Things M Says (Part 26)

M, while dancing to Metallica: "Mom, now there are LOTS of ninjas doing cartwheels around me."

So. Awesome.

Things M Says (Part 25)

me: "M, you need to pick up all this paper money, because E will rip it up."

M: "I don't like that idea."

me: "I know, but it must be done!"

M: "I reaaaally don't like this idea!"

me: "Well, you still need to do it."

M: "Mom, if you say that again, even when you're 45, I will still not pick these up. I will go with my dad to find a new family, and I will not clean these up!"

me: *eyeroll*

Things E Says (Part Six)

E, whenever R is around, or even when he's not, or even when E sees a picture of R, or every time E talks on a phone, or whenever E pretends some other toy IS a phone: "Da-deeeee!"

Things M Says (Part 24)

M, while blowing bubbles in his kefir soda with a straw: "Mom, bubbles are so amazing. I know a lot about bubbles. I am an artist. If you breathe air into this straw, then bubbles come up from the bottom!"

me: "So you're a bubble artist?"

M: "Yeah, sure am."

Another Guest Post over at The Exponent

You can read my second guest post over at The Exponent here. The first one I did last year is here.

Things M Says (Part 23)

while making a train track shape on the carpet:

M: "Mom, this is the most amazing thing I have ever made in my whole life!"

Watching Food, Inc.

You can watch Food, Inc. on Netflix for free. I just (finally! sorry Brian/Uncle Bones!) finished watching it on my DVR after recording it on PBS last week. Perhaps it will be on again? Go check, I highly recommend it.

I am really loving the rallying force this movie has been. It is shedding light on what a lot of us intrinsically know. The anger is even good, because you can harness it into personal changes that grow into local changes.

I especially love that Michael Pollan (from Food, Inc.) said on Oprah a few weeks back something to the effect of "we can make a political decision three times a day, for each meal and what we decide to spend our money on".

Things E Says (Part Five)

E: "miwwww!!" (milk)

Things E Says (Part Four)

E: "wa-wa!!" (water)

Things M Says (Part 22)

R and M like to play "bucking bronco" where R tries to shake M off his back onto the bed. M loves this game! But he doesn't remember to call it "bucking bronco". He sometimes says "brucking bronco", but even funnier, he usually says "bruck and bronco" which cracks me up.

Things M Says (Part 21)

M: "I want to be an ant scientist."
R: "Well, that is called an 'entomologist'."
M: "Yeah, I want to be an antomologist."

Things M Says (Part 20)

While at the park this weekend, getting a drink from the drinking fountain with R:

R: "Let's get a drink."
M: "I don't think I can reach it."
R: "Well, one of them is lower."
M: "Slower?"
R: "No, lower."
M: "You need to be more pespific." (Specific.)
R, thinking: (Sheesh.)

Is anyone surprised to find that this is something I say to M a lot? "M, please be more specific. I don't know what 'this' means." Now it has been turned back on us. It was only a matter of time.

Things E Says (Part Three)

Crawling over with a ball: "Ba! Ba! Ba!"

Things E Says (Part Two)

E (while waving): "Haa!"

He says hi like he's from the South or something.

A newer development, also while waving: "Baa!"

Again, as if from the South.

Things M Says (Part 19)

At my friend's house:

me: "M, it's time to go home, go find your shoes."
M: "No! Shut up!"
me: "If you say shut up you will have a time out in the car, strapped in to your car seat, when we get home."
M: "Grrrr."
me: "C'mon, come get your shoes."
M: "I feel like if I walk over to get my shoes, I will say 'shut up' again."
me: "Well, if you don't get your shoes then you will also have a time out strapped into your car seat when we get home. So just try not to say shut up and go get your shoes."
M: "Well, we have a problem."

I am so glad M couldn't see my face at the time, because I barely held in a laugh. M has some good emotional intelligence going on.

Things M Says (Part 18)

me, making a mistake by saying: "Hey M, I signed you up for swimming lessons, and they start in April!"
M, gasping: "Really?!"
me: "Yep!"
M: "What month is it?"
me: "March."
M: "What is the day today?"
me: "March 19th."
M: "How many more days are there in March?"
me: "19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31!"
M: "Oh, okay."

(later)

M: "What day in March is it today?"
me: "The 19th."
M: "Oh, I thought it was already the 21st!"

Here we go for the rest of the month!

Missing Gramma

I am home from my gramma's funeral. For the funeral I was in California with my entire family, and it was both wonderful and sad. We spent time going through her music, books, clothes, jewelry, dishes, and the like. It was very strange, but so meaningful to be able to take pieces of her home with me. I loved that we all got something that was special to each of us. I also found the white ceramic rabbit that my gramma had said reminded her of me, ever since I can remember. The most wonderful part was that she had written "K (heart) Gramma" on the underneath. As I unpacked a few hours ago and placed it on my dresser, I felt a distinct realization that she is really gone. I keep thinking I can call her, or that I will hear her shoes clicking on the hardwood floor at her house as she walks out of the hallway.

We got to see her one last time at the viewing, where she didn't look quite like herself. I think the body alone literally looks like it is missing half of itself when the soul is gone. I am trying to feel lucky and grateful that she went peacefully in her sleep, and in her silk pajamas!, and that she lived a full life.

During the service I was able to play an easy Bach piece from the Well-Tempered Clavier that I remember also playing on my gramma's piano approximately one billion times in the course of growing up there. Each grandchild got to share a memory, and it was such a beautiful tribute to her life.

Then, we all went back to the house and gathered our things. We hugged and took our keepsakes home. I spent time taking pictures of the eucalyptus trees, the creek, the weeping willow, the house numbers, the piano, the yard, and even the handles on the kitchen cupboards. My grandpa is going to go and live with my mom, and then the house will be sold. I am at peace with what has happened, but I am still aching with the newness of this change.

In the meantime, I keep looking at that ceramic rabbit and tearing up with the realization that it is at MY house now. It no longer resides on the white counter-top in San Jose as I come back to visit and Gramma tells me again "you know, this has always reminded me of you".

I will think of Gramma every time I see that rabbit. Every time I wear the red flats I found in her closet after she passed on. Every time I see that second edition of Mormon Doctrine on my shelf, with her highlighted passages. Every time I watch The In-Laws, or Frasier, or Hook, or My Blue Heaven, or Mary Poppins, or Fox News (ha!). Every time I see a Saks 5th Ave., or Nordstrom, or Macy's. Every time I see silk pajamas or pearls or Cadillacs. Every time there is an Easter egg hunt outside in the trees. Every time I get a back-scratch. Every time I see eucalyptus trees. Every time I use one of her ice cream bowls with the silver edging. Every time I think of the piano, especially Fur Elise of The Spinning Song. Every time I see an organ, or play an organ. Every time someone mentions My Turn on Earth. Every time I use the Dutson Family Directory to find a phone number. Every time I think of E's health problems and how much she cared about the details, never tiring of me talking about it. Every time I stay up late to get things done. Every time I see a garnet ring set in gold. Every time I believe that I am smart because she told me so. Every time I cannot shut up about something I feel passionate about, and I wonder where the genes come from :D.

And every time I get to St. George and go visit her grave, so that I can put flowers on it just like I used to put flowers on her baby's grave here in Arizona any time I could get there. I miss you, Gramma, but you are alive in me. I am happy to find parts of you not only in the things I brought home from your house, but in my being.

More Real Food Links

I forgot some links I need to add to my list! Some are links I had overlooked, but others are recently found in the days since my last post. In fact, finding links will be an ongoing process, so I added a tag "links" for these posts so you can find them easily as my number of posts about real food links grows.

I have already mentioned the link I found about budgeting for real food here. Ever since reading it I have been researching sources, both local and via the Internet, for purchasing in bulk. Azure Standard is already very helpful for many items. But I need a good source for pastured chicken, grass-fed beef, and healthy fish. I have found several good beef sources at farmer's markets and online, but not as many satisfactory ones for chicken as you will see.

Grass-fed BEEF:

• Doublecheck Ranch (at Phoenix Public Market): more expensive, sell suet and broth bones
  
• A Bar H Farm (via their website and pickup locations on delivery day--schedule found here): the cheapest price per pound I have found online, as long as you buy 1/2 animal or so
  
• US Wellness Meats (via their website): very high quality, not the cheapest but does specials for free shipping sometimes, check for sales. I have their ground beef in my freezer and it is delicious!
  
• Ahwatukee farmer's market (I do not know the name of the vendor, but will find out this weekend and post it here): the cheapest local beef I have found, we buy steaks and grill them on the weekends
  
• List of local vendors for Arizona (all grass-fed meats): I haven't tried all of these sources, but I am sure they are good based on my success with the others I have tried above.
  

Free Range and Pastured CHICKEN:

• Rosie's Free Range Chicken (at Sprouts or Sunflower Market): this is the chicken I have purchased for the last few years, it produces stock that gels in the fridge, so I know it is good enough produce healthy gelatin when turned into stock. However, I have heard these chickens may not be truly pastured, and they DO eat soy and corn in their feed which I dislike. I am trying NOT to buy these anymore.
  
• Rosie's, Rocky, and Shelton brand free range chickens (at Azure Standard): similarly problematic for GMOs and corn and soy. Will NOT be buying these, unfortunately.
• Mary's Pastured Chicken (at Whole Foods): my current main choice for chicken since contacting Mary's brand and they have said that though the chickens do have meal made with corn and soy, it is NOT GMO, and they eat very little of it, preferring being outside eating bugs. Also, if you ask Whole Foods, they will order you a box of chickens (8 come in a box, around 25 lbs. total) and you can have a 10% discount for ordering in bulk.
  
• Tropical Traditions Pastured Poultry (via their website): my current supplemental choice for chicken because it is so expensive. These are the most nutritionally superior chickens I have found. (I will use one of these chickens per month, and use the Mary's brand for all the other needs of our family. That way I need only buy 12 of these per year, hopefully during times when they are on sale, like right now.)
• There are still a few vendors here in AZ I need to call, so I will add to this list in the next day or so if I find anything out.
  

FISH:

• Fishhugger (via their website and the Ahwatukee Farmer's Market): very expensive, but very high quality to the point of being sushi-grade. We buy it once in a while.
• Trader Joe's, Fresh 'n' Easy, Whole Foods, for fish on sale, using the Seafood Guide to know what is safe to buy at any given time.
  

Real Food Links

First I read Nourishing Traditions, which I talked about in my previous post, and then:

• I found the Bountiful Baskets co-op
  
• I found the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 (full list) to help with produce shopping
  
• I found information about raw milk that eased my mind
  
• I found raw milk in my area (and you can too here)
  
• I found The Nourishing Gourmet, and subsequently Cheeseslave
• I found Real Food Media which is a network of real food bloggers
  
• I found a budget breakdown of how to afford raw milk/dairy, pastured eggs/chicken, grass-fed beef
• I found an Arizona Local Food website with tons of links and information
  
• I found local ranchers and farmers for grass-fed beef
• I found a farmer's market (Phoenix Public Market) on Saturday in Phoenix for pastured eggs from Chile Acres, produce from Maya's Farm and grass-fed beef from Doublecheck Ranch (not the best price, but they carry suet and broth bones)
  
• I found a Sunday farmer's market in Ahwatukee for grass-fed beef (best price I have found)
• I found a list of good cod liver oils, various brands; also, a CLO explanation here
  
• I picked the Green Pastures brand, and found their website had the cheapest price for bulk buying
  
• And finally, the crowning glory: I found Azure Standard: they carry the cheapest organic grains, wholesome sweeteners, pastured eggs, raw cheese, natural parchment paper, canning supplies, pastured meat, cod liver oil, spices, and stainless steel baking supplies that I have found in all my local and internet searching. I cannot recommend them enough.

(cross-posted)

Nourishing Traditions: The book that overwhelmed me and then improved my quality of life

Over two years ago I read a book called Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.

First I read the introduction that breaks down fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. It confirmed many things I had suspected (hydrogenated oils are giving us heart disease), and opened a can of worms about many things I had never even known (cod liver oil is good for you?!).

At that point I was overwhelmed with information and started making small, gradual changes. I tried to soak oatmeal overnight for breakfast the next morning, I tried to get everyone to take high quality cod liver oil (see #4 below), and I made more food at home instead of eating out.

I was still overwhelmed, and felt like I was always falling behind. I gave myself little pep talks: "it's okay, you need to practice, it will take time, just do what you can". I also found a few resources, made the organic produce shift and stopped using Teflon pans.

Here I am two years later, having gotten baby E to his first birthday and finishing my year-long breastpumping stint. I have more resources, I have more time, and I have more practical knowledge due to my two year mulling period. I will blog a series of posts about Real Food that will go more in depth.

My advice is this:

1. read Nourishing Traditions, but with a grain of salt. First of all, it has been a few years since it's publication. Secondly, there are many people who disagree with it, so make up your own mind and do not follow it blindly. I have read it and find it extremely useful.
   
2. follow the Real Food Media blog network for recipe ideas that have incorporated nourishing practices for you to follow.
   
3. Find local sources for organic produce, grass-fed beef, pastured eggs and chicken. If you buy in bulk you will save money. Use the Arizona Local Food website to find stores and farmer's markets. Or if you don't live in AZ use a site like Green People.
4. Buy cod liver oil instead of vitamins and get your family to take them. (Kids will need a spoonful of plain/flavored oil/gel. But grown-ups can take capsules, hooray! We buy from Green Pasture's and get the fermented cod liver oil/butter oil combination caps and gel.)
5. Use raw honey in place of sugar in your regular recipes.
6. Use the 80/20 rule: If you are eating well 80% of the time, don't worry too much about the other 20%.
7. Try not to stress out!
8. (Read my blog :))