My Baby's Got a Secret (Part 3: Making Baby Formula)

In parts 1 & 2, I explained why (I and many others think) raw milk is healthier than regular, pasteurized milk from conventional dairy cows and why lactose intolerance doesn't have to stop people from enjoying dairy.

I'm not trying to declare a mommy war on people who use regular formula. Like I've said previously, I do use Earth's Best when traveling or when I forget to pick up more raw milk at Kimberton Whole Foods (they have pretty limited hours on weekends). It's my back-up, and anyone with mommy-brain needs a back-up! 

Do I think making fresh formula using this recipe is better? Well of course, or else I wouldn't be doing it. The ingredients, science behind them, and the fact that you know exactly how it's prepared cannot even compare to commercial baby formula.

[Fresh batch in the fridge]

I've heard plenty of people say that making baby formula is reckless. I'm sure it is if you're concocting something on your own (which I'm not). Here's the thing. I trust myself ONE MILLION percent more than I trust food manufacturers. They care about profit, not your baby's health. Similac, Enfamil, and Earth's Best have all had major recalls of their baby formula over the past few years. Melamine contamination and botulism are two of the reasons. Babies die from those things. DIE. Maybe I'm just a paranoid first-time, Mom, but that freaks me out. And frankly, I think it should freak everyone out. To paraphrase my Mom (who convinced me to make Flynn's formula), "People think if it's for sale at the grocery store, it's good for you." Nothing could be further from the truth.


Okay, enough of my ranting, let's get to the good part: Flynn's homemade baby formula!


Background
The raw milk formula recipe first appeared in the book Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats, by Sally Fallon Morell and Mary G. Enig, PhD. Morell is the President of the Weston A. Price Foundation. And Dr. Enig is kind of a big deal. She's an expert in the field of lipid biochemistry, a licensed nutritionist, a qualified expert witness, a nutrition consultant to individuals, industry and state and federal governments, a contributing editor to a number of scientific publications, the author of over 60 technical papers and presentations, as well as a popular lecturer. The best part? They are both moms who raised their children according to the nutritional principles they pioneered.

[Nutrient-dense oils & supplements]

Ingredients
- Raw Milk (whole raw milk from old-fashioned cows, certified free of disease, that feed on green pasture)
- Filtered Water
- Liquid whey (made from separated whole milk)
- Lactose
- Gelatin
- Bifidobacterium infantis (probiotic powder)
- Cream (good quality from grass-fed cows, not ultra-pasteurized)
- Cod liver oil (high-vitamin, fermented)
- Sunflower oil (expeller-expressed)
- Extra virgin olive oil (organic, unfiltered, never heated)
- Coconut oil (organic, extra-virgin)
- Nutritional yeast flakes
- Acerola powder

[Dissolving the gelatin & lactose in filtered water]

[My trusty blender]

So what do each of these ingredients do?


- Milk & water make up the base of the formula.
- Whey assists with the growth of beneficial bacteria in the G.I. tract.
- Lactose, a milk sugar derived from whey, helps make cows milk as rich as breast milk.
- Gelatin binds everything together in baby's stomach and aids with digestion.
- Bifidobacterium infantis contains the "friendly" bacteria most commonly found in infants; it promotes proper digestion and absorption and encourages the formation of antibodies against undesirable bacteria, viruses and allergens.
- Cream is an excellent source of healthy fats, which babies need to thrive.
- Cod liver oil is a rich source of vitamins A & D, as well as the essential fatty acids EPA & DHA (also called Omega 3's).
- Sunflower oil is a good source of different fatty acids.
- Extra virgin olive oil is chock full of antioxidants and healthy fats.
- Coconut oil is antimicrobial, antibacterial, antiparasitical, and antiviral. It supports good thyroid function, radiant skin and heart health. Coconut oil's medium chain fatty acids are converted by your body into quick energy and not stored as fat. Plus, I think it's naturally sweet taste makes baby's dig this formula!
- Nutritional yeast flakes are very high in B vitamins (1, 2, 6 & 12). It has a tannish color, which is why the formula isn't bright white like powdered formula.
- Acerola powder is derived from the acerola cherry, which is one of nature's highest sources of vitamin C.


The Weston A. Price Foundation has made it even easier to obtain all of these ingredients by teaming up with the Radiant Life Company, who now sells a formula "kit" on their website with every ingredient, except milk, water, whey & cream which you need to buy or make fresh. This company only recommends the highest quality products for this formula. I'm talkin' fancy-ass olive oil that you can't even get at Whole Foods. I ordered a 3-month kit since Flynn still nurses and gets at least half of his daily milk intake from me.

[Bottle & funnel from Ikea]

In addition to the ingredients above, I use the following kitchen utensils:

- Blender

- Small saucepan

- Rubber spatula or whisk

- Measuring spoons

- Liquid measuring cup

- Funnel (if your storage container has a narrow opening like mine)

I took a Sharpie & wrote the amount of each ingredient needed on the actual ingredient container itself. That way, I don't need to look at the recipe each time I make it (which is every 2-3 days). I can pull all of my ingredients out and start cookin'. I was SO nervous the first time, because obviously it's important that it be prepared correctly for Flynn's sake. My hands were actually shaking a little bit. But after a few times, it's a cinch.

I won't bore you with the directions. It's a lot of "simmer this" and "measure that" - just like every recipe. If you want to check it out, go here.

[The downside? Extra dishes!]

This homemade formula tends to be a little thick because of the coconut oil and gelatin solidifying in the fridge - totally normal. Just warm it up like you would a regular bottle and it thins out. Flynn took to it right away, and we'll most likely keep making it for him until he reaches age 1. Although I've read that you can switch to plain raw milk once your child is eating a wide variety of solids, Flynn's been taking his time in that department, so we're not in a rush to phase the formula out. We want him to have all this good stuff for as long as possible. He had a minor cold over the winter, but since then, nothing. Even our pediatrician is impressed. (But shh, he doesn't need to know why!)

Obviously, this isn't for everyone. I consider myself a "high-energy" person. I love to be busy and have a hard time sitting still. After Flynn goes to bed, I'm washing diapers, making formula, baking banana bread, cleaning, etc. 

Unless The Bachelorette is on... then, get me to the nearest TV! 

Hometown dates tonight. Team Jef!

What do you guys think of homemade formula? Am I completely nuts?
Leave your comments below :-)

My Baby's Got a Secret (Part 2: Pasteurization & Homogenization)

Tim and I are relaxing on the couch with Indy, How It's Made is on Science Channel, and Flynn's diapers are in the wash. Today was an extra stinky diaper day. Once they start solids... things get REAL. That's part of the "fun" of cloth diapers. Even though I work, I still have the pleasure of seeing everything that came out of my sweet baby boy at the end of the day. This is definitely something only a mother could love.

Flynn still poops two or three times a day. He's never constipated and never gassy. Seriously... never! I credit 3 things: half of his milk still comes from me, the probiotic powder in his formula, and the fact that he's getting natural enzymes from raw milk. A digestive trifecta.

Here are some crazy stats for you:

- 40 million Americans are lactose intolerant.

- 75% of all African-American, Jewish, Mexican-American, and Native American adults are lactose intolerant.

- 90% of Asian-Americans are lactose intolerant.

[Even Leonard Hofstadter, everyone's favorite TV nerd is lactose intolerant]

This is my crude understanding of lactose intolerance. Bear with me, I'm no scientist. Lactase is the enzyme our bodies naturally create to digest lactose. Most people worldwide experience a drop in lactase production around age 5. When our bodies don't produce enough lactase, we become lactose intolerant. 

I realized I was lactose intolerant in college. Growing up, I fought my parents about finishing my milk and ice cream always gave me a stomach ache. Duh - my body didn't know what to do with it! I've tried going dairy-free a few times, but it's so hard. Those sneaky food manufacturers use casein (a dairy protein) in practically every processed food as a binder, especially cheese. Eating too much casein has also been linked to cancer.

So why is raw better?

Milk straight from a cow contains awesome enzymes specially designed to make it easier to digest. However, these enzymes (and all the other lovely nutrients in milk) are very fragile. Once milk is heated to a certain temperature through pasteurization, these enzymes are destroyed forever. The molecules that comprise them are literally flattened and the enzymes can no longer do their thing.

Pasteurization heats milk to just below boiling temperatures, while ultra-pasteurization forces milk through pipes and steam outside of the pipes heats it for 15-20 seconds at 171 degrees, and for 1-2 seconds at up to 275 degrees. Bacteria is killed, as well as all the good enzymes.

[See this website for more details]

Pasteurization is very helpful to Big Dairy because it extends shelf life dramatically and allows them to ship their products all over the country without the risk of it going bad. Obviously when you support a local farm and buy their milk, it's a much shorter distance from cow to store. I'm sure you've taken a whiff of conventional milk that's past it's prime - gag. Do you know what spoiled raw milk smells like? Sour cream! The way it's supposed to be if you think about it.

No homo

Now let's talk about homogenization, which is the process that removes cream from milk. When I buy raw milk, the cream naturally rises to the top and I have to shake it up before I pour it. According to my Mom, who grew up drinking raw milk on a farm and is still alive to tell about it, everyone used to just skim the cream off the top themselves and use it in their coffee. Now, the dairy industry uses centrifugal cream separators to speed up the process. And then we buy our cream separately with a bunch of additives thrown in. Makes total sense.

The Weston A. Price Foundation sums up the problem with homogenization better than I can: During homogenization there is a tremendous increase in surface area on the fat globules. The original fat globule membrane is lost and a new one is formed that incorporates a much greater portion of casein and whey proteins. This may account for the increased allergenicity of modern processed milk.

[The good old days]

Enter Digestive Aids

After pasteurization became the norm, people started feeling all icky after eating dairy. Instead of wondering WHY this was happening, they turned to drugs to solve the problem. Gas-X, antacids, Pepto, Mylicon for babies. The pharmaceutical industry started reaping the benefits of pasteurization big time. People wanted to enjoy their ice cream without the unpleasantness that followed, so they popped a few pills and ate it anyway. This paved the way for "alternative" milk products like Lactaid, and even lactase drops. Ahh, problem solved. Butttt, not really.

[Silly Lactaid, conventional cows are too sick to dance]

Who wants to rely on drugs their whole life just to eat dairy? If you choose raw dairy products, you don't have to. You're giving your body everything it needs to do its job.


In Part 3, I'll give you all the details about Flynn's homemade raw milk formula. Breast milk is always best, but I'm so glad I found a healthy alternative to commercial powdered formula when I needed it.


Are you lactose intolerant? If so, how do you deal with it? Do you love Big Bang Theory as much as I do? Discuss...

40 days

Flynn is starting to show an interest in solid foods and it's the cutest thing. We have him eat with us at the kitchen table during dinner (he sits in his bumbo seat) and he thinks the sight of us chewing is hilarious. He also loves when we make silly, loud chewing noises. Just recently, we noticed him opening his mouth and leaning forward... almost as if he's trying to take a bite of our food. But as much as we can't wait for him to try solids, we are holding off until he is absolutely ready. We'd also like him to be able to sit up on his own first.

The AAP now recommends waiting to start solids until 6 months of age, and I actually agree with them on this topic. So until May 6th (or for 40 more days), he will only be getting breast milk. Then, let the games begin! I am beyond excited to give him real food. Sweet potatoes, avocado, squash, egg yolk, banana... I can't wait to see his precious little eyes light up when he discovers that there is more to this world than just Mommy's milk! Cue the Aladdin song... a whole new worrrrrrld.

We received this book at Flynn's baby shower. It looks awesome!

Of course, I can't do anything the "normal" way, can I? I am interested in baby-led weaning, but need to read more about it. We are also skipping white rice cereal and going straight to more nutritious grub, like sweet potato and avocado. I just can't get on board with the idea of feeding Flynn a simple carb as his first food. What's the point? If it's not really that great for adults, it's probably not that great for babies. I will add oats & brown rice to his diet a little later.

Then there is the whole organic issue. I've always heard of the "dirty dozen" when it comes to selecting organic v. non organic produce, but now that I'm going to introduce it to my little baby's pristine digestive system, I can't stand the thought of feeding him pesticides. This website has the whole list of best & worst produce as far as pesticide contamination is concerned. Preview: Apples = the worst; Onions = not so bad; Oranges = right in the middle.

Growing up, I was always annoyed that my Mom wouldn't buy sugary cereals, like Lucky Charms. And now just look what I'm doing! Gah. I am my mother after all. If Flynn is anything like me, he'll love sleeping over at his friend's houses and eating their cereal. And if he's anything like my husband, he'll like Kool Aid. And have a full beard at age 14.

<3 Meg

P.S. - You can read more about why we're skipping traditional rice cereal here.

Forget babies, let's talk dogs.

Bored with all the baby talk? Me, too! So I wanted to share a little about how we take care of our FIRST baby. Our labrador retriever, Indy! His name is short for Indiana Jones, but he is nothing short of adventurous. Keeps us on our toes, makes us clean the house a little more, and loves to lick our faces & feet. We adore him.

I never really gave it much thought before we got a dog, but now I'm such a believer in giving our sweet little pup the best stuff out there. My husband and I are literally seeing first hand how our dog's diet is a positive influence on his health and appearance.

We try to eat healthy. We buy processed snacks and indulge in desserts now and then, but the majority of our diet is made up of whole foods and I make homemade meals almost every night. We buy organic when we can, avoid added sugars and preservatives and also supplement with vitamins. In my mind, human or animal, any member of our family is going to be treated the same.

We got Indy from a reputable breeder when he was 8 weeks old. From the time he was eating solids, she fed him (and his brothers and sisters) Purina Puppy Chow. While researching dog breeds, my Mom sent me a few articles about typical dog food (like Purina) and what goes into it. Ugh, let's just say it was pretty disturbing.

Here are the first 5 ingredients in Purina Puppy Chow: Whole grain corn, corn gluten meal, chicken by-product meal, whole grain wheat, animal fat.

It doesn't sound terrible, until you realize that animals are like people. What happens when you load them up with processed grains (especially corn) and animal byproducts? They gain weight. They are more likely to develop diseases. They are unhealthy. They have digestive problems. The only healthy things in entire ingredient list are dried carrots and dried peas and they are pretty far down, which means there isn't much in there. Ironic that Purina's motto is "Long Live Your Dog".

So, we decided we were going to switch Indy away from Purina and try one of the newer holistic dog foods on the market. There are more and more available now, which is exciting! I had heard about Blue Buffalo brand and we decided to give it a try. After slowly weaning Indy off of Purina and onto Blue Buffalo, we still weren't impressed. The ingredients were definitely better, but his stools were unpredictable (sometimes loose, sometimes he was constipated) and often times, he didn't even finish the portion we put in his bowl. I'm not saying this dog food is bad, it just didn't agree with Indy so we were ready to try something else.

Indy loved these treats during Puppy Kindergarten & when we were housebreaking him!

Around this time, my Mom went to a local street festival and happened upon a Natural Balance pet food stand, where they loaded her up with free samples. She dropped them off at our house and we decided to see if Indy liked it, because we certainly liked what we learned about the products. (We'd never heard of it before, but once we started Puppy Kindergarten, it turned out to be the brand that the trainer recommended, so we figured it was worth a try).

Could Indy have gone any more BONKERS over this dog food? He went insane and gobbled it up so fast. We ended up giving him the rest of the dog food samples for meals & treats until they ran out, and then continued feeding him Blue Buffalo because we still had a whole bag of it left. Guess what? Once he had a taste of Natural Balance, he wanted nothing more to do with his old food. He was so over Blue Buffalo and would barely touch it. The next bag of dog food we bought was Natural Balance and now we're customers for life.

Just for a comparison... here are the first ingredients in a bag of NB: Sweet Potatoes, Venison, Potato Protein, Pea Protein, Canola Oil, Potato Fiber, Flaxseed

They also carry wet canned food & yummy "food rolls" that are GREAT for treats!

Indy's coat is sooo shiny - he almost glistens in the sun and we constantly get compliments on it. His poops are always normal, which leads to happy anal glands (graphic, but it's a part of our lives) and his stomach is rarely upset. He is also one muscular dude! 7 months old and he looks like he hits the gym twice a day. Sorry ladies, he's neutered. Playful, full of energy, social with other dogs/people/children, protective of us when strangers come to the door... just an all around happy & healthy pup!

Natural Balance is more expensive because of the high quality ingredients (like venison, sweet potatoes, brown rice & real chicken). It's about $15-20 more per bag than other non-holistic brands. But, like I said at the beginning of this post, we knew when we adopted a puppy that we were going to treat him like a member of the family and to me, giving him the best dog food we can afford is one of the ways in which we accomplish that.

Look at that face!

Disclaimer: Neither of us have any affiliation with Natural Balance, except that we feed it to our dog!

Baby Powder & Wipes (DIY style)

There is one smell I've hated for years. The smell of babies. Well, baby products to be exact. I'm sure a plain old baby smells delightful (especially if it's your own) but the smell of traditional baby powder & wipes makes me gag.

After 2 weeks or so of disposables, we're switching over to cloth diapers. I'll spare you from a long-winded rant... just know that I think they're awesome and I'm super psyched to use them! So since we're going to cloth diaper, we're also going to use cloth wipes. Everything goes into the laundry and gets re-used. It just makes sense to use both together.

Since the wipes don't come pre-moistened, I'll need a liquid solution to soak them with before cleaning baby's bum. Luckily, there's a DIY for that! (What isn't there a DIY for?)

Here is the recipe I'm going to use:

1 tablespoon almond, apricot, or other oil

1 tablespoon Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castile Soap

2 drops tea tree oil (a natural anti-bacterial)

1 drop lavender oil

1 cup water

Mix everything together and store in either a spray or squirt bottle. I like the idea of repurposing a dish detergent bottle because it's *free* and the spout on the top would be easier to use than squeezing a spray bottle trigger 20 times.

They do make cloth wipe warmers, but we're going to forego that for the sake of keeping things simple.

Another little known fact is that you can't use diaper rash ointment with cloth diapers because it interferes with the absorption. However, it's not a big deal because cloth diapered babies get less diaper rash to begin with because of the breathable, natural cloth fibers. The people at FuzziBunz recommend airing out your baby's tush for a minute or so between diaper changes and using baby powder to protect skin from moisture.

According to my Mom (the DIY queen), the best baby powder comes from the grocery store and you may have heard of it. It's called cornstarch! Yep, plain old cornstarch. I picked up a box in the baking aisle for a whopping $1.18. Johnson & Johnson try to sell their "special" cornstarch baby powder for $5. I'm not falling for it.

I bought these cute shakers from Amazon.com to store my cornstarch in (2 for $9). They're really for parmesan cheese, but I hear they dispense the perfect amount of baby powder during diaper changes. I'll be sure to label them so I don't douse my pasta with the wrong stuff.

Of course, we'll be using regular wipes & disposable diapers occasionally, during outtings and for the first few weeks when I'm not up for doing a load of laundry every day. I'm not totally hardcore... yet.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Change is good.

Which is why we've been doing it a lot recently.

We're moving to a new & bigger place.

We switched from Mac back to PC.

[New Toshiba. We likey.]

And get ready, 'cause this is a big one...

we're switching from evil & unsafe plastic containers

to easy-to-clean, safe & long-lasting glass containers!

After reading endless articles about the horrors of plastic containers leaching cancer-causing chemicals into food, we decided to make a $30 investment and ditch them.

I will miss the lightness & the doesn't-matter-if-you-drop-it-ness of plastic, but those suckers were really annoying to clean and always ended up getting stained and smelling like whatever you stored in them. (Red sauce lovers, can I get an Amen?) The dishwasher drying cycle would never dry them & I'd end up doing it by hand. I could never find the matching lid. The lids would crack, and so on.

Bye bye, you evil plastic monsters.

Hello, you shiny, glass goddesses!

If you are a leftover lovaaaa like my husband and I, you deserve a nice set of glass food containers. For your health. And your sanity. And to make the inside of your cabinets look pretty.

The end.

Tuesday Morning Gripefest

I don't want to turn this blog into a place where I complain all the time.

Sometimes, things just really annoy me and I gotta let it out.

Maybe it's the 5 inches of snow we got over night (after a 70 degree weekend).

Maybe it's the fact that I didn't eat breakfast this morning.

I promise you, this will not happen regularly.

So here we go...

Gripe #1: Your Job

People with jobs who complain about them... annoy me. I've had crappy jobs. We all have. If you honestly cannot stand your job, find a new one. Yes, they're out there. It might take you a few solid months of searching, but it's possible. You don't like what you're getting paid? Maybe you should have thought about that before you majored in art. Or philosophy. Or women's studies. Unless you're the next Picaso or Aristotle, those majors will never ever ever pay off. And just to be clear, you don't HAVE to go to a traditional 4-year college to get a good job that you enjoy. Parents who push this on their kids annoy me. My husband hated sitting in a classroom. But put some tools in his hands and let him play around under the hood of a car and he'll shine. If you want a career that you'll enjoy and that pays well, you have to be practical. I love giving people advice and organizing things. As a paralegal, that is literally what I do all day. I didn't just pick it because I thought it sounded cool, I picked it because it's an in-demand job.  During my senior year of college, I started thinking ahead and my mom even did research about what jobs would be prevalent in the future. She brought the paralegal idea up to me, I liked it, so I did what was necessary to get the job. I went into my major (communications) knowing that additional schooling after graduation could be necessary. I worked full-time at the front desk of a small law firm while going to night school for a year. It was hard, but it paid off big time. I love what I do now and also feel that I am fairly compensated for it.

Gripe #2: Your Health

People who always complain about being sick... annoy me. Achieving and maintaining good health is no longer a mystery. We've figured it out. It's all about your immune system. If you keep it strong, it will fight off bacteria & viruses for you. If you don't take care of your immune system, you will get sick often & be miserable. We even know what things strengthen our immune systems. There are countless super foods, vitamins, minerals & herbs that your immune system loves. All you have to do is read a few books and google a few articles. There are countless websites that tell you, word for word, how to prevent colds. How to limit their number, length & severity. Yet all people do all winter is complain about their 8th, 9th, 10th cold.

If you can't do a few simple things during cold & flu season, then frankly, you deserve to be sick all winter. I feel no pity for you.

Gripe #3: Your Weight

Setting aside serious medical problems or unavoidable medications that lead to weight gain, you CAN lose weight (if you want to, ahem, Donna Simpson in New Jersey). Diet & exercise. Diet & exercise. Diet & exercise. There are no ways around it. You have to eat less, eat healthy and move around. Tim and I went out for Mexican food on Saturday night and sat at a table next to a very large family. There were only 5 of them, but what was large was their individual sizes. Mom, Dad, 2 boys & a girl. The kids were larger than their parents (already) which was the really scary part. The other scary part was how much food they consumed at one sitting. The portions at this particular Mexican joint are big. Enough that Tim and I had to have half of our meals boxed and we finished them for the lunch the next day. But each person in this family housed their entire meal and multiple sodas, they each ordered & finished dessert (fried ice cream) and the kids got giant, sugary gumballs out of the gumball machine on the way out.

I almost couldn't enjoy my meal with them next to us. It was appalling. With everything we know about how to live a long, healthy life... how can you do that to yourselves and your children? They're all doomed to a life of type 2 diabetes and heart disease if they don't change their ways ASAP. It's science. 

*********

Tuesday Morning Gripefest is now over.

Ahhh, that feels so much better.

And just to prove that I'm not being a TOTAL debbie downer today,

I'll leave you with this clip from the episode of Seinfeld that was on TV last night.

Sweet Fancy Moses!