NT mamas - July thread

[gardenmommy]

Do you mind if I start a new thread for July? I've been absent for most of June, so I missed posting here!

I have a question regarding sweeteners. I've been trying to get it answered, but so far no dice. What is the difference between rapadura and sucanat? Is there a difference? I ordered sucanat through my co-op, so I'm going to try it and see how we like it.

Also, my kefir has completely separated into two distinct sections: solid on top, and whey on the bottom. Why did it do this! Can I still use it? What do I do with it now!

We are on a major sugar binge with my in-laws here for 2 weeks. We are going on a major non-sugar binge when they leave!

And, I am really looking forward to picking fresh lettuces, chard, squash, and green beans from the garden. The garden is looking really good, can't wait to start eating!

What's going on with the rest of you?

[member]

AFAIK, there really is no difference between sucanat and rapadura, and it seems that rapadura is Rupunzel's name for sucanat. Hmmm. Could I vague that up a little more?

I've also been on the white pony and feeling pretty awful. I am still not NT sugar-free but doing a lot better.

I finally made the curried red lentils in coconut milk dish, and it is divine! Just too good. I soaked my lentils (& rice that I used as a base) and added some coconut concentrate as well as the coconut milk and spinach to add some color and veggies. I could have easily eaten a bowl or two...

My last batch of bone broth turned out super well! I made it in the crockpot and let it cook the full 24 hours. The color is a lovely amber and the taste is incredible. I cannot wait to make another batch.

[TopazBlueMama]

Hey traditional foodies! Is it really July already???

I've had a great week, as far as eating goes. Tons better than the week before when I went out of town, that's for sure! I've always done bad with company or trips, so I feel for you gardenmommy!

I've decided to do NT vegetarian style. At least for the summer anyway. Not that I care for the label, I just haven't felt that I need meat anymore (for the time being). Plus it makes sense for me to not waste the room in my stomach with meat when there is so much fresh fruits and vegetables available in the summer! But I am still eating raw dairy and egg yolks. That seems to hold me over very well.
Oh, but I still want to try the raw liver tonic once or twice. I've just had a gut feeling that I need it for some reason-like I'm depleted in something that it can help with. I'm just waiting to get to the HFS to get a good pastured source.

All I've been eating this week is raw fruit and veggies (including l-f), bean and grain sprouts, and raw dairy and egg yolks. Not that my ultimate goal is to be all raw, there's always been some stuff about the whole raw foods movement that has bothered me, but this week has pretty much been all raw except for the coconut milk for my smoothies.
It's more that my goal is a high nutrient, high enzyme diet. However my food needs to be prepared to make it that way, that is what I want to work for.

One thing that has saved me twice this week from bad cravings is making 'chocolate candies' by combining a few spoons of raw butter and raw honey, and mixed with nut butter, coconut, or nuts, and carob/cocoa powder. And sharing with my kids of course. But it certainly helped me from going to get something or making something not so healthy!

I'm so glad I have such a great source of raw milk right now. It's only 3/gallon! Cheaper than the pasteurized grocery store crap. I've decided I won't compromise on raw dairy again. I'd rather go dairy free. It's that process that takes the vitamins and causes all the dairy problems people have. (unless you are truly allergic). Plus, I'm sure the vitamin A and D they add back in are synthetic and not very good, right?

sorry so long!

[gardenmommy]

tweety, that sounds so good! the "chocolate candies", I mean. And I'm with you on all those fresh fruits and veggies. I expect to pick blueberries in the next two weeks or so. I am really looking forward to that! Then fresh peaches, and not too much longer we'll pick some apples.

selu, thank you for the info. I wasn't finding too much on my web searches, and I was sure someone here had to know!

We are going up north for the weekend, so I won't be back until next week. I am really looking forward to being home, so we can get off the sugar high. I already know that my MIL has chocolate chip cookie dough to bake, lemon meringue pie, and homemade vanilla ice cream planned. Sheesh, we'll be climbing the walls with all that sugar!

Have a great weekend ladies!

[morninglark]

sucanat vs. rapadura

As far as sucanat goes the _The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia_ by Rebecca Wood says that "although once an unrefined product, it no longer is" (although she doesn't elaborate on what that means) and is 90% sucrose. Rapadua is 82% sucrose.

I made the lentil/rice idli recently and they are quite decent. I don't think I kept them in a warm enough place...hard to do in SF in the summertime, so I don't think they fermented well. But they were easy to make and make a good thing to snack on at work.

the curried rice/lentil/cocunut dish sounds good I'll have to make that soon.

Also the "chocolate candies." I have such a problem with cravings at work.

[mountain mom]

Hi everyone!!!

July is a mad busy month for me, wildcrafting and medicine making. I am reading, but most likely not posting much!

Happy summer!

[toraji]

Hey all,

finally catching up on old posts and working like mad lately. We've been eating huge amounts of swiss chard lately since DH planted so much of it earlier this year. Lots of salads too. Summertime is nice to eat more raw cooling foods but I agree with you tweetybirds that there are a lot of things about the raw movement that really bother me. (Anyone interested in it can read all about it over at BeyondVeg.com, as well the messageboards over at rawplus.com and rawfood.com). It is ridiculous to hold yourself to some 100% ideal whether it is raw, NT, or other diet. There is even an "AVSkeptics" group at Yahoo groups that talks about failings on the Primal Diet by Aajonus Vonderplanitz. Buyer beware!

As usual, there is no one perfect diet for everybody.

There was some controversy over sucanat being refined then having molasses added back into it, and so people were recommending Rapadura instead. I use any sweetener pretty minimally though so I decided against paying the high price for Rapadura and just use evaporated organic cane juice.

Back when i was battling sugar cravings, I made a recipe that is similar in idea to the chocolate candies described above. It's carob powder and chopped up dried fruits and nuts: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=136908

Another good and really easy one is carob banana pudding, just mash up a ripe banana in a bowl with some carob powder until smooth and eat.

The kefir should still be good, it's just separated from long or warm fermentation. You can either use the whey separately and make kefir cheese or after pulling out the grains just dump it into a blender and whirl together to remix it all. Taste it first though to make sure no off flavors have developed but most likely it's still okay.

[Judegirl]

Sorry to crash...but what's NT? I've been searching but all of the NT threads are so long...haven't yet found what it stands for. Thanks!

Jude

[toraji]

NT = Nourishing Traditions, a cook book/diet book by Sally Fallon. You can read about their philosophy on the Weston A. Price Foundation website at http://www.westonaprice.org

[cobluegirl]

According the Sally on page 537 of NT...Sucanat is a refined sugar and the nutrients have been removed. Small amounts of molasses may have been added to apply color...it is on her "stay away from" list....

[cobluegirl]

What are ya'all making for festivities tomorrow? I spent way too much at the store and still don't have a menu...lol In fact..I need to work at a menu for everyday living..waaa...what happens to your brain when you have kids....sigh..mine took a siesta...

[steffanie3]

We are having my birthday dinner tomorrow instead of today and DH is making the sweet and sour chicken and carrot cake. It is my present from him to make it, so I hope everything tastes great. We have the chicken marinating and the cake flour soaking.

Today we were given some beets so I baked those and they are really good and I am going to steam the greens and try those. We also juiced a couple because we hadn't had beet juice before and juiced some carrots too. I think DH is liking this new way of eating, he was raised on meat and potatoes so he liked the meat parts and is trying the new fermented things little by little.

[Attached Mamma]

Can anyone tell me how you do dill pickles the NT way, instead of canning them? We are starting to get pickling cucumbers off of our plants, but not enough to can already.

Thanks

[cjr]

Hi all! I had a very buisy weekend. My best friend came up from Montana with her two kids. We went swimming and shopping, yesturday we spent the day in Banff and had a wonderful picnic. This morning we had a long chat about fats and eating. She's an MD and is amazed at what I tell her. She didn't understand why butter was ok and she was skeptical when I told her that we neede saturated fats in our diet, so I pulled out Sally's book and we had a great discussion. She commented that her writing about fats made so much sense. She didn't "get" coconut oil either, so I linked her to some reading. She's someone who's really into meal replacement shaks/bars and all that stuff. She's struggling with her weight and I told her to give that stuff a rest and just eat some good healthy whole foods. I hope she does.

I love making stock in the crock. I usually roast a very large chicken in the crock all day, then I stip it of it's meat while it still sits in the crock. Once the meat is stripped then I add my vegies, livers and water and turn it back on for 24 hours. It's wonderful stuff. I like doing it this way because while the chicken is roasting all the juices fill the crock and that all goes into my stock making it nice and flavorful.

I am going to try some pickles NT style this week. I can't wait. If I like them then I am going to invest in a few fermenting pickling jars.

I'm doing well with my freezdried kefir. No candida issues. It's milder tasting and not as thick as my fresh brewed stuff.

[HerthElde]

:

[halah]

Just subscribing.... stock boiling away in my crock pot as I type...

[harbourmom2]

New here and need help!

I currently have a month old and need to find a formula for him. I've unsuccessfully tried to breastfeed and need an alternative. I've looked into the NT formula, but it seems so complex. I have a 3 yo daughter and don't have much free time. Does anyone have any suggestions? I would love to do the NT formula, but not sure I can handle getting the raw milk and trying to make the whey.

[JaneS]

Harbourmom2,

Some info about fortifying commercial formulas here:
http://www.mercola.com/2000/oct/22/infant_formula.htm
http://www.westonaprice.org/children/recipes.html
http://www.westonaprice.org/children/breastfeed.html
There are 2 brands of organic formulas available, don't know how good they are though. The thing with powdered formula is that the fats are oxidized and not at all healthy.

Have you tried to find help for bf'ing in the forums here? Feel free to pm me too. Welcome to MDC

[morninglark]

I am new to this thread, so please fogive me if this is a thread-bare topic, but I am wondering if anyone has tried any of the raw beef recipies. I am a little squeemish about it and wonder how to get over that hump. Specifically, I'd like to try the corned beef. Does anyone know if corned beef is traditionally a raw meat product?

[cjr]

I had bf'ing issues and after being unsucessfull at more than one attempt I had to resort to formula. The thing with home made formulas is that you really have to be careful. As bad as commercial formulas are, they are the base of a babies nutritional needs. I used a commercial brand that did not contain the added omega fats. DS had diarhea when on those. I gave him a cow milk based formula and supplimented with different oils and egg yolks when he started solids. Oils do not mix well with formula and every attempt left an oily mess in the bottom of the bottle. When ds was 6 months and we started solids I started him with banana and then banana and avocado. Then I added egg yolks and coconut oils to his foods. Coconut oil is a rich source of linoleic (sp?) acid which is found in bm. He had coconut oil everyday and an egg yolk every second day. Then I added hemp oils and flaxseed oil. I alternated between the hemp and flax oils. I put the hemp and flax oils in his applesauce and he loved it.

You do the best that you can. I would stay away from powdered formulas for the same reason as the above poster. Soy is also a good thing to stay away from unless baby is allergic to cow's dairy. It's not a good alternative. A good commercial formula is fine until baby is old enough to suppliment with the oils and egg yolks.