Thursday, September 26, 2013

switching over

The life of a mom is surely never dull. And I think that is just putting it mildly. Today I finally made the decision, with much help and advice, to switch my little men off dairy and onto coconut milk. At least temporarily. One, if not both, were showing possible signs of reactions to their beloved milk and yogurt. Unfortunately a diaper rash is getting so bad for one of them that we finally had to see if it was a dairy allergy. I really didn't think so, but today I just couldn't handle seeing his little bottom any longer. And to top off his problem, he is going through a current and weird fear of the bathtub so that means no sitting in warm baking soda baths. So... they love their milk so much, that I didn't know what I would give them in place of it. I try to give them as pure and healthy things as possible and even in some of the products at the organic grocery chains, there is still junk in some of the food. Now, I don't go crazy and never let them eat anything that is not organic, but I try my best at home. So, almond milk and coconut milk have some ingredients that didn't make this momma happy to give her littles. So I decided that coconut milk was the better choice for my little men and that I would actually make it myself. Okay, now I shouldn't take the initial credit for that. I was on the phone ranting like a crazy woman to my mother-in-law about this whole situation to then hear her tell me to check my e-mail... It was titled, Don't think I'm crazy. She gave me a recipe for making my own coconut milk and I was pretty hesitant. I went from baby food in jars (I used to make my own until I introduced meats. That is too much for me!) and powdered formula to now having to make my own milk product?! Are you kidding me?! But, I did want to figure out the best way to help my sore little man's bottom and if I had to make my own coconut milk at 8:30 at night, so be it! So, for any mom's that read this, that have thought about switching over, whether for good or temporary, here's how you do it! Mami got this recipe from Chris Kresser's site.

Ingredients:

4 cups of water
2 cups of unsweetened coconut flakes (I used these.)

Directions:

Heat the water until just before boiling.
Add the coconut flakes and the water to a blender. (If all the water doesn't fit, do it in two batches, but mine worked out perfectly.)
Blend those together on high for a few minutes. Get it nice and creamy.
Poor through a colander to strain out the pulp from the coconut. Then take a spoon and press the pulp down so it squeezes out any more milk. 
I wanted every last drop!
Then take the strained milk and run / squeeze it through a cheese cloth. 
If you separated the water in two batches, put the strained coconut back into the blender with the water.
Mix the milk together and then store in the fridge.
Drink within 3-4 days of making it to be sure it is fresh and it keeps the best texture and flavor.

This made approximately 16 ounces / 2 cups of coconut milk.

So, tomorrow morning, we will be starting our dairy free day with the little men. I am crossing every finger and every toe and saying all my prayers that this helps him / them. And my sweet friend is mailing me some of her homemade salve to put on his bottom so we will hope that helps as well. I will let you know about that as well, with a link to how you can purchase some for yourself! Now, it is 9:20, the hubs is still at work and I just finished dinner. Time for a load of wash, run the dishwasher, quick check of the little guys and cuddle in my bed while I wait for his arrival. Thankfully these late nights are not often! Normally he is home within 2 minutes of the end of the work day!

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