BBQ Beef Open-Faced Sandwiches - No Grill Required! (gluten-free and grain-free options)

It is over 100 degrees outside here, and at this time of year I avoid using the oven or slow cooker because I don't want to heat up the kitchen too much.  This recipe for BBQ Beef Open-Faced Sandwiches cooks up in less than 30 minutes, and my family loves it!  We prefer to eat these open-faced, with just one piece of bread each, so we eat this meal with forks and knives.

Most of us eat this BBQ Beef on toasted, buttered sourdough bread; since my daughter still does best avoiding gluten most of the time, I serve hers on top of a homemade gluten-free freezer waffle. (I now leave the vanilla extract out of the waffle recipe so that I can use waffles as an all-purpose bread substitute for my daughter.) For a grain-free alternative, grain-free sandwich bread could be used.

BBQ Beef Open-Faced Sandwiches
Serves 6-8

• one small white onion, diced
• 2 Tb butter, preferably from grassfed cows
• 1&1/2 pounds ground beef, preferably from locally raised grassfed cows
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• BBQ Sauce (loosely based on Steven Raichlen's recipe):
• 1 cup ketchup*
• 1 Tb blackstrap molasses
• 2 Tb apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tb Dijon mustard
• 2 Tb sucanat or brown sugar
• 1 tsp liquid smoke
• 2 Tb gluten-free soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp dried celery seed
• 1/4 tsp dried cayenne
• 3/4 tsp dried paprika
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• celtic sea salt and pepper
• shredded cheddar cheese, to garnish
• bread, such as sourdough, homemade gluten-free freezer waffle, or grain-free sandwich bread
• butter for bread

1. Melt  2Tb butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion, sprinkle with salt, and saute for 10 minutes, until the onion is translucent. 
2. In the meantime, combine the BBQ Sauce ingredients in a medium bowl and stir to combine.
3. Crumble the ground beef into the skillet with the onion. Brown the meat for several minutes, stirring occasionally. It is not necessary to fully cook the meat at this time.
4. Add the minced garlic and saute about 30 seconds, just until fragrant.
5. Pour the BBQ Sauce over the meat in the skillet and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat a bit, just to maintain the simmer. Loosely cover the skillet and allow to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. In the meantime, toast the bread and lightly butter it. Shred the cheddar cheese.
7. Take the lid off the meat, and allow to cook a couple minutes uncovered to allow some of the moisture to evaporate. Taste the meat for seasoning and add salt/pepper as needed. When it is done cooking, the sauce will have thickened, but will still be very moist. Turn off heat.
8. Arrange the toasted, buttered bread on plates. Top it with the BBQ Beef and a sprinkle of cheddar cheese.  Crispy fried potatoes and a side salad make great accompaniments! Or to keep it simple, you could just serve these sandwiches with some organic Kettle chips. 

*Since the probiotics in fermented ketchup would be destroyed by cooking, I use storebought Annie's organic ketchup in this recipe.

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Why We're NOT Using Conventional Braces

This post is the second in a series about alternatives to conventional orthodontics. 

My 7-year-old daughter needs orthodontics.  The conventional approach would be to wait until she

gets older, then use braces to straighten her teeth. Some orthodontists would even recommend extracting some of her teeth to make space for the remaining teeth to be straightened.

 

Problems with Braces

The main reasons why we are not starting with braces are:

• Braces do not work in the long term. My husband had braces as an adolescent. At the end of using braces, his teeth were straight. However, now as an adult, his teeth are slowly moving back to their original positions. So the braces made them look better for a time, but in the end they are reverting back to being crooked. This is a well-known phenomena, known as orthodontic relapse.  Nowadays it is a common recommendation that retainers need to be used for the rest of life after braces, to prevent relapse of the teeth into their original positions.
• Braces do not go to the root of the problem, which is that the jaw is not large enough to accommodate the teeth. Rather, braces just seek to straighten the teeth to make them look better. When there is not enough room for all of the teeth, perfectly sound teeth are often removed prior to the installation of the braces. I want my daughter to be able to keep all of her teeth!
• With braces, we would need to wait until my daughter was nearly done growing to get started. That means that we would have missed out on many opportunities for jaw growth.  

 

Thinking Beyond Just Straight Teeth

Yes, straight teeth look better than crooked teeth, but there is a larger goal than just having straight teeth. Years ago, when I read Weston A. Price's monumental book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, one of the cases that made a huge impression on me was the story of a sixteen-year-old boy who had Down's Syndrome (which was referred to as being mongoloid during Price's time).

"This boy at the age of sixteen was infantile in many of his characteristics and developments... he had a mentality of about four years... He played on the floor with blocks and with rattles like a child. ... I determined to widen his arch by moving the maxillary bones apart about one-half inch. The position of his teeth before the moving of the bones is shown in Fig. 126.

"...With the movement of the maxillary bones laterally, as shown progressively in Fig. 126, there was a very great change in his physical development and mentality. He grew three inches in about four months. His moustache started to grow immediately; and in twelve weeks' time the genitals developed from those of a child to those of a man, and with it a sense of modesty. His mental change was even more marked.... In a few weeks' time he passed through stages that usually take several years. At first, he got behind the door to frighten us; later, he put bent pins on chairs to see us jump when we sat down, and finally he became the cause of a policeman's coming to the office from where he was conducting traffic on the corner below to find who it was squirting water on him when his back was turned. He developed a great fondness for calling people over the telephone, wanted to borrow my automobile to take his mother for a drive, and with his arm caressingly about the shoulders of one of the secretaries, invited her to go with him to a dance. All this change developed in about twelve weeks.   

FIG. 125. These views show physical changes in the mongoloid type due to movement of maxillary bones to stimulate the pituitary gland in base of brain. Left, front and side view before, center, front and side view in thirty days. Right, front and side view six months after. Aged sixteen, infantile before, adolescent after operation. (Image from Project Gutenberg)

 "A most remarkable event happened in connection with this procedure. He lived in another city, and so, while with me, stayed in a boarding house at a little distance from my office in order that he might have frequent, and almost constant attention. On his return to his home town, his efficiency had increased to such an extent that his mother could send him with the money to the grocery store with the order for the day's groceries, and he could bring back the right change and could tell when it was correct. He could also come alone to me ninety miles by railroad and make two changes of trains and the various transfers on the street cars of the city with accuracy and safety."

FIG. 126. These x-ray pictures show the position of the teeth before operation to move maxillary bones; and progessively, by the dates shown, the widening of the upper arch.... The space was retained with a fixed bridge carrying two additional teeth. (Image from Project Gutenberg)

This case illustrates that the size of the jaw can have a very large effect on the brain.  Because I had read Weston Price's book previously, when I noticed that my daughter's baby teeth were crowded, I knew that I wanted to find a way to help her jaw grow larger.

While my daughter does not show any signs of delayed development, I certainly want to give her every opportunity to grow into her fullest potential. So rather than using braces to just straighten her teeth, I would much rather that my daughter's upper and lower jaw actually grow larger to accommodate her teeth. 

In the next post of this series, I will discuss alternatives to braces that work by encouraging the jaw to grow to make room for the teeth.

Did your teeth experience orthodontic relapse after braces? Have you read Weston Price's Nutrition and Physical Degeneration?

Fresh Fruit Crumble (gluten-free : nutrient-dense)

Crispy and sweet on top, warm and juicy underneath: fresh fruit crumble is a great way to make the most of seasonal fruits. I prefer to make fruit crumbles instead of pies most of the time, as crumbles are so much easier to put together. With just a few little tweaks, the same recipe can be used for a variety of different fruits.

Fresh Fruit Crumble
Serves 6-8

• Fruit Filling: choose one of the following options depending on your choice of seasonal fruits.
• Apple
• 4 cups chopped, peeled Granny Smith apples
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp ceylon cinnamon
• 1 tsp organic or homemade vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup mild honey, preferably local
• 2 Tb arrowroot starch
• pinch of fine-ground celtic sea salt

• Black Cherry
• 4 cups pitted and halved black (sweet) cherries
• 1 tsp organic or homemade vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp organic almond extract
• 3 Tb cup mild honey, preferably local
• 2 Tb arrowroot starch
• pinch of fine-ground celtic sea salt 

• Strawberry Rhubarb
• 3 cups hulled and sliced strawberries
• 1 cup chopped rhubarb
• 1 tsp organic or homemade vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp organic almond extract
• 3 Tb cup mild honey, preferably local (or more if your berries are not very sweet)
• 2 Tb arrowroot starch
• pinch of fine-ground celtic sea salt

• Mixed Berries
• 4 cups berries (my favorite combination is a mixture of strawberries, blueberries, and marion blackberries)
• 1 tsp organic or homemade vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp organic almond extract
• 3 Tb cup mild honey, preferably local (or more if your berries are not very sweet)
• 2 Tb arrowroot starch
• pinch of fine-ground celtic sea salt

• Crumble Topping: 
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup ground crispy almonds or pecans
• 1/2 cup white rice flour (click here if you wonder why I use white rice instead of brown)
• 3/4 cup sucanat
• 1 stick of cold butter, preferably from grassfed cows
• pinch of fine-ground celtic sea salt

• Sweetened Whipped Cream (recipe follows) or Vanilla Ice Cream (optional)

1. One trick to making a crispy crumble topping is to make sure that the butter stays cold.  Keep the butter in the fridge until just before you are going to use it.
2. Combine all fruit filling ingredients except for the fruit, and stir until well-mixed.
3. Add the fruit into the mixture and stir to combine. 
4. Grease an 8X8 square glass baking dish with a bit of butter.  Pour in the fruit filling.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
6. Chop the cold butter into approximately 1/2-inch cubes.  Place the chopped butter in the fridge to stay cold while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.
7. Combine the remaining crumble topping ingredients in a medium-large bowl and stir to combine.
8. Add the chopped butter to the dry ingredients. Use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the butter into the dry ingredients, until there is a uniform, crumbly consistency. Note: a food processor does not work very well for this recipe, so use a pastry cutter or two knives instead.
9. Spread the crumble topping evenly over the fruit in the baking dish.
10. Bake for about 30-40 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling nicely and the topping has reached a medium brown color.
11. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.
12. Sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream are fantastic served alongside warm fruit crumble.

Sweetened Whipped Cream

• 2 cups raw cream
• pinch of fine ground celtic sea salt
• 1/2 tsp organic or homemade vanilla extract
• 2-4 Tb raw mild-flavored honey, to taste*

1. Beat the cream and salt together until the mixture starts to get thick and fluffy.  I like to use my Kitchen-Aid stand mixer with the wire whip attachment, but you could also use a hand mixer.
2. Add the vanilla extract, and drizzle in the honey while the mixer is running.  Alternatively, you could drizzle in the honey a little at a time and mix between each honey addition. 
3. If you're using a stand mixer, use a silicone spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times to make sure you don't have any clumps of honey at the bottom.  I like to beat it until it gets a bit stiff since it will tend to soften up a bit in the fridge over the next few days.
4. Store the whipped cream in the fridge in an airtight bowl.

*If your raw honey is very crystallized, place it over a bowl of warm water to make it a bit runny.

My 7-Year-Old Needs Orthodontics! EEK!

This post is the first in a series about alternatives to conventional orthodontics.

Things didn't develop perfectly during my first pregnancy.  Through the wonders of a nutrient-dense diet, my daughter Alina was able to survive in the womb with a half-sized placenta, yet we are still working on a few of the problems that resulted from her being nutrient-starved in the womb.

My daughter has a very fine bone structure. Ever since she was an infant, we have struggled with her having a poor appetite and poor weight gain. Early on, I became concerned that her baby teeth were crowded.  There was just enough space for all of her baby teeth, but there was no extra space at all.

Alina at 4 years old

Alina at 2 years old

Alina at 6 years old

I kept hoping that, through eating a nutrient-dense diet, my daughter's palate and jaw would grow larger to accommodate her adult teeth. Through classical homeopathy, we have been able to correct the imbalances in my daughter's appetite and weight gain, but one thing that hasn't changed is the size of her palate and jaw.  You can see in these recent pictures that her jaw structure is very different from her little brother's (and his head is larger than hers despite the fact that he is 3 years younger).

Alina age 7, Ian age 4: You can see that my daughter's baby teeth fit very tightly in her mouth, while her brother has space between all of his teeth.

My daughter started losing her baby teeth last year. Her new adult teeth will not fit into the spaces left by her baby teeth. Alina has lost three baby teeth so far, and only two adult teeth have emerged.  The third baby tooth she lost was not lost due to pressure from a tooth that was ready to emerge in that location. Rather, it was lost due to pressure from an emerging neighboring tooth that will not fit in the space left by the baby tooth.

Yup, she needs orthodontics! And she now has her first orthodontic appliance.


In upcoming posts, I am excited to share with you what I've learned about orthodontic options, why we're not using conventional braces, and how we are actually encouraging my daughter's jaw to grow to accommodate her adult teeth.

Did you have braces as a child? Do your kids need orthodontics? 

Double Chocolate Cookies (grain-free : gluten-free : primal : nutrient-dense)

Chocolate cookies with chocolate chips: crispy on the edges, chewy in the middle, and delicious all the way through! Because my daughter still has some issues when she consumes gluten and grains, I like to make sure she always has plenty of  grain-free options. My daughter especially adores chocolate, so these cookies are a perfect fit for her.  The rest of the family loves these cookies too!

Double Chocolate Cookies
Makes 40 cookies

• 2 sticks (1 cup) softened butter
• 1 & 2/3 cups sucanat
• 4 large eggs, preferably from pastured hens
• 1/3 cup full-fat sour cream, preferably organic
• 1 Tablespoon organic vanilla extract, or use homemade
• 3/4 tsp almond extract
• 3/4 tsp chunky grey Celtic sea salt
• 2/3 cup Bob's Red Mill coconut flour
• 1/3 cup cacao powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips*
• Optional equipment: stand mixer**

1. Set your oven racks so that none are in the bottom third of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 325 F.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the salt, baking soda, coconut flour, and cacao powder. Whisk or sift well to combine and break up any lumps.
3. In another bowl (or stand-mixer), beat the softened butter and sucanat together for a couple minutes, until well mixed.
4. In the meantime, combine the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract in a small bowl. (I find that a Pyrex glass measuring cup works great for this because the pour spout makes it easy to add these ingredients to the mixer while it is running.) Do NOT mix up the eggs at this point.
5. Once the butter and sucanat have become well-mixed, mix in the eggs one-at-a-time.  With my stand-mixer, I can just pour in each egg while the mixer is still running.  Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice to get everything incorporated well. It is okay if the mixture looks a bit curdled during this step.
6. Add the sour cream, and mix well to combine.
7. While the mixer is running, add the dry ingredients a little at a time.  Since coconut flour does not contain gluten, there is no worry of over-mixing it!
8. Stir in the chocolate chips. 
9. Scoop the cookies onto greased cookie sheets (or line the cookie sheets with silpats, which are wonderful since the cookies never stick and are less likely to burn).  I like to use a 1-Tb scoop for consistently pretty cookies, but you could just use a spoon. There is no need to flatten the cookies as they will spread plenty while cooking.
10. Bake the cookies at 325 F for about 15-20 minutes (or a few minutes longer if you are cooking them on stoneware). They are done when the edges get a bit dark and crispy.
11. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes.  Then use a spatula to move them to a cooling rack.
12. Once cool, store these cookies in an airtight container.  They can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer if you won't be eating them all in the next few days.  They are nice and chewy straight from the fridge, and even soft enough to eat straight out of the freezer!  Storing them in the freezer will also remove the pressure of having to eat them all in a week or so, as they will last for months in the freezer.

*I use dairy-free, soy-free chocolate chips.
**I love using my Kitchen-Aid stand mixer for making cookies as it makes it very easy to add the ingredients while the mixer is running.

Why I Stopped Pushing in Our Homeschool

When I first started homeschooling my daughter Alina nearly three years ago, I was very excited about all the things we would accomplish. I read The Well-Trained Mind and was enthusiastic to get into the rigorous, classical method of schooling. I relished planning our curriculum and was sure that I was going to give Alina the best education she could get.  

And yes, my daughter was only 4 years old. But I knew through the homeschooling we had done throughout her preschool years that Alina was ready to learn, loved learning, and loved doing worksheets.  So we dug right in and started rigorous classical schooling.

Fast forward awhile... Our rigorous classical schooling seemed to be working well.  Alina was reading 7th grade level books on her own at the age of 6 years old. Increasingly, I had to cajole her to do her math lessons, so I started incorporating more math games rather than worksheets. Alina was becoming increasingly resistant to writing, despite the fact that she had loved practicing writing back before we'd officially started homeschooling.

But wasn't the purpose of schooling my daughter having her master her academics as young as possible?

Our Enthusiasm Was Dropping

Even though I gave Alina lots of breaks and even though we were always done with school by lunch time, Alina's enthusiasm for school was waning. I was starting to have less fun with our homeschooling, since it was taking more and more creativity to get Alina to do her schoolwork without a struggle. I trolled the internet for new worksheets, since Alina was no longer interested in the plethora of workbooks we already had.

A Red Flag

A year ago, my kids had their tricycle and scooter stolen. As my kids struggled to understand the world that now seemed fearsome, they wanted to talk over and over again about what punishment the thieves would have for their misdeeds. Alina thought a just punishment would be for the thieves to have to do extra school work. A big red flag was waving at me.

My 6-year-old was now likening school work to punishment! My daughter, who had started out loving to learn and loving school, was now being pushed to do math and writing. And she no longer liked school or math or writing.

A Seed Is Planted

Shortly before my kids' bikes were stolen, I had started reading Thomas Jefferson Education. This book talks about the conveyer belt approach to schooling (which is the model used by the public school system and that which I was basing my own homeschool upon) as compared to leadership education. Conveyor belt schooling seeks to teach children what to think, whereas leadership education seeks to teach kids how to think.  A conveyor belt education wants to check off the boxes so that every child is taught the same things, whereas leadership education wants to help each child find their own unique mission.

Lessons From My Own Education

As I contemplated all of this, I thought about my own schooling.  I attended public school, then moved onto college, where I changed my major several times and finally settled on mechanical engineering.  I became an aerospace engineer working for NASA for ten years.  By most standards, my schooling was a success and I had accomplished what I should.

But while I was working as an engineer, I knew that something was missing.  I had chosen to be an engineer because I was good at math and so that I could get a "good" job. Once I had the "good" job, I was able to do it well and there were many aspects of the job that I enjoyed, yet I still found that the day-to-day grind of going to work was tiresome. 

I became a stay-at-home mother shortly before the birth of my son over 4 years ago.  At the time, I didn't have any further career aspirations; I just wanted to be able to raise and homeschool my kids. I had known for quite a long time that I had no true passion for being an engineer, no matter how well I could do it or how illustrious were the projects I worked on. I had no idea of what was about to happen in my own life.

2&1/2 years ago I found homeopathy. I was instantly hooked. I started devouring books on homeopathy, wanting to learn as much as I could. I didn't start learning about homeopathy with any intention of becoming a homeopath or finding a new career. I was just compelled to learn more and know more. Now I joke that homeopathy chose me, because it was almost as if I didn't have a choice.  It feels like I was made for homeopathy.

I now know what it feels like to find my own personal mission, and it is so different than going to school and picking a major to get a "good" job.  My passion for homeopathy is so far above anything I ever felt for engineering; they're not even in the same ballpark.  Every day I learn more about homeopathy, not because a teacher has assigned it to me, but because I want to and choose to.  And even though I am now juggling working as a homeopath with homeschooling, keeping house, and raising my kids, it all feels right.  I no longer have that sense that I am spinning my wheels as I did when I was working as an engineer. Instead, I know with full certainty that this is what I am supposed to be doing. 

What Do I Really Want for My Kids?

While I was reading Thomas Jefferson Education, I was seeing it's message right before my eyes. My daughter was liking school less and less, and the more I pushed her to do school, the worse it became.  Meanwhile, my passion for homeopathy was being ignited and burning with a bright flame. The contrast between my educational experience and that of my daughter was stark.

I finally realized that our rigorous classical approach to homeschool was not working because I had misunderstood the whole purpose of education. The purpose of education was not to cram as much information as possible into my daughter's brain. The purpose of education was for my daughter to fall in love with learning so that she would want to learn on her own. In the end, I want my daughter to be able to find her own passion, her own mission in life, and then enthusiastically work to fulfill that mission because she wants to, not because she is being forced. 

A New Approach

Shortly after I read Thomas Jefferson Education (TJED), I decided to take a leap off the schooling conveyor belt.  I decided to stop pushing my daughter to do academics, and instead adopt the TJED approach.

TJED is kind of like a mix between classically-based schooling, unschooling, and Charlotte Mason. It is more structured than unschooling, but much less rigorous than Well-Trained Mind. TJED focuses on creating an environment where children are inspired to learn. Rather than forcing children to fulfill our own agendas for their learning, TJED allows children to develop their own interests and then pursue them passionately.  You can read about the 7 Keys to Great Teaching on the TJED site here.

There is also a huge focus in TJED on the parents focusing on their own educations, which serves as a great example for the kids to want to further their own educations. This really works. The more the kids see me doing my own reading, studying, and writing, the more they naturally want to do those things themselves, without any of the pressure that I was putting on them before. My daughter is learning huge amounts about things that are interesting to her on her own initiative, and I am getting to learn lots myself rather than focusing so much on her curriculum.

The TJED approach has worked wonders in our homeschool.  Now instead of dragging her feet and thinking of school as punishment, my daughter Alina loves our homeschooling. She has even come up with a name for our new school approach: awesome school! 

Want to read more about our journey with TJED (Leadership Education)? Check out these posts:
Leadership Education in Our Homeschool
Our Daily and Weekly Homeschooling Routines 
Top 25 Read-Aloud Picture Books
Teaching Elementary Math Without a Formal Curriculum

What approach do you use for schooling?  Do you want to know more about what leadership education looks like in our home?

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Transitioning Away From Plastic Children's Dishes

When my first child started eating solids, I purposely didn't buy any plastic dishes or cups, preferring instead to use glass dishes and metal sippy cups. As time went on and another baby came, some plastic dishes started turning up in our house as gifts and we bought some plastic cups that came with straws and lids for the convenience of letting the kids have drinks that wouldn't spill easily.

When we recently moved to our new home, I realized that I hated the plastic dishes because they seemed to create more work for me.  I never wanted to put them in the dishwasher, so they all had to hand-washed, and the plastic cups had a lip that would always remain full of water even in the drying rack, so they would never dry properly.  So I decided to take the plunge and get rid of all the plastic dishes.

Reasons Why Glass is Better

• Health: Glass dishes are superior to plastic from a health standpoint. Plasticizers such as BPA are suspected to have damaging effects on brain, behavior, and prostate for fetuses, infants, and children.  BPA is also a prime suspect in the rise of early puberty in girls, as BPA mimics estrogen in the body. Additionally, BPA has been linked to obesity. It is well-known that plasticizers such as BPA in plastic wrap and dishes can leach into foods, especially in the presence of heat. Studies have shown that most plastics labelled as BPA-free still leach plasticizers into food.

• Smell: One of the things that always bothered me about plastic dishes was their propensity to grab onto the smell of foods. I could wash a plastic dish over and over in hot soapy water, yet there would still be a residual smell. Glass dishes never have this problem. 

• Cleaning Ease: Glass is so much easier to clean than plastic.  If something is stuck on glass, I can use a scrubby pad, whereas with plastic I would worry about scratching up the surface.  And I love that glass can be washed in the dishwasher with no issues.

Won't Glass Break Too Easily?

Back when I was still working outside the home and pumping breastmilk for my infant daughter, I used glass baby bottles.  Frequently, people would express concern that the glass bottles would break too easily.  This was something I was concerned about too when we first started using bottles, but my fears were quickly alleviated by one experience: one of the glass baby bottles was accidentally knocked out of the dish drainer and fell down onto our ceramic tile floor; the bottle did not break or even crack. So I realized early on that some glass dishes are very strong and somewhat break-resistant.

Besides baby bottles, there are plenty of other break-resistant glass dishes as well.  At the dinner table, I don't worry too much about using our typical glass plates and cups. Early on, we taught both of our kids to be gentle with glass dishes.  But I do also have other break-resistant glass dishes that the kids use whenever they will be eating away from the table, such as when they want to take snacks out into the back yard.  

What About Non-Spillable Drinks?

For road trips or lengthy park days, my kids use stainless steel Thermos Funtainers, which have an integrated straw. These work great because they keep milk cold even in the summer heat.

Around the house, though, I don't let my kids use the Thermoses because I find them cumbersome to clean. The one type of plastic dish I was tempted to keep around was a plastic cup with tight-fitting lid. My kids used these cups frequently when they wanted to take a drink outside, and I liked not having to worry about them spilling their drinks. However, I have come up with a solution that works really well (although not perfectly spill-proof): glass mason jars with screw-on plastic lids. A 1/4-inch drill bit works perfectly for making a straw hole in the plastic lids. 

Glass Dishes for Kids

The glass dishes I have found to be the best and most durable for kid-use are:

• Porcelain ramekins - My kids use porcelain ramekins every day for most meals, along with kid-sized Oneida silverware.  Ramekins are perfectly sized for kid-size portions of food and, since they are intended for oven use, they are very durable and chip-resistant. My kids also use these bowls when they want to take a snack outside.
• Mason jars with drilled plastic lids and metal straws - When a cup with a lid is desired (such as for drinking smoothies or when my kids will be taking a drink outside), I like to use 8-ounce mason jars.  Since they are intended for canning, mason jars are rather durable. For lids, I drill 1/4-inch holes in plastic lids (and the drinks won't really be touching the lids anyway unless the cup gets tipped over).  Since my kids like to use straws, we have a set of reuseable dishwasher-safe metal straws that fit into the drilled holes in the lids. If you prefer to buy a lid instead of drilling your own, there is also a Cuppow lid that can be used with Mason jars.
• Pampered Chef or Corelle dishes - Having some break-resistant dishes on-hand can really help ease the worries over whether the kids will break the dishes.  We have some Pampered Chef Simple Additions plates and bowls that are very durable and chip-resistant.  Corelle also makes lightweight, chip- and break-resistant glass dishes that are great for kids.
• Glass baby bottles - For babies, glass baby bottles work wonderfully. I pumped milk directly into these bottles and stored them in the freezer as well. We used glass baby bottles for 15 months, and none of the bottles were ever broken or cracked. 
• Glass sippy cups - Once they were toddlers, my kids used this glass sippy cup which includes a silicone sleeve to prevent breakage. Most often, we just used the lid from this which would fit onto any standard mason jar. A newer, more affordable solution is the Cuppow lid, although I haven't tried it myself.
  

My kids have never broken any of these dishes.  Of course, you should use common sense to decide whether or not glass dishes would work well for your own kids, given their personalities and temperaments.  I love knowing that my kids are using healthy dishes with the convenience of being able to wash them all in the dishwasher. 

Do you use glass dishes for your kids? Please share any tips you have!

 

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Is Sugar Really So Bad?

We are bombarded with messages about the evils of sugar.  Sugar is blamed for bad behavior in kids, diabetes, heart disease, cancer... the list goes on and on. But is sugar really so bad?

I was convinced that sugar was bad

I am the type of person who tends to act quickly and jump right in, so when I started learning about how "bad" sugar was, I immediately started to restrict it.  For over 5 years, I restricted my sugar intake, and took my family along for the ride with me. I thought that dessert was something to only enjoy once in awhile, and I still felt a little guilty about eating dessert even infrequently.  Over time, I kept reducing our sugar intake more and more, thinking that being even more strict would make us healthier. 

But guess what? Our sugar consumption was less and less, but we didn't become any more healthy.  And I noticed that my daughter was becoming fixated on sweets. In my quest to give her the best possible health, she was allowed to eat very little sugar her whole life.  But something definitely seemed out of balance since she was still getting sick very frequently.  When she was 4, I noticed my daughter was starting to hoard sweets, and she even exhibited some binge behavior by sneaking a large tub of raisins into her room and eating them all.

Did the experience of my 4-year-old hoarding and binging raisins wake me up? Nope.  I was still buying into the "sugar is evil" mantra. And by this time we were even strictly following the GAPS diet, because I was so sure that if I tweaked our diet enough we would finally find full health. I was wrong. 

My wake-up call

Two years ago I was hitting rock-bottom on the GAPS Diet.  I didn't understand how I could be feeling worse and worse when I was trying to eat so well.  I finally had a wake up call through learning about Matt Stone's Diet Recovery plan. Matt encouraged people to actually follow their body's cues on what to eat, and not to restrict any particular foods just because they were thought to be "bad". While this went against everything I thought I knew about nutrition, I was so desperate to find a solution that I gave it a try.

My body was asking for ice cream, lots of ice cream.  So I started eating lots of homemade ice cream and was shocked at the results. I felt so much better and my body was showing signs of better health: a more normal menstrual cycle and increased waking body temperature.  My energy levels were so much higher, and I realized that I had been going through life half-asleep.

This experience made me re-think my conclusions about sugar. If eating more sugar could make me feel so good and improve my body's indicators of health, maybe sugar wasn't really so bad after all.

Some surprising facts about our bodies and sugar

As I started researching more about sugar, I learned that the body actually prefers to use glucose (sugar) as a fuel, and the brain prefers to use ONLY glucose as a fuel. When there isn't enough glucose in the diet, the body undertakes the process of gluconeogenesis, whereby the adrenal glands send messages to the liver and kidneys to convert protein and fat into glucose. These messages from the adrenal glands come in the form of cortisol, which is one of the body’s stress hormones. The body sees a lack of sugar as a stress, and in the long term this can be detrimental.

When the body is deprived of sugar for an extended period of time, the adrenal glands can become overworked since they have to keep sending signals for gluconeogenesis over and over again.  Not having enough sugar in the diet can also lead to other problems because the body is constantly in a state of elevated stress. 

Breastmilk and sugar

One of the things that makes humans different from other animals is the size of our brains.  And given that our brains prefer to use only glucose (sugar) as a fuel, it seems like we would naturally need to consume more sugar than other species.  Guess what? Human breastmilk contains twice as much sugar as milk from other mammals such as cows.  In fact, the food that most closely resembles breastmilk in nutrient composition is full-fat ice cream. No wonder so many kids crave ice cream!

Letting my kids have more ice cream

I'm not advocating that we eat sugar all day every day, but I am convinced that sugar is a healthy part of our diets. In our home, I am finding the middle ground when it comes to sugar. Instead of looking at sugar as an evil that must be restricted, I am valuing sugar as a part of our diets. When my kids want to eat ice cream, I let them. I am making sure that they have access to homemade sweets, a few storebought treats, and even some juice a few times a month.

When my 4-year-old son asks for maple syrup in his raw milk, I go ahead and stir a little in. I know that our bodies do need sugar, and his natural desire to make his milk more-closely-resemble breastmilk makes sense. I hope that never again will one of my children feel so deprived of a food that they start to hoard and binge. I am learning to trust our bodies and their guidance with regards to which foods we eat.

I prefer to use unrefined sweeteners, such as sucanat, local raw honey, and Grade B maple syrup. I do still avoid high-fructose corn syrup and agave nectar. But I am also feeling a little freedom, and not stressing about a little white sugar here and there.

Do you restrict sugar intake in your home?  Have you found a place of balance with sweets?

Want to read more about how sugar may not be so bad after all? Check out these posts:
Sugar: Prisoner of War by Elizabeth Walling
Sugar: Pure, White, and Awesome by Danny Roddy 

If you want to try some homemade ice cream, check out these recipes: 

mint ice cream

blackberry ice cream

vanilla chocolate chip ice cream

strawberry ice cream 
coconut milk vanilla ice cream at mommypotamus

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Beef, Sweet Potato, and Veggie Stew (grain-free : gluten-free : nutrient-dense)

I love sweet potatoes, but my family doesn't generally enjoy them unless they are fried.  While my kids love broccoli and peas, there is something about sweet potatoes that they just don't like.  So when I first made this stew, I didn't tell anyone that it had sweet potatoes in it. They all just assumed the orange pieces were carrots.

I watched with anticipation to see if anyone would make a face or complain that they didn't like the soup.... nope. Both of my kids consumed it with glee! Now everyone knows there are sweet potatoes in the stew and no one minds. They all eat it anyway.  And me? I love, love, love this stew! It is my new favorite stew.

Beef, Sweet Potato, and Veggie Stew 
Serves 6-8

• 2 Tb butter, preferably from grassfed cows
• one large yellow or white organic onion
• 2 stalks organic celery
• 3-4 medium organic carrots
• 1&1/2 pounds ground beef, preferably from grassfed cows
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme OR 1.5 tsp fresh thyme
• 3.5 cups chicken broth, preferably homemade
• 2 cups filtered water (or use more broth is using store-bought since the flavor of storebought broth is much more mild than homemade broth)
• 2 medium organic Garnet sweet potatoes
• 2 medium organic Yukon Gold potatoes
• celtic sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• frozen organic green peas (optional)

1. Chop the onion.  Melt the butter in a 4- or 6-quart pot over medium heat. Add the onion and bay leaf, sprinkle with a bit of salt, and saute for 5 minutes. A bamboo spatula works great for putting this recipe together.
2. In the meantime, chop the celery and carrots. Then add them to the pot and saute for 5 more minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Crumble the ground beef into the pot.  Sprinkle with 1&1/2 tsp salt and about 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper. Add the cumin and thyme.  Stir to combine with the veggies. Increase the heat to medium-high and brown the meat for a few minutes. (There is no need to fully cook the beef during this step.)
4. In the meantime, peel and chop the potatoes and sweet potatoes. (I love my Rada vegetable peeler.) I leave the peel on one of the Yukon Golds and remove the peel from both of the sweet potatoes.  Since the sweet potatoes can oxidize (turn brown) rather quickly once peeled, chop them last and throw then straight into the pot. 
5. Add the broth, water, and potatoes to the pot.  Bring to a low boil and skim the foam.  Discard the foam.
6. Reduce the heat to bring the pot to a low simmer. Scoop out a bit of the broth and taste to see if any more salt or pepper are needed. Cover the pot and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes are fully cooked.Turn off heat.
7. Since my kids love green peas, I add a few frozen peas to their bowls before serving.  These thaw nicely once the stew is added, and they also help cool the stew down to the perfect temperature for eating.  My husband and I prefer this soup without the peas.
8. Ladle into bowls and serve!

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Creamy White Pizza Sauce (nutrient-dense : gluten-free)

Often on Friday nights, we have pizza for dinner.  Looking for a change from our usual pizza sauce, I came up with this creamy white pizza sauce.  This sauce has a great flavor from the basil and garlic.  It makes a delicious base for our favorite pizza toppings.

White Pizza Sauce
Makes sauce for one 12-inch pizza

• 3 Tb butter, preferably from pastured cows 
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 cup whole milk, preferably from pastured cows
• 1/4 tsp celtic sea salt
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1 tsp dried basil OR 1 Tb fresh minced basil
• 2 Tb white rice flour*

1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Let the butter start to brown a bit (but make sure it doesn't burn).
2. Use a garlic press to mince the garlic.  Add the garlic to the melted butter and saute for 20-30 seconds, just until the garlic is fragrant. 
3. Stir in the milk. Add the salt, pepper, and basil. 
4. Bring to a simmer and cook for about five minutes. Stir frequently so the milk doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
5. Carefully remove ~1/4 cup of the hot liquid from the pan and pour it into a glass cup. I like to use a glass Pyrex measuring cup for this. Whisk the rice flour into the cup of  milk. Once it is well-combined, whisk the rice/milk mixture into the saucepan.  
6. Continue to simmer the mixture for 5-10 more minutes, until the sauce has thickened considerably.
7. Turn off heat and allow to cool.
8. Spread the sauce over a pizza crust of your choice**. Top with your favorite toppings and bake.  We topped the white pizza sauce with sauteed mushroom, nitrate-free salami, green onions, and plenty of cheese. 
9. Slice and enjoy!

*Wondering why I use white rice instead of brown rice? Check out this article to find out.
**We are currently loving Against the Grain Gourmet brand pizza crust, which is sold in the freezer case at our local healthfood store.  It is composed primarily of cheese, milk, eggs, and tapioca starch. My only complaint with the ingredients is that there is a small amount of canola oil in these crusts, but since the amount is small I have decided not to worry about it.  I know some of my blog readers have reported that my Cheesy Bread recipe also works well as a pizza crust, but I haven't tried that yet since my family just devours the cheesy bread every time I make it.

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