Low-tech H1N1 Tips

These aren't mine - they came across from Isabelle's school this evening, but since they were simple, low-tech and made lots of sense, I figured out I would pass along:
The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is. While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):
1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).
2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat or bathe..)
3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine or Hydrogen Peroxide if you don't trust salt). H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.
4. Similar to 3 above, clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water, or hydrogen peroxide. Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but *blowing the nose softly once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.
5. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.
6. Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.
Thank you to Mr. Delaune for passing this on to the school community (and for having the foresight to hire an additional custodian!).

Forget goblins: it's the (Nestle) candy that should really scare you

A lot of attention has been focussed on the Nestle boybott following a firestorm around a PR junket. I'll let Annie at PhD in Parenting tell the story. I've been heartened by how questions I've gotten about the boycott and reasons behind it. With Hallowe'en coming up, many households are thinking about stocking up on candy - if you're paying more attention to who makes your chocolate these days, you'll no doubt begin to realize that Nestle has much of the market concerned in the typical Hallowe'en candy area.

October 26 to November 1 has been designated Global Nestle-Free Week. Even if you don't boycott Nestle the rest of the year, consider it for just this week around Hallowe'en. Information on how to maximize the impact of your participation can be found at INFACT.

To avoid Nestlé, you need to not only avoid Nestle labelled products, but also Crunch, Cailler, Galak/Milkybar, KitKat, Quality Street, Smarties, Baci, After Eight, Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, Lion, Aero, Polo and Frutips. It's a long list and it gets confusing. Infact Canada maintains an on-going list and information on the Nestle boycott here.

After you look at that list, you might wonder whether it wouldn't be easier to just list the things that you can give out. Here are a few ideas:

- ok, so toothbrushes and apples are likely to get your house toiletpapered. You might get away with stickers or colourful erasers. How about play dough? The big Play-Doh manufacturer makes tiny containers or you can get in touch with the nice folks over at Dirty Dough for a natural product. For something truly local, try making your own with the kids.

- check out local chocolate makers who make high quality yummies right in your community. My favourite in our neck of the woods is Sitting Around Eating Bonbons . She makes delicious, special chocolates in her tiny little shop - and the only guilt is about my diet with the organic, free trade yumminess.

- if you just need something you can pick up at the grocery store, try Mars products (which include M&Ms as well Mars, Twix and others). Jelly Belly beans are also a long-time favourite here. Now, these brands aren't fair trade compliant and they may contain stuff (like artificial colours) that aren't great for growing bodies and brains - but if it's between Twix and Kit Kat, take the Twix. Smarties vs. M&Ms, take the M&Ms.

Don't forget to have change for UNICEF available - and tell your friends why your Hallowe'en shopping has required a few extra steps this year.

New Baby Oatmeal Cookies

To close off U.S. World Breastfeeding Week, I thought I'd post this recipe - especially since I just made a batch for a friend's newest addition. Well, for mom, not the baby - just breastmilk for her!

These ones have oatmeal for more milk, whole-wheat flour to keep things moving, walnuts for healthy fat and finally blackstrap molasses and raisins for renewing iron lost at birth. For fun, you can throw in some fenugreek or flax seeds. I don't think any of the quantities here are therapeutic, but wholesome cookies are a great, eat-with-one-hand snack for a new mom. Much better than flowers - believe me.

2 cups whole-wheat flour
2 cups oatmeal (large flake is best, but any kind other than instant is ok)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup tablespoons blackstrap molasses
3/4 cup butter
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
2 tbsp. fenugreek seeds and/or flax seeds (whole)

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix together flour, oatmeal, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Cream brown sugar, molasses and butter until well blended - add 1 eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and mix well. Add dry ingredients and combine. Add walnuts, raisins and seeds if using. Drop by heaping teaspoonsful on ungreased baking sheet - bake 12-14 minutes until golden. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Wordless Wednesday - Raw Zucchini Pasta

Summer is here and the living is easy

Kids hanging out with homemade pink lemonade in the shade. Good times!

"Recipe"

Juice of 2 lemons
1/4 cup grenadine (you can use pureed strawberries/raspberries too)
Sugar syrup to taste (dissolve 1 2 cups sugar in 2 cups water, boil and store in fridge)
Ice

Juice lemons, add grenadine - fill jug half way with ice then water to 3/4 full. Taste and add sugar syrup to taste. The sugar syrup makes sure that it dissolves fully.

For grown-up drinks, I make a separate jug sans grenadine with mint leaves and vodka. But keep it labelled!

Planting the seeds to share the harvest

Tomorrow, June 2, is National Hunger Awareness Day: what are you doing to address hunger in your community?

Isabelle has been quite enjoying our little vegetable growing project - while growing it herself hasn't induced her to actually eat lettuce, she's pretty into it and so am I. Thanks to my friend, Rosemary (@sufficiency) I heard about the Plant A Row/Grow A Row project where gardeners plant an extra row to donate to the hungry.

Sounded like a great little project for us - and my parents donate a little space in their garden to do it. Especially with the news this week about the food banks hitting records (not good records), I hope our little project leads to a healthy harvest.

Red Cabbage:

Tomato Plants:

Sweet & Hot Peppers:

Broccoli:

Turnip Seedlings:

The whole shebang:

If you've already planted your garden and would still like to do this, try just desginating a little portion of the garden - it's surprisingly satisfying to feel like there's a bigger purpose to all that weeding. Anything can be donated, but it's most effective to stick to vegetables that don't require refrigeration after harvest and can keep for a few days.

You can find details of your local program here: http://www.growarow.org/indexENG.htm. In Toronto, the City has created a brochure to help you plan your row and figure out how to get it to those in need: http://www.toronto.ca/health/plant_a_row.pdf.

Bake Sale

Our LLL Annual Garage & Bake Sale is coming up this weekend and I need some fresh ideas on what to make. My old standby is the cream scone loosely adapted from the Joy of Cooking and some of my mom's Mincemeat Bran Muffins (I call them Raisin Spice for marketing purposes - learned that the first year).

Mom's Mincemeat Muffins (makes 22-24 muffins)

2 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 cups buttermilk/sour cream
1 1/2 cups mincemeat
1 1/4 cups All-Bran Cereal
2 cups all purpose flour (can also do a mix of whole wheat/all purpose)
2 tsp each baking powder and baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 and grease or line muffin tins. Mix together wet ingredients. Mix together dry ingredients - add to wet ingredients and mix until just combined (will be lumpy). Don't overmix divide evenly among muffin tins - Mom always used an ice cream scoop and it's the perfect size. Bake 20-25 minutes. Serve warm or room temperature. Batter can also be kept up to two weeks in fridge before baking and baked muffins freeze very well.

Ok - so hit me with your best bake sale recipe!

Wordless Wednesday

Chocolate = good, child exploitation = bad: how to reconcile them?

Chocolate is always good, but not the people who sell it.

Nestle's poor record on infant feeding isn't the only way they harm families and children. I learned of the ugly side of the chocolate industry just recently - it's very disturbing to think that the things that make my kids so happy (COCO-lat!) begin with the cruel exploitation of others.

http://www.globaltv.com/globaltv/globalshows/16x9/video.html?releasePID=zmaBgsMKx99bR0pfnAf_OacJ0Ybsbpn_

So, this Easter, it's all fair trade for us - and that's ok because it's also higher quality chocolate than the waxy junk!

Drinking with the devil

Welcome to the Baby Feeding & Change Area... sponsored by Nestle Good Start. Huh? I guess I live in a relatively sheltered bubble where most people know (if not adhere to) the Nestle boycott and are marginally aware of the issues involved (even if they don't care about them that much).

But, man, does it ever give you a sense of the insanity of the commercial machine when you have a chance to see the world from the other side. Nestle and baby care are at complete odds - not just in the developing world, but here at home too. There's nothing wholesome about their products or the way they make them - but in so many places, they're the only voice.

I had an adorable interaction with a cashier at the Magic Kingdom - when she handed me the chocolate milk, it was Nesquik. Seeing my face fall (I had promised chocolate milk to restless kiddos outside in exchange for sitting in the stroller for 5 more minutes), she asked if anything was wrong. I said, "Well, I prefer not to buy Nestle products." Long pause. "Because there's a global boycott of Nestle, you see." Longer pause, then she answered, "Oh really? I never heard of that - why?" "Well, because their marketing practices especially of infant formula are in conflict with international rules and that harms babies." Longer pause. "Oh, uh, ok. The TG good milk is better anyway." With a smile. Gotta love the optimism.

Green Stuff

While the jury is still out on the effect of eating certain foods in pregnancy, it’s well-known that foods that mom eats during breastfeeding affect the taste of her milk. From the very first nursing, a breastfed baby is learning about the unique diet her family follows and receives a gentle introduction to the world of tastes. Researchers believe that this is part of the reason that breastfed babies typically accept a more varied diet and are less likely to be picky eaters.

Despite everything parents do to ensure their children eat a healthy, varied diet, pickiness often occurs in the preschool years. Isabelle ate every vegetable we offered her from asparagus to zucchini in her early years, but developed a real suspicion of anything new and “green stuff” as she approached her third birthday. This is quite a natural phase as children begin to make choices and define their own preferences.

Parents should continue to model good eating habits and offer healthy choices from which their toddlers can pick. If everything on the table is healthy, it will no harm if they only eat one dish. If all else fails, sneaking some ‘green’ into a tomato sauce is as easy as buying a hand-blender and making sure that they aren't in the kitchen while you're making the sauce. (Just don't tell Isabelle about this one - she's already a bit suspicious!)