Links I Loved in October

The picture above is of pecans Frank and I went and gleaned today from a tree I found a block from our house. We got about 800 (12 lbs) in one hour!

October has been a busy month. Frank is going to school full time taking organic chemistry and biology classes, along with labs. When he’s not in school, he’s working. To his credit though, he’s doing really well in school and making good grades. After Christmas, he’ll have one more semester before he can start chiropractic school, and then we’ll begin a new chapter in a different state.

At the beginning of this month, we learned to can tomatoes and apples. Frank remembers helping his mother can when he was little, but I’ve never been around it or seen it before; it was a great learning experience for the both of us, and we had a lot of fun just spending time together.

Every Saturday, we go shopping at our local farmer’s market, which we are lucky enough to live only a mile away from. Our Saturday routine begins with waking up and eating a nice breakfast, going to the chiropractor to get adjusted, and then walking around the farmer’s market, talking to our farmer friends and planning our food for the week.

We’ve started buying 100% grass fed beef from a local farmer, and this month we tried oxtail for the first time. We made an oxtail stew that sent us straight to heaven and back. We loved it so much, we made it twice and bought a couple more for our freezer.

On October 17, we hit the one-month mark of feeding our cat, Sophie, exclusively raw meat. We started her on raw beef heart scraps and have also fed her raw chicken and raw pork liver. The raw pork liver is her favorite; she literally goes nuts for it. Since switching her to raw food she has been much better tempered. From Oct. 25-27, we ran out of meat scraps, so we fed her dry cat food for three days, and she became more lethargic and less friendly. As soon as we got more pork liver on the 27th, she became a happy cat again! When she’s eating raw, she is super snuggly, more friendly and more alert.

With the onset of colder weather this month, Frank and I have been trying various remedies for the common cold and taking preventative measures by eating lots of garlic and ginger. We’ve been making lots of stews and bone broths, including this recipe for chicken stew with 40 cloves of garlic from Nourishing Joy.

This month, we also upped our raw milk consumption from 1 gallon a week to 2 gallons a week. Within 3 days of drinking more raw milk, I lost ANOTHER pound! (I lost 4 lbs already when we started drinking raw milk back in June.) This was really exciting for me, as I can now fit back into the jeans I wore my sophomore year of high school, which is like having a new pair of jeans this fall…but without…you know…buying them! If you want to know the truth about raw milk, it’s that it’s WAY better for you than pasteurized milk and actually protects against and can cure tooth decay. I find truth in the fact that God described a prosperous land as “flowing with milk and honey.” You can be sure He was talking about raw milk!

Speaking of honey, I bookmarked a tasty looking recipe for healthy fruit snacks from Thank Your Body to make later. I bought the grass fed gelatin off of Amazon, but the package was damaged during shipping, so I need to reorder it before I can make this.

Have you ever thought about eating clay? I did this month, after reading these three articles about using it to detox the body. I’m thinking some Redmond Clay will be on my next Amazon order, as well.

• 5 Ways To Detox the Body Safely and Gently
• The Perfect Trifecta For Intestinal Health
• I like to eat dirt. Is that weird?

I also learned that inflammation really is my worst enemy, after I ate a few spoonfuls of legit-conventional-flour-gluten-tastic cookie dough this week and promptly came down with screaming pains in my gut and a low, persistent fever. Dear family that thinks I’m lyin’ when I say I can’t eat cake: I CAN’T EAT CAKE. This is what happens. Well, technically, I CAN eat cake, but I pay for it later, and the body-hurt lasts way longer than the temporary pleasure of eating sugared-bread. Ugh. For the record, the wheat we eat today is different than the wheat of yesteryear and packs more gluten and has been hybridized for the commercial industry. I don’t think that the record number of people with gluten-intolerance is a coincidence. Do you? It bears more looking into, for sure. Maybe the glyphosate?

With the travel-season quickly approaching, I am thankful for these real food on the road tips from Homemade Mommy. The idea of traveling with cured, dried meats (i.e. jerky) prompted Frank to start hunting for a food dehydrator, much to my surprise, as it was an item which I had dismissed to my 5-year wish list.

(Other links I shared)

Food

Crispy Homemade Hashbrowns from Our Nourishing Roots
Sweet Potato Skins and Homemade Aioli from Ditch the Wheat
My Lazy Method For Making Beef Stock from Too Many Jars in My Kitchen
Invisible Genetically Modified Ingredients from NonGMOShoppingGuide.com
Cultured Vanilla Ice-Cream from The Coconut Mama
Ultimate Tomato Basil Soup from Our Nourishing Roots
Spicy Mustard Green Pesto from Nourished Kitchen
What You Need to Culture Fruits and Vegetables at Home from Oh Lardy!
How to Use Coconut Oil from Whole Natural Life
Creamy Mexican Cheese Dip — Without Velveeta! from Food Renegade
25 Different Kinds of Sugar from Small Footprint Family
Raw Milk Eggnog from Unmistakably Food
Pumpkin 7 Layer Bars from Our Nourishing Roots

News

I Will Not Be Pinkwashed by Butter Believer
Gummy Worms Replace Costly Corn for Cows from Weather.com
BPA linked to thyroid hormone changes in pregnant women, newborns from Science Daily
Gardasil Destroys Girl’s Ovaries: Research on Ovaries Never Considered from Gaia Health
Ex-Vaccine Developer Reveals Lies the Vaccine Industry is Built Upon from Health Impact News
The Hidden Formaldehyde In Everyday Products from Natural Health & Organic Living Blog

Birth & Babies

Bacteria and Birth: Why it’s a GOOD Thing!!! from The Mommypotamus
How to Have a Boy or Girl from Mama Natural
Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions? from The Mommypotamus
Magic Umbilical Cords from Nurturing Hearts Birth Services
Hello Stranger On the Street, Could You Please Tell Me How to Take Care of My Baby? from Mcsweeneys.net
The Odd Mom Out from Mama and Baby Love
Yes, No, Maybe?? Thoughts on Vegetarianism and Pregnancy from The Mommypotamus

Practical Information

The Monsanto Machine from Our Nourishing Roots
10 Items You Shouldn’t Buy At the Store from Modern Alternative Mama
Tips for Cooking with Cast Iron from DIY Natural
Preventative food packing for our journey from The Elliott Homestead
Real Food on the Road from Nourished Kitchen
What Really Causes Crooked Teeth? from The Healthy Home Economist
Sea Salt is Better Than Table Salt from Small Footprint Family
Why I Am Not Dreading The Winter Cold Season from Homemade Mommy
TEDx – Austin Robyn O’Brien 2011
Introducing The Gut Balance Project from THE GUT BALANCE PROJECT
Cholesterol – The Unsung Antioxidant from Dimes2Vines
I think I want a tiny cow from Butter Believer
Coconut Oil Stops Strep Bacteria from Damaging Tooth Enamel from The Healthy Home Economist
War On Cancer? Nope. It’s A War On Cancer PATIENTS from The Mommypotamus
How To Legally Say ‘NO’ To All Vaccines from The Refusers
Why We Don’t Get the Flu Shot from Real Food Eater
Sometimes it feels impossible to keep it REAL in a FAKE food world from Homemade Mommy
Making the Grade: Why the Cheapest Maple Syrup Tastes Best from The Atlantic

Do It Yourself

Homemade mascara: All natural and eye friendly from Thank Your Body
Color Your Hair with Black Walnut Powder from Health Extremist
How To Make Non-Toxic Hand Sanitizer from The Mommypotamus
Natural Wrinkle Releaser [Vinegar Spray] from DIY Natural
Cleaning Your Toilet Naturally from DIY Natural

AND

THIS PICTURE of a funny chicken