Book Review: Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby and Child Care

This is an amazing book.  I have loved the original Nourishing Traditions for a long time and this book on baby and child care has been much needed.  Sally Fallon Morell, of the Weston Price Foundation (and more), has really gone to lengths to give great detail on prenatal, baby, and child care.  It took me a lot of research and books to get a lot of the information she covered, and she went into more detail on holistic illness care and the teachings of Steiner/ Waldorf than I had learned elsewhere.  A lot of the book was review for me, learned from the original Nourishing Traditions and elsewhere.  The only factual error I found was in discussing EC/ Diaper-Free Baby, where she said to start at 18 months instead of at birth.  Perhaps there are factual errors elsewhere I didn't find? But I loved her detail and information on nutrition and when and what to eat and how to grow a healthy child. MUST READ for new moms.


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Best Gifts By Age 0-5

Aden and Anais Baby Blanket (Newborn)
Wooden Teething Ring (Newborn)
The Going to Bed Book (Age 1)
Dinos to Go (Age 1)
Car Carrier (Age 1 or 2)
Low Loader (Age 1 or 2)
Radio Flyer Kids' Wheelbarrow (Age 2)
Richard Scarry's Word Book (Age 2)
Latches Board (Age 2)
Duplo Creative Cars (Age 2)
Automoblox (Age 2)
Take Apart Crane Truck (Age 2 or 3)
Bruder Bobcat (age 2 or 3)
Play Kitchen (age 2 or 3)
Play Doh Tools (Age 2, 3, 4 or 5)
Wooden Workbench (age 3)
Spin Art (Age 4)
Lego Building Kit (Age 4)
Hungry Hippos (Age 4)
Lego Repair Shop (Age 4 or 5)
Tri-Ominoes (Age 5)

Love that wheelbarrow!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

 

As transcribed by my older son's preschool teacher... (the pictures are steaks on a grill with bones).

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Hanukkah Menu

Happy Hanukkah!


How about a Hanukkah party??

• Latkes - eggs, squash/ sweet potato/ potato, coconut flour
• dripped yogurt
• cranberry apple sauce
• wine/ beer - ice
• spiced cider (Trader Joe's Cider heated up)
• brisket (brisket in slow cooker with wine or homemade BBQ sauce)
• deviled eggs (mix yolk with homemade mayo and mustard)
• persimmons (fresh, in a bowl)
• olives (jarred, in a bowl, with toothpicks)
• carrots, celery
• apple cake (can't believe this recipe hasn't been posted- stay tuned for after party photo and recipe- generations old...)

While you're at it, how about some activities for the kids?

• magic modeling clay dreidel making with markers
• foam menorahs for coloring in
• hanukkah candle kit

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Nourishing Traditions Baby Custard and Pumpkin Custard

In Part 1, yesterday, I showed you our GAPS Pumpkin Pie experiment in my quest to find a yummy Thanksgiving Dessert for all of us (my husband eats sugar so his palate requires more "normal"sweets).

I also made the Nourishing Traditions/ WAPF Baby Custard with Pumpkin.


It's good.... so good I may have to make it for Thanksgiving!!

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GAPS Pumpkin Pie Experiment

Did you know that we are getting a TURKEY?  They go past our house all the time, so the boys were pretty excited to learn that Thanksgiving is about Turkeys.

There is a lot more to it than the bird, and I want to make a yummy meal that all of us enjoy.  So I wanted to test the sweets, so my sugar-eating husband doesn't miss the sugar-- or at least thinks the dessert is worth eating.

My first experiment was making the GAPS Pumpkin Pie recipe from Internal Bliss.

First we made and cooked the crust. We replaced the sugar (honey) with brown-tinged bananas.

Then we made the filling.

Beautiful!

And the taste?

Fine. A little like bananas. Ha.  But also a bit like pumpkin pie. I need to up the spice and lower the bananas (I used 3 and could use 2 instead).  It would also be better with a more browned crust-- mine was still a little white in parts when I filled it.

Overall?  OK.  My younger son liked it.  My older son wasn't hungry.  I had a few bites. It was a bit rich. Meh.

See part 2 (tomorrow): Pumpkin Custard.

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Thanksgiving Menu - Hanukkah Overlap

• Turkey (brined, bacon slices laid on top)
• cranberry apple sauce (boil bag of cranberries and 3 cut, cored, and skinned apples with a cup of chicken stock. Lower to a simmer for 15 minutes)
• cornbread stuffing (hubby's request - we compromised on Trader Joe's boxed stuffing- he wanted Pepridge Farms and I wanted cut veggies mixed with sourdough bread, nuts, and dried apricots)
• carmelized onions (laid around turkey)
• Green Salad
• sweet potato latkes (to celebrate the 2nd night of Hanukkah)
• pumpkin pie - will experiment with the GAPS recipe and the Nourishing Traditions Pumpkin Custard Recipes
• Something Chocolate. Or not. This is a lot of food. May make the dark chocolate truffles from the Primal Blueprint Cookbook.

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Making Holiday Cookies w Kids (+ Recipe- Gluten Free, Sugar Free)

 

This is our favorite gluten-free, sugar-free kids' spritz cookie recipe.  It is modified from the recipe on the blog Nourished Kitchen for Gingerbread Spritz Cookies.  My kids love using a rolling pin and cookie cutters, and they love the flavors in this recipe.

• 3 cups almond flour, plus extra for flouring your working surface
• 1/2 cup honey, optional
• 5 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 3 tablespoons ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat almond flour, honey, eggs, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves together to form dough.
3. Flour your working surface and rolling pin. Spread the dough onto your work surface and roll until about 1/4-inch thick. Cut out with a cookie cutters. Place onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until just browned at the edges – twelve to fifteen minutes. 
4. Transfer to a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container.

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Kombucha Secondary Fermentation

I am finally trying secondary fermentation for my kombucha. I am making it continuous brew, and made a bit much to fill the carafe.  So I siphoned some off to fill a pitcher, added some pomegranate juice, and covered it with a cloth.  In two days, it should have completed its secondary fermentation and be flavored to boot!

 

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Kwik Sew 2911 Vest and Fleece Jacket

I have used Kwik Sew 2911 quite a bit (here and here).  This was the first time I have used it with arms/ sleeves.

The boys enjoy matching, and the bigger boy needed a fleece vest and the smaller one needed a fleece jacket.  The bigger one is larger than the pattern goes, so I measured him against a large vest and added width and length, and made him one based on that.


I thought the smaller one was wearing mostly 4T, so made him that size.  I did both with pockets, which they are really enjoying these days.

The vest worked out great.

The jacket is a bit big.

 

 

 

 

 

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