Winter Squash

(photo courtesy of Wikipedia, here.)
I have always loved spaghetti squash and have enjoyed other types of winter squash as well, but until this year we had never grown any of our own. Now, having recently harvested our 10th spaghetti squash, I decided I'd better research how best to store it, so that all these squash last as long as possible (preferably until we've been able to eat them all).

I found this website, concurring with the information on other sites, which explained how to "cure" winter squash and why. Good thing I read up on it! I didn't know this. Supposedly spaghetti squash store well up to 3 months, which is shorter than I was hoping, but I guess we'll see how ours do.

My favorite way to eat this squash has always been like regular spaghetti, but one little internet search revealed to me many more mouth-watering options. Now if I can just find one my kids will eat without complaining...

Everything You Want to Know About Being Self-Sufficient

One of my cousins reminded me about this book a little while ago, by Carla Emery. It is her favorite book ever, and since she now lives on several acres of land, she's able to put into practice many of the things she has learned from it. I checked it out from the library and have decided I want my own copy. It's such a valuable resource!

While we have just a regular sized yard and therefore can't even have a cow (*sigh*), and while I don't have any desire to completely "rough it" (there's information in here about how to do that too), there are lots of fascinating things to learn about becoming more self-sufficient and living greener. And those are things we can all use!

This book has it all, from growing your own grains to making your own jerky to raising all types of animals. It also has lots of cool recipes for cooking naturally and from scratch. I can't get over what a wealth of information it is!

Canning Pickles

A couple weeks ago I was grateful to receive several cucumbers from neighbors, since the ones we planted never produced. (We'll be tweaking the garden for next year; every year we learn something new.) I had planted cucumbers mostly because I wanted to make pickles, since I remembered all the homemade pickles I ate growing up, and how inferior the store variety tasted compared to them. I also wanted to can pickles because I didn't want to buy them but I did want them in our food storage.

It wasn't a huge canning project (which is good, since I don't yet have the energy for anything too big anyway), but it was enough to help me feel I accomplished something and to give me a sense of self-sufficiency.

I look forward to tasting them in 4-6 weeks, when the pickles have cured!

(If anyone would like the recipe, let me know. It's pretty basic and does not include any of that pre-packaged pickle solution stuff.)

Brewer's Yeast

I grew up drinking Brewer's Yeast in orange juice and loving it. I don't know if it's one of those things you have to grow up with to like, but I still love it. It just feels good to drink. And I like how it tastes, too. I started drinking it again lately, hoping it will boost my immune system, which is shot after all the antibiotics I had for pneumonia (remember, antibiotics kill the bad bacteria in your gut, but they also kill the good bacteria, which keeps you healthy). After having pneumonia, I developed C-dif, and now am getting over a bad cold. All this in about 5-weeks' time. I am definitely ready to be healthy and strong again!

Brewer's yeast is also called nutritional yeast (the inactive form of yeast) and is chock-full of vitamins and minerals. I had never looked at the nutrition information on Brewer's Yeast, so I was very impressed when I did so the other day and found that it contains a longer list than I care to type here, including amino acids, protein, and the B-complex vitamins. According to the information I found online, many vegans and vegetarians sprinkle it on their food to help them eat a balanced diet.

So you might try it, if you need a boost too. It's certainly worth a try!

The 5 Love Languages of Children

I became acquainted with the five love languages several years ago and learned to identify what my own "love language" is, as well as that of those close to me. When my husband and I were first married, we read one of the love languages books, which we found to be very valuable (and is something I would like to do again).

This book in the picture is the one directed specifically for parents and I recently finished reading it for the second time. I'm so glad I read it again because it helped me re-realize the importance of knowing how each of our children feels love and "speaking" that language. With some children, it's obvious what their love language is--like with my second daughter--and easy to fill up their "love tank." With others, it's not so easy. My oldest is one such child and so re-reading this book helped immensely in pinpointing her love language and what I need to do to fill her love tank. I'm not always good at doing this, but I'm getting better, and it is pretty amazing the difference I see in her behavior and level of contentment when I've spoken her language that day in a way that helps her feel validated.

I've been thinking about this concept a lot lately, and about how interconnected our emotional and physical health are. A person who chronically does not feel appreciated or cared about won't function on as high a level of health and optimum physical performance as someone who does. Of course, we all love our families and want the best for them, and this love languages philosophy is one thing that can make a big difference when put into practice.

Cheesy Cauliflower Bake

Wanting to try something different with the cauliflower we received in a Bountiful Basket (I usually make it into this soup), I experimented with an idea I found online. It was so simple I figured I couldn't go wrong. My kids tried it and weren't real excited (I still have trouble getting them to eat many vegetables), but my husband and I really liked it. Maybe if I put more cheese next time, my kids will be suckered into it...

After cutting up the cauliflower into the size I wanted (small, so it would cook faster), I put it all on a cookie sheet and drizzled olive oil over the top.

Then I sprinkled a couple of my favorite spices over that (garlic salt and pepper, I think), then sprinkled shredded cheese over that.

Lastly, I cooked it in a 350 degree oven for 30+ minutes, until tender.

Now I have another cauliflower and am wondering, what are your favorite ways to eat this unique vegetable?

Reglan

This recent experience with pneumonia taught me a few things, one of which was about Reglan. I became very, very sick before I went into the hospital, and one thing that added to my stress and worry was the fact that I was drying up. I knew how incredibly important the antibodies in my breast milk are for my baby and how crucial it was for him to get those so he didn't contract my pneumonia. Even though I didn't really have the energy for it, I nursed him more often than usual, but with the combination of my fever and lack of appetite (and accompanying inability to eat much at all), I could tell my baby wasn't getting enough milk. Once I even let him suck for an hour and a half, and when I finally took him off, he cried with hunger. That broke my heart. It also gave me new empathy for those mothers I know who have dried up long before they were ready to wean. It's a terrible feeling!

In desperation, I had my husband call a local lactation consultant (who also happens to be my friend), and instead of giving me all the pat answers that I have memorized, and knowing that I have breastfed twice before, for a year or more each time, she recommended the herb, Fenugreek. I had heard of this herb but didn't know of its milk-enhancing properties. She also told us about the drug, Reglan, which has similar properties, and recommended that we ask my doctor for it. When I was admitted to the hospital later that night, my husband asked that I be given Reglan, in addition to my other IV meds, and they complied. An added benefit with Reglan--which is what it is most often used for--is it reduces nausea, which I was also having trouble with.

I mention this herb and drug in the hope that it may help someone else in a similar situation. Without those regular doses of Reglan, I probably would have dried up completely. I was very grateful that my husband was able to take time off his summer job to be with me in the hospital, and was able to bring our baby with him so that I could nurse throughout the day. That, besides the Reglan, are what saved my milk because I didn't have enough energy to pump more than once a day, in the evening, after my baby had left. (Did you ever realize how much more energy it takes to pump than to let the baby do the work?) There were so many times during the worst part of my illness when I despaired of being able to continue breastfeeding. It would have been so much easier to give up and just resort to formula, and I was often tempted to do so. But my knowledge of the importance of breast milk for the health of my baby, and my commitment to breastfeeding kept pushing me to keep trying, though I really didn't have the energy to even nurse him lying down. (It was alarming to be that weak, let me tell you!)

Now we are back to exclusively breastfeeding and I can tell my baby is once again getting enough. I can't tell you what a relief that is, to be able to provide for him myself again! How grateful I am for an informed lactation consultant, and modern medicine. (I still want to try the Fenugreek sometime, though...)