these are a few of my favorite links

Being the giving person that I am, I thought I'd take a moment to share a few of my favorite links with you.

Many of the beloved recipes I've found online can be found on the right border of my blog. You'll just need to scroll down until you see "Recipes." A few are mine, a few are ones I've posted about, but most are those which I have tried, and of which I heartily approve! It's handy for me to have links for them readily available, and I hope you enjoy yourselves if you venture to try any.


~~CHILDBIRTH & BABIES~~

Waterbirth International
This site is dedicated to educating readers about waterbirth, by one of the pioneers in the field: Barbara Harper. At this site you'll find FAQs, resources, birth stories, and more.

Birth Pool in a Box
The best birthing tub EVER. I can tell you this from personal experience.

Spinning Babies
This website addresses ways to encourage your baby to settle into the optimal position for giving birth. Thankfully I haven't had any lasting problems with fetal positioning, but I've been mindful of these techniques during my last few pregnancies, and try to recline as little as possible.

Babyworks
This is a great company, located here in Portland. They have a wonderful selection of cloth diapers and other natural baby (and mama) items, and they have excellent customer service. I've been nothing short of tickled pink every time I've dealt with this company.


~~ESSENTIAL RECIPES~~

Ice Cream (Vanilla or Chocolate) from Kelly the Kitchen Kop
After receiving the longed-for Cuisinart 1 1/2-Quart Automatic Ice Cream Maker for my birthday last month (thanks, Honey!), the search for the perfect recipe began. I resisted this particular recipe because I found the ingredients a bit costly for such a small amount of ice cream. But I am now a believer! Using real maple syrup instead of sugar, this creamy concoction delighted our entire family. I've also tried adding mix-ins, which has worked out well so far. But the vanilla recipe itself is simply scrumptious!

Soaked Whole-Wheat Tortillas from GNOWFGLINS
After discovering that you can soak tortilla dough to make delicious, healthy tortillas at home, I doubt I'll ever buy the store-bought variety again. These are soft, delicious, and nourishing. A big hit around here.

Delicious, Sugar-free Lemonade from The Nourishing Gourmet
It's not exactly "lemonade weather" right now, but I thoroughly enjoyed this recipe during the warmer months. I'm well aware that the lemons I bought were not local, yet I could hardly resist when it was so hot. This recipe is sweetened with stevia (beware: you'll only need a little) and is utterly refreshing when you really want something other than water to sip. And, you guessed it: our entire family loved it.

Braised Cabbage from The Nourishing Gourmet
As a lifelong cabbage-avoider, no one was more surprised than I to discover this delicious recipe. The best thing about it is that it's incredibly simple to make...it simply requires a little planning. My husband and I adore this recipe, and I think the boys are getting there. They do eat the deliciously tender, sweet carrots which are sprinkled atop the cabbage.


~~KITCHEN SUPPLIES~~

To Your Health Sprouted Flour Co.
I was so pleased with this company. My order also came with a dozen or so recipes...all friendly to the Nourishing Traditions (Weston A. Price Foundation) style of eating! Talk about hitting the jackpot.

New England Cheesemaking Supply Co.
I desperately want to learn to make cheese! I am definitely putting a few of these kits on my Christmas list.



~~NOURISHING BLOGS~~

Cheeseslave : no-nonsense blogger AnnMarie offers a mouthwatering array of recipes, along with thoughts on striving for health in today's culture.

Food Renegade : tackling society's perceptions, Kristen is a voice advocating Real Food.

GNOWFGLINS : with a positive, honest voice, blogger Wardeh embraces "God's Natural, Organic, Whole Foods, Grown Locally, In Season." She offers tutorials, videos, recipes, resources, and more.

Kelly the Kitchen Kop : Kelly shares candidly about her various endeavors in the kitchen. She also offers food-related news and pertinent links and tidbits.

Passionate Homemaking : This wonderful blog is a delightful mix of recipes, tips for responsible and green living, and Biblical womanhood. Lindsay is a refreshing, challenging writer, and I am blessed each time I visit her blog.

The Nourishing Gourmet : One of the reasons I enjoy Kimi's blog so much is that she offers so many delicious, healthy desserts and treats. Yet there's so much more to her website - information, tips, ideas on being frugal in the kitchen, and lessons on how we can learn from history. This is one blog I return to again and again and again.



Well, I hope something I've shared here has been helpful. These links have proven so usef
ul for me, and I'm very grateful to the website owners and authors for all their hard work. We can definitely learn from one another's experiences, and my journey is richer thanks to these.

a few of my favorite things

In honor of the New Year, I thought I'd make a list of some of my new favorite things. This idea is a combination of something Paige did on her blog, and...well, Oprah. But hey, in turning over a new leaf, I've acquired some new favorites in regard to health and nutrition. And I can't just keep them to myself!


1) Oyin Handmade Funk Butter. It's a deodorant cream that dries fast. And I mean fast! I went looking for an aluminum-free alternative to regular commercial deodorants. I came across some that I utterly despised, but someone clued me in to Oyin Handmade, and I was very impressed. I also have started experimenting with their hair products, and I really like what I've tried so far!

2) "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon is my absolute fave as far as cookbooks go. It's traditional (including recipes for ketchup, mayonnise, and sauerkraut) but wonderfully tuned in to modern tastes (enchiladas, fudge). It is dense with information on the history of food, but also detailed in cooking instructions.

3) I am loving Burt's Bees Lip Balms. My current darlings are pomegrante and honey. (I do want to try Oyin Handmade's lip balms soon, though! I have a a good feeling about those, too.) For this former Carmex queen, experiementation is everything.

4) The Nourishing Gourmet is my new absolute favorite website. It's actually a blog, the keeper of which has been greatly influenced by Sally Fallon (the cookbook author on #2). The recipes are easy to follow and fairly simple to execute. (Remember, I don't consider myself a gourmet by any means.) I also love that she includes slow food philosophy here and there, as well as discussing the pros and cons of various ingredients. I can't get enough of this website!

5) This one is a "nourishing practice." It's soaking my grains. For an explanation of why and how, you can click here. In a nutshell, it makes the grains so much more digestible, and the minerals and nutritients within much more accessible. And also, in my opinion, it makes goods made with whole grain flours taste SO much better!

6) In a similar vein, another of my new favorite practices is soaking nuts and then slow-drying them. You can read more about that here, if you like. Again, it's for digestion and health...but I think it makes them so delicious. We call these "Crispy Pecans, "Crispy Almonds," etc. because they've got an extra, salty crunch to them. The house smell so good when they're drying!

7) Speaking of nuts, my new favorite snack is trail mix. I use: a handful each of crispy pecans, cashews, raisins, and chocolate (or carob) chips. So yummy! I've been munching on a small dish of this in place of dessert for weeks...I don't want anything else. I can't get enough trail mix, although Jeff tells me that there it is possible to have too much of a good thing.

8) Raw honey. Good stuff!

9) Another blog that I'm really excited about is My Year Without, where a gal from Battle Ground, Washington chronicles her year-long quest to be sugar-free. What an encouragement!

10) Fresh berries. Sweet, succulent, abounding in varieties, colors, and uses. I can hardly wait for berry season to come to Oregon again! I have so many plans: preserves, syrups, muffins, desserts. I want to start mixing crushed berries into plain yogurt for my boys. They adore yogurt but alas, it's packed with sugar. I'm so glad God is so wonderfully creative in the foods he gave us, and how they can offer our bodies real nourishment.