Therapeutic Riding at CTRC

I love spring. Especially the smell of flowers everywhere. And the sound of bugs at night. Love that.

The girls and I took these photos on one of our daily walks. 

Lilacs are one of the best smells of spring, don't you think? Mmm...

At therapeutic riding, Ashley's instructor has been taking the class outside. Here is Ashley above.

This photo (above) makes my heart sing. ♥

Here she is doing one of the activities. 

But of course her favorite thing to do is trot. She loves it. Although riding without the saddle may be tied for first. Without the saddle Ashley sits sideways and rides backwards, even laying down! It makes her so happy. And that makes me so happy :-)

The coordinator, who I adore as much as Ashley's instructor, asked me to write about Ashley's experience at therapeutic riding. I'll share that letter with you now.

Hi,

My name is Kelly, and I have a seven-year-old daughter named Ashley. Ashley developed autism when she was a baby. She didn't speak in sentences until she was four-years-old, and she didn't play or have any interests until she was at least five. Her sister, who is two years older than her, has excelled in martial arts, drawing, reading, writing, and more, from a very young age. We wanted to help Ashley find her own passions as well, but we don't always know what Ashley is feeling. More than anything we want her to be happy and confident. When Ashley became very interested in horses we saw an opportunity for her. Finding something that Ashley was interested in doing was so exciting for all of us.

On Ashley's first few visits to CTRC she was understandably impatient to ride a horse. She had to be lifted onto the saddle, and when the instructor tried to put her feet in the stirrups, Ashley refused and became upset. The instructor was later able to get her feet in the stirrups, but for the following six or more classes, Ashley did not participate in any activities during riding class. Although she obviously wanted to ride, she didn't give her horse commands or interact with others. 

During the week when Ashley was not at CTRC she began talking about riding her horse. It started when my husband, Andrew would talk to his mom on the phone. He would tell his mom about Ashley's riding, and Ashley would listen and watch. Then Ashley began asking Andrew to, "Tell her!" when his mom would call. Gradually this progressed to Ashley saying, "Tell her about my riding!" and eventually Ashley herself would get on the phone to answer, "Yeah!" to all of Grandma Patti's questions, such as, "Do you like riding?" and "Do you go every week?"

Towards the end of her first semester, Ashley also made an enormous leap in progress at CTRC. I will never forget the day when after class Ashley's instructor came over to me with a big smile across her face. She said that Ashley had participated in all of the activities, and given her horse commands throughout the hour long class. We were all overjoyed.

Since then Ashley's enthusiasm and progress has only continued. She tells everyone she meets that she goes to riding, and she practices giving commands and trotting up and down our street at home. In class she joins the others in giving commands, stretching, activities, and she even began getting on her horse by herself last week! 

A whole new world has opened up to Ashley with horseback riding. She counts down the days until she goes to class each week, and she is so proud of herself. Seeing her passionate about riding, and making progress at CTRC is such a gift to me and our family. We are so grateful for this program, and for what it has done for our Ashley. We can't thank everyone who works and volunteers at CTRC enough.

Sincerely, 

Kelly Brozyna

You can read more about CTRC on their site HERE. And please feel free to share your own therapeutic riding experiences in the comments.

Also, I know a lot of you are wondering if Ashley is still chelating. The answer is yes and no :-) Ashley did not react well to DMSA the last time we did it. In fact, I'm feeling very angry with DMSA right now, because of the trouble it's caused. But I have to remind myself that although we won't be using it ever again, it was after her first round of DMSA that Ashley was able to talk. So it was good in the beginning, but not so good anymore. 

But Ashley is still detoxing thanks to the Kombucha we've been making and the Krill Oil that has been rocking her world. (I call her krill oil the "magic talking juice" :-) I am also looking forward to the day that OSR is available again. (Love Boyd Haley!)

Read more posts about Ashley's story under the label, "Recovering Ashley" HERE.

♥, Kelly

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Japanese Sweet Potato Baby Food

I made Japanese sweet potato puree for Ginger's first solid food. She loves it. Garnet and Jewel work too, but they aren't as creamy in taste or texture as the Japanese sweet potato. Besides, Japanese sweet potatoes were the only kind my health food store had a few days ago - so there you go :-)

I put two washed sweet potatoes (poked with a fork) in the crock pot with some water to cook. I prefer the moisture of sweet potatoes that have been steamed in the crock pot. Keeping the oven off is an added bonus.

When they are cool I peel off the skin and put them in the Blendtec. I add enough water so that I can pour the puree into my BPA-free freezer trays with lids.

If you live near me, and you want to buy fresh homemade baby food, check out the Longmont Farmers Market. Last weekend I met a gal there named Mia, selling organic baby food in small glass jars. Mia also offers catering for new mothers. What a great idea.

I know some of you will ask what foods to feed baby and when to begin feeding them. For the answer to that question I refer to my friend Ali's cookbook, The Whole Life Nutrition
Kitchen. <—that's what I'm following for Ginger :-)

♥, Kelly

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Zucchini Pie at The Balanced Platter

Please join me today over at The Balanced Platter, where I share this recipe for zucchini pie with cilantro, cumin and lime. ♥, Kelly

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Decadent 60 Second ChocoChia "Milkshake"

Sometimes I am really lazy. Or just too busy to do things the "right" way. Like today. My linoleum floors were lookin' a little dirty, but I couldn't bring myself to get the mop out and clean them. So I pulled a modified Pippi Longstocking. In case you've never read Pippi, or seen the movie, here is a quick video to give you an idea. (Apparently there are lots of us Pippi-wannabes out there ;-)



No, I didn't use brushes like Pippi and this guy—I'm not that adventurous—I used washcloths. Works so well I don't think I'll be using my mop again for a very long time. (Sorry Mr. Moppy). And speaking of Pippi, I have to digress for a second here and tell you that if you've never read The Children of Noisy Village or Happy Times in Noisy Village with your kids (by the same author as Pippi Longstocking) you're seriously missing out. Dare I say, they're even better.

But back to what I was saying. What was I saying? Oh yes, shortcuts.

Taking another shortcut, I like to whip up these decadent 60 second ChocoChia "milkshakes" for the girls and I when I'm out of ice cream. We can't tell the difference, but we do eat a little unusually, as you already know ;-)

The chia is what makes the shake thick, so don't leave it out. And anyway, chia is uber good for you. See why HERE on my girl, Lexie's rockin' site.

I also make these extra healthy by using raw cacao powder. Raw cacao has more magnesium than any other food, and most people are deficient in magnesium, so I always use it when there's no heat involved. But I'm sure cocoa powder will work too.

Decadent 60 Second ChocoChia "Milkshake"

Puree in blender:
1 cup coconut milk (I use canned full-fat)
6 ice cubes
1 Sorry, make that 2 tbsp chia seeds (Grind them in a coffee grinder first if you don't have a Blendtec or Vitamix. Otherwise the shake will be lumpy rather than thick and smooth.)
1 tbsp raw cacao powder
1 tbsp honey
10 drops vanilla stevia, or more to your taste (you can sub more honey, but it's better with the vanilla stevia)

Makes one grown-up or two child-sized servings.


♥, Kelly

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The Brozynas' Central Market

I was talking to a friend recently when she mentioned that her grandmother was a butcher. My grandfather was a butcher, and his father was too. Since this is food-related I thought it might be an interesting story to post on The Spunky Coconut.

My family is not exactly sure when my great-grandfather Joseph Brozyna started his meat business. We think it was sometime after he was married in 1923. Isn't this wagon photo great? I am tempted to say the man standing there is my great-grandfather. After all, "Jos. Brozyna" is painted on the side. However, the standing man doesn't quite look like Joe's other photos. We think this may be his uncle Joe in Pennsylvania around the turn of the century. In any case, it shows how far the meat business goes back in my family.

Joe opened a market in the Bellevue area of Rotterdam, New York (a suburb of Schenectady), on the corner of Laura Street and Guilderland Avenue. In upstate NY people say "market" instead of grocery store. Kelly used to make fun of me for this, insisting the word is only appropriate for farmers market type places with lots of vendors. But no one ever says "grocery store" up there. My great-granparents sold typical grocery items, and they had a very popular meat counter. Joe brought in high-quality meats from beef cattle out West. Back in the 1920s and 30s the other butcher shops tended to only offer meat from tired old New York dairy cows.

Joseph Brozyna at Lake George, NY. August, 1941.

Despite the Great Depression, the Brozynas' market did very well. Family lore has it that Joe's business was so successful that the local struggling banks pleaded with him to take out loans (he didn't). When people in the neighborhood weren't able to pay for their food, he helped them out by letting them put it on a tab. He never collected on that debt. The whole family worked in the store. My great-grandmother Leola worked the register, and she was in charge of nuts, candies, and novelties. My grandpa Harold and his brother Paul learned butchering. Joe was able to open additional locations around Schenectady.

Joe's meat was supplied by a wholesale company run by the Golub brothers. In 1932 Benjamin and William Golub opened their own retail market in Green Island (by Albany, NY). With that success they wanted to expand into the Schenectady area. Joe Brozyna's meat markets were well known and well liked. Rather than compete directly with him, the Golubs hired Joe to manage the meat department in their first market in Schenectady. Central Market opened on 1639 Eastern Parkway. It was named after Schenectady's nearby Central Park.

I suspect that this Eastern Parkway Central Market was one of Joe's stores, which was sold to the Golub brothers. It was around this time that Joe sold off his stores so that he could focus on his original more profitable Guilderland Avenue market. Being the original owner of the Eastern Parkway market (by Central Park) would explain why Joe's Guilderland Ave. market (in Bellevue) took on the same "Central" name. I found a record showing that Joe continued to own the Bellevue store after the Golubs opened their Eastern Parkway market. Yet, these two separate stores appeared in the same newspaper advertisements. Maybe running the Golub's meat department meant Joe was also co-owner of their store

Ad from the Schenectady Gazette, April, 1934.

After WWII Harold returned to work at the butcher counter. However, Joe realized that neither of his sons had the interest to continue the family business. Sometime in the late 1940s he sold his Bellevue market to the Golub brothers. After the sale Joe stayed on as store manager. On February 29, 1952 my great-grandfather was held up at gunpoint! (click on newspaper clipping at left) This was only a few days before his first grandchild, my father, was born. We think this event was what convinced him to finally leave the business altogether. Joe Brozyna had saved for decades, and he was able to retire comfortably early in his mid-fifties. Harold left to start a tile business.

My grandpa Harold with my baby dad, 1952. I believe this was photographed outside the Bellevue market. Note Harold's butcher's apron.

My family's connection to the market was briefly picked up again in the late 1960s. In college my dad got a job as a bag boy at one of the other Central Market locations. He says that once in a while the Golub brothers would come by the store, and they would always ask my dad how his grandpa Joe was doing. The Golubs had been expanding their chain of grocery stores. In 1973 the Central Markets were renamed Price Chopper, which is now a well known grocery chain, still headquartered in Schenectady. When my great-grandfather passed away in 1978 almost the entire Bellevue community came to the wake. The biggest bouquet of flowers came from the Golubs.

A few years ago Price Chopper came out with an upscale line of food products. They named it "Central Market Classics". The logo features an illustration of my great-grandparents old store. My dad says that the two kids with the bikes are my grandpa Harold and his brother.

Joseph Brozyna brought the business idea of "value added" to his market. He believed in offering his community high quality foods, rather than the cheap, but unhealthy alternative. If he were around today I think he would appreciate what Kelly does with The Spunky Coconut.

—Andrew

See photos of how we made these with Lexie yesterday. ♥, Kelly 

Spunky Kitchen Tour

Please join me today for a tour of my kitchen over at Celiacs in the House :-)  ♥, Kelly