May Up-Date

So glad I caught this on camera!

Lots of swimming here in HOT Texas

Big P90X guns. Now he needs the tan to go with them!

Dinner time.

Sophie LOVES to Jump.

Sun Child

As requested - some pictures of Soph in her swim-suite!

New Food...to me

I'm cooking different these days. And it is because of this book. As a mom I want my kids to healthy. I have been feeling for a few years that there has to be better stuff out there to eat. I have been trying a few things, like the P90X diet with Merrill for a week, that didn't feel good at all! And trying to get fat free stuff like sour cream, cheese, etc. But it always feels fake. Why would I want to eat that? Then we had a food storage class for enrichment, and the lady who taught was great! Very helpful to someone like me who has NOTHING because of being in the army and moving every year over seas and back again. And that fact that we are supposed to have a lot of wheat. And do what with it?! She recommended this book. So I ran out a bought it and am a changed person. As far as food and how I feed the kids goes. And how we will never eat at McDonald's again unless we are driving a million miles and run out of food in the cooler, or a grandparent wants to take them.(Well the McDonald's thing is more from watching Food Inc. and reading other books and learning what they put in the meat portions of their food: ammonia rinsed beef fat scraps. For real?! yuck)

So we are trying more things. I always was more of a Make-it-myself kinda person, since I know how from school, and I like to be in the kitchen. But now that is going to be taken even further. The biggest change has been the Raw Milk. Yep - we go to a farm and get regular gallons of milk, but they are not pasteurized or homogenized.(Yes we know that those things have helped with the sanitation.....but they were developed back in the day - and we have since come a long way - its a much cleaner process then it was when pasteurization was introduced. And did YOU know that the dairy cows that grocery stores get the milk from are always sick and there is puss mixed in with the milk? And they they have to color and sent adjust the milk after it has been processed?!) The cream goes to the top and you have to shake it when you want a glass. And its kinda Yellow right now since its spring and they are eating the spring grass. (Did you know they dye butter yellow?) With my raw milk I can make lots of stuff.....whey, yogurt, keifr, sour cream, butter, buttermilk. The whey is the one i have used the most. I have made (from the books recipes) salsa, Mexican cabbage, pickles, berry syrup, mustard, and orangina. I have yet to try a few- they are still "lacto-fermenting" in the pantry.....but what I Have tried is good. A little weired, since it isn't processed, but I know its better for us.

The other big thing is making breakfast. The boys LOVE pancakes and I am happy to make them - because we wont be getting cold cereal anymore. The reason whole wheat and grains are good for you is in the part our bodies cant even digest. So why eat a ton of granola and wheat bread if you aren't getting all you can from it? By soaking it over night - on the counter - in something like whey, buttermilk, yogurt, or keifr you let the bacteria (the good kind) start to break it down so when you eat it the next day - your body can get ALL the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals out. And its easier on your guts.

So there you have it. More healthy food for us. I understand that if we want to eat out - there will be stuff we cant avoid. And I'm not going to pitch a fit if we go on a family trip and dont have raw milk to drink. But when we are at home, and I have the time to prepare these things - I will.

Riding Bikes

Guess whos my favorite!!!????

Whey and Cream Cheese

Milk seperating...raw...on the counter for 4 days.

The cream cheese after straining.

And the Whey......to use in fermenting veggies and soaking grains.

Farm Day

This is B helping cultivate the dirt for the PURPLE potatoes! He did an awesome job.

Today we went to a dairy farm...Sand Creek Farm. I will post more on the reason why tomorrow maybe, or in a week. All I will say now is this: Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. Google it.

Sophie is such a poser! I point the camera at her and she will surprise

me every time with some little shoulder lift or tilt of the head...I love her!

The boys had to take care of some business first thing....and B

was very surprised to see NO WATER TO PEE INTO! Just dirt!

Very fun day.....We made butter and helped get

chicki-eggs (as Merrick likes to call them) and also saw

where they milk the cows and make cheese.

DONE!

OK! Its done.....and the sink is working great! We both like it a lot - the color and everything! Here is the faucet...all hooked up. Weired how we had one night with out a sink and felt like we were camping!

Here you can see the wide bar - the kids like it a lot, because we popped pop corn on it, and the popper and bowl fit. And they could stand on the stools and watch!

Ahh.....so nice. The head pulls out of the faucet and switches from a regular to sprayer....so I can reach every corner of the giant sink. I could bath all my kids in it! Its that big! LOVE!