Matthew 6:33-34

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

How about homemade bread?  It has taken me a while to find a good recipe, but we finally have a winner!  This recipe is found on food.com, and here is the link: http://www.food.com/recipe/gluten-free-french-bread-180306.  I do a few substitutions: 3 whole eggs instead of egg substitute, honey instead of sugar, olive oil instead of butter, and I use raw apple cider vinegar.  I put it all in one bread pan and bake it, and here is how it looks (drum roll…)

It sure does fluff up nicely, and it is oh, so soft. 

In other news, I have had a hard time lately coming up with a big enough (hearty enough) breakfast for Daniel; I think he is finally having a growth spurt AND his tummy isn’t hurting first thing in the morning.  He is really picky about eggs- he used to love scrambled eggs with bacon but won’t eat them now- so I have been trying different options.  Since we don’t eat cereal, and he can’t have oatmeal, I have been pretty frustrated.  The only consistent thing has been bacon!  My dad calls him “the BACONATOR“!   As you probably know, bacon isn’t cheap, so I have had to find ways to use it more as a flavoring.  Last week I came up with a wonderful creation…  a breakfast sandwich.  In order to get him to eat the fried egg I decided to fry it in bacon grease to give it some bacon flavor.  Then I break up one piece of bacon (I keep it frozen after I cook it), add the egg, and serve it on “buttered bread”- Earth Balance (soy free).  Here it is:

Of course this picture shows it on an English muffin, but it wasn’t big enough, so I changed it to bread the next day. 

HE LIKES IT!!!!!!!!!!   -For now, anyway. 

First and foremost it must be built by God to have meaning.  Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain.”  We also learn in Matthew 7:24-27  that unless we build our homes on God as our foundation (house on the rock), they will not stand (house on sand).  The only way a house can be built this way is for all the decisions and actions to be “filtered through the grid of God’s Word” -as Pastor Bruce Ewing used to say.   If this is our blueprint for the house, then it only follows that Deuteronomy 6:6-9 will be true: “ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”  Our houses become a place of family Bible study and instruction- a place where the father teaches his children the ways of God (Proverbs 4:3-5).  What a beautiful dwelling this is!  It is no wonder, then, that the Bible says that the Lord blesses the home of the righteous (Proverbs 3:33).

As I looked up the verses, I was expecting to find more verses using the word “home” rather than “house” because it seems like a much more personal word to me.  It was completely the opposite, though.  Home was used more in phrases like: “at home”, “to go home”.  House was used more to specify a place.   The verb I seemed to see a lot with home/house was “build”, so I looked it up on dictionary.com, and here are a few of the definitions that I liked:

1.  To construct (especially something COMPLEX) by assembling and joining parts or materials.

2.  To establish, increase or strengthen (often followed by “up”).

3.  To mold, form or create (…to build boys into men).

4.  To base, found:  a relationship built on trust. 

Knowing all of this, it seems clear that a home that honors the Lord is one that is INTENTIONALLY built up by the people who live in it.  It is something that we need to work at constantly because it deserves our best effort.  We dare not be complacent and think that just because we are Christians our house will be a place that glorifies Him.  Daily I need to evaluate all that is part of my home- my actions, relationships, clothes, decorations, food, entertainment- to see if they are pleasing to Him.  Ouch!  This is a painful and life-long process, but one that is supremely important.

Food stamps are great because they give you such freedom!  We got a debit-type card that you swipe like any other when you check out, so it was super easy.  I don’t think that there was a store I shop at that did not accept it, so yes, I could even keep going to Whole Foods to get some of the specialty stuff I need for Daniel.  Thankfully I had recently found out from a friend that some Wal-Mart Markets had started carrying gluten and casein free foods, so I went to check it out.  I was able to get the Tinkyada brown rice noodles/spaghetti that we love there for about $1 less that WF, as well as better prices on Muir Glen organic tomatoes and some Bob’s Red Mill grains like brown rice flour.  I mainly used the food stamp money to stock up on basic ingredients such as these and fruits, veggies, etc.  Oh, another thing I used them on was honey.  Normally I like to order raw honey from the food coop, but I couldn’t justify that, so I found the next best thing at Reasor’s- Cheatwood’s honey.  Quite a few stores in Tulsa sell it, but Reasor’s has the best price AND they put it on sale sometimes.  It seemed like the Lord really made that money s-t-r-e-t-c-h farther than I expected!  -I was often reminded of the story of the loaves and the fishes in the Bible or the widow’s oil and flour. 

What about WIC?  Like most things, there are pros and cons.  The good thing about WIC is that the government is trying to help people make “healthier” food choices by specifying the foods on which you can spend your coupons, i.e. whole grains, cheeses, peanut butter, beans, milk, eggs, fruits and veggies.  However, I don’t agree with everything the government considers healthy- i.e. CEREAL* and JUICE.  Many of the coupons were on these items, but I would have preferred being able to get bags of oats or grains and fresh or frozen fruits!  Of course, I am not in the majority, so I am probably one of the few who dislikes this aspect.  Beggars can’t be choosers, right?  Well, here is how I made the most of my coupons:

My favorite store overall to use the WIC coupons was Target.  After hours (literally) of walking down aisles and reading ingredients/comparing sizes, I found some nice options.  Things I liked to get at Target: milk & cheese (the Archer Farms brand actually does not use rBGH! wow!),  whole wheat tortillas (no high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils), organic fruits.  Reasor’s was good because they were the only store with the right size cannister of whole oats (WIC requires a specific size)- these were the only whole, unprocessed grains I could get.  They also had the better wild, Alaskan canned salmon (Pillar Rock, I think).  The salmon was a blessing; I got it because I am a nursing mom… you could choose any canned fish. 

Okay, this is getting long.  I had more thoughts on eating well on less money, but I will have to write another post.  I would love to hear if anyone reading this has any great ideas or experiences like this to share! 

* Here is a good blog post that summarizes my thoughts on cereal, in case you are curious: http://www.naturallyknockedup.com/what-is-cereal-good-for/

In the fall we took a break from the chelator we use (Waiora Natural Cellular Defense Zeolites), and began to focus on the systemic yeast in his body.  The past 2 months have been very difficult because the energetic, happy Daniel we know & love seemed to be disappearing before our eyes.  He became more lethargic and sad, and his speech got quite a bit worse.  Just a few weeks ago we consulted with Dr. Prociuk again and learned that the “die-off” of the yeast in his gut was having a drug-like effect on him.  In addition to restricting gluten and casein free foods, we had to cut out sugar/desserts.  We also gave him activated charcoal twice a day for 5 days.  Fortunately, this has seemed to help some.  We still have to keep him off sugar for a couple more months since it feeds the yeast.   Daniel has been a trooper about all of this, though.  He really has not whined or complained about no dessert (which was really the main time of the day that he had “sugar”- even though that was really in the form of honey or sucanat in things like peanut butter fudge). 

I am the one who has had a hard time with all of this.  Honestly, I am worn out and tired of having to think about food all the time.  I wish I could just give him anything that he wants to eat!   I think I had just hit a wall lately because I feel like there are so few things that I can give him… it just makes me want to throw my hands up in the air!!!!  However, I keep reminding myself that the Lord will give me  wisdom, strength and creativity when I ask Him instead of walking around whining about it.  Here are a few of the new things I have done that he likes lately:

Chebe mixes are AWESOME!  They are made out of manioc root and are really yummy plus they are versatile!  Daniel had been wanting a hotdog in a BUN, but I hadn’t seen any GF buns (besides the fact that many GF items are expensive).  These mixes are about $2.99, and you can do all kinds of things with them.  I decided to give buns a try with it, and they came out great! 

I have been dabbling with gluten-free sourdough lately, so I decided to make some Italian herb foccacia bread using a pizza crust recipe.  Daniel really likes this (esp.  dipping it in olive oil and balsalmic vinagar).

I have been trying to come up with something other than crackers and fruit to give Daniel at meals, and then I remembered a phone consult I won on a blog with Chef Rachel (she wrote a cookbook called “The Garden of Eating”).  She suggested trying a crudite platter with various dips, and he actually likes it (it’s not his favorite, but he will eat it.  Kate really likes grabbing these veggies).  I like to serve them with homemade sundried tomato balsalmic vinaigrette- it is soooooo yummy.  Here is a link to the recipe: http://www.thegardenofeatingdiet.com/pdfs/335CruditePlatter.pdf  I did the broccoli for about 3 minutes, and it comes out beautifully… no bitterness!  Give it a try.

Lastly, we made some GF/CF gingerbread cookies at Christmas time (I used a combo of brown rice, arrowroot and garbanzo/fava flour), and they were really good.  Mike and I actually liked them!  We topped them with some candy and sprinkles that do not have any artificial colors- they were a hit.

 Cloth diapers… I love them (most of the time). 

We went to Lake Tenkiller a few times to swim and play.

I STARTED a garden but didn’t finish well.  What was I thinking?

We had fun with our dear friends, the Mings, but then had to say goodbye when they moved to Texas.  We are oh so sad!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Daniel still spends lots of time with our great neighbors across the street.  He and Camille (AKA Alexa, Tinkerbell, Sugar Plum, or Toothless) play as often as they can outside. 

First day of kindergarten at home!  I can’t believe it!

Fossil hunting with dad at Roger’s house.

Lots of nature walks and nature study.

Awesome field trips with our homeschool group.

Great brother-sister times!!!!!

Dad and Glendamom came to Tulsa TWO times in 2010!   We all put our money together to get Daniel a bigger bike for his 5th birthday in October.  Then dad and I took him out and taught him to ride without training wheels.

Daniel is in the Tulsa Homeschool Choir with his friend, Grant. 

Well, that is all for now.  There are about a million more pictures that I would love to add, but I will do them in another post.  It’s good to be back!

In the hospital.

At the Jenks Herb Festival (hey, did I actually make it in a picture???)

Last, but not least… a concert for Kate this morning (Daniel is starting to figure out he has a “captive audience”; he wanted me to leave Kate there this morning so that she could listen to him play).

I recently was blessed to be able to start ordering food from a coop out of Oregon called Azure Standard.  I had heard about it for a couple of years; it is highly regarded and used by the healthy blogs that I frequent.  This past month I got a catalog with my order, and I found this recipe which excited me.  Mike LOVES no bake cookies, but I have never made them.  I decided to take a chance and try these out, and he gobbled them down.  If you are looking for a new dessert recipe that is “healthier”, you might want to try this one (in the future I might try to use soaked/dehydrated oats in them to remove the phytates and make them even healthier). 

No Bake Cookies

1.5 cups sucanat or rapadura

1/4 cup carob powder (I used half raw carob and half Dagoba cocoa)

1/2 cup milk (preferable whole, raw milk)

1/2 cup butter

3 cups quick cooking oats (I used regular rolled oats, and they were fine)

1/4 cup peanut butter

Boil sugar, carob, milk and butter in a large pan for one minute.  Mix in oats and PB.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed or parchment paper.  Refrigerate until set.  Store in fridge or freezer.

The events leading up to Kate’s BIRTHday are interesting… it is always neat to see how God works everything out in His way and time.  My parents came in from Atlanta on Thursday, February 18th.  They had tried to change their tickets, but they were not able to change the arrival date- only the departure date.   My dad had just retired the week before, but he and Glendamom had been busy the entire time without a chance to relax.  Coming to Tulsa early gave them an opportunity to stay in a hotel for a few days and rest before taking care of the Shaver clan.  They came to our house on Sunday, and we all began the waiting game. 

Actually, we didn’t have to wait too long because my contractions began on Monday afternoon, February 22, at 2:00.  The contractions were not very strong, though, and when our doula, Dana, came to check me at 9:00 that night, I was only dilated to a two and Kate was still high up.  I slept really well that night, and the contractions seemed to subside until the next morning.  My dad took Daniel to his swimming lessons and speech lessons that day while Mike, Glenda and I went to Lowe’s to walk (it was in the 30s that morning, so I didn’t want to walk outside).  Walking immediately made the contractions come on stronger… so we went back home and I walked on and off that afternoon since the temperature was in the 40′s.   At 5:30 Dana came by and checked me again, but despite the contractions, NO PROGRESS had been made in Kate’s position.  Ruth and Dana told me that I needed to start SQUATTING as much as possible to try to bring her down.  If things didn’t progress more by bedtime, they told me to take a tylenol PM and try to sleep and let the contractions stop again.  Well, this approach worked, and the contractions completely stopped by Wednesday morning.

This is everyone WAITING on Kate to make her way into the world.

On Wednesday I sent Mike to work and my dad and Glenda to enjoy the day doing whatever they wanted.  Daniel and I stayed home and pretended that everything was normal.   It was nice to spend quality time with him before Kate came along.  We had fun making 3 loaves of honey wheat bread with flax, foccacia bread and whole wheat cinnamon rolls.  After that we made some Irish stew for dinner.  Phew.  I didn’t get to sit down until after putting Daniel down for a very late nap, but when I did get to the chair, the contractions started again stronger than ever.   I didn’t want to get my hopes up again, so I tried to ignore them wondering if they would go away again when I went to bed.  They did calm down when I first went to sleep, but I woke up about 2:45 with the hardest ones yet.  I timed them and finally woke Mike up since they were just 4-5 minutes apart.  Mike called our midwife, Ruth, at 3:30, and she was at our house before 4:00.   When she checked me I was dilated at a 5, but Kate was still high.  We came out to the living room and proceeded to watch “Anne of Green Gables” for a couple of hours.  Dana joined us around 6:00 and I got to hop in the birthing pool to relax more.  Unfortunately there was some meconium that came out, so I was only allowed to labor in the pool, but I had to get out to push.  We woke my parents up about 7:00 when labor was speeding up and pushing was on the horizon.  They got ready quick and then got Daniel up.  It was nice to give Daniel a hug and kiss before they whisked him off to breakfast and a day at the Aquarium.

Hmmm… the hard work had begun, and I ended up trying to push Kate out for about 3 hours.  She was stuck near my pelvic bone, and even with Ruth trying to push it out of the way while I was pushing (not comfortable), we could not get her out.  Thankfully Kate and I were doing okay this whole time (ie stable blood pressure and breathing)- so other than not being able to get her out, things went well.   Finally Ruth told me that we needed to decide if we wanted to go to the hospital for a c-section since I was completely exhausted and the pain was getting more intense.  I let Mike make the decision, and he definitely said to get me to the hospital.  At that point I was ready to go, so I was thankful.  I will have to say that the ride in the car to St. John’s Hospital (Ruth drove so I could lean on Mike) and time until I got the spinal block  was the worst part of the whole birthing experience!  The combination of the excrutiating pain- contractions right on top of each other- and the sadness at having to get another c-section made everything seem like a nightmare.   We were blessed on admission to have a great orderly who grabbed my wheelchair and literally sprinted with me to the labor and delivery area… I really thought we were going to run someone over in the process.   Mike got up there as quick as he could after doing all the paperwork, and at last I was put in the operating room when I was at the point of yelling at them to “give me drugs” (never thought I would do that!!!).   I was so happy that the spinal block worked IMMEDIATELY, and I was able to relax at last.  God is so good; He gave me an awesome anesthesiologist, doctor and nurses.   In fact, my entire stay at St. John’s was completly different than the one at Hillcrest; it was way better!  Praise the Lord that there were so many people praying for us (we kept everyone updated on Facebook so that they could pray specifically).  I keep telling people that I truly got the best of both worlds… I got to have an awesome team at home helping me attempt to have Kate there (plus the opportunity to use the birthing pool) AND I got the best hospital experience that I think I could have had.  The best news, of course, is that we have a wonderfully healthy, beautiful baby girl. 

Catherine Joy Shaver was born on February 25, 2010 at 1:27 PM.  She was 8 pounds 5 ounces, and was 19 inches long.   What JOY she has brought to our family already.  Thank you, Jesus, for this blessing!