I Can Make Soymilk!

And so can you! As I write this I am enjoying a cup of fresh, sweet, vanilla chai tea! Mmmmm..... heaven!
I know that you are thinking, "How can she not know about all the information about the problems with too much soy and the estrogen content and all that stuff?" Well, here's the real deal. If you eat mostly whole foods, and any soy products you do eat come from actual soybeans that you purchase or grow on your own, then you don't have to worry about all that stuff. The problem is what they're doing to the soy, not the soy itself.

If you're eating mostly processed foods (i.e. anything with an ingredient list of more than 2) Then you are most likely exposing yourself to processed soy parts. Soy protein isolate, soy powder, soy lecithin, hydrogenated soybean oil, etc... Our bodies don't know what to do with that junk! So we hit maximum soy toxicity levels and have all sorts of unwanted problems like allergic reactions and estrogen imbalance.

Soy, as a whole food, is just like eating kidney beans, for example, or lentils. And the health benefits and nutritional benefits are wonderful.

Er, ahem. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming: "Learning Your 7 Times Tables With Hands On Examples" - I mean, uh, "How to Make Your Own Homemade Soymilk" (I've been awake for waaaaay too many hours this week!)

I watched this video:


Practical "tachliss" recipe:
2 Cups dry soybeans, soaked overnight in 4 cups of water
~ 7-8 cups water
sweetener/flavorings to taste.

equipment:
blender
cheesecloth (or a nylon knee-high like I use! Doesn't everyone have pantyhose as kitchen utensils?!?)
a large pot
an extra bowl

yields (i before e, except after c. Yes, I did just say that.) about a liter and a half of soymilk.

I have one thing to add. Before you put the pot on the fire, rub some vegetable oil on the inside of the rim, it will prevent it from boiling over. 
Also, I highly recommend blending the beans for at least 2 minutes, as he says, otherwise your milk will be very watery.
And another thing: Don't throw out that soy meal! You can use it to make bread, or muffins, or soy burgers! Or just add it to your next smoothie for an extra kick of protein! (and this is one of those i/e exceptions that remind me how much I love my spellcheck!)

If you try it, please do let me know how it came out for you! I am thouroughly enjoying my tea!

The Tale of Odeliya and Horses

I have been watiing to post this until the video was up, so now I can finally post this story!

A few weeks ago my friend invited me to walk with her to this beautiful stream/wadi right outside Katzerin. So close, in fact, that we walked there: My pregnant friend, me wearing Yitzchak, and Odeliya in the stroller!

So anyway, we go. On our way we see two beautiful horses, we later met their owner, Odeliya went right up to them. Mind you this was her first time actually being near a horse that wasn't in a zoo. I was extremely disappointed about not bringing my camera! Once we got to the stream and got settled I found my Flip video camera in my bag! So we got footage of us playing at the stream and we also got some of the horses on the way back. Fortunately or unfortunately... you'll have to decide!



Yes, it is 10 minutes long, but they are absolutely beautiful horses, and it gets pretty intense when they started bullying us for more food. (Also, try to catch what it says on the sign at the entrance in the last bit of the video... it's pretty indicitive of life up here!)

I'm growing a new addition...

...to my baking repertoire! I'm raising a wild yeast starter!
Basically, that means I'm making my own yeast for baking. I'm using the instructions from wildyeastblog and I'll keep you posted as to how it turns out!

Today is day 2, and I noticed one big bubble!!! I now need to discard about 2/3's of the mix and replace it with new flour and water...

What's On My Search Engine

I think you can tell a lot about a person by what's in their search bar. ;-)

This is what I looked up yesterday:
Soybean Recipes  (I have a 1/2 kilo bag of dry soybeans in my freezer)
Although now I have a cup of it soaking over night as per this site's directions for making tofu.
I'm also going to try dry-roasting them, which is also on that site.

I have also been feeling the "sweet" deprivation. I love apples and oranges, but they're nothing compared to the candy of summer fruit. I miss the plums and peaches and nectarines...mmmmm... fall and winter fruit are muted and deeper. Well, it's lead me to search for some winter confections and as my lemon tree is in full bloom, I started with a search for lemon recipes.
Here are the faves that I'll be trying:
Lemon Curd
Lemon Muffins
Lemon Sponge Pudding
Lemon Cookies

And I made this incredible coffee cake for Shabbat, but it used a heckuvalotta margarine and I'm going to play around with it, and add the lemon curd... I'll definitely the recipe with pictures when I get it right.

Last week I was looking up how to make my own essential oils and herbal teas. I picked some eucalyptus leaves off the trees near my house and wanted to do something with them to help the congestion that's been plaguing the kids.
This was the site I found that seemed the most comprehensive: Gardens Ablaze. Some really awesome stuff on there.

The Genius of Tani

I know, I'm biased, but I'm open to comments... remember he's only 5.

So first, a joke. You've probably heard this one before. I was listening quietly as Yoram told it to Tani.
I'll be making you scroll down a bit, sorry, but I want you to have the full effect.

Ok, so how do you get a giraffe into a refrigerator?
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..
..
..
..
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Open the door, put in the giraffe and close the door.
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How do you get an elephant into a refrigerator?
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Open the door, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door.
(Tani laughs)
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The Lion, King of the Animals, calls a big meeting, all the animals come except one. Who didn't come?
(without missing a beat, Netanel answers:)
The elephant.
"why?" askes my astonished husband.
"Because he was in the refrigerator!"

Yoram and I looked at each other somewhat bemused.
Half an hour later, I'm making omlettes for dinner in the kitchen and the baby is in his bouncy seat while Yoram bring Odeliya up to bed (having fallen asleep on his shoulder, did I mention she hasn't been napping since she started daycare?)

Netanel, in the meantime, is entertaining Yitzchak, and suddenly we hear, "Kooshkoosh, how do you get a giraffe in a refrigerator?" The hysterical part is when he takes the toy elephents off the bouncy seat and puts them in the fridge! Amidst shouts and gurgles of glee from the baby!
(Yoram grabbed thhe flip, so I'll add the video of it as soon as its up.)

When in doubt... Cook!

I've been feeling neglectul of my blog (and so too my adoring fans :P!) So I decided to post a healthy, easy recipe that I started making for my family.

It uses some of my favorite vegetales: eggplant and tomatoes - neither of which are actually vegetables! Eggplant is a berry and tomato plants are herbaceous, while the tomato itself acually classifies as a fruit. Theres a tidbit for you trivia buffs!

So, anyway, I call it Don't Tell The Kids Its Not Eggplant Parmesian! A long name, I concur, but thats how it was inspired, so there it is.

Ingredients:
Two medium eggplants
5 tomatoes (I prefer campari, but any variety will do)
1 large onion
3-5 cloves garlic
1 egg
Oilive Oil
about 1 lb (1/2 kilo) shredded cheese (your choice: parmesan, cheddar, mozarela, a mix, or whatever melts well and gets your tastebuds all a-flutter!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees  (~190 Celcius)
Dice onion, eggplant and tomato
Sautee in olive oil with the garlic until you have a nice soft mush
add the egg and cheese and stir quickly,  so you don't get pieces of cooked egg!
pour into a casserol dish or 9X13 pan and bake uncovered for 40 min.

I sprinkle some ground flax seeds on the top before baking.

 !בתאבון
Enjoy!

Miss O in Daycare!

On Sunday my two-and-a-half year old, with her crown of bobbing curls, decided to upset the schedule.
It was a normal day and we'd had a lovely morning when Miss O started looking tired, as she normally does around 11am. Its great, she asks for her מוצץ (pacifier), I carry her to bed, read a short book, kiss on the forehead, "I love you, sweetie." "I wuv you too, Mommy." walk out the door.
Still according to schedule.
I si down on the couch to nurse Kooshkoosh, w/ my cup of tea, and begin to enjoy my hour and a half of quiet time, Mommy-and-baby-time. Thats when the trouble starts...

I hear noises from upstairs. Ok, maybe she's looking at a book, she'll be asleep in a few minutes...
I hear the distintive rustling sound of a tiny creature decending from her bed...
She goes into the bathroom, phew! Great, she's gonne pee - and even if she needs me to come up and help her, she'll go right into bed afterwards and I'll get to breathe.
She calls me upstairs.
Upon finishing up, she informs me in no uncertain terms:
"No, I not tired. I awake! I wanna come downstairs and get chocolate and watch a weevee (movie)"

Deep breath. We go downstairs. We color, we play, she's not getting tired. We even watch the goggie weevee (Lady and The Tramp "doggie movie") and no sign of sleepiness. Now it's only a couple of hours before Tani comes home and I realize that I am looking at being "on" in Mommy-mode all day. And my nerves begin to quiver... I send Yoram a text message:
"O is going to daycare starting tomorrow. She decided not to take a nap"
The response: "Ok"

So this is day 3 of Odeliya in daycare. Day 1 was really tough for me. I missed her, and wondered if she was enjoying herself (even though I know she was having a blast!)

Its a small group in the woman's home. Three kids Odeliya's age (including her adorable little boyfriend, Maor - who I'll blog more about in a different post!) and two little babies. Nona, the teacher is fantastic, loving, creative... I pick her up at 12:45, and she's been fed a full lunch. She's jumping up and down with glee and she can't wait to go back in the morning. The first day she napped at 3:30 which was a disaster. Yesterday she didn't nap at all, she just went to sleep early - and it was wonderful!

I have more energy, some time to play alone with my little guy, and time to actually get things done around the house! When people ask where she is and I tell them, their words of encouragement and support make me wonder what a mess I must have been up until now!

The Moments Moms Don't Talk Abouut

Last week I took a dive of the edge of the mothering cliff. There's only so much diapers, and dirty floors, and dishes, and potty misses, and hunger, and rushing to school, and nursing and diapers... that a woman can take! At some point I walked into my kids room at night and looked at their peaceful, sweet faces and wondered, "who's children are these?" They didn't look capable of infllicting the kind of torture, disrespect and messiness that they have been dolling out these past few days. And I walked out of their room feeling guilty and ashamed as my mind brought forth a flood of images of them being sweet, nurturing, thoughtful, clever, funny, helpful...

I know I love them, and I would do anything for them - in fact I am doing just that, and that's the problem. Yesterday, after talking to my mom, I called a babysitter and for the first time in almost a year, Yoram and I went on a date. We walked out of the city along the main road to the industrial park.After wanderinng around a bit, including finding a spot dark enough to see the infinite expanse of stars, we found our way to the Golan Heights Brewery and tried some excellent freshly brewed beers.

When we got home only Miss O was awake, but she fell asleep as soon as I lied down w/ her.

I feel a lot better now, especially after committing to go out twice a month. And I also know that sometimes even Mommies need a break.

My dirty little secret...

Am I a horrible mother? I mean, it's so sad when they're not feeling well and they're out of sorts, but a teeny tiny little part of me kind of likes snuggling under the covers w/ tea and toast and watching movies all day!

And while we're on the topic, I am infinitely impressed that they drank the tea I made for them today! just brewed fresh mint leaves w/ lemon, honey and ginger. They both loved it! hehehe, I'm such a sneaky mommy, giving them yummy things that will also help them get better... hehehe ;-)

Tomorrow NBN Go North people are coming to take community profilee pictures of Katserin! So cool!

A possible next step

I started going to a parenting class with some of the other moms, the teacher is fantastic! We're going to be talking about setting borders from love and how to awaken our child's own ability to handle stressful situations... - but that's not the point of the story.

The point is that after it was over, we were chatting. One mom, who is ver pregnant and due to give birth very soon was talking about her discomforts, and also the stress she's feeling b/c she wants to give birth in a hospital in Netanya which is an hour away. So a second friend who was sitting between me and the speaker turned to me and asked, "don't you have anything to help her, a remedy of some sort?"

First I balked, but then I realized that I do have something that would put her at ease and help her feel more comfortable! (that's still not the point)

The point is, that I am becoming known as someone who is versed in natural remedies, I think I'd like to look into studying naturapathy or homeopathy... but I'd love to start with a good book oin the topic.
Any recommendations?

Maybe it's not the flu...

All the kids in his class had it, each one was out for a week, and then passed it on to the rest of their families... and just when I was beginning to feel neglected that nasty stinky virus found it's way into Netanel's little cells.
His immune system seems to be making a valiant battle, and I'm particular about not giving a fever reducer unless the temperature is higher than 100.4, b/c the fever is a symptom of your immune system fighting the illness, not the other way around. In fact, I had to have Yoram pick up some children's ibuprofen b/c we had none in the house.

Well, he's feeling a lot better this morning, but we're still bunking up in bed w/ blankets (which I freshly washed) and fresh peppermint tea w/ lemon, and chicken soup. And Disney movies. And in this wonderful, blessed downpour, I don't feel like I'm missing anything outside!

But I am out of honey, so I will have to venture out at some point... maybe tomorrow everyone will be better... :-)