Is my shampoo safe???

We have recently been introduced to a great website that answers many of our questions regarding beauty/bath products and the ingredients in them. http://www.cosmeticdatabase.com/

"Skin Deep is a safety guide to cosmetics and personal care products brought to you by researchers at the Environmental Working Group. Skin Deep pairs ingredients in more than 25,000 products against 50 definitive toxicity and regulatory databases, making it the largest integrated data resource of its kind. Why did a small nonprofit take on such a big project? Because the FDA doesn't require companies to test their own products for safety."

You can type in a product, ingredient or company name into their search engine and it will give you a "hazard score" and display a "score key." Each product will be evaluated with an explanation of all its ingredients and the concerns/risk factors. This is a great resource to share with friends and family and learn more about the ingredients in your products.

Kiwi Magazine

Yesterday I received my first issue of Kiwi Magazine. This magazine's motto is, "Growing families the natural and organic way." I immediately ran inside and began flipping the pages. Maybe this is my personality but I LOVE getting new magazines in the mail. I must say that I am very impressed by the information presented by Kiwi magazine. One of the articles that I found especially intriguing was titled, "Healthy Living on a Budget." Yes, we do find that living and eating naturally can be a bit pricey at times. This article gave many helpful suggestions to save a little money. At this time the magazine has 6 issues per year and you can visit www.kiwimagonline.com for price information. They even offer an online magazine subscription so that you can save trees and not have the issue printed on paper. We will bring the current issue to the next meeting if you would like to have a look. Have a wonderful week!

~Jen

Toddler Teething Biscuit Recipe

Toddler Teething Biscuits

1 cup Bob Red Mill’s gluten-free flour
1 cup brown rice flour
½ cup tapioca starch
½ cup instant non-fat dry milk powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup light agave
¼ cup grape seed oil
1 organic Omega-3 egg
½ cup organic unsweetened apple juice
½ cup ground golden flax seed

Preheated oven to 375º. In medium bowl, sift together gluten-free flour, brown rice flour, tapioca starch, milk powder, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum and cinnamon. In stand up mixing bowl, combine agave and oil. Beat in the egg and apple juice. Gradually add flour mixture. Lastly, add flax seed. Dough will be sticky, but stiff. Dust hands with little extra flour and form dough into a ball. Refrigerate for two hours.
Fit a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Take the parchment paper off baking sheet and place on work surface. Place dough on fitted parchment paper and flatten by placing a bit of gluten-free flour on top of dough and pushing down with palm of hand. Next, place a piece of wax paper on top of dough. Roll dough out to within ½-inch of the edge of fitted parchment. Remove wax paper carefully. Cut rolled out dough into two-inch by one-inch bars. Separate the cookies slightly. Bake 15 minutes in preheated 375º oven until light brown. Cool on wire rack.
Yield: Four dozen biscuits.

Benefits of Fish Oil

At our last meeting, a discussion on fish oil started. Some moms had questions as to why this stuff is so good for the kids. Dr. Dale, (one of the chiropractors Lara works for), emailed me a great article on this subject. Here it is:

THE ROLE OF OMEGA-3's IN BRAIN HEALTH, COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING AND EMOTIONAL WELLNESS

This month's topic discusses how our intake levels of omega-3 fatty acids affect BRAIN FUNCTION and EMOTIONAL WELLNESS. In our January newsletter we described how sufficiency in omega-3's is critical during pregnancy and early childhood development. So you should know that DHA, in particular, is required for the optimal development and function of the central nervous system. This helps explain why breastfeeding is associated with better cognitive development as early as at 6 months of age and sustained throughout childhood and adolescence (breast milk is rich in DHA but ONLY when the mother is SUFFICIENT). What you might not know is research is now showing that up to 90% of women are not getting the minimum recommended daily intake of DHA during pregnancy (defined as 300 mg/day of DHA but remember that the minimum dietary recommendations are usually based on preventing disease and not on optimizing wellness.) You can rest easy knowing that one daily serving (1 teaspoon or 5 capsules) of Innate Choice™ Omega Sufficiency™ will provide 500-600 mg of DHA, well above the minimum recommendations.

As important as DHA is, at Innate Choice™ we always look at our interventions from a genetically-congruent perspective. Humans and all other animals are genetically designed to ingest, digest, absorb and utilize whole foods in their natural biochemical form. Based on these scientific facts we have chosen to keep Omega Sufficiency™ in its natural triglyceride form and in its natural EPA/DHA ratio. This means that each serving will also contain the highly beneficial EPA – just as nature intended.

Hope this is helpful,
Love,
Lara

Become Gorgeously Green with Us!

My friend Liz, called me and told me about a book called, Gorgeously Green by Sophie Uliano. She was so excited about this book because it laid out how to "go green" in eight east steps. Well, I thought I would have to see what this book was all about, so I bought it on www.overstock.com for about $9.00. It arrived today, and I can't put it down! It really is easy to read and although I already feel I live a holistic lifestyle, a new passion for the environment is growing inside of me. There are things in this book that are shocking, like ingredients in tampons to the effects on our environment when we use common household cleaners. Anyway, in case any of you ladies want to check out this book, I highly recommend it. We will soon try to purchase a copy to circulate around the group. For more information, check out their website, it is really cool. www.gorgeouslygreen.com. See you soon, maybe we can discuss some of the topics in this book at our next meeting, after all it will be about the toxins in our environment that effects our kids. See ya then!

Yummy Recipes

Hi Ladies,

We enjoyed seeing all of you at the meeting last night. It was wonderful seeing new faces and we hope that everyone felt supported in their holistic parenting choices.
We promised to post a few of our favorite, healthy recipes that our kiddos LOVE and here they are. We will recommend places to purchase some of the items that we use but of course you can purchase them wherever you choose.

Chocolate Smoothie (serving is for 2 kiddos)

In a blender add the following items:

~ 1 organic banana

~ 1 handful of any organic frozen fruit (berries, mango, etc.)

~ 1/2 cup of organic plain yogurt (example is Horizon organic yogurt)

~ 1 handful of ice

~ 1 cup of milk (rice, almond, etc.)

~ 2 tsp. of fish oil (we use Innate Choice Omega Sufficiency available at Active Life Chiropractic or you can use any other brand that you prefer)

~ 2 scoops of Amazing Grass Kidz Superfood, Chocolate Flavor (available at Clark's)

Blend until smooth and then pour into glasses

~ open 1 capsule of probiotic and put 1/2 in each glass and mix with a spoon. (We use Original Medicine Multi-Probiotic, available at Active Life Chiropractic but again you can visit Clark's and find a huge selection of brands

We like to give the kids a colored straw to make it a little easier and fun to drink and the kids LOVE it but more importantly, it is HEALTHY! If you decide to try this recipe out we would love to hear your feedback. We hope you enjoy it!

Yummy Banana Yogurt

In a bowl add the following ingredients:

~ 1/4 cup of freshly ground flax seed

~ Organic plain yogurt

~ 1 TBSP of agave for sweetening

~ 1 banana (use a fork and mash it)

~ 1/2 capsule of probiotic

~ sprinkle cinnamon to taste

This is a yummy way to sneak in flax seed and the kids will not even taste it. You can always modify ingredients in this recipe but the cinnamon makes it extra yummy. Enjoy!

Please remember that we are still taking sign ups for the Vaccine Workshop. Spaces are filling up quickly so be sure to register soon. Feel free to contact us should you have any questions. Have a wonderful week!

~Lara and Jen

The kiddos

I love watching my children play. I think they are especially interesting when they don't know that I'm listening in on their play time. For instance, just last week I overheard my daughter Sophie talking to her "baby doll." She said, "Baby, you no feel good? Oh it's okay baby just take your herbs and it will help your body heal." She proceeded by "nursing" her baby doll, giving her kisses and putting her in bed. I sat back in amazement. My daughter did not use the word "sick" or "doctor," she simply did exactly what I have done with her numerous times and went about her day. I felt so proud that she was "taking care" of her baby and I know that my homeopathic remedies at home are comforting to my children. They know herbs, aromatherapy, snuggle time and peaceful music. Moments of illness are calmed by a parents reassuring words and love.
We would love to hear your stories. How has your holistic parenting influenced your children? What little things have your children expressed?