The Nagging Mom

To keep it simple here is what you need to Black List to remain Gluten Free:

The Good:
Rice
Millet
Corn(Maize)
Flax
Teff
Buckwheat
Quinoa
Soy
Potato
Arrowroot
Sorghum
Nut Flours
Beans
Amaranth
Garfava
Montina
Tapioca


The Bad:
Wheat (Einkorn, Durum, Faro, Graham, Kamut, Semolina, Spelt)
Rye
Barley
Triticale.

The Ugly:
Beers
Breading & Coating Mixes
Brown Rice Syrup
Communion Wafers (Really though our communion wafers are sooo small I dont even care about this one)
Croutons
Dressings
Drugs & Over-the-Counter Medications
Energy Bars or Cereal/Fruit bars-You also have to watch for HFCS in these too!
Flour & Cereal Products-Like the bars, cereal generally has HFCS.
Herbal Supplements
Imitation Bacon
Imitation Seafood-Just say no to K-rab!!
Marinades
Nutritional Supplements
Pastas
Processed Luncheon Meats-Really, feeding your kids anything processed is child abuse.
Sauces & Gravies
Soy Sauce
Soup Bases
Stuffings
Thickeners (Roux)
Vitamins & Mineral Supplements
Baking Soda- Yes, this came as a suprise to me too! Ill post a recipe soon.

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I have my work cut out for me once the weather does get nice..I mean we are talking piles of this here and that there. Its ugly! But when I do get down and dirty I am sure to take the "Environmentally Friendly" way. I could go out and buy a bunch of "Green" products or make them myself, it's really easy and there seems to be two main ingrediants that I went and purchased in bulk as well as a couple reusable spray bottles. I was able to find everything I need at Fred Meyers.


Porclein and/or Tile:
Baking Soda and Water: Dust surfaces with baking soda, then scrub with a moist sponge or cloth. If you have tougher grime, sprinkle on some kosher salt, and work up some elbow grease.

Lemon Juice or Vinegar: Got stains, mildew or grease streaks? Spray or douse with lemon juice or vinegar. Let sit a few minutes, then scrub with a stiff brush.

Disinfectant:
2 cups of water
3 tablespoons of liquid soap
20 to 30 drops of tea tree oil.

Glass Cleaner:
2 tablespoons of white vinegar with a gallon of water

Clogged Drains:
Baking Soda and Boiling Water: Pour 1/2 cup of baking soda into the problem drain, followed by 2 cups of boiling water. If that isn't doing it for you, chase the baking soda with a 1/2 cup of vinegar and cover tightly, and let it sit. Then flush that with one gallon of boiling water.

Floors:
1/8 c. liquid soap
1/4 to 1/2 c. white vinegar or lemon juice
1/2 c. peppermint herb tea (peppermint has antibacterial qualities)

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Yes, I know I am WAAAAAY behind on the postings. Baseball came into our lives full swing (no pun intended). All things considered I put the blog on the back burner. Slap my wrist and lets move forward.

Lately, Ive been on the receiving end of several compliments in regards to my son's behavior. One person even went as far to exclaim that he was a "Whole new kid!"; well to all of you GFCF skeptics out there: With my tongue stuck out and hands on my hips, I told you so!

For years fingers have been pointed in all different directions; ADD, ADHD, Depression, Anger Management, every psychiatric term available. We've done counseling, workshops, testing, psychiatrist. The school has sent state agencies to my home concerned by my son's behavior. I have broken down into countless tears and fits of rage myself trying to determine where I as a parent went wrong.

My biggest mistake: Ignoring my own instincts and listening to everybody else. The bottom line folks in regards to any concern for your children of any matter. YOU ARE THE PROFESSIONAL. YOU know your child better than any other "professional" does and my eleven years of experience (plus those few years as a step mom and then the few years before that as a very active nanny) as a mother has taught me that your instincts will guide you in the right direction.

The Change:
When Austin was in Preschool he would constantly develop a migraine headache, at least 2 a week. I concerned myself with all of the possibilities and took him back to the pediatrician over and over and over again. Once demanding a C-scan simply to rule out a tumor. And another time asking if he could potentially be allergic to milk. At which point our (now fired ) doctor looked me up and down as though to say "You foolish young mom" gave me a chart to complete and sent me to the store for Benedryl concluding my child was getting car sickness. Looking back on this I am half inclined to send an email to this said Pediatrician and point out to him that he is clearly incompetent....but I wont. Five years later I have come to learn that I (as I so often am) was right.

The interim between the two events has been very difficult and painful but alas I decided to follow that gut feeling and took my son to a Naturopathic for some food-allergy testing. She took one good hard look at him, gently tugged on his lower eyelid and exclaimed that he was allergic to dairy. Talk about an Ah ha moment!

We have been committed to excluding any and all dairy from our diet for about 8 months now and the results have been jaw dropping. Now I am keeping in mind that my son is now a pre-teen and with that comes puberty and with that comes some what of an emotional roller coaster but for the most part his behavior is MUCH more pleasant. He laughs, sings, he's made a whole new circle of friends, he cooperates better and recently exceeded the state standards in his Reading and Science. And most of all I am a much happier mom!

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About once a week I will let Austin have a Root Beer however I demand it is made with real sugar as opposed to a Mug or a Barqs. Inevitably this leads to a little fit being thrown but I always win with the "Take it or Leave it" approach. And always have to explain to him why as a responsible and loving mother I cannot allow for him to have one made with corn syrup. Here is why:

HFCS is made by a bunch of corn syrups that are processed to increase their Fructose level, resulting in a sweeter and cheaper substitute to its Real Sugar counterpart. Because it cost so much less HFCS has essentially taken Sugar's place in everything. Now the bottom line is Sugar is Sugar regardless of its source, may it be Fructose or Sucrose and they will BOTH lead to obesity,liver damage and/or heart disease if over consumed.



But like I said about Soy, Sugar comes in it's natural state. And the body processes HFCS differently than it does Cane and Beet sugar. Fructose elevates triglyceride levels messing with the metabolic regulating hormones this forces the liver to release fats into the bloodstream.

Also with Real Sugar,the glucose is then stored as energy. Whereas with Fructose it is not which will allow you to keep eatting. In addition to the overeating though the fructose will sneak pass the insulin response thereby confusing our body as to how to cope and storing itself into our cells just as extra fat. From one muffin top to another ;)

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We love our Pizza and Movie nights in but its impossible to find an inexpensive, good, gluten free pizza so we have taken our "bonding" nights one step further and make the pizza together. Obviously we omit the cheese unless Im willing to deal with the mood swings that dairy brings to our home. Tell me what you think of this one

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Trails of tissue throughout my house keep leading me to one very puffy eyed and red nosed little boy. It has been very disheartening to see that my son has adopted the seasonal "allergy" and even more so being a mother who HATES the idea of giving my child any form of western world medicine my heart breaks every six hours as I hand him over the little pink pill. Unfortunately I realize that he is miserable and needs an immediate fix; the antihistamine provides this. One other alternative is to give him a vaccination OR I can apply those same principles and build up his immunity to the allergenic pollens using a gentler and more holistic approach: Honey.

Now as there are no conclusive studies to show that Local Honey really is anecdotal there are enough reports to be convincing to me. I look at it as a vaccination; Vaccines invade your body with a "germ impostor" to trigger your immune system to respond with the production of antibodies to fight off the germ when it really does invade.

A spoonful of honey a day is kind of like slowly vaccinating the body against allergens, immunotherapy. And the local honey has the same pollen spores that you're sneezing and sniffling to but introduces these spores into your body in tiny amounts making the body accustomed to their presence and decrease the chance an immune system response like the release of histamine but too low to trigger an allergic reaction like smelling a flower might do.

Obviously this method is not as quick of a cure as it's sleep inducing counterpart but its a much safer method. UNLESS for an infant: Children 12 months or younger do not have a fully developed immune system and are subject to Infant Botulism. They should not be fed honey.

Im still studying the ways of keeping bees, I hope to have some next year and then Domestic Diva will be able to sell Local Honey. In the mean time I just picked up a
4 Ounce jar at Market of Choice for $4.50. Farmers markets are a great source too!

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Yeah, a gardening post! As the warm front begins to push it's way in I have been doing a lot of planning for my garden this year. I am a tried and true organic gardener. That being said I know the value that vermicompost has on my garden. Not only is it nutrient rich for your plans and fertilizes them in an Earth friendly way but it also helps reduce waste going into the landfill.

What it is: Worm cast and decayed organic matter.

How its made: The worm will eat its own weight in organic matter (Vegetable scraps, paper, egg shells. You do not want to dispose of animal bi-products other than egg shells) then they will digest the waste meanwhile killing any pathogenic bacteria providing casts that contain eight times as many micro-organisms as their feed, the ones that help your plants grow. The cast has perfect PH balance,five times more nitrogen, seven times more phosphorus, and 11 times more potassium than ordinary soil, the main minerals needed for plant growth.

How to use it: Dig some into your plantings, for seedlings it is said to incorporate 25% of vermicompost into your mixture or you can make "compost tea" by adding some compost and water into a spray bottle, letting it sit for a few days and then spray your plants with it and watch them grow!

Being that Im trying my best to cut cost and reduce garbage it only makes sense to make my own! If you go online you can find local companies who sell vermicompost worms however they are close to $30 a pound, fortunately once they are established in their new damp and dark home they will double their population within 6-8 weeks.

Well to lessen the expense even more and to provide an educational experience for my son's classroom I went and ordered Red Wiggler cocoons. Apparently, it has become a learning experience for me too so Ive decided to share it on my blog and hope to provide weekly updates on their growth and development.

Cocoons can stay dormant for years from my understanding and will only hatch in the most optimal of conditions: Dark, damp place with food. Mine arrived to me in a plastic bottle with dry papershreds so I moved them into a Tupperware container, threw in some vegetable scraps and moistened the bedding. Now we wait....

Their first picture:

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