Hearth & Health
-
Beginning Paleo 30 Day Elimination Diet
As recommended in The Dietary Cure for Acne we have begun our 30 Day elimination diet. We are endeavouring to follow the ‘rules’ as closely as possible, however we realistically acknowledge that eliminating sweet potatoes is impossible. We have already eliminated potatoes, as one child says, “What else is left!” About four days into the diet I ‘slipped,’ I was making a zucchini pie and figured that 2 cups of wheat flour between 10 people translated to only one-fifth of a cup each, my teens would be fine. They weren’t! The next day one child noticed the first new pimples in days and another’s hayfever symptoms were much worse again. …
-
Adapting to the Paleo Lifestyle
The term Paleo diet is really a misnomer as thinking/shopping/cooking Paleo really involves a lifestyle change, I believe the term Paleo Lifestyle to be more appropriate. This week involved our monthly shop at the Supermarket. This necessitated that I finalise my organisation and finish planning for the month including our dinner meals. As requested I’ve shared our menu (see below). Regards $ comparison, this month we come a little under in costs than our ‘regular’ shopping; next month I’ll be more creative and visit a bulk butcher to try to reduce the bill further, I’ll also investigate the cost of getting a beast butchered, ideally I should get moving on…
-
Shopping Paleo and Progress
As I shared previously we are gradually making the switch over to the Paleo diet. I’ve had a couple of queries as to how it is going, and requests for a menu, recipes and details. The first week before shopping at the greengrocers, I calculated just how much a month we(family of 10) spend on bread, milk and cereal a month, the shocking result was $280! This justified our weekly greengrocer bill of $90 a week to increase to $160, in reality the first week I spent $190. This included three boxes of fruit; bananas, apples and oranges at $78. Second week we had some vegetables left so the bill…
-
‘Dietary Cure for Acne’ and the Paleo Diet
All three of our teens have degrees of acne; two have mild acne intermittently, but one child has suffered for two years with moderate acne. Therefore I have been reading and digesting The Dietary Cure for Acne, last night I broke the news to the children that their diet is about to have a drastic change! Obviously they wanted to know just what this entailed, we will be eating; lean meat, fish, fresh fruit and vegetables. We won’t be consuming dairy, grains, processed/refined foods and potatoes. Professor Loren Cordain has studies and scientific explanation to back up his discoveries, but we didn’t really need that to convince us. PC and…
-
Cleaning Checklists
Every family has their own approach to cleaning, dependent on the home itself and family dynamics. We have tried various methods over the years with varying degreees of success. Our current routinue has been in place for a few years now and works reasonably well, the varying point is the ‘human factor’;) Currently we have divided the house into ‘areas’ and each child over the age of 5 years takes care of their area, their area changes over weekly. *Our 6 year old has me as her ‘assigned helper’. The children also take care of their bedrooms. For some time I haven’t been happy with the standard that some children…
-
A Cosier Library
Originally our library was an inviting place, we then added two new bookcases, this addition however didn’t really work. Whilst it enabled all books to be out of storage it was more a warehouse than a room to read in. There was barely room to sidle along each bookcase selecting books, as for maintenance, it was impossible. Determined to find a solution I managed to fit all books on the one bookcase and removed the second bookcase. There is now room for bean bags, to relax and read on. My favourite change is the return of our beloved picture book bins under the window.
-
Additions to Our Library
The last couple of weeks I have been combing garage sales in pursuit of bookcases/shelving. In a fit of impatience I had unpacked the last of our stored books, all 20 boxes of adult fiction and faith. For several weeks they lay lining the floor of our library, spines facing up, but this was only meant to be temporary. Having every confidence that God would supply as He always does, I set out on Saturday morning with newspaper and map in hand. I hit ‘paydirt’ at a book store in town which had closed down. For $40 each we became the new owner of double sided shelves that are 2.4metres…
-
Our Very Own Library
After arranging the study Koala and I began working on our favourite room, the library:) My plans were originally to start on Wednesday but Koala was keen, so by late Tuesday afternoon we were ready to begin. First we lined the walls with the bookcases. We then moved the bookcase off the top of the desk (we’d been short on space before) and moved it to the study. All the books from that bookcase and the books from the boys’ bookcase (moved to the library’s back wall) were stacked on empty shelves. We then enlisted the boys help to carry the book boxes from the shipping container down to the…
-
Our Girls’ Play Kitchen
Our girls spend hours playing ‘cafe’ up by the sandpit. Therefore PC and I thought a play kitchen would be a much loved and used Christmas present. After looking at prices however, we realised we would have to become creative. We found some wonderful ideas; simple Ikea conversions at ohdeedoh and Life is a Feast but the ones that captured our imagination were the converted entertainment units at Sutton Grace and Giggleberry Creations. Accordingly I set out to all the op-shops in town to find a beat up entertainment unit for a bargain price. I found a chipboard one for $5, but upon reflection, for the amount of time and…
