dying. need drugs. and it's ok.

people always blog about the joyous occassions in their lives. never the crap. do the "soulemamas" out there ever have a crappy day and talk about it? and somehow even when they do, it's still cute and picturesque.

well, this blog is about me being sick and needing drugs, and it sucks....
yesterday morning i woke up and was tired and achy. i rested and took it easy and began my slew of remedies. as the day progressed, i started feeling worse and worse. i kept up with my naturopathic prescriptions like a religion. i've got this.
at 10 pm, my throat felt like fire, swallowing was difficult, and those lovely white "pus" spots were all over. i still thought i could beat this and continued with my medicines.

fastforward to 1 am. i am now dying. tonsils so large, red, inflamed with white spots all over. can't swallow. taking the tinctures was like swallowing fire. so feverish with chills and sweats. i'm in tears.

i needed drugs. i (obviously) am not one to take antibiotics, but am also thankful to have them when they are needed. the problem i have is with the over-prescribing, and writing scripts without proper testing. ie. a swab in this case.

so here i am. 10 days with amoxicillin. my new best friend. i love you.

i am going to take my probiotics with them, but only a low dose. the antibiotics will kill the good bacteria along with the bad, so not much point right now.
when i'm done the 10 day course, i will do a week of HMF Replete and then a month of HMF Intensive. I will also drink the GH Greens + Whole Body Nutrition daily for the 70% fermented foods, to help re-establish a healthy flora.
so that's it. hope these bad boys kick in soon and i can enter the land of the living. my kids need me.
Rxo

Vegan Peanut Butter Cups

i love chocolate and peanut butter. together, it's like perfection. when i was younger we didn't really get reese's peanut butter cups, so i used to take the kraft PB and mix it with the nutella and make my own.
it was good.
well, the other day i made these. they were amazing and of course a much healthier option than my childhood ingredients.
i got the idea from pureella's blog.  chocolate, coconut oil and peanut butter. that's it. 3 ingredients.
I made half the batch, so used 100gm of organic dark chocolate. I melted it with the 2 tbsp of coconut oil and then layered into the little cups i had. i did not measure the PB and just put in little spoonfuls. i also didn't add more coconut oil on top of the peanut butter.
that's it. delicious and super simple.

 as you can see no complaints with this customer...

a sick kai kai.

It's amazing. One minute your kid is happy and avoiding bedtime, the next they wake up in the middle of the night hot and miserable. That was me last night with Kai. This morning, so tired and with basically one eye open, I checked him out.
Ears; clear. Lungs; clear. Mouth. Yup. Swollen glands.
I did a rapid strep; negative. (will send one out to the lab tomorrow morning for a more accurate test).

Most likely it's viral. I gave my usual combo of basic supplements and homeopathics (aconite was my first for its acute onset with fever). I also did the much beloved (insert sarcasm here) cold wet sock treatment. I will blog about it this week.
I use this wonderful product made by John Redden, a local herbalist in the junction, that is wise beyond belief. His company is called Viriditas and he makes a Children's and Adult's Cold and Flu product that tastes great and is wonderful when the little ones are sick.

A few herbs to highlight. 
Eupatorium perfoliatum, also known as boneset. It is immune boosting, a febrifuge (reduces fevers) and a diaphoretic (brings forth sweat) and soothes aching bones.
Usnea is a potent antibiotic (as well as anti-viral and anti-fungal). Think of this herb as the anti-"anything".
Glycyrrhiza Glabra (licorice root), has so many wonderful properties, but to highlight in this case; immune stimulating abilities to fight viruses and anti-inflammatory properties to soothe the inside of the mouth and respiratory system are amazing.
The slew of berries, are nutrient dense and thus are nutritive to the body in a time when it needs it most, and well echinacea, we are all familiar with that one.

If you are interested in trying this product out or having it on hand at home, just get in touch with me.

So.... that's what I've done so far. We'll see how that day goes. I do love my sleep and hope tonight is smooth sailing.....

Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Beet Muffins! Say What?

House was quiet, with all the little people sleeping, so I decided to make some muffins. 

I had a base of a recipe but as per usual altered it. 

They turned out delicious!

Healthy. Vegan. Kid-Approved (fingers crossed!)

1 1/4 cup spelt flour (use a gluten free blend if you wish)

1/4 cup cacao (the real deal, like this or this)

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

Mix the above in a bowl

In a separate bowl mix together

1 banana, mashed

1/4 cup sweetener (I used maple syrup, brown sugar will do)

1/2 cup applesauce

1/4 cup milk (I used almond)

Once these are mixed add in 1/2 cup grated zucchini and 1/2 cup grated beet (I did not have a enough zucchini for a full cup so improvised with the beet. It worked)

Mix the dry into wet.

I then added a handful of dairy free chocolate chips. 

Place into muffin tray.

 Bake at 375F for 20 min. 

Done. 

the no bake ball

i made these healthy balls for a ladies party tonight. 

hope they're a hit :-)

 1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup ground flax seeds

3/4 cup unsweeneted coconut

1/2 cup nut butter (i used peanut)

1/3 cup honey

handful of chocolate chips

mix all the above together except chocolate chips. 

i used my hands.

then mix chocolate chips.

roll into balls and roll into coconut. 

refrigerate for an hour. 

enjoy. 

 

the divine blueberry

We were at the dufferin grove farmers market this afternoon and I splurged on organic wild blueberries. 11$ for a container! when I got home my smart boy Aidan says, "they are worth it mommy, they are so delicious"! Whenever I buy blueberries he quickly asks if they are wild. I think I created a food snob! The 3 kids gobbled them up by the handful in minutes flat.

I was interviewed recently for a magazine about the health benefits of blueberries and thought I would share a few points with you here.

• Blueberries are one of the few fruits native to North America. Forget the goji berry, go for the local and less expensive blueberry!
• the US department of Agriculture determined out of 24 fruits, 23 vegetables, 16 herbs and spices, 10 nuts and 4 dried fruits, that blueberries were the highest in total antioxidant capacity per serving. Sounds good to me!
• Wild blueberries are much smaller than the big, juicy cultivated ones. About 80-90 cultivated blueberries fit into a cup, while the same size can hold up to 150 wild ones. The supernutrients are in the skin, so we find a cup of wild blueberries have almost twice the blueberry skin as the cup of cultivated ones. Twice the skin, twice the antioxidant power!

So go support your local farmers and pick yourself up some local blueberries! 

an everything salad

i'm really not a great cook, but i can put together a darn good salad.
it's not that hard really, after all no cooking is actually involved, just organizing of food (which i am good at!)

today's creation is arugula; i like the bitter quality of this leaf and so does our livers.
grated carrots and beets; also really supportive for liver health.
avocado; for healthy fats and substance to the meal
cilantro and parsley; these are heavy metal detoxifiers and support the kidneys.
cucumbers;  are nice and cooling on humid days.
walnuts are rich in omega 3's, and support the nervous system and brain function. they are actually shaped like the brain with 2 hemispheres (we call this "doctrine of signatures")

the dressing is a tahini one i make often. you can actually use it as a dip as well. i'm really bad with measurements but it's something like this; 1/2 lemon, 2 garlic cloves (today i put in 1 garlic scape from my garden and 1 clove), a handful of cilantro and parsley (whatever fresh herb you have on hand will do), and then i slowly add some water while i handblend to the consistency i want.

easy. quick. healthy. 

it's what i'm about.

first days of summer...

we kicked off summer with a trip to drayton. i have shown pictures of this place before, i just find it so inspiring and beautiful and the property just keeps getting better and better. you can find out more about what they do here.
the garden is amazing! flourishing with veggies. they built a greenhouse over the winter that has tomatoes, cucumbers and even a  peach tree. how amazing is that! i can't even manage to get some raised beds on my small piece of nothing land, yet alone what they manage to accomplish! maybe one day.
they have about 30 chickens, ducks and a sweet little bunny. the chickens basically graze in a pack all day long. 
the kids had a great time, as they always do and we all came back exhausted.

 

 

 above is the crew. 

all 1 grade apart. 

5 boys and a girl. 

(and a kai.)

first and last

first day of grade 3

 last day of grade 3 (has he ever changed!)

i love surprising him with secret notes and a rare treat

 first day of SK

 last day of SK (she kinda looks the same....)

 

her secret note. which she can read on her own.

"The days are long, but the years are short." Gretchen Rubin

time sure does fly, my loves....