you know they make an organic cooking spray?? They do.) So - in about 6-12 hours, I'll know if it is going to come out this time or not.
Today's mix: Blueberry, Mulberry, organic honey, and organic sugar. The berries came from Hubster's grandmother's house so -- not only are they fresh and local but not covered in pesticides or anything else. Works for me!
I'll let you know how it works out.
I wish we had a better local grocery store! Our store's organic section is tiny. I should be happy they have one at all I suppose but gah! how am I supposed to change the way we eat when I'm so limited to one little section + produce? the center aisles are nearly completely useless to us now. What I wouldn't give for a local wild oats or a store like the one my husband used to manage - but alas - I live in the middle of the junk food and pretend foods section of the country. I miss connecticut again! I did find some stuff for him though - and in some cases, we'll be trying some of the vegetarian stuff even though we're NOT going veggie - that stuff has less junk in it. I did find a little cookie Wolverine can have - it's got a lot of sugar in it but at least it's natural sugars and not hydrogenated corn syrups and dextrose it's listed as: Sugar and Molasses. It also has no pretend color or flavor and those are the things I'm focusing on for this round. Cut out the pretend stuff and the chemicals (that aren't big fancy names for vitamins and minerals anyway). That's all I'm trying to do. (and make sure that our animal products are manufactured in a humane and decent way.)
It shouldn't be so hard! It really shouldn't be so hard to find companies that are willing to part with their chemicals.
On the plus side - my grocery store DOES carry some of the mrs. meyers products and some burt's bees products. I LOVE burt's bees. Especially their chapstick - it's like blistex but so so much better.
I think the biggest struggle with the transition into a better diet for Wolverine will not be the added prep time or the increased work load for me in the kitchen and grocery story but will come from our families. Not so much my Dad - I think he will be quite taken with this idea unfortunately, he's also the one living furthest away. We went to the Hubster's parents' house to visit with his relatives who were in town.We left Wolverine with them for an hour or so and went with CrazyHorse to play in a creek. I guess I should have said something to someone about not giving Wolverine stuff he's not supposed to have. But then, it never occured to me that anyone would give him jelly beans or chocolates. He's not even two. Even before we looked into this new diet, I had sugar restrictions well in place. And I can't even be too mad because the woman is a virtual stranger and I don't think my motherinlaw saw her giving him chocolate. But it still irritates me. What I need to do is get a food mill - something to make sausage like things. Wolverine will eat anything that looks like a hotdog. Maybe if I make them at home, stuffing them with good meats and veggies - maybe he can still eat what he likes and be eating all the stuff that's good for him too. I'll be very interested to see what my grandmother thinks. She's a snackbuyer. She loves plying my kids with everything they like to eat (even if it's not good for them). But I think she'll go out of her way to try to find alternatives too. So, we'll see. Today, CrazyHorse and I are going to make fruit leather. Trying to replace the gerber fruit strips he loves so much. If it goes well, I'll post the recipe.
And all I can say is - eeewwww....
Carmine, a food coloring used in yogurt, juice drinks, and who knows where else - comes from beetles. Sure, maybe bugs are good for you, deep down, but eeewww. that's just gross. Though I will say this - if we have to have artificial coloring, better it comes from a source like this then say, petroleum, where most of the artificial colors appear to come from.
Yes. A very good thing I'm looking into this now. I may never eat processed foods again - beetles and crude oil and who knows what other crap I've been swallowing without a second thought. And we ALL do this every day.
What's in your cupboard? Really? go look.
My youngest has had a myriad of problems from the start. First, we had the reflux - which was miserable. Then we had the skin irritations. He's allergic to most everything. Dreft, certain styles of Pampers, Aveeno, Johnson & Johnson soaps and lotions, and about a billion other things. If it's meant to touch his skin, he'll probably react to it. Apart from his overly sensative skin, he has eczema. Mild and probably controlable but definately there. We recently had a scare with a swollen lymph node and the doctor walked around the subject of modifying his diet to perhaps a whole food sort of diet. I've been looking into it tonight between thunder storms and really - it fits in to the changes my family has been making so far this summer. Yes. It takes it to a new level but, it IS the ideal we want to strive for! It certainly won't be easy and will definately take some doing but it's so worth it if it makes my baby feel better. We're going to try and find his triggers this summer - see what it is that makes him itchy and miserable and see if we can't do better by him. The hope is that he grows out of it - but even if he does, the lesson is a good one to learn - that the food we eat effects us in ways we aren't always aware of. I'm going to follow our progress here - Maybe, maybe, another mother who is going through the same kind of thing with her little ones will find this blog and find something about it that is useful.
~S