Nourish Your Children

My journey with real food has been a long one.  My mother did her best to feed us real food when I was growing up.  I am thankful for that.  When I had my own family I wanted to feed them well but I got caught up in the modern health foods.  I bought packaged organic cookies.  I paid extra money to buy organic ultra-pasteurized milk.  Imagine my surprise when I found out that I was spending lots of money on inferior products.  Foods better for my body were available locally at a reasonable price.

Month after month I attended the local Weston Price meetings finding out what real food is and how to fit it into my life.  Turns out that eating real food is simple after all.

It took me years to figure out that my mother had been right all along. 

Kelly the Kitchen Kop put together a class online that is packed full of information that took me years to figure out.   You can listen to her class and then go back and listen again.  Shortcut your learning with a condensed class.  Real Food Rookie Class  

Goal: Lacto-Ferment Zucchini

This July my kitchen will be busy with the harvest from my garden.  I have exchanged my old heat canning methods with lacto-fermentation.   I like it better because I can preserve my veggies one jar at a time instead of a huge batch.   When I would wait to get enough cucumbers to make a heat canned pickle batch, the first cucumber would start to go bad (a problem with a small garden). 

Sauerkraut and Kraut slaw with peppers

Pickled Peppers

Pickled Cucumbers dill or spicy

Tomato Ketchup

Sweet BBQ Sauce

Now I looking for a recipe to lacto-ferment zucchini.  Can anyone help?  Have you lacto-fermented zucchini before?  What other lacto-fermenting have you tried?

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday.

The asparagus is ready in my garden!  I have been anticipating this all winter.  Asparagus really livens up the eggs we love to eat.  Mostly me, I eat eggs almost every day for breakfast.  I feel better when I do.  The kids get tired of eggs every day so I have other real food options for them, Soaked Granola, Soaked Pancakes, Kefir smoothies, Cinnamon Swirl Sourdough, and  Sourdough treats.

Asparagus Omelet

1 egg, beaten with 1 T. cream

1 stalk fresh asparagus, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 slice of cheese

Butter

Stir fry the asparagus in 1 tsp of butter. I use a cast iron skillet.  When the asparagus is crisp tender, pour the beaten egg over the top.  When the eggs is set on the bottom, flip it over, add cheese to 1/2, fold over and serve.  1 omelet.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays

For a breakfast treat I made the kids Cinnamon Swirl Bread with raisins.  I used my regular Sourdough bread recipe.  It makes 3 loaves 2 lbs. each.  I took out enough dough for 2 loaves and put 2 lbs. back into my Bosch.  I added 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 cup of organic raisins.  Then I rolled out the dough on the counter to about 18 inches x 7 inches.  I spread soft butter onto the dough, then sprinkled about 1/4 cup of sucanat and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon (I didn’t measure it, I took the shaker and sprinkled it all over the dough.  Then I rolled up the dough starting at the 7 inch side.  I set it beside the other two loaves to rise for several hours and then bake.   I use glass bread pans which need a lower oven temperature.  I bake at 350 for 40 minuets.   The house smells soooo good when the bread is baking.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday.

Pancakes are a favorite breakfast here.  Now we have this season’s fresh Maple Syrup.

4 cups freshly ground spelt flour

1 cup all purpose flour (sometimes I use oats or another kind of flour)

4 cups of water

4 Tablespoons of whey (I use kefir whey from homemade cottage cheese you can use yogurt, buttermilk, kefir, or apple cider vinegar)

Combine these ingredients in a large glass bowl and leave overnight covered with a towel.

In the morning I usually have a layer of water on top of the soaked flour so I pour that off into the sink.

In a separate bowl combine -

4 eggs, beaten

1 stick of butter melted

1 cup of buttermilk (more or less depending on the consistency you want)

2 teaspoons of vanilla

Mix well and add to the bowl of soaked flour.  These are difficult to combine, just keep stirring.

Add -

4 teaspoons of baking soda

1 teaspoon real salt

1 teaspoon cimmamon

1/4 teasoon of nutmeg

Pour onto a griddle.  Serve with butter and maple syrup.  We also like nut butter, bananas, and cottage cheese.   Soaking the grain breaks down the phytic acid and unlock nutrients making the food easier to digest and absorb.  The Nourishing Traditions book has much more information and recipes using soaked flours and grains.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday 

Kefir Grains

Look at these kefir grains!  They are the largest kefir grains I have ever seen.  I was over at a friends house when she was straining her kefir.  I have a few tiny grains that seem to have stayed the same for years.  I make kefir once a week to use in my homemade cottage cheese.  My friend has been making kefir everyday.  Maybe I need to pick up the pace.  I know the grains are supposed to grow and multiply but mine just don’t.

Can any of you kefir aficionados help with some questions?

Is it better to store the grains in milk or water? 

I have tried both and it doesn’t seem to make a difference to mine.  I have heard that milk is better because it feeds the grains.

How long can I store them in my refrigerator?

I have heard up to six months.  I read that when you bring them out of “sleep” that they need time to “wake up”.  Allow the milk to sit with the kefir until resembles the consistency of yogurt.  Strain and start a new batch.  The new batch should “gel” in 24 hours.

Please let us know your experience!

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday

Here it is a winter snow storm.  I am anxiously awaiting spring and getting into my garden.  And I am enjoying the taste of my garden lacto-fermented.  I have just a little left in this jar, the last one with peppers.

Lacto-Fermented Sauerkraut

One head of organic cabbage shredded

2 large organic carrots shredded

1 organic pepper chopped into small pieces

1 Tablespoon Real salt

3 Tablespoons whey (I use the kefir whey from making cottage cheese, it is stronger than cream cheese whey)

Pound the cabbage in a bowl for 10 mins until the jucies release.  Mix in the remaining ingredients.  Spoon into quart jars pressing all the vegetables down below the liquid.  Add more liquid if necessary.  Leave an inch head room.  Cover tightly and allow to sit at room temperature for 3 days then place in cold storage.  I let them sit in a container because they have overflowed.  When the jars sit the liquid may bubble.

My grandmother made this when my mother was young.  My mother enjoyed eating again.

We eat this on Rueben Sandwiches, as a side dish with beef or sausage, and on salads.   I make a special salad in the summer with my fresh garden veggies.  We eat this with German Potato Soup.  I never cook the saurkraut because I want to keep all the nutrients.  Kraut Salad

Oregano from the garden

Make Your Own Oregano Oil

2 cups fresh or dried oregano leaf

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 cup extra virgin coconut oil

Warm oils gently,  add oregano leaf,  allow to sit in a warm place for 24 hours.  Drain herb from oil, pour oil into a glass jar, and use.

Uses for infused oil -

1. This my favorite oil for oil pulling. Not because of the taste but becasue of the properties of oregano.

2. Add to homemade salad dressing.

3. Oil pizza crusts

4. Take internally by the spoonful.

5. Rub on skin

I liked using the dried oregano better than the fresh.  I think it was stronger.

Have you tried infusing oil?  What type of herb did you use?  What did you use the oil for?

Lacto-fermenting retains the nutritional value of the food plus encourages growth of “friendly bacteria” probiotics. Heating destroys both.

So is a condiment just for taste? We choose condiments that add value to the meal, loaded with digestive enzymes and nutrients.

Probiotics
Fight bad bacteria in the body
Boost immune function
Normalize the acidity of the stomach.
Help in digestion especially of proteins
Help with nutrient absorption
…and more.

Bacterium out number the cells in your body 20 to 1. These can be good bugs or bad bugs. The war rages continually in your gut. Your lower intestine needs about 85% good bacteria and 15% unfriendly bacteria. Sadly, most people have this reversed.

Traditionally people ate large amounts of friendly bacteria – fresh foods off the vine and through their preservation process of lacto-fermentation, including the preservation of some meats, dairy, fruits, and vegetables.

This information was survival for our ancestors. Maybe they knew something we could learn from?