Little Macs

Amanda and Lucy loved these cacao macaroons when they stopped over after a Monday walk. They are gluten free, grain free and low glycemic because of the coconut nectar. You could also use agave or maple syrup if you prefer. Well, I promised to post the recipe, so here it is!

Ingredients:

3 cups raw unsweetened, shredded coconut

1/3 cup coconut oil or coconut butter (I used coconut butter that I made, quite easy if you have a Vitamix or a high-speed blender. Just search for “coconut butter” on YouTube and you will find many videos on making it. It is literally just filling the blender with shredded coconut and blending until it changes consistency.)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup almond flour or hazelnut flour

1 cup raw cacao powder

1/2 teaspoon Himalayan salt

1 coconut nectar

Add all of the ingredients by hand or in a mixer. With a small ice cream type scoop, scoop them out onto a cookie sheet.

You can put them into a dehydrator at 110 degrees 2-3 hours, just enough to be slightly firm on the outside. Or you can put them in the freezer and eat them more like truffles. Either way, they are great!

Glorious Greens!

Thank you thank you to Kris Wolcott and Mary Anderson for teaching the Nutrition class on Monday. The topic was Glorious Green and boy, did they whip up a storm! I was at a birth earlier in the morning, so when I got home to the class around 1pm, the kitchen was buzzing with smoothies, kale chips, kale salads, toasted sesame seeds. Ever inch of counter space was in use. I will post all the recipes over the next few days. For now, read about the Kale salad below.

Here’s a little about our presenters:

Kris and Mary at work!

Kris Wolcott:  Kris has spent over 20 years in the field of education.  She holds a M.A. in education with multiple certifications in educational support. Passionate about holistic health and nutrition, especially for the developing child, she is a registered yoga teacher and is currently enrolled in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and will graduate this summer as a Certified Holistic Heath Counselor.  A mother of two, when not tending to the home fires, she can be found teaching yoga, working with incarcerated girls or teaching cooking in nutrition classes in under served communities.

Mary Anderson:  Mary has spent many years working to support families here in San Francisco.  She holds a M.S.W. and has spent her time in settings that range from San Francisco General Hospital to her own children’s classrooms.  She is a certified birth doula and is currently enrolled in the Institute of Integrative Nutrition working toward certification as a Holistic Health Counselor this summer.  She brings with her a wealth of knowledge gained from her experiences not only as a social worker and doula, but most of all from her years spent as a mother of two.

 

Raw Kale Salad Recipe

Combine one bunch of kale (thick stems removed and chopped) with several tablespoons of good quality olive oil. Add a dash of salt and massage the leaves for 2-3 minutes. This helps to tenderize the kale. Add a generous squeeze of lemon and let sit. Add avocado, carrot, apple, nuts, anything you like, just before serving. This salad will keep for a day in the fridge.

Easy Lemon Dressing

Kris is not partial to giving measured amounts. Instead she cooks by ratio. The basic ratio for salad dressing is 1 part acid to 3 parts oil. For the Kale salad, in a small bowl or jar, squeeze a lemon, add salt and pepper (pink Himalayan salt is good), whisk in good olive oil. That’s all!

Easy Asian Dressing

Here’s a general idea of measurements for the dressing: 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar , 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil, 1/2 tbsp honey or other sweetener (maybe more or less?), 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds,  1/2 tsp soy/tamari sauce. A little fresh grated ginger is also good.  The honey is optional but at the demo, this dressing was my favorite. I’ll have to try it out without the sweetener and see how it tastes! Seasoned rice vinegar is sweet, so that may be enough. Use raw, unfiltered honey for the most nutrient value. Use tamari if you need the dressing to be gluten free.

Green lunch!

Nourishing Our Children

Not the new book! But the pantry staple.

Just found this blog that goes along with the new book, Nourishing Our Children. Click HERE for the link. Since they are here in San Francisco, I will try to get them to present at our nutrition class. Here are some photos from last month’s Weston A. Price Foundation presentation. Thank you so much to Lydia Rose for making bone broth and giving us an intro to WAPF!

Korean Soup — Delivered!

Thanks to Kathryn Aaker for contributing this info. She had a homebirth last year. Her son, Noah, is 14mo! Here’s what Kathryn says, “I subscribed to your food blog and noticed the Korean soup recipes and thought I’d mention that there’s also some ladies in Oakland who make Chinese and Korean postpartum soups and stews, and sell them individually through Good Eggs.  It might be a good resource for new mamas who might be too busy to cook!

http://mamatongsoup.com/

https://www.goodeggs.com/mamatong

 I truly believe that it was nutrition that literally helped me survive my postpartum, plus be able to continue exclusive breastfeeding!  Angie Needels stocked me up with her amazing WAPF-influenced postpartum food, and it helped so so much.

http://www.mamakai.org/

So thanks for educating families on the importance of this stuff!  I know I definitely appreciated knowing what a difference it could make, when I really needed it most.

Take care,

Kathryn Aaker

Miyuk Gook — Korean Postpartum Soup to Increase Milk Supply

Thank you to Stella Kang for sharing the links below. Stella was able to increase her milk supply with a Korean seaweed soup that her family brought to her throughout the first 6 weeks postpartum. This soup is traditional in Korean culture and referred to as “birthday soup.” Stella drank this soup everyday and is successfully breastfeeding without any supplementation.

Her grandma insists that using pork instead of beef is better for breastmilk production in this soup. It can also be made without beef or pork.

http://drbenkim.com/recipes-seaweed-soup.html

http://koreanfood.about.com/od/soupsandstews/r/miyukgook.htm

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/korean-style-seaweed-soup/

And here’s one that I found:

http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/blog/archive/2011/05/asian-american-mothers-and-postpartum-food-traditions-korean-seaweed-soup-recip

Gluten Class: For Free!

Thank you so much to Tara Rota of We Holistic Lifestyle Coaching for coming to talk to some homebirthers about Gluten. Nutrition Classes will be a part of the Wisewoman Childbirth Traditions 2013 Fitness Program. Any of my clients, past and present, are invited to attend for free. Gosh, you could even host a class yourself if have something about a healthy, nutritious lifestyle that you would like to share. 

We started the class by sampling some gluten-free, buckwheat crepes. The basics of this recipe comes from Gluten Free Girl and the Chef. Elizabeth put together the Pumpkin Bars with hazelnut flour from Elana’s Pantry (I would substitute Coconut Nectar for the Agave) and Harmony made the Scones with Almond Flour from Elana Amsterdam’s The Gluten Free Almond Flour Cookbook.

I think we all liked the scones the best.

Stay tuned for next month’s Nutrition class from Wisewoman Childbirth Traditions!

How to Survive the Holidays with Gestational Diabetes

Thanks to Liz Farsaci for this helpful post. Even though the holidays are over, these are great suggestions for all year round!

I found out that I had Gestational Diabetes two days before Christmas. However, a nutritionist couldn’t meet with me until after the holidays. I felt unmoored in this no man’s land between the knowledge that I had GD and lack of information about what exactly that meant for my diet. The only thing I did know was that I couldn’t eat sugar or bread. On Christmas day, I sat in a crowded restaurant, drinking water, eating celery sticks and feeling extremely sorry for myself.

A week later, I was able to speak with a nutritionist and get more information about the diet I needed to follow, if I wanted to keep my blood sugar levels down. Although I couldn’t eat any sugars and had to monitor starches such as bread, potatoes and beans, I also learned that there were many other foods I could eat. These included all the vegetables, nuts, seeds, cheeses and meats I wanted. I started to explore some recipes based on these ingredients. Below are some of my favorite meals and treats.

Following a GD diet and exercising after meals was difficult. However, because of all my work, I was able to give birth at home to a beautiful, healthy, 6 lbs, 15 oz boy. As I snuggled him to my chest, I knew that all my efforts had been worth it, and I couldn’t ask for a better prize. If I could do this, you can too!

All You Can Eat GD Recipes

Salad
Spice up your salad using a variety of greens such as spinach, arugula and romaine lettuce. Avocados, nuts and cheeses add important protein and good fats and they made salads delicious, so you can pile those onto your greens. Roasted red peppers always add flavor and color.

Frittata
This dish feels fancy and all of its ingredients – vegetables, cheese, meat (optional), and eggs – are “free” when you’re on a GD diet. Preheat the oven to 400. Sauté the vegetables and meat with olive oil, adding salt, pepper and any other spices you like. Put the vegetables and meat into a baking dish. Beat the eggs (usually about 8-10) and pour them over the vegetables. Sprinkle on the cheese, most of which will sink to the bottom (that’s fine). Put the frittata in the oven for 20-30 minutes – this depends on the size of the baking dish you use. You want the frittata to be fully cooked through (test with a knife) and then slightly brown on top.

Tapas
Tapas are delicious, and you can eat many of them while still maintaining your GD diet. These include: asparagus or jumbo shrimp sauteed in olive oil, salt and garlic; onions, red peppers and eggplant; chorizo sausages; olives and cheese… the list goes on. You can also have Spanish tortilla, as long as you measure how much potato you put into it. When I’m looking for tapa ideas, I like to go eat at Esperpento on 22nd Street.

Soup
Vegetable soup is a nice warm, wintry dish. You can make the carrot soup recipe that Maria previously posted (just don’t put the agave on the pecans). I also like to make a red pepper soup, simply using the peppers instead of the carrots.

Treat Yourself

We all like to have fun and treat ourselves during the holidays. Often, we do this by drinking, smoking and eating sugary foods. Obviously, when you’re pregnant and have gestational diabetes, you have to think of alternatives! The good news is that there are delicious, healthy foods that can be your holiday treats. Here’s a list:

– Nuts or cheeses you love but don’t usually buy because they’re expensive
– Raspberries, blueberries or strawberries, combined with nuts or Maria’s amazing cashew cream
– Fancy olive oil and vinaigrettes from Olive This, Olive That in Noe Valley. Seriously, these taste way better than the olive oil you get for everyday use.