Category Archives: Food

Finally, Nalgene

Posted on April 19, 2008 by juliebyers

For those of you keeping up with the BPA saga, did you hear the news about Nalgene?  My beloved Nalgene has been one of the most tenacious defenders of the safety of Bisphenol-A in their products.  Thanks to pressure from Canadian outdoor stores, Canada’s Ministry of Health, consumers, and (of all things) the Today show, Nalgene introduced a new line of BPA-free choices last week.  Then, a few days later, issued a press release that they will no longer produce any products with containing BPA.  Huge news!   

In other BPA news, according to Z Recommends, Walmart Canada has announced it will immediately pull all BPA bottles, sippy cups, pacifiers, food containers, and water bottles from their shelves.  Walmart US claims they will phase out BPA bottles (only) by 2009. 

No word from the Big Formula on eliminating BPA from formala containers.  Surprised?

And once again, the FDA, is ignoring the issue altogether–even in the face of congressional subpoenas.

Oh dear, the EPA, is also under congressional review for its cozy ties to the American Chemistry Council.

Sigh.    

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Dreaming of Tomatoes

Posted on April 14, 2008 by juliebyers

My garden is planted!  (Thank you, Dad, for your excellent tiller and Mom for the birthday plants).  In anticipation of all the fresh salsa I’ll be making with the harvest, I am happily passing along my sister’s salsa recipe.  I stopped buying salsa the first day I tried Noelle’s. 

Chop up some tomatoes and an onion in a chopper or food processor.  I use four medium tomatoes. 

Chop up 1/2 or 1 whole jalapeno (depending on your spicy scale), 1 clove of garlic, and fresh cilantro (I’m heavy with the cilantro). 

Juice one lime into the mix and add sea salt to taste. 

Grab a blue corn tortilla chip and you have some spicy healthiness ready for consumption!  Two tips:  1) I get more juice from my lime if I pop it in the microwave for 30 secs before cutting.  2) You can tweak the salsa taste by adding more salt or lime juice.

Grow, tomatoes, grow.  And cilantro, and zucchini, and squash, and pepper, and onions, and cucumbers, and oregano, and…   

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Why yes, I am a Granola Mama

Posted on April 2, 2008 by juliebyers

This chewy granola recipe is so yummy!  And my family loves it.  And it is healthy!  The recipe makes about 30 granola bites and I bag them up in snack bags so we can grab them on the go.  Fill them with whatever goodness you want.  Here is how I make these tasty morsels:

 Chop 1/4 cup oats, 2tbsp flax, and 2 tbsp nuts of your choice in chopper or food processor.  Set aside

In a large bowl, mix 1 1/2 cup quick-cooking rolled oats, 2/3 cup dried fruit, 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds or nuts, 2 tbsp raw sunflower seeds, 2tbsp coconut flakes, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 cup nutbutter of your choice, 1/4 cup honey or agave nectar, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.  Using moist fingers, press into 1″ balls.  Roll in the nut-oat crumbs and refrigerate overnight.

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Yum.  Did I mention they were healthy?

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The Economics of a Marriage

Posted on March 30, 2008 by juliebyers

An unexpected gift celebrating no occasion.

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Results in an apple pie baked with all my love.

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And I thought of your face that sweeps over me like light, like the sun on the apple making a lovely show.  So one seeing it marveled the other night, turned to me saying, “What is it in your heart?  You glow.” –Not guessing that on my face he saw the singular reflection of your grace like fire on snow–and loved you there.  –May Sarton

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The Princess and the Pea

Posted on March 25, 2008 by juliebyers

Oh the drama of living with a two year old.  A few days ago, I was on emergency response duty for a piece of wooden swiss cheese that was stuck on Norah’s thumb.  Last night’s adventure topped the cheese. 

We were eating dinner.  Norah’s eyes starting watering and she had a shocked/glazed look on her face.  She was rubbing her nose and trying to dig for gold.  She’s had a runny nose so we thought it was just her sinuses.  After a couple of screams that threatened all the glass in our home, she said, “Mama, bee in my nose.”  I was all sympathy, “Aw, honey bear, I know it feels like there are bees in your nose.”  “NO, mommy, PEA in my nose.”  WHAT?  Scott ran for the headlamp and sure enough, we saw a flash of green up the schnoz. 

After I rolled in the floor laughing for a quick selfish moment, I dialed-a-nurse (aka, my mom) who told me sternly, in the face of my chuckles, that objects up a child’s nose was the number one reason for visits to Urgent Care and I could either get it out myself or expose her precious grandchild to the trauma of invasion at Urgent Care.  My seriousness properly restored, Scott and I brainstormed ideas for pea-removal.  We tried coaxing Norah to blow up a balloon with one nostril.  Scratch that.  We tried getting her to blow out a candle with her nose.  Scratch that.  We practiced sucking peas out of our hand with a bulb syringe.  Scratch that.  In the middle of Scott’s macgyver-ing a tube for me to suck the pea out and my googling “pea stuck up nose,” Norah said, “pepper” and then gave a giant sneeze.  The pea sweetly rolled across the kitchen tile and Norah grinned while chanting, “I did it self.”    

What a fabulous family bonding experience!  What did we do for fun before having a kid? 

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Hoppin’ Down the Bunny Trail

Posted on March 16, 2008 by juliebyers

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Today my mom, sis, Norah, and I dyed Easter eggs.  We skipped the artificial food coloring and made our own dyes.  I never liked chemistry class but this experiment was so much fun!  And messy.  I think I may have permanently dyed mom’s white porcelain sink. 

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My favorite was an earthy green we got from mixing turmeric and boiled red cabbage.  We discovered a lovely blue from one of the concoctions–I think it was baking soda, beets, and red cabbage.  We wrapped one egg in red onion peels and dropped in hot water giving us a speckly tye-die egg.  Spinach and daffodils yielded a pale yellow.  We put rubber bands on a few eggs before dying for variation.  Norah enjoyed crushing the blueberries and spinning an egg around in the beets.  One note:  dropping a white egg in coffee simply makes a brown egg.  I already had brown eggs in the fridge.  Doh. 

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Walnut Maple Cookies

Posted on March 5, 2008 by juliebyers

I can’t make cookies.  Pastry?  Yes.  Bread?  Yes.  Cookies?  Nope.  Disaster.  But–hip-hip-hooray–I found a cookie I can make and it is pretty healthy!  You heard me correctly–pretty healthy!  And it passed the husband test.  I found the recipe in a magazine but it was originally printed in a book called Depression the Way Out.  The yumminess in the cookies is supposed to help counter depression and they are loaded with omega-3.

2 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (preferably ground in a food processor.  I used an electric chopper)

2/3 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp unrefined sea salt

1/3 cup ground flax (I grind mine in a coffee grinder just before using.  You can buy it already ground as flaxseed meal)

1/3 cup carob chips (or chocolate if you don’t have carob)

1/2 cup maple syrup plus 2 tbsp

2 tsp vanilla

Add all the ingredients in the given order and mix well.  Spoon onto a greased cookie sheet.  I used coconut oil but you can use a good veggie oil spray.  Flatten each mound with a fork.  Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.  Cool before eating. 

I didn’t have enough walnuts so I added chopped hazelnuts.  I think any kind of nut will work.  I would have taken a picture but we, um, ate them all.  Enjoy! 

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Jesus was breastfed.

Posted on February 24, 2008 by juliebyers

I realize this topic is everywhere and I probably don’t need to add my two cents.  Moreover, if you’re reading my blog, you probably already agree with me.  Still, I cannot help myself.  Deep breath.  Climbing on the soapbox.

The NY State Museum–a place I’ve visited several times–recently required a woman who was nursing her 2 month old to either feed her baby in the bathroom or leave.  In NY, as in most states (including SC), a woman may breastfeed in public anywhere she is permitted to be.  Why is this civil right so difficult to understand?  I’m blown away that this basic human survival mechanism is even an issue.  Then I read the comments in the news post.  They are always the same.  And they always indicate a profound misunderstanding of the incredible way human babies have eaten since the first baby was born!  Before I breastfed, I might have thought this way, too.

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  • Why doesn’t she bring a bottle?  Well, perhaps her baby won’t take a bottle.  Perhaps she is concerned about nipple confusion.  Perhaps she doesn’t want to worry about pumping, milk storage temperature, and finding a place to warm a bottle.  Perhaps she knows that breastfeeding leads to better oral alignment than bottle feeding.  Perhaps she knows that breastfeeding is better for maintaining milk supply than pumping.  This list goes on. 
  • Why doesn’t she feed her baby at home?  Well, 2 month olds eat frequently.  The NY State Museum has a cafe on the 4th floor for the patrons.  Why shouldn’t the 2 month old eat?  If the mom is to feed her baby at home only, then she has a small window of time she can leave the house! 
  • Why doesn’t she feed her baby in the bathroom?  Um, gross.  Would you eat in a public restroom?  Do bottle-feeding moms have to feed their babies in the bathroom? 
  • Why doesn’t she cover up?  Well, this mom was covered up.  But she didn’t have to be.  The law does not require her to cover up.  Some babies won’t tolerate a blanket covering them while they eat (case-in-point Norah).  I keep hearing the phrase “whip out a boob.”  I’ve never seen a mother breastfeeding in a public place who whipped out her breast.  Most moms are trying not to call attention to what they are doing.  The baby typically offers plenty of coverage.  Still, even if they “whip out a boob,” they are within their rights to do that.
  • Why is she so uncaring of my poor husband’s/teen son’s sensibilities?  This comment really bugs me.  It is this “sensibility” that keeps perpetuating the argument!  Moms breastfeeding in public provide a perfect teaching moment for you to remind teens that the primary function of breasts is to feed babies.  Breastfeeding is healthy for both mom and baby in so many ways (101, in fact).  And if the sight of a lactating mom sends your hubby spiraling into sexual fantasy–well, maybe he needs some counseling.   

Did I miss any of the common concerns that the uninformed have regarding feeding our babies?  I remember reading the story of a doctor working in a non-Western country.  He walked into a room of mothers nursing their babies.  There was a flurry of covering up.  Only…the moms were covering their heads; not their nursing babies.       

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Treasure Hunting

Posted on February 17, 2008 by juliebyers

A few of my recent discoveries–

Green Bags:  Ingles has these great cloth grocery bags available for .98 each!  I’ve been searching for eco-bags that match (yes, I’m vain) and are inexpensive.  I was able to bag all my groceries in four bags and carry all my groceries into the house in one trip.  I’ve used them at three stores now and gotten compliments each time.  Now that is worth .98! 

Laptop Lunches:  I have so much fun serving food bento-style to Norah and this bento lunchbox was impossible to resist.  Two side notes–I found mine for a great price on ebay and they are made in China. 

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Ideal Family Health:  A friend sent me a link to this new medical office in Anderson.  It is too far for us to drive but I’m intrigued by the concept.  There are only two staff–a doctor and a nurse.  There is supposedly no waiting.  They do not take insurance but list their fees on their website.  They make housecalls if needed.  It is a perfect option for those without insurance or with catastrophic insurance only.      

Locally Grown:  I haven’t tried this service yet but here’s the scoop:  You place an order for produce, products, meat from local farms and it is delivered on Thursdays to West End Coffee Company.  The list of items available is pretty impressive. 

Earth Lines:  Poems for the Green Age:  I found this little book at Goodwill for .25.  It is pretty “in your face.”  No wispy imagery or metaphor.  Want a sample?  Here is one called “Men of Clay”
      If Adam was shaped from earth’s rough clay

     What creature would God make

     From the poisoned and eroded soil

     That we’ve left in our wake?

Yeah.  You should read the one about what is in a quarter-pounder or the one about how to make a fur hat.  I probably won’t read it to Norah as a bedtime story just yet. 

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The Episode in which Supernorah eats Secret Quinoa

Posted on February 5, 2008 by juliebyers

How do you like my little superhero?  As you can see by her emblem (is that the right superhero term?), her weapon is peace. 

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And yes, she is missing her pants.  Maybe she got a little confused in the phone booth.  I’m sure my hubby–who knows everything there is to know about superheroes (our netflix arrived today.  *sigh* tonight it will be the Fantastic Four)–could spin a wildly heroic tale involving secret identities, archenemies, and a sidekick.  Mmmm.  I’m not really feeling it.   

Thank you Caleb and Micah for Norah’s headwear!  Costume courtesy of Little Capers.   

You probably can’t tell what she is holding in her hand–a rice cake.  I’m so devious.  See, I love rice krispy treats.  But I wouldn’t feed one to my daughter–yikes!  all that sugar?  A few weeks ago, Norah caught me hiding in the kitchen eating one and mistook it for a rice cake.  Now, if she sees me with a rice krispy treat, she asks for a plain ole rice cake!  It is a win-win.  And while we’re talking devious…I have another:  Norah loves cheese grits–the packaged instant ones.  Have you see the ingredients?  Not healthy at all.  This morning, I cooked some quinoa (which is super-easy to make and full of amazing goodness), blended it with cheddar cheese, and voila–“Norah, your cheese grits are ready!”  Being a mama is so much fun!  Though my collard green experiment failed.  I cooked some collards last night and told her they were the leaves that Littlefoot and Petrie eat in “The Land Before Time.”  Yeah, she didn’t fall for that one.         

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