Umbilical Cord

I like this article regarding not cutting the umbilical cord early.

Impossible bacon and cheddar "pie" (GFCF)

I made a variation of Bob's Red Mill's "Impossible Ham and Swiss Pie".

Instead I used applewood smoked (uncured) bacon (that I baked to crispy in the oven). I also blended onions, green bell pepper and broccoli in a blender with goat's milk (can omit cheese and milk to make it casein-free). I think it was sneaky and clever to blend the veggies up - otherwise my toddler (and possibly husband) might pick them out in chunks.

I also made one without the bacon for my husband.

Flourless Nut Butter Cookies

Made these last night. Nathanael LOVES them even though I burnt most of them. I think you have to pull them out of the oven BEFORE you THINK they are done (they really are). OH - and I used vegan carob pieces and some dairy-free chocolate chips (so just a little sugar but not much). And I used coconut and date sugar which worked just great!

More on the vaccine recall:

From the link I posted earlier:

"Dr. Eric Delwart is the researcher who, along with colleagues, made the discovery of contamination in Rotarix. Their intent was reportedly to “show that live attenuated vaccine only contained the expected viral genomes and no other,” but what they found told a different story.

Using new technology to test eight infectious attenuated viral vaccines, the results showed three of the vaccines contained “unexpected viral sequences”:

1. A measles vaccine was found to contain low levels of the retrovirus avian leukosis virus

2. Rotateq, Merck’s rotavirus vaccine, was found to contain a virus similar to simian (monkey) retrovirus

3. Rotarix (GlaxoSmithKine’s rotavirus vaccine) was found to contain “significant levels” of porcine cirovirus 1

So in their tests, nearly 40 percent of the vaccines they tested contained viral contaminants."

This is scary stuff.

Rotarix Vaccine Recalled

Vaccine was recalled due to a Pig virus from pig DNA contained in the vaccine which is believed to cause or raise the risk of cancer in humans. Good grief. Another similar vaccine was causing injury to baby's bowels - it was taken off the market as well.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/04/17/major-vaccine-suspended-due-to-contamination-with-pig-virus.aspx

Breastfeeding

"The lives of nearly 900 babies would be saved each year, along with billions of dollars, if 90 percent of U.S. women fed their babies breast milk only for the first six months of life, a cost analysis says."

http://health.yahoo.com/news/ap/us_med_breast_feeding_savings.html

While I do agree more should be done to encourage and make things easier for mothers - I don't agree with placing NO blame on mothers - most know "breast is best" yet so many give up and don't seek out the help that is offered (like Le Leche League meetings) for the sake of their babies. Possibly it's because they don't realize the impact (positive) that breastfeeding can have on their child/ren or because somebody instead of encouraging and helping them learn and problem solve tells them they shouldn't feel bad for giving up completely and even encourages them to do so and hands them a bottle of formula. Society needs to be cheering on moms and offering help to them and not offering to make life "easier" with bottles and costly formula that may negatively affect their child's health and rob them of the many benefits of mother's milk.

Aluminum in vaccines

This study shows that aluminum does kill neurons.

http://www.healthsentinel.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2598:study-clearly-demonstrates-that-aluminum-found-in-vaccines-can-cause-neurologic-damage&catid=5:original&Itemid=24