Lactation Cookies in honor of World Breastfeeding Week

Did you know that we're in the middle of World Breastfeeding Week?  August 1st-7th is the official celebration.

I am a breastfeeding supporter and I still breastfeed my now 1 year old daughter.  The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends breastfeeding exclusively from 1-6 months and then breastfeeding in addition to table food from 6-24 months.  

Why am I still breastfeeding my toddler?

Breastfeeding past a year of age continues to have many benefits to both baby and mother.  Breastmilk is a source of nutrition and disease protection the entire time a child breastfeeds.  

For example:

In the second year (12-23 months), 448 mL of breastmilk provides:
29% of energy (calorie) requirements
43% of protein requirements
36% of calcium requirements
75% of vitamin A requirements
76% of folate requirements
94% of vitamin B12 requirements
60% of vitamin C requirements

Breastmilk is more than just food.
Extended breastfeeding contributes to a child's health, providing important antibodies.  It has shown to contribute to intellectual development (cognitive achievement) and also mental and social development.  When you meet your child's needs in a consistent way you are laying the groundwork for healthy attachment and independence.

What about me?
There are also benefits to the mother including delayed return of fertility (whoot whoot), lower risk of breast cancer, lower risk of endometrial cancer and ovarian cancer, protection against osteoporosis, reduced risk of rheumatoid arthritis, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and last but not least you can lose weight easier.

Note: My information was obtained from kellymom.com and the world health organization.

In honor of World Breastfeeding Week I'd like to share my oh-so-popular and VERY tasty lactation chip cookie recipe.  They are not made with breastmilk (a common question I get, ha!) but help support breastmilk production.  They are safe for anyone to eat however, whether man or child.  Trust me, both my husband and my kids LOVE these cookies.

Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Lactation Cookies 
Ingredients 
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
4 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp flax seed meal
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 cups oats
1 cup chocolate chip
3 Tbsp brewer's yeast
1/2 cup raisins

Directions 
Preheat the oven to 350. Mix the flax seed meal and water and let sit for 3-5 min. Beat the butter, sugar and brown sugar well. Add eggs and mix well. Add flax seed mix and vanilla, mix well. In a medium bowl mix together flour, brewers yeast, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to the butter mix. Stir in oats, chips and raisins. Scoop onto baking sheet (I covered mine with parchment paper). Bake for 12 minutes. Let sit for a couple minutes then enjoy!

This recipe made 3 dozen cookies, enough for you and to share with another lactating friend.  These make a great gift for a new-mommy by the way.  It's the brewer's yeast and oatmeal that help with milk supply and the flaxseed meal is a great way to get fiber and omega 3 fatty acids.  Omega 3's are good for you and your baby. :)

Purslane Potato Salad Recipe

Purslane has been added to our vegetable vocabulary this summer.  We've had it in our CSA box a few times and I most recently used it in a quinoa stuffed zucchini boats recipe.  This last week I added it to potatoes and made a gluten and dairy free potato salad.  It is extremely easy yet has the best flavor.  It is my new go-to potato salad recipe!  You can also use regular mayonnaise of course, but our family prefers the taste of Vegenaise.

Purslane Potato Salad 

6 medium potatoes, sliced and cooked
2 cups purslane, chopped
1/4 cup green onions, sliced (or to taste)
1 cup Vegenaise (or mayonnaise)

Mix together all ingredients. Serve chilled.

How easy is that?  You could also add salt, pepper or a bit of sliced celery.  For the green onions I just used the frozen (and already sliced) ones I had prepared before.  I estimated about 1/4 cup, you could add more or less.

We just got another bunch of Purslane in today's CSA box, I think I'll make it again this week!

Fisher Price Fridays - Music Box Record Player

Today's Vintage Fisher Price toy looks familiar I bet.  I'm willing to wager because all my friends (and family) who have seen our record player say that they had one as a kid, or their kids had one.  Today it's the familiar and fabulous Music Box Record Player #995.

The Music Box Record Player was made between 1971-1983.  From 1984-1987 the same player was renamed (and restyled) as a Sesame Street Music Box Player.  Then from 1988-1992 it was renumbered as #2205 and restyled yet again.  All three versions were different from prior Fisher Price record players in that they didn't require batteries or a phonograph needle.  They all came with 5 records.

The record player has storage in the back to hold all five records and a handle on top for easy carrying.

The front of the player has a wind up turn knob.  This is the same type of knob used in other music boxes.  The top also has a yellow on/off switch, yellow turn table and a yellow needle arm. There are also singing birds in the plastic on the right side.  See the first photo for a better view.

Each side of the record player has the same lithograph of musical instruments, a bird, vines and flowers.  It also says that the musical movement was made in Japan.

The record player came with 5 different brightly colored records.  There is a different song on each side for a total of 10 songs.  They are numbered 1-5 with the names on the songs printed in silver.  

1- Humpty Dumpty

2. Au Clair De La Lune

3. London Bridge

4. Camptown Races

5. Edelweiss

1. Jack and Jill

2. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

3. Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone

4. Children's Marching Song (this old man)

5. Hickory Dickory Dock

Although the records came in only 5 different colors, not each color is the same.  In other words, the #1 record could be dark blue, light blue, green, orange or light purple.  You want to make sure you have one of each color and each number in order to have a complete set if you're buying one of these.  And if you're short a record or two keep that in mind when looking online.

The baby is very happy that we have a complete set.  Our favorite song is the familiar Edelweiss since I've sang it to both of my girls since they were born. 

This is one durable toy.  My baby goes for the record player every chance she can get.  She loves to hold and play with the records and takes them on and off the turn table.  So far they do not look the worse for wear!

If you want to see more Fisher Price music boxes check out my posts here and here.

A little more Annie.

I couldn't find the photo of me wearing the 80's Annie & Sandy t-shirt.  But I did find this lovely photo of me dressed up as Annie for halloween.  That beautiful red dress was hand sewn by my mother and the curly wig is a genuine Annie costume wig.  I still have the wig and the box it came in. :)

I was about 5 1/2.  Sorry to my sister for blogging this photo, but she's pretty cute too don't cha think? 

It's a Hard Knock Life - Semi Wordless Wednesday

A couple weeks ago this little Annie sang her heart out at Elevate Coffee.

It was our 3rd Character Breakfast at Elevate Coffee.  This one wasn't as crowded so we got a front row seat.  I'm guessing that not all parents let their preschoolers watch Annie.  It's not exactly the most appropriate film with all the alcohol, sex, drug and child abuse references although I watched it as a kid and was a BIG fan.

Can you see the t-shirt my daughter is wearing?  It is a genuine early 80's t-shirt that my sister and I wore.  It has a screen print of Annie & Sandy.  She wore it proudly.

Did you see this little lady on the table?  Another 80's item of mine that my daughter recently discovered.  Lucky for her I saved WAY too much stuff from my childhood. ;)

The last character breakfast of the summer is next monday, August 6th.  It will be The Little Mermaid.  Go here to make a reservation.  See you there!