Milk and Motherhood: July 2022

 For better or for worse, I've been working really hard on an online breastfeeding course with my friend Cortney this summer. Part of building interest has been starting a newsletter, and writing it reminds me of some of my old blog posts, so I thought I'd share them here, too, for the sake of remembering. Here's my first Milk and Motherhood Missive!

What I'm learning

Lily Nichols, author of Real Food for Pregnancy, often shares this comment she received from a farmer after she posted a postpartum meal plan from a major conventional dietetics group: "This is insane. Looks like a diet plan to lose weight, not one to support lactation and postpartum recovery. We farm and ranch. My sheep and cows need much greater feed after calving/lambing. Nutritional needs can nearly double for some ewes." 

I've long been a proponent of encouraging postpartum moms, breastfeeding or not, to opt out of the postpartum "bounce-back" culture and fuel for the marathon that is motherhood. However, the third time I stumbled across this quote, I started wondering what we DO know about dairy cows, in particular. Hence the podcast deep dive I'll share below.

What I'm reading

The nights are long around here, and I've been reading novels on my Kindle at a breakneck speed instead of scrolling my phone in the dark. My middle-of-the-night reads need to be trigger-free and uncomplicated for me right now, so favorite novel recently was Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon. It was a sweet story of high school seniors going from frenemies to realizing their strong feelings might actually be of a more tender variety. Simple without being boring, scary, and or heavy. Just what I need these days.

In non-fiction, I recently dug out my copy of Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. It's a bit more political than I need it to be, but it's a complete treasure trove of wisdom, knowledge, and nutrient-dense recipes.

What I'm listening to

I was out of the podcast loop for a while there, but I feel like I'm finally able to listen again when I'm driving or weeding the garden. As I mentioned above, I've done a deep dive into episodes on dairy cows and raw milk. 

I loved listening to Mark McAfee talk about milk on the Wise Traditions podcast because he always brought it back to breastmilk: the original raw milk. And then he discussed all the cool things like enzymes and antibodies that are in any milk that hasn't been pasteurized and homogenized. His interview on Fertility Fridayis great, too.

Finally, this conversation about dairy cows taught me a few things about cream composition. And I learned that cows make more milk when they eat oats, too!

What I'm cooking

​Ina Garten's roast chicken is always a hit around here. Tonight I made it with A Dozen Cousins Jamaican Jerk Seasoning sauce instead of the usual butter and herbs, and it was a phenomenal change of flavors!

What I'm feeding my kids

My older kids have pretty much been dairy-free their entire lives, aside from breastfeeding for 2+ years. But we've been transitioning them to raw milk and cheese over the past year and they're doing really well. Their very favorite way to get raw milk is via homemade ice cream, so this recipe is on repeat.