Jaw and hip pain

I have a friend who thought she had an ear infection but instead was told by a D.O. that she has TMJ - jaw pain. I mentioned to her the connection between hips and the jaw but had no resources to share to back me up. I've heard it from numerous practitioners from dentists to birth professionals, but I didn't get the windfall I expected upon Googling. Most of the info is more general about posture & alignment.

Here are some of the links that came up. It's way too late and I think I'm clenching my jaw and tensing my legs & hips as I type!

Whole Health Dental Center: info on body/alignment and TMJ - the Cranial-Dental Balance: http://www.wholehealthdentalcenter.com/carnail-dental.htm

Fairlington Dental's TMJ info and treatment overview: http://www.fairlingtondental.com/tmj-treatment.html

Upledger Institute: article giving overview of CranioSacral Therapy in general at http://www.upledger.com/pdf/CS0307E.pdf

Weg Der Mitte (Berlin): Article: "The Symbiotic Partnership of Dentistry And Craniosacral Therapy"
http://www.wegdermitte.de
/index.php?/english/publications/cranio-article1.htm

Delicious Living Magazine: article on TMJ and healing modalities: http://deliciouslivingmag.com/health/conditions/oral-health/dl_article_2361/

In Light Times: article on TMJ and other connections (by a dentist): http://www.inlightimes.com/archives/2005/08/tmj.htm

About.com article from massage therapist on using massage and Reiki (including working on hips) to alleviate jaw pain: http://healing.about.com/cs/uc_directory/a/uc_sadler03.htm

Yoga Forums: A casual Q& A at http://www.yogaforums.com/forums/f16/the-jaw-hip-connection-2211.html

North Bay Chiropractic and Laser Center: Just some info about TMJ and overall health & possible other health connections: http://www.northbaylaserdoc.com/help_tmj.shtml

Ogden Dental: Info on TMJ and other issues like joint problems: http://www.ogdendental.net/gpage7.html

Yorkville Centre for Integrative Health: massage therapist talking about connections with TMJ and the rest of the body: http://www.balancefacilitator.com/Articles/tmj-article.html

Whole foods come from the ground

We didn't plant a whole garden this year because of the move, but at least we've got a little bit of a harvest on our patio and in the yard. At least my kid knows what green beans, peas, blueberries and black raspberries look -- and taste -- like in their original home.

Now if I can just get him to stop picking sage all the time.

What I eat

For a long time, I've been eating a lot of calories. A typical breakfast would be sausage, one or two eggs (mostly just the yolk), raw/cultured sauerkraut, sprouts (usually pea, lentil or azuki bean -- not alfalfa), sauteed zucchini and some kind of green vegetable cooked in homemade chicken stock. Kombucha and supplements on the side. If I was still hungry after that, I'd have some coconut milk and nuts and/or berries.

But once I was done nursing, I really didn't need to do that. And I wanted to cleanse my liver, plus lose a little extra in the belly. I can't afford to lose much weight, but I wouldn't mind toning. I'm sure going to bed earlier and doing more yoga & meditation to help with stress would also help with the belly pooch. No longer keeping the house ready to sell helps a lot, but I will be most happy when we've closed and have moved into the new place.

I'm now juicing every morning with a real juicer, not just the Vita-Mix (and I'm finally composting everything else again, as evidenced by my son's grape vines). I'm also spending a few days without meat or eggs. The hope is that my body will let go of some toxins and of the idea that I have to eat 2,000 calories at every meal.

I am trying to keep a low profile on fruits since I don't tolerate sugar well. But now we actually have blueberries and black raspberries growing in our yard, and the farmer's market has pesticide-free strawberries.

Gluten-free pancakes at Original Pancake House

The Original Pancake House in Falls Church, VA now offers gluten-free pancakes using Bob's Red Mill GF blend, milk, egg and canola oil. The pancakes did taste good -- we got one order of blueberry and one of pecan -- (choices also include plain, banana and chocolate chip -- not as many choices as the regular pancakes boast at OPH). Shredded potatoes tasted like canola oil, which does no one any favors. We got some turkey links that were okay (not guaranteed nitrite-free or anything), an a fried egg that wasn't too pale in the yolk, and the real maple syrup was indeed probably worth the extra money (can't remember if it was 50 cents or $1.50, but who wants anything that's probably half corn syrup?). Decaf was not memorable either way.

I was calling it my last big carb binge before trying to seriously start a more veg-focused diet (including juicing and more raw food), but it was fun to be able to have breakfast out in the world for once. It's better at home, of course, but I'm still really glad they are offering the GF cakes.

Visit http://www.originalpancakehouse.com/

I have my kitchen back!

After weeks of needing to keep a clean house in the hopes that someone would buy it, I'm so excited to finally have my kitchen back! I've finally got stock rolling (from bones I'd had to stuff in the freezer), I soaked millet last night in whey and water and made porridge this morning, I've been juicing. More on my exploits to come, I hope, but this is what a busy kitchen looks like. Forget those empty counters!

Potato Pancakes (gluten-free, dairy-free)

This is not the most stellar recipe post, but I thought I'd share that lately I've been making a quick side dish out of the extra farm eggs we have now that I'm no longer nursing and eating two each morning (and I keep forgetting to decrease my order size!). My son loves eating these savory pancakes. I essentially beat a couple of eggs and add to them grated potato, zucchini, carrot and chopped onion (maybe some spinach, too) with some herbs, salt and pepper. Then I add some tapioca flour or rice flour and/or arrowroot. It's very unscientific. I just add until I feel like the mixture will hold together. I think I tried adding in some coconut milk once -- maybe I mixed that with the flours first and then added to the egg. At any rate, I fry the mixture in a pan with olive oil or coconut oil and flip at least once. Pretty simple and good.

Gluten-Free Rhubarb-Apple-Strawberry Pie (no dairy, low sugar)

Mother's Day was also my husband's birthday. I got my special time running a half-marathon, and then we went out for brunch with friends. He didn't get much special time, having promised a neighbor we'd babysit for them. D'oh! But he did mention an idea to buy a slice of rhubarb pie for himself, so I got motivated. We also had way too many eggs because I keep forgetting to reduce my farm order to one dozen now that I'm not longer a nursing mom eating for two. So I thought, as long as I'm making crust and heating up the oven, I might as well make some quiche and a pie!

The results were yummy. I used my no-frills gluten-free pie crust recipe. For the quiche, this time I used sorghum flour, a little millet flour and rice flour with coconut and olive oils plus some oregano, pepper and basil. For the pie, I used almond flour and rice flour, coconut oil and butter plus some cinnamon and nutmeg, and maybe a dash of vanilla.

I cobbled together a few recipes for the pie with some GF substitutions and came up with this;

Gluten-Free Rhubarb-Apple-Strawberry Pie (no dairy, low sugar)

Mixture to coat fruit:
3 Tablespoons arrowroot and tapioca flours
1/4 tsp sea salt
juice of half a lemon
1/3 cup Sucanat (most recipes called for a cup or more of sugar)
1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon
dash-1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp vanilla (alcohol-free would be better)

Fruit:
A bunch of rhubarb cut into 1" pieces
Half a pint of strawberries cut up
One apple cut into chunks -- I used half of a gala and half of a granny smith

Mix all the dry ingredients together & then mix with fruit to set for 15 minutes.
Before I put mixture into the pie crust, I tossed it with about a Tablespoon or more of coconut milk (not low fat) just for a little creaminess and a little extra sweetness.
I added a little coconut oil on top too, just because the other recipes said to dot with butter and I thought maybe it could stand some more goo. I did not put a top crust on this even though all the recipes I saw called for it. The pie baked fine.

Bake time and temp I have to make a best guess as I was also cooking the two quiche and a chicken.
375-400 worked for me, and I would guess about 45 minutes, though I would check before that and not be surprised if you didn't like the looks of it until an hour.

All agreed that it was delicious. My husband got his supplemental sugar with ice cream. I just poured some extra coconut milk on mine. Rice dream or coconut sorbet would work, too. We served it mildly warm and loved it, but it was just as good out of the fridge the next two days.