Braised Spinach

Heat 2 tbsp coconut oil over medium heat.  Add 1/2 cup sliced garlic or leeks and 1/8 tsp sea salt.  Saute for 3 minutes or until they caramelize.  Add 4 cups fresh spinach.  Continue stirring over medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until wilted.

Serve.

Happy Hippie Fudge; easy guilt free chocolate

Satisfy a craving. Load up on good things like antioxidants and local honey.  Avoid all those unwanteds like preservatives, dyes, and unethical factory production practices.
Simple.  Quick.  And very affordable.

Ingredients:
Your favorite fair trade chocolate powder.  Cocoa or cacao.  Take your pick.
Coconut oil.  I like organic unrefined.
Local raw honey
Your favorite nut butter


Use equal parts of all four.  I usually do 1/4 cup.
In a sauce pan, melt oil on low heat.  Remove from heat.  Stir in honey and chocolate.
Pour into glass dish.  I use 5x8. Optional: line dish with wax or parchment paper
Pour in mixture.  Spoon in nut butter.  Swirl.

Chill in freezer for 15 minutes to set.
Either remove paper and slice or slice in dish.  You can play with small cookie cutters if you are patient.  I prefer a sharp knife.
Fudge is creamy and rich.
Enjoy!

Electrolytes- Better than Berry Ade

Did you know that staying hydrated is not just about drinking water?  You need electrolytes.  This is especially important for athletes, people working in the sun and pregnant or nursing moms.
Coconut water is a great source, but at $2+ per serving, it is not very budget friendly.

This homemade electrolyte drink is much healthier than commercial versions, easy and affordable.

Better than Berry Ade

3 cups water
1 cup frozen strawberries
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 Tbsp honey
1/8 tsp sea salt

Blend and serve!

For bonus points, add 1/4 cup kombucha.

Services Available- Prenatal

Classes-

• Healthy pregnancy
• Birth Journey
• Comfort Measures 
• Birth plan writing 
• Private classes and consultations

Healthy pregnancy is a free 1 hr class offered to moms from 4-15 weeks.  Topics covered include diet,  exercise,  and environment.

Birth Journey is an intense four week series for couples who are 23-31 weeks when it begins. It's focus is emotional and spiritual preparation for birth while relationship building.  $200 per couple

Comfort measures is a three hour class for moms and support people.   Mom should be 27-35 weeks for this class.   $60

Birth plan writing.   A private 90 minute session exploring and preparing your birth plan.   $60

Customized classes,  private series and consultations available.  Email for details.


All classes are offered quarterly.  Email for currentschedule.


Eden.naturals@yahoo.com

What did you take away from church today?

Moments.   Change.   Cycles.   Life.

Red. Orange. Yellow. Green.

I'm drawn to the reds and yellows.  Kristian sees the beauty in the green.   Makes sense,  right?  Neither of us appreciate the browns very much.   Maybe that will come in time.   Another season.

Circles.  Cycles.   Seasons of change.   

Seeing a bigger picture. Taking a broader view. 

Doing church differently.  Realizing that different is ok.  It serves my family well. 

Balancing the scales of routine and growth.   Taking a fresh look.   Being intentional.   Admitting that my spiritual life needed an evaluation.  Feeling grateful for the uncomfortable spot that lead me there. 

Seeing that mature relationships leave room for change.   I loved my church as a child.   I loved my church as it began to love my children.   And now as an adult,  I love my church differently.   Grateful that our relationship is not stagnant.   That it does allow me to grow. 

Grateful that my beautiful baby decided to lead me outside.   To spots filled with beauty.   A different side of God .  A space for a new perspective. 

Where did church lead you today?   What did you take away? 

A note to my toddler

Just a few reminders to help us survive today 

~Before flooding the bathroom,  you should first build an ark. You will need it to sail away and find the rainbow that is not visible from here. 

~If you want to pretend to be a dog,  try barking or wagging your tail.  This game of marking your territory stinks.

~Mommy's food,  Daddy's food and your food are all equally good.   If you like the cabbage on my plate,  you'll like yours just the same.

~If I have to lock myself in my bedroom to take a phone call,  please find a location that is not exactly the other side of that same door to scream for Daddy.

~Laughing hysterically after misbehaving doesn't make you less guilty.   It makes us feel for the padding of the cell wall. 

~Waiting for daddy with shining eyes set to the back door,  ready to play catch as soon as he crosses the threshold,  cuddling to me,  reminding me that you are both a little boy and my baby,  asking for kisses when you're sad,  being ridiculously cute; these things make you forgivable.

You work on your end and I'll keep working on mine. 

Love, 
Mom 

Why Our Nipples Belong on Facebook ~~*The Power of Sharing Story*~~

In the Journal of Perinatal Education, Emily Drake tells us 'The purpose of publishing stories is threefold: to preserve culture,  to document knowledge,  and to stimulate change .' 'Stories make us challenge our old ways of thinking and look critically at our traditional practices.   Stories can provide a vision of what is past and what is possible. '

With local c/s rates that hover around 50% and a birth culture that has normalized assault, isn't it time that we consider what is possible? 

Embrace red tent living.  We are here to support each other. It is our duty to share story in order to protect the births of our grandchildren. 

 'It lets us know we aren't alone in our birth experiences (good or bad). I love to read other's birth stories because it lets you see a different side of people. Birth is an amazing experience and for someone to be willing to share that story with me means a lot.' says Lucrecia Mouser a local VBAC mom and former breastfeeding peer counselor.

Sometimes,  the side of them you are seeing is naked.  Birth is raw.

Erin Bailey, a VBAC mom and former ICAN leader says , 'Sharing my birth stories and listening to others, especially who had similar experiences, helped me validate my feelings, understand them and move forward. '


La Leche League leader Meghan MacInnis says, 'When births don't go as planned, birth stories give moms a way to grieve the "perfect birth they lost". It also gives moms hoping for something a realistic look at what happens "once the water breaks".'


Birth experiences vary widely.  Sometimes it's beauty.  Living art .  Sometimes it's trauma.  Always, it is sacred.


'I love that sharing birth stories shows women variations of normal, an educational aspect I feel is crucial to a woman having realistic expectations from her birth experiences.' adds Erin.

Where should we share?  Wherever women are gathered!   By sharing stories of birth, we are changing the culture one stifled attitude at a time.   If we wait for an invitation to tell the story,  we're missing an opportunity to promote change.   Often,  the souls who need the change the most are the least likely to offer you the floor.  

'For me sharing the story of my daughter's birth gives me the chance to let people know that even an unexpected & scary experience still has beauty. Sharing the birth stories of my sons lets me share that EVERY birth is different and beautiful in its own way. Sometimes it's a little harder to find the joy in a birth that didn't go as planned but it is there. My daughter's birth was an unexpected emergency c-section and she spent a month in NICU. Now I can see the beauty and know that God had a bigger plan for us when we were going through that experience. I was able to use that experience when I was a Breastfeeding Peer Counselor. Letting other moms know that I had been there too and giving them a shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen. The same goes for the miscarriage I experienced. I never knew there were so many people out there carrying the same pain. As women I feel we need to share these experiences and let others know we've been there and each moment in life has beauty to celebrate.' Lucrecia Mouser

Sharing beautiful stories normalizes physiological birth.  It promotes better outcomes.   It saves lives and aids breastfeeding.  Sharing traumatic stories saves lives on another  level.  No matter where your story falls,  it demands to be shared.   Loud, proud and with pictures.   If that means putting naked on the table or accidentally exposing a nipple, so be it.  I'll take that hit.   My nipple lost its sanctity long ago somewhere among the swim suit ads.

*Links to your stories welcomed as comments*