Make it Yourself Monday: Moving House

Our boxes are packed and we have less than a week left here at Hillcrest. Life is busy and we are making easy meals and eating healthy snacks. I don't have time to blog much this week but I would still love for you to share your posts by linking up to Make it Yourself Monday.

Take some time to look through previous MIYM posts for ideas, and let me know how you feed your family from scratch rather that from store-bought ready made foods. Also, look forward to guest posts, giveaways, and more MIYM posts in September.

One Bowl Pesto Supper

Mmm! I can imagine many variations on this theme, but last night we had white beans, chicken, and pesto. Only 3 ingredients (unless you count the individual ingredients in the pesto of course) and so yummy! If I make this again, I'll try adding some sauteed onion and diced tomato. You could also make this a vegetarian meal by replacing the chicken with pasta or eating just the beans and pesto with whole grain bread. And then there's this soup that I'm going to have to try before the season is over!

Chicken, White Bean Pesto Bowl

Ingredients: 
1 cup dry white beans (great northern or navy)
1 cup cooked, diced chicken
1/2 cup pesto

Directions:
Soak dry beans overnight to make them cook faster and digest more easily. Cook until soft. Alternatively you can use 2 cans pre-cooked beans for this recipe.
Mix ingredients and serve. Easy-peasy!!

Linked to Real Food Wednesday and Tuesday Twister.

Make it Yourself Monday: Pesto

My favorite farmer at the market gave me a giant bag of basil for $5 last week because I came near the end of the day and it needed to be used. I froze some for later (basil loses some of its flavor when dried) and used the rest to make up three big batches of pesto (I'm freezing two in glass jars - leave an inch or so). Pesto is a great way to use up extra herbs from the garden and is an impressive addition to dinner when entertaining. There are endless possibilities to tweaking this recipe, but here are the basics:

Ingredients
2 cups fresh basil leaves
3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled (or 2 tsp pre-minced garlic)
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup olive oil
juice from 1/2 a lemon
1 tsp sea salt
black pepper to taste


Directions
Rinse and dry your basil leaves (if you are picking your own, I hear its best to pick them in the cool of the morning as they lose flavor throughout the day). I'm lazy, so I combine all of the ingredients in a food processor and process until almost smooth. Taste, and add more of whatever you think it needs. Since the word pesto comes from "pestle," you could also do this by hand if you don't have a food processor. Or, you could try your blender. 

Substitutions
We rarely eat cheese, so we exclude parmesan from our pesto, though traditionally you'd cut back on the salt in the above recipe and add a 1/2 cup or more of grated parmesan or even feta cheese. You can also substitute pine nuts for walnuts or hazelnuts (if you experiment further, let me know!!) and you can replace all or part of your basil with fresh parsley or spinach. You can also omit the lemon juice if you don't have it, or replace it with lime juice. The citric acid helps it maintain it's green color and the lemon flavor adds a nice touch.

Serving suggestions
We ate chicken sandwiches with pesto on a ciabatta roll last night. Would have been heavenly with a slice of tomato. Pesto is most commonly used as a pasta sauce, but it can be used as a garnish on any meat (especially chicken breast and pork chops), an ad-in for soups, a dip for veggies, or my favorite - a spread on crusty italian bread. Pesto will stay fresh in the refrigerator for a week or longer, and will freeze for a few months.

How do you use pesto? What else do you usually make from scratch instead of buying pre-made? Link up below!

Easy Roasted Red Pepper Dip

We don't always feel like eating big heavy meals in the summertime, but we are always hungry! I found some pita chips on sale for .89 and whipped this dip up to go with them this week. Parsley was straight from our garden pot. :D It's easy to halve or double according to your needs.

Easy Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Ingredients

2 med. red bell peppers
4 cloves of garlic, peeled & minced
8oz. cream cheese (make your own)
small bunch of parsley
1/2 tsp salt

Directions

Wrap your (whole) red peppers in foil and roast at 350 degrees for about half an hour in either the oven - or to avoid heating the house - a toaster oven.
Peppers should be starting to soften and be easy to peel.
Peel the peppers, remove seeds and stem, and cut them into at least 4 pieces each (to make them easier to process).
Combine peppers and the rest of the ingredients in your food processor and process until consistency is smooth.
Serve with raw veggies or pita chips.

This post is linked to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Tuesday Twister.

Make it Yourself Monday: Shampoo & Conditioner

I have recently joined the ranks of people who have gone "no-poo." I haven't used shampoo in 8 weeks!

In college, I knew a girl who stopped washing her hair and let her natural oils take over She had smartly dyed her hair black first so that the grease wasn't as obvious - but I still had no desire to imitate. When I heard about bloggers ditching shampoo, I assumed it was the same thing and kind of averted my eyes.

Then I read this post at Live Renewed and thought "duh! Of course all of these awesome bloggers would be doing something more creative!" I waited until my post-pardum brain fog was gone and then decided to give it a shot.

No-Poo doesn't mean no washing. It just means using something other than shampoo - most often baking soda to clean and apple cider vinegar to condition.

The Method:

To wash with baking soda, either...

• Fill a squirt bottle or old shampoo bottle about 1/8 full of baking soda and fill the rest of the way with water. Shake well each time you use as the baking soda will settle. Squirt some the mixture (amount will vary with the type and length of your hair) on your wet hair at the roots and work it through well. Let it sit for a few minutes and then rinse.
• Or, make a paste of about 1 Tsp baking soda and a small amount of water and rub that into your hair from the roots, let sit, and rinse.

To condition, fill another bottle 1/4 with ACV and the rest with water. Shake well and apply to hair after washing, let sit, and rinse. You may want to try just conditioning the ends of your hair to prevent greasy roots.

The Verdict:

I was *not* impressed for the first month or so. I'd read there was a "detox" period when hair might be greasy and unmanageable. I told myself I'd stick it out for 6 weeks at least, and as that date was drawing closer, I was getting miserable. I decided to switch from the first shampoo method (above) to the second, and used a LOT of baking soda for good measure. I almost cried when I felt the grease melting away. Turns out, I wasn't using enough baking soda for my hair, and I wasn't shaking the bottle enough before using it. I've gone back to the first method to save money by using less baking soda, and my hair is doing great! Here's picture proof:

That last picture was taken mid-day at the WBW event I blogged about, and the first were taken when it was freshly washed and dried last night. I can generally wash my hair every 3 days with this method, though I put it up the third day.

So WHY ditch the suds? What's wrong with shampoo and conditioner? Suave is only $.99 or less - so frugality can't be my only motivation! Shampoos, like most beauty products, are pumped full of things that are great for conveniently enhancing our appearance, but unfortunately not our health. Some common suspects are parabens, sulfates, dyes, and frangrances. Many of the ingredients in shampoos are toxic, even carcinogenic, and beauty products that are free of them will cost you a pretty penny (pun intended). Visit the Skin Deep Database created by the Environmental Working Group to look up the products you are currently using and learn more about their ingredients.

I appreciated what Stephanie from Keeper of the Home said in her video blog post - she said that it hasn't "revolutionized" her hair like some have reported, but she's happy enough with the results (paraphrased). I'd agree - it's no better or worse than my hair was with shampoo. But I do feel much better about what I'm exposing my skin (and therefore the rest of my body including my blood and potentially my breastmilk) to.

You may need to play around the with ratios to get the combo that's best for your hair - don't be like me and suffer for a month. Check out these posts for more "no-poo" experiences, and then link up to Make it Yourself Monday with your posts about things you make yourself instead of buying pre-made at the store!

Health, Home, and Happiness does no-poo
Keeper of the Home does no-poo and a video
Live Renewed does no-poo
Hospitality Haven talks about traveling with natural hair care supplies

My New Pantry

We're still in the process of filling out loan paperwork for our new home, but I am getting more and more excited every day! We're hoping for a closing date near the end of the month and then I'll have tons of fun posting pictures of my new kitchen and everything I make in it.

For now, here are a couple of pictures (of the kitchen and living/dining areas) from the real estate listing page and a photo I took on inspection day of one of the most exciting parts of our new home - a pantry armoire with swinging shelves two deep. I've never seen anything like it! Have any of you ever owned one of these? It looks like it will be perfect for storing bulk spices and the like in mason jars, as well as keeping fermenting foods off of the counter while they are soaking.

 

Don't be surprised if its a bit quiet around here for a while as we transition, I've got quite a few things up my sleeve for September and then the Fall season.

**edit** This post is now linked to the 4 Moms, 35 Kids Open House hosted by The Common Room, Smockity Frocks, Life in a Shoe, and Raising Olives. You should click over to one or more of those sites to see all of the neat kitchens linked up! 

Swagbucks: Back to School!

If you haven't already signed up for Swagbucks - now's the time! There will be opportunities to earn extra Swagbucks for new and old SB members all week long. If you are signing up for the first time, enter code BackToSchool (case sensitive) for an extra 40 swagbucks - that's on top of the 30 you usually get at sign up!

Other promotions this week include:

• Back to School Themed bucks - collect them all for a 50 sb bonus
• Sales on school supplies and kids items in the Swag Store
• Facebook and Twitter promos
• A Swag Code Extravaganza on Thursday - at least 5 codes will be released!

You earn Swagbucks by searching, filling out surveys, answering polls, completing special offers, and collecting codes. You can then redeem your bucks for all kinds of prizes including the very popular Amazon gift cards and Paypal cash! I've opted for the latter and have earned $45 this year! Don't wait - click the banner below to sign up, and don't forget to use the code BackToSchool!

The links above are affiliate links. I will earn Swagbucks if you use them to sign up.

Make it Yourself Monday: Breastmilk

Last week was World Breastfeeding Week. I wasn't able to make a timely post about it due to a yucky computer virus, but MIYM seems appropriate since it's all my baby eats and hey... I make it! I always crack up when I see shirts promoting breastfeeding with sayings like this one. I couldn't possibly bring myself to drawing that much attention to my breasts all day long, but the sentiment is awesome!

This past Saturday, I was privileged to be a part of a WBW program put on at a local hospital. I was one of half a dozen women who spoke about our breastfeeding experiences and other issues surrounding feeding our little ones. They asked me to speak for 10 minutes. My original draft took 35 minutes to read on my trial run! What I've pasted below is the longer and more organized version of what I ended up sharing. I was asked specifically to share about co-sleeping, extended breastfeeding, and nutrition:

Let me begin by saying that I have been SO blessed by nursing my two little ones. It goes without saying that nursing is a blessing for babies, but some of you may be surprised to hear me say that I have been blessed by my time nursing. It's a little surprising to me too honestly. I, like many women, was a little afraid that pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing would be all sacrifice and no reward. I'm so pleased to report that that's not true!

While I was pregnant with my now 2 ½ year old, my husband and I had some newly married friends over for dinner one night. I love to do in-depth research on subjects that interest me and I always have a dozen or so non-fiction titles checked out from the library and they are always in some place easy to get to from a seating area. As we chatted in the living room before dinner my current stack of non-fictions caught the husbands eye. As his eyes got very large and he stopped being able to focus on whatever we were discussing, I realized that the titles were all about childbirth and nursing. Among them was LLL's "Womanly Art of Breastfeeding," and one of my favorites - a book called "So That's What They're For!!" In an astonished voice he looked at me and asked, "How much is there to KNOW about breastfeeding?? Is it that complicated??!" They are now the proud parents of a great little boy, by the way, so I didn't scare them too badly!

There is a lot to know! With all of the research I did, you might assume that nursing was a cinche for me. I knew all about the common struggles mommies and their babies have as they're adjusting, and I felt prepared to deal with them, but I won't lie – there were aspects of nursing in those first few weeks that were surprisingly difficult. Aidan nursed very well in the hospital and the first day or two we were home. However, when my colostrum was replaced by milk and my breasts were suddenly full to bursting, he went on strike. I was so uncomfortable that I had no choice but to call for help. Women who were up to that point just acquaintances were instantly intimate companions and confidants. More than one of those moms physically helped move me and baby into a position that worked for us. I was abundantly blessed in those first weeks to learn that women can and are willing to support each other in beautiful ways.

Blessings of that kind have only continued as time has passed. I started attending the breastfeeding support group here at Centerpoint when my son was 6 months old – not for advice necessarily, but to meet other moms, weigh my little guy, and let him interact with other babies. Words can't describe how wonderful it has been to get to know the women and children from that group. They have become some of my closest friends and Aidan and Cora will reap a lifetime of blessings from the friendships they've made even at their young ages. It's priceless to be able to nurse freely and openly with friends and to know that there are a dozen or more people a phone call away if a question ever arises.

Among the other blessings breastfeeding has brought our family are the ease with which we're able to travel b/c there's no extra baby feeding equipment to bring, the money we've saved on not buying formula or bottles, the awareness it has brought about good nutrition, the post-pardum weight I've easily been able to lose twice now, and the sleep struggles we've been able to avoid.

I'll hit a couple of those more specifically now, and feel free to ask me for more detail on anything later. First, nutrition. Learning about the health benefits of breastfeeding for baby -  like a stronger immune system, better digestion, better weight regulation throughout all of life, strong emotional attachment, and better brain function – made us stop and think about how we will continue to nurture our children's bodies after they no longer need breastmilk. My husband has always been thin, but has dealt with various small and stubborn problems with his digestion and tendency to get sinus infections. His mom also passed away very young of breast cancer. I have struggled with weight my whole life and have never felt strong or healthy. I didn't have much experience cooking when we got married, and my exposure to healthy foods was pretty limited. We knew we needed to make a plan for change, and pregnancy and breastfeeding was a huge catalyst. It has been a process, and I learn more every day, but we feel very good about the food choices we make now and have reaped the benefit of good health for our whole family. We've thus far been able to avoid antibiotics for anyone for more than three years, and I'm 5 pounds away from my lightest adult weight at only 5 months post pardum. I would not have the same motivation if I didn't know that my children's good nutrition hinges on my own.

And now for sleep... If I only had a dollar for every time I've been asked, "is your baby sleeping through the night yet?" (laugh) I'm not sure why we still ask each other that question. I won't lie and say that either of my children sleep ALL THE WAY THROUGH the night, but you can trust me when I say that practically speaking, they may as well. Our family has chosen to co-sleep. The way it currently looks in our family is that we have two beds pushed together, (a queen and a twin) for extra room, and our little girl sleeps with us the whole night, and our son starts out in his bed and climbs into the bed pushed up to ours at some point in the wee hours.

It took us a while to figure out what worked best for us in the beginning with our first. We put him in bassinet next to us for the first week back from the hospital, but he wanted to nurse so often that I was just exhauasted. As soon as we made the decision to co-sleep, we all became new people. No one could believe that I was doing so well on sleep with a newborn. He still woke up on the hour or every two hours to nurse, but he only needed to touch base and nurse for a few minutes before he settled into sleep again. Not having to get out of bed meant that I fell asleep much easier, too. When Cora arrived, we knew we wanted to co-sleep from day one and it's been wonderful. We wouldn't have been able to enjoy co-sleeping if we had to get out of bed to prepare a bottle.

I've been talking about Aidan nursing in the past tense, but I should clarify. I am technically tandem-nursing, which is nursing two children at a time. It was my goal to nurse him for at least a year, but preferably two because that is what the World Health Organization advises. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises at least 6 months of exclusive breast feeding, but recommends a year with supplementation of solid foods. Unfortunately, according to the CDC, only 43% of infants in America in 2006 were still nursing at 6 months and only 13.6% were exclusively breastfed without any formula supplementation. 22.7% of babies were being nursed at a year.

Before Cora was born, Aidan was down to nursing only at bedtime. For the first few months he only asked to nurse once a week or so when he was feeling tired or emotional and I tried to accommodate him even if it wasn't bedtime. Recently he's been going through a developmental growth spurt and had a period of a couple of weeks that he asked every day. Now we're back to him not having asked for over a week. At this point our plan is to go with the flow and continue to let him nurse when he asks. We will re-evaluate when we (Lord willing) become pregnant with our next baby if he hasn't completely weaned himself by then.

Nursing has had such an impact on me and my family, and has been so beneficial for us that I can hardly stop myself from encouraging everyone I can to make the choice to nurse. My heart aches for mommies who have a difficult time nursing, or are unable to at all, and it rejoices with my mommy friends who have overcome mind-blowing obstacles to give their baby their life-sustaining breastmilk. I daydream about becoming a lactation consultant and hope to start that process soon, and I look forward to our future children and the time I will spend feeding and caring for them. I'm even thinking already about my grandchildren and about how I can encourage our children to continue this legacy. The other day while looking through old photographs for a baby picture of me to compare Cora to, I came across a set of photos my dad took of my mother nursing me. I'm sure I've seen them at some point before, but this time, with 2 ½ years of breastfeeding behind me, seeing those photos caused gratitude to just swell up within me and bring tears to my eyes. I look completely contented and secure cradled in my mother's arms, snuggled warmly in against her breast. I've seen the same look on the faces of my precious little ones and am so very thankful that I can give back some of that love that I received so long ago. I hope you get to experience the same.

For more information on nursing your little one(s) please visit a few of my favorite websites: KellyMom.com, Nursing Freedom.org, and La Leche League.

What do you make yourself? Read the rules, and link up below!

Make it Yourself Monday: Biscotti

Nothing fancy here, just a little tip. I am not the most proficient baker and because of my refusal to use anything other than whole grain flours and my tendency to cut corners, I often end up with deflated and dense loaves of bread.

A few years ago I made some sweet bread that tasted great but wasn't very pretty. The plan had been to bring it to a friend's get-together and I really didn't have the ingredients for anything else. I sliced the bread up on a whim and popped it back in the oven on the lowest setting while I went about getting ready. That night at the gathering, I brought the perfect accompaniment to the coffee being served - my "biscotti."

Most recently I used Cheeseslave's Coconut Flour Bread. It came out properly, I just thought it would make nice biscotti. It's not a particularly sweet bread, but it tasted great with sweet coffee and/or honey.

The Method:

Bake the loaf as usual, let cool.

slice and place on cookie sheet. Bake at low temp for 30 minutes or until bread is dry and browning. Alternatively, you can keep the temp up higher and bake for a shorter amount of time, you'll just need to watch them closely.



Place biscotti on rack to cool. Store in an air-tight container.

Enjoy!! And next time a loaf of bread doesn't turn out how you'd like, try this fix! I also plan to expiriment with cookie recipes in a bread pan.

What have you been cooking up lately? Did you make something yourself this week instead of buying it at the store? Link up to Make it Yourself Monday!