The X-factor

One of the more frequently asked questions that I get is "why do you eat organic?". I've been asked on many occasions about our organic eating habits... or about our refusal to spray our house for bugs/pests, or the yard for weeds... or about my stubborn dedication to exclusively breastfeed preemies... Check out these links:

• Environment plays larger role in autism, study says
• Antidepressant use in pregnancy may raise autism risk

As these articles discuss, and which I believe, the presence autism is probably a combination of factors. I think there is probably a genetic predisposition which, speaking about my own children, I would have no way of knowing whether they had an "autism gene" or not. That is out of my control. But if that factor is an unknown, why in the world wouldn't I take every precaution possible to rule out the influence that might be the x-factor? Why wouldn't I breastfeed to ensure optimal nutrition for their developing bodies? Why wouldn't I eliminate any and all toxins from my system in order to be providing pure and natural milk? Why wouldn't I create a home environment free of garbage that I know does my family zero good? If it kills weeds, if it kills bugs, if it kills ANYTHING... there is no way it could be beneficial to us. 

With regard to the article above and antidepressants... the birth of Abby and Elise was NOTHING like what I'd imagined. Becoming a mom for me was scary and sad and defeating and exhausting and SO DAMN HARD... who wouldn't have been depressed? And I went as far as to call my doctor one day, when I thought I just couldn't keep doing it, and she gave me antidepressants. It was obvious to everyone around me that postpartum depression had taken up residence in my system. I picked up the pills and I took them home. And I stared at them. I read the "warnings". I plugged in google searches for "antidepressants and breastfeeding". I knew those pills could possibly pose some kind of risk - no matter how big or small - but it was an x-factor that I could control. It felt so wrong to even consider taking a drug that I would knowingly pass to my girls... so I didn't. 

And that's why we eat organic and use baking soda and vinegar to clean and keep shoes handy for spider-squashing. Because we can. Doesn't it just make sense? 

Pulled pork... crockpot-style!

So, it's summer. Triple digits. Steamy hot sidewalks. Swimsuits and cold beers. We recently signed up with the local electric company's Wattsaver Program. Basically we received a free, digital/programmable new thermostat in exchange for agreeing to allow the electric company to "cycle [our] central air conditioners or heat pumps in a coordinated effort to reduce energy demand." Wow. What a concept!?! Working together in an attempt to increase energy efficiency??? We recycle, our main vehicle gets good gas mileage and doesn't require 1 1/2 lanes in order to drive down the road, we let our grass stay relatively long to provide it's roots with some shade instead of watering... and watering... and watering... and the Wattsaver Program seemed like one more thing we could do. John really made this one happen and he's also been the driving force behind our energy audit that we're having done next month - we'll have a 3-4 hour audit done throughout our house to determine what improvements can be done to increase the efficiency of our home. I like. I like.

The heat plays a role in my day-to-day doings as well. I always do one load of laundry per day. It makes sense to me - one load in the wash, one load out of the dryer and put away. Quick, simple, and it means there is never a pile of laundry to be washed or folded. With the higher temps, I load the washing machine first thing in the morning so it's done before the sun is high. And the dryer runs after the sun goes down, so as to not add any extra heat to the house or to have an additional appliance running while the a/c is working away. I also use the oven a lot less. Which means that when we're having friends for dinner, many of my main dishes aren't an option...

Solution: Crockpot Pulled Pork. We had this last night (and leftovers tonight) and it was a hit, with both the adults and the kids! And the heat from the crockpot was minimal compared to what stovetop or oven cooking would have done on a 103° day.

Crockpot Pulled Pork
idea courtesy of my momma

• Pork (well... duh???): pork butt, pork roast... whatever you can get your hands on
• Green salsa 
• 1 large organic tomato
• 2 organic garlic cloves (and ours were homegrown!)
• Turn crockpot to high
• Place pork into crockpot
• Add chopped tomato, finely chopped garlic, 1 C salsa
• I diluted the salsa a bit with organic chicken broth just to make sure it wasn't too spicy for the little ones
• Put lid on and keep on high for 30 minutes, or so
• Turn down to low and leave to cook for 6-8 hours
• Because of the added broth, I strained the pork after 7 hours and returned the meat to the crockpot for another hour. 
• Sandwiches: whole wheat slider buns, pork, fresh cabbage and carrot slaw, organic bread and butter pickles, BBQ sauce

Fresh Cabbage and Carrot slaw

• 1/2 organic cabbage
• 2 organic carrots
• 1 organic lime
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• Finely chop cabbage
• Shred carrots
• Juice 1/2 lime
• Mix all with vinegar; refrigerate until go-time!

The first harvest

Our lack of full-sun is a bit of a problem, but when I passed the tomato plants at the nursery last week, I couldn't resist. We have one in a pot on the back deck... one in a pot in the front... and one in the whiskey barrel with some verbena and petunias. Unconventional? Yes. Still providing us with fresh, LOCAL, food? YES!

We live in a community that has such great ways to get our hands on local food. The Downtown Lawrence Farmer's Market is our favorite Saturday morning outing. We love the fruit/veggie options, the local musician jam sessions, Anthony's Beehive honey sticks, and the chance to talk with others who also look forward to these weekend gatherings. The girls are always eager to head down to the market! And the power that food has when our little ladies know where it comes from - they are so excited to eat nearly anything!

And once again, I'm back to my oh-so-frequent soapbox: the importance of what we feed our children. I think this topic is worth visiting and re-visiting time and time again because it's never too late to make some changes and there are always new and different tastes to offer. Thoughts for today...

Cranberry cookies... toddler-style

I know, I know... the girls are practically THREE, which probably, technically, most likely means that I will have to stop calling them toddlers. Seriously??? Although, I might be able to relinquish toddler-rights seeing as to how I still have not stopped referring to them as "my babies". Because they are - my babies. We visited a park today, camera in hand, and while we were there it occurred to me that we'd been at the same park last summer, camera in hand. I love having "then" and "now" photos - it solidifies memories for me because I can look back and remember so much about "then" while at the same time creating new memories in the "now". Case in point:

The bottom left pictures almost made me cry. Elise's hand on top of Abby's. Abby's sweet-as-ever little face that seems to be saying "Ahhhh... life is good.". Ahhhh... life is good.

And life is even better with cookies. I do have to share a secret about these cookies: I can't find where I wrote down the recipe, so you are getting what I think we did. They were really nice cookies and, given the ingredients and low sugar, turned into a perfect breakfast snack as well!

Cranberry, Pecan, and Oatmeal Whole Wheat Cookies:

• 1 1/2 C organic rolled oats
• 1 C organic whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 T organic unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 C organic sorghum syrup
• 1/8 C organic pure cane sugar
• 1/8 C organic turbinado sugar
• 1 organic egg
• 1 organic egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 C organic dried cranberries
• 1/2 C organic pecans, finely chopped
• Mix dry ingredients
• Mix wet ingredients + sugars (in separate bowl)
• Combine all; add cranberries and pecans
• Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes

You may notice the top right picture - the cookie to the left was the result of batch #2, while the large, flat, and very chewy cookie was the result of me giving the girlies a bit too much freedom with cookie-making. It seems that some of the flour was forgotten, so I had to remedy that for round two. If you make these, it should be a fairly thick batter - substituting some of the sugar with sorghum increased the liquid, so feel free to mix in a bit more flour if needed. And in the event that I follow my own recipe posted here and it's a disaster, I'll be sure to remember next time to not lose my baking notes. 

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day (yesterday, today, and always) to two very amazing dads.  I feel the pictures speak for themselves...

Just a spoonful of dip-dip...

"Just a spoonful of dip-dip makes the veggies go down,

Veggies go down,

Veggies go down.

Just a spoonful of dip-dip makes the veggies go down,

In the most delightful way!"

I'm really making it a priority right now to have a fresh vegetable at lunch and dinner for the girls everyday. It's easy to overlook veggies, especially at lunch. And it's just as easy to include them! We are eating a lot of raw pepper slices (red, yellow, green, orange), cucumber, green beans, sugar snap peas... and a little something to dip into can make a world of difference. Please excuse the dip pic - it's much prettier in person!

Avocado Yogurt Dip

• 1 whole organic avocado
• 1 C organic plain Greek yogurt
• Juice of 1 organic lemon
• Fresh herbs - homegrown cilantro and basil
• Pinch of salt
• Blenderize and enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday: Frog Hunting