Weekly Giveaway – Sooo….NY and Sooo….LA
By mom4life | Category: 4 Free Friday Giveaway | Posted Friday, January 28, 2011
to Keep Independent Kids Close
Retail Value: $10.99
Congratulations to Kristina, Vicci, and Lona, who all won The Tag*a*Long Handle in the color of their choice! The Tag*a*Long Handle to Keep Independent Kids Close will be 10% off this week (until Thursday night)!
Dose Keeper - $4.65
Keep track of when you gave the last dose!
Rileyroos Tweed Mary Janes, size 12-18 months, marked down to $28.75
Bella Band Lace in Chocolate – marked down from $30.00 to $18.40
Sooo….NY and Sooo…..LA Apparel by Tomat
Retail Value: $26.99-$29.99 – marked down to $13.50
Two lucky winners will win a Sooo…NY or Sooo…LA clothing item in the size/style of their choice!
Tomat is a healthy blend of cool, fun, and flavor, created to satisfy parents and children hungry for something different. With a laugh, Tomat reminds us not to take life so seriously…yet Tomat cares about comfort and conscience. Made with one-hundred percent cotton, the shirts of Tomat are home-grown and sweatshop free. Tomat is pure goodness for your funky little monkey…
How do you win??
“Share your thoughts” here telling which Tomat design is your favorite and why.
You have until Tuesday evening, February 1, to enter.
Good luck!
Slow Cooker Refried Beans
By mom4life | Category: Healthy Living, Recipes & Kitchen Tips | Posted Thursday, January 27, 2011
A friend split a huge order with me for dried beans from Azure Standard last year (if you remember, eating more beans was one of my resolutions last year). One of the kind of beans we bought was pinto beans. Since I had never used pinto beans for anything before, she shared this recipe for Slow Cooker Refried Beans. It sat in my recipe book for many months. Then, when Trent took off to Mexico this month, I had Mexican food on my mind and decided to give it a try. I was thrilled by how easy it was (so typical of slow cooker recipes) and even more so when he returned home and said the end result tasted truly authentic!
6 cups of water or chicken broth (or enough liquid to cover your beans plus about 2 inches)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper (or to taste)
1/2 cup chopped onion (optional)
1-2 clove(s) of garlic (optional)
1-2 T lime juice (optional)
1 tsp chili powder (optional)
1 tsp cumin (optional)
1) Rinse your pinto beans throughly with cold water.
2) Put them in your cock pot and add your liquid (I prefer the taste of using the chicken broth personally instead of just water).
3) Mix in your salt, pepper, onions, garlic and any other “optional” ingredients that you choose (the ones I use are listed above, there are others listed below that I have not yet tried). Don’t worry about adding the salt at this stage. I have been told that beans stop getting soft after you add salt but I have made this recipe two times now and both times they softened up just fine.
4) Cook on high for 6-8 hours or until the beans are soft and most of the liquid has been soaked up.
5) Use a masher to mash the beans to a refined consistancy.
6) Serve warm (I like to add sour cream).
Servings: 8
Additional optional ad-ins:
-red pepper flakes
-additional garlic
-cilantro
We choose to eat ours on our tortillas but they are also great as a side or served with rice.
Now if you have any other great recipes for pinto beans, will you please share them with me? I am afraid my bulk bag of pinto beans is going to last a LONG time if I only use them to make refried beans 
!
Top 5 Questions Received at C-Panty
By catherinebrooks | Category: From the Experts, Meet the mom inventor | Posted Wednesday, January 26, 2011
We hope you have enjoyed the 5 part series on the topic of cesarian deliveries. If you missed out on the last one called “Ok C-Section moms, what’s the big deal?” you should definitely catch up, it is worth the read:)! Below is the final post in our 5 part series, thank you so much Catherine for writing for us, we have learned a lot!
Being pregnant and delivering a baby comes with a lot of questions and new experiences. Some are tales some are true. Here are the top questions we get at www.cpanty.com. Most are c-section related but not all!
During a c-section to they really take my uterus out?!
Ouch that almost sounds worse than it is…and it’s bad enough! First “taking the uterus out” does not mean removing the uterus and not putting it back. But yes, the uterus is what is commonly called exteriorized or brought outside the body. “What?!”, you say, “take the whole thing out?” Yup, the whole thing and the fallopian tubes as well since they are attached.
There are two good reasons for having the uterus outside the body. The amazing uterus is contracting whether the delivery is by cesarean or not. You can imagine trying to sew a moving object in a paper bag without seeing it would be a challenge. The same is true for a contracting and shrinking uterus inside the abdominal cavity. Being able to see the incision in the uterus and sew it closed while seeing it is preferred by many surgeons. One other good reason is to examine the uterus and fallopian tubes. The physician can do a visual inspection of the uterus to make sure the surgical technique was perfect as well as to do a quick visual exam of any other problems. Call it the most thorough Ob/Gyn exam you’ll ever get!
So, that sore tummy after your c-section? Not so much from pushing if you pushed before delivery or from weak abdominals. It is largely from the disruption, aka separation, movement and handling of the tissues between the uterus and abdomen during surgery. The soreness and recovery curve in the area can last a bit, getting better daily but still recovering for up to 3 months. So, speaking of tissue disruption, on to question #2.
Do they really go through 7 tissue layers during a c-section?
Yes, they do…depending on how you count! The seven “layers” are the skin, fat (don’t remind me!), rectus sheath (fancy word for the coating over the abs), the rectus (abs, which are split along the grain so somewhat more separated than cut apart), the parietal peritoneum (first layer surrounding the organs), the loose peritoneum and then the uterus, which is a very thick muscular layer.
So, again, sore in the belly? Feeling bad you don’t feel back to normal in three weeks? Lots of work went on in there. Tissue healing is aggressive for three months but persists actively for 6 months and then slowly for up to a year. Rest when you need it, get permission for heavy activities and enjoy baby while giving yourself a mental break for not feeling like a million bucks everyday.
Is it true your uterus increases 500x during pregnancy?
Lets just start with the uterus expands a lot! As far as the 500%, it depends on what the 500x means. Think back to high school math with length vs area vs volume. In general, the uterus is about 6cm x 5cm x 2cm and when at full term it is 30cm x 23cm x 22cm. So for length, it increases 5x, for area, it increases about 250x (that is the L x W x H answer). For volume, however, if you consider the uterus as a sphere (4/3 pi r3 anyone?), it increases about 500x. (Brookside’s Obstetric and Newborn Care, Emedicine.com)
Another chance to forgive yourself, stretch anything 500x and think how fast it’ll go back. I cant think of anything except silly putty that would do that! No more hard knocks for less than flat abs right away!
Why do I still bleed vaginally if I had a c-section?
The uterus still has remaining vascular activity after delivery. Once the incision is closed up, the only way for remaining blood and discharge to get out is the old fashioned natural way, through the vaginal opening. Just a word of caution, bleeding may be a little inconsistent, but if it is increasing over time (whether you had vaginal or cesarean delivery), see your doctor.
At least I wont #2, right? Does everyone really poop during labor?
Ok, finally something that c-section moms get the better deal on! No pooping during delivery. (For those of you that pushed, pooped, then c’d, two jewels in your crown!) Not that it is that bad, but lets face it, most of us rather have a constitutional in private. We surveyed 5 obs/delivery nurses. Some of the answers…
“90%”, “I stopped noticing by the time I was a resident” and our favorite “They lied when they said you didn’t poop”. Bottom line, they don’t care so moms shouldn’t either!
This is the last in the installment of blogs for Mom 4 Life from C-Panty, The After Cesarean Underwear. We are proud to be part of the Mom 4 Life community and are grateful for the opportunity to spread our mission of providing great c-section and post-partum recovery products while also working to educate and empower moms. Thanks for listening in!
Warm regards, Catherine Brooks OTR, MPH
M. Meunier MD,
C-Panty CEO and Consultant: 18 years of experience in post-surgical rehabilitation in New York City and San Diego and five even more challenging and exciting years of experience as a mom of a three. (All by cesarean, of course!)
How to: make homemade yogurt
By Heather Ledeboer | Category: Healthy Living, Recipes & Kitchen Tips | Posted Monday, January 24, 2011
This week I dusted off the yogurt maker that I asked for for Christmas 2 years ago. Since we started drinking raw milk (a few months after I got my yogurt maker) I haven’t had as much “left over milk” and as such had neglected making yogurt at home. Instead I had been buying the plain yogurt from Costco. However, recently they stopped carrying that brand and I was forced to remember that I could do this myself. I had forgotten how easy it is to make. Perhaps you might be interested in the process:
I will back up to say that before I got my yogurt maker, I did a bit of research on Amazon to choose which kind of yogurt maker I wanted and decided on the yolife (model YL-210) version. There are many styles out there and you can even make yogurt without a “maker” (see the bottom of this post for alternative methods) but I have been pleased with this model. One of the things I liked about this particular brand was that the jars that are included are made of glass (instead of plastic) and that it comes with two different sized covers (so I can make larger batches in my canning jars). I like knowing exactly what is in it (I really don’t like the taste of the artificial sweeteners, nor do I like the potential side effects) and making it myself gives me the assurance of exactly what is in it and that it has a high level of healthy bacteria. Here is the process:
1. Start with 1 quart of milk (or soymilk).
2. Heat milk or on low heat while stirring. Turn off heat before milk reaches boiling point (at about 176˚F-185˚F). I use my food thermometer to help me know how hot it is. I don’t know why this heating step is important (because you let the milk cool back down as you will see in the next step) but it is. I have tried making yogurt without heating up my milk first (because it was raw and I hated to “cook” all the good stuff in my raw milk) but it didn’t set up properly so don’t skip this step.
3. Let your milk cool until it is lukewarm (about 105˚F). This time of year it is so cold outside I simply set it out on my back porch out of the dogs reach and it is cool in no time (good thing we don’t have any stray cats in the area).
4. Activate a small amount of milk by thoroughly mixing in the recommended amount of your yogurt starter (see your yogurt starter package for details) to a small amount of milk until all of the powder is evenly dissolved (I forgot to do that this once and just mixed it in with all the milk and it worked just fine)! OR an alternative to using powdered starter is to use 2T of plain yogurt purchased from the store (make sure the container says that it contains live active bacteria) or if you have made yogurt recently, use 2T from a prior batch. I have read that you can continue to reuse starter for new batches up to 5 times until you should start with fresh starter.
5. Mix in the activated milk into the rest of your milk and stir thoroughly.
6. Pour the milk mixture into individual glass jars or into a larger container (up to 80 oz). Do not put a lid on the containers.
7. Place the yogurt container(s) inside your Yolife (or other yogurt making “machine”) and cover. Plug in Yolife and set the time indicator (on the top of the lid) to the time you started making your yogurt. Don’t have a yogurt maker? See the bottom of this post for some great alternatives using just an ice chest or crock pot!
8. Your yogurt should be ready in 8-12 hours if using the small jars (as I am in the photo above), or 12-15 hours if using a larger container or jars (like my photo below). Remove when a firm curd is formed.
9. If you want to add sweetener or fruit, now is a good time to do it (or there are ways to do it before you make the yogurt, I just haven’t tried these methods yet). I have often used agave nectar (rather than honey because it mixes into cold food well) but after reading this blog post I am on the fence on how I feel about agave nectar. Fruit is another great option (often my canned peaches or a mashed up banana) as well as jam. However if I am adding my yogurt to a smoothie, I just use it plain.
Interested in learning more? This blog post is a good one that covers the process of yogurt making in more depth and shows you how to do it using a simple ice chest/picnic cooler. Want to try it with a crock pot? Check out this post! Using raw milk for your yogurt? This post might be helpful (read the whole thing as she adds info a the bottom to show different results she got over time).
Boy or Girl? Drumroll please. . .
By mom4life | Category: The Journey of Motherhood | Posted Sunday, January 23, 2011
What a weekend it was! Trent returned home from his two week short term mission trip to Mexico. It was SO GREAT to see him again. What appreciation comes from being apart. It reminded me once again how blessed I am to have him home so much and for those of you military families, wow, I am so amazed by your continual sacrifice!
Unfortunately, we had a rather long stay at the airport. The kids and I had been awaiting Trent’s call to say he was ready from the cell phone parking lot waiting area. When he called and I backed up the van, I could tell something was wrong with the car wheels. I got out and checked them and they looked fine so again, I tried to back up. Once again, they behaved unnormally and I got out and checked them. I couldn’t find anything wrong (you know, by looking and seeing that they were not flat and still attached to the car) so I got in and put it in reverse. After I had driven a few feet I had to stop. This time when I got out to check the wheels I noticed that one front tire was pointing in one direction and the other tire was pointed in the opposite direction! Now I am no expert but I was pretty certain this was a bad sign. Thankfully a shuttle van pulled to a stop next to me to see if I needed help and the driver was willing to go get Trent and bring him over to us. After some close examination (by Trent) and a call to our neighbor (who is also a mechanic) we determined that the problem was bigger than we could solve. A tow truck pulled our van home while we waited in the lobby of a hotel to be recused by a friend who drove us home. It was one of those times that it was kind of a bummer to live about 90 min from the airport. We finally arrived home at about 10:00PM with some very tired children. Needless to say, we are all very grateful that God protected us from greater harm that could have come should the car trouble have happened while we were driving!
Next up was the opening of “the envelope“! It was so late by the time we got home from the airport that the kids went right to bed. However, Trent and I could wait no longer so together we opened up the envelope and started scanning the ultrasound photo looking for the word “boy” or “girl.” It was the grown up version of the hidden pictures that used to be in my Highlights magazine as a kid–I loved those! Trent spotted it first and pointed to the clearly typed word “girl.” A GIRL! It was like a Christmas present wrapped up in four letters. Such an exciting joy to welcome a new sister for our kids into our family. In the morning when the kids came crawling into bed with us, we shared the news and they started talking to their little sister in my belly and were very excited.
I just realized three things from this photo that we just took. 1) I slouch when I stand, blah! 2) my back-side and front-side are balancing each other out for the time being, I hope my front-side wins out by the end of my pregnancy ! 3) I am not wearing my wedding ring . I was trying my hand at making some homemade tortillas for dinner tonight (you know, because I am sure my husband wants to come home from Mexico and eat more Mexican food, from his wife that has never cooked tortillas before!) and took it off while I was working with the dough. They were really easy to make but had a taste that resembled pie crust more than authentic tortillas. Do any of you have a recipe to share? I would like to try them again with a different recipe. I am pretty thrilled however to report that according to my husband, the crock-pot refried beans that I made tasted “authentic.” Does anyone want the recipe? UPDATE: the Refried Beans recipe will post on Thursday of this week!
Many of you have shared that you are praying for us and this baby. I can’t thank you enough for that. I also know that there are several of you who are also pregnant and sharing this journey along side me. I pray your pregnancy is going well too.
P.S. How are your morning routines going? I will soon be sharing some of my daytime routines .
