We’ve seen wonderful improvements in C since I last blogged about his autism. The most significant thing I’ve learned is the power of gluten. Taking gluten out of his diet made an almost immediate difference in his behavior and general demeanor. The screaming and head-banging diminished tremendously, and his eye contact and attention span improved. We “challenged” the GF diet by putting gluten back in his diet for a weekend after a few weeks…never again! I’m working on my repertoire of gluten-free baked goods…I’ve found some winners and some duds. I’m still looking for a pizza crust recipe that tastes as good as Mellow Mushroom’s GF crust. More to come about adventures in GF cooking.

Speech therapy seems to be making a big difference, too. While he still isn’t talking, he has about 20 signs now and occasionally will use one without any verbal or visual cue to communicate that he wants something. We also have a special instructor from the state early intervention program once a week, and in two weeks he will finally start at a preschool that will give him one-on-one ABA therapy in addition to time in a mainstream classroom. He absolutely loves going to Parents’ Morning Out at church, so I think he’ll love preschool, even if it takes me a little time to adjust to having him gone five mornings a week. (To fill the time, pay for preschool, and intellectually stimulate myself, I’m taking on more freelance writing and social media work…I’ll let you know when my professional site goes live.)

Oh, and the kid is going to be 2 this week. 2! Next thing I know he’ll want to borrow the car.

My sweet litle boy is, more than likely, on the autism spectrum.

It started with speech therapy several weeks ago since he’s almost 22 months and not talking. We thought for a long time that he was just a late talker, developing on his own schedule, et cetera et cetera. Our speech therapist was concerned, and the more hubby and I read, the more concerned we became. Some of the behaviors we had assumed were just quirks of his personality– obsessive distaste for having his hands dirty, seeming to not know I”m there when I’m trying to get his attention, hand flapping when excited — can be big fat autism red flags.  Spending a little time with a high school friend and her children, one of whom is on the spectrum, confirmed it for me.

We’re in the process of getting a diagnosis through Babies Can’t Wait (state early intervention program), which will them be able to provide some in-home therapy. In the meantime, we’re continuing with speech therapy, trying to get C into a local preschool that has a special needs program. We’ve also cut gluten from his diet and may cut dairy (though I honestly don’t know what the kid is going to eat since he’s so picky), and I’m reading up on supplements that could help.

We’re already being blessed by the love, prayers, and resources of those we have shared this with. I ask for your prayers for C and for hubby and me. This isn’t a journey we expected to find our family on, and we need strength to make it.

I am very excited to share with you all that I’m now the Green Living Editor at Busy Mommy Media! I am working on a schedule to post more regularly here at GNM as well as on Busy Mommy Media in addition to other freelancing projects. Between C starting speech therapy recently and skipping naps more often than not, it’s quite the juggling act.

Watch for upcoming posts here and at Busy Mommy Media on summertime topics like safe and natural sunscreen options, why a little sun is actually good for you, outdoor activities for kids, and cool summer treats.

I’m a meme dork…saw this linked on Vanderbilt Wife and decided it looked way more fun than, oh, getting something useful done. Enjoy.

1. What color do you wear the most?

Black, I suppose, though not to the degree I did in high school.

2. Would you rather have $10,000 dollars or a dream vacation?

I’ll take the money, pay off (most of) my car, and save up for the dream vacation.

3. Do you have a weird, quirky or unusual habit?

As soon as I get a new magazine, I go through and rip out all the subscription cards. They drive me batty.

4. I really need to start……….?

Exercising regularly again.

5. What was the first blog you ever read?

Probably my friends’ Livejournals.

6. Do you collect anything?

Dustbunnies. My collective is impressive in scope. Oh, and scrapbook supplies that I never have time to use.

7. How old were you when you had your first kiss?

14

8. Do you text/twitter while driving?

Only at stoplights.

AnAs my family begins our second year in our house, I’m making a second stab at organically growing a portion of our food. Here’s where things stand as of now:

In square foot bed #1, we have sugar snap peas (Snowbird), English peas (Progress #9), beans (Blue Lake Bush), cilantro, bunching onions, radishes (French Breakfast & Cherry Belle), arugula, mesclun, spinach, assorted heirloom lettuces, onions (Yellow Granex? The guy in the store called them Vidalias, but they’re only legally Vidalias if grown in certain counties, and this isn’t one of them), and marigolds (Jolly Jester). Not shown are three pots I planted with carrots (Danvers) this morning.

A few close-ups of my lovely seedlings…most of these were planted less than 2 weeks ago:

perky little radishes!

give peas a chance

onion hah-seh-yo! (bonus points if that made any sense to you)

Elsewhere in the yard, the little Meyers lemon tree is bursting with buds and blossoms:

i call her liz

The Bearss lime is not to be outdone:

no really, that's how you spell it

And the three blueberry bushes I got a few weeks ago have dainty little flowers as well (Tiffblue, Powder Blue, and Brightwell, for those of you keeping score):

are you actually keeping score? creepy garden stalker...

Last year’s lemon balm and peppermint have lots of new growth popping out:

lemon balm is for containers only - trust me on this one

i never mint for these captions to get so silly...

And the bay tree carries on with a few blooms of its own:

a.k.a. laurel, but please don't rest on it

Sprouting indoors, I have four varieties of tomatoes (Amish paste, Blondkopfchen, Black Cherry, and Opalka), peppers (Tollies Sweet), cucumbers (Bush Slicer), oregano, basil, rosemary, bunny tails, impatiens, morning glory (Cardinal), parsley, lamb’s ear, and hyssop. I have a few more seeds I need to start, and some to direct sow outside as soon as I get the other bed ready (including Potimarron squash, Red Malabar spinach, and Golden Midget melons).

Whew!

All this said, hold your awe in check until I actually harvest some of this. I tend to begin projects with reckless ambition!

Organic gardening resources of note

A lot of my seeds came from Peaceful Valley and Seed Savers Exchange. The former has an impressive selection of supplies as well as seeds, while the latter puts out an absolutely drool-worthy catalog if you’re the least bit of a vegetable nerd.

Mother Earth News is my go-to source for all things crunchy and sustainable; their website has extensive article archives.

The Cooperative Extension office of UGA has an extensive list of localized articles. Note that most of these are not organic-geared.

Finally, some books I’ve found helpful include Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, Rodale’s Vegetable Garden Problem Solver, and Square Foot Gardening: A New Way to Garden in Less Space with Less Work. (Yup, those last three are affiliate links. You’ve been warned.)

*********************************************************

But enough about my big aspirations…how goes it in your garden so far this spring?

I’ve been a loyal Cooking Light reader since I was a a teenager and read my mom’s copies. Like most Americans, I’ve had plenty of experience trying to lose weight and improve my health by restricting calories and fat. Reduced fat/fat-free dairy, margarine, canola oil, turkey bacon, and soy-based meat substitutes are no strangers to me.

But a few months ago, I started reading things on the Internet about traditional ways of eating. I bought and devoured Nourishing Traditions and changed a lot about the food I buy and how I cook it. As per usual, I’m by no means perfect at “doing” Real Food, but I’m constantly improving.

Cooking Light has changed a lot over the years…their recipes no longer use margarine or shy away from flavor-filled ingredients like bacon. Their overall philosophy seems to be more “easy, nutritious food” and less “how little fat can it contain and still be food”.

When I took the March issue out of the mailbox today and turned to a story featured on the cover with the headline “Nutrition Myths”, I wanted to go to Birmingham and give the editors a hug.

“Myth #2: Eating eggs raises your cholesterol level…Dietary cholesterol doesn’t greatly affect the amount of cholesterol circulating in your bloodstream.”

“Myth #3…All saturated fats raise blood cholesterol…along comes new researchcalling into question the one principle most health professionals thought was sacrosanct: All saturated fat is bad…stearic acid, a type of saturated fat found naturally in cocoa, dairy products, meats, and poultry, as well as palm and coconut oils…does not raise harmful HDL cholesterol but boosts beneficial HDL cholesterol levels.” (CL‘s bolding!)

“Myth #8: You should always remove chicken skin before eating…55 percent of the fat in chicken skin is monounsaturated–the heart0healthy kind you want more of.”

I’m less enthused about Myth #9, “Organic foods are more nutritious than conventional ones,” because I’ve seen convincing research to the contrary. However, seeing fat and cholesterol–God-given nutrients found in whole, natural foods–un-demonized in such a mainstream publication is, I think, pretty epic.

There’s nothing from this article on their website, unfortunately, but I’ll watch and post a link if that changes. For now, I’m going to e-mail Cooking Light and thank them.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

(Disclosure: Why yes, those are Amazon affiliate links. Just trying to bring home the bacon.)

(No pun intended.)

I’ve developed a serious addiction. It’s not a cheap addiction. That’s why I’m asking you, dear reader, to be my enabler.

I’m hooked on almond butter, the $8/pound kind that comes out of the little machine at the health food and gourmet grocery stores. It occurred to me that almond are cheaper than almond butter, and how hard can it be to make?

But I’ve Googled, I’ve experimented, and it never comes out particularly…well, spreadable. I’ve added coconut oil a la Nourishing Traditions, I’ve added flax oil (too much, which makes it a little bitter), but no dice — it’s still a thick, decidedly un-gooey mess.

Anyone out there have the answer to spreadable almond butter? Bueller? Bueller?

(Photo credit: elena’s pantry)

So, hi there, Internet. It’s been a while. I won’t bore you with excuses; let’s just get back to it.

Gardening – Last year was my first real attempt at gardening. It was, shall we say, a learning experience. I’m excited about applying all that learning to Kelly’s Veggie Garden 2.0 this year, and since this is the Deep South, it’s already time to get started. I’ve purchased materials for a DIY grow light for seed starting indoors and new raised beds to replace the ugly concrete block one I made last year. I’ve also been combing the seed catalogs and researching varieties, and I’m almost ready to place orders. The hardest thing for me is to keep my ambitions manageable and realistic, e.g., not order 10 varieties of tomatoes. Watch this space for updates. Also, if you’re a gardener in Zone 8, I’d love to hear your experiences of what crops do and don’t work well here.

Food – I continue to read a lot about real food, traditional food, whatever you want to call it. Soda has been my last frontier of nasty processed consumables, so I’m giving it up for Lent. And yes, that includes Pepsi Throwback and Kosher or Mexican Coke – sugar is better than HFCS, but it’s still not good. As I was discussing with my hubby last night, I’ve never given up an unhealthy food for Lent because I always saw myself doing so as a weight-loss act rather than a spiritual act. However, my body is a gift from God, and how I treat it is an act of respect (or disrespect) to God.

I’ve toyed with also giving up refined flour and sugar, but it makes me nervous to think about having to eat outside of the home that way, especially at church functions like Wednesday night supper. Then there’s fast food…Chick-fil-A, how I hate to be untrue! Guess I have…(checks time)…eight and a half hours to decide.

Depression – I’ve been on and off (mostly on) medication for depression for ten years. It’s not working these days, or if it is, I’d hate to see how I’d fare without it. I left a message earlier this afternoon to get an appointment with a therapist, and if it goes well, I’ll see him regularly for a while. I’m also reading up nutrition here as well as complementary/alternative therapies. I want to talk about this more later. Reading other women’s candid stories of depression (postpartum and otherwise) has been immensely helpful to me, and if it makes someone else feel less alone, I want to be honest about my experiences with it.

I invented this yummy, healthy soup a couple of days ago for dinner. My picky husband and my 16-month-old loved it! It’s satisfying on a cold January night, and it’s full of good-for-us stuff: healthy fat from the coconut oil and milk, minerals from the homemade stock, antioxidants from the buckwheat that soba is made of, the immunity-boosting power of garlic…oh, and veggies, too!

I drew inspiration from the Coconut Chicken Soup in The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook (my go-to all-purpose cookbook) and the Coconut Chicken Soup and Japanese Noodle Soup in Nourishing Traditions. Soba noodles in Thai food are probably not so authentic, but I’m not authentically Thai, either. So there.

Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

1 T coconut oil
3 cloves minced garlic
1 T minced lemongrass
2 t minced ginger
2 quarts homemade chicken stock
1 can coconut milk
3 T fish sauce (could use soy sauce)
1 pound chicken, cut into 1-inch strips (I used breasts; dark meant would be lovely, too.)
2 cups finely chopped veggies (I used carrots & green beans.)
6 ounces uncooked soba noodles
Chopped green onions (optional)
Chopped cilantro (optional)

Melt the coconut oil in a Dutch oven or stockpot over medium heat. Sauté the garlic, ginger, and lemongrass for about 30 seconds. Add the stock, coconut milk, and fish sauce; bring to a boil. Add the chicken, veggies, and soba. Reduce heat to a simmer; simmer 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add more fish or soy sauce if needed. Ladle into bowls and garnish with green onions and/or cilantro as desired.

This post is part of the Real Food Wednesday blog carnival – check out more recipes and tips at Cheeseslave! It’s also part of the Healthier Eating edition of Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life as Mom.

Between a lot of sickness around the house, the holidays, and sheer inertia, I’ve been absent from blogging for the past couple of weeks. I’ve got a recipe to share tomorrow as part of the Real Food Wednesday blog carnival, so gird your loins and get ready.

Oh, and I’ve added a Tumblr feed right there on the left with news stories and posts of interest from elsewhere…check it out to see what’s catching my eye around the web. I’m wondering whether to keep it or just tweet interesting articles. Feedback appreciated.

• Santa brought ear infections for everyone!
  The week of Christmas brought a killer double ear infection for hubby that didn’t respond to the usual antibiotics and landed us in the ER late Christmas Eve and had him on Vicodin Christmas Day. C also got a double ear infection that was thankfully diagnosed and treated more quickly. I’m pretty stoked that he’d made it 16 months without an ear infection. I like to think breastfeeding had something to do with it.

• Geeking out over grain
  My sister-in-law brought her grain mill for me to try out during the holidays. I made sprouted soft wheat flour, regular hard wheat flour, and learned the difference between the two. I also learned from her to make the Best Bread Ever with my stand mixer, and I tried out the Nourishing Gourmet’s Scottish shortbread cookies. Oh my goodness. Go make some now and thank me later.

• C is finally ambulatory
  The kiddo took his first steps yesterday morning in the church nursery. Daddy and I were not present for the blessed event, but we coaxed a repeat performance out of him later that night. Thank God. 16 months old, remember? Now if he’d just start talking…

  

• Real Food FAIL
  I made homemade pizza tonight, and I had recently gotten the clever idea to use bread crumbs instead of cornmeal to keep the crust from sticking to the pizza peel. This time I actually turned over the can and looked at the ingredients. Ew. They went in the trash, and I’ll be making my own bread crumbs from now on.