DIY: Fermented Cod Liver Oil Gummies

Fermented cold liver oil is a traditional super food with far-reaching health benefits. Making friendly little gummies is one way to get the good stuff into your kids’ bellies! Assuming you aren’t taking care of a three month old and a two year old, you can whip these up in about thirty minutes.

Here’s what you need…

6 tablespoons of gelatin

6 tablespoons of honey

6 tablespoons of fermented cod liver oil

2 scoops of Amazing Grass Kidz Superfood (totally optional, but it adds vitamins)

1 cup of juice (I prefer organic grape juice, but you can use your favorite.)

Spray the mold of your choice with coconut oil (or whatever cooking spray you have on hand). This helps you get the gummies out without tearing them apart. You can use ice cube trays or candy molds. (I use a gingerbread man mold.)

Add ingredients to a saucepan, and whisk together on low heat. I add the juice first and the gelatin last, that way everything gets mixed together before adding the gelatin. This step only takes a few minutes.

Pour into molds, then place them in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. If your molds are deep, then it may take a little longer. Store them in the fridge after popping them out of the molds. Assuming your gummies are approximately the size of an ice cube, each gummy is two servings. Sadly, I chop the gingerbread gummy guy in half to achieve my son’s daily FCLO ration. RIP, you healthy little gummy guys!

Reclaim Your Postpartum Body!

The ability to create, grow, and birth a baby is one of life’s most spectacular blessings. The journey to motherhood changes your heart, soul, mind, and — of course — your body. The above photographs document my second pregnancy and fourth trimester. That special three-month-period in which your new baby learns how to transition from life in the womb to life on land, and when your body begins the transition back to some semblance of normalcy. The “after” photos were taken at six, nine, twelve, and fifteen weeks postpartum.

I gained fifty pounds with my first pregnancy; four months of bed rest were not kind to my mind or body. The first time around, I gave myself much grace and figured my body would get back to it’s old self whenever it was ready. In the meantime, I ate whatever I wanted, did minimal exercise, and focused on taking care of my sweet son. It took me fourteen months to fit back into my pre-pregnancy clothes. Looking back, I now realize that I gave myself a bit too much grace in that endeavor!

This time around, things were different. I had an extremely healthy pregnancy, gained only thirty-five pounds, and breastfeeding was off to a fabulous start — the complete opposite experience of my first pregnancy. I credit clean eating and exercise to getting me this far this early. At this point, I’m not quite back into my pre-pregnancy clothes, but I am strong and healthy.

Here are the two-ish steps I followed to better health…

1. Eat Clean.
When my first son was a year old, I gave up gluten. It took me about three months to fully wean myself to a 100% gluten-free diet. The health benefits were immediate, and I lost about ten pounds in a one-month period. Along with the gluten transition, I began eating whole foods. Grass-fed beef, hormone-free chicken, and organic vegetables became part of my family’s everyday diet. We all experienced better health. Once I got pregnant with my second baby, I didn’t need to completely overhaul my diet…I just needed to set boundaries with ice cream and chocolate. (Easier said than done.) Going gluten-free isn’t essential for everyone, but it was for me.

So, if you’re looking to get pregnant, change your diet now. Get rid of processed foods; don’t buy them anymore. Shop the perimeter of your grocery store and check out farmers’ markets. Bananas are cheaper than Blue Bell, so I couldn’t use money as an excuse. Any vegetable (organic or not) is better than a box of cereal. If you already are pregnant, change your diet now. Every extra pound you gain due to poor nutrition makes it harder for your body to recover…and unhealthy food choices do affect your baby, no matter what your OBGYN says. Trust me.

After having my second baby, I followed the advice of Kris Moulton, owner of Moulton Kettlebell. I took his thirty day challenge, The Forge, in order to jump-start my journey. His beautiful wife had a baby the same month I did, so he’s very familiar with postpartum challenges. Through daily nutritional logs (kept via My Fitness Pal), he helped me course-correct my diet. I was averaging eighty grams of sugar a day, and he helped me reign it in to approximately thirty grams. Chocolate covered almonds were (and are) my Kryptonite. My protein intake was much too low, so he stayed on me to increase my protein. Chasing after a two year old and taking care of a newborn kept me busy…so I didn’t always eat enough calories. On the days I didn’t eat enough calories (or too much sugar, or not enough protein), you better believe Kris called me out on it. I needed his constant encouragement because I was too exhausted from ’round-the-clock-nursing and keeping up with a toddler to police my own diet. I lost four pounds the first week of The Forge program, and I never once had to leave my house.

2. Move Your Body.
At five weeks postpartum I joined Camp Gladiator, a boot-camp style group workout that meets at 5:15am a few miles from my house. I loved it. I’ve always responded to group workouts with an encouraging trainer much better than wandering around the gym solo. I’m a military girl, after all. These workouts are designed to allow everyone at all fitness levels to succeed. The trainers encourage everyone to take the workouts at their own pace, and are quick to offer success options (modifications) to meet each individual need. However, five weeks postpartum was a bit too early for my body to engage in such high-impact exercise. I injured my knees two weeks into the program, and it took me about six weeks to recover.

Remember: Your body is full of the relaxin hormone, which allowed your body to stretch and accommodate your growing baby. That hormone hangs around in your body for many months after birth. I ignored that important fact, and hyperextended my knees with a relatively simple exercise. My body just wasn’t ready for that type of workout. (Yet!)

During my recovery phase, I woke up before my toddler and new baby to do at-home workouts. Winsor Pilates 20 Minute Workout was perfect for my early postpartum days — I could lay on the ground with my eyes closed to perform the workout, which was exactly what I needed after all-night nurse-a-thons!

Once my knees were back to normal, I knew it was time to step it up. I transitioned from Pilates every day to kettlebell workouts two or three days a week, with Pilates on alternating days. Kris Moulton hooked me up with personalized kettlebell workouts through The Forge program, and they greatly increased my strength. Lifting heavy things is essential to weight loss, health, and fitness. Jillian Michaels has a good kettlebell workout, and if you’re an Amazon Prime customer, you have access to it for free!

When the baby was three months old, my body was strong enough to handle Camp Gladiator. I learned my lesson and eased back into the program. Two days a week the first couple of weeks, then up to three days. My eventual goal is five days a week, but I will allow myself much grace in reaching that goal. I’m not quite there yet!

Postpartum Progress:
Next week, my son will be four months old, and I’m so proud of the progress I’ve made! It took me over a year to get this far with my first son. This time around, I knew my weaknesses, identified my obstacles, and made daily decisions to overcome them. My body will never look like it did when I was twenty-two, and I’m perfectly fine with that. My thirty-one year old body has birthed two beautiful babies (without any pain meds, I might add), nursed the first one for almost two years, and will nurse the second one for about the same length of time. I still don’t fit in my pre-baby clothes, and I probably won’t until the baby weans (many, many months from now). As far as I’m concerned, healthy is the new skinny. I will continue to focus on clean eating and moving my body. Small, smart choices over time add up to BIG results!

How to Freeze Bone Broth

For those lucky enough to have plenty of freezer space, freezing bone broth in ice cube trays is a great method of long-term storage. To say my freezer space is limited is a gross understatement…too narrow and too crowded to successfully accommodate ice cube trays. It took me quite a bit of rearranging to get enough free space for a handful of mason jars. So, for those of you with a similar problem, here’s how to safely freeze your bone broth. This method also works for soups and sauces.

Once your broth is finished, carefully funnel it into mason jars. I used a ladle and a breast pump flange — ah, the glamorous life of a nursing mother. Leave at least an inch of headspace. I usually leave more to be on the safe side. Liquid expands as it freezes, so you need to allow some wiggle room. Do NOT put the lids on the jars (yet). Notice the photos are lid-free. Let the jars cool at room temperature for a couple of hours. You can also put them in the fridge if there’s enough room…without lids. Once the jars are no longer piping hot, place them in the freezer. Without lids. (It’s kind of important!)

Leave the opened jars of broth in the freezer for approximately 24 hours. This allows plenty of time for the liquid to freeze and expand. The extra headspace and lack of lid keep the jar from bursting. After everything is frozen solid, affix the lids. Lids are the last step.

All of these jars contain the same amount of broth. The fully frozen jar on the right shows how much expansion occurs during the freezing process. Not a huge amount, but definitely enough to crack your jars. The frozen broth (or soup or sauce) will last about six months.

This is the perfect way for me to enjoy a cup of bone broth when I start feeling a little under the weather. While I use some of it for cooking, my main purpose for making bone broth is to get me through cold and flu season. As soon as my throat gets scratchy, I grab one of the frozen jars and thaw it in warm water. Once it’s thawed, I heat it up, season with sea salt, and sip it like hot tea. Delicious!

Banana Bread: Gluten-Free & Protein-Packed!

In my early teaching days, one of my colleagues had a habit of stress-baking. At the time, I never understood how baking could alleviate stress — I just envisioned extra dishes and a big mess in my kitchen…which would lead to more stress. One morning, she brought a tray full of beautiful scones to school, and we all knew her stress-levels had to be through the roof. Unfortunately, we were right. Fortunately, BAKED GOODIES!!!

My sweet toddler had lots in store for me today. After I swept up a pile of glass (he wanted to load the dishwasher) and cleaned up a handful of less dangerous messes, I felt the urge to bake. Suddenly, I understood her plight. I scoured a handful of my favorite gluten-free blogs for a banana bread recipe — because the browning bananas on my counter were adding to my stress. I couldn’t find one exact recipe that fit the ingredients hanging around in my pantry, and I really wanted my stress-baking to involve hemp protein powder and chia seeds. You know, so I could enjoy guilt-free eating. I used Southern-In-Law’s banana bread recipe as my base, and tweaked and twerked (ok, not that last part) until I created something to fit my specific needs.

Ingredients:
3 browning bananas
2 eggs
3 tbsps. coconut oil
1 1/2 tsp of honey (or maple syrup, more if you want it sweeter)
1 tsp of vanilla
1 1/2 cups of gluten-free pastry flour
1/4 cup hemp protein powder
1/4 cup chia seeds
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
Pinch of pink Himalayan sea salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped almonds (pecans, walnuts, whatever)

Pre-heat your oven to 350 and grease two mini-cupcake pans (I spray them with coconut oil). In a large mixing bowl, smash bananas and add wet ingredients. Stir in dry ingredients, except chocolate chips and almonds, then mix with a hand-held electric mixer. (Feel free to lick the beaters if you don’t so much care about raw eggs.) Add the chocolate chips and almonds last, and stir those in by hand. The batter itself isn’t incredibly sweet (which fit my desires perfectly since I’m breaking up with sugar), but the chocolate chips make up for that. Add more honey if you want a sweeter treat.

Spray a spoon with coconut oil, then spoon the batter into the mini-cupcake pans. (Yields approximately 36 mini banana bread bites.)

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, switching the pans from top to bottom racks halfway through. Let them cool just enough not to burn your fingers and mouth, then slather them in grass-fed butter. Enjoy!

Family Worship: Praise Him in the Puddles

This morning, my two year old son brought Romans 12:1 to the forefront of my mind; he reminded me to let everything be an act of worship. “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.” (NLT)

Yesterday, both boys spent the day with Nana and Papa while I made up some maternity leave for the military. I missed them terribly and wanted to make up for lost time on our lazy Saturday. Asher wanted to play outside, so I upped the ante and surprised him by turning on the stream as he stood in the dry bed. He jumped and splashed until he was soaked.

Then, I broke the “rules” and let him play in his sandbox after getting wet. His joy was contagious! I didn’t care about the muddy mess he made of his clothes; I didn’t chide him for his impulsivity. I just watched and cheered him on with each splash. As I witnessed him worshiping with his life, he inspired me to worship with mine. Every smile and every squeal made me more aware of God’s love. Yet in those sweet moments, I knew the amount of love and joy I felt for my own son paled in comparison to the joy God feels when I worship him with my whole being.

Days like these are so important. No schedule to keep, no obligations to meet — just messy fun. While Asher and I made new memories (and Keane napped), I thanked the Lord for allowing this precious time. Some days it seems the world is coming apart at the seams; it’s imperative to remember that my God is never caught by surprise. He is never unprepared. He makes all things new, creates beauty from ashes, and holds us close. As his children, our job is to fall into his arms. To let go. To live for him, by him, and through him.

Don’t worry about what anyone else thinks, just think about whatever is pure and lovely. Don’t focus on outside distractions, focus on grace, mercy, and peace. Sing silly Bible songs with a silly two-year-old. Take a bubble-bath and make bubble-beards at 10:30am. Eat “ice cream” for lunch. Unplug. Relax. Don’t worry about muddy shoes, messy clothes, or dirty footprints. Don’t worry at all…about anything.

May you jump in life’s proverbial puddles.
May you roll around in wet sand.
May you treat each waking breath as an act of worship.
May your Father revel in your unbridled praise.