Food Sensitivity/Allergy?

Having Aya out of the womb has brought a new host of challenges I was not expecting. I know, how could I, being that I am a first time mother. But still, I thought it would be somewhat smooth sailing, just like the pregnancy was. How naive.

Aya was somewhat posterior during labor and was having a very difficult time fitting through the birth canal. Hence, the very intense and painful 20 hour labor I endured. His head was compressed for a long time in a very tight space. Miraculously his heartbeat stayed strong the whole time. He's a trouper, my little man. Finally at the end he turned and I was able to push him out. Within the first days he started having a stuffy nose. We attributed it to the compression and have been doing cranial sacral work on him, reflexology, sinus massage, and saline flushes. Seems to be helping somewhat, but the problem remains. He is also having a difficult time burping and has had many bouts of hiccups, and this second week has had a little issue with constipation (and so have I). I do have to say though, he hasn't had an issue sleeping or being real colicky, only a couple nights ... for the most part he's sleeping well and seems generally in good health and spirits. His umbilical cord healed in one week for example!

Naturally I started thinking about my diet to help ease the congestion and to get his (and my) bowels moving. While i don't eat many processed foods, I had some processed vegan soy cheese a few times since his birth and a tofurky sandwich. I immediately cut those items out. As for other soy, I eat tempeh, tamari, miso and bragg's liquid aminos but I didn't think that those were an issue ... although now I am not sure. Other things I read could be irritating is wheat (haven't had very much), citrus and fruits like strawberries (I had quite a few strawberry banana smoothies), nuts (have had cashews, peanuts, pecans and walnuts) and dairy (obviously that's not an issue).

A new element to this mystery that just developed in the last couple days ... as if this isn't enough ... a pimply rash has developed on his face. The first week he had a couple around his nose, which i read was normal, but in the last couple days it has spread to his cheeks, under his eyes, and a few on his chest. This has sent me into extreme worry mode. Is it a food allergy? Could it be our laundry detergent .. his face up against our clothes and sheets? We obviously use a natural detergent but it does have fragrance added. Is the stuffy nose and intestinal upset related? OR ... are the pimples simply normal and I am freaking out over nothing?? Like I said before, he doesn't seem to be bothered by the pimples, he struggles a little to release his bowls, but other than that, he's a pretty calm kid.

I have started a food diary to try to see if it's a certain food. I will eliminate the high probability foods and see what happens and will report my findings here. We also have a few leads on open-minded pediatricians that i will be making appointments with this week but if anyone has any recommendations in this area I would appreciate it. A naturopath that accepts medicaid insurance would be a blessing (and a miracle)!

If anyone has any feedback to this issue please send them to me at angela@detroitevolution.com or post them to this blog. I am confident that I can get to the bottom of this, but I have to admit that I am a bit stressed ... which is probably typical of a new mom :)

USDA Admits Organic Fraud is Increasing--- Sign Petition!

Please sign the petition!

This infuriates me beyond words. This is why we have to look local, grow our own food or buy it directly from a farmer that YOU KNOW and you trust does not use pesticides. In my opinion - Big business = Corruption. Period. We are being shown this on a daily basis it seems. Please sign the petition and pass it on to your loved ones ... what we eat DIRECTLY influences how we feel and we cannot continue to sit by while big business lies to us about what we're eating and profits from our sickness.

I think about how important it is to me to eat organic, and how I am trying to eliminate this but I still buy produce from big agri-organic farms. Something feels dirty about the produce, it does not fall in line with our ideals even if it is organic. The distance it has traveled, sat in trucks, etc. Now this. I am possibly feeding the little growing being inside of me tainted food while thinking it's at least pesticide free. It makes me sick. I think about all of the people suffering from illness, trying to heal themselves through diet ... But pregnant or not, diseased or not ... we should not be deceived anymore.

Wheat-free Vegan Blueberry Waffles

Another favorite lately has been these waffles ... perfect for a lazy Sunday morning with a little vegan butter and maple syrup or agave nectar drizzled on top ... maybe some Light Life veggie sausage ... yum! My wonderful husband has been making these for me while I lay on the couch reading baby books, he is so good to me :)

You can easily cut this recipe in half, but I recommend making the whole thing and freezing the leftovers for easy breakfast option during the week!

Wheat-free Vegan Blueberry Waffles - makes about 12-14 waffles
2 1/2 c. spelt flour (you can use any other flour you'd like)
4 tbs. date sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. sea salt
4 tbs. golden flax seed, ground
2 2/3 c. hemp milk
1/3 c. sunflower or grapeseed oil
1 c. blueberries, or other berry

Preheat your waffle iron.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and sea salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the hemp milk, oil, and ground flax seed. Add the liquid mixture to the dry and toss in the blueberries.

Using a spatula or wooden spoon, mix the ingredients until just moistened. Let the batter sit for 5 minutes to let the flax seed absorb some liquid.

Brush the waffle iron with oil using a pastry brush, or use an oil mister (no non-stick spray like Pam, please!!!!!). I use about 1/4 c. batter for each waffle square.

Cook according to your waffle iron's instructions, usually when the little light goes off, they're done!!

The Business of Being Born

A couple nights ago we watched The Business of Being Born, produced by Ricki Lake. Ricki Lake?? I know, I was surprised too ... I almost expected cat-fights and paternity tests resulting in more fights, hair pulling .. you know, typical scenes from "talk" shows like hers back in the day. But I think motherhood has had its affect on Ricki and she's grown up a bit - this was a really well done film. It pretty much solidified in my mind and in Gregg's that we are definitely having a home birth.

What Western medicine (and undoubtedly other organizations with a vested interest) has done to this most incredible natural process is appalling to say the least. And very calculating .. they had to get rid of the competition, right? They stifled the midwife profession, making them look crazy, uneducated, unsanitary, not competent in the least to deliver a baby ... especially not in a home setting. They even put out propaganda with photos of midwives saying, "would you trust this woman to deliver you child?" Of course, then they were right there to give women another option ... "Be a modern woman, have your baby in a bright shiny clean hospital with male surgeons who have no experience in this field, and a bunch of drugs so you barely remember the experience!" (that was obviously not word-for-word ... I improvised) It worked. Women were duped ... scared into not trusting their own bodies, not trusting a profession that had been alive for hundreds of years. The deception continues today as seen in that article from the Detroit News posted on this site.

We got a lot of hard facts in The Business of Being Born: one of the most shocking - the majority of births done in a hospital are C-sections!! That's not even the shocking part ... the reason isn't that the majority of the babies are compromised .. it's because these "doctors" don't want to sit through a 12+ hour labor, they want to get home for dinner. Sickening. We also learned that the drugs that are given to induce labor and for pain actually cause complications and the need for the C-section in the first place. The docs know this, but don't communicate this little fact to their patients. So for me, I have concluded that they know exactly what they are doing ... creating an environment where the woman is out of her own mind and body, then they scare her and tell her if she doesn't want her baby to die then they have to go in and get it out - NOW.

Now, I know that my words are strong (I'm pregnant for godsake!), but before I get any emails I want to say this ... I do appreciate that the hospital is there in case of a REAL emergency. I know that there are mothers and babies that are at high risk and should go to a hospital for care. And I'm not saying that ALL doctors are lying, deceitful, self-centered assholes. I am saying that overall the system is flawed and has failed us as women. The fact that only 1% of births take place in the home, to me seems ridiculous. It is only that way because we have had intense fear placed into us that birthing is a terrifying and horrible experience. What's terrifying about it is the setting that most of them take place - the hospital! In the movie they show both home births and hospital births ... the home births are so much more peaceful and natural ... I just received an email from a friend and client of ours and this is what she wrote:

I was birthed at home, as were three of my siblings (my mother was herself a doula). I remember her giving birth to my brother while my sisters and I were eating oatmeal in the next room. No screaming, nothing scary (like we’ve all seen on t.v.) and then we all went in to see the new baby. It was fun!

Much different from what I have seen and heard about the birthing process. I have to say, before seeing this movie, I was pretty scared to have a natural birth ... how in the world would I be able to get through it with no drugs, no relief at all?? Now, it doesn't seem so scary ... it seems empowering as a woman to be present at the moment that I bring life into this world. Oh, and before I forget, another critical piece of information ... those drugs that are given to numb and induce also stop critical hormones from being released by mother ... the same hormones that are also released by baby that connect them, bond them together. This is why so many moms have a hard time breastfeeding and connecting with their child. It doesn't have to be this way for the majority of women!

So for us, it will be a home birth ... I want to have the full experience, to see my body in it's greatest form - giving life. We have started looking for a midwife .. if anyone has any recommondations, please send them our way. And for all the women pregnant or planning on having a child, please please educate yourselves on your options. Like everything else, we have to take responsibility for our own bodies, our health, our lives ... that means asking questions, researching the facts, making educated decisions that fall in line with our own beliefs and values - not just rolling over and submitting to "the man". No pun intended, really :)

A Pregnant Woman's Saving Grace

So I have been having a really hard time with food. I know, I know ... you're thinking, "but she's a vegan chef, what could be so hard??" Let me tell you, it's hard. When you're physically exhausted, the thought of standing there chopping veggies and preparing an entire meal seems daunting. Add the nausea on top of that and just the thought of certain foods (a lot of foods) makes me want to gag. My pickyness has reached an all time high. Even my love affair with garlic has gone out the window!! Yes, it's that bad ;)

I am still sucking down my green smoothies even though they are making me a little queasy lately, my juicer is on the fritz or I think I'd be doing much better with juices ... something about the texture of the smoothie. See, I'm telling you - it's a weird thing being pregnant! The only thing that really sounds palatable has been sandwiches with yummy Avalon bread, crunchy lettuce, tomato, maybe some avocado, vegan mayo, and on and off some tofurky turkey deli slices ... although when I did eat that it made me constipated :( I try not to do too much processed soy for that very reason. Plus too much processed soy can block the absorption of calcium and I need all that I can get for the little bones that are developing inside of me!

With that being said, I do love to get some protein from high quality minimally processed tofu, such as the Panda brand located right here in Royal Oak. They use non-GMO soy beans from local farms, and literally what's in their tofu is soy beans and water. You can definitely taste the difference. So my newest sandwich craving has been for a tuna fish sandwich ... I used to eat tuna fish all the time before I went vegetarian/vegan. After I went veg, I found a product called Tuno from the Worthington brand of fake meat products. It was good, but once we got into serious label reading .. it was made with a bunch of crap. Worthington was then bought up by Kraft or some other shady "food" company that's buying up all the organic and veg companies (ugh!) and Tuno was taken off the market anyway. So what's a pregnant woman to do when all she can think about is a fake tuna fish sandwich??? Figure out how to make one herself ... after all I am a vegan chef, right?!

I present to you now my saving grace ... my recipe for Tuno fish!! To be enjoyed by the pregnant and non-pregnant alike!!

Tuno Fish - makes about 4 cups
1 pound package of firm tofu, preferably Panda brand
5-6 stalks celery, diced
1/2 small red onion, diced
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. dulse granules (start with a small amount and adjust to taste)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. sea salt (again, start with a small amount and adjust to taste)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. celery seed (optional)
1/4 c. vegan mayo, such as vegenaise (grapeseed oil or organic kind)

Start by draining the liquid from the tofu. Half the block of tofu and place both pieces in a quart size ziplock bag. (This just makes the halves easier to work with) Seal and place the bag in the freezer. Once totally frozen (I left mine in over night), remove from freezer and leave in the sink (still in bag) to thaw. Freezing changes the texture of the tofu, making it perfect for tuna! Once it's thawed, take each half and press with your hands over the sink to squeeze out the additional water.

Take your tofu and break into small pieces in a medium bowl. You'll notice that it kind of flakes like tuna does. Then add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Adjust the seasonings as necessary ... the dulse is salty, so you may not need much salt if you're sensitive like I am to salt these days! So just go slow, adding a little, tasting, adding more if necessary.

Now you can use your tuno for a tasty sandwich with some lettuce and tomato .. or try doing a tuno pasta salad with farfelle or elbow noodles ... I also like cooking up some manicotti noodles, cooling them to room temp, then stuffing them with the tuno for cute hand held tuno boats!!

Meditation from the Womb

I place my hands on my belly, close my eyes, and I am transported.

I am standing at the edge of an ocean, it is vast and peaceful. I breathe deep, the crisp smell of the ocean filling my soul. I can feel the slow, rhythmic energy pulse through me.

I feel strongly that I am no longer by myself in this vast ocean. To my left, far in the distance, is little Aya. Though she is small, her power is great. Her golden light washes over me, I can feel the warmth on my face. I smile. Keep working hard little Aya, Mama loves you.

I open my eyes and see the man I love working diligently on our baby blog. I am blessed :)