Barnhoorn - Milas meals : the beginning & the basics

Milas Meals - The Beginning & The Basics

A collection of nourishing wholefood recipes and food ideas for babys first year (and the rest of the family too!)

Free from gluten, refined sugar, dairy and artificial additives.

Catherine Barnhoorn

Baby Mila

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, or by any other information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author.

For information, contact Catherine Barnhoorn at

The content of this book is for general instruction only.
Each persons physical, emotional, and spiritual condition is unique. The instruction in this book is not intended to replace or interrupt the readers relationship with a physician or other professional. Please consult your doctor for matters pertaining to your specific health and diet. The author, publisher and distributor of this book are not held responsible for any adverse effects or consequences resulting from the use or misuse of any information, suggestions or procedures described hereafter.

To contact the author, visit www.milasmeals.co.za

Publishing Copyright Catherine Barnhoorn 2015

Recipes Copyright Catherine Barnhoorn 2015

Photographer: Alfred Lor, www.shooot.co.za

Stylist: Catherine Barnhoorn

Design & Layout: Catherine Barnhoorn

Editor & Proof Reader: Alix Verrips

eBook production & distribution: Quickfox Publishing

This book is dedicated to Mila my inspiration and my guiding light. Without you, I would not have known or done any of this.

And for Sarah
how I wish you were here to see this! Thank you for your encouragement and love. It was an honour to cook for you.

Let medicine be thy food and food thy medicine
Nature itself is the best physician

- Hippocrates

I am your parent you are my child

I am your quiet place, you are my wild

I am your calm face, you are my giggle

I am your wait, you are my wiggle

I am your audience, you are my clown

I am your London Bridge, you are my falling down

I am your carrot sticks, you are my liquorice

I am your dandelion, you are my first wish

I am your water wings, you are my deep

I am your open arms, you are my running leap

I am your way home, you are my new path

I am your dry towel, you are my wet bath

I am your dinner you are my chocolate cake

I am your bedtime, you are my wide awake

I am your finish line, you are my race

I am your praying hands, you are my saving grace

I am your favourite book, you are my new lines

I am your nightlight, you are my sunshine

I am your lullaby, you are my peek-a-boo

I am your kiss goodnight, you are my I love you.

Author: Maryann K Cusimano

FOREWORD

Our planet is undergoing great changes and humanity as a whole is being taken to higher levels of consciousness.

Many children born today will become our future leaders and teachers, they are very much part of the great transformation. These children are sensitive, gifted and very aware and need to be treated with respect and special care.

What we expose them to is of the greatest importance, and wholesome nutrition plays a major role in their harmonious development.

Food prepared with reverence and love will feed body, heart and soul.

The acclaimed books and photographs by Professor Masaru Emoto are worth studying to get a better understanding of the workings of energy. His photographs of the structure of water demonstrate the effect thoughts and intentions have on everything in and around us. Love, gratitude and blessing enhance the water structure into diamond-like crystals. Do we fully realise the importance of this for us humans whose bodies consist of seventy percent water?

Catherine weaves these principles into her masterfully created book. This very informative book is crucial to give our special children a healthy start to life.

May it reach far and wide!

Dr Hanna Grotepass MBChB Homeopath and Energy Healer

Knysna on the Garden Route, South Africa

Contents:

Introduction

This book came about because of green poo thats right bright green baby poo!

Let me back track a little bit I was first told I had a Candida overgrowth when I was 19 years old. It was long before Candida was in mainstream consciousness and after doing a 3 month detox I did not pay it too much attention. A few years later I was diagnosed with endometriosis. While I had always loved preparing my own food, I began to pay extra attention to food and the affect that different foods can have on the body. I learnt about: the connection between Candida and endometriosis; about the affect food preservatives have on the bodys hormones; as well as, the impact of conventional cosmetics and body care products. I once again limited my intake of sugar and gluten, and made conscious decisions to only eat homemade wholefood. I also changed to all-natural, organic products for my body and in the home. I did, however, still go for seven laparoscopies to treat the endometriosis not believing that there could be a purely natural cure (or reason) for the disease.

Shortly before I got married, and on my sister-in-laws recommendation, I went to see a homeopath in the hope that she could help me fall pregnant (I had been told by my gynaecologist that this may be impossible due to the endometriosis). I was due for another laparoscopy, but I was beginning to doubt the wisdom of this yearly quick fix. Amazingly, two months after I took the homeopathic remedies, I was completely pain-free and pregnant!

It was a complicated pregnancy I went into premature labour at 26 weeks and was put on bed rest for 10 weeks. As challenging as that was, it gave me a lot of time to bond with my unborn child and to think about how I had been raised, and about how I wanted my daughter to be raised. With decisions like whether or not to vaccinate having to be made, I once again delved into research on the body and what it needs to be healthy and to fight or prevent disease. With candida, endometriosis and ADHD in my daughters gene pool, it became clear to me that when I started feeding my her, it would be a strictly refined sugar-, preservative-, and additive-free diet of homemade food - so her immune system could reach its full potential and so that those genes would remain dormant. What I did not realise, is that this would have to be my way of eating too!

I became a mom to my beautiful daughter, Mila, in February 2012 she was born at 41 weeks despite the early scare! I was determined to breastfeed even after being told I did not have breastfeeding nipples and Mila not being able to latch on due to a lip tie (which I only discovered when she was two). We struggled through the first few days, did a happy dance when we discovered nipple shields, and then settled into a routine of what is surely the most magical time in a womans life.

Mila was a small baby (born at 2,4kg), suffered from colic and needed to be fed every couple of hours for the first nine months. I realise now the reasons for all of this her imbalanced gut flora inherited during childbirth from my candida overgrowth. If only I had known what I know now. I began to notice that Milas discomfort was worse after some feeds than after others. My sister-in-law suggested I eliminate certain foods like garlic and onion - two of my favourites! Once again, I began to pay closer attention to food and the affect it has on the body. At the same time, I developed eczema on my hands. Initially I thought it was from compulsive hand washing with Tea Tree soap but then I noticed it flared up after I ate certain foods namely gluten, sugar and dairy. You must know that I had eaten a toasted mozzarella, pesto and tomato sandwich on artisan sourdough bread from our local bakery every single day of my pregnancy actually twice a day towards the end! It was usually followed by a few (or more) pieces of Lindt dark chocolate so the thought that I would have to stop this ritual because of the gluten and dairy was something I resisted. Until I saw the green poo Milas that is, not mine.