Eating is fun!

This kiddo loves the food his mommy makes for him! I hope he laughs like this forever!

The visit

Today was Sebastian's 9 month well child check... at about 9 1/2 months. He's getting to be such a big boy!

He weighed in at 20 lbs, 2.5oz (40%); height was 29 inches (67%); head circumference was 18.5 inches (87%). That's right... our baby continues to have a big head! I'd like to think it's full of brains, of course! ;)

He got one shot and did great... he only had a few, brief seconds of wimper.

In the past couple of days, he's started clapping at EVERYthing, shaking his head "no" (I'd really like to know how he learned that - sigh...), and cruising holding on to things. He's also started making a very interesting sound by smacking his tongue on the top of his mouth repeatedly.

He got his first taste of spinach today and wasn't the biggest fan. When I disguised it with his curried carrots, he didn't seem to mind, until he figured out that I was mixing the two and started to shake his head "no" anytime I would put his spoon near the bowl that had spinach! I'm sure he'll learn to love it soon enough. Last night I also made a Mediterranean Chicken Vegetable dish from an organic baby cookbook that my MIL gave me for my birthday. Sebastian was a bit uncertain of the first couple of bites, but didn't seem to mind after awhile. This was indeed an adventure and a burst of a few new flavors for him (I know - breaking the rules, adding multiple new things at one time), because it had onions, red peppers, rosemary and potatoes, none of which had been tried before. It also had zucchini, carrots and chicken, which are old standards for Sebbie. Tim and I love bold flavors, so we're hoping to season our son in a similar way!

Oh yeah - that little white line in his bottom gum has become a little more evident, but he's stil trying very hard to hide it well. He's definitely not interested in showing it off much.

Alas, the journey continues... each new day is something fresh and exciting. We're having a blast at this parenting thing. So much to do and so much to learn!

40 Days

It's Lent. We're into the 10th day of it. This is a time of devotion and reflection, as well as sacrifice for many people... as we approach Good Friday and Easter, Jesus' death and resurrection on the cross. I've never, ever, ever given up something for Lent in my whole entire life. I've always felt that through prayer and meditation, time with God, and fellowship with other believers, I'd be able to quiet my heart and prepare for such a significant, wonderful thing as Easter. So while others around me were drooling over my coffee or my chocolate, I kept enjoying what I was consuming and felt good about my decision to do so.

This year is a new year, and a new story. We had some friends who had done the Maker's Diet last year for Lent and were planning to do it again this year. They invited us to participate in the experience with them. We read, thought, and prayed about it, and decided to join them in the journey along with two other couples.


If you've never heard of the Maker's Diet, it was designed by a man named Jordan Rubin, who was deathly ill with crohn's disease that many had said was the worst case they had ever seen. He was essentially given a death sentence. He began as a college student weighing 180 pounds at 6ft 1in tall, and his illness brought him to an emaciated, very sickly 104 pounds. He visited a gazillion doctors and tried a gazillion treatments but to no avail... he just kept getting worse. He was determined to get better and avoid his last ditch resort given to him by the medical community - surgery to remove the better part of his large and small intestine.


He began a new way of eating and thus living, but following a biblical diet and returning to the basics - whole foods in their original, unprocessed state. The short version is that he got better by eating this way, and therefore desired to share this with others, thereby creating the Maker's Diet and writing a book about it.


The diet is a 40 day experience broken up into three phases. Phase 1 is the most strict, eliminating all sugars except 1 tablespoon of honey per day, and all carbohydrates. Yes, all carbohydrates. I don't think I've been without carbs ever since I started eating solid foods as an infant.


Tim and I began a slower entry into the diet on Ash Wednesday, because we had just gotten home from vacation and needed to work on purging our kitchen of the foods we're to avoid. We began full force on Sunday. This was an intimidating experience for me, because I already struggle with trying to find a good balance between home life and work life - being a good mommy and wife (and thus feeding my family well) and being a good physician - something I love and am passionate about - serving a community where the need never ends. I felt that the only way we'd be successful would be to have a meal plan (a suggestion from a friend who had done the diet last year). So I went to town planning our meals for a week and taking shopping trips to Whole Foods, Trader Joes and Giant to ensure I'd have the right stuff in the house.


This week we've eaten well. I made several dishes ahead of time last weekend, and we followed the meal plan, allowing for a little flexibility. The food has been delicious. We've also started each morning with 15 minutes of yoga stretches. When the alarm goes off each day, one of us always asks the other if we should skip, just for one day... but then we manage to make our way downstairs for our "Morning Cup of Yoga." Sebastian has been sleeping through the night every night this week except for last night, which has allowed us to do our Yoga before he wakes up.


Before starting this diet, I had tried to research a bit about the Maker's Diet for nursing women, but to no avail... I originally found very little out there. In the past several days, I've found a little more info, but I was looking even more for answers. You see, I started to be concerned when I noticed that my milk supply while pumping at work seemed to have plummeted. I was only pumping about 1/3 of what I was used to pumping... which caused me to be a basket case. This is something I take very seriously, and VERY personally. I wondered if it was the diet, or the fact that Sebastian had been sick last weekend and nursing less, or the fact that he was sleeping through the night more consistently, or the stress I've been under at work, or the diet, or the diet, or something else... I decided to give it some time and see how the rest of the week went, but each day seemed as bad, if not worse. Watching the bottles fill up less than usual only produced more stress for me, and I'm sure made matters worse. I had jokingly said from the beginning that if my milk supply was affected, then I was out. I never anticipated such a drastic response, and I do believe that the change in supply is probably multifactorial, but as my mom said, the diet was the only thing I really had control over. Unless I wanted to start waking my sleeping baby up in the middle of the night to nurse... uh, no...

So, I called the lactaction consultants at the hospital to discuss the diet with them. They felt that if I was getting enough calories from things other than carbs and sugars, then it was more likely the other things like Seb being sick, sleeping more, etc. I failed to mention to them that I had lost 5 pounds in 4 days... and today was another pound shed.

I finally called Garden of Life, the company that published the book and is behind the Maker's Diet, and I spoke to someone on the phone at length. She told me that they don't make official recommendations about nursing or pregnant women, and they encourage people to talk to their doctors (didn't tell her I was one of those), but if they were to recommend anything, it would be to start with phase 3 instead of phase 1. That means adding back in some grains - like sprouted bread (e.g. Ezekiels), brown rice and oatmeal - my saving grace - as well as a few additional fruits and some other things.


Tim and I had been praying about this, and I'd enlisted a few other friends and family members in prayer as well. The lactation consultant outlined a supply boosting routine that I could try for several days, which I've been doing since yesterday. But when I had a bowl of oatmeal this afternoon, it was the. best. oatmeal. I've ever had. It tasted great, but I also think it was very freeing to feel supported in my decision to skip over to phase 3. Thanks, honey. ;)


We'll see how it goes over the next several days. I'm continuing to follow the majority of the recommendations for the diet, but adding in some additional food items in an effort to not shed a pound a day.


It was frustrating for me to not find very much info out there about the Maker's Diet, especially related to people's personal experiences AND nursing, so that was partly my impetus for writing this post. I did find, however, some info at this website, which I found helpful to read. I thought others might find it useful to read my thoughts, and I also thought I'd post my menu plan for this past week. I'll have some recipe posts coming soon.



Day 1
Breakfast: scrambled eggs with chopped veggies & goat's milk cheddar cheese
Lunch: curried carrot soup & salad
Dinner: pakistani lentil curry & steamed broccoli



Day 2
Breakfast: goat's milk yogurt with mixed berries
Lunch: curried carrot soup, slices of goat's milk cheddar cheese, celery sticks, raw almonds, grapefruit
Dinner: chicken curry, butternut squash stir-fry, salad



Day 3
Breakfast: fried egg(s) with salsa
Lunch: chicken curry, butternut squash stir-fry (leftovers), grapefruit
Dinner: baked salmon, asparagus, salad



Day 4
Breakfast: kefir and berries smoothie
Lunch: snap peas, curried carrot soup, almonds, grapefruit
Dinner: pakistani lentil curry & swiss chard sauteed with ginger, garlic, & tomatoes



Day 5
Breakfast: Tim fasted, but I ate goat's milk yogurt with mixed berries
Lunch: Tim fasted, but I ate leftover chicken curry and butternut squash stir-fry
Dinner: bunless turkey burgers with goat's milk cheddar cheese, pan-seared asparagus, and sauteed zucchini, red peppers, onions and garlic with Herbs de Provence seasoning



Day 6
Breakfast: scrambled eggs and veggies with salsa
Lunch: salad, hard-boiled eggs, and leftover lentils for Tim and curried carrot soup for me
Dinner: curried chicken with carrots and spinach, and steamed broccoli



Our snacks have included hard-boiled eggs, carrot sticks, raw pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, celery sticks with raw almond butter, snap peas and grapefruit.



We'll keep you posted on our progress...!

Weighing in (at 6 1/2 months)…and then some.

I feel like I’m waaaay behind on posting these days… It’s been several weeks since Sebastian’s half birthday, and since then we’ve had his well child check – where he weighed in at 17 lbs, 7.2 ounces… and measured 27.5 inches long.  He was 6 1/2 months at the time of the appointment.  He faired all the shots incredibly well, and he just cried for a moment.  I didn’t give him Tylenol this time around, because just two days prior I had learned about a recent study that has demonstrated that Tylenol given before shots reduces the efficacy of the vaccinations.  Ugh.  But he barely fussed and had a good rest of the day.  Maybe it’s because he got to see Dr. Donna (whom I know he loves)… or maybe it’s because he’s just a happy, happy baby.  Either way, I was thankful for a good doctor’s visit.  It is such a blessing to have a healthy, jolly baby!

He seems to be growing and changing right in front of our eyes, and – just like they say – it goes by so quickly.  I’m almost afraid to blink my eyes, for fear that I’ll miss something!  On December 6th, he started sitting up all by himself, without the previously anticipated, slow motion sideways fall that seemed to occur every time we sat him down, without fail.  He was just about 6 1/2 months old then.  He also is now scooting across the floor like a caterpillar, and he’s started to push himself up on all fours.  After the holidays, we definitely are going to have to work on baby-proofing some things around the house.  My sister-in-law, who is one of Seb’s regular care providers, has requested a safety gate for the top of their basement stairs – a very wise idea!  So, I’m on the lookout for some gates… I’ve been checking Craig’s List regularly, but have failed to find any yet. 

Above is our happy baby in his new high chair.  It’s the Svan high chair, which is a sleek Scandinavian design, that converts as our little boy grows – to a toddler high chair, then a kiddo chair and a big kid chair… even an adult chair for those weighing less than 150 pounds.  We love how it looks, and as you can see, Sebastian is a happy camper in it.  It also seems to have a smaller foot print than many high chairs, which was high on our priority list for high chair selection.  We think we mad a good choice - at least thus far, two weeks into the deal. 

Eating is a wonderful and wild adventure for Sebastian.  It’s so much fun to watch him experience all news tastes and textures through his lips and his tongue.  I have found great joy in making all of his food (except his cereals/grains – which I hope to get into at some point), which I think helps to ease the emotional transition from him receiving 100% of his nutrition from me to getting some outside calories from other sources. 

Sebastian also had his first taste of a much loved staple in both the Johnsen and Martin diets.  I nearly flipped my lid when I caught his Grandpa IN THE ACT – giving him a  taste of ice cream!  There’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll love ice cream just as much as the rest of us do (and he seemed quite content to have the little bit on a spoon that was shared with him), but I think Grandpa now has it pretty clear in his mind that he was prematurely advancing Sebastian’s diet.  Tim (and Tim’s mom) is thankful that it was my dad – and not his – who first introduced the “forbidden fruit!”  Everyone knew it was bound to happen sooner or later, especially with Sebastian having the great blessing of two ice cream addict grandfathers so close by that he gets to see all the time.  There were bets out on who would do it first.  I guess I lost the bet. :)

Much to my chagrin, Sebastian had a major aversion to avocado.  I tried to give him a little bit mashed up last night, which provoked a horribly ugly face, followed by gagging, and ended promptly with the vomitting all over the place.  This was a bonafide vomit - the first official one... not just a little spit up.  I guess I'll have to wait awhile to try to re-introduce my favorite fruit.  Oh, so sad.

Anyways, we’re trying to gear up for Christmas around here.  The tree is up, some presents are wrapped, and we’re looking forward to a few days of reflection, celebration, relaxation, and family time.  Our Christmas greetings will come soon – in the form of a post!  So be on the lookout.  Many blessings to you and yours as you count the days…!

Zucchini Brownies

After a long day of working outside painting and putting up the downspouts, I thought Tim & Angel (our nephew) would enjoy a special treat. OK, to be honest, I was craving something sweet, but knew that ice cream was off limits, because I'm only on day 2 of the dairy-free diet (which, by the way, has resulted in very little improvement so far). Either way, it doesn't seem like the guys complained about the scrumptious zucchini brownies. The smell of chocolate pervades the walls of our house right now. So, so yummy! Look at those beautiful morsels!
The guys got their dessert Ala mode while I ate my brownies naked. Still delicious, no matter how you look at it! They were just the right amount of sweetness, super moist and oh - so - good!

If you're tempted, I got the recipe from Simply in Season - this is a fantastic cookbook that encourages local and seasonal cooking.

Here's the recipe:
1 c. flour (I used soft wheat)
3/4 c. whole wheat flour (I used spelt)
1/3 c. baking cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Combine in large bowl.

2-3 c. zucchini shredded (I used some I had frozen from our CSA from this summer)
Stir in.

1 egg
3/4 c. sugar (I cut this back to about 1/2 c.)
3/4 c. brown sugar (again, I cut it back to about 1/2 c.)
1/2 c. plain yogurt (I used my own home-made yogurt)
1/2 c. oil
1 tsp. vanilla
Combine in separate bowl and beat with fork. Stir into zucchini mixture. Spread evenly into greased 9x13 pan.

1/2-1 c. semisweet or mint chocolate chips (I'm sure dark chocolate chips would be fabulous, too, but I didn't have any on hand)
1/2 c nuts chopped optional (I used walnuts)
Sprinkle on top of batter. Bake in preheated oven at 350F until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes.

ENJOY!!!

Scrounging for dinner... a delicious meal.

Last night, I was at work late, so Tim prepared dinner. He decided to do his part to clean out some storage supplies of food... I arrived home to a wonderful aroma and dinner on the table. My dear husband made a delicious meal of some veggies that needed to be used up from the fridge, scallops that were in the freezer since when I lived at my old house (before we were married), artichoke hearts that came from a box of items in the basement from Tim's old house, edamame from the freezer that was probably from a Trader Joe's trip about 4 or 5 outings ago, and marinara sauce from our pantry. It was a surprisingly lovely blend served over rice! And so far, neither of us are paying gastrointestinally for the use of old(er) foods. My Uncle Bill would j-u-s-t die!
Tim's new idea is that we designate certain nights or weeks at a time when we can only use food from our pantry or freezer in order to proceed with the long overdue consumption of many great foods that linger on and on! And I keep saying I want a chest freezer! There are pros and cons to everything in life, but I just think that one should always have adequate storage for good ice cream. Spoken like a good Norwegian girl who loves her milky, creamy foods.
PS. Did I mention how important it is for all women, but especially pregnant women, to get adequate sources of calcium in their daily diet?

My first successful bread making!

I've been dying to make bread from scratch for the longest time... first, I had multiple unsuccessful attempts, and ended up with unleavened bread (or at least it seemed), only to find out that most likely my yeast was a bad batch. Then, it was a question of getting the perfect pan to bake it in. I finally got a wonderful pyrex dish that's lovely for bread making, got some fresh-off-the-shelf yeast, and went to town yesterday. I was bound and determined to make a good loaf of bread, with lots of love and lots of flavor. Of course, I chose a steamy, hot summer day to crank up the oven and go to town kneading bread.
Baking bread is a LABOR of LOVE... especially when you're supposed to knead, then wait til it rises, then punch, knead and wait again - all sorts of waiting and muscle work! Tim took several pictures of me in action to prove that it was for real! We ended up with a big loaf of yummy oatmeal wheat bread (from More with Less, one of the best cookbooks ever published) that we took as part of our picnic dinner (note: bread still warm... so good!) at the concert in the park. Hooray! Can't wait to try more bread recipes and buff up my muscles.

Vacation at last...in Paradise!

Our lives have been very full of late, and we've felt like we just kept going and going and going... but not so much like energizer bunnies. Tim worked late at the office on Thursday night, and I didn't get home from the hospital until about 8pm (sigh). It had been a really tough week - a busy service in the hospital, with many very sick patients, some dying (or trying to, at least), family meetings to transition patients to palliative care (comfort measures only), consultants with varying opinions and things to say about my management of patients (I guess they have to say SOMEthing - that's their job as consultants), not getting home until very late every night, many admissions during the day, and very few discharges. I usually like inpatient medicine and making rounds in the hospital, but this week I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere, that I wasn't doing a good job, and just couldn't get on top of things. Fortunately it's over, and I made my final phone call to one of my partners from the Chicago airport to ask him to do a few things I had forgotten to do... cuz we're on vacation!

Tim and I hadn't prepared for this trip at all, so we spent the evening into the wee hours of the morning Thursday into Friday doing laundry, packing, and getting ready to be away for 8 days - that's right 8 days! We went to bed around 1:30 AM, only to have the alarm go off at 3:45 AM to get up and get ready to catch our flight. We picked my parents up, and headed to the airport. It was a long day, but ended gloriously, when we arrived at the vacation home we've rented in Santa Barbara, California.

SB is truly a paradise, in and of its own, but our little oasis is very special. I found this house on Craig's List several months ago, and we decided to share the accomodations with my parents. Our house sits on acres and acres of gardens and fruit trees on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The gardens are AMAZING! We had fresh squeezed OJ for breakfast today. We have patios and decks all around, with indoor and outdoor firepits and a hot tub to top it off (we have yet to try this out). We both have king sized beds and our own bathrooms, and there are turtle doves inside a museum sized bird cage to sing the good morning song each day.

Last night we ran to Trader Joes, my favorite unique grocery store, and picked up all sorts of goodies for breakfast and snacks, not to mention our favorite beverage - Reeds Ginger Brew, which is a super strong ginger ale, Jamaican style. We had a breakfast of champions this morning with omelettes, home fries, toast, fruit smoothies, OJ and coffee. Delicious! We had breakfast on the deck overlooking the garden and ocean.

We had dinner at La Super Rica Taqueria last night, which is claimed to be Julia Child's favorite place to get tacos. It was super rico!

We've rested well, and now we're about to head out to explore the sites of Santa Barbara and participate in some of the wedding festivities that are forthcoming. My cousin Duane is about to get hitched - he's the 10th and final cousin in the Johnsen family to take the leap. We're so excited for him and for Audrey. They make a great pair, and we're looking forward to celebrating with them.

Enjoy some pictures from our little paradise!

Yogurt Making!!!

I love yogurt! I can't tell you how much I love yogurt... especially Greek style, or super thick, whole milk yogurt that you need to skim the cream off the top. Delicious! I don't drink milk at all, so yogurt and cheese are my calcium staples (and some occasional ice cream, as any good Norwegian gal living in Lancaster County would agree and subscribe to as a necessary part of any healthy diet!). Anyways, I eat so much yogurt, that I really thought I should be making my own. We buy organic yogurt, and try to buy it locally, but how much more organic AND local could it get if I'm making it in my own kitchen. Of course the problem is that I don't have a cow or a goat in my back yard, so I actually have to purchase milk, but at least we're trying! I'm not sure what people would say about a cow in city limits...
Tim and I researched several web sites last night so we'd know how to best prepare our first batch of yogurt. My parents had a yogurt maker (Big Batch) that they got probably in the early 70's but haven't used for YEARS, so they gave it to us. Yippee!
We learned that it's best (and I think so far we agree, even if it's just our first batch) to use Stonyfield's Organic Whole Milk yogurt as a starter and whole milk to get the batch going. The Big Batch makes 2 quarts of yogurt at a time, which I probably go through in about a week. So, I poured a half gallon of whole milk into a large pot, and brought to a boil, and took it off the heat when it hit 185 degrees. The longer part of the process is letting it cool down, which took some patience, but we eventually got it to 110 degrees, when we knew we could add the other ingredients. Some sources we read said that you could immerse your pot in the sink with cold water to speed up the process, but then sometimes it goes too fast, so you really have to watch. We just continued to stir until we got it to the right temp, then added 1/2 cup of yogurt and 1/3 powdered milk, which we read would help it to be thicker. We transferred it to the Big Batch when it was all mixed together, and plugged it in to let it incubate over night. We are fans of tangy and tart yogurt, so we let it incubate about 11 hours. You can do it for shorter periods of time if you like a milder flavor. And that was it! This AM, I transferred my 2 quarts of yogurt to glass containers to put in the fridge. I happened to sneak a taste by licking my fingers at the end, and it seemed great! The consistency and the flavor seemed right on, which makes me oh! so happy!!!

In summary, it was super easy and all we used were the following ingredients:

• One-half gallon of whole milk
• 1/2 cup of whole milk plain yogurt
• 1/3 cup of powdered milk

Hooray for yogurt and hooray for the Big Batch Yogurt Maker that still works some 30+ years later. Thanks, mom! :)