I love ZOTE!!!

 You might wonder what in the world that is! Soap, is what. 

Pink soap.

Pretty soap.

Pretty smelling soap.

Gentle on your clothes soap.

 

 When my baby was younger she had a rash on her skin...I was told I should change the laundry soap to wash her clothes with. Being the crunchy mama that I am, I mixed together borax and washing soda and just used that. It worked well enough.I could have made my laundry detergent, but that is quite a bit more work...

 Well, then I saw another blogger who had made detergent using zote. I thought that looked so pretty!

When I saw that our local store sold it, I wasted no time buying some...

  I love the smell. It's natural citronella oil.

For just 50 cents, you can get a big bar of soap from Amazon and make some pretty looking and great smelling laundry detergent yourself! Just take a box borax, one box washing soda or soda ash as its called here, and one box baking soda. Add a big bar or two smaller ones of shredded zote soap, and have fun washing from now on! Its natural and gentle and costs a lot less than any other detergent. Most sites say to use only 2 tablespoons of this powder per load, but if I have dirty farm or oily pants to wash, that won't be enough. Then I use about the same amount or more than other detergent.

You can also get white zote, if you prefer to go all white.

 Here is the excerpt from the zote website describing the contents and some history of the soap:

ZOTE is a laundry soap made with coconut oil and tallow, containing optical brighteners, which shape and size are ideal to wash by hand. Actually, in Spanish “jabonzote” (Jabón Zote) means a big soap.

Many years ago, in the rural areas of Mexico it was common to see women washing their clothes with ZOTE on special boards in the rivers, or in washbasins at their homes; since its launching in 1970, ZOTE became one of the favorite products for Mexican housewives to remove difficult stains and wash delicate clothes.

In the beginning, ZOTE was made with a nearly manual process. Nowadays, we have the latest equipment and state of the art technology to manufacture this and all of our products; but we continue keeping the original formula that made ZOTE the absolute leader in the Mexican market.

But, how is it that ZOTE is still preferred by housewives in our days, when it is increasingly less common for people to wash by hand?

The basic natural ingredients used in the manufacture of ZOTE are the same used to make bath soaps; therefore, these are non-abrasive ingredients, which make ZOTE the ideal product to wash delicate garments which may be damaged in the washing machine (such as sweaters, knitwear and underwear), preserving them in good conditions and extending their life. In view of this characteristic, a lot of people use it to wash the clothes of people with sensitive skin or baby’s clothes. 

In spite of the above, it has outstanding cleaning properties which make it ideal to pre-wash shirt necks and cuffs and to remove difficult stains.

Another of the distinctive features of ZOTE is its fragrance: essential  citronella oil, a plant that originally came from Europe, which posseses a pleasant smell similar to lime; thanks to this ingredient, the clothes washed with ZOTE smell fresh and fragrant for several days.

Happy laundry times!

My cup of Tea

 Today was one good day. I finally got to do some weeding again after baby. It was sorely needed, and man did it feel good to get down and dirty! It's even more fun in my new hat... I felt real cheery today so I also asked Jessica to pick me some flowers for my old teapot.

 A cup of sweet iced black tea after some weeding is a refreshing treat! Let me tell you a little secret. I like mine sweet without sugar. I love drinking my favorite drink knowing I am not putting any unnecessary sugar in my body. I have found a wonderful tasting stevia which leaves no bitter aftertaste and tastes as good as sugar. Stevia made in South America tastes better than North American brands do, in my (and others') opinion. I like both E.N.D. Stevia, and Eco stevia. They are quite affordable, as a little goes a long way. The eco stevia can be substituted for 1 cup sugar in 1/4 teaspoon, the eco stevia takes a little more. It is definitely worth buying if you are cautious about sugar. I use it in coffee, even in baking. In baking cookies and other desserts I will often take half the amount of sugar required, then add stevia to make up for the rest. I would often be fine with just stevia, but the texture will not turn out as good, and baked goods do taste better with at least a little sugar. I never could get my husband to drink tea sweetened with stevia before I bought these brands; now he doesn't seem to mind anymore.

Happy Cows = Healthy Teeth

 

When we came to Belize I took our oldest two to the dentist and heard a very disappointing diagnosis: One needed 7 fillings the other 5. How did this happen? Was I really such a bad cook, feeding my children all sorts of junk foods that made their teeth rot that fast...I decided we would just have the worst ones filled, and have another checkup soon...that checkup didn't happen till another whole year had passed, and I was nervous about the outcome. Jessica had 4 cavities that we hadn't taken care of last time. We went back, and he said she needed 4 fillings. What? I couldn't believe I had heard right. But she needed 4 last year, and its been a whole year since then! Joseph; now I don't remember how many he still needed last year but it went even better: after a little while in the chair, the dentist says he's ok. He doesn't need any fillings! Well, if that ain't a nice surprise! I started wondering, is it just unnecsesary to have those baby teeth filled, or is there another reason?

 When I look out of our window I see our neighbor's cows grazing on lush green pastures all day long. Morning and evening the cows come home to be milked, but are let right back out to pasture to graze to their hearts content. When our milk supply is low, I hop in the car, drive on over and get 4 or 5 gallons of milk weekly. Yes, weekly. I make yogurt and buttermilk and other goodies from that milk. And we drink a lot of it, I am not ashamed to say. I figured here in Belize the milk is so affordable AND so organic, it would be a good food for the children.  I am just pleasantly surprised that one year can make so much of a difference! Milk is very affordable if it means less dental work! YaY!I believe I even notice a difference in my teeth. The last two checkups have revealed nothing new needing to be 'fixed'. For a person like me with a really bad-teeth-history, this is good news.

Not only have we been drinking a lot of milk, we have also been eating lots of bone broth. I sometimes order meat from a farm wife who sells freshly butchered meat, and when I do, I usually get bones with it for free. Free bones! How good is that!  Ranch cattle is also mostly left to roam in pastures here in Belize, so I am very happy with the beef we can get a hold of. I will jam my big pot full of bones, pour water over with a squirt of white vinegar, and let that bubble all day and night long on low. 12 hours is the minimum recommendation, but 24 or more is ideal to get all the good nutrients out of the bones. When done, I ladle the stock into jars and seal them. I refrigerate the jars after they are cooled. I add this to soup, stews, or make a gravy out of is with some added green peppers and onions and pour over rice.

So, everyone, GOT MILK? Or bones? :) I encourage you, go find an organic minded farmer and get yourself some fresh unpasteurized cows milk and drink to your hearts content. You will do yourself and your children a huge favor. And maybe, hopefully, one day we will all be able to buy raw milk legally everywhere in North America.

Teddybears and Teeth

Not that those two have anything in common, but they go together this time. Friday I was working in the kitchen and looked out the window when Daniel came home, and here come Jessica and Joseph tugging this huge box between them, and their faces all giggles. I recognized that box from the dentist, so I knew I had won the big old teddybear. 

You see, I had my teeth reworked a  lot last year. So, together with what all the rest of us had spent on teeth, it seems we were their most valued customer of the year. Not that I would fix one tooth to get a free teddybear, but so what, the children love it! I think I can put up with that.

And, here are some before and after pictures. I am quite happy with the looks. It took a while to adjust, and I had to learn how to say the F letter all over again, but by now I am quite used to the 'new' teeth. In the US we could have never afforded it, but dental work here costs a fraction of what it does there, so we thought it would be worth it, especially since my teeth are naturally very bad and I will be able to keep them longer if I have them crowned. It only took three appointments and a checkup. 

But it did take some pain to endure.

 Man, don't I look old. I sometimes have to take a look at these photos to remind myself how I looked before and tell myself it was actually worth the money.

This dentist tries hard to make the new teeth look natural. It might not be 'celebrity' perfect, but people do say it looks very natural.

Something's always brewing...

...in my pantry. Ever since I got my book, Nourishing Traditions, (which no mom should be without), I have been eager to try some of the lacto fermented drink recipes.

 

Crabboo wine, blackberry wine, noni wine (we have a noni tree on our yard) and kombucha. I like to use coffee filters for the covers. In this country there are too many little critters that try to find their way into everywhere.

 This is ginger ale.

 Kombucha. It's THE drink for this hot country. So far I have a few customers who buy this drink from me. It's the perfect substitute for sweet tea. I ferment it for a few days, then bottle it with a little dash of sugar, cap it tightly and let sit for a day or two more. This way it is as fizzy as pop. Yummy! 

 

 Belizean blackberries from a tree. They give the absolute best wine I have ever tasted. I made over a gallon.

Sauerkraut. I am getting hooked on this! We are going back to our real German roots with this stuff. In Iowa in every German restaurant you could get some. Then I wasn't impressed with it, but now that I make it myself, I love it. 

I also make yogurt about once a week which we eat with raw honey, and have a little drink of kefir (milk champagne :) now and then. Daniel and me both love the beet kvass, but it takes the children a little longer to learn to drink that one. A little sip of wine before bed, (if I'm not pregnant...) and I feel very healthy and happy.

So, why all this fermented stuff? because I want us all to have a healthy intestinal system. Parasites and yeast infections don't appreciate soured fermented foods like these, so why not eat more! Lacto fermented foods are full of enzymes, and you can't get too many of those. Enzymes help us digest food better, so it is recommended to have foods like this for every meal. I've got no problem eating a little sauerkraut every day. Or drinking some great tasting kombucha with my meal. I can't wait to try out more of Sally Fallon's recipes! Healthy eating has never been more fun.

Two long nights and one day...

As many of you know, we took Timothy to the hospital on Thursday. I might as well start at the beginning. Joseph had this brilliant idea that he was going to hitch the small tricycle to the big one with a rope, and give Timothy a ride that way. It just didn't work. The tricycle tipped and Timothy got a bad bruise on his forehead when he landed on the concrete. I thought I had seen this so often that it did not worry me much at all. In the afternoon of that day, his face started swelling near the bump and he developed a low grade fever. I was still not worried too much because I was told to watch for vomiting or unconsciousness and he had neither. But, the next day in the evening when we got together with family, it did not take long for the other expert mommies to convince us we needed to have him checked. We thought we would need to have a ct scan taken, so we were encouraged to go to the ER in Belize City, which is one and a half hours drive away. So we had to miss the family night and go to the hospital instead. When we got there, They took some blood tests, and did some x-rays. The pediatrician came and said, there was no fracture in his skull, but, he had a very serious bacterial skin infection called cellulitus, which, if not taken care of, could go to the brain. What happened is when he bruised his skin, he must have got the bacteria into the wound, which caused an infection in a matter of hours. She told us we had to stay at least 24 hours to have him on antibiotics, and to monitor him. And the fever was not due to the fall at all, but he tested positive for dengue fever on top of that. Poor little guy! In spite of all the needles and pokings he got, he was a super good boy. He would just run around in the room, playing with what he could, and didn't complain. I want to thank everyone for praying. The first night I slept poorly, cause I shared a single bed with him, and couldn't sleep when he was restless. The second night went much better.

 You can click on the picture to enlarge it.

 This shows him like he was most of the time, happy;

 The puppy Grandma sent from Winnipeg came at the right time. He clung to it once auntie Linda had given it to him.

 All that food is overwhelming!

I must say, I am very thankful today. We have a happy healthy boy again, although we still have to give him antibiotics regularly and take him to the local clinic to have him get injections. No fun, but it's all worth it many times over.  How fortunate we are!

I have learned, and would like to remind all moms out there, if your child falls and scrapes himself, take care of it immediately.  This bacteria can be anywhere. A lot can be prevented. Especially in this country, it is ever so vital.

Farm life and health care

Today went pretty well until my big boy came home with a bloody face. His cousins took him along to get some compost for the garden when he had jumped and fallen on the trailer and cut his forehead. I rushed him to the clinic to have him taken care of. I sure hadn't expected to do something like this so soon! but living on a farm one has to be ready for incidents like this.

One bad thing is, Joseph cut himself on a rusty steel edge, so they want me to take him back to give him the tetanus shot. I always knew that would be one shot our children might not be able to avoid if we live on an active farm, and I think in this case we might have to 'err on the side of caution'.

They don't have any doctors at the community clinic, but the nurses are taught to do a little more than first aid services. It took only two stitches. Here's the great thing; they only charge 4 Belize dollars for one stitch, which would be 2 US. Altogether I only paid $19.oo US for the whole procedure. Talk about a great health care system!

Other than that incident we are all doing great; no more weather complaints around here.

Bread, -yum!

I had heard of sprouted wheat bread but never knew it was pretty easy to make some seriously delicious and fully healthy bread with soaked wheat flour which does pretty much the same thing as sprouting the grains (correct me if I'm wrong). I took this photo after I tried this recipe for the first time, and I will let the picture say the rest. Healthy eating is fun!

How about a summer refreshment?

Take some fresh, organic, unpasteurized, non-homogenized cows or goats milk. That's lots of digestible calcium right there!

And some frozen bananas. Potassium, vitamin A, fiber, protein, and lots more nutritious goodness!
Spinach, fresh from your garden or frozen from your freezer. Either way, you will get all that iron, calcium, vitamin A and too many more vitamins and minerals to mention here.

How about some essential peppermint oil? The real thing! Not only does it taste wonderful, but it is very good for your stomach- and some! Now blend all that goodness together. What do you get?

Something beautiful. Something delicious. Something healthful. Something very, very refreshing on a hot summer day.

Something so good the children don't even notice mommy taking their picture as they are sipping away. Here is the recipe:

Green Mint Slushie (or frostie) (or smoothie) (OK, help me give this drink a name!)

2 frozen bananas
2 handfuls spinach
2 drops peppermint oil (no more!)
3-4 cups milk

Blend till smooth and green with no sign of the spinach, except the color. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

My children would want to drink this every day. And you can't even taste the spinach. How good is that?!