Modern Wife

Tag: parenting

  • Vitamin C Spray for Sun Protection

    Vitamin C Spray for Sun Protection

    Even before the CDC released results of a study linking sunscreen ingredients to hormone disruption and cell damage, Hulda Clark tested and found sunscreen and many other commercial body products to be polluted with toxic chemicals. Not only is sunscreen bad for people, it is also bad for marine life, creating sex change in fish.

    When worn while swimming in a chlorinated pool, sunscreen can cause cytotoxicity (cell death) and a loss of UV protection. Here are the studies that show what happens when sunscreen is exposed to chlorine.

    Believe it or not, the best option for sun protection is as simple as Vitamin C and water.

    Studies show that applying Vitamin C on the skin is effective against photoaging and reversing past sun damage to the skin. Use Vitamin C to protect your skin before sun exposure and as skin care treatment after sun exposure.

    Here is the 2-ingredient recipe:

    Vitamin C Spray

    Ingredients:
    8 oz distilled water
    2 teaspoons Vitamin C Powder
    8 oz HDPE Spray Bottle

    I make a small batch for my family every year. The kids like spraying it in their mouths because of its tangy Vitamin C taste. (It’s food-grade!) This year I thought I’d make it available for anyone who would like one as well. Order Vitamin C Spray at NaturalHealthSupply.com.

    Vitamin C Spray for sun protection at the beach

    Shake and spray on skin as often as you need. Vitamin C in water may turn a dark yellow in time, but it is still as potent as the day it was made.

    It’s not sticky. Skin absorbs it easily. You don’t have to wait until before going outdoors to spray it. Use it everyday to reverse past sun damage, and keep the skin healthy and protected for future sunning.

    More info at:
    How is your Sunscreen like Asbestos?
    The Safe and Skin-Nourishing Sunscreen Alternative

    Enjoy the outdoors this summer!

  • Strength and Grace

    Strength and Grace

    What’s amazing about having a blog that has been around for more than a decade is that I can quickly click through the posts to see my daughter growing up. From the moment she was born to this day, I am filled with gratitude and pride in her good health, strength, skills, and grace.

    I feel lucky to have come across Hulda Clark‘s work, which made a difference in my health long before I decided to become a mom. Following the Hulda Clark lifestyle gave me the confidence to raise a healthy child with as little medical intervention as possible. Our philosophy and methods are different from most families we know, but it’s hard to deny that whatever it is we do has brought us wonderful results.

    My daughter is now a Junior Olympic Level 6 competitive gymnast under the USA Gymnastics program. It’s challenging for the whole family because we have to spend a lot of time traveling to competitions. All this time on the road is exhausting and exposes us to a lot of elements. Imagine getting a food-borne illness from eating at a restaurant while so far away from the comforts of home. That’s why we always travel with our Hulda Clark Zapper. We zap preventively to keep us in top condition and keep it in our first aid kit in case of emergency.

    If your kids are into competitive sports, you know that our support as parents is essential to making it happen for them. I’ll do anything to help my daughter succeed. Being in good health is the foundation of it all. Wish us luck this competition season!

  • Girl Power

    Girl Power

    Two winters ago, my then-9-year-old daughter asked her dad to help her in a big project. She had done electronics in the past, but this was the first time she came up with something to build it into. First they had to make the circuit. It’s a simple circuit, only meant to light up LEDs at the flick of a switch.

    #circuit for #ultraviolet #LED #light. #electronics #girlpower #kids #kidscrafts #maker #crafts

    A photo posted by Malaya (@designcutie) on

    The switch is the trickiest part, since it needed to be soldered and definitely needed to be supervised by a parent.

    #soldering #electronics #switch #kids #kidscrafts #crafts #maker

    A photo posted by Malaya (@designcutie) on

    My daughter drew up a pattern for her plush toy, cut up the fabric and sewed it up on the sewing machine. (I taught her how to use the sewing machine when she was 8. Before that, she’d been hand-sewing since she was 4.) Before stuffing it and while the toy is still inside-out, she and her dad set the wiring up.

    #electronics all wired together into the inside of my #plush #toy – #kidscrafts #kids #crafts #maker

    A photo posted by Malaya (@designcutie) on

    By this time we’d been making toys together for years. She’s an expert stuffing stuffer!

    stuffing the bird. Almost done!

    A photo posted by Malaya (@designcutie) on

    There’s her plush LED nightlight owl! It’s been her reading companion for two years now

    This spring, she wanted to make a companion for her plush owl. This time, building a circuit was a breeze, but using the soldering iron still needs parental supervision.

    #Soldering #electronic parts for Project Patchy Wink. #kidscrafts #girlpower #electronics #maker

    A photo posted by Malaya (@designcutie) on

    Using the sewing machine, however, has become almost second-nature to this budding designer. Like a pro, she drew up a pattern, cut up the fabric, sewed it up, and built her electronic wiring while the toy was still inside-out. Here it is all ready to stuff.

    Project Patchy Wink before stuffing. #LED eyes are in. #electronics #girlpower #maker

    A photo posted by Malaya (@designcutie) on

    And there’s my happy girl with Patchy Wink, her bedtime plush toad with LED light-up eyes. Girl power!

    Get your kids into electronics and making things. It’s a creative, educational and rewarding way to spend time together.

    Girl Power electronic maker of LED nightlight plush toy

  • How to Make Homemade Pasta

    How to Make Homemade Pasta

    My daughter has been making homemade pasta with her Dad for as long as she remembers. Preparing meals is a family activity in our home. It’s so gratifying to see my 10-year-old daughter competently handling knives and the stove, while conversing about our family’s health philosophy (in between silly stuff).

    We stopped eating wheat for a few years, but the complexity of blended flours trying to capture the texture and taste of wheat seemed more of a process than simply committing to using organic or non-GMO wheat flour products.

    We still enjoy coconut flour for making coconut muffins, arrowroot flour for making dry arrowroot cookies, rice flour for making rice cakes. But when it comes to making bread and pasta, there is nothing like good old wheat.

    Homemade Pasta

    Ingredients:
    1 cup semolina flour
    1/2 teaspoon salt, optional
    2 eggs or 3 egg whites, free-range and organic

    Combine semolina flour and salt. Add beaten eggs. Mix to make a stiff dough. On a lightly floured surface, flatten dough with a rolling pin. Jelly-roll the flattened dough and cut into noodles.

    Homemade pasta for dinner. #semolina #pasta

    A photo posted by Modern Wife (@modernwife) on

    We used a curly knife to cut the pasta.

    My daughter chops the #pasta with a curly knife.

    A photo posted by Modern Wife (@modernwife) on

    Bring a large pot of water to boil. Unroll the pasta and add to the pot of boiling water. Cook until al dente.

    Unrolling #homemade #pasta.

    A photo posted by Modern Wife (@modernwife) on

    Serve with your favorite sauce. Or simply toss with butter, salt and herbs such as green onions and cilantro.

    #homemade #pasta #dinner with chopped #herbs. #cilantro #greenonions

    A photo posted by Modern Wife (@modernwife) on

    Serves 3.

    Buon appetito!

    Homemade Pasta

  • Build a Hulda Clark Zapper

    Build a Hulda Clark Zapper

    My daughter learned how to build a Hulda Clark Zapper using a no-solder breadboard kit when she was 7 years old.

    The Hulda Clark Zapper has been such an indispensable part of our life. My husband and I have been zapping since 1997. Our daughter doesn’t know life without it. Even our pets get the benefits of zapping.

    The use of frequency for therapeutic purposes has been around for a very long time. Nikola Tesla began the study of diathermy back in the early 1900s. Georges Lakhovsky, Royal Rife, and a number of scientists, including Hulda Clark, followed in his footsteps to further this research. Some even say that the ancient Baghdad Batteries and the Ark of the Covenant were early explorations into frequency therapy. Today’s scientists are slowly catching up to this age-old technology.

    Being one of the very few companies in the world that makes Hulda Clark Zappers, we want to make sure that the technology gets passed on to future generations. What’s wonderful is that building a zapper has sparked our daughter’s interest in electronics, so that now she is learning to build other simple circuits. Here’s a video of her building an electronic cricket that she used to play a trick on me.

    Learn how to make a Hulda Clark Zapper, then teach it to your kids. It has made us healthier, smarter and happier. I wish the same to you.

  • Read

    Read

    One of the most rewarding parts of my day is reading to my daughter at bedtime. I’ve been reading to her from the moment she was born.

    When she was a baby, the sound of my voice soothed her as I read her short poems and sang her songs.

    When she was a toddler exploring her environment, soft books with tactile features amused her to no end.

    We read board books as she learned more about the world around her. She began recognizing images and putting them together with words. Her favorites were Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight Moon, The Runaway Bunny, and Big Red Barn; and Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Lonely Firefly, and The Very Busy Spider.

    As she extended her command of language, her love for books grew. She got into Dr. Seuss and the poetry of Shel Silverstein.

    Long before she learned to read she had memorized Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, Skelly the Skeleton Girl by Jimmie Pickering, and Dr. Seuss’s One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish.

    By the time she started kindergarten we were reading long form books. The first one was The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which began our journey through the L. Frank Baum series. After that we dove into the How to Train Your Dragon series by Cressida Cowell. While waiting for the latest Dragon series release, we read all 7 books of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

    In third grade she started reading Roald Dahl on her own: Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, and The BFG. At this point in time she already has a wide social life separate from me, and a great many interests she pursues on her own.

    I still read to her at bedtime, even though she can very well read by herself. We take turns, two pages each. We read The Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony Diterlizzi and Holly Black. We read Greek mythology and the book of Genesis.

    When I started reading to my daughter, I thought I was simply teaching her how to read and love books. What I’ve learned is that there is so much more to it than that. Most of the books I read to her, I had never read myself before. I was experiencing these stories for the first time with her. This was not a case of me, the elder, imparting wisdom to my young. We were sharing laughter, spontaneous bursts of tears, and epiphanies together. We were learning so much about ourselves and each other while we read. Most of all we’ve developed a language and a culture between us based on a literary bond we can draw upon as reference as we navigate the real world together.

    That is the gift of literature.

  • Take a walk

    Spring is just around the corner. The snow and ice is melting. The sun is shining brighter. This past weekend we took a 2-mile walk to the village and back. It was great to get some exercise, fresh air, sun and sightseeing at Camden Village. Come along with us.

  • Wash Your Hands

    It’s only about 3 more months before my husband turns 50 in May. Just late last summer we started a video series called Countdown to 50, in which Jay shares lifestyle tips on good health and longevity. This past month we made a video about a couple of the most overlooked habits that make such a big difference in one’s health. Have a look!

    See also Vodka Sanitizer and 5 Ways to Fight Off Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria.

  • Lime Candle

    Lime Candle

    I love this! Look at how the light comes prettily through the green lime peel. My daughter came up with this clever little decorating idea of turning lime peels into candles. She must have seen a tutorial on YouTube. The kid loves YouTube tutorials.

    Just clean out the inside part of the peel, leaving the center intact to serve as a wick. Pour a little oil into it. I used safflower oil because that’s what I have here at home. Then light up the wick. It may take a while before it catches a flame. The wick isn’t as dry as a cotton candlewick, so be patient. Once the wick browns it will start to catch a flame.

    Lime Candle

    This would look awesome as a table centerpiece for a romantic candlelit dinner. Valentine’s Day is coming up, and it’s on a Friday! Consider setting your dinner table with one of these. Better yet, float it on a wide vase of water to keep it safe.

    Make lime candles for spring, lemon candles for summer and orange candles for fall.

  • Green Eggs

    Green Eggs

    I started making green eggs when my daughter was a Dr. Seuss-loving toddler. I started out serving it as a sandwich spread, but now that my family is on a gluten-free diet, I serve it with salad. Let’s start with the recipe.

    Green Eggs

    Ingredients:
    1 organic avocado
    2 organic eggs
    salt and pepper to taste

    Boil eggs. For perfect yellow yolks, put eggs in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a rolling boil on high then turn the burner off. Let eggs sit in hot water for 15 minutes. Pour out the hot water and replace with cold water. Let it sit for a few minutes, until eggs are cool enough to touch. Peel.

    Mash the avocado, then add eggs cut up roughly with a spoon. Mix together. Salt and pepper to taste.

    Here’s how I serve it nowadays:

    Green Eggs on salad

    Mine, left, on a heap of green salad – spinach, cucumber, red pepper.

    My daughter’s, top, on the side of 9 spinach leaves (for every year of her age), cucumber slices, and 5 tiny bits of red pepper.

    My husband’s, right, no green eggs. Just a salad and slices of deli turkey. He does not like green eggs and ham. He does not like it, Sam-I-am.