Snacks Anyone?

Another sewing project: Snack Bags.

Pretty easy to make and I love picking out fabric blocks that match the girls personalities. These fit a sandwich or cup of crackers, grapes, etc. Washable with Velcro-closure and the fabric is $1 and makes about 2 per block.

Next Project: Apron for me!

First Day 2010

Really, are any words necessary?

Prepare to be Amazed

On our way to buy the last of the school supplies on Sunday my daughter saw a rainbow out of her car window. We all looked over at this wavy rainbow in amazement. I noticed it even had indigo (on the left edge) which you don't always see. As we continued to marvel at it my husband said, "It's a DOVE!" and sure enough the cloud that the rainbow was edging along looked like a dove. Simply incredible. Here are the untouched cell phone photos...

See his head at the top and the rainbow along his wings and his tail in the distance?

Took this one 3 minutes later from a parking lot, the dove's tail has almost dissipated.

What a gift!

(Of course, we started talking and singing like the rainbow guy and pretending to boo hoo...does that make up bad people?)

A Chicken What?

A Chicken Bog! And what is Chicken Bog? Some swampy piece of geography overrun with poultry? No, it is a delicious Southern dish that I came out of the womb eating. It is ingrained in my childhood and I am ashamed to say that my kids barely know what it is...

If you want a easy dinner, one you could even cook in the crock pot, here it is (with a side of cabbage).

What you need:
Whole chicken
Kielbasa or Smoked Sausage
2-4 cups uncooked Rice- whatever kind you like and I used 3 cups of brown rice this time.
Pot of Water
Salt and Pepper

Firstly, boil the chicken in a pot of water (what else are you going to boil a chicken in?!). When chicken is falling off bone, remove chicken pieces to a bowl, SAVE chicken water/broth.

Make rice using chicken water/broth. Before it boils, add in cut kielbasa. Cook per directions.

After chicken cools pull apart, discard bones and skin. When rice is cooked, stir and add in chicken pieces. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Ta dah! Serve with Tabasco sauce. Yummy!

There are variations, of course. Everyone down here makes THE best Chicken Bog with their own family secret. My husband has used half white, half saffron rice before. Some people use crumbled browned sausage in addition to smoked sausage.

The above picture chicken bog was my "camping version", you know: limited supplies and limited cooking utenstils. I used a can of chicken broth, the rest water to cook the BROWN rice. Added in the sliced keilbasa. Thawed, then cut and sauteed chicken breasts in pan. After rice was cooked, I added chicken and there you have it. It was delicious and my husband didn't know it was brown rice!

Breastfeeding - the right start for every infant

This week is WBW which stands for World Breastfeeding Wrestling! (Just kidding. But that is what I always think when I see the initials.) It actually stand for World Breastfeeding Week which is celebrated August 1st through 8th each year. La Leche League groups around the world have walks, picnics, fundraisers, and family friendly events to show support and raise awareness about the Innocenti Declaration. You can get involved in your area by looking up an event at the WBW website.

 "Breastfeeding - the right start for every infant ... If all babies and young children were breastfed exclusively for their first six months of life and then given nutritious complementary food with continued breastfeeding up to two years of age, the lives of an additional 1.5 million children under five would be saved every year." from the WHO website

In honor of this glorious week of exposure (ha!) here are a few amazing facts about breastfeeding, that should be celebrated every day of the year!

1. Colostrum contains an antibody (IgA) only available to the baby by breastmilk (it is not passed through the placenta) which protects the baby from germs which enter the baby from the throat, lungs, and intestines. These germs are only a problem after delivery and therefore the mother provides this for the infant at its time of need (delivery) through colostrum. These antibodies are most plentiful a few hours after birth so it is important to feed the baby during this time. (From The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League)

2. Body fat of a breastfed infant is different from that of a formula fed infant. The fat in breastmilk contains high levels of cholesterol which not only help the brain and nervous system develop but may protect the grown adult from having high cholesterol levels.

3. A substance found in breast milk can kill cancer cells, reveal studies carried out by researchers at Lund University and the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

4. Human milk lactoferrin is patented for use in killing E. Coli in the meat packing industry.


5. Human milk has over 300 ingredients, including interferon, white blood cells, antibacterial and antiviral agents, while formula has only 40 ingredients.

6. Oxytocin is a hormone that is released during breastfeeding. This hormone makes mom feel relaxed and sleepy and contributes to mother/baby bonding. 



To find out more amazing facts or get more information get out to your local La Leche League meeting, Support the cause by donating to LLL, reading more on the efforts of WHO, supporting the Breastfeeding Initiative at your local doctor offices and hospitals! 

Faves

What are your favorite book Trilogies?

Mine are: The Hunger Games and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Harry Potter and Twilight (I am woman enough to admit it!)

Leave a comment with your favorties....

Ipecac

For the first time as a parent, actually the first time in my life, I used Syrup of Epecac. See my daughter, the 9 year old, likes to pretend to be a Wild Girl. This means moccasins, skirts made out of strung-together magnolia leaves, eating mint leaves from the yard, making forts, etc. Apparently it also means slurping rain water off of leaves of trees and plants. I wasn't aware of this component of the lifestyle before today.

So we arrived at my parents house after church and I was trying to get in the garage as the girls ran around the rain soaked yard. After many attempts to get in the garage using the code, I turned from the blasted entry pad to see my daughter sucking water off of the oleander bushes my dad has planted EVERYWHERE! Suddenly the noise I had been hearing for a few minutes while I tried to enter the code made sense. Slurp. Sluurrrp. Slurrrrp.

OMG!

Oleander is one of the most poisonous plants in the world! Even brushing up against it will cause itching and burning. Ingesting any part from leaves to sap can lead to death in a child. And my daughter had just run her tongue all over these plants!

I call my mom to get the damn correct passcode, I get in the house, lecturing my Wild Girl about the dangers of plants, bla bla bla...I get to the computer, look up the Poison Control center number and call them. After a few questions, the guy tells me there shouldn't be any problems. But this seems very off hand to me. In fact the guy who answered the phone sounded like I had woken him up. So I go to the computer and read all about Oleander and what to look for.

It says you should induce vomiting so I decide to give her ipecac. I read the directions, measure it out and we head to the bathroom. Not having any experience with it I don't know how long it takes to work, so I want her as close as possible to a receptacle. I pull her hair back and she sits in front of the potty waiting to see what happens.

It takes about 10 minutes and up come all the donut holes and the hot chocolate from church. My girl is always ready to eat so I tell her in about an hour she will probably feel fine. It takes her more like 10 minutes and she is ready for fried chicken!

All seems well and fine at least until the next time.