So easy a child could do it...yeah, RIGHT!

So I decided that as an official blogger, I needed to have my own domain and a WordPress site. I've been with Blogger since I started but I've heard so much about the versatility and user friendliness of WordPress that I felt compelled to give it a try. If you thought that surfing the internet was a time consumer on par with a black hole, you've clearly never tried to set up a WP blog! Plugins and Tools and Settings, OH MY!

Okay, okay. So it's not brain surgery or biochemical research. Then again, it's not exactly elementary either. I knew I was in trouble when a majority of the plugins were written to address the professional blog-builders who have to 'deal with the expectations of blog owners'. When I had to go to Google Translate to convert from Latin and Greek to English, I felt as if the effort was doomed.

But...I press on, no WordPress pun intended, and am determined to one day make it into the WordPress world of blogging. Some day.

If you're interested in how the effort is going so far, and after swearing not to giggle when you see it, you can click here to see the work in progress.

Hey...I said NO giggling...

Beef Stock from Nourishing Traditions

My favorite cookbook, without a doubt, is "Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats" by Sally Fallon with Mary G. Enig, Ph.D. You might remember both of these ladies from Fat Head.

It's a bit of a cross between a cookbook and a history of food and the politics that surround it. I've had it for at least 10 years and though Sally and I don't see eye to eye on everything, we agree an awful lot more than we disagree. There are some things in the book that I've never tried, some for reasons of taste (fermenting dairy and vegetable items) and others for reasons of laziness (sprouting grains) but everything that I have tried has been a huge success.

It was Nourishing Traditions that led me to the Weston A. Price Foundation which in turn led me to Save Your Dairy as a source for Raw Milk and then to Tropical Traditions for organic, virgin coconut oil and coconut products. You could say that Nourishing Traditions has been the linchpin on which our health has turned.

Here's Sally's recipe for Beef Stock which can be found on page 122:

About 4 pounds beef marrow and knuckle bones
1 calves foot, cut into pieces (optional)
3 pounds meaty rib or neck bones
4 or more quarts cold filtered water
1/2 cup vinegar
3 onions, coarsely chopped
3 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
3 carrots, coarsely chopped
several sprigs of fresh thyme, tied together
1 teaspoon dried green peppercorns, crushed
1 bunch parsley

Place the knuckle and marrow bones and optional calves foot in a very large pot with vinegar and cover with water. Let stand for one hour. Meanwhile, place the meaty bones in a roasting pan and brown at 350 degrees in the oven. When well browned, add to the pot along with the vegetables. Pour the fat out of the roasting pan, add cold water to the pan, set over a high flame and bring to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon to loosen up the coagulated juices. Add this liquid to the pot. Add additional water, if necessary, to cover the bones; but the liquid should come no higher than within one inch of the rim of the pot, as the volume expands slightly during cooking. Bring to a boil. A large amount of scum will come to the top, and it is important to remove this with a spoon. After you have skimmed, reduce heat and add the thyme and crushed peppercorns.

Simmer stock for at least 12 hours and as long as 72 hours. Just before finishing, add the parsley and simmer another 10 minutes.

You will now have a pot of rather repulsive looking brown liquid containing globs of gelatinous and fatty material. It doesn't even smell particularly good. But don't despair. After straining you will have a delicious and nourishing clear broth that forms the basis for many other recipes in the book.

Remove bones with tongs or a slanted spoon. Strain the stock into a large bowl. Let cool in the refrigerator and remove the congealed fat that rises to the top. Transfer to smaller containers and to the freezer for long-term storage.

And that's all there is to it!

As a testament to how much I love this cookbook; here's a picture of my copy. As you can see, it's been loved nearly to pieces.

Mission accomplished

As you may recall, last week Trish, of the JustChickenScratch Blog, and I challenged ourselves to blog every day for seven days and as of last night, that mission has been accomplished! I had a lot of fun along the way and luckily never ran out of things to say (whether or not those things were interesting is an entirely other matter). Those of you who have known me for any length of time know that I rarely run out of things to say so you're not surprised but hopefully, you've been entertained.

Today is the start of another new week, even though the calendar says it's Tuesday, and new adventures loom on the horizon. My second batch of beef stock ala Nourishing Traditions is happily bubbling away on the stove, and will be for the next 24 hours, new breads are waiting to be made, new blog posts from some of my favorite bloggers are waiting to be read and there's a world of research out there just waiting to be Googled and consumed so...I'm off and running. Anyone want to come along?

Epic Fail: The rest of the Bread Story

Note to self; You can't bake 2 2-pound loaves for the same amount of time that you cook 4 1-pound loaves because is you do, you'll get what you see pictured here. Ewww...

I decided that the one pound loaves were too small to make sandwiches out of so I used my two pound loaf pans instead. I thumped and thumped and thumped them and I really thought that they were done though there was constantly a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that something didn't seem quite right.

The first loaf sliced up pretty well so I thought that things were A-Ok. As it turns out however, even the first loaf had a muddy section in it towards the back that I didn't discover until this evening when we got that far into it. Seeing that, I decided I'd better cut into the second one and...well, needless to say, it had a little more than just slightly muddy section. It had an entire swamp.

But tomorrow is another day and with it comes another opportunity to start again.

Baking & breaking bread on Family day

I started my bread bright and early this morning. Ok, so it wasn't actually early but it was actually quite bright. I used a very simple recipe that made four one-pound loaves and here are the remaining three plus the last two slices of the fourth in all their glory.

I do believe that this is the best bread I've ever made. The flavor and texture were both just right; that is to say, the flavor was mild and the texture was light. I had several pieces slathered with butter and it's all I can do to keep from slicing up another loaf and having lunch early but I am determined to take it slow since this is the first wheat I've had in about three months.

It was thrilling to use my NutriMill and my Bosch again. While the bread was rising I strained the chicken stock I'd been cooking in the crock pot for the last two days so between milling my own flour, baking my own bread and straining the chicken stock I'd been cooking for two days, I was feeling like quite the little Betty Crocker this morning.

On the agenda for this afternoon? Homemade cleaners! Below is the bread recipe that I used and I've added notes in parenthesis to specify what I used. Also, I used a Bosch mixer, not the Kitchen Assistant.

The Bread Beckers Bread & Rolls

1-1/2 cups hot water
1 cup cold milk (raw, unpasteurized)
1/3 cup oil (olive)
1/3 cup honey (organic, raw, unpasteurized)
3 eggs

4-1/2 tsp instant yeast (SAF)
6 to 7-1/4 cups freshly milled flour (I ended up using 8 cups that were a blend of half hard red and half hard white wheat berries)
1 Tbsp salt (sea salt)

Combine water, milk, oil, honey and eggs in the bowl of the Electrolux Assistent.  Add yeast and about 5 cups of the flour.  Mix on medium speed until well blended. Add the salt. Continue to mix adding the flour 1/2 cup at a time.  Bring the Assistent's  arm into the center and out a few times between each addition of four.  When the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl enough flour has been added.  Lock the roller about 1/2" from the side of the bowl (or more if you double or triple the recipe).  Turn the speed to high and allow to knead 8-10 minutes, or until the dough, forms a smooth ball .  Let rise until double.  With a single or double batch, you may let the dough rise in the bowl. With a triple recipe, turn the dough out onto a floured surface to let rise.

After rising, form into loaves or other shapes using any of the variations that follow.

I like to braid my loaves.  To braid, divide the dough for one loaf into three pieces and roll into ropes.  Braid, tucking the ends under. Place in greased loaf pan.  Let rise until at least double in size.  Bake loaves at 350o for 25-30 minutes.  Recipe makes 3 medium size loaves or about 30 dinner rolls.

*Note: One package of yeast is about 2-1/2 tsp. of yeast.  With instant yeast you do not need to sprinkle the yeast over the liquids. You may add it with the flour.

Seeds of Change

I talked yesterday about my crisis of faith; that is to say, my faith in what type of diet is best for optimal human health. I said that I was going to start doing some research on what the Bible has to say about health and true to my word, here's what I've found so far.

First, here's the latest book that I've downloaded to my Kindle. Aside from the fact that some of the science appears to be (woefully) out of date, I am enjoying the book quite a bit. Second, here's a blog post that I stumbled upon last night that not only expressed some of the same reservations, but for the very same reasons. After completing the blog read, beginning the book and petitioning God through prayer for His perfect will, I made a trip today to Shar's to pick up some hard red wheat which I intend to blend with some hard white wheat for several loaves of fresh milled and baked wheat bread for tomorrow - the Sabbath day.

Coming tomorrow...pictures of the bread!

A Crisis of Faith

Since mid January of this year, I've read books, blogs, editorials and opinions about what type of diet is best. The one that has always made the most sense to me is a diet that is low in carbohydrate, high in fat and moderate in protein.

Years ago I read and fell in love with Sally Fallon's "Nourishing Traditions" cookbook which teaches about the wonder of grains that have been soaked/sprouted or fermented and for quite some time, I believed that this was the way to go with grains though I never actually followed their advice. At least in terms of the grains. Bone broths and proteins, you bet. Dairy and grains, not so much.

My most recent research has been focussed on the Primal/Paleo diets which completely rule-out grains along with the Atkins Diet which initially forbids grain though they may be added in, in extreme moderation, by those who have achieved their desired weight and now look to maintain it. Everything negative that I've read about grains, about wheat in particular, makes perfect sense to me whether it's Sally Fallon's view that grains are safe and nutritious if phytic acid is neutralized by soaking/sprouting/fermenting first or whether it's the Primal/Paleo view that the human body has not, and may never, adapt to eating grains which is a relatively new addition to the human diet in terms of the history of humanity.

It all makes perfect sense to me from a scientific point of view and as a result, I've completely removed all grains from my diet and from that of my family's diet. But from the very beginning there's been a seed of doubt growing in my mind and with every passing day, that seed grows just a little bit more and today, I found that it's sprouted into a beautiful little plant that I can no longer ignore. I'm going to have to decide what this seed of doubt has grown into; a weed that needs to be plucked or a plant that needs to be nurtured?

Here's the crux of the problem, or the point of crisis in my faith; if grains are bad for human digestion, to the point that they should be completely avoided, why are the Scriptures full of references to them and to products made from them? Jesus himself is referred to as the Bread of Life, God gave Ezekiel a recipe for bread, Joseph was told to store grain for the coming famine, Jesus and his disciples walked through a wheat field on the Sabbath and ate the grain, bread was baked for the Temple and bread figures prominently in all of the Biblical feasts. Bread and grain appear over and over and over again in the Bible so how can it be that humans are not meant to consume grains?

Could it be that we're simply not meant to consume the modern version of these grains (refined white flour and the plethora of snack and cereal items made from 'whole grains', etc) but rather the ancient ones?

Answering this question will be the subject of my research in the coming weeks and your thoughts would be MOST welcome. After all, you're some of the smartest folks I know.

The Tooth Soap has arrived

My Tooth Soap from Rose of Sharon Acres came in the mail yesterday and I've now used it twice. The first thing that struck me was that there isn't much of a taste while you're brushing your teeth. I was vaguely aware of a slight "soapy" flavor but on the whole, it's pretty tasteless. That is UNTIL you rinse. Once the water goes in the flavor is unleashed. I wouldn't call it soapy and it's not very strong. It is a little sweet and a little something else that I can only describe as fresh. I did a little experimenting with bar soap as a tooth soap before my real tooth soap arrived and my experience with the bar soap was nearly identical; not much flavor to the suds, lots of flavor upon rinsing. For inquiring minds; the bar soap I used, twice, was Dial white. Word to the wise; if you're planning to wash a child's mouth out with soap, Dial is not a good choice. I'd stick with the liquid dish soaps, especially the already not-so-pleasant smelling ones like Palmolive. It's MUCH more offensive to the palate. Not that I would know you understand...I'm just telling you what I've heard.

Here's a picture of my Tooth Chips. You use one "chip" every time you brush.

Why would anyone consider an Organic Tooth Soap versus a modern Toothpaste? Well for one thing, modern pastes have Fluoride in them, a toxic chemical that shouldn't be in our toothpaste, let alone our drinking water. You can read all about it here. In addition to the Fluoride, there's a laundry list of other ingredients that shouldn't have any contact with the soft tissues in your mouth. For more information on that, click here and here.

If you are planning to order this soap, which I would highly recommend you do, you should probably order it right now before it gets any warmer otherwise, you won't have tooth chips, you'll have a tooth hockey puck. By ordering from Rose of Sharon Acres, you're supporting an American family business while taking care of your family's business! It's a win, win proposition.

I Dreamed a Dream

Every time that Madeline's medications have been changed, and I do mean every time, whether or not they reduced the number or frequency of seizures, the new medications have always changed the seizures in some fundamental and usually profound way.

Although Modified Atkins Diet for Seizure Control (MAD) is not a medication, it too has changed Maddy's seizures and I daresay, for the BETTER. Whether or not this change is permanent, only time will tell but if history is any indicator, the change is permanent.

The change: What used to be a noisy, violent seizure has become a silent, almost still seizure. So silent and still in fact that they don't wake me up. Typically when Maddy rolls over in bed it wakes me up and I look at her to see if she's seizing or shifting but for the last week or so, on the nights when she has had seizures, I've slept right through them.

The Roller-Coaster: Just a few days into the diet, Maddy's seizures disappeared. Then she missed her morning dose of medication (TWICE!) and her seizures returned. She got back on track with her medications and the seizures disappeared. Then she got food poisoning (not at home) and the seizures returned. As she's gotten better over the last three days, the returned seizures have been fewer and fewer each night, and they've been the quiet ones.

Amazing Development: This morning when Maddy got up she had two things to report. First, she had NO seizures last night. PRAISE GOD.

But here's the second piece of news, the AMAZING one: for the first time in more years than she can remember, she had a DREAM !

Her seizures so disturb her sleep that as far as she knew, she had stopped dreaming. Whether or not that's true, we have no idea but she has no memory of any dreams. Last night however, she had a very vivid dream about a book that her sister is reading and she remembered it in great detail!!

How is that for AMAZING!?!?! After ten years of seizures, my little girl is DREAMING again!!

When you put it that way

I've already read Why We Get Fat: And What To Do About It by Gary Taubes, the layman's version of Good Calories, Bad Calories, so the following sentence from Paleo 2.0 A Diet Manifesto should have come as no surprise to me:

My own diet, due to hubris and the belief that I had “good genes”, had thankfully never been deficient in eggs, red meat, butter or bacon. They had tried to teach us that “cholesterol” was something to fret about when I was in medical school, but even my undergraduate and medical school biochemistry at the time made that seem only vaguely plausible. Hadn’t humans been eating meat for millions of years?

Oddly enough however, this was the first time I'd seen a defense of cholesterol approached from this angle. Typically the argument points to the relatively new addition of grains and refined carbohydrates to the human diet as the culprit for skyrocketing rates of Type Two Diabetes, Obesity and Heart Disease which, by implication, clears saturated fats and cholesterol of guilt. But it wasn't until I saw this other side of the coin that the safety of dietary cholesterol was finally settled in my mind. Of course this safety comes with a caveat; if healthy fats are consumed along with grains, sugar and starches, all bets are off.

The mission, should you choose to accept it...

Is to Blog every day for the next seven days...starting...NOW!

The amazingly creative and ever witty Trish, of JustChickenScratch.com, and I have decided to Blog every day for the next seven days, even if all we have to say is that we really don't have anything to say. :) Why on Earth would two busy women with husbands, children and jobs make such a pledge? It's quite simple you see...we both happen to be brilliant and passionate about the people and places in our lives and we decided that it's about time we got busy sharing that brilliance and passion with anyone that we can entice, trick, cajole, nag and/or force to read our Blogs!

Step one (of our evil plan) is now complete...

See you tomorrow!

Tooth Chips are on the way!

I was inches away from making my own toothpaste using Virgin Coconut Oil, Baking Soda, Organic Peppermint Oil and Stevia from a recipe that I found here, but once I saw the whites of the Coconut Oil...I lost my nerve.

SO, it's back to my original plan; trying the Tooth Chips with Neem Bark and Xylitol from Rose of Sharon Acres.

My Peppermint Chips shipped today and I am breathless with anticipation. No pun intended. :) Stay tuned for a review...

Wellness Mama - My new favorite Blog

My new favorite blog, Wellness Mama, is hosting a give-away for a cookbook that I would LOVE to get my hands on! If you've been converting your household to a more natural/whole foods based way of eating, check out both the Blog and the giveaway!!

First Week of Modified Atkins Diet (MAD)

What a rocky weekend!!

History: Maddy started MA on Monday 03/14. Monday night and Tuesday night, seizures were up.

Wednesday-Friday night - NO SEIZURES!
Saturday night - Stopped counting seizures at TEN. :(

Sunday morning: I was depressed because even though I'd said we were keeping our feet on the ground and our expectations low because we'd seen seizure honeymoons before, my hopes WERE high.

BUT...when Maddy looked at her medication box, what did she find? Her Saturday morning medications UNTAKEN. Whenever she misses a dose of medication, she has a 'bad day' or a 'bad night' and this alone could explain the return of the seizures. Hope returns.

Sunday night - ZERO SEIZURES!!!!!!!!!!

So...I'm not kidding myself anymore. My hopes are high and so are Madeline's. But the diet really does seem to be working!!!

The Long and Winding Road

Madeline, March 2011

It doesn't seem possible but it's been ten years since we started this journey through Epilepsy with our precious Maddy May.

In those ten years, she's been through daily seizures, countless EEG's, three VEEG's, more tests beginning with the letters 'MR' than I can possibly recall, every scan known to magnetic and nuclear science, a SISCOM, IVIG therapy, VNS implantation, two surgical consultations and a dozen different medications and yet, we're still just about where we started.

Now that her Doctors agree that we're at the end of what they can do for her, though they're still willing to re-run a test or two and throw in a new one for good measure, they ask us a question that we asked them almost ten years ago; have you ever considered the Ketogenic Diet? I can't tell you how it grieves my heart to hear those words. What happened to your initial assessment that she 'was not a candidate for Keto'? I go over it and over it in my mind and I wonder how different things might have been if only we'd pushed a little bit harder or asked just one more question.

But, the past is the past, and since it's our experiences that make us who we are, we wouldn't be the same people that we are today had things gone differently. I also take great comfort in the knowledge that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. And so, we move on.

As God would have it, almost two months before Madeline's last VEEG hospital stay, I had begun researching the benefits of a low carbohydrate way of life for myself (for weight loss) as well as educating myself on the dangers of sugar, refined carbohydrates and processed foods (for the whole family) so when the question was asked, we were nearly ready to go low-carb as a family. This would no doubt make Madeline's adjustment an easier one because she wouldn't be surrounded by her parents and siblings eating foods that she cannot have. God is an amazing planner, is He not?

In mid-March we had a weekend long goodbye to sugar and carbs blowout and on March 14th, 2011, we all went low-carb and Maddy began the Modified Atkins Diet for Seizures.

Here's our first report:

Madeline (18) started Modified Atkins on Monday and we were getting a little worried as her seizures sky-rocketed Tuesday and Wednesday but then suddenly, last night, there were ZERO seizures!!!

I'm trying to keep my feet on the ground, knowing that for every step you take forward you sometimes take two steps back and remembering too that we've seen honeymoons before when new medications were tried but even so...it's been so long since she went a day without a seizure that I can't even remember when it was.

At any rate, she actually got some real sleep last night and I am overjoyed for her. :)