Tuesday, September 27, 2005

The Poison Ivy Weaning Method

The boys are now in school. Literally, right now at this minute, they are howling the arms of their new teachers. We picked a Montessori school because it is only 12 minutes away from the house and has a very good reputation. The teachers are sweet, calm and tell me my boys are unusually intelligent, all of which I appreciate. They have been going for three weeks now, but we made a little mistake – we took a week's vacation and had them out of school for two days in their second week. As a result, they are howling again at good-bye time, just like the first week. Apparently, it takes about three weeks to get over the anxiety; so next week should be easier for everyone.

They are also in different classrooms, which I don’t think I’ll do again next year. It’s nice for them to get one on one time, but I have a feeling the separation from Mama and each other at the same time is making it harder. They are mighty happy to see each other when class gets out, let me tell you!

It’s actually difficult for me to leave them. I wouldn’t have thought so, I have been so sick and tired of being 24/7 with the boys, I thought I’d be more relieved than anything. But I guess I’m not such a heartless be-atch after all. I find myself lingering in the hall, listening to the howls and feeling just terrible.

However, I tear myself away, zoom home, vacuum, fold laundry and generally rush around. But not today. I forced myself to sit next door at the ubiquitous Char-Bux coffee shop and write a bit.

The real topic today: Weaning Twin Boys. I think I’ve done it, and there weren’t a lot of tears and there wasn’t a big fight either. What happened was this:

I noticed I was feeling all itchy under my tee shirt the second day of our vacation. Then I noticed a rash, on my ribs, my abdomen and on my boobs. Hmmm…how odd. Perhaps I’m having an allergic reaction to laundry soap? Or maybe I wore a shirt right from the package, forgetting to wash it before the first wearing? I had no idea. But then, overnight, on our second night away, I woke up SO ITCHY I felt like I was covered with ants. Dancing ants. Dancing ants wearing cleats. And woolen clothes. I scratched and scratched and wound up with red blotches all over. Great. Now I was itchy and in pain. But I had a brilliant idea! When the boys wanted to nurse next, I let them suckle for a few minutes, and then made all these ouch-ouch pain-pain noises. They got all concerned and I pointed out the red blotches.

“Mommy has an ouchy! Nursing has an owie! Nu-Nu has an owie,” I explained in uncharacteristic baby talk.
“Nu-Nu is owie? Nu-Nu has owies,” repeated Baby A and Baby B. Then when I said, "No more Nu-Nu", they hopped off the bed where we had been snuggling and went to play.

Amazing.

That night, when it was Nu-Nu time, I just said, “Nu-Nu has an owie. No nursing, because Nu-Nu has an owie. See?” I showed them the red blotches again, and they petted me very sympathetically and then settled to sleep without nursing.

It actually worked out. I didn’t nurse them from that Sunday afternoon for a whole week, then on Sunday night I felt a bit painful on one side. I called my nursing expert, My Sseester, the next day, and asked her advice. She said I might have a plugged duct from not nursing, and suggested I get a baby to nurse a little bit to relieve the pressure. I actually had done just that the night before, but it wasn't all that effective because I had coaxed Baby A to nurse in his sleep. He was really pretty much asleep, so he hadn’t sucked hard enough to relieve the pressure. I hadn’t wanted him to wake up, realize what was going on and think it was okay to nurse regularly again. So, last night I got Mister Vacuum Cleaner Baby B to nurse, and he was un-detachable for about 20 minutes. He sucked and snuggled and hugged me and was very happy. But he was still asleep; bless him, so he wasn’t fully aware. I eventually detached him and hey ho! He conked out again, all snoring and smiling. This morning, there is no pain, so soreness, nothing. Both boobs feel fine and look pretty good too, for which I am vastly relieved.

Neither boy seemed interested in nursing at all this morning, and both were pretty happy and peaceful. (That is, until we pulled into the parking lot at school.) I wonder if they thought the late night nursing sessions were a dream, and are happy because of it?

That would be nice. They could relax, knowing that they can nurse in their dreams, whenever they want to. It might make them happier to go to bed, and it might make them less upset with me for taking nursing away. I don’t really think they are mad at me for telling them no more nursing because I am in pain – they certainly understand getting an owie. They fall over and bump themselves all the time, which worked to my advantage in this case. The day after we stopped nursing, Baby B was running around outside, starkers as usual, and the poor thing fell down, scraping his naked bottom on the only rock in a ten-foot area.

“Yeeee-aaaaaahhhh,” he screamed. “Owie, owie owie!” Later I pointed to his bottom and said “Owie” and then pointed to my boob and said “Owie.” It was so sweet; he patted me gently and nodded understandingly.

It turns out the rash is some poisonous plant to which I had a delayed reaction. Three guesses as to how exactly I got poison plant juice all over my ribs, stomach and boobs? Baby A, Baby B and nursing outside? Ding ding! You got it…

So, nursing is over for another twin household. We exclusively breastfed for nearly six months before adding solid foods. They used to nurse for ten to sixteen hours at a stretch during the day and several times at night. No kidding, just ask my DH. We nursed about ten times a day and twice at night from six months to about 18 months, then several times a day and sometimes at night, until they were two. I had been trying to wean them from 20 months on, but it wasn’t until the rash provided an excuse was I successful. We stopped completely at two years and one week old. That’s not a bad run at all. I feel like I gave them the best I could for as long as I could, but I had to take the opportunity to wean when I had the chance. I don’t think they’ll be worse off for no longer nursing; perhaps they’ll even remember.

I look forward to snuggling with them without being invaded and I kind of look forward to wearing real underclothes again! It’s selfish I know, I am glad to get some personal space back. I was just touched out. Now let’s see if I lose those ten pounds as everyone says will happen. As long as I refrain from ordering that jumbo deep fried chocolate glazed hydrogenated doughnut with my coffee in the morning, right? I’ll go for the bran flakes instead. I’m 158 pounds as of today, I’ll check again in a few days and let y’all know.

Bye Bye Nu-Nu. It's been fun.

Friday, September 09, 2005

Fun with fats - Just don't swallow.

A conversation:

Who says health nuts can’t be funny?

There are some Daddies in my Friday playgroup, two rather good-looking guys in particular (you know who you are!), with whom I chit chat regularly. Today we had a conversation about hydrogenated fats that just deteriorated into such an inappropriately amusing talk; I just had to reproduce it here.

I asked these two if they had read my 2,000-word rant on the evils of hydrogenated fats. One Daddy, (the Yummy Mummy counterpart, a Hubba Hubba Hubby, if you will allow me to invent a phrase) said, “Oh, I read the first line, saw you were on a tear, and skipped to the next post! Kidding!” The other Daddy, Mister Last Weekend I Finished A Half Marathon In Under Two Hours, My, I’m So Slow (!) said, “Yes, you did come up with a long list of substitutes” and we talked about some different butter versus margarine situations. Then I said:

“Well, you know, according to my gay guy friends, Crisco is really only good for one thing…”
HHH: “Yeah, but you aren’t supposed to have unprotected penetration anymore, and doesn’t Crisco dissolve latex?”
MLWIFAHMIUTH,M,ISS: “What! Aren’t there better lubricants? People really use Crisco? What about the smell?”
Me: “I guess if you care about scent, you shouldn’t buy butter flavor. Apparently Crisco doesn't dry out too quickly.”
HHH: “Hmm, I have wondered why my friend has a big tub of Crisco in his pantry. I know he’s a cruiser, and I don’t think he likes to bake.”
Me: “Yeah, and Crisco is so much cheaper then Astroglide.”
HHH: “Not if you buy it by the case.”
MLWIFAHM..SS: “Man, whoever buys Astroglide by the case must have some serious nightlife.”
Me: “I just get the gallon jug, but it’s not exactly subtle on the nightstand. But the spray attachment I have connected to the bottle neck is really convenient.”
MLWIFAHM..SS: “Or you could get a camel back, you know, with the tube? Then you’d have all the lube you needed ON HAND.”
HHH: “Heh Heh Heh Heh Heh!”
Me: Ha ha ha ha ha!”
HHH: “It's too bad if you are health conscious, avoiding hydro-fats and using Crisco. You can’t lube up for oral play – you might consume some unintentionally.”
Me: “Reason number two not to swallow.”
HHH: “Heh Heh Heh Heh Heh!”
MLWIFAHM..SS: “Ho ho ho ho ho!”
Me: Ha ha ha ha ha!”

Then I mentioned that my DH just got his new bullwhip in the mail, and we got talking about whips and leather clothing and S&M and the conversation deteriorated again.

It was pretty funny. Man, it’s times like that, when I feel okay. The children are happy running around, the weather is gorgeous and I have two good-looking guys to have clever conversations with. Of course, the decent sleep I had last night didn’t hurt. But neither did the DH’s and my nocturnal activity.

Thanks to the Astroglide, of course.

Ba-DUM!

Edited to add: When we talked about this post, Mister LWIFAHMIUTH,M,ISS pointed out he actually ran the half marathon in 1:40 - so he's really not slow at all.

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Bye bye comment spam...I hope.

Sorry y'all, but I turned on the "word verification" option on Blogger. This means you have to type in a mystery word before you post a comment. It is supposed to stop the automatic posting of annoying comments by pre-programmed software. Let's see if it works, shall we?

Monday, September 05, 2005

How to Feed the Allergic, the Toddler and the Health Conscious, Part Two.

Now, this section deals with my other favorite enemies – High Fructose Corn Syrup and Corn Syrup. I realize a little, a lot, or too just darn much corn syrup isn’t exactly going to kill you; but since it makes you fat, in my mind it might as well be a killer. Again, Dr. Sears tells all his patients about it, and constantly advises parents to avoid corn syrup and its derivatives when feeding their children, so who am I to ignore the good doctor?

Here are a few quotes from a few websites for those who want more information:

From the Health24 website:

Fructose and obesity: Most people are aware of the obesity epidemic that is swamping the world. New research is concentrating on fructose as a possible factor that contributes to this epidemic.

High-fructose corn syrup is very sweet and also inexpensive, which is why it is being added to foods such as canned and frozen fruit and sweetened cold drinks. This trend is particularly evident in the USA. It is estimated that more than 9% of the energy in the US diet is obtained from high-fructose corn syrup.

If we consider that the use of fructose has increased in the USA from 64 g per day to 81 g per person per day in the period between 1970 and 1997, it is perfectly feasible that such a dramatic change in food intake could have an effect on many aspects of metabolism.

From Weston Price on line:

Fat butts aside, there's another reason to avoid HFCS. Consumers may think that because it contains fructose—which they associate with fruit, which is a natural food—that it is healthier than sugar. A team of investigators at the USDA, led by Dr. Meira Field, has discovered that this just ain't so.

Sucrose is composed of glucose and fructose. When sugar is given to rats in high amounts, the rats develop multiple health problems...was it the fructose or the glucose moiety that was causing the problems? They repeated their studies with two groups of rats, one given high amounts of glucose and one given high amounts of fructose. The glucose group was unaffected but the fructose group had disastrous results. The male rats did not reach adulthood. They had anemia, high cholesterol and heart hypertrophy—that means that their hearts enlarged until they exploded. They also had delayed testicular development. In a nutshell, the little bodies of the rats just fell apart.

“The medical profession thinks fructose is better... than sugar," says Dr. Field, "but every cell in the body can metabolize glucose. However, all fructose must be metabolized in the liver. The livers of the rats on the high fructose diet looked like the livers of alcoholics, plugged with fat and cirrhotic."

There. That is my unabashed, unapologetic, unleashed take on healthy eating, for babies and adults.

Now I can hear y'all saying - Lady Miss MOT, thank you for making us all feel paranoid about the foods we have been eating for the past 30 odd years! According to you, what can we eat? What can we buy that’s quick and easy and tasty? My toddlers/husband/school aged child and I just like to eat Devil Dogs and Friendly’s ice cream and Cool Whip and Mc D’s French Fries and we enjoy Kraft Mac and Cheese! And what about my (sorry Preacher Mom!) Coca-Cola!? It doesn't mean anyone is a bad parent for giving a child a Quaker cereal bars! No, this is just a really looooong FYI.

Well, in my Part One post I listed about 25 different foods and drinks that are clearly snacks for y’all to enjoy. Since I also have a baby allergic to eggs, I know of many more foods, egg free, HFCS free, trans-fat free but flavor-FUL, that we gobble up regularly. After years of obsessive label readings, I have learned to only shop the perimeter of the supermarket, and I now know that the following 50 foods are okay in my book:

1. Lu brand Petite Beurre cookies
2. Lu brand Petit Ecolier cookies, with milk chocolate, dark chocolate and/or hazlenuts
3. Walker Shortbreads
4. Annie’s Shells and Cheese
5. Annie’s Spaghetti in a Can (All Stars, Bernie O’s and Cheesy Ravioli)
6. Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies crackers
7. Annie’s Bunny Grahams - regular and chocolate
8. Trader Joe’s Cat Cookies, both vanilla and chocolate
9. Trader Giotto’s gelato is egg free and comes in vanilla and chocolate - yes, I like chocolate!
10. Trader Joe’s turkey baloney
11. Trader Joe’s nitrate free bacon
12. Trader Joe’s nitrate free sausage
13. Edy’s frozen fruit bars are all juice, have no corn syrup and come in lime, raspberry and strawberry. Available in yer grocer’s freezer! PS Lime doesn't stain as badly as the other flovors...
14. Fage Greek style yogurt is just too scrumptious! It's thick and creamy and can be used for cooking. Try some, it’s only about 10 cents more than Dannon.
15. T.J.’s makes corn syrup free jams.
16. or get the Polaner All Fruit, or
17. try a fruit conserve, instead of a jelly. Unfortunately, all the grape jelly I have seen has HFCS, so if you meet a brand that’s corn syrup free, lemme know!
18. Enviro-Kids cereals, like Gorilla Munch, Rain Forest Crunch and Koala Crisp
19. Pirate’s Booty,
20. Smart Puffs,
21. Tings,
22. The whole line of Amy’s frozen Foods, like three cheese pizza and veggie lasagna
23. Crackers by TLC; ranch, cheddar and sesame
24. Late July biscuits
25. Newman’s own cookies are huge around my place. We get the Newman O’s in hint o’ mint and the Fig Newmans all the time. You can get Fig Newmans at Costco for $7.00 for three packs, instead of $3.50 for one pack at Stop and Shop.
26. Actually, I have found Horizon Organic foods at both Costco and Cub Foods
27. All the Apple and Eve juices are HFCS free.
28. All Knudsen’s juices are HFCS free.
29. All Santa Cruz juices are HFCS free too.
30. Most supermarkets, like Big Y, Kroger, Stop and Shop, Shaw’s, Albertson’s and Publix have their own store brand organic line. These lines are usually much cheaper than the big name organics and available in most stores, no matter where you are. I have found store brand organics in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Georgia, Texas, California and Oregon. The names I know are Big Y’s Circle of Life (start singing, you Lion King fans), Stop and Shop’s Nature’s Promise and Shaw’s organic brand is Wild Harvest.
31. Get Turkey Hill Philadelphia Style ice cream, not the regular Turkey Hill; Philly is HFCS free.
32. Breyer’s ice cream is egg-less and corn syrup-less too, but not all the flavors, so read the label!
33. Heinz makes an organic ketchup, which is corn syrup free
34. Heinz also makes a “low carb” ketchup, which is also CS free. One translation of Low Carb is Low Sugar, and corn syrup is sugar, so
35. for that matter, look out for any low carb condiment to save on HFCS – like mustard, mayonnaise and salad dressings. A lot of the Atkins brand products are on sale these days; because the company is bankrupt.
36. Smart Balance makes a kettle corn, without corn syrup or trans fats.
37. Newman’s Own Ranch dressing and
38. Newman’s Own Olive Oil and Vinegar dressing are yummy,
39. or make the MOT’s dressing – crush a clove of garlic in a bowl, drop in a tsp of mustard and mix in 2 tsp of cider vinegar, a pinch of salt and fresh ground black pepper. With a whisk, beat in olive oil until smooth. Finish with a few drops of lemon juice.
40. If you are not allergic to eggs, put one egg yolk in the bowl with the garlic and mustard, then proceed as above. The dressing will be smooth and yummy!
41. Use regular cream or light whipping cream, instead of Reddi-Whip or Cool Whip. The calorie count is almost identical – one tablespoon has 50 calories for regular and 45 calories for light real cream as opposed to 50 calories for Cool Whip. Reddi-Whip is actually MORE expensive than real cream, has HFCS in it and doesn’t last as long in the fridge. Therefore, logic tells us to get real cream – save money, calories and reduce cellulite too! Cool Whip is sooo toxic; it has hydrogenated fats, high fructose corn syrup and corn syrup in it and has the same number of calories as real cream. It makes sense to switch.
42. Drink flavored seltzer instead of sodas. Store brand seltzers are cheaper than name brand sodas in every store, in every state. I know the caffeine/taste/emotional thing is not the same, but sodas are just not worth the corn syrup, to me. I’d rather stay fat eating candy.
43. If you like fresh squeezed juice but think it’s too expensive, get the Horizon brand juices, both fresh and frozen. They are sold all over, except in SD and WY, and taste just like fresh squeezed.
44. Cascadian Farms makes a lot of different cereals, including Clifford Crunch - yum!
45. Cascadian Farms also has a delicious frozen broccoli in cheese sauce – quick and healthy!
46. They also have, in the frozen food section, French fries with no trans fats or HFCS, as well as hash browns, shoestring potatoes and spud puppies – all designed to be baked, not fried.
47. Cascadian Farm makes frozen juices without HFCS, in lemonade, grape and apple.
48. Stonyfield Farm makes ice creams, frozen yogurt and non fat frozen yogurt too; all HFCS free!
49. Reed’s Premium Ginger brew is about $0.99 a 12 oz long neck bottle, and great fun to drink as you drive! I’m just waiting to get pulled over and for the cop to see the words "ginger brew" on the label! Ha ha! Hee hee! Ho Ho! It hasn’t happened yet...
50. And candy! What candy can one buy without HFCS? Well, a lot of the trail mixes are yummy and super sweet and have no added sugars...okay, I’ll shut up. I know, it’s not the same as a Milky Way – so I’ll eat T.J.’s organic 3 bars for $2.00 candy and hunt on line for cane sweetened licorice whips and watch in envy as you sink yer choppers into a Twix.

I actually went on the websites for Cascadian Farm, Horizon Organics, Newman’s Own, Stonyfield Farm and Annie’s foods and found they really are everywhere! Except there are no stores selling Horizon foods in South Dakota and Wyoming, and no stores selling Newman’s own in either North or South Dakota, Oklahoma or Washington D.C. Hmm. Annie’s is available in all 50 states, including Wyoming and the Dakotas, which I found rather reassuring. The sites for these organic foods usually have mailing lists and on-line give aways running. They always have coupons around to encourage you to try and buy their foods too.

Here’s a link to Stonyfield for coupons and free stuff: http://ecards.stonyfield.com/subscriptions.cfm

Here’s a link to Annie’s for coupons and free stuff:
http://www.annies.com/newsletter/e-news.htm

Here’s a link to Cascadian Farm and Muir Glen for shops and more information:
http://www.cfarm.com/

And finally, here’s a link to my Mecca; Trader Joe’s. I hope there is one near you!
http://www.traderjoes.com/locations/index.asp

Happy eating...

Thursday, September 01, 2005

How to Feed the Allergic, the Toddler and the Health Conscious, Part One.

(I started this post a few days ago, when I read yet another thing in the news about the evils of hydrogenated fats. I really feel passionate about this, and I know a bit about the subject too, so this is going to have to be posted in installments. So read up, and tune in for Part Two in a few…)

Recently a friend suggested I write a bit on healthy eating for the NOMOTC Notebook. Well, I would have loved to! I am always scolding my friends and family on the dangerous amounts of hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats (HF and PHF) and corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) they consume for about five years now. However, another writer for the NOMOTC grabbed the subject of healthy snacks before I could. Therefore, I will have to post a bit on the blog and hope that all mamas who wish to avoid such problems as heart disease, liver damage, kidney failure, bad skin, eye trouble, headaches, muscle spasms, hyperactivity, early on-set diabetes, in-growing hairs, corns, blotches, splotches, yellowed eyeballs, warts, bad breath, laziness and premature death in themselves and their families read and pay attention. Yeah, I am a bit of a holier-than-thou Miss Thing when it comes to food (unless it’s an OREO – if so, hold me back!) but the facts do support my wack-o ideas. I wasn’t always so caught up in good eatin’; hell, I used to be a professional chef, and we are a bunch notorious for eating poorly! But I read a bit in Men’s Health Magazine in early 200 about how McDonald’s will kill you. It got me thinking, then got me reading and got me to where I am today. I would also like to point out that high fructose corn syrup is basically liquid cellulite, and who wants that?! But for some reason, there are those who just don’t listen. Will y’all listen to Dr. Sears? We all love Dr. Sears, who backs me up; he calls HFCS and Hydrogenated Fats the Terrible Two, and lists 10 Junk Foods to junk on his website. Here is his list and here are a few quotes here to shock and horrify you about the “foods”, hydrogenated fat and HFCS:

From Ask Dr. Sears dot com:

10 JUNK FOODS

We define a junk food as "a food that is likely to do more harm than good to the body." We've used hot dogs as our, pardon the expression, "model" junk food. They're high in saturated fats, hydrogenated fats, added sugars, additives, food colorings, nitrates, and nitrites.

JUNK FOOD THE UNNUTRITIOUS, POTENTIALLY HARMFUL STUFF THAT'S IN IT:

1. Beef jerky high sodium, high percentage of saturated fat, high in nitrates and nitrites, added food colorings (Healthy alternatives are available.)
2. Colored, sweetened cereals hydrogenated oils, dyes: yellow #6, red #40, blue #2, blue #1 (Most don't contain whole-grain flour, yet may display the American Heart Association's heart-healthy seal of approval.
3. Doughnuts white flour, hydrogenated oils, icing, lots of sugar.
4. Potato chips hydrogenated oils, high in salt.
5. Gelatin desserts dyes, high sugar.
6. Candies hydrogenated oils, high sugar.
7. Punch dyes, high sugar.
8. Sodas high sugar, caffeine, dyes, carbonation.
9. Juice drinks or "cocktails" very little juice, mostly corn syrup and other sweetener.
10. Marshmallows mostly sugar, sticky for teeth.

Well, he makes it pretty clear, eh? Here are my ten alternatives to his Top Ten Foods to Junk:

1. A natural air-dried beef jerky, like Mojo Organic Beef jerky.
2. EnviroKidz cereals; replace your Cocoa Puffs with Koala Crisp, replace your Cap’n Crunch with Peanut Butter Panda Puffs and get your Kix with Gorilla Munch instead. For the parents, try either the Cascadian Farms cereals or the Kashi brand cereals. All are available at Trader Joe’s for about $2.50 a box, as opposed to $3.59 to $3.99 at most grocery stores. Yes, these are all 12 oz boxes…no funny business…
3. Jeez, try any of the baked sweets at Edge of the Woods, my local crunchy store on Whalley Avenue, or look for at a natural food store for the vegan equivalent to your favorite sugar coated snack bomb. When you see a Dunkin’ Donuts, train yourself to just drive on by. I’ll get one of those boxes of coffee there, for a playgroup, but since my little Baby B is allergic to egg, he can’t eat donuts. Ever. Oh well.
4. Instead of the ubiquitous Ruffles, get Terra Chips, Smart Puffs, Pirate’s Booty, Barbara’s Natural Potato Chips and Barbara’s Cheese Puffs, or pop some HF free popcorn at home and bring it along. Circle of Life (Big Y), Newman’s Own and Smart Balance all make microwaveable popcorn free of poison! Yummy!
5. Just avoid those Jell-O cups and pudding snacks. They are just chock a block with evil. I looked at a Chocolate Pudding Snack cup, which proudly proclaimed in large type: 0 grams of trans fats per snack! My my, I guess advertising really is legalized lying, because on the side, in the ingredient list partially hydrogenated soybean oil was right there in plain view. In 8 point type, of course. It’s interesting, I went to the Jell-O website to check some ingredients, but there are no nutritional facts on their website, except their claims that Jell-O pudding cups contain milk! Therefore, they are good for you! Yeah, well, so does a White Russian, but I ain’t giving one to my two year old…
6. Candies…I love candies…there are so many naturally sweetened candies out there! You just have to go to the site for O Naturale dot com, or shop at, you guessed it, Trader Joe’s, and you can find enough hydrogenated fat and corn syrup free hard candies, chewy candies, peanut butter cups, licorices and chocolates to put you into a diabetic coma. Pass the organic mocha truffle bars, would ya?
7. 8 and 9. Punch/Soda/Juice Cocktails…what can I say? Drink water, damn it! Oh, the children…well, dilute their Apple and Eve/Newman’s Own/Knudsen/Horizon/Santa Cruz Organic sugar free juice with some water, so the child grows up with a less than sweet tooth. You can also try the Reed’s Natural Ginger Beer, which comes in berry, extra ginger and apple flavors. All corn syrup free!
11. Marshmallow seemed difficult to find a substitute for, but you gotta love the Internet. Go to Vegan Essential dot com, and look for Ricemellow. You can use it for s’mores, krispy treats, topping hot chocolate, on ice cream, or you can eat it straight from the jar. The brand Fluff is pure Corn syrup, sugar syrup, vanilla flavor, and egg white. Ricemellow is Brown rice syrup, soy protein, natural vegan gums and vanilla. Guess which one we pick for Allergic to Eggs and super sensitive Baby B?

(I guess that the Rice Krispy Treats, made with Rice Krispies (Rice, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Salt, Natural And Artificial Butter Flavor, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Malt Flavoring, Sodium Ascorbate And Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Niacinamide, Reduced Iron, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Vitamin A Palmitate, Thiamin Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 And Vitamin D) and Marshmallow Fluff, that we had at a recent picnic really were the cause for his breakdown that night.)

Now, that is a short list. I have many, many ideas for health snacks and fun treats for my family and myself. Dried fruit! Fresh fruit! Cut up veggies! People say, oh, babies need easy finger foods, like French fries and those Gerber Wagon Wheels. I say – Not! Gerber’s Finger Foods like the Veggie Puffs and the Biter biscuits, the Wagon Wheels and even Zwieback Toast all contain hydrogenated fat! I told this to a friend recently who scoffed at the idea of a company like Gerber putting something so harmful in a baby’s food. Yo, it's all about the benjamins... read the label and see.

Now, just how harmful is hydrogenated fat? That is the focus of this Part One. Rather than me gassing on and on, I have lifted a few quotes from these obviously well researched and well supported sites; one, Harvard dot edu, two, American Heart Assocation dot org and three, Web MD. Read on.

From Harvard: What are the health effects of trans fats?

Concerns have been raised for several decades that consumption of trans fatty acids might have contributed to the 20th century epidemic of coronary heart disease.2
Metabolic studies have shown that trans fats have adverse effects on blood lipid levels--increasing LDL ("bad") cholesterol while decreasing HDL ("good") cholesterol. This combined effect on the ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol is double that of saturated fatty acids.3
Trans fats have also been associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease in epidemiologic studies.4
Based on the available metabolic studies, we estimated in a 1994 report that approximately 30,000 premature coronary heart disease deaths annually could be attributable to consumption of trans fatty acids.4
In response to these reports, a 1995 review sponsored by the food industry concluded that the evidence was insufficient to take action and that further research was needed.5 Since that time many more metabolic studies have been conducted and additional prospective epidemiologic studies have been reported.
Because of the weight of the evidence, the FDA has recently issued a proposal for including trans fatty acid content on the food label.

By our most conservative estimate, replacement of partially hydrogenated fat in the U.S. diet with natural unhydrogenated vegetable oils would prevent approximately 30,000 premature coronary deaths per year, and epidemiologic evidence suggests this number is closer to 100,0000 premature deaths annually.

From The AMA: Where are trans fats found?

Trans fats are unsaturated, but they can raise total and LDL ("bad") cholesterol and lower HDL ("good") cholesterol. Trans fats result from adding hydrogen to vegetable oils used in commercial baked goods and for cooking in most restaurants and fast-food chains.

Cookies, crackers and other commercial baked goods made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils may be high in trans fat.

French fries, donuts and other commercial fried foods are major sources of trans fat in the diet.

And from Web MD: What exactly are Trans Fats?

Trans fatty acids or trans fats are formed when manufacturers turn liquid oils into solid fats. Think shortening and hard margarine. Manufacturers create trans fats via a process called hydrogenation. Hydro-what? In a nutshell, hydrogenation is a process by which vegetable oils are converted to solid fats simply by adding hydrogen atoms.

Why hydrogenate? Hydrogenation increases the shelf life and flavor stability of foods. Indeed, trans fats can be found in a laundry list of foods including vegetable shortening, margarine, crackers (even healthy sounding ones like Nabisco Wheat Thins), cereals, candies, baked goods, cookies, granola bars, chips, snack foods, salad dressings, fats, fried foods, and many other processed foods.

Trans fatty acids are found naturally in small quantities in some foods including beef, pork, lamb, butter, and milk, but most trans fatty acids in the diet come from hydrogenated foods. So there is good news: When the new nutrition labels go into effect Jan. 1, 2006, it will be easier to screen these fats out of your diet. Until then, look at the package's list of ingredients. Products that contain partially hydrogenated oils or vegetable shortening may contain trans fats.

What Do Trans Fats Do Inside the Body?
Like saturated or animal fats, trans fats contribute to clogged arteries. Clogged arteries are a sign of heart disease; they increase your risk of both heart attack and stroke.

I'm not making this up, and it's pretty scary, isn’t it? Now, I know that everything should be done in moderation, and a little isn’t going to kill me and I shouldn’t worry so much about that cookie, but I do. I believe that by eliminating all trans fats, hydrogenated fats and partially hydrogenated fats from my diet, home and life I will be creating better health for me and for my family. Sure, there are going to be times when we consume bad fats unintentionally; at a party, at an airport (when we are desperate) or just in ignorance. That’s fine! I can live with that! Because those times are the “little that won’t kill me” and the “moderation” people like to advise. I want my children to grow up healthy, and by avoiding bad foods, I am doing just that.

Coming Next: High Fructose Corn Syrup gets taken to the mat and beaten to Jell-O.