Veggie Staples

dairy free, gluten free, refined sugar free, plant based recipes

EverlyWell DHA Test Review

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Are you a breastfeeding Mama? Have you heard of EverlyWell? Or DHA? DHA is a vital Omega 3 Fatty Acid that a baby needs to grow during their first 2 years of life! DHA is crucial in a child’s early development, in particular for their visual acuity and cognitive development.

I had Will 4 months ago. He is the happiest little baby, always full of big smiles and laughter (and I’m not just saying that)!!! As a breast feeding mama to this little boy, I wanted to know I was doing all I could to do to get him all the nutrients he needed!! Often times, as a busy mom (especially when you also have a toddler at home) you neglect your diet, and it’s important to your health as well as your baby’s health, to keep up a diet rich in proteins, veggies and fruit! This test helped me with adding more DHA rich foods to my diet.

Everlywell does at home testing, which only requires a few drops of breastmilk placed on a collection card for their labs to review. Measuring the DHA in your breastmilk can help you know if your dietary supply of DHA is within the recommended, healthy range for breastfeeding mothers and your baby! The test kit is shipped for free, with a pre paid return label. No waiting, no copays, with easy to understand results online in just a few days. You use the dropper provided to add a few drops of your breastmilk to the sample card and letting it dry. Then you seal it and send it off! Easy peasy! When you get the results, they send you the link in your email, which you can also share with your doctor!

I got mine in the mail quickly, and I sent it out the next day. I found out within a few quick days that I was in the medium range for my DHA levels. EverlyWell gave me great suggestions to eat more foods rich in DHA include fatty fish such as salmon, or tuna, cod, halibut, and eggs! My husband and I love salmon and cod, especially now that summer is here! One of our favorite summer recipes is fish tacos! Yum! I’m also going to talk to my doctor about talking an Omega 3 supplement.

 

You can use this link to get your own test, and 15% off with the code VEGGIE15!! Generally, an FSA/HSA account will cover the costs of this at-home test (personal coverage varies for insurance).

I really loved finding out what my DHA levels were from Everlywell, and I think that if you are a breastfeeding Mom at all concerned about your levels, this test is perfect to find out if you are eating the right foods for providing your baby with what he or she needs!

Paleo Lactation Cookies

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paleolactationcookie1

New Mom Post: If you’ve ever had kiddos and you’ve breastfed, you know that sometimes it’s hard to keep up with supply and demand. I’ve been drinking lots of Mother’s Milk Tea, which helps a lot, but I also starting looking for other foods that helped with milk production. I actually spoke with a lactation consultant and there haven’t really been too many tests proving that any certain foods do so, although many people believe they do (Carrots, Garlic, Spinach, Hummus, Nuts, Seeds, Ginger, Oils, Rice, Sweet Potato, Flax Seed, Oats, Brewers Yeast to name a few). This is a really article about galactogogues (foods that help milk supply)!

So either way, what harm can a lactation cookie do? I found lots of recipes but nothing that was gluten free or paleo friendly, so I set out this weekend to make my own version. I made two versions of these cookies, one with gluten free instant oats, and one with ground cashews. You could do either, depending on if you just eat gluten free or if you eat paleo (both work great).

The next question is how to get Zoey to sleep through the night…. I just began reading Baby Wise. Anyone else have any tips?

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Paleo Lactation Cookies

Yield: 24 cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 c. ground cashews or gluten free quick oats
  • 3/4 cup almond butter or peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup coconut sugar
  • 1/2 cup ground flax seeds
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons ground brewers yeast
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • add ins (optional)
  • 1/2 c. Enjoy Life chocolate chips
  • 1/2 c. almond slivers

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Combine wet ingredients together (eggs, almond butter, coconut oil and vanilla) and set aside
  3. Grind flax seeds in a blender or food processor until powder like if necessary
  4. If needed, grind cashews in a food processor or blender until they resemble bread crumbs
  5. If your brewers yeast is in pill form (with no casing) place 10-15 tablets in a sandwich back and smoosh with the back of a spoon until it is in powder form
  6. Combine dry ingredients together (flax seeds, ground cashews, brewers yeast and baking soda) and mix with wet ingredients
  7. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients until well combined
  8. Add chocolate chips and almond slivers if desired
  9. Place 2-3 inch balls of dough (12 on a sheet) onto your Silpat or aluminum foil (sprayed or greased with coconut oil)
  10. Bake for 15-17 minutes at 350 degrees
  11. Enjoy!
http://veggiestaples.com/paleo-lactation-cookies/

paleolactationcookies