Recipe: refrigerator oatmeal

I cannot explain my obsession with this new recipe I literally just made last night. If you love oatmeal, fruit + yogurt this is for you!!! My 13-month old even gobbled it up!  It truly does not get more simple than this. Ready??

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked old fashioned oats
• 1 cup whole milk, rice, soy or almond milk
• 1 cup plain greek yogurt
• 3 tablespoons honey

Preparation

1. 1. In a bowl, stir together the oats, milk, yogurt and honey. Pour into small mason jars and stir in desired accompaniments.
2. 2. Cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days. Serve chilled.

Accompaniments: 1/2 a banana, mashed or sliced, mashed or chopped berries (this works great with frozen berries too) ,flax seeds, chia seeds, a teaspoon of peanut or almond butter, dried fruits, chopped, almonds, walnut, cashew or pumpkin or sunflower seeds

As always thanks to Weelicious for always feeding my family well. 

If you make this, tell me what accompaniments you use. I used banana the1st time. Next time, I may try vanilla yogurt which is already sweetened & omit the honey. 

Shots, the non-alcoholic kind

The topic of vaccines is VERY controversial & I'm going to try and keep this post as unbiased as possible. Please read with an open mind :)   At the end of the day, I just want people to do their research, then decide what is best for them.

Vaccinating yourself or your children is completely 100% a personal choice. We all want to protect our babies (and our own health), in every possible way. It is the "way" of a parent. It's innate. It's primal. It's powerful.   

When the twins were first born, I didn't know what I know NOW about alternative medicine & holistic living (unfortunately).  Being preemies especially, I did whatever the doctors told me to do.  No questions asked, really. They are doctors after all, and should be trusted and have your child's best interest in mind. Not the interest of pharmaceutical company's, right???  As a result, the twins have received all scheduled vaccines up until age 5.  They will not be receiving anymore.  Now.  I'm different.  I question EVERYTHING.  

Our pediatrician for Layne is the one-and-only AMAZING Dr. Bob Sears.  Funny thing about the Sears family- is that they are also huge Juice Plus advocates.  When I was a Juice Plus distributor, the patriarch of the family, Dr. Bill and actually, Bill's brother Jim both spoke at Juice Plus events and conferences I had attended. This family of doctors knows first hand, the very strong connection between what we eat and how it affects our health.  They are still huge supporters, as they should be.  It's great stuff!  We still take it, even though I'm no longer a distributor.

Not vaccinating Layne was a pretty easy decision for my husband and I.  Dr. Bob has written a great unbiased factual book titled The Vaccine Book.  It's something I feel every parent should read prior to having their baby, so that they can make a fully informed decision about vaccines.  Again, just my opinion.  He provides alternative vaccine schedules (instead of all at once) and has clients who fully vaccinate, don't vaccinate, spread out vaccines, only do a few- you name it.  He will never turn a family away for not vaccinating their children, which I am finding out is commonplace (and strange, to me).

One thing that has stuck with me that I read recently, is that when I was a kid, I think there were 6-10 vaccines.  Today, children in the United States get 49 doses of 14 vaccines by age 6.  That is A LOT for a little developing and growing body to be bombarded with, in my opinion.  

Our family has NEVER gotten a flu shot.  And guess what?  We also have never gotten the flu- especially this past winter when everyone we knew was hit HARD.  Literally, people who received the flu shot especially, were dropping like flies. And sometimes they got the flu more than once (since, after all, the "flu shot of the season" can never protect you from all strains). Not our family.  We use healthy food, increasing our supplements (elderberry syrup, vitamin d drops - adults, vitamin d drops - baby, vitamin c, juice plus, etc.), staying hydrated and rest as our defense.  We don't feel the need to inject our bodies with foreign substances to stay healthy.  

On Facebook, I'm a "fan"of many vaccine pages and get to read a lot of information on the subject quite regularly, so I can stay informed.  Have you heard of the National  Vaccine Advocacy Group?  If you haven't, and have children I think you should check them out.  Do you know what ingredients are found in some vaccines?  Formaldehyde is one.  This is highly toxic in ALL animals, humans included.  

NOTHING infuriates me more, than government thinking they can force a family to vaccinate their child against their will.  NOTHING!  It is completely 100% wrong, in my opinion.  Do we live in a communist country?  Nope! It is our right, as a parent to make this decision for our babies!! 

The funniest experience ever was a few days after our son was born last year via an unplanned emergency c-section (our goal was a drug-free hypnobabies hospital birth). On my second to last night in the hospital, a night nurse strolls into my room with a syringe in her hand. I shockingly ask what it is for. She informs me that it's a whooping cough vaccine for ME, since I just have birth to a newborn.  The look of horror on my face must have confused her. I said, "I didn't ask for that not are you injecting me with it." Of course she got all huffy & puffy stating "well, I ordered it for you". Yeah? Well guess what lady, just because you ordered it for me sure as heck doesn't mean you are putting that substance in my body. You never even ASKED ME!!! No way!!! Sure enough, I had to sign a waiver stating I was declining this (to me) unnecessary vaccine. Unreal!! And scary (in my opinion). 

One vaccine in particular has 3 vaccines in one.  According to our doctor, one of the diseases (Diphtheria) is no longer prevalent in the US .  Should this part of the vaccine be removed?  Perhaps.  Will it?  Nope, because it would cost too  much money for the pharmaceutical company's to reformulate. DTaP is what it is called, with Pertussis (whooping cough) being the disease to worry about, the other 2 not so much   But there is no single Pertussis vaccine so you instead get all 3.

Did you know that if you DO choose to vaccinate, you can not only spread them out (and not follow the schedule of your pediatrician), delay them, or even purchase them from Canada where a lot of the bad added ingredients aren't allowed?  This way, the baby isn't getting bombarded all at once.  This is a good option too, if you choose to vaccinate   

Did you know you can get an exemption for your unvaccinated child to enter school? Check here to see where your state stands. 

I believe strongly in the amazing healing our bodies are capable of. I also believe strongly in living a holistic life, and that the mind-body connection is so real. You cannot deny it! Prime example, when you get upset about something what usually happens? You lose your appetite. Or when you are nervous you feel butterflies in your tummy. The BEST defense against illness is a clean & healthy & natural diet (whatever that may mean to you i.e. with or without dairy, meat, etc). Something like 90% of our immunity is in our gut, which is why foods with probiotics or supplements are so VITAL to our health. 

Again, such a personal choice & you must do what is right for you and your family!  Thanks for reading :)

*All I want to do is share.  I'm not here to judge or say you are wrong and I am right.  That is never my intention.  Perhaps by learning something new, I have helped you in some way, shape or form. 

Recipe: frozen banana bites

Usually, when I have over ripe bananas I slice them up & freeze them for smoothies. 

This time, I tried something I have wanted to for a while- frozen banana bites!!

I have been seeing over & over a simple, clean & healthy version of "magic shell", which I LOVED as a kid. Remember? You squirt some on your ice cream & it hardens instantly. Kind of like the dipped cones at Dairy Queen. 

The recipe for the "shell" could NOT be simpler. Melt some chocolate chips with some coconut oil (double boiler) and once the creamy concoction touches frozen bananas it gets hard. You could also use this to dollop over your favorite ice cream too. Lately, my favorite is Larry & Luna's coconut milk ice cream. It's delicious!!

The next time you have some bananas that may be too ripe, slice them up & freeze on parchment lined cookie sheet for a few hours. Then, start melting & dip away & refreeze. 

When I make these again (asap according to my family), I'm making peanut butter banana sandwiches first, then freezing. And maybe I will even roll in some unsweetened coconut. How YOU doing?!?!?