Gratitude

I talked earlier about our evolution away from vegetarianism, but then I started thinking and I didn't want to leave you guys thinking that I totally despise the vegetarian way of life.

To start my ode to vegetarianism I must start back to my wedding. The Hubby and I started our married life together an decided that waiting a year before trying for a baby was the best course of action. So I'm sure you can imagine our dismay when we discovered that, oops! I was pregnant four months after nuptials.

At first we were very mad with God. We were being careful and this is what he saddled with us! The nerve. So we prayed. And prayed. And then we were excited. We were going to have a baby! Our little family was wrapped in happiness.

I lost the baby at just a few weeks. And then we were mad at God again. Why give us a baby, force us to accept it, and then take it? It made no sense! But we agreed that since we were ready to have that baby with joy then we were ready to start earnestly trying for our children.

So we tried. And tried. And lost another sweet child. And still we kept at it. For nearly two years. It was a crazy time. Now I don't feel the anxiety about it, because, hello, I have kids now. But I remember feeling like I was never going to have biological children. We made plans to save money for adoption. We discussed the option of invitro fertilization. And so much spontaneity was sucked out of our marriage because we were trying for just the right time to make everything work. It was exhausting.

Totally unrelated to the babymaking The Hubby and I went on a quick herbal cleanse. We also went nearly vegan to help The Hubby with his cholesterol.

Within two months I was pregnant, and that was BuggaBoo. I really feel that my body was so junked up with stuff that I needed to do the cleanse and then eat a clean diet to prepare myself to carry a baby. My family has a history of hormonal disturbances, the most prominent is my mother has polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS. I have many of the same symptoms. I feel that getting off CAFO meats and diary helped to control the amount of hormones in my body leading to successful ovulation and implantation. Fabulous!

So to the best of my knowledge and feelings, if I had not gone vegetarian I would not have my children.

I have other, less important reasons to be grateful. So let's touch on them rapidly.

I can now bake without eggs or milk or butter. This is great when I want to whip something up and only have pantry supplies.

My cooking experience increased. I can now think beyond meat/potato/vegetable or casseroles. Yum!

I was introduced to a deeper realm of natural living which led to my research on midwifery. This in turn led to my wonderful experiences with the prenatal care and birth of my children.

Vegetarianism is still a large part of my life and I don't think that will ever change. I'm not really the carnivorous type, although I do enjoy some meat binges. And eating plants is very satisfying. I am thankful for the experience I've had with being vegetarian and vegan, I've learned a lot and grew some more.

Big Changes Part II...Finally!

Part I can be found here.

So I have come to the conclusion that I can drastically improve BuggaBoo's tooth and jaw health through diet, and hopefully head off any problems in Doozer. Also I hope to be able to finally cure the weak spots in my teeth that have plagued me since before my marriage. I have tried fluoride and it does not work for me.

So we've started introducing animal foods back into our diet. Last summer we started with eggs, and a few weeks ago we added more variety, starting with fish. Now we eat some beef and we had a bit of pork at Easter and there was this one time I had some fried chicken. We are trying very hard to be conscientious about our choices. We eat sustainable fish such as sardines and pollock. We buy our beef from local pastured steers.

We have decided to make an emphasis on eating the whole animal, especially the parts that other people don't want to. My freezer is full of bones, livers, tongues, and hearts. We feel that it is more respectful to the animal to use all of it; that if it is going to give its life for our benefit we better be sure to make the best use of its body. The positive to eating the parts no one else wants is we get the most nutritionally dense foods available, so we don't need to eat as much.

Are we perfect? No, not by a long shot. But we try. Eating out is the hardest, because most restaurants don't use humanely raised meats. But I wish they did. Heck, I really need to do my part and only buy at the places that meet my standards, but my budget would basically permit Chipotle and they already make a super killer vegetarian burrito.

Right. So, the benefits of this? Well, let me tell you. For months, months, I have been having problems with brain fog, lack of energy and motivation, major problems with speaking and typing, and just all around feeling like my whole life was an out-of-body experience. Seriously, it was so hard for me to speak sometimes; my tongue felt so huge in my mouth it was impossible to form words. Simple, easy words. My fingers didn't want to obey my befuddled brain signals. I made a lot of typing mistakes. And I just felt listless, needing 12+ hours to feel normal, but never getting that with little children in the house.

After starting to eat fish again that all cleared up. It felt wonderful to be able to think, to be quick again. And I do not think it was only the magical omega fatty acids. I was taking an algae based DHA supplement and eating lots of ground flax and I didn't see any improvement.

May I say that I feel that is a major downfall of being veg*n? The whole movement tends to break food down into their nutrients. Are you craving beef? Then it must be the iron or protein or fat or something. It can't be the beef. It can't be something we haven't discovered yet, or heck, even be a synergistic reaction between everything in the beef. To satisfy the criteria of veg*nism all foods must be their components and nothing else.

So, we eat animals. And we feel okay about that. Okay, we adults feel okay about that, BuggaBoo is still having a rough time with it. I don't blame the kid, his whole life we've told him it's sad to eat animals. Then, BAM! It's all okay to eat them. Poor confused child. We're treating him very gently, giving him lots of time.

We're still trying to get into our groove. I have been feeling heavy after meals recently; I'm taking that as a sign to lighten up. The first few weeks I couldn't get enough eggs, meat, fish, or bone broth. Now I'm feeling fuller, which is reassuring to me. I feel I am working to fill my deficiencies, and that just feels right.

There is so much more I want to implement in our new diet besides animals foods. That's just part of it. More fresh and raw veggies would be amazing. I'm learning how to soak and sprout my grains to reduce phytic acid and increase nutrient absorption. I'm experimenting with fermented foods, which taste amazing and help bring my internal flora and fauna into balance. I'm learning more about healthy fats and why animal fat isn't such a scary thing after all, and how vegetable oils can be downright terrifying.

But! All of this is just skimming the surface. And I have done a lot of reading and researching to get here. Too much to go over at 11:00pm. So let me wrap up by saying I'm happy where we are in our life, and I'm excited to see where we go from here. As always, comments are encouraged, opposite viewpoints are respected, but let's be civil.

Dairy-Free "Sausage" Gravy for Biscuits

Okay, Jillyn, this one's for you.

I'm been making dairy-free gravy since I went vegan, but I've never felt confident sharing it with too many people. I mean, The Hubby and I thought it was amazing, and the kids don't count because they've never had dairy, but what about other people? You know, those that still eat dairy.

So I tried this out on my little sister since her new li'l one can't tolerate dairy in the breastmilk. And Jillyn loved it. Since I usually just eyeball this I actually sat down and figured out measurements so I could share with with you. You're welcome.

I'm going to talk first about making the sausage flavored TVP, then how to make the sunflower seed cream, and then how to make the gravy.

Serves four-ish.



"Sausage" TVP

1/3 cup boiling water
1 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp rubbed sage
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
a few shakes of cumin
a few shakes of red pepper
1/2 cup TVP

I like to grind my fennel seed, but you don't have to. Also, I like to add my fennel to the water before boiling it to soften the seeds, but once again, optional. Mix all of the above. The TVP will not be fully reconstituted, it will finish reconstituting in the gravy.

Sunflower Seed Gravy Cream

1/2 cup sunflower seed kernels (no shells)
2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup nutritional yeast

If you need to grind your seeds in a coffee grinder first, do so. I take the lazy route and blend the seeds with about 3/4 cup water in my blender until it's smooth. Then I add the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth and creamy.

Roux

3 Tbsp oil
3 Tbsp flour

Put the oil in a pan, add the reconstituted TVP. Fry for a little bit. Add the flour, stir until combined with oil. Slowly whisk in the sunflower seed cream, creating a white sauce. Cook until as thick as you like it. I like my gravy pretty thick. If you want a thinner gravy use less flour and oil. If you want it thicker, like a brick, use more. After you're done cooking add:

1 tsp liquid smoke

Taste for salt and other seasonings, then serve over biscuits.

Whew! I hope that wasn't too confusing, it's actually pretty fast to throw together. You can make this gluten free by using cornstarch to thicken the gravy instead of the roux. I really like using sunflower seeds for my gravies and cheeze sauces, the flavor seems just right after cooking, since it's a bit sharp. Yum.

Cabbage Leaves Stuffed with Hazelnuts and Sprouted Lentils

This last Saturday we bought a gorgeous cabbage from the farmer's market. I was seriously excited about it because it still had its outer leaves on it. They don't sell cabbages like that at WinCo. I decided to make some cabbage rolls in the crockpot since we had a busy day running errands and later attending my pattern drafting class I'm taking Monday nights.

I was influenced by Jennifer McCaan's recipe but altered it to use ingredients I had on hand. So here we go!

Stuffing:

• 1 cup raw hazelnuts, chopped
• 1 cup sprouted lentils, chopped
• 3/4 cup oat bran
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp marjoram
• 1/4 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• water to moisten
• cabbage leaves for stuffing (Go to Jennifer's recipe to read how to prepare the leaves.)
• tomato sauce (I used leftover spaghetti sauce from a can. High class, I know.)
  

Mix everything but the cabbage leaves and tomato sauce together. Add just enough water to create a mixture that will stick together when pressed. Create stuffing logs that will fit comfortably into your cabbage leaves, leaving about an inch on each side of the leaf to tuck in, like a burrito.

Spray your crockpot with oil and put one or two tablespoons of tomato sauce on the bottom. Put in your cabbage packages seam side down.

So pretty!

Spoon you tomato sauce over your cabbage rolls. Cook on low for 4-5 hours, until filling is cooked through. Enjoy eating these, because they're mighty scrumptious.


What I would do differently next time is add cooked rice, which I didn't do this time because I didn't want to go to the trouble to prepare the rice. Also, I think some sauteed garlic and onions and other veggies would be quite at home in this. I wish I had Dijon mustard to add, because dang that would have been good. I think throwing some sauerkraut in the pot around the rolls would be divine. Basically I don't think you could do these a wrong way.

Rolling is easy but a little time consuming, especially with trying to get the leaves off the cabbage head in one piece and blanching them. To save on time I might try shredding my cabbage and mix it with half the tomato sauce. Then I would put down a layer of cabbage, a layer of filling, and then another layer of cabbage. Top it with more tomato sauce, cook it, and serve it like a casserole.

And that it for this. Have a great night, I'm going to go snuggle in bed with the family.

Off-The-Cuff Broccoli Soup

So for breakfast I decided to make some pureed broccoli soup to use up some questionable produce in my fridge. What, don't you have soup for breakfast? Also, I wanted to put some veggies in my kid since yesterday was firmly in the all-he-ate-was-french-fries category. *hangs head in shame*

I had part of a broccoli crown, a broccoli stem, and some collards that needed eating, so I whipped this up and was surprised. This was so good! I want to eat it all but must restrain myself so that The Hubby can has his share. I really have to do this because it was so good I sneaked him a bite while he was sleeping off his night shift. Lesson learned, if I want more soup I can't share.

Look at that gorgeous green!

I didn't measure, but I hope that won't deter you. Also in the list of hopeful-non-deterrents is the sprouted lentils. I had them on hand because they're useful. Soak them for about eight hours, drain, then put them in a container with a lid to keep them moist, rinsing at least once a day. This is my second day sprouting this batch.

Recipe!

• Water, not too much
• Salt
• Broccoli equitable to one crown, chopped
• Four collard leaves turning yellow, ends discarded and chopped. I keep my stems, why waste good food?
• One medium potato chopped, for smoothness
• A good handful of sprouted lentils
• Another good handful of raw sunflower seeds
• Nutritional yeast

Simmer everything except for the nutritional yeast because heat will destroy the B vitamins in the yeast. When things are tender but not falling apart puree the soup in batches. Keep the center portion out of your blender lid and use a towel to cover it. Watch out for steam! After the soup is smooth taste for salt adjustment then add nutritional yeast to taste. Ladle up, adding more nutritional yeast as a garnish if wanted.

BuggaBoo likes it, Doozer loves it, and I'm hoping to make it again soon. Yum! This is obviously vegan but also gluten free, so all ya'll of my friends that have a hard time finding good quick gluten free recipes, try this out. Tell me how you like it.

BuggaBoo was excited to eat his soup with a straw. He also requested nutritional yeast, Diaya cheese, AND a spoon.



Because everything tastes better with more stuff. This is the first time we've ever owned Diaya cheese, it was purchased for a date and we're so stingy with any processed vegan faux food that we still have some left, even after making a pizza with the leftovers. BuggaBoo is, of course, in love with. It's okay, it's stringy like real cheese but not worth the cost, in my opinion.

So go look in your fridge at those languishing veggies and cook up an imaginative soup. Come on, I dare ya. You can even eat it with a straw if you want to.

Because You NEEDED to Know

Okay guys, I love sushi. I can eat a lot of it. A. Lot. Several rolls. But I would like to let ya'll know that homemade brown rice cucumber-avocado rolls are soooooo much more filling than their white rice counterparts that you find in restaurants. So if you want to go for the whole grains and use brown rice you can totally try my recipe out, which was inspired by Susan at Fat Free Vegan and Jennifer at Vegan Lunchbox/Shmooed Food.

1 cup short grain brown rice
2 Tbsp amaranth (it makes the rice "gluier")
3 cup + 3 Tbsp water

Throw it all into a rice cooker, let the appliance do it's thing. Use your favorite sushi rice flavorings (the above links have good ideas). Roll some sushi. No, I don't have pictures.

Out of Necessity

Those who have been reading my blog for a while know of Doozer's breathing difficulties. Those who have not been reading my blog are missing out on some amazing literature. Anyway, today we're going to talk about Doozer's health journey up to this point, which is culminating in a difficult decision for me.

I was visiting my family in Washington for three weeks for my brother's graduation plus some. I was hoping that Doozer's breathing would do better while I was there since we would be away from the mold present in our apartment.

Mold? MOLD? Yes, we have a moldy apartment. My manager and landlord try to pish-posh it off on Oregon weather, but that's only true if you consider that weather used to have direct access into my home through the rotten roof the winter BuggaBoo was born. That's when the mold started, when our apartment was drenched with Northwester rain. And it hasn't ended because getting anything done with the manager and landlord is like pulling teeth.

Right, Doozer's health. Well, she didn't get better, she actually got worse. We went to the ER one night where she received a chest x-ray (clear), an Albuterol treatment, and an oral dose of dexamethasone. She was wheezing again by the time we made it back to the car.

While we were in Washington I had Doozer scanned with a Pharmanex BioPhotonic Scanner to test her antioxidant levels. Here is an article that talks about the importance of the level of antioxidants in the skin, about halfway down. My level is 40,000. Not bad but room for improvement. Doozer's level is 28,000, not good at all for a breastfed baby. Everyone I've talked to about her levels says that Doozer is burning through her antioxidants dealing with all her health issues.

The Monday we were to head back to Oregon we did two things. First, we visited my childhood chiropractor to see if he could help with Doozer's wheezing and yeast diaper rash. Then we talked to one of my sister's midwives that is knowledgeable in herbs to see what she would do.

My chiropractor sensed energy blocks in Doozer's crown, sinus and jaw. He then adjusted those areas. Then he tested me for some things, since my health affects hers. He detected a B12 deficiency. Not good.

The midwife advised the use of mullein tea, colloidal silver, and tea tree oil. The mullein and silver were to be both orally and used in the nebulizer, the tea tree oil was to be used in the nebulizer only.

We drove home Monday night. Tuesday morning The Hubby and I took Doozer to her four-month well back check up. Our pediatrician did not like the sound of her wheezing, but she's growing well and has a happy disposition. He then diagnosed her with Reactive Airways Disease, or RAD. The pediatrician said this is because she had RSV at such a young age. He took her off the Albuterol, which made us happy since it gave Doozer the shakes and didn't do much for her wheezing. Then he prescribed Pulmicort, an inhaled steroid, which didn't make us happy.

The Hubby and I made this decision: We would try the natural method first, giving it until Wednesday night to work. If it didn't work by then we would put her on the steroids. We started nebulizing the mullein, silver, and tea tree oil several times a day. We saw a major improvement, so we decided to stick with the regime. By Thursday her breathing was amazing, beautiful, and perfect. Her little tummy was so rounded with each breath, I wanted to cup it with my hand.

Thursday afternoon BuggaBoo shoved the garden hose in Doozer's face, causing her to inhale some water. Every symptom came back with a vengance. The natural treatments were not working, and she was coughing so hard, working on getting that water up. Saturday morning, during a nebulizer treatment, she coughed up foamy, slimy mucus. I became very worried about that. I called our pediatrician's office and made an appointment with another doctor in the practice.

I took Doozer in to see the doctor, and the doctor wasn't happy with us. She listened to Doozer's lungs and decided that this wheezing episode was the same as all her others and had nothing to do with getting a face full of water. She wanted us to "stop that natural stuff" right away and put her on the Albuterol and Pulmicort. She didn't even tell me if she had heard water in Doozer's lungs until I asked at the end of the appointment.

After the appointment I did some research and found articles supporting my beliefs about dexamethason being ineffective in the treatment of infant wheezing and corticosteroids being ineffective in the treatment of childhood asthma symptoms.

Overall I was upset about the appointment and feeling very chastised for following my instincts. So I made an appointment with a pediatric naturopath. We had that appointment this last Thursday and I was very pleased with the outcome.

The naturopath was also unhappy with the allopathic pediatrician prescribing a steroid. We talked a lot about my diet, since I'm breastfeeding and whatever I do affects Doozer. The naturopath suggested upping our DHA and other omega-3 fatty acids to help combat inflammation. She told us to use probiotics to help strengthen our immune systems, including fermenting kefir at home. She told us to continue the use of mullein and colloidal silver but had us substitute lemon oil for the tea tree oil. She wants me to eat more antioxidant-rich foods like berries and leafy greens to help combat Doozer's free radical problem. She told us to help BuggaBoo's immune system so he stops bringing colds home.

And then she told me to eat eggs to improve my B12 levels, especially since I'm tandem nursing..

I felt this was going to happen, and I've been feeling the need to add eggs to my diet. But this is hard, guys. I mean, I really don't want to eat baby chickens, which is what I'll be doing because I strongly feel for eggs to have benefit for me they have to be fertile. But I don't want to do this.

The Hubby and I have always said that if things reach a point that we need to eat animals we will, but now that this time is here I am sad. I feel grief. I keep telling myself that this is needed, but a little voice is telling me that she must be wrong, that being vegan is always healthy, always. That anybody who says differently must be uneducated in the matter.

But I take my supplements nearly every day. I'm taking 16,000% of my B12 a day. I eat my nutritional yeast. I'm doing all the right vegan things. I have to come to peace with myself knowing I'm doing everything right but it's not enough. That it's okay to add eggs back in.

I will do this. I will do this for my babies.

This is a hard thing.

Dinner Recipe of Speed

Are you hungry now? Hungry for something delicious that uses up that questionable produce? Hungry for something that is easy to adapt to use that questionable produce? Hungry for a vague recipe?

This recipe is for you.

Greens-Carbs-Protein Extravaganza

Oil-type food (olive, coconut, canola, etc.)
Onion-type food (garlic, shallots, leeks, or onions)
Carb-type food (cubed potatoes, mashed potatoes, cooked pasta, cooked grain, etc.)
Greens-type food (cabbage, kale, collards, bok choy, mustard, chard, beet tops, broccoli, etc.)
Protein-type food (cooked beans, tofu, seitan, rehydrated TVP, or for non-vegans, hard boiled eggs, cooked meat)
Seasoning-type food (tomato paste, season salt, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, etc.)
Optional Vegetable-type food (carrots, green beans, peas, bamboo shoots, etc.)

1. Put oil in pan of choice, add chopped onion-type food.

2. Add carb-type food if it needs longer cooking, like cubed potatoes. I like to nuke my whole potatoes for a minute or two to precook, ensuring full cooking in rapid time. If it's something like cooked pasta then add it later so it doesn't fall apart. If it's mashed potatoes add at the end of it all.

3. Add optional vegetable-type food if it needs longer cooking, like carrots.

4. Add greens-type food, protein-type food, and other optional vegetable-type food. Add seasoning-type food to taste. Cook together until greens are cooked to liking. If you're using broccoli as your greens then add them earlier than this stage.

5. Eat like the hungry animal you are. Raahr!

I Love Me Some Omega-3's!

The Hubby (finally!) transferred pictures from the camera to the computer, so now I can put up all the tutorials I've been wanting to do. Today I was waffling between putting up a crafty tutorial or a foody tutorial, but food won out since I'm hungry. So I'm treating you to my recipe for Flaxy French Toast.

Well, I'm using the term "recipe" loosely here. I didn't measure anything, flax is something that you have to do by feel sometimes. But I have pictures and explanations so that will have to do.

First you have to find yourself some flax meal. It's important to know that whole flax seed is impossible for your body to digest, so it needs to be ground before using it. I prefer to buy whole flax seed and grind it in my coffee grinder that has never seen coffee. Ground flax goes rancid quickly so buying it pre-ground can give you a bitter experience, literally. Also, at my local bulk store, ground flax goes for about $1.00/lb and whole seeds are $0.56/lb. After grinding your flax store it in the fridge and use it in a week or two for the best results.

Pour your ground flax into a bowl.



The ratio for flax-to-water to make an "egg" is 1:2 or 1:3, depending on how thick you want it. A tablespoon of flax meal plus your wanted water equals the binding power of an egg. I think I use about 1/2 cup of meal for 4-5 slices of bread. But don't add your water yet!

Instead, add your seasonings. I use cinnamon, nutritional yeast, and salt. I think the cinnamon is the key to getting it to taste like eggy french toast, but that's what I grew up with. The nutritional yeast helps the flax taste a bit like eggs, it's also high in B vitamins. And it's yummy in it's own right.



Whisk the flax meal and seasonings together and add your water. Flax meal mixed with water will thicken upon standing for any length of time, so take that into consideration. Experiment, it won't hurt. This is the texture of my flaxy goodness that I like to use. To be clear, this is the texture of it after standing.



If you're using homemade bread for this (and why not!) then slice it while you're waiting for the flax to congeal.



Dip your slices in the flax mixture. You might have to scrape some mixture off it it's too thick. Again, experiment. Then lay it into a heated sprayed pan to cook. I use a medium-high heat.



Then enjoy!



The flax gives it a delightful nuttiness that I just love. It's also great for slicing into sticks and giving it to your toddler to dunk. And you can pat yourself on the back for not buying frozen french toast sticks.

Doesn't breakfast sound good right about now?

Fluffy Vegan Pancakes

I really like pancakes. So does BuggaBoo, especially when I sing the pancake song. Which goes something like this:

One, two, three, four pancakes in a pan.
One, two, three, four pancakes in a pan.
One, two, three, four pancakes in a paaaaan...
One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four pancakes in a pan.

I thought I would share my recipe with ya'll. This makes a very fluffy pancake, if you like them thinner then use more liquid. I'm also going to describe my process, you can obviously make it easier by substituting ready-made ingredients. And I'm giving you the batch doubled because if I'm going to go to the trouble of making pancakes I'm going to make it worth my while and freeze the extras. This recipe is adapted from a 1950's Betty Crocker cookbook.

2 Tbsp flax meal mixed with 4 Tbsp water (equivalent of two eggs)
1/4 C raw cashews, sunflower seeds, or another raw nut
2 C water
2 Tbsp lemon juice or vinegar then more water to equal 1/2 C (total liquid will be 2 1/2 C, but keep them separate right now)
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 C whole wheat flour, or 2 C whole wheat flour with 1/2 C alternate flour (oat, cornmeal, bean, quinoa, etc. I grind many soft grains in my coffee mill.)

As stated mix your flax meal and water first, you want it to reach egg consistency before you mix it into your other ingredients.

Grind nuts, mix with 2 C water in blender, blend until smooth. Prepare lemon juice and rest of water, mix lemon water with nut milk to make a faux buttermilk. Or, if you wanna, pour 2 Tbsp lemon juice into your measuring cup and then add enough ready-made non-dairy milk to make 2 1/2 C. Let this milk clabber while you sift your dry ingredients. Oh, I've also had good success just using lemon water instead of milk, but the milk does make them taste richer.

Sift the rest of the ingredients together. Heat your griddle or pan at this point. I spray oil into my pan for the first pancakes but don't for the rest. I do have a non-stick pan. When your pan is hot enough a water droplet will skip about. When your pan is heated then add the flax and milk to the dry ingredients. Mix until all lumps are gone.

Ladle out batter into pancakes. Because this is a very thick batter I spread my pancakes out with the back of the ladle. These pancakes don't form bubbles like thinner ones, they're ready to turn when the edges and maybe a few spots in the middle start looking a little dry. I like my pancakes really crispy, though, so experiment. This makes about 16-20 pancakes depending on how big you like them.

These pancakes are intentionally not sweetened nor have added fat. We usually eat them with "butter" and something sweet, so why put that into the pancake? Leftovers freeze well, reheat in your microwave or toaster depending on how crispy you like them. One of my favorite things to do with leftover pancakes is to toast them and then split them down the middle like a biscuit. Ta-da! Two thin crispy pancakes.

Okay, I'm outta here. The Hubby just made me some amazing tofu-noddle-broccoli-dish-thing and I'm starved. Have a great night!

You do WHAT to Save Money?!?

My little family lives on a modest income. I am not the financial genius of the household, that title belongs to The Hubby with his super-cool budget set-up in Excel. But I do know what's going on with our finances, and we go over the monthly budget, well, monthly.

I've said this before but The Hubby grossed $33,000 last year. I made a little income from doing daycare but it all went towards student loans so I'm not really counting that. We have been asked a lot, "How do you do it?" So this post is about how it's done in our family.

First up, the normal, "easy" stuff we do to save money.

We don't buy new cars. Used cars suit our purposes very well, thank you. And we only own one vehicle at a time, and always with cash. This helps out in a lot of ways. We spend less on gas, we spend less in insurance, and we don't have a monthly car payment. Yes, we have to do a bit more repair work, but if the car lasts us long enough the monthly cost of that car can be very low.

We live in a cheap apartment. We pay $650/month for rent on a two bedroom apartment. That's cheap for around here, especially because this place is big. Bigger than the house I grew up in. And it has an attic and garage, so we can store things that help us save money (like free baby clothes). It's not the nicest apartment, but that doesn't matter too much to us. Also, we don't pay for water here, so that helps a lot.

We discuss large purchases. For our family that means anything over $15-$20, unless we use our "blow" money. Blow money is money we have set aside for ourselves if we feel the need to splurge. We budget $5/month per adult and then any money we get for birthdays or Christmas goes into our little envelopes. It's nice to have a little mad money that you're not accountable for. But everything else is discussed. We talked about buying a $45 blender for 6 months.

Now, the "Okay, that takes a little bit of work, but it's not too weird" ways we save money:

In the summer we use a clothesline 100%. This saves a lot on our energy bill. I even dry BuggaBoo's cloth diapers on the line and it's never irritated him. And the cloth diapers take the longest to dry in the dryer, 100 minutes. And I'm doing a diaper load every other day, so that is major savings. We tired drying clothes in the garage on a line this winter but the humidity made it impossible.

We grow a vegetable garden. We are super lucky to live in an apartment that has a backyard, and they let us use part of it for gardening. Our garden wasn't great last year due to various excuses, but this year it's off to a great start. We start our own transplants which does save money, even factoring in the cost of lighting. We're also able to grow exactly what we want.

We don't heat our apartment...often. In the winter the heat is primarily off. Actually, the breaker to the baseboards doesn't even get flipped on until the temperature in our house gets to 55*F. We live in sweaters. We also use a space heater in the bedroom at night because it's cheaper to run than the baseboard.

We bring reusable bags for grocery shopping. At Winco, the store we usually shop, they will give us $0.06/bag. If we use 5 bags a week that equals $15.60/year. You might not think it's worth it, but can you think of something else that saves you that much without any extra effort?

We don't throw out much trash. We compost and recycle a lot. We don't use disposable diapers. This means we only have one, maybe two, grocery bags of trash a week. We were able to downsize to a smaller trashcan and that saves us money each month. We're considering combining trash with our neighbor and dropping the cost even more.

Okay, now for the "Okay, that's really crazy" ideas. What makes them really crazy? I base it off the responses I get from other people. And these are the ideas that really help us save the money. Each strategy does not save a lot of moolah individually, but when used together it really adds up.

We use cloth EVERYTHING. This includes diapers, diaper wipes, hankies, napkins, cleaning rags and, yes, even cloth menstrual pads and cloth "toilet paper". Before you scream "EWWW!" and run away, just listen a sec. These things are cheap. Most of them I made myself from cast-away fabric. A lot of diapers were donated to us by families that don't use them anymore. And it is sanitary. I wash them in hot water, and the water is hot enough to kill germs (120*F). I use soap, sometimes vinegar, and, hello! It's a washing machine. It's function is to wash your clothes. An added benefit is in the summer when I hang them up to dry the UV rays kill everything. And, trust me, a dryer running for 100 minutes is also hot enough to kill anything. And those is much gentler on the environment. Yeah, you have to use water to wash cloth things, but think of how much water it takes to make paper or plastic alternatives? And if your baby is potty-trained from the beginning you'll still have to flush the toilet, so that uses just as much water as a washing machine. And it's not hard. Also, TMI, but cloth toilet "paper" leaves you much fresher than paper. Just saying.

We're vegan. Eating a vegan diet doesn't have to be expensive. You don't have to replace meat, dairy, and eggs with faux meat, faux dairy, and faux eggs. We eat a mostly whole food diet, and whole foods are really cheap. We recently upped our food budget because BuggaBoo is starting to eat more and I'm pregnant and we wanted to eat some more expensive foods. Our budget FOR THE MONTH is $120. And it's possible to eat very well on that amount of money, it just takes some time. Thankfully I'm a SAHM and I'm able to take the time to cook real food. No, we don't buy organic or local or what-not. While we feel that's very important that's not a priority for us right now. Right now we want to pay off The Hubby's student loans and put ourselves in a position to buy our own land and become even more self-sufficient. But because we're eating lower on the food chain there are less chemicals in our food, even though we're buying conventional. And if you're worried about protein on a vegan diet read this.

We wash Ziploc bags. Hey, I can use a Ziploc bag at least six times, often longer, which means my box of Ziploc bags lasts, hmm, at least six times longer. Which means I saves the cost of five boxes. Those things are expensive! I have found once they're frozen they don't stand up to washing very well, so we're looking into rigid plastic containers for the freezer.

We saved all of our baby stuff. I didn't think this was a crazy money-saving strategy, but apparently it is. The Hubby has had a lot of people at his work look at him in shock when he said we weren't spending any money on Baby except for the birth. You see, all his coworkers threw out all their baby stuff after the initial child grew out of it, and they had to buy it all again when the new one came. This includes cribs and carseats. We saved all of it. We also have very generous friends that gave us their baby clothes after their children were done with them so we have boy and girl clothes up through 3T. We have spend hardly any money on BuggaBoo and expect to spend less on Baby.

We don't buy unnecessary baby stuff. Let me clarify that we find these things to be unnecessary for our family. Other families have different needs. We didn't buy a crib, we co-sleep. Eventually we bought a twin bed for BuggaBoo because our queen was getting cramped. We did not buy him a toddler bed because we knew he would eventually have to get a twin. We don't buy formula. We don't buy strollers, pacifiers, bottles, breast pumps, mobiles, bouncy seats, baby swings, or baby monitors. Some of these things have been given to use, and we have used the bouncy seat. But other than that we don't use them.

We use homeopathy. Homeopathy is alternative medicine. I've been successful with treating my family with various remedies. I usually buy Boiron blue tubes, they are a little less than $9.00 for 80 pellets. You take 1-5 pellets a dose. I've decided that homeopathy is cheaper than "modern" medicine, especially for things like colds and fevers. I've noticed that homeopathy actually cure symptoms while things like cold medicine just mask symptoms.

I'm sure there's other stuff, but I can't think of anything right now. It may be the whiny toddler on my lap is affecting my though process. If I think of anything else I'll be sure to tell all ya'll about it.

Vegan Burn-out

So as I've previously stated I'm a vegan. I'm not the best vegan. Let's say I have vegan ideals that I strive for and I repent when I slip up.

For instance I had two Big Macs at the beginning of this pregnancy. I know that the knee-jerk reaction is to say "Well, obviously there was something in that meat that you needed for the Baby, so you ate it." I also know diet and cravings aren't as all clear-cut as that. However, if I were to not eat the Big Mac and then have something Go Wrong I would feel awful, even if the thing that Went Wrong wasn't diet related. I can deal with vegan guilt better than dealing with mother guilt.

The last two weeks or so I have been feeling vegan burn-out. I'm not sure why, however. I don't mind cooking vegan, that's not a hardship for me. Everything we buy is vegan so it's a no-brainer to throw together a vegan meal. And I'm not craving meat, dairy, or eggs, so that's not the problem either. It's not really about eating out because there are some cheap vegan options around here and some not-so-cheap ones if I want to spend the money.

And it's not about changing feelings towards animal rights. I still feel the same about how I think animals should be treated. It's not like I've changed my mind about that.

So, why am I feeling burnt out about this? I really don't know. Probably something to do with being close to the end of the pregnancy. It's so easy to blame any emotional or physical upheaval on pregnancy. Sorry, this is an uninformative post. I just wanted to put it out there that I was feeling this way in case any other veg*n did. Guess what, I'm sure it's normal.

My answer for my life is to plug away and hope that my interest in veganism will spark again. I think that's how it is for most things that are important in life. Sometimes you won't want to be with your children. Sometimes you may not want to go to work. You might not be excited about much in your life. Take a deep breath, understand the cyclic nature of humans, and stick it out if it's your true belief.

Introduction and How-To

Hello! Welcome to my New Year's resolution. Just a little introduction and we'll get down to the fun stuff. I'm 25 years old and have been married to The Hubby for almost five years. We have a son, BuggaBoo, who just turned two, and Baby due mid-February sometime. BuggaBoo and I are vegan, The Hubby is 98% vegan. Our family belongs to the LDS faith. We love being thrifty and creative in finding solutions to our everyday dilemmas. The Hubby has been bugging me for a while to start a blog and keep track of what I do in hopes that it could help/inspire others, so here we go!

This morning BuggaBoo and I rolled out of bed late due to the fact that it's New Year's Day and we stayed up until 1:00am. I woke up before him and as I lay there nursing him I made plans to make some new cloth diaper covers. BuggaBoo has almost grown out of his current size and a lot of his vinyl covers have ripped. I was even thinking about how best to set it up into a tutorial to make into a blog post. However, BuggaBoo had different plans…

He decided he needed some milk. He needed milk Right Now. And I was silly and didn't make any last night. So today you're getting a how-to on making nut milk from scratch and you're just going to have to wait for the diaper cover tutorial. Sorry.

Step One: Get your toddler helper.



Step Two: Gather your supplies. What you see here, from left to right, is:

Raw sunflower seeds
Raw cashews
Calcium citrate pills
Oster 18-speed blended (specific brand not needed)
Cheesecloth
Never-been-used canning lid with ring
Coffee grinder
Large bowl
Glass quart jar
Salt
Not pictured: Pan large enough to hold one quart of water and a heat-proof, water-proof glove. I use a canning glove, but a CLEAN dishwashing glove may work.



Step Three: Fill your quart jar with water. Pour the water into a saucepan and heat to a boil. Do the following steps while you're waiting for the water to boil.



Step four: Measure your nuts. This small cup holds a half a cup. It's hard to tell but I'm using a mixture of sunflower seeds and cashews.



Step Five: Put two calcium tablets in the coffee grinder. I like to put them in first so they break up more easily.



Step six: Put the nuts in coffee grinder.



Step seven: Let the toddler helper grind the nuts. He'll find this very exciting. Grind as finely as you can without turning your nuts into nut butter.



Step eight: Put the ground nuts into the blender and add about 1 ½ c of boiling water. Starting slowly mix the ground nuts and water in the blender. Be careful! You're working with very hot water to help the calcium dissolve. If you are skipping the calcium you can use just hot water. After the ground nuts are mixed with the water stop the blender and add the rest of the water. Again, starting slowly, blend the mixture. Get your blender up to the highest speed it has. Blend for two minutes.



Step nine: While the milk is blending get your cheesecloth ready to strain the milk. Also get your glove ready.



Step ten: Pour the milk into the cheesecloth-lined bowl.



Step eleven: Strain the milk. Even with my glove on the milk is very hot. Please do not burn yourself or your toddler helper. If you don't have a heat-proof glove wait for your milk to cool before straining it. I push my milk through the cloth to speed the process but I end up with a slightly gritty product. If you want silky smooth milk let it drip naturally or strain it twice. You can also double up your cheesecloth.



Step twelve: Pour the milk into the quart jar and add a small pinch of salt. Put the lid on tightly and shake it up. Use a lid that has never been used for canning. You can use this lid repeatedly, so don't throw it away. At this point store the milk in your fridge or…



Step thirteen: Console your toddler helper when he discovers you didn't buy bananas this week.



Step fourteen: Let him drink some milk!



I make my nut milk from a mixture of raw cashews and raw sunflower kernels. I'm slowly building up to using 100% sunflower seeds, but the taste is rather strong so we'll see how far I get. Using sunflower seed milk is just fine for cooking, it mellows the strong flavor. So far I use a 50/50 mixture for drinking. You can use any nut or seed to make milk. Lots of people love almond milk but I don't use them because A) They are more expensive than cashews and B) The Hubby's mom has an almond allergy, so we like to be careful.

I also add two calcium citrate tablets to the nuts to fortify the milk. Two tablets have 500 mg of calcium, or half of your daily allowance. That would mean a cup of my milk will have at least 125 mg of calcium, excluding any calcium I get from the nuts. A cup of non-fat cow milk has 300 mg per cup.

I buy raw cashew pieces at Winco (a local bulk grocery store) for about $2.80/lb. Raw sunflower kernels are $1.10/lb. I think the calcium citrate ran me $10.00 for 300 tablets, but I'm not sure on that one yet. I need to find the receipt. I use a half a cup of nuts for a quart of milk. If I used 100% cashews it would cost me $0.43/quart for the nuts and about $0.07 for the calcium, a grand total of $0.50/quart. If I use a 50/50 mix of nuts and seeds the price drops to $0.36/quart, including calcium. If I use 100% sunflower seeds the price is $0.22/quart, once again including calcium.

I add a little bit of salt to my nut milks. Why? Well, cow milk has 127 mg of sodium per cup, and if you don't add salt to your milk it will taste a bit "off". Is this bad? No, you can certainly get used to unsalted milk, which I plan on doing very soon. You may notice that I didn't add flavorings or sweeteners to my milk. Feel free to add any flavoring you want. Surprisingly lemon flavoring goes well with cashews. We just want BuggaBoo to appreciate the taste of natural food, so we don't flavor a lot of things.

Last quick note: This milk will separate in the fridge. Just shake before using. Also, if you use sunflower seeds the milk will take on a curdled appearance in the fridge. Once again, a good shake takes care of that problem.

So, let's see… Introduction? Check. Long rambly post? Check. Lots of pictures? Check. I think this post is done! Thanks for reading and enjoy any milk you make.