Friday, January 29, 2010

Cultured Mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup

Making a switch to organic, healthy, slow foods might seem expensive at first. One way you can bring down your grocery bill is to make some of your own condiments. Mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup are just some of the foods which can be made quickly and easily. You are also adding really wonderful fats, enzymes and cultures to your diet - and taking out another processed (and ridiculously expensive) food. It is a win/win.

One of the links has a wonderful recipe for both mayonnaise and a ranch salad dressing. There is probably a ketchup recipe there as well if you just ramble around the site. If you try one, could you share what works for you. This is something I have been neglecting in our house. I just finished off the mayo, read the ingredients, and decided I would make my own.  Here is a recipe that Lynette made:

Cultured Mayonnaise

3 egg yolks
2 tsp palm sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp lime juice
3/4 to 1 cup grapeseed oil
1 Tbsp Whey

Put egg yolks in food processor, pulse 5 times, add sugar, salt, vinegar and lime juice, and whey then mix for 10 seconds. Leaving food processor running pour oil in a slow steady stream no more than 1/4 inch wide. It should take about 2 or 3 minutes to pour in all the oil. Optional- add 1 Tbsp boiling water at the end (this makes it fluffier).


Leave this on the counter for about 7 hours to culture.  It should last at least a month in the fridge.

Important tip:

Use room temperature egg yolks and oil and don't forget to label your container :)



I have never made the ketchup myself, but I have tomato paste which I cultured last summer. It is still fresh and beautiful in the fridge. I also did cultured salsa last summer.


Here is a recipe someone could try for mustard.

Edible Aria

Remember to not get overwhelmed, just try one new thing at a time, and keep studying and trying. I always tell myself "different is NOT bad, it is just different"

Best of health
Cindy

The Health Benefits of Coconut Oil

I am listing an article for Coconut Oil here. I have it in this Phase 1 because it feeds the good bacteria in your gut, and Phase One is gut health. However, it has so many other good properties. If you can, take a couple of minutes and read some of the benefits. I would say more, but the article pretty much covers it. Why gild the lily?

Organic Facts

Path to Progress:  Continue learning about Gut Health

Phase One Bullet Points

Here are the bullet points for Phase One.  If you want it in one sentence... Neutralize your gut, begin a high quality liquid or powder vitamin, add coconut oil to your body, begin making and eating lacto fermented (cultured) foods, eat a salad with olive oil and vinegar on it every day and work out for 20 minutes!

Remember that none of this is fast, this phase is not about weight loss and I am really concerned about GMO's on your gut health. If what I see is right, you can work and work on building your gut health and then eat a genetically modified thing and have the possibility of it working as an herbicide on all of your hard won microflora.

Don't get overwhelmed. Do one thing at a time. There is no time schedule and no failure. When you are ready, begin Phase Two.

THE BULLET POINTS ....

* Neutralize the pH in your gut using baking soda and fresh lemon or lime (you can do up to 7 doses in 4 days, then lay off for a couple of days).

* Begin taking a good powder or liquid multi vitamin. (We use All One Senior Formula - there are other good ones)

* Add coconut oil daily internally and externally - minimum of 1 tbsp. per day. DO NOT EVEN LOOK AT THE CALORIE COUNT! You need it.

* Begin drinking ginger ale daily - at least 1/3 of a cup for healing of your gut and for the good bacteria.

* Begin adding sauerkraut - at least 1/3 of a cup daily.

* Begin adding daily yogurt - full fat, organic with live cultures daily.

* EXTRA TIP - Add a green salad to your life daily at this time. As you weaken the "bad" bacteria, virus, and other wretched stuff in your gut, allow the green salad to scrub it out.

* Grocery Store Tip - If it says High Fructose Corn Syrup - don't buy it.

* Lifetime Fitness Tip - Find a way to exercise for 20 minutes - TODAY!

Thanks all for joining us on A Step of Health.
Cindy

Baking Soda Information

I have finally written something on pH, baking soda and general health.  Can you please just go to that page and read it.  Thanks  Cindy




Path to Progress:  Go here for a recipe for Whey and Ginger Ale Recipes

Whey and Ginger Ale Recipes

Whey: Purchase one container of vanilla, organic, whole milk, live culture yogurt. Put a glass bowl on the counter. Put a mesh strainer in it. I then line it with cheesecloth, or you can use coffee filters. dump the yogurt into the strainer and it will separate the whey into the bowl. If you can tie the cheesecloth to a wooden spoon and hang over the bowl, you continue to gather whey and end up with the best cream cheese you have ever tasted. Spread on toast and enjoy :)

Another way to make whey from a friend's blog:

Whey is the liquid that drains out of yogurt when you strain it. I used some of my old snack bags that aren't so pretty anymore.  I retired them from snacks and reused them as strainers. I make sure I wash the bag really well and then place it over a glass.  I then used  the velcro to tighten and secure it in place.  Many recipes call for cheese cloth or other fabric to strain things out.   I have been really impressed with the 100% Unbleached Osnaburg Fabric that these bags are made out of. My plain pack of snack bags would work really well also.
Nourishing Traditions Ginger Ale: 3/4 cup ginger (peeled, chopped or grated), 1/2 cup lime juice, 1/4 to 1/2 cup Rapadura or Palm Sugar (an unrefined sugar, usually brown and crumbly, dry, not like brown sugar) , 2 teaspoons sea salt, 1/4 cup whey, 2 quarts water. Place all ingredients in a glass jar, stir well and cover tightly. Let sit for 2-3 days.

This recipe is for 2 quarts. However, I make it in a gallon jar and then I have room to grow.
 

Remember that cultured foods have a tendency to have a "bloom" on the top.  Just use a wooden spoon to "scum" it off.  It is not harmful, just tastes disgusting.  Any cultured food will have a tendency to develop this.

Usually I make this up about once per week and just leave it culturing on my counter. I keep "building" on my old stuff, and once in a while I have to either split the jar or give a bunch of the ginger to the chickens. I do NOT peel the ginger because I like the oils in the skin.  This does make it have more scum on the top.

After culturing, I strain, then I mix one part ginger ale, one part water to two parts juice. I make fresh juice or buy Odwalla juice. The Odwalla pomegranate lime is really good.  My personal favorite is either Odwalla Lime or to make orange juice from blood oranges.  Both taste so good to me.

I then "reculture" this mixture for NO MORE than 6-8 hours, then refrigerate. As long as you keep it TIGHTLY capped it will be fizzy and really good. You just need about 1/3 of a cup with each meal. It keeps about a week and has different healing properties than the sauerkraut, which is probably one of the most healing foods on the plane.

WARNING:  BE CAREFUL WHEN OPENING.  I USUALLY UNSCREW JUST A LITTLE, THEN RETIGHTEN QUICKLY AND WAIT A MINUTE.  I DO THIS TWO OR THREE TIMES.  SOMETIMES  BUT NOT ALWAYS, IT WILL "VOLCANO" OUT AND YOU CAN LOSE YOUR JUICE.  BE CAUTIOUS WHEN OPENING! 

Path to Progress:   Study a bit about vitamins