Fun Fermentation

This week I am making…

 

Beet Kvass,

Beet Kvass

Kombucha,

Kombucha

Yogurt & Buttermilk,

Yogurt

Pickled Green Tomatoes,

Pickled Green Tomatoes

and

Sauerkraut.

Sauerkraut

 

Why, you ask?  1 – it’s fun and easy.  2 – they’re yummy.  And…3 – they’re chock full of goodness!

 

Beet Kvass, according to Nourishing Traditions, page 610, is, “loaded with nutrients, an excellent blood tonic, promotes regularity, aids digestion, alkalizes the blood, cleanses the liver and is a good treatment for kidney stones and other ailments.  May also be used in place of vinegar in salad dressings and as an addition to soups.”

 

Kombucha I wrote about earlier, see here.

 

Yogurt is full of probiotics and protein.  I make buttermilk to have on hand as a starter culture for sour cream and for recipes that call for it, such as biscuits, pancakes and such.

 

The pickled green tomato recipe I got here.  It’s a variation of the pickled cucumber recipe from Nourishing Traditions.  I varied a bit from the recipe listed.  I sliced my tomatoes and used dill seed instead of weed.  I have never made these before; I really hope they turn out.  I tried a garden this year, well, really just one container.  I grew tomatoes and basil and was really happy with the turnout.  I picked all my green tomatoes on Sunday to save them from the frost.

 

Sauerkraut picture 1 is shredded cabbage.  Picture 2 is the cabbage that has been salted and has wilted, plus some caraway seeds were added.  Picture 3 is the kraut in jars.  This recipe is from Nourishing Traditions, page 92.  Sauerkraut has been known as a health wonder for millennia.  Roman historian Pliny wrote of it around 50BC.  Captain Cook could not have discovered Hawaii, Alaska, New Zealand and the eastern coast of Australia had it not been for sauerkraut.  He brought barrels of it on his voyage and ordered his men to eat it, punishing those that tried to refuse.  Sauerkraut was the wonder food that protected the crew from scurvy.  We now know that it is high in vitamin C.

 

All of these naturally fermented items contain enzymes, probiotics, and loads of vitamins.

Exercise Your Rights

This isn’t a political blog, but it is ALL Things Health and the health of our nation is at stake.

 

In two weeks we have a very important election.  Not only is this an election regarding the executive branch of our government, but also the legislative.  I hope you have done your homework!

 

Let me sum up for you what I see.  But before I do, did you know that the average span of the greatest civilizations in history is 200 years?  Our great country has spanned 232 years.  Is our life as a great republic about to be over?  I certainly don’t mean to scare anyone with this article, but I sincerely want everyone to wake up and take the blinders off.  For too long we have had an attitude of, “This is America, it can’t happen here.”

 

We have set before us in this election socialism and democracy.  Democracy equals freedom; socialism equals tyranny.  Listen closely to what the candidates are promising you—programs or choices.

 

I urge you to pray and seek God in your decision this election.  Don’t base your vote on your feelings; you must base it on values and principles.

 

I received this recently in an email; I thought it was very applicable:

 

How do you catch wild pigs? You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the feeding area.

 

When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again.  You continue until you have put up all four sides of the fence and added a gate.  The pigs, used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat; you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd.

 

Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn.  They are so used to it they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.

 

That is exactly what is happening to America. The government keeps pushing us toward socialism and keeps spreading the free corn in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, etc… While we continually lose our freedoms—just a little at a time.

 

One should always remember: There is no such thing as a free lunch!  Also, a politician will never provide a service for you cheaper than you can provide it for yourself.

 

In this ‘very important’ election year, listen closely to what the candidates are promising you!!! Just maybe you will be able to determine who is about to slam the gate on America .

 

 “A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.”—Thomas Jefferson

 

You must know that all these programs that are being promised will cost us ALL a lot!  They will take away a lot from all of us!

 

Why is it that so many are being deceived by these promises?  Sadly, if you study history you will see that there has been a socialist revolution in our country for over 100 years.  The emblem of a particular socialist society is so fitting—a wolf in sheep’s clothing!  This revolution has been ever so subtle, infiltrating every aspect of our society.  We pigs are enjoying our free corn, so much so that we don’t even see the fences being put up!  I was grieved to read an article about even a high-level conservative government official being deceived because the liberal candidate displayed steadiness, intellectual curiosity, and a depth of knowledge.  Folks, steadiness, curiosity and knowledge do NOT add up to wisdom!  As I see it, if you are buying into the socialism deception, you either, 1) have not studied the history of socialist countries, or 2) are so selfish you can only think of yourself and how you can do the least amount of work and rely on the government to give you all they can.

 

The election this year is crucial.  We have been on this downhill slide toward socialism for over 100 years, but we do have the power in this election to keep from falling off the cliff!  Life as we know it could be about to change.  Too many people, for too long, have been happy with the free corn, but we need to wake up and do something before the gates are slammed shut!  Think about the America you want your children and grandchildren to live in!

 

Listen to what Samuel Adams, Father of the American Revolution, had to say –

 

“If you prefer wealth to liberty and the tranquility of servitude rather than the animated contest of freedom, then go home in peace.  We seek neither your counsel nor your arms.  But bow down and lick the hands that feed you and may your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”

 

I think that says it all.

 

Here are a couple of must-read articles, both written almost 10 years ago, but very fitting today.

 

Twilight’s Last Gleaming?

 

Three Threats to Freedom – especially read the section on Executive Orders.

 

See you at the polls!

Kombucha

When I first picked up Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon (as I mentioned in My Food Journey) I just read through the nutrition information, I didn’t really pay much attention to the recipes.  Quite frankly, a lot of them looked odd to me, leaving things out on the counter for days to ferment and such.  Kombucha was one of those things—this weird drink that you could only make if you had a special “mushroom”.

 

Well, as I also mentioned in My Food Journey, I grew a lot while I was a member of the discussingNT Yahoo Group.  A support group really is a great thing!  People there were talking about kombucha all the time.  One day someone mentioned they were giving away the mushrooms, really called SCOBYs.  So, about a year ago, I sent this kind lady some postage and she sent me a starter.  I have been making the drink ever since.

 

I don’t drink soda (maybe once a year at a restaurant), almost never drink coffee, and rarely drink hot tea.  I enjoy my raw milk daily, but mostly drink water.  Kombucha is a nice alternative drink I can enjoy that is healthy at the same time.  To me, the drink tastes appley and tangy.  Sometimes it has some carbonation.  (You can actually work on increasing the carbonation, but I don’t bother.)  Some say it tastes like apple cider vinegar, I would say it is reminiscent, yet not quite so sour.  Others say it has a wine taste.  You have the ability to make it as sweet or sour as you like, but the longer you let it ferment, the less sugar/carbs it has in it.

 

What is kombucha?  (I say kom BOOK a, but there is debate on the pronunciation.)  It is sweetened tea that has been allowed to ferment.  This is where it is going to sound weird, we know sugar isn’t good for us, BUT the SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast) feed on the sugar and the caffeine in the tea and produce glucuronic acid.  (The end product tastes nothing like sweet tea.)  I use a mixture of black tea and green tea to make mine.  (Only organic to avoid fluoride and other toxins.)  The acid lightens the tannins of the tea, also, so it is a lighter color.  Besides the glucuronic acid, Kombucha contains B vitamins, protein, and probiotics.

 

Your liver normally produces this glucuronic acid to neutralize toxins, but in today’s world we are overloaded with toxins so drinking Kombucha can boost our liver’s detox ability.  Because this drink is clearing your system of toxins you need to start out with a small amount each day and slowly increase.  When I started drinking it I would feel a very slight headache in the forehead and a slight neck ache and aches in my kidney area (it flushes through the kidneys).  (I have a theory that it was flushing the lymph system also, since I had neck muscle aches.)  These side effects never lasted very long and they weren’t at all severe, just slight.  They did last for a couple months, though.  I almost thought that maybe the drink wasn’t agreeing with me and was about to stop, but then the side effects stopped, the sign that the toxins were gone.  Some don’t have any side effects whatsoever, though.  Perhaps I was quite toxic!

 

You can read about the wonders of Kombucha on the Internet or in books.  I checked out a couple at my local library.  One in particular makes it sound like a cure-all.  Perhaps if you are in severely poor health you will find that Kombucha does wonders.  For me I wouldn’t say it’s a cure-all, but then, I wasn’t in severely poor health, either.  I feel more energy when I drink it (maybe the B vitamins) and I feel it releases a bit of water retention.  When I eat carbs I hold water, but the Kombucha seems to balance that out for me.  Some believe that by eating certain foods our bodies become too acidic, but others don’t.  The people that do go along with this theory tell us that animal protein makes us acidic, but veggies alkalinize us, carbs (like bread, pasta, cereal) make us too acidic, but acidic foods like citrus fruit, vinegar, pickles, sauerkraut, and plain yogurt will alkalinize us.  Kombucha fits into this category of foods that are acidic, but in our bodies they bring us back into balance.  I don’t know if this theory is right or not, but I do know that I feel better when I drink Kombucha.  On a side note, when I watched King Corn I learned that the modern treatment of cattle is very poor—they are kept in small quarters, not allowed to graze on their natural diet of grass, but are fed corn/soy feed.  The result is that these cows die early from acidosis.  Hmmm—cows eating refined carbs, rather than grass (our version of veggies), and their systems become too acidic?  Perhaps the acid/alkaline theory is correct.  Whether it is or whether it isn’t, guess what?  The foods that keep us in balance are whole foods that aren’t processed!  If God created it….

 

I will add that I believe you can have too much of a good thing.  There are some that say there are no limits with Kombucha, there are others that say the limit should be 8 ounces a day.  I worked myself up to quite a bit a day, around 20 to 24 ounces.  I have been dealing with, what I feel is, a mineral deficiency ever since I gave birth to my 3 year old and I noticed the symptoms return when I was consuming this high amount of Kombucha.  I have backed off to an average of 8 ounces a day and am fine.  I really hope this won’t scare anyone off.  I had these same symptoms if I drank too much water daily, too.  I feel that too many years of whole grains (not properly prepared), sugar, and distilled water stripped my system of minerals.

 

If you would like to learn more about this unusual drink, click on these links.

 

Kvass & Kombucha

 

SouthCrest Hospital Article

 

Wild Fermentation

 

The Happy Herbalist

 

Gunther Frank – lots of info here

 

How-To on You Tube

(You don’t have to make quite as large batches as him, though.)

 

If you would like to try making your own, let me know and I will get you a free starter.  (If you’re out of state, I will ask that you cover postage.)

 

Any questions, just let me know.

This is Ridiculous

I am making caramel sauce this weekend.  I buy raw milk, cream and cheese from a local dairy, but I wasn’t sure that I needed anything this week so I didn’t order.  Then I realized I needed cream for this caramel sauce.  I thought pasteurized cream wouldn’t make a difference since the sauce is cooked anyway, so I went to my local Walmart to buy some.  I picked up three different brands and was very disappointed to find that none were pure cream–they all had additives.  Here is the listing of ingredients that I found–cream, skim milk, less than 1% of each of the following: mono and diglycerides, polysorbate 80, and carrageenan.  I thought this was ridiculous that I couldn’t just buy plain cream, so I told myself I would go to our local Braum’s (local dairy and ice cream shop).  I thought SURELY they would carry pure cream.  They do advertise that their products are hormone-free.  Well, sad to say, their cream was the exact same as all the others.  So, lesson learned, If I can at all help it, I will never buy cream at the grocery store again.  Only pure unadulterated cream for my family, especially after researching those ingredients!

Apologies

I have been too busy lately to get a chance to post on here or even to think about it.  My daily life has been full, but quite frankly my mind has been full of other things, too.  I am thinking a lot lately about this upcoming election, about this economic bailout, about how big our government has become, Bible prophecy, the Christmas season, history, revival, etc., etc., etc.  It is true what the Bible says about whatever is in your heart is what is going to come out of your mouth (Matt. 12:34).  I have been filling my mind with these things lately, so they are in my heart.  I need only to crack open a book on health and the ideas start flowing again.  But really, I have a lot on my plate right now, a couple of paying gigs and a couple of volunteer ones.  Very shortly I will resume posting on Kombucha, coconut oil and natural personal care products.