Amanda Miller
Columnist
Lettuce Eat Local

“Noodles and butter, noodles and butter, you are my favorite treat. Noodles and butter, noodles and butter, there is no other, nothing else that I want to eat!” So proclaims a very catchy little tune by Caspar Babypants, a silly yet delightful children’s music artist. He goes on to assert that he doesn’t like chocolate cake, tangerines, or lollipops like others do; noodles and butter is “the only one I need.”
While I don’t prefer Benson to say he doesn’t like any food — I encourage him to replace it with “don’t prefer,” like I just did — nor to mention his dislike more than necessary, I can appreciate that the singer designates a savory food as his favorite. While my son admittedly eats a very broad range of foods, his volumetric appetite is frustratingly minimal…until the sugary things come out. I’m afraid he has more than a sweet tooth; he has sweet teeth.
Some of his best-loved foods are naturally sweet, as in the mangos, strawberries, and blueberries that he just told me are his favorites. I’m delighted with those picks, of course, although I’m fairly certain they would still lose out to marshmallows, suckers, or ice cream if faced with the choice.
It really does all depend on the day though, I suppose. He is three, after all — capriciousness is one of this age’s strongest suits. Nothing is certain from day to day, or even minute to minute.
So I can say, in general and with qualifications, that Benson does like noodles, just not preferred over root beer floats and bubblegum like Caspar. It helps sometimes to call them worms, in classic little-boy style.
Ki babe, on the other hand, is a carbs kind of girl, and so far noodles almost always pique her interest. We’ve had more luck with spaghetti as the shape of choice for both kids, maybe because those long wormy, floppy noodles are messier and more tactile fun. Seriously though, is there anything messier than spaghetti & marinara plus children? I’m not even safe with that menu, so it doesn’t bode well.
I don’t remember eating noodles often growing up, which is a little surprising since they are impressively economical, easy, and versatile. We would have spaghetti some, maybe homemade mac and cheese every now and then. And for a real treat, boxed mac and cheese — which feels so rude to say now, but that’s how we felt about it as kids, especially with a sprinkle of creole seasoning on it.
We have noodles somewhat often here on the farm, although typically not those two classics. I’ve gained an appreciation for rotini and penne, how a slightly different shape changes the whole feeling of the meal. Or, like rice noodles, where the same shape but a different grain completely changes what part of the globe our plate feels like it came from. I particularly like “cheating” and using whole-wheat spaghetti for Asian-style recipes: pasta isn’t just for Italians.
Nor is it just for Caspar Babypants. As long as we still get a little chocolate cake and tangerines.

Peanut Sesame Noodles

Noodles and peanut butter is not my favorite treat per se, but it is one of my favorite pastas. I just asked Benson and he said his is “sandwich noodles,” so you can be glad he’s not the one writing the recipe. This dish is great just as is, but is also so versatile: throw in a protein of choice (we added smoked pork and it was spot on) and/or whatever veg you have on hand. Kiah turned one year old last week (!) and a plate of carbs seemed appropriate to serve during her birthday week; she enjoyed both eating and throwing them.
Prep tips: the amount of sriracha is totally up to you, and a different hot sauce works too if you don’t have that particular one.

¼ cup peanut butter
¼ cup tahini
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1” knob fresh ginger
dash sriracha
1 pound whole-wheat spaghetti noodles, cooked and drained
1-2 carrots, shredded
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Combine first 7 ingredients in a blender, and process until smooth. Toss with noodles and carrots; season to taste; and garnish with sesame seeds. Serve warm or cold.

Lately my teenager has been fascinated by medical dramas. Although my “doctor self” is usually rolling my eyes throughout the program, it’s often a good conversation starter.

One recent show featured a pregnant woman who experienced one medical crisis after another. Her kidneys, liver, and lungs failed in succession as the team raced to identify the underlying obstetrical problem and find a treatment. At the climax of the episode, her heart stopped. Of course, being television, the correct diagnosis was made, the experimental treatment worked, and the episode ended with a perfectly healthy mother at home, holding her perfectly healthy baby.

For all the erroneous and outrageous details that transform bad fictional medicine into good TV, they did get something right. Pregnancy is a dangerous condition. In fact, in America, pregnancy complications account for approximately two percent of all deaths among women between the ages of 20 and 44.

To put the two percent into perspective, consider that pregnancy complications can only happen in the months during and immediately following pregnancy. On average a woman in the United States will birth between one and two children. This means that between the ages of 20 and 44, the risk of pregnancy-related death isn’t spread across those 25 years as are the risks of cancer or car accidents. It is concentrated into the relatively few months during which she is pregnant. And for women younger than 20 and older than 44 the risk of pregnancy complications is even greater but, statistically speaking, women in those age groups simply don’t have enough babies to categorize pregnancy complications as a major cause of death.

Consider also that death by violence is not counted as a pregnancy complication, even though pregnancy is a significant trigger for violence.

What’s more, consider that these risks are not distributed equally between women. Socioeconomic status, education, physical location, and race all impact the likelihood of pregnancy complications, and death from those complications.

Issues that affect pregnant people affect their whole family. In medical school, I was taught “nothing is worse for a fetus than a dead mother.” It’s hard to disagree.

So, what can we do to make pregnancy safer? The answer to that question is multi-faceted. Access to quality obstetric care is one factor. However, we must also ensure women are as healthy as possible before they conceive. They need good nutrition and safe places to live and work. They need education to know what is normal, and what is not. They and their families need access to psychiatric care to address mental illness and addiction.

It may not make for good TV, but in the real world, the starting place is as basic, and as difficult, as that.

Debra Johnston, MD. is part of The Prairie Doc® team of physicians and currently practices as a Family Medicine Doctor at Avera Medical Group in Brookings, South Dakota. Follow The Prairie Doc® at www.prairiedoc.org, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Threads. Prairie Doc Programming includes On

Call with the Prairie Doc®, a medical Q&A show (most Thursdays at 7pm streaming on Facebook), 2 podcasts, and a Radio program (on SDPB), providing health information based on science, built on trust.

Sometimes a tree will sprout up out of nowhere and you did not plant said tree. These are called volunteer trees and don’t belong or fit in. Though trees are a vital part of our landscapes, there are situations where volunteer trees need to be controlled.. If the tree is still small and a desirable species, you may want to consider transplanting in the spring. If it is not, active control measures would be in order. Smaller trees are way easier to control than letting them get too big!

Most, but not all, trees re-sprout after cutting. Cutting those that don’t re-sprout is an effective control method. For example, eastern redcedar is a very common species that will not re-sprout after cutting. Those that do re-sprout include Siberian elm, hackberry, Osage orange (hedge-apple), oak, ash, aspen, cottonwood, maple, sycamore, willow and many more. These trees will either need to be dug out or the cut stump treated with herbicide after cutting.

Note that when we say volunteer trees, we mean those that come from seed rather than suckers that originate from the roots of an existing tree. The recommendations given in the remainder of this article are designed to kill these volunteer trees. Using herbicides on suckers will damage, and very possibly kill, the original tree. Trees that commonly produce suckers include tree of heaven, honey locust, black locust, hackberry, western soapberry, cottonwood, poplar, willow and boxelder.

It is also possible for larger trees of the same species to be root-grafted. Even though root-grafted trees are not suckers, they do share materials between the individual root systems and therefore herbicides used to treat one tree can be passed to its neighbor. Let’s say we have a tree we want to control that is a volunteer and there are no other trees of the same species close enough to be root-grafted that we do not wish to harm. What do we do? If the tree is any size, you probably do not want to dig it out. That leaves using an herbicide on the cut stump. Basal treatments are also possible but that is beyond the scope of this article. First decide what herbicide to use.

Triclopyr and glyphosate are the herbicides most commonly available to homeowners. Triclopyr is found in many brush killers and glyphosate is found in Roundup as well as numerous other products. Read the label before purchasing to make sure that a cut stump treatment is listed. Most often the undiluted product or lightly diluted product is applied to the stump immediately after cutting. A paint brush is often used for the application though some people will dip their pruning shears in the products immediately before cutting. Regardless, it is important that the stump is treated immediately or at least within 5 minutes. Note that a paint brush with foam rather than bristles is less likely to drip.

Trees do not need to be actively growing to be controlled. Actually, this time of year is a very good time to treat as long as applications are made when the temperature is above freezing.