Today was not a good day. It's late and I do not have the time or the energy to do any more typing, and my little one has a birthday coming up tomorrow.

Most of what I wanted to do today did not get done, and this caused me lots of stress. I looked and looked for a store at the mall, only to realize it was no longer there, replaced by a calendar store. I got turned around, and could not find my car, then figured out that I had parked at the completely opposite end of the darned place.

In the middle of the day, my husband called, and we agreed to meet for lunch, something we never do anymore. I picked a really great steakhouse, and was over the moon when I met up with him and walked in for an impromptu date.

Long story short: we waited almost an hour for appetizers, and the main courses were left on the counter (we saw them) so long that they got to us cold. When I sent them back to get warmed up, the meat came back burned, and the crab cake, which they insisted they redo, had cold spots. Good thing we were so happy to be together. I can imagine, though, that others may have had a super special occasion that got ruined.

Anyway-- that was not the most annoying point of the day. It was my visit to a "high-end" store where clients get treated like shit Gucci.

More on that when I have time.

Some bug got me, too

Today I feel like crap.
Sweating, sleepy, muscular weakness, swollen glands, fever of 100.
Bleah.
Oh, and I just finished Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl. Very entertaining. Made me want to go out to dinner, LOL.

Go away, ear infections!

Ugh. Took both kids to the pediatrician today. Not only are the ear infections still there, but they are even worse. On a scale of 1 to 10, Boom has a 7 and a 5, Stefan, 8 in both ears. In addition, the little one has lost 3 pounds, which is a lot, considering he weighed only 32.

We are on the Z-pack for 5 days, and checkup is on Monday. Both kids are home from school.

I'm thinking that, because I let them have milk whenever they asked, they used the milk to curb hunger pangs, at the expense of food. Even if the "inflammation of the gut" is not correct (and, of course, the pediatrician said it's not) the fact that they drank milk instead of eating food must have weakened them.
They keep asking for milk, and they are told no. So, they drink water or smoothies, and eat food. They both look tired and drawn, poor little guys. I hope they bounce back with the new regimen.

Today I baked all day. I made these killer buns, using rum and raisins. They were so incredibly good.
The interesting thing is, I used almond milk for the baking, and everything turned out perfect.
Must make more almond milk.

Of course it can't be

That easy, I mean. It never is, is it?

Note to self: when making abrupt dietary changes, do *not* inform the children. Just give them the new thing and cross your fingers. Boom is very resistant to the almond milk, drinking minute quantities, asking, cautiously, if this is "the new milk from downstairs." He needs fluids, but he is boycotting my efforts with the tenacity of, well, OK, his mother. Today, at my wits' end, I asked him if he would drink the Nido, if I gave it to him, and he nodded. I added one scoop of the powder to his almond milk.
"Does this still have the other stuff in it?"
@@@@@@@@@@!
"Just drink it. "
He drank some, but not all of it.

Stefan, on the other hand, who devours almonds to begin with, absolutely loves the new milk and joyously accepts it, saying, "MMMmmmMMMM, deee-lishus!"

I am thinking I am going to have to ease Boom into it. Hope it doesn't take too long.

Making nut milk also has a pain-in-the-ass factor. I have found that the nuts really should be blanched, the skins removed, otherwise, you get an ugly brown milk. It needs to be very, very well strained, and that all metal sieves are too big to catch the fine particles. If not strained properly, it maintains a gritty texture that tickles the back of the throat in a very unpleasant way.
So, I purchased a very, very finely-meshed bag, which I place on the last, and finest, strainer, pour the milk through without pushing down with anything, then leave it to settle for a while. When pouring, I'm using great care not to agitate the milk, because tiniest particles still settle on the bottom.

Also, it needs to be diluted to at least 4 parts water to 1 part milk. I have added a pinch of salt, too. I'm playing with flavors and textures. This morning I used it in my coffee (the coarse stuff from this morning, before I bought the mesh bag) and it was pretty good. I'm wondering if it needs a bit of sweetener. I guess the only way to perfect it is to compare real milk with this one, and fine tune it. Oh, and I have, soaking, raw cashews and raw pecans. We'll see which one wins.

The trick is going to be knowing what quantity to make so I will have a steady supply without going through all the steps (looks easy on the net, but you get lots of dirty dishes) every few hours.

As far as the kids are concerned, they are both very sick and have fevers. I am not tearing my hair out, but I am deeply disappointed. What was supposed to be a great, fun family long weekend has turned into bed rest, sleepless nights, and comforting miserable little boys. Boom is coughing so much that he is afraid he'll vomit.

I, too, am feeling tired and flushed. Napped with them this afternoon. Will I escape this, the third, cold without catching it?

Stay tuned.

Eureka!

OMG! Can it be this easy? Can it?

I think I've found a very healthy, perfect replacement for cow milk.

Homemade almond milk!

I got so stoked that I padded downstairs, ransacked the pantry, and now have some nuts soaking in water. Can't wait until morning! I'll let you know how it goes and if the kids accept it! I know I intend to drink it!

You know... with my current way of thinking, I do believe I will soon fit in in California. Next thing you know, I'll be knitting hemp socks.

Naaaah.

Milk: it doesn't do a body good

Today was a relaxed visit with Dr. Z, because I was the only patient-- and it looks as if the whole building was shut down.

I got diathermy for the first time. I lifted my 130 pounds. And I discussed the non-stop colds my sons are getting.

Dr. Z is thinking that they are drinking too much milk, and that is the cause of the problem.

Before you laugh, here is the rationale:

• we were not designed to drink milk beyond infancy, and no animals, calves included, drink milk after weaning


• milk contains some proteins that trigger an allergic response in our immune systems, and the immune system is so busy fighting the effects of the milk, that it cannot deal with additional viral invasions, and therefore, it succumbs to them

I am going to add what I have long suspected: they drink so much milk that they don't eat enough solid, nutritious food, so their systems are weak and every virus that knocks, gains entry.

Here is more I found:

Nutritionists hold that milk has two elements -- lactose which is broken down by the body's enzyme, lactase; and casein split by the enzyme, renin. Between the ages of three and four, both these enzymes vanish from our system. Which means that in nature's original prescription, after age four, we should be off milk.

However, if we continue on the milky way, the unbroken casein, a coarse substance used in making wood-glues, gums up our delicate membranes with mucus. Which is why we've not been able to conquer the common cold and are vulnerable to asthma, bronchitis, headaches and subsequently to diabetes, heart problems and cancer.

On the mineral front, imbibing milk as a calcium source is like licking limestone! Being low in magnesium -- calcium's comrade -- milk grandly deposits the[calcium] in us and simultaneously hinders our bones from absorbing it! Whereas all foods grown in the ground suck the entire calcium-magnesium matrix from the soil, incorporates it in their infrastructure and...voila - present a mineral-rich meal on our plate!

Bones are as organically alive as muscles and respond to regular exercise. Brisk walking, jogging or bouncing combined with light-weight training alerts them where they seize and absorb the streaming calcium.

Read more here

We are going milk-free for 4 weeks, to see what happens.

It's going to be tough. My kids adore the stuff.

The research continues

I think's I'm on to something here.

Andrographis!

Stefan is sick again.

He spent Thanksgiving coughing, sneezing, and wanting to be picked up and cuddled. I spent the day cooking, but wishing I could just stay with my little one and comfort him.

I am getting very concerned; he has not even finished the antibiotic for the last cold's ear infection!
Why is his immune system so weak?
I searched this evening and found a really good naturopath. She does home visits! Hallelujah!
In the meantime, I am going to research the net and find out all I can about strengthening his little system.
And I am going to try this milk for my kids, as a start.

As I was shopping today for a cartful of groceries, I was surprised by how many people around me, doing the same thing, looked stressed, hurried, and even pissed to be doing this.

Since when did this stop being fun?

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a festivity. This means there should be joy involved. I sidestepped the angry woman yelling at her mother about tomatoes, and hummed and smiled as I pushed my chock-full cart through the crowded aisles, trying to ignore the man who rushed, full-speed, ahead of me, grumbling something, and the woman who called someone on her cell and asked, "Do you like mushrooms?" (pause) "Just answer the QUESTION!"

Why are they doing this, I wondered, if it brings so much stress? I swear, I would just take the day off, eat frozen pizza, and veg in front of the TV in my jammies on Thursday, if "doing" Thanksgiving gave me that much grief.

It is so easy to focus on the "have to" instead of the "want to" or "it gives me pleasure to."

We have food, we have bounty, we have wonderful homes, we have peace. Many of you who read my blog (and it gives me great pleasure knowing that you do!) have children, too. Huge blessings, all of those.

My wish for you is that you smile all day this Thursday. That you focus on all the things in your life that make you happy. That your meal is the best you've ever had. And that all that great food you gobble does not go to your thighs :)

Planning for Turkey Day

Yesterday I lifted some serious weights in the basement, and today I am feeling it. I can't begin to describe how good it feel to finally be doing something again-- not much, but it sure does beat nothing.

Made Julia Child's Boeuf Bourginion from Mastering the Art of French Cooking and it turned out sinfully good. Finally, one version I was proud to serve. Too bad the kids barely touched it. They just don't do dinner. Sigh.

Do grab this book if you think you'd like to try your hand at French cuisine. Nowadays, it would be called French Cooking for Idiots in America. She really did have the clueless home cook in mind, and the book has foolproof instructions, with American measurements. I especially like that the ingredients are listed to the left, on an as-you-go basis. She even tells you what type and size of utensils to use (example, a 10-inch enamelled skillet.).

Thanksgiving presents several challenges, one being that I am making all new dishes, including a Turducken . :D Still deciding on the sides-- one is going to be oyster, leek and shiitake mushroom dressing, and one is going to be serrano ham and poblano corn pudding. Maybes include potato and celery root gratin with fontina cheese, and chocolate bread pudding with bourbon-pecan caramel sauce.

That last one sure sounds wonderful.

A Mixer Named Hobart

I have finally decided to get a third, smaller mixer -- another KitchenAid, to be precise.

In my search for the best deal on the color I wanted (which I found, on Amazon.com) I stumbled upon this forum, where people are mixer-crazy, to the point of owning dozens of them, assigning them sexes and giving them names.

I had a blast reading the posts, and gleaned lots of good info, even some recipes I'll be trying.

Gotta love the Internet!

Like My Boys

You'd think I'd have it figured out by now: There is no silver bullet.

Maybe it's written somewhere else in this blog, I don't know. But the truth (that none of us really wants to hear) is that there is no easy or fast way to lose weight.
And yet, every day, I hear of this diet and that diet, some new, some really old, all promising to make us melt the fat away -- in weeks!

Know what? They all suck.

Why do they suck? Because we were designed to put on weight. The caveman who gorged himself the best and who put on the most weight was the one most likely to survive. Therefore, when we diet, the body goes into all-out "starvation alert" mode. After a few days/weeks/months of cabbage soup, grapefruit, carrots and celery, or other ridiculous diets, we go back to eating real food, go apenuts with it, and get even bigger than before.

I'm fat again. My belly flops around, and so do my chins. I can't look in the mirror, so I give myself only cursory glances, to make sure I don't go out with bedhead or stains on my clothes. But I don't check myself out. 'Cause, well, bleah.

Because I have not been able to exercise much, I haven't burned much of anything.
Lately, I have been "good" until about 4, and then starvation wallops me so hard that I can't stop eating. Then, I have a huge dinner. And then I sit.

I watch my kids. The older one eats about 1/2 to 1/4 what I put in front of him (and I offer tiny child portions, not what I've seen many other parents set in front of their kids.) He won't eat much bread, cheese, or baked goods. His Halloween candy is sitting in a bowl in the kitchen, in the open, untouched. He even said he wanted to throw it out (!) He drinks lots of milk (sometimes instead of a meal) and prefers OJ with seltzer as a beverage. He will eat fruit, but not bananas. He'll ask for ice cream and, out of a cone with a kid-sized scoop, he will eat half and abandon the rest, to melt.

My little one will eat 5 (I kid you not) eggs for breakfast, with or without bacon. He also will eat dried cherries and almonds, every single day. Mid morning, he eats a yogurt with a banana. As a snack, he asks for grapes. 9 times out of 10, he will refuse lunch.

Neither will eat more than a few bites of dinner, if that.
They are both muscular and very slim; you can see their little ribs.
They are proof that the only way to be slim is to never take in more than you can expend.

I need to eat like my boys.

Bushed

Long, exhausting day today.
I have been sitting here for 10 minutes and my mind is just blank.
Good night :)

Gearing Up

Feeling much better today. Nothing is hurting, and I had a good appointment with Dr. Z.

Because I am getting fewer areas "muscle stimed," treatment is finally shorter. Plus, I am now going only twice a week.

I prepared this Mario Batali side dish for dinner, and we had spaghetti and meatballs as a main course. The broccoli rabe was on the bitter side, but I wanted fresh food that was not heavy, so I ate most of it. My stomach thanked me. I think I'll prepare the same thing again soon, but I will use bok choy or spinach instead of the rabe.

Gearing up for busy days. Preschool holiday recitals, three birthdays, holidays. Tomorrow, I have to bake something for a school Thanksgiving party, take Boom *back* at 2:30 for his singing recital, then arrange a little going away party for an employee who has been with us for 4 years.

Oh-- I just finished Julia Child's My Life in France, and was sorry when I got to the end of the book. So, I went to the library and managed to find video of all her old French Chef shows :) Starting tomorrow, I will watch them in the basement while I exercise.

Man.

That basement probably has cobwebs by now.

Draggin'

I have been so tired lately that I can't see straight.

Literally.

I need glasses to see things that are close, but don't need any help seeing far away. The result is that I hardly ever wear the glasses, and I am getting really bad headaches. I don't know whether these are the result of boycotting the glasses, or that there is some bug knocking at my door.

I dragged myself to my skating lesson, with a pounding headache. All I really wanted to do was cancel, but I have a thing about being late and/or cancelling. There has to be a darned good reason.

It ended up being fun, but the minute the lesson was over I didn't linger. I was off the ice and going to the preschool to pick up my loves.

This afternoon I didn't feel like cooking, so no dinner for the extended family. I made the boys some paper plates loaded with goodies from the freezer, and they had a great "bed picnic," as I like to call it. No need to sit down nicely at the dinner table as usual, just cross-legged on the bed, watching TV. It's so nice and so much fun to do that once in a while. I snoozed, they ate, and everyone was happy.

I grazed today. Wasn't very hungry, just a pang here and there. I nibbled on a couple of snap peas for dinner, with a couple of bites of roast turkey breast, and it was plenty. That is because of last night's Bœuf Bourguignon. Not only was I unhappy with it (beef not tender enough, and the sauce was too sweet) but the thing takes 4 hours to prepare, spaced over two days. And it gave me the worst indigestion I've had in a while. French cooking is fabulous, but, oh, is it heavy.

I don't like the way I've been eating lately, and the dinners have been pushed mostly to 7:30PM , because my sister-in-law gets in so late from work, then there is a lot of dallying, so, many a time, I end up getting frustrated. My food gets cold, things don't taste as good, and I feel as if all that hard work is just... well, I don't know.

Then, by the time they leave and it is just the four of us, it is 8:30, it is time to start the bedtime routine. I want more time to just relax and enjoy my children, to feel as if I've actually had an evening.

Tonight, I am really, really tired. I swear, tomorrow after I take the boys to school I am driving straight home and going back to bed.

Ugh-- it is almost midnight, again. If only we didn't have to sleep.

PS--I almost forgot: I got Giada's family dinner book today. Our stomachs need a break from all those butter sauces!

There is something about this gal that I really dig :) I tried a couple of her recipes off the Food Network-- loved them.

No, honey, I'm just fat

"I think Miss Rose is pregnant again."
My nanny looks at her brother (who does our yard work for us) and shakes her head. "No."
"I really think she's pregnant. Are you sure?"

Well, he was right the first time. That was four years ago, when I pretty much hid my pregnancy with Boom until September.

Right now, the bulge he noticed is a tire that has appeared, not on my lower belly, but from under my boobs to my belly button. The "Rose Cooks French Food" for dinner tire.

Hmmmm.... I think I'll call it my Michelin.

And the winner is...

I have an obsession with diaper cream. I guess it is because I absolutely loathe diaper rash. The smallest irritation would make me feel so neglectful.

I have purchased dozens of diaper creams in at least 5 countries, on 2 continents. I have diaper cream from, to name a few, France, Germany, Austria, Mexico, and Switzerland. I have ones that are medicated, unmedicated, scented, unscented, with lanolin, zinc oxide, calendula, even with Nystatin.

I have tried them all.

But the other day, in an effort to make my home less toxic, I was checking out Burt's products at my local Whole Foods, and there it was: Burt's Baby Bee Diaper ointment. It was like waving a little white chip, complete with lighter and pipe, in front of a crack addict's nose: I had to have it.

The minute I used it on Stefan, I felt utter joy. This is what I have been seeking for 5 years. The cream of my dreams! Not too thin, not too thick, easy to apply, easy to wipe off the fingers, and no medicinal odor. It is made with beeswax, and it smells of lavender and honey. What a delight. There is no pleasure like that of lifting a freshly-diapered, sweet smelling little one, in your arms, and this cream is utterly pleasing in every way.

Tomorrow I will tell you of the wonderful new chlorine free diapers I have found. Oh, and the doublers, and the natural pads!

Stefan has conjunctivitis

Ugh. I came home from my chiro appointment to find my little boy looking just awful.

Stefan's beautiful eyes, his long-lashed, gorgeous, huge dark brown eyes, are red and puffy and oozing yellow goo.

The week-long cold has complications, it seems. I tried some Similasan for pink eye, but it works for 5 minutes and then the goo returns. That is because Similasan is for viral conjunctivitis, and I think (no, know) this is bacterial.
I feel sick to my stomach just looking at him, knowing that it has to be the dreaded pediatrician appointment first thing tomorrow, and an antibiotic that will sting.

My own eyes sting just thinking about it.
Why do little ones have to get sick so often? It really breaks my heart.

Update, Friday morning.
Well, this morning I expected to need to pry his lids open with a can opener-- but there was only redness, no goo! It is viral! Woohoo!
I have to call and thank Dr. and Mrs. Z. for opening my eyes (no pun intended) to alternatives to mainstream approaches and medicine. Before I met them, I would have hoofed it that very afternoon to the pediatrician, for a prescription of antibiotics. I would, in fact, have demanded it.

Update, Saturday

Nope. Not viral. It's bacterial. They also both have double ear and sinus infections.

I hate that I have to give them antibiotics, but they do have their purpose. Ugh.

Slalom!

Today, within the first 10 minutes of my skating lesson, I was skating, as my instructor put it, "as if I knew what I was doing."
I skated slaloms! What fun, fun, fun!
All of a sudden, I got it: it's all about weight distribution, using your hips and thighs, not about working your blades.
I didn't want to stop, even after an hour. I leaned right, left, and used both edges of my blades. For the first time, I didn't feel as if I could fall any minute-- my blades both remained on, and never left, the ice.
Funny, how a couple of pointers can make such a world of difference.

Fried

The kids were both home sick today.

I am absolutely exhausted.

I do not know how single moms do it.

It's Julia's Fault

Um... today was Monday, wasn't it?

What was that I said on Thursday. Gee, let me quote myself: "I intend to go back to my healthy ways on Monday."

Groooooan.

For dinner, I made chicken soup, mushrooms in butter sauce, prime rib au jus (Julia Child's recipe, since I am reading her book, My Life in France. ) Hard not to think about food, when she recounts meal after meal in glorious, sinful detail, complete with what wine was consumed :)

"I closed my eyes and inhaled the rising perfume," she writes. "Then I lifted a forkful of fish to my mouth, took a bite, and chewed slowly. The flesh of the sole was delicate,with a light but distinct taste of the ocean and blended marvelously with the browned butter. I chewed slowly and swallowed. It was a morsel of perfection."

This, about fried fish, LOL. Well, Sole Meunière, to be exact. I am proud to say that I know how to make it, thanks to my favorite Cordon Bleu cookbook.

Child was a woman who loved, and lived, life to its fullest. She documented everything, with all five senses, was interested in so much, and her sharp eye noticed everything. It is so sad, to me, that this vibrant woman is now gone (I know, I know, there I go with the morbidity, again.)

I used to watch her in the 70s, and snicker because everything she made began with "mehl-thed butt-erh." Nevertheless, I watched. On a black and white TV, with no remote (oh, horrors, you actually had to get up to change the channel!) I was amazed at how she got right in there and patted a rump roast as if it were a cherished pet. She would give a chicken a "butt-erh massaaaaage." It amused and fascinated me to watch her enjoy herself so much in that kitchen, and I was only about 10 years old.

Years later, I would see her in person, doing a cooking demonstration at an upscale kitchen store. I was stunned by her height-- the woman was 6-foot-two -- and, yes, she still loved her "mehl-thed butt-erh."

Anyway, what was my point? Oh, yes, because my back feels great and I can stand in the kitchen again, I am cooking, and enjoying every minute of it. I am also eating too much at dinner.

And it is all Julia's fault.

Fall Back

I love Daylight Saving Time, more accurately, switching back to Standard Time.

I love the extra hour you get, free.

I love getting a chance to fix breakfast, at my leisure.

I love the incredibly long day, especially since it's always a weekend day.

I love knowing it's "really"bedtime, yet the hour is not too crazy, yet.

And I love the illusion of prolonging life...if only for an hour.

I'm Bakin'

Today I baked an extremely difficult yeast/egg bread, with nut filling. It takes about 12 hours, from start to ready-to eat.

I didn't expect much, because the first try for something like this often ends up in the trash, but surprise, surprise, it turned out perfect.

Thank, you,Viking. I could not have done this without you.

Ch-Ch-Changes

Today I lifted 130 pounds. Dr. Z. is thrilled, especially since nothing hurts today.

I also realized, today, that I have gone over the deep end with avoiding things that I now perceive to be toxic.

Maybe it's Life, Part Deux, staring me in the face, and thinking that I really, really want to be here to see my grandchildren, but I am eliminating evil things right and left.

I have gone all stainless steel in the kitchen. Correction: nonstick free. Something about those flaking pans, and the question of where the flakes were going, made me nervous. My nanny is in heaven to be getting so many "new" pots and pans, LOL. She probably thinks I'm nuts.

I have also eliminated antiperspirant. Before you hold your nose and utter "EEEeewww" like my wonderful preschoolers, please know that I have found an alternative. Burt's Bees Baby Bee Dusting Powder, along with some Crystal roll-on, have been working really well for me. I have purchased chlorine free pantyliners, and, as you know, have started using a Mooncup instead of those tampons and maxipads; the latter have always made me itch, for reasons I don't even want to learn.

I am taking Standard Process supplements, getting as much organic produce as I can, and, lately, using Burt's Bees products to wash-- and I forgot to tell you the bonus! I have found *the* best conditioner in the whole, wide world, the one I have been fantasizing about forever, while buying bottle after bottle of conditioners on 2 continents. Burt's Bees Green Tea & Fennel Seed Conditioner. Silky hair that is not greasy, and that feels smooth and wonderful. Aaahhh.... my thick mane has, at last, been tamed.

As for lotions, well, Dr. Mercola says that if you wouldn't eat it, you should not put it on your skin. Problem is, I have a stash of German hand cream that I absolutely must have. If I don't get a whiff of that stuff every day, all is *not* right with my world.

And last, but not least: I did not, and will not, get a flu shot this year, and neither will my children. This, from a woman who was ready to go to Canada in 2004, when she was pregnant, and there was a flu shot shortage.

Gimme gimme gimme more...carbs

I have been overeating lately. Why? I'm hungry all the time. Especially for carbs.

This weekend, my husband will leave for a whole week, again, and maybe that has something to do with my need for as many carbs as I can stuff into my mouth. Sometimes, you just have to take a break and simply eat what you want.

I intend to go back to my healthy ways on Monday. Until then, anything is fair game. And I intend to bake, baby.

Oh, and I grudgingly admit I am looking forward to the new Britney Spears album.

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