A cavity or 3.....

Little baby Bell got her first tooth just shy of her 1st birthday. She had 2 bottom teeth for months and nothing else seemed to happen. She then developed molars. She had her molars before front teeth! Her front teeth came in towards the end of last summer she was probably 20 months. I remember how cute they were, little gap between the front teeth, cutely shaped and pearly white. I then noticed a little marking on her right front tooth and thought it was a bit of discolouration. When I went with Aidan to the dentist in the spring they looked at Bella's front teeth and she had not one but 3 little cavities!!

We are not sure why? After all she had only had those teeth for 7-8 months and all her other teeth were fine? We were told the common things; bottles, she never took one, sugar-we do our best to limit (not always so easy!), juice- she gets water or milk (or milk alternative), brushing teeth- I scrutinize every tooth when I brush and I even floss!

So, perhaps born with some weak enamel? Maybe a congenital malformation with those teeth? A kidney essence deficiency? http://forhealthyroots.blogspot.com/2010/02/to-grey-or-not-to-grey.html

I recently started her on Calcium Fluoride Tissue Salts and give her 3 little tablets per day. It helps make up your bones, teeth enamel, skin fibers and muscle tissue. A deficiency can be seen with poor enamel of teeth, brittle nails or cracked skin. I am hoping these will help strengthen her teeth so we can avoid any further drilling.

a great find with a twist

I love thriftng. It's always nice to get a great deal but even better is a really good find. That something special that I can re-use. I love antique items. We are mass producing so much in our culture and most of our items are made overseas for mere pennies with chemically based un-natural materials and are not made to last. Re-using items is a great environmental movement by using less resources and producing less stuff when we already have enough stuff. (My plan is to start sewing some kiddie clothes from some of our old adult clothes....I love that idea and how cute will bella look in a dress made out of ewan's old t-shirt!) Summer is such a great time to find those special finds as there are yard sales everywhere. Today driving back from the market I came upon these 2 special items.

not sure where these will go....bella's room or kiddie's bathroom?

look how beautiful this old window pane is!

Fresh Summer Salads

I love going to the farmer's market and am really excited for our new house to be steps from this weekly affair!! I love seeing what looks good and then coming home and making some delicious food. This is what I picked up today.

Kale, Basil, Carrots and Beets

I decided to make a beet salad using the beets and the beet greens. Beets are a great source of fiber, lower LDL cholesterol, is a known cancer fighting food and is rich in B-vitmains, specifically folic acid (great for those pregnant women!).
I cleaned the beets and roasted them in a covered pan for about an hour.
I then cleaned and trimmed the stalks off the beet greens and steamed them for about 2 minutes.
I needed a dressing so I cut up an orange, added a couple cloves of fresh garlic, a little red wine vinegar, olive oil and orange zest.
Orange zest is a great source of vitamin C, enhances your immune system and is a great digestive aid.
I mixed it all together and topped with some fresh basil. A great success!

For the second salad I used the kale.
I steamed the kale for about 5 minutes and while this was doing it's thing I quickly sauteed about 4 cloves of garlic in olive oil. I then drained the kale, squeezed out the excess water and sauteed it with the garlic. Voila! Kale is rich in vitamin K, A and C and because it is part of the Brassica family it is a powerful fighter of cancer cells, including breast cancer.
I met a women at the market when buying the carrots who said she made pesto from the tops. I usually feed them to my dog, but thought I might give that a try next.