Thursday, December 30, 2010

Holiday Cocktail, Venetian Sunset



One of my favorite things is a delicious cocktail.
I recently received a gift of the ingredients for a Venetian Sunset.
Other than being pretty and festive looking, the drink itself was yummy!
I know what I'll be sipping on this New Years ;)

Venetian Sunset
3 ounces Martini and Rossi Asti
3 ounces pineapple juice
1/2 ounce grenadine

Pour over ice and enjoy!
Repeat as often as necessary ;)

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Holiday Candy Gift Tins



These were a big hit with my family this holiday season.
I made a variety of candies and gave them away in decorative tins and takeout boxes.
It's nice to make extra and have some on hand for visitors and special people in your life during this time. You could collect the tins all year or find inexpensive ones at a used goods stores or catch a sale, like I did.

Cardamom Granola Squares
4c rolled oats
1c dried cranberries
1c coconut flakes
1/4c dried ginger
1/2c flax seeds
1/2c sunflower seeds
3tsp ground cardamom
1tsp sea salt
1/2c brown sugar
5tbs honey or maple syrup
6tbs natural balance
4tbs coconut oil
1tsp vanilla extract

Line 9x13 inch baking pan with foil and lightly oil and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix 1st 8 ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Heat next 4 ingredients on the stove until butter melts and sugar dissolves.
Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour into dry ingredients and mix well.
Pour into greased pan and press down firmly. Bake about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
The smell of the granola as it's baking is heavenly!
Remove from oven and let cool. Cut into squares.

Lavender Truffles
1/4 dry lavender flowers
2/3 cup coconut milk
10 oz semisweet chocolate chips
Cocoa coating
2tbs cocoa powder
1tbs lacuma powder
1tsp mesquite powder

Heat the coconut milk and lavender together until the milk is warm.
Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes.
Add chocolate to milk and melt and stir until well combined.
Refrigerate until chocolate is set and you can easily roll into balls.
Roll into tsp sized balls and roll into cocoa mixture.
Store in fridge.

Cookies and Cream Truffles
I used this recipe here and veganized it by using vegan cream cheese.
Beleive it or not, oreos are vegan. Not at all healthy, but vegan nonetheless :)

*notes- I used a food processor instead of crushing in a bag.
- I added 1tbs canola oil to dipping chocolate for shine and texture.
- I froze the truffles before dipping them in chocolate.
- I sprinkled with dehydrated coconut.


Chubby Hubby Cups
Years ago, I loved chubby hubby icecream...and it showed :)
Anyhoo- I was just going to make a standard peanut butter cup, when the chubby hubby sweet and salty combo popped into my head. Here's what I came up with.

8oz dark chocolate chips
8oz milk chocolate
1c plus 2tbs chunky peanut butter
about 2 cups of salted pretzels ( I use small braided ones. If you use bigger, you may have to break them up.)
about 1/2c caramel sauce
muffin liner papers

Melt chocolate chips along with 2tbs peanut butter. Do this in the microwave or a double broiler.
Pour 1/2 of your chocolate in the bottom of muffin liners. Roll chocolate around liners until choclate comes half way up liners. Put some pretzels at bottom of each(I use 2 small). Put them in the freezer until set.
Add one tsp pb into middle of cups. Pour 1tsp caramel over each. Pour remaining 1/2 of chocolate over cups, being surre to cover filling thoroughly.
Put them back into freezer until set. Store in the fridge and enjoy!
Great with a cold glass of almond milk :)


Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Thanksgiving Recap


Hello Everyone!
Whether you celebrate Thanksgiving Day or Harvest Season, I hope that you had/have a blessed day, month and year!
I truly love being in the kitchen and I especially love preparing a healthy and delicious Holiday meal. Here's a recap of what I prepared for my family.

Tofurkey with Asparagus and Brown and Wild Rice Pilaf

Oven Baked Sweet Potatoes

Cranberry Grape Relish

Pumpkin Streusel Pie

Tofurkey Experiments


Sounds like something macabre, but it's just me trying out different tofu turkey recipes. :)

I have tried and really enjoyed the store bought tofurkey made by Turtle Islands foods.
http://www.tofurky.com/
I generally don't see a need for a turkey stand in at our Holiday meals, but one year my husband and I decided it was time to give the tofurkey a go. We have always enjoyed the deli slices and the tofurkey was just as good. I added a few things to the gravy it comes with and basted it with a marinade before roasting in the oven with asparagus. Delicious indeed.

This year, I decided to try one of the tofu turkey recipes I had been hearing about.
I tried this one http://video.about.com/vegetarian/How-to-Make-Tofu-Turkey.htm

The only changes I made was to use a pinot noir that I had on hand and yellow mustard instead of dijon. The marinade in itself is quite good. I will use this for many other things in the future.

Before baking, I stuffed the tofu loaf with a brown and wild rice pilaf. I added toasted almonds, fresh sage, fresh rosemary and chopped dried apricots to the pilaf. Yum!

When it was almost time to take the loaf out, I added my asparagus brushed with some of the marinade. Another yum!



The tofurkey turned out very flavorful, but I'm not sure that I absolutely love the texture. That may have been my fault of not draining the tofu properly or it just may be the texture you get when you blend the tofu and then press it.

I will try this recipe again. Next time I will use a Asian inspired marinade and also I won't blend the tofu before draining. I think I will just break it apart and then press it. I'll let you know how it goes!

Pumpkin Streusel Pie


This pumpkin pie is more of a pumpkin custard than pie.
The filling is very smooth like a pudding. It's lightly sweetened, but full of flavor.
I could eat the sreusel topping all by itself, but I try to control myself!

2c oven roasted pumpkin
1c coconut milk
1/4c cornstarch
1 1/2tsp pumpkin pie spice
1tsp vanilla extract
your favorite pie crust (I used a vegan shortbread crust and prebaked it)

Mix all ingredients in a blender and set aside.

Topping
1/2c sucanat sugar
3/4c oats
1/4c flour
2tbs natural balance
1tsp vanilla extract

Put all topping ingredients into a bowl and mix with a fork until combined.
Mixture should be slightly moist, but crumbly.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Pour filling into prebaked pie crust.
Add topping and bake 45 minutes or until top is brown and filling is set.
Enjoy!

Oven Baked Sweet Potatoes


I am not a fan of recipes that add a ton of sugar to the already decadent sweet potato. I can't bring myself to messing up one of natures wonderful creations by putting candy on top of them and cooking them to death.

These lightly baked potatoes are allowed to really shine by just adding a touch of seasoning. The olive oil gives a wonderful mouth feel and the smokey paprika marries well with the rich sweetness of the potato.

sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped uniformly
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and cracked black pepper
smoked paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Put potatoes on top of foil and drizzle with olive oil.
Add seasonings and toss well.
Tent potatoes by pulling foil up over top and folding.

Bake until fork tender. About 30 minutes.
Enjoy!

Cranberry and Grape Relish


I usually make this, but using oranges. However, my oranges were not very sweet and I don't like adding processed sugar to my berries. I searched the fridge for something else to use and decided on some nicely sweet globe grapes. I figured the color and taste would go well with the cranberries. I use grapes a lot as a sweetener for smoothies and juices, because they mix with other flavors well and they can be quite sweet on their own.
I loved this combo so much that I'm going to make it this way from now on! It was so refreshing and a perfect accompaniment to the other parts of our meal. I wound up eating the rest straight from the bowl for breakfast the next morning!

1c fresh cranberries
1 1/2c grapes
the zest of 1 small orange

Pulse in the food processor until your mix is in small chunks You may find you want to add more grapes, but this ratio was perfect for me.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Veggie Pride Parade Fundraiser at the Veggie Grill


Go grab some vegan eats at the Veggie Grill to help Animal Acres fund their annual Veggie Pride Parade. Yummy food and a great cause!
This event is Thursday, Oct 21st at the Veggie Grill, located at 8000 W Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood. Go between 5pm and 11pm and tell the cashier that Animal Acres sent you.
50% of total purchase will be donated.

http://www.veggiegrill.com/
http://www.animalacres.org/

Friday, October 15, 2010

Make Me Something Chocolatey


I hear this about once every other week from my dear husband. Usually, it's on the later side of the night. Typically, I go scouring the cabinets to see what's available to make something that's chocolatey, not terribly unhealthy and won't take too long. I like to keep baking staples around, but Count Chocula raids my supplies on the regular, so these late night baking sessions sometimes yield some interesting results.
Last night, this is what I came up with.

Fudgey Chocolate Cake with Almond Butter Glaze
1 1/2c whole wheat flour
1/3c cocoa powder
1tsp baking soda
1tsp salt
1/2tsp cinnamon

1/2c coconut milk
1/2c water
1/3c canola oil
1/2c sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
1/2tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix first 5 ingredients together until well combined. I pass the cocoa, baking soda and salt through a sieve to be sure all the lumps are gone. Set aside.
Mix next 6 ingredients together and pour into first mixture. Mix until just combined.
Pour into oiled 9inch cake pan and bake for 15-20 minutes. Do not over bake. This cake is fudgey, so it will still be slightly soft when it's done.

Almond Butter Glaze
1tbs almond butter
1c powdered sugar
2tbs coconut milk
1/2tsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients until lumps dissolve.
If it's too thick, add a little water.
When cake is done, poke holes in it all over using a toothpick.
Pour glaze over the top while cake is still hot and let sit until cool...if you can ;)


Thursday, October 14, 2010

Walk For Hope 2010


"The Walk for Hope is a reminder of the things that matter most in life. The purpose of the entire event is to spread more love in the world. The entire 3.5 kilometer route (2.2 miles) is decorated with inspiring quotes, all of them hand-made. You can also expect to find activity stations along the walk route.

The Walk for Hope is free, there is no registration fee. The entire Walk for Hope is our gift to the community."
http://www.bethecause.org/event.php?event_id=624

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Raw Cashew and Chai Spice Ice Cream with Pineapples


Say that fast twice :)
This is by far one of the most decadent and healthiest frozen treats I have made. It is amazingly creamy and so full of flavor. The pineapples really give it something extra and takes the yumminess over the edge!
Just a small serving goes a long way.

Cashew and Chai Spice Ice Cream
3c raw soaked and drained cashews
1 1/2c milk (rice, almond, cashew, etc)
1/3c maple syrup
1tsp chai spice
1tbs maple syrup
1c frozen pineapple pieces

Blend first 5 ingredients and freeze in cubes.
Put frozen cubes, extra syrup and pineapple into high speed blender and mix until just creamy.
Enjoy straight from blender or freeze and enjoy later!

Non Dairy Frozen Yogurt


I like my frozen yogurt yogurty...if you know what I mean.
I prefer the tang as opposed to the more ice cream like fro yos.
I came up with this non dairy version and it's a keeper!
It's creamy, tart and delicious.
It was especially wonderful topped with strawberries and granola!

Non Dairy Frozen Yogurt
3c coconut milk yogurt
1/2c sugar ( Use your preference. I used a vegan white sugar)
Juice of 1 lemon

Mix everything up and freeze in cubes. Toss in a high speed blender and enjoy!
Or toss in your ice cream maker and enjoy!

Watermelon and Lime Sorbet


Whew! It has been a blazing past few days here in Cali. I found a great way to cool us all down was to mix up some icy treats.
This one can be enjoyed by the whole family. My husband, 6 month old and 2 yorkies all cooled down with this one!

Watermelon and Lime Sorbet
4c chunks of frozen watermelon
1c frozen rice milk cubes
*If using an ice cream maker, you don't have to pre freeze, just follow manufacturers instructions*
juice of 1 large lime or 2 small limes
2/3c syrup(agave, maple, brown rice, etc)

I used maple because it's what I had on hand. I would have preferred agave, because of the light flavor. Toss everything in a high speed blender(health master, vita-mix) and mix until just blended.
Enjoy straight from the blender or put in popsicle molds and enjoy later!

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Dear Jujube


Dear Jujube,
I have been waiting a year for you to return and now that you have, I am enjoying you immensely!

One of my favorite famers market vendors started harvesting their jujubes and I've been having my fill of them. Jujubes are also known as chinese or red dates. They range from cherry to plum size and can be eaten at various stages in development. I enjoy them most when they're brown to sienna colored and the skin is still crisp. At this stage, they're reminiscent of a light and airy apple, but truly have their own unique flavor and texture. As the jujube matures, the skin becomes wrinkly and the flavor becomes more date like.

The wonderful thing about growing jujubes is they don't ripen all at once, so you can pick and enjoy throughout the season, instead of harvesting all at the same time.

Jujubes are high in vitamin c, potassium, minerals and antioxidants. They have been used medicinally for many years and are often made into tea to sooth sore throats. Indulging in jujubes this time of year can boost your bodies immune system and help you avoid getting sick. Jujubes are one of natures most perfect foods!

Walk for Farm Animals


The walk in Long Beach, CA is this weekend, but there are walks happening all over the U.S, so check the listing and come on out for a great cause!

Farm Sanctuary works to protect farm animals from cruelty, inspire change in the way society views and treats farm animals, and promote compassionate vegan living.
http://www.walkforfarmanimals.org
http://www.farmsanctuary.org/

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Coconut Cupcakes


These cupcakes are moist, but dense enough to stand up to a nice thick frosting. Great for birthday cakes!

Makes 24 cupcakes
3c flour
1 1/2tsp baking soda
1/2tsp salt
1/2tsp nutmeg
1 3/4c sugar
2/3c oil
1 1/2c coconut milk
1/2c water
2tsp vinegar
1tsp vanilla extract
1tsp almond extract
1c shredded coconut (for tops of cakes)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Prepare muffin pan by lining with cupcake papers
Mix first 4 ingredients together and set aside
Cream together sugar and oil
Mix coconut milk, water, vinegar and extracts together and combine with oil and sugar
Mix into dry ingredients until just combined
Divide evenly into cupcake papers
Bake for about 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out of center clean

Frosting
A number of frostings would be great for this cake, but I just mixed up an impromptu quicky. Sorry, I don't have exact measurements for you.
I used
powdered sugar
coconut oil
coconut milk
vanilla extract

After frosting cakes, top with shredded coconut.
Enjoy!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Placentaphagy for Postpartum Health and Well Being


Placentaphagy is the practice of eating your own placenta.
Placenta is great for many things, but is especially wonderful for postpartum Moms. It is rich in nutrients that aid in postpartum healing and well being. Consuming your placenta after birth can help bring your bodies hormones back into balance, stop postpartum hemorrhage, replenish nutrients, increase milk supply and keep postpartum depression at bay. There are many ways to consume your placenta. Some people choose to cook it first, but I wanted to use it raw, so that all the nutrients remained intact.

When I became pregnant I started researching the benefits of placenta and decided that I would give it a try. My daughter is now 9 weeks old and I am very pleased that I used my placenta. I lost quite a bit of blood during birth, but I had no issues postpartum. I also had much more energy than I or my midwife expected. I had placenta smoothies for a week after birth and then started on my capsules.

You can have someone else prepare the placenta for you or do it yourself. I am DIYer in many other aspect of life, so I figured this should be no different. My midwife offered to help me with it and I gathered all the needed supplies, so that I would have everything ready to go come labor day.

For the smoothies I used mixed berries(masks the color and taste of the placenta) and pineapple. usually I would use a scoop of green protein powder, but placenta is rich in iron and protein, so it wasn't needed.
For the capsules, I used my dehydrator, spice/coffee grinder, capsules and a capsule machine.
I ordered some of my encapsulation supplies from here http://shop.placentabenefits.info/

Directly after birth, the placenta was double bagged and stored in the fridge. I started preparing the placenta the next day. I took my time with it while baby napped and it turned out to be incredibly therapeutic. While prepping it, I thought of all that we had just been through and how just hours ago, that placenta was inside of me nurishing my baby. I studied the different parts of the placenta and really took in just how amazing it was. In these moments I understood why some women choose to make placenta prints to hang on the wall or plant their placenta.

There are several different methods to dehydrating placenta. Here are the basic steps I used.

Cover all surfaces you will be working on with wax paper (remember you are working with a raw organ, so proper hygiene is very important)
Rinse placenta
Remove cord and membrane
Cut into small thin pieces (dehydrates faster)
I lay some out on wax paper and froze for smoothies
I put the rest in my dehydrator on parchment paper and dehydrated on 110 degrees until it was dry
(the pieces should snap when you bend them)
Process in grinder into a smooth powder
Encapsulate (how many capsules you get depends on the size of your placenta. I had approximately 100)
I washed everything that came into contact with my placenta in hot water and then soaked in tea tree oil and grapefruit seed extract.

*Warning*
Some of the pictures below are bloody. If you're easily offended don't go any further.

Pieces frozen for smoothies




Placenta on the deydrator screen. I also dried a piece of my daughters cord for a keepsake.


Dried pieces and pieces in grinder




Powder ready for encapsulation


My husband filled the capsules using a capsule machine. He said it made it much quicker.


Monday, March 15, 2010

Vegan German Chocolate Cake


For my sugar crazed sister, Steph and my sweet friend, Ella...and anyone else who loves a great piece of cake :)

German chocolate cake was one of the things that my Mom would make and it would be gone in a matter of minutes. Seriously, you would have to make sure you got a piece or else you would be out of luck.
What makes this cake so great? It's so moist, with a true chocolate flavor and the added bonus of the candy like frosting. Yum.
I've been trying to crete a vegan version of this for awhile now. It took me quite some time just to get the cake part right and then I was on to recreating the gooey, coconutey frosting.
After using my husband as a guinea pig and bringing this cake to a few events, I beleive I may have gotten pretty darn close to the taste of my Momma's original.

Try it and let me know what you think!

3c all purpose flour
2c sugar
2tsp baking soda
1tsp salt
1/2c cocoa
2/3c vegetable or coconut oil
1tsp vanilla extract
2tsp vinegar
2c almond milk

Mix milk and vinegar and set aside
Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa.
Mix sugar, oil and vanilla together. Add in almond milk/vinegar mixture.
Mix wet into dry ingredients until just combined.





Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
It makes 2 9x5 loaf pans or 2 round cake pans.
Let cool.

Filling and Frosting:
1 can coconut milk
2tsp vanilla
1c sugar
3/4c earth balance
1 7oz pack of flake coconut
2c chopped pecans
6tbs corn starch mixed first with enough cold water to make a paste

Mix first 4 ingredients together in a sauce pan. Cook for about 8 minutes until
sugar is melted and mix is light brown.
Add coconut and pecans.
Add in cornstarch paste and remove from heat.
Frosting will continue to thicken as it cools.



Fill and frost cake with it once cooled.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Vitamin K and Newborns


To dose or not to dose, that is the question.
For us, it's not to dose. After researching the pros and cons of vitamin K right after birth and the risk of vitamin K deficiency, we decided against it. It's a personal decision for parents to make before the birth of their child. If you decide against vit K, your health care practitioner will likely have you sign a waiver before labor day.

In most hospitals, vit K is given to all newborns across the board. As a parent, you do have a choice in the matter.
For us, it is important to eliminate any unnecessary pain to our baby or unnecessary substances to our baby's system. If you opt out of vitamin k, you can still have your baby dosed in cases of a traumatic birth causing alot of bruising or scarring.

Since the 3rd trimester, I've been drinking nettles and red rasberry leaf tea daily.
http://andeverything-in-between.blogspot.com/2009/10/red-raspberry-leaf-and-nettle-leaf-tea.html
At 39 weeks, I added an extra cup per day in preperation for birth. This will give my colostrum and breastmilk a vit k boost. It will not give baby as much as an injection or oral dose would, but I feel it will be sufficient enough for an average, non traumatic home birth. We also will delay cord clamping/cutting so baby won't be deprived of their natural blood volume.

Again, this is a personal decision for parents to make. Just know that you do have a choice in what happens to your baby during and after birth.

Helpful websites
http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/vitktop.html
http://www.womens-health.co.uk/vitk.asp

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Hypnobabies



Hypnobabies teaches medical hypnosis techniques for childbirth. It aims to help you create a peaceful childbirth experience for yourself, your baby and your birth partner. You can either take the course in person or order the home study course.

I know a couple of Mamas who took the class and were very satisfied with it. They loved it, but with the expense and time it would take to do the class, I figured I would do better with the home course. I bought a used set from the hypnobabies website and after I'm done, I can sell it back to them.

I started the course at about 6 months along and I've been really pleased with it. When I first looked into hypnobabies, I was thinking you would be completely out of it. It's not like that at all. It's a way to deeply relax yourself by creating your own mental anesthesia and reprogram any negative thoughts of birth you may have.

Hypnobabies also emphasizes staying positive throughout the whole pregnancy and not letting any negative comments or visual images make you fearful of natural birth. Another thing I enjoy, are the affirmations you listen to each day. The affirmations are about everything from trusting your body to eating healthy and excepting your growing belly. They help me tremendously!

They recommend you start at about 30 weeks, because it's a 5 weeks course. However, if you're like me and get side tracked, they recommend you start earlier, so you can get through all of it and practice before baby comes. I'm currently 40 weeks and doing what's called daily maintenance.

The relaxation techniques I've used during my pregnancy have been priceless. I'm curious to see how I do with everything I've learned from hypnobabies on my baby's birthday.
I will update this post once baby is here!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Nori Rolls


Nori rolls are so versatile. You can roll whatever suits your fancy up in nori sheets to enjoy.
I have made them a couple of times, but this is my husbands area of expertise. As a carnivore, he ate sushi quite often, so I think that drives him in trying different veggie and vegan combos for us to enjoy now that he's vegetarian. Here's some of the latest ones he put together. Oh man, they were so, so good!
You can sub brown rice for these. I actually prefer it.
Also, experiment with the different varieties of rice paper available. Some don't have much flavor, but when combined with other ingredients, they taste really good!



Nori, and all other seaweed, is a rich source of calcium, zinc and iodine. It is also a good source of Lignans which help fight cancer.

Veggie Roll
nori sheets
sushi rice (prepared as directed on package)
cucumber
pickled carrots (carrots soaked in rice vinegar)
avocado

Philly Roll
nori sheets
avocado
cream cheese
cucumber

Philly Luau
nori sheets
cream cheese
teriyaki baked tofu
mango
avocado

Baby Blessing


My husband and I decided that we would love to celebrate the birth of our child in the tradition of the Navaho Blessingway. I knew that the traditional American baby shower wouldn't be something we participated in, when I became pregnant. I appreciate the fact that people love to throw these events for an expecting Mom, but I wanted something deeper and more heartfelt that would bring a sense of positivity to baby and I going into baby's birthday. I wanted to gather with family and friends, eat wonderful food, enjoy each others company and receive all the wisdom and blessings everyone had to offer.

There are several ways to incorporate the traditions of a Blessingway into your gathering. During our blessing, we had an area set up where our family and friends could choose to write a letter to our unborn child for them to read when they are older. Toward the end of the evening, we passed a candle around the room and received everyone's blessing in the form of wisdom, stories, advice or whatever they chose to share with us.

I am so glad that we did this! The positive vibes were amazing. We had ours a month ago and I am still on a blissful high from everyone's beautiful words. I know that my unborn child heard every word and felt all the love that surrounded them. I will now go into baby's birthday knowing that they will be birthed in the most positive way possible.

Here are some resources I used to plan our Baby Blessing.
http://blessingwayceremony.com/
http://pregnancy.about.com/cs/blessingway/a/aa102202a.htm
http://thebirthsource.homestead.com/blessingway.html

Friday, February 12, 2010

Birth Beads


Birth beads are a wonderful way to celebrate the upcoming birth of your baby. You can choose some of your favorites with special meaning to you or you can participate in a bead swap with other Mama's due around the same time that you are. Either way, it's great to sit and string the beads as you visualize your baby's birth day.

I participated in a bead swap with other ladies in a Mama's group I belong too. We are all due in March and thought this would be a great way to connect with each other during our births. We chose beads with special meaning to us and sent those along with encouraging notes to each member of the group.

I sent aquamarine beads. It is my birthstone and may be the birthstone of our babies. Aquamarine stones are very calming and are known to reduce stress.






The beads I received.


I was so excited when I received my beads. It made my heart sing to read the messages of love from the other Mama's. I sat and focused on each of those messages while I made my birthing necklace. I visualized how I would be wearing it, holding it or just looking at it during my labor time. It may seem like such a small thing, but I really think this necklace will help me through labor and I will cherish it for all time.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Chiro's for Prego's



Ahhh, the chiropractor.
I never thought of going to the chiropractor before becoming pregnant. I never had any body or joint pains that bothered me that much. Sure, there was a running injury here and there, but nothing I felt needed chiro attention.

At the beginning of my 2nd trimester, I became immobile. I was aware of the relaxin hormone and what it does to a pregnant body, but I had no idea the pain it could cause. It started out as just aching hips and trouble getting up from a seated or laying position. For weeks, I was on the verge of tears several times throughout the day. Then, it got so bad that I would get stuck in mid stride while out walking. The last straw was when I got stuck getting up from the toilet. I was in so much pain that I had to have my husband help get me out of the bathroom and into bed.

I had been reading up on some other women's experiences getting adjusted while pregnant. Some needed pain relief, others wanted to adjust the position of the baby toward the end of pregnancy. I spoke to my midwife and she recommended a chiropractor that dealt with pregnant women.
I hobbled into the office for my first visit. There was a consultation followed by a few minutes on the roller bed. I don't know the technical term for it, but it's basically a heated bed with rollers underneath used to loosen you up. It was relaxing. After that, the chiro assessed me to see what type of adjustments I would need. Then, he got started and snap, crackle, pop we were done. It was an odd experience, but after about 20 minutes, I felt so much better. As the day went on, I felt even better. The next day, I was like a new woman! There was still some soreness, but nothing like I had been experiencing. Keep in mind, everyone has a different reaction to a chiro visit and may need more than one adjustment.

I am now in my 3rd trimester and just went back for an adjustment last week. I was starting to get stuck walking again and had been dealing with sciatica. http://www.spineuniverse.com/conditions/sciatica/pregnancy-back-pain-sciatica
Once again, I'm feeling like a new woman. This time however, I could not tolerate the roller bed. Since the 2nd tri, I can only lay on my back for a couple of minutes and all that motion was making me sick. So, he used some other techniques to loosen me up before the adjustment.

Mama's, please don't spend your pregnancy in pain. If you haven't already and you feel you need to, go see a chiropractor. Just make sure you check with your health care provider and find someone who works with pregnant women.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Mmm, Carrot Cake


After juicing a ton...o.k, alot of carrots, I needed something yummy to do with all my carrot fibers I had leftover. Obviously, carrot cake was the first thing that came to mind.

I didn't want to treck to the store for additional supplies, so I looked into my cabinet to see what I could put together, that would be somewhat healthy and delicious.

Here's what I came up with.

2 1/2c flour
1tsp baking powder
2tsp baking soda
1tsp salt
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp pumpkin pie spice
1tsp vanilla
3/4c brown sugar
1c coconut oil
3tbs cornstarch
2c carrot fibers from juicing (you can also use shredded)
14oz canned pineapple drained (reserve the liquid)
1/3c of the pineapple juice
3/4c shredded coconut
2 handfuls of raisins
2 handfuls chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and oil and flour baking pan. I used a bundt pan.
In seperate bowl, mix all other dry ingredients and set aside.
Cream oil, vanilla, sugar and cornstarch together.
Add in pineapple and juice.
Mix in dry ingredients along with coconut, raisins and nuts until just combined.
Do not over mix.
The batter will be thick like a quick bread.
Pour into pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.


I didn't have any glaze or frosting ingredients on hand, so we enjoyed it without and it was perfectly delicious!
This cake is very moist, so you don't need to have one.
After the first day, I picked up some things to make a quick glaze and it was good that way as well, just a little sweeter.