Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Eating Right and Regularity

Warning, the following topic may gross some of you out, but I will be gentile in my phrasing.

I (Bella) have never had a problem with regularity.  I know that it is a problem for many people, and whole grains, fibre from fresh fruit and vegetables, should create a happy ending, so to speak.  After a week and a half my body has returned to normal movements.  It is something that I am not shy about talking about.  I have been dealing with more than my fair share of bodily functions for the last 3 1/2 years, thanks to Princess and Outlaw.  The increased fibre has it effects, and it took this week for my body to process the change and return my movements to a normal consistency.

Some members of my family have not always been as fortunate, Princess has on occasion been one of them.  Over the last week and a bit, she has endured a bout of constipation  Not much fun for her or us.  No one likes to see their child struggling to get a bowel movement out.  I don't really know if the dietary structure we are now following is the cause, or if it began with some innocently made homemade granola bars, or plain yoghurt which was a pro-biotic style (not recommended for a toddler, but seriously I could not find any plain yoghurt that wasn't).  We have introduced good ole fashion prune juice for Princess, and intend to provide her a 1/2 cup a day for the next week or so, fruit juice counts as a fruit/veggie serving, so I don't want to make it a regular part of her diet if I can avoid it.  We also applied some past winners in the fight against constipation, bicycle movements, belly massages, increased running and walking.

Hopefully, Princess will only deal with her constipation for a short while, and return to regular movements.  Please enjoy the granola bar recipe below, ( I found it online over a year ago, but I couldn't tell you where), it is quite good, but granola bars count as a sometimes treat in the CFG so we may not make them ourselves again until we have occasion to have a gathering of friends or family over for a visit.

HOMEMADE GRANOLA BARS
INGREDIENTS
½ cup butter                                      ½ cup peanut butter
1 cup honey                                       1 tsp vanilla
4 ½ cups rolled oats                         1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda                            
ADD-INS
½ cup each dark chocolate chips, chopped mixed nuts, sunflower seeds, dried fruit.
¼ cup sesame seeds (for topping)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Butter a 9x13 inch pan.  Combine butters, honey and vanilla first.  Then add all other ingredients.  Beat hard until combined.  Stir in add-ins, press mixture into pan, really jam it in there so the bars don’t fall apart (I use a sheet of plastic wrap on top, then press with my hands).  Sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.  Let cool for 10 minutes, and then cut into bars. Will make anywhere from 20 to 30 depending on the size of your bars.

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