Had a great home birth, and was reflecting on the second anniversary of that birth that's coming up pretty soon.
And I remembered this blog.
I've been meaning to start a blog centering on natural/biological parenting and lifestyle, so I decided I'd try to resurrect this thing.
And hey, my ideas for what-to-eat-when-pukey post has almost 100k views.
That's pretty cool. Maybe someone will see this and enjoy it.
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Today is our first day back from being out of town visiting family for Christmas.
Going out of town is always stressful for my little guy, who has Sensory Processing Disorder. The biggest thing he struggles with, in terms of his SPD, is eating. Certain textures and flavors just don't work for him, and it's always hard to know exactly what that's going to be.
So, like my list of things to eat when you have morning sickness or nausea, we are continually trying new things with him in hopes that he'll eat it.
And going back to old favorites because just as we're finding a rhythm with a new food, he'll decide he doesn't want anything to do it.
Which is typical toddler behavior, I hear, too. But his is significant enough that he's done occupational therapy and we're looking into feeding therapy now as well.
The day after Christmas, my son didn't want anything to eat at all. Luckily, he's still breastfed, so I have that assurance, even though he's only nursing a few times a day, that he's getting some complete nutrition throughout the day.
This morning, all little one (LO) wanted to eat was chips, which is pretty typical, but this mama who planned on him eating organic pureed kale and bananas still gets anxiety over it.
Image from http://www.urbanrajah.com/images/uploads/198/mango_lassi__large.jpg
He asked for a drink. I remembered the milk kefir culturing in the fridge.Kefir's like yogurt, but with a lot more probiotics than yogurt. Most yogurt has between one and five beneficial bacterial strains... kefir typically has 10 or more, plus beneficial yeasts that help compete with the overgrowth of bad yeast in the body. Pretty cool stuff. And hey, it tastes great too.
There's no way he'll drink it plain (it's pretty tart), so we make mango lassis out of it.
Have you ever had a mango lassi? At an Indian restaurant, maybe? It's sweetened mango puree and yogurt and it's divine.
We make them at home and little SPD guy drinks them up. So does Incredibly Picky Husband. And despite the sugar, I'm happy about the mango and probiotics headed into their guts.
So here's my mango lassi recipe, plus some variations below it.
Mango Lassi Smoothie
1 part cold sweetened mango puree (I get ours at the local Indian market and it's labeled Kesar Mango Puree)
1 part cold plain milk kefir (buy it or make it, doesn't matter)
Put in a jar with a lid and shake until combined or mix until combined in the blender. Serve with ice, if desired.
At my parents' house over Christmas, LO asked for a mango lassi, but they only had the mango puree on hand. There were some lemonade yogurts in the freezer, so we thawed those fast in hot water and blended up a mango lassi and hoped he'd drink it. He did. All of it. I loved it too.
You can also make your lassi with plain or vanilla yogurt, but I'll always pick kefir if I can. It's so yummy.
