Your Custom Homestead, Review and Giveaway

I am thoroughly enjoying this book.  So much so, I plan on reading it twice.  The first time to get the gist of it and the second time to implement a plan.  The great part is, it’s only 79 pages long but packed with so much usable information.  You’ll be on your way to your custom homestead in just 21 days (if you follow the plan).

Do you need some inspiration or encouragement to get started on your homesteading dream?  What stands between you and your dreams of homesteading?

Do you live in an apartment?
Do you live in a house in the suburbs?
Do you have a few acres in the country?
Do you dream of having 100 acres and being ‘off the grid’ and self-sufficient?

It’ll be a different kind of homesteading than if you owned 40 acres with multiple outbuildings and a tractor but it can still be possible.  It’s all about doing what you can in the situation you are in.  Jill gives many idea for implementing homesteading principles in most any situation.

Now for the giveaway!  

We are giving away a free copy of Your Custom Homestead.  Leave a comment below telling me about your homesteading situation.  Winner will be announced this Friday at 12pm.

Me?  I have 15 acres, lucky me!  32 chickens and 2 kitties.  I also have a hereford cow and a pregant dairy goat spending the winter at my friend’s farm.  They’ll come live with me once the snow melts.  I’m hoping to get a garden going this year.  4 years in a row my garden has bombed but I’m stubborn.  Maybe this year will be the one!  I do have 4 apple trees and various berry bushes.  I haven’t killed those yet.

We have been contemplating trading in our little hobby farm for life in town.  I’ve been nervous about the idea of giving up my homesteading dream but Jill is showing me it’s still possible, I’ll just have to adjust my expectations.  I might not be able to have chickens, goats and a cow where we plan to move but I can still have a garden and an extensive pantry. Hmm, I wonder if they have rules against clothes lines…

Cinnamon Milk Kefir

I can’t thank Donna at Cultured Food Life enough for reintroducing me to a second fermentation for milk kefir.  I went from not caring for milk kefir to loving it.  I’ve been experimenting with different flavorings for the second ferment and all have been winners but this one is my favorite and worthy of it’s own blog post.  Cinnamon, that’s it.

To do a second ferment, first make your milk kefir as you normally would (instructions here).  Strain out the kefir grains.  Pour the kefir into a wide mouth jar (you’ll see why in a bit), just add a cinnamon stick and set on the counter for another 12 hrs or so.  At this point, my kefir is usually separated and doesn’t look too appetizing.  To fix that, remove the cinnamon stick and set aside.  Now using a stick blender, blend the kefir.  You can do this in a blender as well.  Put cinnamon stick back in and refrigerate.  The flavors will continue to infuse while in the fridge.  I usually sweeten mine with a bit of stevia but use whatever sweetener you prefer.

Don’t forget to check out my giveaway from yesterday.  Winner will be announce next Tuesday.
Lacto-Fermentation E-Course Giveaway.

Lacto-Fermentation E-Course Review and Giveaway!

I’m going to let you in on a little secret.  I’m a newbie at fermenting. I didn’t know Iwas a newbie until recently.  Don’t getme wrong, I’ve been fermenting for years starting with yogurt 9 years ago whenI put my son on the SCD (specific carbohydrate diet).  As the years have gone by, I’ve added moreand more to my repertoire but the more I learn, the more I find out how much Idon’t know.  Even since I started blogginglast October, you can see my method for fermenting has changed as I’ve learned newtechniques.

Recently I befriended Wardeh of GNOWFGLINS ( I love sayingthat, g-NOWF-glins).  It stands for “God’s natural,Organic, Whole Foods, Grown, Locally, In Season”.  She is amazing.  Simply amazing.  There is so much I am learning since Istarted taking her e-course on lacto-fermentation.  I didn’t even know I had this much to learn.  Her e-courses are excellent.  She includes videos that demonstrate thetopic of the day and includes PDF files with recipes to try out your new foundknowledge.  You can work at your ownpace, as fast or as slow as you want, when you want.  I don’t know about you but with 4 kids andhomeschooling, I need classes that are flexible.  I think it’s good for the kids to see Mommydoing school as well.

I’ve wanted to start teaching classes on fermentation and real food cooking for a while now but my and my husband’s schedule just hasn’t allowed me the time to do so.  This is a great option for all my local friends who I keep putting off.

Topics that are covered are the history oflacto-fermentation, why you should do it and how to do it.  No special equipment needed.  You most likely already have everything youneed to get started in your kitchen. You’ll learn how to preserve fruits and vegetables, make delicious fermented beverages,culturing dairy into yogurts and cheese, sourdough (yes, that’s fermentedgrains), beans, condiments and even meats.

Going through these lessons has given me so many new ideasfor ferments that I can’t wait to share with you!

And the best part about the e-courses is how affordable they are. For as little as $8 a month, you can have access to all of GNOWFGLINS e-courses where you can learn at your own pace.

Now for the giveaway!  Who doesn’t love a giveaway!  How about a free month membership to GNOWFGLINS e-courses?  This includes not only the lacto-fermentation course but all of her e-courses (fundamentals, cheese making, sourdough).  To enter, simply comment below.
We’ll make things fun by giving you a few different ways to enter.  One entry per comment.  I’ll pick an entry at random next Tuesday.

1. Like Pickle Me Too on Facebook.  I love getting to know people through Facebook. If you already like me, that counts too!
2. Like GNOWFGLINS on Facebook.  If you already do, that counts.
3. Make one of my ferments and tell me about it (you can tell me about one you’ve already done).

Next I’ll be starting her Cultured Dairy and Basic Cheese E-course.  She also has a book on lacto-fermentation coming out very very soon.  I’m so excited!

**ETA:  Don’t forget to post a separate comment for each entry!**

Kombucha Continuous Brewing System

Used with permission from The Liberated Kitchen’s Real Food Ryan Gosling page.

Does brewing kombucha seem overwhelming to you?  Do you envision mason jars scattered all over your kitchen?  Do you not have time to deal with it all?  But do you still want to drink kombucha regularly without having to shell out $3-4 a bottle?  I know I say things are simple a lot but this actually really truly is simple. Once you find the pieces, it takes a short time to get set up and running with very little maintenance.  Can you boil water?  You can make kombucha.

This is how I set up my Continuous Brewing System.

Equipment needed:

• Glass beverage dispenser, the kind with a plastic spigot at the bottom.  You don’t want any metal in contact with the tea as it can damage the SCOBY.  It should hold 1-5 gallons.  Mine holds 1.5 gallons.
• Tea ball (if using loose leaf tea).
• 1 gallon jug to store sweetened tea.

**Or if you don’t want to locate all this on your own, Kombucha Kamp has it all put together for you!**

Ingredients for 1 gallon of tea:

• 1 cup of sugar (1/4 cup per quart of water)
• 8 tea bags* (2 bags per quart of water)
• 4 quarts filtered water divided (or amount needed)
• 2 cups Kombucha starter tea (1/2 cup per quart of water)
• Kombucha mother

This makes enough tea for a 1 gallon container.  Adjust the amount as needed to fill your container.

Add water, sugar and tea to a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil.  Remove from heat and let steep for about 15 min.  Remove tea bags. Add remaining 3 quarts of cold filtered water

Once tea is cool, pour into your system and add starter tea and kombucha mother.  Let set in a warm place for about a week.  Taste test at this time. If it’s too sweet, let set a little longer.  You might need to find a warmer place.  I keep mine near my crock pot which is always running making bone broth.  Kombucha can culture for up to 6 weeks.

*Black tea is best for the health of the SCOBY.  Green tea works well too.  If you want to use white tea, red tea or an herbal tea, use it in combination with black tea.  My favorite is a 50/50 blend of English Breakfast tea with green tea.  Avoid flavored teas (like Earl Grey) since they can damage the SCOBY.  Add flavor during the second ferment.

Harvesting Kombucha

Once Kombucha is to your liking, drain off as much as you would like to drink for a few days and replace with more sweetened tea, prepared with the above ratios.  When adding new tea, you don’t need to add more kombucha starter since it’s already in the container. Just make sure to always leave about 20% of the tea in the container.

I remove and replace about a quart at a time.  Doing a small switch like this makes the kombucha culture faster.  Culturing a ratio of 1 part sweet tea to 4-5 parts kombucha tea, as opposed to 1 gallon to 2 cups, goes faster and is usually done in a matter of just a couple days.

**Time saving tip:  I keep a gallon jug of sweetened tea in my fridge so I don’t have to make it every time I drain of kombucha**

You can drink the tea as is or do a second fermentation with juice, fruit and/or spices to add some fizz and yumminess.  See my recipe suggestion page: http://www.picklemetoo.com/p/kombucha.html

That’s all there is to it!  Just gently add sweetened tea as you drain off your kombucha.  Your SCOBY will grow, covering the entire top of your brewing system.  If it gets too large, you can always gently remove it and with plastic utensils, cut off portions to share with friends.

Part of Friday Food Flicks, Freaky Friday, Fight Back Friday, Fat Tuesday, Traditional Tuesday

Natural Born Traditional Foodie

I was thinking this morning, as I was feeding mysourdough starter, how I was born to be a traditional foodie.  I hearpeople talk about how they needed to adjust their taste buds or how hard it wasfor them to choke down their first bite of liver. They needed to adjust tomaking all their own food instead of just buying it and they had to tame thesugar beast. None of that was ever hard for me.  Evidently I’m weird.

Hat, sweater and blanket knit by yours truly.

I’ve always loved doing things the hard way.  Why a buya sweater when I could knit one?  Heck, I bought pygora goats to harvest their coats in order to spin yarn to knit sweaters.  Why buy gluten free sourdough bread whenI can get a starter (or make my own), feed it twice a day, everyday, and makemy own?  I love making cheese, yogurt and sauerkraut.  If pressing my own olive oil were practical, I’d be all over that!  Ever since I was a kid, I liked making things.  Painting, crocheting, beading, sculpting… I think myartsy craftiness translates well in to food preparation.  I see cooking asan art.  I love the whole process.

That’s a fresh deer heat. I think it’s beautiful.

I love weird food.  Always have.  If you asked mewhen I was 4 what my favorite food was, I would have said pickles, followed bycauliflower, followed by spaghetti (I’m not that weird), followed by liver.Yes, liver.  I not only liked liver but it was high on my list of favoritefoods.  I ordered it in restaurants. In high school I organized a smallliver feast with some fellow liver lovers.  Surprisingly there weren’tmany of us. I’ve always been fascinated with offal (‘waste’ parts of a butcheredanimal).  When we went grocery shopping, I would scour the meat sectionfor cow tongue because I thought it looked so cool!  I still do that.

I have never had a sweet tooth.  I don’tmind sweets, I’ve just never craved them.  I thank my mom for that. Wedidn’t eat much sugar at all when I was little.

Our first blue egg.  There was a nice golden yolk inside.

And you know how most kids pull the yolk our to a fried or boiled egg and eat just the white (at least most kids I’ve known)?  Not me!  I pulled the yolk out and gave the white to my sister.  And a runny yolk was the best!

But have any of my 4 children followed suit? No, of course not.  But I’m still holding out hope for theyoungest…

Teriyaki Salmon

Sometimes the best dinners come from not having anything planned.  We were supposed to go out last night but our van didn’t start so we were stranded.  Luckily I did have some salmon thawed, so salmon it was!

I love teriyaki sauce but most store bought brands have wheat in them (and generally icky ingredients).  So I thought I would make my own.  For a last minute meal, this turned out spectacular!

Teriyaki Salmon

• 1 cup soy sauce (wheat free and fermented, San-J tamari is my favorite).
• 1/2 cup white wine (or chicken broth)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 2″ knob of ginger, grated
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp arrowroot powder
• 1/4 cup water 

Mix everything but arrowroot powder and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan on the stove. Heat to a simmer.  Mix arrowroot powder in 1/4 cup water and whisk into soy sauce mixture.

Drizzle on top of grilled salmon or use as a marinade.

Active Water Kefir

A while ago after I had purchased my water kefir and had it going for a few weeks, I decided to divide my grains and try to get 2 batches going at once.  I still don’t know why that made the grains unhappy but I was pretty sure I had killed them.  There seemed to be little if any change to the sugar water when before the split, I was enjoy the best super fizzy kefir.  I scoured Cultures For Health’s water kefir FAQ http://www.culturesforhealth.com/water-kefir-frequently-asked-questions-faq and implemented a rescue mission they call “Rinse, Rest, Recover”. 

I first gently rinsed the grains with filtered water and then put them in a solution of 1/4 cup sugar plus 1/2 tsp molasses in 1 quart of filtered water (boiled and cooled).  Next I let them rest in the refrigerator for about a week.  I then began brewing like normal (according to Cultures for Health directions).  

I noticed a slight difference but not much.  For about a week, I changed the sugar solution everyday just throwing out the old solution because it tasted like it had a high sugar content.  After a week, I could taste more of a difference but it took almost a month to get them back to good health.

One of the ways you can tell your water kefir is alive and active is by the color of the water.  The lighter cloudy jar on the left is water kefir done fermenting.  The one on the right is one I just started (that’s a muslin bag holding my kefir grains floating around). You’ll notice a color change, taste change and you may or may not have fizziness but you should see some bubbles rising. 

This is what healthy water kefir looks like.  I’m so happy I was able to save them. 

A Day in the Life of a Fermenting Freak

Pea pods, cauliflower and green beans fermenting away!

I have people ask a lot how I find time to do everything I do.  In actuality, fermenting is the easiest thing I do.  It just takes a little prep time and a lot of wait time.  I’ll break what I do down into daily and weekly.  On a regular day, I spend about half an hour tinkering with my ferments.

Daily

• Feed my sourdough

Sourdough does better when it’s kept on the counter and fed regularly.  If I’m not planning on making anything that requires an active sourdough starter (like bread), I just fed it first thing in the morning and before going to bed, trying to keep no more than 12 hours between feeds.  1/4 cup starter, 1/4 cup water, scant 1/4 cup brown rice flour.  The discarded starter goes in the fridge to use later (for crepes, pancakes, cheese pie).  GNOWFGLINS.com has an excellent e-book on sourdough that has many uses for this sourdough starter. 

• Water kefir

Depending on how warm it is, my water kefir usually takes 2 days to ferment a quart of sugar water during the winter.  I taste it daily to make sure it’s still a bit sweet.  If it sits in spent water for too long water kefir can starve.  I also move any second ferment water kefir to the fridge that needs it.  This only takes a few minutes as well.  If I’m using apple cider, it’s just a matter of filling a jar and plopping the grains in.  If I’m using sugar water, it’s as simple as boiling water and mixing in the sugar and molasses.  Just remember to let it cool before adding the kefir grains.

Weekly

• Milk kefir

Milk kefir only ferments for 24 hours but I don’t make it every day.  Usually I make it 2-3 times a week.  It goes in the fridge between ferments just stored in water.  For just a day or 2 water is fine.  If it’s longer than that, I’ll store it in milk.  When I make milk kefir, I remove the kefir from the fridge and discard the water and give the grains a quick gentle rinse.  They go into a quart of milk and are then left on the counter.  

• Vegetable ferments

I usually start this on the weekend.  Most ferments really only take a few minutes to prepare.  I either chop by hand or shred using my food processor, pack things into jars and stick them on the counter.  I usually only takes 5-20 mins from start to finish.  The veggies then do their thing without any tinkering from me.  I prefer using a vegetable culture like Caldwell’s to whey.

• Kombucha

I have an continuous kombucha pot and it works great for me to remove 1 or 2 quarts at a time a couple times a week.  I might need to expand my systems since we’re going through more kombucha than that.  I remove the kombucha and replace it with sweetened tea that I make by the gallon once a week or as needed.  

• Yogurt

I make a gallon of yogurt weekly.  I usually heat the milk up to 165F instead of using raw milk so that I don’t mix them up and accidentally eat the pure culture.  My oldest once ate all of my villi mother.  The mother is what I need to culture future batches.  Raw milk contains other friendly bacteria that makes the culture impure.  It also contains enzymes making the yogurt more runny.  The kids like a firmer yogurt and it’s easier for me to keep track of what is what if I just make all the yogurt from heated milk.  Right now my yogurt of choice is filmjolk, a room temp yogurt that doesn’t need anything special to keep it warm.

Just a note, links you see in my post many times are affiliate links meaning I might make a small commission from any purchases resulting from your visit to any site.  Links like this help me maintain this site. I only link to products I have either tried or are on my wishlist.

Homemade Formula vs Human Donor Milk

Photo by Aurimas Creative Commons License

We all know that babies first and only food for the first 6 months of life should be breastmilk.  But what if the mom, for whatever reason, cannot breastfeed.  There are numerous reasons when supplementation might be necessary like insufficient glandular tissue, low supply, breast reduction surgery (though many have been able to breastfeed after reduction), medication the mother needs to be on, adoption/foster care or in the event of maternal death.

First off, I want to make it clear that I am in no way against formula or people choosing to use it.  I am not attacking anyone for not being able to breastfeed (that is just silly).  Does it have to be a stand off?  I don’t think so.  I do think women need to be aware of their choices so they can make the best decision for their family.  The best way to make an informed choice is to weigh the pros and cons of all the options and choose what is best for your family.

“All of us experience life through a variety of personal filters and we often have sensitive areas that automatically put us on our guard and we may take things as a personal attack when that’s hardly the intent.” ~Jessica from The Leaky B@@b

Here is what I would like to see when a mother is found to have an inadequate supply.

#1  Address what is the cause of the low supply, suggest how to boost supply and even relactation.

• Is it a true supply issue?  Before fretting too much, consult a knowledgeable lactation consultant.  You can find one through your local hospital or doctor’s office.  
• Is there a tongue tie or latch issue?  Mommypotomus has some great posts on this subject. http://www.mommypotamus.com/how-to-diagnose-tongue-and-lip-ties/  http://www.mommypotamus.com/why-our-mothers-shouldnt-have-listened-to-theirs/
• Does mom need more nutritional support?  WAPF diet for nursing moms.
• There are ways to help boost supply which have helped many.  http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/index.html
• Relactation, yes it’s possible even in the case of adoption.  Kellymom.com is a great resource for relactation and adoptive breastfeeding.

#2  Traditional practice of milksharing.
Before the advent of formula, wet nursing was common practice and in many countries it still is.
When China experienced a problem with tainted formula, sickening 53,000 and a resulting death in 4 infants, many woman turned to the traditional practice of wet nursing:

“While doctors say any breast milk from a healthy woman will help a baby grow and protect it against disease, the practice of having another woman nurse one’s own baby was largely abandoned in the West in the 19th century. But the practice is common in a number of countries. China also has a long tradition of wet nursing, but the Communist Party considered the practice decadent and tried to stamp it out.”  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122220872407868805.html

Questions and comments I see come up consistently when I or others bring up the issue of donor milk (usually on a Facebook thread promoting the homemade formula) are as follows:

Donor breastmilk is hard to find!
Yes, it is. Now.  But it doesn’t have to be!   


“Breastmilk, the biologically normal sustenance for humankind, is a free-flowing resource and others of the world are willing to share it.”
 ~Human Milk 4 Human Babies Vision Statement

There are groups like Human Milk 4 Human Babies whose mission is to provide a community where moms in need can find moms with excess.  There is a chapter in every state in the US and in over 50 countries.

If you are only able to obtain small amounts of breastmilk here and there, “…any breastfeeding has protective effects“.

http://health.msn.co.nz/healthnews/8417796/breastfeeding-protects-against-asthma

Donor milk is a very viable option but, yes, suitable milk can be difficult to obtain and some might just not be comfortable with it.  I get that.  I would like to see the taboo of donor milk disappear.  It’s no more yucky than feeding milk from a cow.  The more people that realize donor milk is an option, the more the word gets out about the need for donor milk.

I’m not going to feed my baby milk from a complete stranger.
Just as the foundation suggests for raw milk to know your farmer, visit the farm, ask questions, the same goes for donor milk.  Talk to her, ask questions, request test results, meet her, see the baby she is nourishing with the same milk she is offering to you.

The mother’s diet is probably bad therefore her milk is most likely deficient.
Yes, diet can affect the nutrient quality of milk and a diet full of transfats, lacking in nutrients, may result in less than superior milk.  Is it less nutritive than the homemade formula?  I think that would be an interesting experiment.  If you are concerned, why not send the milk in to get analyzed?  http://www.brookerlaboratories.com/service.html#nutfactdata

One thing you can request of the mother is for them to do a blood panel determining her nutrient status.  I just had this test done recently (which I totally rocked!).  Most insurance companies will cover the cost of the tests and most people should have these tests done anyway. If mom is depleted in more than a couple areas, it’s your decision whether to accept it or not.  Another option would be to use this “depleted” milk in place of the cow milk in the formula recipe or supplement.

When a mom’s nutrient intake is not ideal, “Vitamins and minerals also vary according to maternal intake. But even when these nutrients are lower in breast milk than in formulas, their higher bioactivity and bioavailability more nearly meet the complete needs of neonates than do even the best infant formulas”

Breastfeeding: Unraveling the Mysteries of Mother’s Milk: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9746642

What about AIDS, Hepatitis and other disease transferred through bodily fluid?
This is a very legitimate concern.  First off, breastmilk is not blood.  Comparing feeding breastmilk to a blood transfusion is comparing apples to oranges.  Completely different.  Hepatitis is in fact not inherent in breastmilk and mothers with hepatitis are encouraged to breastfeed.  From the CDC itself :

“Yes. Even before the availability of hepatitis B vaccine, HBV transmission through breastfeeding was not reported. All infants born to HBV-infected mothers should receive hepatitis B immune globulin and the first dose of hepatitis B vaccine within 12 hours of birth. The second dose of vaccine should be given at aged 1–2 months, and the third dose at aged 6 months. The infant should be tested after completion of the vaccine series, at aged 9–18 months (generally at the next well-child visit), to determine if the vaccine worked and the infant is not infected with HBV through exposure to the mother’s blood during the birth process. However, there is no need to delay breastfeeding until the infant is fully immunized. All mothers who breastfeed should take good care of their nipples to avoid cracking and bleeding.” http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/disease/hepatitis.htm

If in doubt, flashpasteurization flash-heating is always an option.  You can read about that here HIV in breastmilk killed by flash-heating.  Youcan watch how to do it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNw1odieIoI
ETA: This study was done on HIV and was found to inactivate HIV and other pathogens.  There has not been a study on whether flash-heating inactivates hepatitis but hepatitis is not inherent in breastmilk anyway.  This point about hepatitis is not to say you should accept donor milk from a mother with the disease.  I’m simply showing that people crying disease in breastmilk is overblown.  Breastmilk is not the same as blood.

And remember, this is the same milk this mother is giving her own child.  All women who give birth through a hospital and even at home with a midwife, have a series of tests taken to verify the mother’s disease status.  Many women on the receiving end of milk donation request to see recent test results.

I know what’s going in the formula, I don’t know what’s in the mother’s milk.
Again, it’s a matter of talking with the mom as you would with the farmer you are obtaining your raw cow milk from. If you are unsure about the nutritional completeness of the milk, use it in place of the cow’s milk in the formula or supplement.

#3 WAPF’s homemade formula

Is the formula bad?  No!  In many cases it is life saving but it should be used as a last resort.  I would like to see this formula used only in the absence of suitable donor milk or while searching for donor milk.  The fact of the matter is, it’s milk from another species designed for baby cows not baby humans.  The first 6 months of a baby’s life their gut is open, “this means that the spaces between the cells of the small intestines will readily allow intact macromolecules, including whole proteins and pathogens, to pass directly into the bloodstream.“

Human milk is specially designed for human babies.  It contains the right proteins and right flora to populate the child’s gut.  The gut of formula fed babies (in this case I’m referring to commercial formula as I have not seen research concerning the homemade formula) is vastly different than the guts of breastfed babies.

“Bottle-fed babies develop completely different gut flora to breastfed babies.  Breastfeeding is essential for appropriate population of the baby’s gut with balanced, healthy gut flora.  Babies are born with a sterile gut.  Breastfeeding is the one and only opportunity we have in our lives to populate the entire surface of our gut with a healthy mixture of bacteria to lay the very basis of our future health.” ~Dr. Campbell Gut and Psychology Syndrome pg 37.

Again, human milk is designed for human babies. We can supply all the vitamins, fats and carbohydrates a baby needs but human milk is so much more than that.

A nutrient comparison of breastmilk to the WAPF homemade formula can be found here:
http://www.westonaprice.org/childrens-health/recipes-for-homemade-baby-formula#chart

In the event that formula is the only option, it’s best used in a SNS (supplemental nursing system).  If a mom is producing any milk at all, the baby can benefit from it. The bond formed while breastfeeding, even formula feeding at the breast, is a special thing.  Donor milk can be delivered through an SNS as well.

Do I think everyone should use donor milk if they aren’t able to breastfeed?  The decision of whether to use formula or donor milk lies in the hands of the family alone. That’s not for me to decide.  Like I said before, people need to know the available choices in order to make the best choice for their family.  One family might not feel comfortable with it where another family would welcome it joyfully but may never find out it is even an option.  I’m simply shining light on the option of breastmilk.

I envision a time where a mom who has a need can go to her community and have that need met.  I’ve seen this time and time again when I’ve donated milk or helped moms in need find that milk.  I’ve stood in awe of moms stepping up and giving their “stash” or offering to pump for babies in need.  Many moms have been able to reestablish their milk supply with the help and support of donor moms and then even went on to donate breastmilk themselves.  If you are breastfeeding mom with extra milk to spare, consider donating it.

http://www.facebook.com/hm4hb
http://www.hm4hb.net

Comments are open.  Please be respectful. We are all moms and dads (and grandparents) just trying to do what’s best for our babies.

**A special thanks to Marija of http://www.ecwear.com and Ashley Rozenberg for their encouragement, inspiration and brainstorming powers.**

Part of Fat Tuesday, Traditional Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday, Fight Back Friday…

Health Washing at it Finest

*Picture from Elizabeth Eckert*

Have you heard of ‘Pink Washing’, a marketing technique to get people to buy a product because they think proceeds will go toward breast cancer research? Or ‘Green Washing’ that encourages people to buy environmentally friendly products?  I’d like to introduce you to ‘Health Washing’.  This is a marketing technique food product producers use to convince the public that their over processed ‘food’ is good for them.  Fat free, sugar free, transfat free, no sugar added, gluten free, vegan…just to name a few.  It’s all a marketing scheme.

This is a classic example of ‘health washing’.  This jar of sugar free, fat free, calorie free marshmallow dip was in the health section of our local grocery store sent to me by a friend.  The HEALTH section?  Can we add ‘nutrient free’ to their list of claims?

Ingredients are as follows:  Triple filtered purified water, natural flavors and artificial flavors, cellulose gel, lactic acid, sucrolose, salt, xanthan gum, food color, sodium benzoate.

Water is the only good thing (and maybe lactic acid and salt) on this list.  Cellulose gel is another name for wood.  Yes, wood.  We aren’t designed to digest wood.
ETA:  My husband just commented, “Artificial and Natural flavors are the second and third ingredients.”  YUCK!

And the name of the brand “Walden Farms”.  What exactly do they farm?  Wood?

Do people fall for this?  All.  The.  Time.  I know someone close to me who has these products in her fridge.  *Cough* Mom *cough*.

Did I mention this was in the health section?