Book Review: Real Food for Mother and Baby
Apr 17, 2010
The other night we were visiting with relatives and one of the other guests brought a dessert along. As she was raving about how healthy it was I was burning up inside! Why? Because she thought she had made the dessert better for us by making it with low-fat, sugar-free, imitation food products. It absolutely drives me crazy how pervasive the myth is that FAT is bad for you! I’ve been seriously thinking about hand-painting a sign in our kitchen that reads, “Viva la fat” but my husband apparently doesn’t think it’s as brilliant as I do.
With all of the low-fat propaganda going around I find it refreshing whenever I find a book that shines the spotlight on the truth… that stands up for good fats like butter, coconut oil and lard and says “no-way” to margarine, refined vegetable oils and “new-fangled fats” (as Sally Fallon calls them). I’ve recently read two books that do just that. “Eat Fat, Lose Fat” by Dr. Mary Enig and Sally Fallon is one of them and the second is, “Real Food for Mother and Baby” by Nina Planck.
Nina conveys important nutritional concepts in a conversational style that makes it easy to read. While I still love “Nourishing Traditions” by Sally Fallon it can tend to sound more like a textbook than Nina’s book. She’s also written “Real Food: What to eat and why” but I haven’t had a chance to read it yet. In “Real Food for Mother and Baby” she not only lays the foundation for sound nutrition but she gives important information relating to fertility and what to feed infants. What we eat BEFORE pregnancy has a profound affect on the health of our future babies. So many health problems that arise during pregnancy and birth can be prevented with good nutrition coupled with an active lifestyle. So, even if you’re only thinking about getting pregnant get this book before you try to conceive!
As far as baby’s first foods there is a lot of misinformation being propagated by medical professionals. My understanding is that doctors and nurses receive very little training in nutrition. In fact, our own family doctor (who knows I pursue alternative health) asked me what I had found were the best first foods for my youngest daughter. She voluntarily admitted that “we (medical professionals) really don’t have much information about that.” Nina clears that all up and gives evidence-based advice on what is best for baby to eat. This is one of those books that I wish I could give every couple planning on raising a family.
Posted In: Nutrition/Health | Book Reviews • Comments (2)
Precious Memories
Mar 30, 2010
My husband recently taught my oldest daughter to ride her bike. I knew it would be fun to see him teach her but I had no idea what a special moment it would be. I felt so much joy and pride! Both my husband and my daughter were really patient with one another and I’m sure that’s why it went so smoothly! I also had the privilege of teaching my daughter to read a couple years ago and it felt amazing! There are many days that I feel tired and worn out and I’m not the best mom on those days. But then there are days when we build with blocks, make cookies or snuggle on the couch and read Fancy Nancy. These are the moments I cherish and want to hold on to. It’s not about being the perfect parent. We are all flawed and we’ll mess some things up. What’s important is that our children know we love them. It’s ok for them to see that sometimes we’re weak and sometimes make mistakes. That’s real life. That takes the pressure off them to live a perfect life. It’s a powerful experience for them to see us going to God for strength or to have us apologize to them when we’ve spoken out of anger. I want to live authentically for my children and yet not dwell too much on my imperfections or theirs. I choose to celebrate the good! I know it’s been said many times but the advice to “count our blessings” is a wise one. We have so many!
Posted In: Parenting • Comments (1)
Nestle Boycott
Mar 30, 2010
Many people love Nestle chocolate, Edy’s ice-cream and Nescafe coffee. Unfortunately the Nestle company is less than worthy of our financial support. For years they’ve been marketing their baby formula to people in some of the poorest countries. Their commercials basically claim that the formula will make child geniuses and unfortunately many many poor people have fallen for it. This has caused a lot of unnecessary death and health issues among the children. You can view the whole story here:
Formula for Disaster 1
Formula for Disaster 2
Formula for Disaster 3
Formula for Disaster 4
Formula for Disaster 5
List of US Nestle Products
It may surprise you how many products are made by Nestle!
Posted In: Activism • Comments (5)
Snowmen family
Dec 19, 2009
This is just a little something Emma & I made today.
From left to right: Katie snowgirl, Emma snowgirl, Laura snow-woman & Aaron snowman :)
Posted In: My Life •
Famous Homeschoolers
Dec 19, 2009
Homeschooling has been going really well for us. It’s the perfect fit for our family! I love being able to taylor Emma’s education to fit her learning style and interests. It’s also loads of fun to learn alongside her. There are so many interesting things to read about and explore! Emma can be so creative. She’s a unique individual and I want to help cultivate her gifts and passions.
As a way to help inspire both Emma & I, we worked together to make a poster of several famous homeschoolers. It’s amazing how many of the greatest minds in history were actually homeschooled. In homeschooling they had the freedom to pursue their unique interests and to think for themselves. As Laura Ingalls once said, “Home is the best place for teaching many things, first and most important of which is how to think for one’s self.”
These are just a few of the many famous people who were homeschooled that we also included on our poster:
Alexander Graham Bell
Mozart
Dwight L. Moody
Louisa May Alcott
Claude Monet
Abraham Lincoln
Whoopi Goldberg
Louis Armstrong
Thomas Edison
Albert Einstein
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Beatrix Potter
Ansel Adams
Robert Frost
Sources:
FamousHomeschoolers.net
Posted In: Homeschooling • Comments (1)
