Natural First Aid Kit

One night last week I checked email before going to bed and saw that I was drawn as an alternate winner of a mini first aid kit from Naturokits.  The first person drawn didn't respond to the notice, so they drew again and I won!  That's 3 online giveaways in 2012!

As I was showing my young son what would be coming for us, I noticed they sell an upgrade kit, to turn the mini kit into the full basic kit, so I asked if I could pay the difference and get the full kit instead of the mini.  Julie was happy to accommodate my request and even told me how to mark my order so that it would be shipped for free.  Two days later we had our kit!

I've mentioned it to my husband twice, listing the needs the kit can meet, so that if he needs it he knows we have that option.  I also noticed the company recommends taking off the protective wrap on each item in the kit so it can be used quickly in an emergency-good idea!

I hope to never need it, but I have a 6 year old son and a husband who is only slightly less fearless than our son.  In fact, it's my husband who experienced the worst injuries over the last 6 months...

I'm grateful to have won, and to now have a first aid kit filled with natural remedies!  Here's what comes in the kit, and i recommend taking a look around their site for your own needs.

The Basic First Aid NaturoKit® includes:

• Nine naturopathic remedies:
  • Activated charcoal
  • Apis 30C
  • Arnica 30C
  • Calendula succus
  • Cantharis 30C
  • Crisis Calm
  • Hypericum 30C
  • Ledum 30C
  • Wild Weed Salve
• An attractive, zippered, cotton canvas bag
• Full instructions for use with a detailed description of each remedy
• An alphabetical list of conditions - quick and easy to reference when you're in a hurry

Precursor to Monday Menu Plan

I just completed what I'm calling a Menu Framework.  It's a basic outline of what to serve daily so that I get all the nutrients I'm trying to get to heal from adrenal fatigue.  The Too Tired eCourse I've been studying has a list of various foods I need to eat every day.  Rather than wing it and hope that I've consumed all that I should, I made a plan.  Or an outline, more precisely.  Hopefully it's a broad scope of what to have when, with the flexibility to keep meals from becoming mundane.  It's structured enough to take the majority of the work out of the way so that I can just plug in favorite meals or even new recipes when I choose.

It takes into account our commitments away from home so that meals will be simple for those times.  Tuesday night is a good example.  Goober Gus and I like to go to the library in the afternoon to spend time there, and afterwards we go walk with a friend.  That puts us home right at dinner time, with no allowance for prep time.  It's also a night that Tony goes to a men's Bible study.  Sometimes he's hungry before, but most of the time prefers to eat after.  So Tuesday night is soup night.  It can be simmering in the crockpot all day and ready to eat at any time.  It will be accompanied by a salad and either sourdough bread or sourdough crackers.

It reminds me to get more veggies into our diet and makes me think about how.  Our afternoon snack, which prior to now has been very hit or miss, but which I think is vital to consuming enough nutrients and helping to avoid the afternoon crash, is a veggie smoothie and sourdough breadsticks with an olive oil dip.  That came about for two reasons. 

1. I should get some olive oil every day.  Other than cooking with it on occasion, I don't really get much, so planning to have breadsticks to dip into an olive oil dip will take care of that. 
2. I need two servings of leafy green vegetables every single day.  I might get two every single month!  So-a veggie smoothie with leafy greens in it will cover one of those servings.

Hopefully it will also remind me of all the herbal remedies I have at my disposal for boosting health.  As I finished this rough framework I realized I could take it a step further and where beef is on the menu every Wednesday, one week could be a casserole, one a grill night, one a roast, or whatever new recipe I want to try calling for beef.  Same thing with Friday ethnic nights.  Our favorite is Mexican, but we could try others as well.  Saturday is pizza night, but that could be altered to be pizza or other Italian meal.  Sundays are leftovers and that serves 2 purposes.  It obviously uses up the leftovers, but also gives me a day off from cooking!

Another habit I want to develop is cooking once and eating twice or more-making a double batch of whatever I'm preparing and freezing the extra for another time.  You know, one of those days where nothing goes right and suddenly it's dinner time and there's nothing prepared (despite having a plan).  I will either be sure to use my glassware that can go from freezer to oven or perhaps buy some disposable aluminum pans for that purpose.  I haven't decided yet.  There's always the option to freeze it in the pan, using a liner of waxed paper, then take it out of the pan and wrap in plastic to return it to the freezer.  At least then the pan would be available to be used.

Now, can I get in the habit of eating a green salad every day?  Funny thing is, I like salads, I just rarely think to eat them!

How about you?  Do you have a plan in place for eating and getting all the good foods in you want to eat?  Do you have a green smoothie recipe you'd like to share?  I need ideas for those!

Before and After

I read a guest post today from Kitchen Stewardship that reminded me a lot of my own food journey so I thought I'd share my story.

If we look at life about two and a half years ago, meal planning consisted of thinking it'd be good to have fish once a week and trying not to have the same type of meat twice in a row-in other words beef, pork, chicken, lather, rinse, repeat.  We ate out several nights a week, as well as every Sunday after church.  Fast food was a regular part of our diet.  I tried to make sure we got a variety of foods but that was about the extent of making healthy choices.

Had you told me then that just about everything we eat would be made from scratch-by me-I would have laughed literally out loud.  Yeah, I enjoyed cooking and baking, but not to the point of making bread on a regular basis or homemade crackers.  I baked cookies when we were in the mood, not because it was a better choice health wise.  Probably the biggest reason for my disbelief would have been that I just don't have the energy to do all that cooking and baking.

In January of 2009 my chiropractor suggested that I have adrenal fatigue.  I'd never heard of it, but a bit of research lined everything up.  A bit more research and we started applying a few changes:

1. Bought baby chicks so we could have farm fresh eggs (then added two adults because we didn't want to wait!)
2. Discovered how expensive raw milk is and decided to buy a couple of goats to have our own fresh, raw, milk.
3. Learned to make yogurt and chevre with the raw milk.
4. Eliminated HFCS and hydrogenated fats.
5. Added coconut oil.
6. Reduced sugar intake (refined white).
7. Cut back on fast food consumption.
8. Started trying to buy non factory farmed meat.
9. Learned to milk a cow that didn't want to be milked.
10. Began following the Dirty Dozen/Clean 15 system for buying produce.
11. Began trying to avoid GMO's.
12. Discovered son was sensitive to food chemicals and started avoiding them.
13. Learned that I'd have to make a lot of things from scratch to keep from eating foods with chemicals.
1. Cookies
2. Ice cream
3. Crackers (wheat thin style)
4. Bread
5. Sour Cream
6. Buttermilk
7. Graham Crackers
8. Granola type bars
9. Marshmallows (who can give up s'mores??)
10. Meatballs
11. Bread crumbs
12. Mayo
13. Ketchup
14. Tomato sauce
15. Granola
16. Toothpaste
17. Mouthwash
18. Laundry soap
19. Deodorant
20. Dishwashing soap
21. Insect repellent
22. Household cleaners
14. Stopped enjoying eating out-the flavor just isn't there when you no longer eat processed foods all the time.
15. Realized that I've come a long way when I cringe at nearly everything available away from home and when others point out how much I do.

No wonder I'm still tired all the time!

A Day of Rest

Around here we try to dedicate Sundays to resting.  We don't milk the goats and we aim for not doing housework, etc.  Our church has 2 services on Sunday morning, so we have the option of early or late and we let the pace of the morning dictate which.  After church we have something to eat and then generally put in a movie and snooze on the couches.

Today, Goober Gus wanted to try out his new water gun, so Tony had to go buy another one so they were both armed.  I wanted to try out our hammock that's been in storage far too long.  We got it hung and they went to play.  Instead of using the guns however, they went into the creek.

I wanted to zoom in, but my phone camera doesn't have that option.  I fiddled with the color settings instead.  I kinda like the black and white image.

My view while laying in the hammock.

A shot using the "negative" option.

And color.  The spot we chose for the hammock is near the creek and it looked like it would be in the sun come 130 or 2 o'clock, but I checked at 4 and it was still shady.  Nice!

One final note.  I really enjoyed the verses Amy chose for her Sunday Blessing post.  Check it out.

Ah, Fresh, Raw, Homemade Yogurt!

We sure missed this dietary staple the last month or so!  One of my pregnant and milking does was ready for her dry time before I could get the new mama into good production, so we've had an extended period of no milk.  Last summer I froze about 3 quarts in a gallon jar and we used that when we entered the "dry" period, but it only last a week.

Finally, the doeling of another goat was big enough to go to the buck, thus giving us the milk she refused to give up.  It's only been a week, and only about a pint at a time, but that finally went up to 24-26 ounces and I was able to accumulate enough to have 2 quarts for yogurt making.  mmmmmmmmmmmm

I used about 6 ounces of store-bought yogurt with active live cultures and this is one of the thickest batches we've ever had.  It's all Nubian/Boer cross milk which has a higher fat content than our Alpine milk.  We're back on probiotics!!  Thank you, Belle!

This is from last June, shortly after Yodelady was born.  She should have been weaned by October, but neither was willing to give it up and separating them didn't work, they always found a way to get back together.  She finally gained enough weight to go hang out with Boots the Buck, so we have raw milk again!

So Tired

That's how I always feel.  Even two years after discovering the reason behind it-adrenal fatigue.  Recently I sent saliva samples in for testing.  My chiropractor ordered the tests and I spoke with him this morning.  My progesterone levels are low and DHEA is high.  Now it's being suggested that I have a serum Vitamin D test, fasting glucose and insulin levels checked. 

I've been doing a little reading about low progesterone and one site had this to say,

"progesterone is an essential raw material from which your body makes many of the other hormones vital for good health"  Its this simple fact that helps anyone appreciate just how wide ranging the effects of a progesterone deficiency can be.

I've not come to any conclusions yet, but it's helpful to learn there are other things I can do to get over this.  I took the questionnaire and scored 63.  It says if your score is over 10 you're likely to need progesterone support!  However, this is the first site I've read and I'm not inclined to blindly follow the first thing I read.  If I find corroborating evidence, then I'll consider it.

Now about those high levels of DHEA.  It's confusing me.  From what I'm reading, high DHEA levels don't seem to coincide with low levels of progesterone.  I have more symptoms that go with not enough than I do with too much.  One statement made a bit of sense though,

Because having too much DHEA, or converting DHEA into too much of one hormone and not enough of another, can be as upsetting to your body as not having enough.

So maybe the extra DHEA is being converted to estrogen instead of progesterone and causing an imbalance?  I don't know.  What I do know is I need a referral to a good homeopathic, naturopathic doctor in my area.  I need answers and viable solutions.  I need to overcome the funk that has become my life these last few years.  I'm ready to return to a life of joy and peace, not distress and upset.  With that, I think I'll go take a nap!

Want to win a whole gallon of olive oil?

The good stuff?  Grown on a farm that uses no chemicals, but does use integrated farming methods, like brush removal by goats and fertilization by goats, cows and chickens?  Check out the 2011 Weight Loss and Wellness Challenge for more details.

Kelly the Kitchen Kop

No, I'm not her.  She does have wonderful tools and resources though, and I've joined her 2011 Weight Loss & Wellness Challenge.  For some reason I thought it didn't start until the end date (one more reason to eat right and clear my muddled brain) but it started last Monday!  I'm playing catch up tonight, and wanted to share the Challenge with you in case you'd like to try it too.

To your health!

As Real as it Gets

At least around here for now, anyway!  Just a glimpse into a few real food forays this week. 

These are the ingredients in Amy's Homemade Ranch Dressing.  We mixed up a few bags for Christmas gifts the other day.  It went into plastic baggies with one of these labels and the instructions from Amy's blog.

Tuesday night we had these yellow fin tuna steaks with this Japanse sauce.  I only made the sauce, didn't use the rest of that recipe.  It was so delicious!  We had a little bit of wasabe sauce to go with it too.  Mmmmm.  The recipe for the sauce was for  more tuna than we had, so I used the leftover to flavor a crockpot full of rice to eat for dinner tonight.  I added asparagus to it and that was good enough that my husband had seconds.

The only reason we even had tuna was because we saw it on sale Sunday when we stopped to buy cod for dinner.  Guess we're all in the mood for fish lately!  We baked the cod in lemon garlic butter, and once again had asparagus with it.  Another delightful dinner!

Before dinner tonight, I made this fermented cranberry-apple-orange relish from the GNOWFGLINS blog to take to my parents house for Christmas dinner-the day after.  I modified that a little too-I had tangerines, but no oranges.  It smells and looks fabulous!

After dinner, I started a loaf of whole wheat bread in the bread machine.  Then the 3 of us made granola.  It's a recipe from Amy at Homestead Revival too.  Goober Gus and I have made it before and we love it!  Once that went into the oven the boys went to play and I made coconut/peppermint bark from GNOWFGLINS.  It's YUMMY and has the added benefit of being good for me!  I should have taken pictures, but I really just wanted to get it all done so I could sit down for a few minutes!  Is it bedtime yet?

Taking Stock

I've been in the kitchen this morning taking inventory of what food I have.  At the same time, I'm eliminating anything with artificial color or preservatives.  We think our son is affected by them, so we're trying a couple of weeks of focused effort on not letting him have any to verify the suspicion.

It's a testament to our almost two year old journey towards real food.  There's not much to toss or give away, and what's there just might be two years old or more.  [sigh]  Some chocolate graham crackers, old cereal bars, rancid macadamia nuts (the travesty!) and an assortment of cookie/cupckake sprinkles. 

Our original goal in this journey was real milk, healthy fats and homegrown eggs.  Then came the removal of all HFCS and any hydrogenated oils.  Seems that taking those out took out a lot of the dyes and chemicals too.  We're also trying to follow EWG's list of the most pesticide laden produce.  Living in a small town whose population doesn't care too much about that (or simply can't afford it) the options are very limited. 

Since the list has 49 items on it, we determined that the top 25 cleanest we would buy conventional and the rest had to be pesticide free.  Potatoes are in the lower 24, so now that the farmers markets are closed, we don't have access to organic potatoes.  I feel very restricted by this one alone, and there are 23 other items on that list!  It makes me question-do we go without fresh produce or do we eat the pesticides?

I'm almost done with the inventory.  I still need to go thru the fridge and freezer (mostly to list what we have for meal planning purposes) and one cabinet in my son's room that holds bulk items.  Then it'll be time to create healthy meals using these items.  Oh, and I want to plan carefully so that Monday's leftovers get used in Wednesday's soup (or whatever, you get the idea).

What's your feeling on chemicals in our food?  Whether they be pesticide residues on produce or added to boxed items-how do you handle it?

Cod Liver Oil

Yes, cod liver oil, or CLO for short.  I've been reading about its health benefits, and even tried to consume it daily, but just couldn't get past the ick factor, regardless of the health that might come from it.  I'm encouraged to try again after reading this review at Kitchen Stewardship, but the giveaway would be helpful.  The good stuff is expensive, so it makes it harder to part with the cash and then not be able to "stomach" it.  Her review is funny and uplifting, so take the time to read it.

In my defense, I am taking a high Vitamin A capsule daily, and that's one of the nutrients in CLO.  What about you?

Geranium Essential Oil

Wow-I know we learn something new every day, but this one is big for me!  This is taken from a post at Keeper of the Home:

Last but not least, Geranium is all about balance. Made from the leaves of the plant, the South African native works by stimulating the adrenal cortex which is the hormonal center. Thus, it is widely used in the treatment of both anxious tension and depression as it has the unusual quality of being both a sedative when you need to relax (as in tension) and a stimulant when you need a lift (as in depression). And, what it does for the psychology, it also does for the skin as well – tempering both the oily and dry.

Do you have breast tenderness? Try a compress with geranium essential oil: add a drop or two to some hot water, submerge a hand towel. Wring it out and lay the warm towel over your chest for 10 minutes.

Last but not least, Geranium is all about balance. Made from the leaves of the plant, the South African native works by stimulating the adrenal cortex which is the hormonal center. Thus, it is widely used in the treatment of both anxious tension and depression as it has the unusual quality of being both a sedative when you need to relax (as in tension) and a stimulant when you need a lift (as in depression). And, what it does for the psychology, it also does for the skin as well – tempering both the oily and dry.

Do you have breast tenderness? Try a compress with geranium essential oil: add a drop or two to some hot water, submerge a hand towel. Wring it out and lay the warm towel over your chest for 10 minutes.

I'm tempted to run out and buy some right now!  I need stress relief and balance!  I think I'll take a nap first though...

Real Food vs Vacation With Extended Family

Our real food journey began over a year ago as I investigated the cause of my adrenal fatigue. We started with chickens for fresh eggs, added goats for raw milk and started eliminating processed foods. I can’t say that we’ve “arrived” but after a few days of camping with extended family I can say that we’ve ventured far off the beaten path of convenience and food-like stuff. Actually, it was noticeable as soon as we boarded the airplane to fly to Boise. I’d already decided that since we’d be on vacation and I was basically just along for the ride (not involved in the planning and not wanting to be difficult) I’d graciously eat whatever was offered and lovingly prepared.


Less than 24 hours after leaving home we’d broken just about every food rule we’d been following. Including:

High fructose corn syrup*hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils*cottonseed oil*pasteurized milk*artificial colors*processed eggs*white bread*extruded grains*microwave*chemical laden produce

I’ve consumed popular sodas, spreadable margarine, white bread, miracle whip, potato chips, red vines, white bread, fruity flake cereal, Crisco, way too much candy, and probably things I’ve already forgotten! We used paper plates, paper napkins, paper towels, plastic cups, plastic utensils, individual plastic water bottles, and soda cans. I haven’t had any probiotic foods or drinks, coconut oil, fish oil, whole wheat bread, fresh eggs or raw dairy. We won’t be home until the 11th, so it’ll be a few more days before I get any of that at home. I might be able to get some of those things before then, but what I’ve realized is that my journey hasn’t reached the point of being able to travel and keep eating real food. My tinnitus seems a little worse and therefore the accompanying headache is too. I feel fat, out of shape and fatigued. We were camping and I couldn’t really relax. Not sure why-just sitting around not doing anything, so I should have been relaxed.

This blog is part of Fight Back Fridays at The Food Renegade.

Local and Homemade

Today I baked french bread.  I took a picture of it before we devoured it, but the software is acting up so I can't upload it.  We needed some yummy bread to complete our dinner of butter greens and spinach grown locally.  The ironic part of the greens is that we had to drive about 60 miles to obtain produce that was all grown within 5 miles of where we live!  I was going to take a picture of the salad too, but we were hungry and it was getting late.  The peppers were colorful and regional, but not local.  The tomatoes came from the grocery store-don't think anyone around here has tomoatoes yet.  The carrots are organic.  The dressing was homemade-from buttermilk I made from our goats milk.  I just added a bunch of herbs and spices, but I need a recipe.  It was good, but it needed something else.  Then we had artichokes with hollandaise sauce, made with our fresh eggs-I think it might have been the best sauce yet, and I've been making it for 33 years!

It wasn't all local, it wasn't all organic, and it wasn't all homemade, but it was all D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!  I'll add the bread photo later!

Oh, and here's the view I had while planning my menus for the month:

Tattler Give Away

My friend Amy over at Homestead Revival is giving away a set of BPA free Tattler canning lids!  Check out her blog to see how you can enter.  The link to Tattler is at her blog too, so you can check out these gems for yourself!

I really should keep it a secret so I have better odds of winning, but that wouldn't be very thoughtful, would it?  :-)

Food and Faith Challenge

Tony and I have recently committed to being part of the solution to this country's food problems by NOT participating in the problem!  It's not something we can complete overnight, so it's a work in progress.  Maybe because that's our focus, or maybe because it's the focus of a lot of people right now, there are a lot of blogs dealing with leaving the mainstream food market.  This post looks like a good way to keep the issues forefront for us and I want to share it with you.  Let me know if you choose to participate!

Food, Inc

We just finished watching it and it has renewed our desire to grow/raise as much of our own food as possible!  God did not create livestock to be crammed into space barely larger than its body, eating food engineered to maximize growth and ignore basic health!  The consequences of these actions are being played out in each and every life of the persons eating these animals, and it wasn't even our direct choice to let this happen.

We do vote with our dollars though and we are going to focus our votes on healthy food.  It's not going to be easy though.  Or cheap.  I just agreed to buy half a pig at a cost of twice (maybe even more) of what we pay on average for pork at the grocery store.  One segment in this documentary dealt with Wal-Mart buyers and they stated they purchase what the consumer is willing to buy-and they're getting a large demand for organic food and hormone free milk.  The producer of the documentaty said that because of WM's size they can have a large, POSITIVE impact on what dairy producers do with their cattle. 

I also learned that the calf our cow just had in January won't be ready for the freezer for at least 18 months when feeding on grass.  That's longer than I thought, so we may be looking for grass fed beef to purchase too.  We've got a lot of work to do, but renewed intent and desire.  May God lead us to the best way to reduce and/or eliminate the industrialized stream of food entering our bodies!

Here are links to the resources we've learned the most from. 
Future of Food
Food, Inc
Eat Fat, Lose Fat
The Untold Story of Milk
Most of them link to amazon.com to show the image of the movie or book cover.  I'm not an affiliate though.

On a silly, unrelated note-I was thinking of organizing a group of seamstresses to make pj's and sell them online.  I'd call it pajamason.com.  What do you think?  ;-)

Weather and Moods

I've never officially studied what science calls "seasonal affective disorder", sometimes called cabin fever, but I know enough to say "duh"!  Does it really take scientific research to confirm how seasons and weather affect mood?  For those living in cold winter climates, I'm guessing you can attest to the need to get outside ASAP once the snow starts melting and the sun starts shining.  For my local friends, I think it can happen even in summer-you know-when it's over 100 degrees for days or months at a time and you're stuck inside.  Personally, I need sunlight (or is that SONlight) regularly and the feeling of freedom that I get from being outside regularly.  We've had about 3 days of perfect weather now and I notice that I'm in a better mood, able to adjust better to things that might have triggered stress last week as a result of spending time outside.  I'm indoors writing this right now because I got too warm while sitting outside.  I do feel fresh and rejuvinated though!

Kelly vs Elsie part 2

It's been over two weeks since I shared that Elsie and I were doing battle.  We tried some new approaches, including Tony taking the brunt of her discontent.  He's tough and the seemingly little swipes that hurt me don't generally affect him.  Don't get me wrong, he got clobbered a few times too, it just doesn't affect him the way it does me!  So, he ties her up, cleans her and starts milking.  I've had more experience milking so I usually take over at that point and can get her milked out a bit faster than he can.  However, he has to take time off work to do this, so I decided today that I'd try it all on my own again.

We were doing fairly well, with just a few attempted swipes by her, but then she got tired of cooperating.  I wasn't in a hurry, so I thought I'd try an idea I had for restraining her leg.  It didn't really work, and might have made her mad, because when I went back to milking (having basically decided that I just needed to get her emptied, w/o regard to collection) she kicked the top of my left hand.  Twice.  I must have had it hanging loosely from my left knee and felt that I was out of her way, but I was wrong.  With just two connections, she managed to break blood vessels in 6 different spots!  It's not very swollen, and will hopefully not swell, but it kinda hurts to bend the hand back towards my forearm.  I didn't stop working her though.  I grabbed her by the horns (easy to do when she's securely tied up!) and told her I AM IN CHARGE HERE!  I finished milking her, cleaned and balmed her, but only got a pint of usable milk.

Anyone know where I can get a good used freezer? 

Randomness

I wrote this on Jan 6th and decided not to post it at that time. Doesnt say much, but I took the time to write it, might as well post it!

Today was interesting. Maybe. I'm trying to get up at 630 each morning so I have time to read my Bible and pray before the day really gets going. That's not easy for me to do. Monday I hit the snooze once and got up at 635. Tuesday I turned it off and got up at 7. Today it was 8. I might be better at getting up early if there was someone here to talk to (besides my 4 year old son), but then the purpose of getting up is to spend time alone with God. Tony is gone before 6 and I have offered several times to get up with him and see him off. We've tried it a few times and he's the one that ends up cancelling the plan after a couple of weeks. We've tried in the summer so we can exercise before it gets hot, and enjoy a nice sunrise. We've tried other times just so we can have a few moments together before the crazy day starts. I guess he's been doing it alone for too long to change it because it just doesn't work out.

OK, one rabbit hole down, several more to go. I slept in, got the animals fed and took son to preschool. Or maybe the animals didn't get fed until I got home because I remember starting my hot chocolate and then taking hay to the herd. Tried to get a fire going to warm the place up-yup did that before I took son to preschool. Opened Bible and read 2 Philipians. Tony came home after dental appointment. We talked for a bit before he headed back to the shop. Decided that dental insurance is not worth paying for! I need a crown-the cost is $900. We could get family insurance at $855 or so per year and they'll pay a percentage of the crown, but not much. I'd save $471 with insurance. Or spend $1400 to have insurance pay for $360 of the crown. Um, I think I'll just pay for the crown myself! BTW-that benefit wouldn't be available if I hadn't been on their plan for the last 3 years thru Tony's work. I'd have to pay insurance for 24 months before they'd kick in that $360 towards my crown. What a racket!!