Crest Cottage Creations

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Recently, I have had some thoughts on seasonal (namely, spring) allergies, and I want to share them with you.

My whole life I have suffered from allergies. In addition to indoor and pet dander, I had a multitude of outdoor allergies. Pollen and freshly cut grass were especially bad, and most of the spring was spent battling itchy, puffy eyes, a clogged yet runny nose, a scratchy throat, and sometimes asthma.

This year they are just about gone. Sure, I sneeze a little. My nose was itchy a few times. But basically? They are gone! For the first time in my life, I am smelling the roses... literally! When I drive home from work with my windows open, I am shocked by the amazing aromas of the flowers. I never realized it before, but my nose is always so clogged during this season that I have never had the ability to smell it before. The other day, I was at a traffic light near a home that was having its lawn trimmed. In the past, I would have held my breath to prevent breathing in the allergens. This time? I inhaled deeply and enjoyed it!

I haven't figured out why I am immune this year. I mean, rumor has it that this year has the highest pollen levels in ages. I do have a few theories...

1) Our diet. This spring marks nearly year in which we have been eating in this way. Happy animals, raw milk, and local honey may have contributed. Each of these foods has been attributed with healing allergies.

2) Our location. We moved last summer. This is the first spring that we lived here. Maybe the plants are different! I'm not sure how much this contributes, though, because I still work in the town that we were living in before. I am still there every day with no problem.

3) Our cleaning products. We really only use anti-bacterial products for really germy messes... toilets, raw meat juices, and things of that nature. Maybe my immune system has to fight more environmental germs the way it was designed to, and it stopped wasting its time on pollen and grass?

4) I outgrew them. Doubtful, but possible.

Yes, I know that by posting this, I am basically ASKING for a major allergy attack. It's like when you say "It can't get any worse!" and it does. Well, I'm ready for it.

What are your thoughts? Where did my allergies go?

This post was shared on Your Green Resource and Simple Lives Thursday!

... and they can be really cool in real life!

As you know, John and I spent last weekend near Lancaster, PA. What you might not know is that one of the nicest bloggers ever lives there! Zoe (of Whole Eats & Whole Treats) and her husband Brad were kind enough to have us over while we were in the neighborhood. Let me tell you, she is JUST as sweet as she seems! If you haven't checked out her blog yet, do it now. It is chock full of recipes (especially recipes for desserts...yummm!)

I really wanted to meet her chickens. I know how silly that sounds, but John and I have been talking about getting chickens for a while, and I wanted to spend some time with them. Zoe, of course, obliged and led us over to them. It probably seemed strange to her that we wanted to "meet" her chickens and see her gardens, but we live in the suburbs. We like to PRETEND it is the country, but really, it isn't.

Anyway, seeing Zoe's chickens totally solidified the idea for us. Well, seeing the chickens AND tasting how DELICIOUS the eggs were solidified it. She was generous enough to send us home with 4 dozen eggs! She keeps saying how we were helping her out by taking them off her hands, but I don't totally believe it. Based upon what we have to pay for nearly-but-not-quite farm fresh eggs, it seemed like an AMAZING gift.

One of the things we talked about what the type/price of food available to us in our area. When we shared with her the price we have to pay for raw milk in NJ (when we can get it at all), her eyes nearly popped out of her head! We continued to discuss eggs, chicken, and meat, and all the while she was shaking her head. It really made me think about how hard we work to be able to afford the type of happy food we eat. It also added another layer to our understanding of why people eat the Standard American Diet and how far we need to go before progress is made.

What can we do to bring our ideals (happy animals that weren't "grown" in factory farms or CAFOs, fresh products, non-GMO food) to the rest of the country? How can we make it more affordable for suburbanites like us?

This post was featured on Real Food Wednesday with Kelly the Kitchen Kop!

I went to the doctor for my physical and I also had some routine bloodwork done. This week I got the results back and I wanted to discuss a few things with you all.

In general, the results were great. I had great levels of the vitamins they tested for and my blood sugar was in a healthy range. The only note on the chart was about my cholesterol. It was "high."

Well, the "overall" number was only 12 out of the preferred range. Twelve WHAT over the range, I don't know. My "good" cholesterol was good, above the minumum they wanted. The problem was my "bad" cholesterol. "They" want it to be under 100, and mine was 135.

::Cue panic::

Not my panic, mind you, but the panic that I was SUPPOSED to be exhibiting. After this revelation, as I sat there in the office, my doctor started rattling off the things I shouldn't be eating. The beginning, it was good, "Are you eating out more? That could have something to do with it. Make sure you are getting enough exercise, too." Then, it started. "Try not to eat too much red meat. No full fat dairy, only skim. What oils are you using? Stick with only olive oil."

You get the picture.

I didn't say anything to her. I like my doctor. She is a good doctor. She doesn't push medications for everything. I have asthma, and she supports the fact that I (for the most part) manage it on my own. On the flip side, when I need her, she helps. Honestly, it wasn't worth the debate. I may someday take this up, but I've found that people that are sold on the "meat is bad! fat is bad!" diet craze are very resistant to hearing the opposite.

You may be asking what I WILL be doing about my "high cholesterol."

Nothing. I am doing nothing about it. I look and feel better than I have in a very, very long time. I have great levels of all the vitamins they are checking. My blood pressure is great. Most importantly, I don't know that having cholesterol slightly higher than the level recommended by doctors is going to lead to anything terrible. I have heard that high cholesterol is correlated to other diseases, but is the cholesterol the cause? Not necessarily! Contrary to what many medical and pharmaceutical professionals would like you to think, correlation is NOT causation.

I may change how I feel about this over time. I may not. Right now, I am going to continue eating in a way that feels right. I refuse to let some arbitrary limits change my common sense.

Those are my thoughts. What are yours?

This post was featured on Simple Lives Thursday with GNOWFGLINS and the Hearth and Soul Bloghop!

So, I had a great post about a lactofermented success ready, but that will just have to wait until tomorrow. This I HAVE to share today.

A little over a year ago I decided to stop using my traditional deodorant/antiperspirant and start making my own. I'm not sure that I believe all the negative hype about antiperspirants, but the cost of them adds up, they were leaving white caked on stains on my clothes, the smell (although delightful) wouldn't leave my clothes, and I was trying to weed out chemicals whenever I could.

I was scared. I teach dance and I sweat a lot. I did lots of research and settled on a mix of coconut oil, baking soda, and cornstarch. The first few days, I stank a little. Then, after about 3 days, I noticed that I was sweating less and didn't smell. I smelled lightly of coconut for the majority of the day. My clothes were clean, and new things I have purchased since then no longer have that caked on deodorant nor the cloying scent even after washing.

Our annual recital is in June. It is a hot, sweaty, stressful week. I hadn't been using my recipe for too long, so I was nervous it wouldn't hold up. I switched back to my commercial deodorant for the first 2 days of rehearsals. I STANK!!!! It was horrible!!! I can't ever remember smelling that badly!!! My guess is that my body was some how adjusted to the chemicals before, and when I gave them a break and then put them back on, my body was like "NO!!" I went back to my home made one for the shows and smelled like a coconut again. WHEW!

Next hurdle: I started reacting to the baking soda. This happened around October. I had been using it with GREAT results for over 6 months at that point. It was sudden. Just one day, I started to have a rash from it, and some weird pimple like things. I stopped using it immediately (over a weekend when I was home, don't worry!). I switched to just coconut oil and hoped that would fix the problem. Not only did the rash heal (really quickly), but I still didn't smell! Yes, I was moister than usual because the baking soda and corn starch weren't absorbing it, but the smell didn't come.

Now, I just use coconut oil. In the summer, I might add some cornstarch in and see if that works, but I might not even need to. Life was good.

UNTIL TUESDAY. ::cue scary music::

I forgot to put it on! Once I got to work, I used some commercial deodorant. WORST IDEA EVER. Apparently my body was no longer used to it. Not only did I REEK, but my pits swelled up and got a rash on them. I couldn't even put my arms on themselves. I had to teach in a sweater to buffer my skin from itself. They were so swollen and painful even after I went home and took a shower. It was horrible. It subsided by mid-day Wednesday, which is great, but I have learned my lesson.

I wonder, though... how is it that something I used for years and years every day is now causing my body to practically declare war?

This posted on Simple Lives Thursday at GNOWFGLINS!

Don't worry, this is not another post about poultry stock successes and failures. I wanted to take some time to review some of the healthier habits I have incorporated into our lives at this point and what is on the horizon. Sometimes I feel as if I haven't made much progress at all, and I think (hope?) putting it down on paper will help me see how far we have come.

Eliminating "scientific ingredients" was the first step on this journey. Seeing how my health suffered after eating processed foods led to one change after another.
One of the first big changes we made was to begin drinking raw, unhomogonized, whole milk from grass-fed cows.
In conjunction with the milk, we also started to use cheese from the same source, and to buy butter from grassfed cows.
Once our dairy was from healthy animals, our meat was next. We now eat grassfed beef, pastured chickens.
Our eggs also come from pastured chickens. The yolks are SO BRIGHT and firm!
Once the ingredients were upgraded, the meals themselves were on the chopping block. Our cooking oils of choice are now BUTTER!! and Virgin Coconut Oil
I make Chicken Bone Broth a few times a month and use it in most of our cooking.
I just started fermenting! We've only had pickles and beet kvass so far, and they were both underwhelming, but it's a start!
More and more of our convenience items are now from scratch. My yogurt, peanut butter, bread, and pancakes are usually in the house. I have also tried my hand at macaroni and ravioli, but I dont make them regularly.
About a year ago I switched to home made deororant, and a few months after that we both went "No-Poo"
When we moved into our new house we put the microwave into storage. We heat things in the convection oven, the regular oven, or on the stove.
All of our pantry food is stored in glass jars. About 1/2 of our leftovers are stored in glass.
We started taking our own bags when shopping
I started recycling our junk mail and shredding instead of throwing it out
We have mostly stopped using paper towels and napkins, relying on cloth instead
I clean with baking soda and white vinegar instead of noxious chemicals

WHEW! What a list! When I see it in writing, I know we have done more than a bit to improve our health and our world.

Where are some of the things I would like to start working on or need to improve on:

I want to start soaking my grains and beans
I need to get back into the habit of making bread and peanut butter regularly. We have been buying it pre-made more than I would like
I would like to try lactofermenting more things. Sauerkraut is on the menu for this week!
We have yet to find a good, affordable source for pastured pork
I would like to render and save animal fats for cooking, so I need to find some healthy sources for that
There are so many different types of meat (organs, especially) that we haven't explored. I would like to change that
I use very few cosmetics now (just lipstick, eyeliner, and mascara), but when I start to run out I would like to find healthier alternatives
John has very sensitive skin and doesn't like to change products once he finds one that works. I would like to help him find more natural (or even home made!) products.
Right now we use plastic containers for our leftovers because we are heating them up at work. The glass containers get VERY hot in the microwaves. I'm not sure how to solve this yet... Suggestions Welcome!
I have been dying to try a DivaCup, but I haven't made the leap. I guess it's because I don't want to get the one size, and then have to get the next one soon because of my age/if I get pregnant. I know it's a silly reason, but it's what is holding me back. I guess I just need to suck it up!
We have been really bad at remembering to bring our reusable bags into the stores. I have them in my car, but we still forget to take them OUT of the car and into the store.
I would love to cut back further on our use of plastics

I know this was a boring post with no pictures or funny fails, but I really needed to see this all in writing. I would LOVE to about your journey, or hear any suggestions you may have for me!

This post was featured on Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop and Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade!