Posts Tagged ‘coconut oil’

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The Benefits of Infant Massage

Thursday, March 20th, 2014

Infant massage is a wonderful way to nurture and bond with your baby while providing some amazing health benefits. When you first start giving your baby massages they might fight you, but I promise if you start small and keep trying, they’ll love it. Infants communicate with their bodies, and massage can help you learn to listen not only for sounds but also listen for non-verbal cues through touch.

Some of the health benefits of regular infant massage include relaxation and better sleep, reduced crying, and a positive impact on stress hormone production. It also helps improve body awareness and can strengthen digestive, circulatory and gastrointestinal systems. A nurturing touch can even help baby feel better when they’re experiencing pain from teething, congestion, gas or colic.

Babies aren’t the only ones who benefit from infant massage–the parent giving the massage also experiences health benefits. Being in a relaxing environment and massaging your loved one can help improve your sense of well-being, reduce blood pressure and stress, and improve your overall health.

There is no magic formula for how to massage your baby. My favorite oil to use is coconut since it’s safe on infants and allergies are rare. As they get older you can incorporate some essential oils as well. Massaging too soon after a feeding might cause an upset stomach, so time your massages for at least 45 minutes after a feeding so they’ve had plenty of time to digest.

Spend some time on the whole body starting at one end, such as the head, and very gently work your way through to the other side. Don’t forget to massage both the back and front of the body. When massaging the belly, make sure you massage in a circular motion starting at the bottom of the belly on baby’s right side. This pushes in the direction of the colon to avoid constipation.

My favorite time to massage my daughter has always been after her nighttime bath as part of her bedtime routine. Find a time when your baby seems to be content, calm and happy, and if your baby turns his or her head and becomes stiff, follow their cues and try again another time.

Jacqueline Banks is a certified Holistic Health Counselor focused on nutrition and green living strategies. She works with women in all stages of motherhood, from mothers struggling with conception, through pregnancy, lactation and beyond to ensure the best health and nutrition for both mother and baby.

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Winter Skin Remedies

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014

DSCN1277During the winter months my babies have always tended to have dry skin; we live in a dry environment so that makes matters even worse. Not bathing your baby every day and not using harsh body washes is one way to help prevent their skin from getting too dry, but sometimes the dryness or skin rash will still happen.

One of our first lines of defense is daily organic coconut oil. We love this as it is super moisturizing and great for our babies’ skin; coconut oil is wonderful because it can not only be used for babies, but can be used for many other things around the house. Coconut oil is also easy to find you can either buy online or at most grocery stores.

For eczema, acne, dry skin or chapped lips you can always use breast milk. This is an awesome option as it is both economical and always readily available from a breastfeeding mamma. You can just pump or hand express some milk and put on your baby’s skin. This is only one of the numerous benefits of breast milk.

If you are using cloth diapers, you may also want to try some of your cloth diaper rash creams for extra dry skin. We have always used Yum Bum Butter or CJ’s Butter for our diaper rash cream and we love both. Just grab a bit and massage onto your baby’s dry skin to get it moisturized; on a side note these come in multiple scents and smell fabulous. If you have any extra on your hand you can just rub it right in for baby-soft hands. Our youngest crawls everywhere and refuses to wear socks; this winter the tops of his feet have been red and super dry. A couple of doses of diaper rash cream a day really help keep the dryness at bay. If your baby is dealing with dry feet and will wear socks you can slather on some diaper rash cream and then put socks on them every night for healthier skin.

Kristen Beggs is a breastfeeding, cloth diapering mom of two who lives in dry, Midland, TX.

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Tasty Tuesday: Pizookie

Tuesday, April 16th, 2013

Have you ever had a pizookie? My family only recently discovered the joy of pizookies! 🙂 What IS a pizookie you want to know? Well besides being a super fun word to say, it’s a cookie dessert that is shaped like a pizza…hence the name “Pizookie”.

When my kids learned about pizookies they of course wanted to try one. So after a little experimentation we came up with a homemade vegan version that got rave reviews from all three boys.

While this is by no means a healthy recipe, it’s certainly nice to have a few decadent dessert options in the ol’ recipe collection. Also *if* you are going to have a dessert, it’s usually much tastier and healthier when it’s homemade. Plus baking is just plain fun to do! 🙂

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut oil (liquid, but not warm)

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup milk of choice (almond, coconut, rice, soy, etc)

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips

vanilla ice cream of choice (we like this brand)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Cream together oil and sugar. Mix in milk and vanilla. Set aside. Mix dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Stir in chocolate chips. Transfer dough to lightly greased pie pan and bake for approximately 15 minutes. Another fun idea is to bake the dough in cupcake pans (lightly greased with no liner) for mini individual sized pizaookies. My boys LOVED these. Allow pizookie to cool slightly before serving but not too much. You  definitely want the vanilla ice cream to ooze over the warm pizookie while eating it. YUM!

Take that fancy restaurant pizaookie! Delicious, homemade pizookies for a fraction of the cost and with far less questionable ingredients. 🙂

-Sarah

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Sunday Funday Giveaway: Organic Virgin Whole Kernel Coconut Oil by Dr. Bronner’s

Sunday, February 17th, 2013

Did you know that Mom’s Milk Boutique now carries coconut oil? And not just any coconut oil….high quality, fair trade, organic Whole Kernel Coconut Oil by Dr. Bronner’s. I love Dr. Bronner’s and I LOVE coconut oil, so the two combined into one awesome product makes me happy! And the fact that Mom’s Milk Boutique now carries it makes me extra happy! 🙂

We use coconut oil daily in our house. I keep a jar in the kitchen and a jar in the bathroom. Not only can you cook with coconut oil, you can use it for body care as well. Now, there used to be some ugly rumors floating around that coconut oil was bad for you…but now we know that’s bunk! Coconut oil is actually considered a healthy fat that can improve your cholestral level! How does it do that? “Clinical research confirms that coconut oil improves blood cholesterol by increasing the ratio of HDL to LCL cholesterol, due in part to saturated medium chain fatty acids (MCT’s) such as lauric. ” (Dr. Bronner’s, 2013).

Would you like to win a FREE 14oz jar of Organic Virgin Whole Kernel Coconut Oil by Dr. Bronner’s? Then be sure to enter this week’s giveaway below for your chance to win! Winner will be announced on Sunday, February 24. Winner will be notified via email and is asked to reply within 48 hours of receiving email in order to claim prize.

Good luck everyone!

Sarah
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Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Peppermint Frosting

Thursday, December 20th, 2012

After seeing several facebook posts in my newsfeed about the delicious holiday treats many of my friends were baking, I felt inspired to do some holiday baking of my own. I get bored easily in the kitchen so I enjoy experimenting. Sometimes the experiments are a total flop like the vegan pumpkin fudge I tried making this afternoon. While the taste was yummy, it was a sticky gooey mess. Though it might make a fun edible finger paint for the kidlets?

While the fudge was a flop, the Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Peppermint Frosting turned out kind of amazing! In fact even my hubby who doesn’t particularly like sweets (how is that possible?!?) enjoyed them. I decorated them with crushed candy canes and mini vegan chocolate chips. Honestly though you could forgo this step and they would still be delicious…I was just feeling extra festive! 🙂 Also for fun I juiced a few cherries and added the juice to my frosting (trying to avoid chemical dyes). This resulted in a light pink color, but pure white frosting is just as pretty!

A quick note on vegan baking: I used to struggle with getting vegan baked goods to have a nice, fluffy texture. However after several failed attempts, I found baking soda and apple cider vinegar to be the most successful egg substitute.

Cupcake Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of flour
  • 3/4 cup of sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1.5 cups of coconut milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup liquid coconut oil

Cupcake Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.

3. Whisk together vinegar, milk, vanilla, and coconut oil.

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir together until well blended.

5. Pour batter into cupcake tins and bake for approximately 20 minutes.

Frosting Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of soft coconut oil (not too warm and not liquid)
  • 2 – 3 tablespoons coconut milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract

Frosting Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together with an electric mixer until desired texture. Start with 2 tablespoons of milk and add more as needed. It usually takes a few minutes of mixing to get a nice, creamy frosting.

Be sure to wait for cupcakes to completely cool before frosting!

ENJOY!

What is your favorite holiday treat to make? Any fun traditions to share? 🙂

– Sarah

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