Weston A. Price

There was a really wonderful short video on Facebook today.  It is a video of Weston A. Price in 1936.  You can see and hear him in his own voice.  The web site seems really good as well, but I have not been on it very much.  The video is interesting.  You can see and hear yourself some of Dr. Price's ideas.

Nutrition and Physical Regeneration 

This book had enormous influence on me.  Sally Fallon's book Nourishing Traditions is based on the work by Dr. Price.  After watching this video, I plan to skim back through his book, so now it is at the top of the stack of books.  I am so grateful to him for preserving these records and for being so thorough and accurate.

The foundation that continues his work has so much good information.  It is a blessing to have that kind of resource available.  You can find the foundation at the following link.  This is a link to Dr. Price's biography, but they have research, article, ideas and other things on their site.  Spend some time there if you can.

Weston A. Price Organization 

The biograpy on the following link seems really good.  It covers the scientific method of Dr. Price.  There is also some good information on lacto fermented foods.

Rejoice in Life 

If you are ever able to read this book, I would highly recommend it.  No one should need to give any explanation..... it is as clear as it can possibly be.

Best of health to you,

Cindy

Ginger Chews

Today was a misty, cold day with wreaths of fog trailing around the hills.  Not quite raining... a perfect day for baking.  We have been trying to find things to do with the cultured ginger that is left after we make ginger ale.  Today we tried ginger chews.  It was a nice way to spend the afternoon.


I had some good help in the kitchen.... the Junior Rancher found the recipe, got out the ingredients, measured all the dry stuff and helped me eat them!  It is good to have help.  I think Papa is going to like these.  We definitely have a new family favorite.

Here is the recipe, if anyone wants to try it.  (note from Cindy.... This cookie is a little sweet for us.  It is OK... one at a time with tea or coffee.  The next time I make it I will probably cut the palm sugar by 1/2 a cup and add a bit more grated ginger and orange zest.... but still good cookies,) 

(Further note from #1 son.... the cookies are PERFECT - Don't change the recipe)

GINGER CHEWS

4 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp fresh grated ginger (I used cultured)

2 tsp orange zest
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups Palm Sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup molasses
1 tsp. vanilla
Powdered Sugar

Sift together flour, cinnamon, ginger, orange zest, cloves, salt and soda. Set aside. Cream sugar and butter. Stir in eggs, molasses and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix. Chill dough 1-2 hours. Roll into walnut sized balls and dip in sugar. Place on greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

All of the ingredients were organic and we used cultured ginger left from making ginger ale.  I just peeled it and ran it over my microplane grater.

Serving suggestion:  Have some warm cookies with a glass of raw milk!

Enjoy,
Cindy


The Little Rancher mixing the ingredients

 

The final dough.......... and the finished cookies!

We decided to store some away in Evelyn Fields snack bags for Papa's lunch on Monday!

The House Around the Corner - Crystallized Ginger

I make a LOT of ginger ale, and the ginger I use to make it is fine, just cultured.  But, c'mon... how much cultured ginger can you use?  I am planning to try this recipe soon.  It looks easy, good, and like a good way to use up too much GINGER!

Enjoy

Cindy

 Crystallized Ginger

from Sherri Ann's Keeping Room

Crystallized ginger is often used in baking, I have a delicious ginger cookie recipe that I add it to and is elegant on a dessert tray when dipped in dark chocolate and allowed to dry. It is delicious and healthful to add to tea, and when eaten is known to help common aliments, such as nausea, inflammation, indigestion, heartburn and pain associated with arthritis.

It can be expensive to purchase, I once saw a small 4 ounce bottle of crystallized ginger priced at $12.00 in the spice aisle at the supermarket. It is VERY inexpensive to make and takes very little time. It stores for a long time, some say up to 2 years, which makes it easy to always have on hand. Following is the recipe I use;

Peel ginger ~ removing nibs (freeze for later use in recipes) and discard any brown spots.
Slice ginger (approx 1/8 inch)
Use a fork and tenderize ginger by poking holes into each slice
Toss sliced ginger in 2 cups of sugar
Bring 1 ½ cups of water with pinch of salt to a boil
Add sugar and ginger to water
Boil until a simple syrup forms and ginger is tender, stirring often
Strain ginger and place on paper towel
Reserve ginger syrup it can be used to flavor many things including tea
Toss ginger in sugar
Allow to dry on rack for 24 hours
Store in sealed container, I will keep it this way up to 3 months, but it never lasts that long.

The House Around the Corner - Soaked Granola

Melissa's Soaked Coconut Granola
for her original story, go....here

Our family loves granola, so I was excited to find this recipe using soaked oats. I was a bit nervous as you soak the oats for 2 days. I usually find oats to be bland tasting but with the soaking they have a better, kind of sourdough-ish taste. It ended up being delicious & has a lot less sweetener in it than the other recipe I was using. Evy likes it because the soaked oats formed little clusters so it is easy for her to snack on. Gabe has to add a few spoonfuls of sugar & then he likes it.

*******

Soaked Coconut Granola:

8 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup melted raw butter
1/2 cup melted coconut oil or
1-1/2 cups whole yogurt
2 cups water
1/2 cup raw honey or maple syrup
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

2 cups chopped crispy nuts*
1 cup raisins

1. Mix Oats, butter, coconut oil, yogurt, and water together in a large bowl. Pat down, cover with a plate, and leave on the kitchen counter for 2 days.

2. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

3. Place honey, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl and set in a small pot of simmering water until honey warms and becomes thin.

4. Mix honey with oat mixture.
5. Place on 2 greased cookie sheets and bake for 2-4 hours, until completely dry and crisp. When almost crisp add coconut to toast for the last hour.

6. Mix with chopped nuts and raisins. Store in airtight container.

*******

* I used 3/4 c. sugar & 1/4 c. molasses instead of just 1/2 a cup of honey. I also had to bake mine for over 4 hours. Here is a link for making Crispy Nuts.

The House Around the Corner - Spelt Bread

Jenny's Spelt Sourdough Bread 
You can read this entire story at Jenny's blog....here

several of us in the our house have been suffering from a gluten sensitivity and i am on another mission to provide healthy food we can eat on a budget. i asked around about spelt flour, did a little internet searching, and decided that since spelt is supposed to be easier to digest than wheat and when made into sourdough bread should be even better for your body, i decided to give it a try. i wanted to buy the spelt whole grain and grind it myself, but i'm just not there yet, so i bought pre-ground flour. i also wish one day to soak the flour before baking with it, but again, i only have so many hours in the day. for now i just use it dry. baby steps, right?

anyway, i was asked to share "my" recipe by my friend cindy who is trying out any and every recipe she can find and taking tidbits from each of us and adding them to her own way of making bread. my recipe is pretty basic and not much different from the others except for the flour. 

i add these ingredients, in this order, to a warm bowl.

3/4 c starter
5 c spelt flour
about 1/4 c sweetener of choice. i'm trying to use up some sucanat. i have used honey too.
2 tsp sea salt
at this point i gently mix, by hand, the dry ingredients on top of starter before adding the water
1 1/2 c warm water
2 TBS oil

mix with your hands or a rubber spatula. the dough comes together rather quickly and i gently knead it a few times to make sure everything is mixed well, then put a damp towel over the bowl and place it in a warm place to rise. i put mine in the oven because it has a pilot light. depending on how much time i have, i let it double in size. i have also just let it rest an hour or two and then proceeded, the bread just turns out more dense. before transferring it to the baking pan, i knead it a few more times, but not too much. i read that if you overwork spelt dough your bread will be crumbly. after kneading, rub oil of your choice over the dough (i'm not sure why i do this, but i do!) and place in a baking dish. i bake my bread in a large loaf pan in an effort to have sandwich size bread for the days that my kids attend tutoring group. i let the dough rest or rise as long as my time allows. sometimes it's a few hours and sometimes it's 30 min. i'm all for making it work for me. after it's risen, place it in a 400* oven and bake until golden brown and the crust feels thick and somewhat hard to the touch. 3o min or so.

and that's it... please keep in mind all amounts and times are approximate. i just kind of add this and do that. i did jot things down as i made this loaf so i could write about it, but i like to cook more like my grandma, with a handful of this and a scoop of that. 

i'm still playing with new ideas every time i make bread, and noticing that every loaf gets easier. good luck to you!

The House Around the Corner - Arleen's House

Arleen's advice about Kefir :)

Stop whining already about the taste of the kefir (no fear - ki fear) 

morning start: 

1/4 c kefir
1/4 c juice or kvass
2 tablespoons coconut oil...

stir and drink

why?

1 chug-a-lug and you are all done for the day. 
all you taste is what ever juice you used (carrot, beet, orange, lime)  
wipe your mouth, (don't lick your lips if you don't like coconut oil...  I don't like it at all, but don't taste it.  just the juice)


Enjoy (or something :)

A Critical Issue - pH balance

pH levels and your body

Flu Remedy #2 and 
The beginning of Phase One

First of all, my apologies for not getting this in sooner.  It is the beginning of our entire program.  When I started going through making a "Path to Progress" so it was easier to follow the basic program, there was a big hole.  Apparently the pH opinion never made it from Face Book to this blog.  I have been waiting for....... well, I don't know why I was waiting to fill in this hole.

Anyway.... the whole flu thing reminded me to do something on pH.  If you have a rotten case of the flu, you might try this old, old remedy.

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 lemon or lime

1/2 glass of water

Stir and drink

Day 1 - Use FOUR times
Day 2 - Use TWO times
Day 3 - Use ONCE

You  don't want to do this all the time and you don't want to do more than seven doses in four days.  This just chemically yanks your entire digestive tract to a neutral pH.   We can personally testify that it works for the flu.... just because virus', germs, pathogens, yeasts and other nasty stuff do not like a neutral pH.  These nasty things are weakened and you can recover.... pretty rapidly.  Not instantly.  

This step is the beginning of the program.  If you want to be reminded what Phase One is, go here.   It is safe, effective, inexpensive, easy and not completely disgusting. :)  We do pH testing using strips a couple of mornings every week and are still not at the place where our pH is neutral just from food.  We have been continuing to add this remedy in about 1-2 times per week, but hope to end it sometime.

Our 8 year old gets sips, but not full doses of this.  He really does not need it usually... his immune system is pretty strong.  He really does not like it, but I don't mind it.

Remember that you need to be responsible for the health of your family.  The intent of this blog is to implement the ideas from the Weston A. Price Foundation, Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions and some of the ideas from The Maker's Diet in a step by step approach.  Study one thing at a time, think about it, reason it through, talk with someone about it and come to a good, informed decision for your family.

We want a simple, nutrient dense diet that provides optimal health.  It is so hard to just shift gears mid stream.  My prayer for all of you is that some of these ideas will make sense to you and you change because of knowledge..... not just because someone had a good idea.  Baby steps, where we sift through one idea at a time, gives a little space.  Don't let anyone rush you or tell you what you should be doing in your family.  Change because you are convinced.

So..... THE EXTRA STEP - PHASE 1 - pH levels

Pick one or two articles.... read a little, think a little, pray a little.  Let all of us know how it goes.  Sharing our success and failure as a community binds us together...... no matter where we live..... on to pH

The reason you want your pH neutral is for optimal health.  If your pH is too acidic or too alkaline, your body does not function well.  It is as simple as that.  If it is too far one way, weird things can grow.  If it is too far the other way... the plumbing doesn't work well.  Your blood HAS to stay at 7.3 or 7.4.  Your body will rob from everything else to keep it there.  Don't make your body rob from your bones or organs to keep your blood neutral.   Just figure out a simple diet that works.

This first article is a good, light article on using baking soda and some of the benefits of  keeping your body at a neutral pH.  Remember, don't feel a need to buy any expensive thing anybody is selling.  A simple paper strip is sufficient for the average healthy person to keep tabs on where they are  in the pH dept.

Healthy Holistic Living 

Dr. Mercola does have an annoying pop up add if you are not on his e-mail list, but his information is so good that it is worth it to me.  He has a great web site that covers a multitude of good information, including pH and baking soda. 

Baking Soda/Flu Remedy from Dr. Mercola

This article from Dr. Mercola gives a good overview of Dr. Simoncini.  Some of the research of Dr. Simoncini has heavily influenced me.  Personally, if I had cancer anywhere from my mouth throughout my digestive tract, I would be using a baking soda therapy as part of my treatment.  If you only have time to read one article, this is a good one.

Fungas as a form of cancer - Baking Soda Therapy 

Here is a further one on baking soda and cancer if you want to continue on this vein.

Winning the war on cancer 

And finally, here is one from a kind of odd web site.  A little out there.....  

Ted's Alkalizing Formula 

I hope this helps you.  Some of this information is so good, and as a first step in your healthy lifestyle, this one is good.   

Be blessed and healthy

Cindy

Retracing My Steps - Ginger Ale

How Our Family Deals with the Flu

It appears to be flu season, cough, cold, yuck.  If you would like to have a simple, homeopathic remedy (remember, I am neither a doctor, a homeopath, a midwife... nothing... just opinionated :) you might add cultured ginger ale to your families life.  Purchasing ginger ale probably won't give you the benefits.  Our family always has ginger ale brewing on the counter and a ginger ale/juice mix in the fridge.

 Ginger Ale Break

To learn how to make ginger ale, go to Whey and Ginger Ale Recipes.  Remember that a good gut is your best defense against germs, pathogens, and a generally toxic world.  Ginger Ale is one of the daily things we add for continued gut health.

Why ginger ale, you ask.... well, if you look at the benefits of ginger ale, that might answer your question.  My personal opinion is that cultured ginger ale is BY FAR the most efficient way to incorporate this wonder food into your life.  It is not cooked, the enzymes are all there, it is lacto fermented, the nutrients are bio available and accessible, and you can make it taste pretty good by mixing it with a little juice (I have no hard research on this since I made it up myself... it is kind of an odd drink to get used to.)

 

Ginger Ale with Pomegranate Lime Juice

 If you or your family like ginger ale, you don't need to mix it with juice.  It keeps for a long, Long, LONG time if you don't mix it with juice and you throw it into the back of the fridge.  I always keep a clearly labeled bottle of it, with some of the ginger in the bottom, in the back of the fridge.... Why?  If you have a puking family member, pull out the plain ginger ale.  Give them one tablespoon, by sips, wait 10 or 20 minutes and then give them another tablespoon.  This nutralizes that yuck feeling in your throat and mouth, so have them swish it in their mouth for a bit before swallowing.

If you are pregnant, are involved with chemo, or get motion sickness, you might also give cultured ginger ale a try.  (It helps by turning off something in your brain that tells you to puke - some studies show ginger to be more effective than Dramamine for motion sickness).  Again, my opinion is that the cultured ginger ale is almost the most efficient way to get the benefits of this amazing rhizome.

There are so many benefits available.  I'll list some of the ginger ale benefits as I know them here, and some links for you to do your own due diligence.  Remember, your families health is ultimately your responsibility and  you should check out some remedies, some preventions.  Don't ever subcontract your families health to anyone... doctor, chiropractor, dentist, therapist.... or friend.

Yum!

My personal list of ginger benefits: (please remember that this is not an "instant" thing... except for puking or acid reflux... we drink ginger ale every day... these are just some of the helpful things ginger can help you with over time)

• Overall anti fungal, anti inflammatory, anti bacterial, anti everything... but in a healthy way :)
• Stops heartburn and acid reflux
• Digestion Aid and helps with gas and bloating
• Reduces inflammation
• Fever Reducer
• Morning Sickness help (with changes in diet)
• Mild headache remedy (I still use aspirin occasionally)
• Energy drink (when mixed with minerals and juice)
• Calms your nerves... a little bit :)
• Food poisoning relief (some - a good, healthy, active gut is your best defense against food poisoning..... OK, full disclosure, we use live sauerkraut regularly to combat any food poisoning  :)
• Menstrual Cramp relief
• Some research shows lowered cholesterol levels (when used on a regular basis)
• Refreshing soda type of drink... It is so good in the summer over ice!

I might revisit this page and add stuff.... I am really doing this off the top of my head and might change this page when I have a bit of time.  A little stretched in the time category this morning :)  If anyone has another remedy.... please let me know.

THE EXTRA STEP - PHASE 1

Don't try to go to every one of these sites.  Many of them have repetitive information.  These are just some of the ones I like really well.  I try to find ones that don't have pop up ads, but don't always catch them.

So, true confessions, ginger chews are my all time favorite candy, but I have not been able to get them :(  This is their site for health benefits and it is really good.

My favorite site - Ginger People

These sites are selling their stuff, but they have links to lots and lots of research.  I have not looked at all of it, but some of it.  I especially like the links they have on motion sickness and on cholesterol.

Fitness and Freebies 

Vitamin Stuff - Ginger 

Here is a nice bullet point with research list and one with the nutritional breakdown

Health Diaries 

Health Benefits of Ginger 

Here is a nice, short list with some research and one with the use of honey and ginger.

Health and Yoga 

Honey and ginger benefits 

Anyway.... this is easy and inexpensive and a good tonic for winter.

Best of Health to you 

Cindy

The House around the corner - Kefir

 Kefir Recipes

I have had a great response to my plea for kefir recipes.  More are WELCOME (OK, I am begging... this is kind of a stretch).  Check back and I will add them on here as they come in.  If you would like to revisit the kefir directions, they are here.

The House around the corner - Jamie's Kefir

Kefir is a type of yogurt made with "beads"  Arleen and I both have some and will share, if you are local.  (mine are from Arleen who has been a believer in kefir for a couple of years now).

Why would anyone use kefir?  A couple of reasons... one) to preserve your expensive raw milk, and 2) for the wonderful properties it brings to your gut and 3) Arleen uses it to culture her regular organic milk (not raw) to incorporate the live enzymes back into the milk.  This notches up the nutritional value.

Kefir is full of the stuff you need to work on your healthy gut flora.  It is so important to have a large variety of lacto fermented foods in your daily diet - milks, root vegetables and vegetables.  This is another one to add to the mix, and it is a good one.  Kefir beads are unique things they are unable to make in a lab.  They have been around for a long, long time.  The Kefir story is interesting, and you should read it some time.  This one is kind of cute.

The Story of Kefir

Sadly, it is apparently an acquired taste... better to be acquired early in life.  However, that does not mean we cannot take advantage of the health benefits without sending our taste buds to the curl up place.  Here are a couple of articles which should be read... I think they are short.  Remember, you should have some knowledge of why you are doing what you are doing.  Don't overwhelm yourself, just set yourself the task of acquiring some knowledge.

Seeds of Health - What is Kefir? 

Body Ecology - How to Introduce Kefir to your gut. 

This one has a pop up add, but if you close it, it has a nice list of benefits.

Kefir Benefits

Last, but not least, while I was schlepping around the internet looking for the kefir story in a readable format, I came across this on young, green coconut kefir.  Someone else will have to try it.  I am at my limit for trying new kefir products :)

Bedrok Community - Green Coconut Kefir

Now for some recipes (not for the coconut stuff - never heard of it before today):

From Melissa:

Besides smoothies, many times after lunch, Evy & I will mix up "a little kifer drink" as we like to call it.

1/2 c. chilled kifer each
dash or vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, alspice or whatever you have.
1 tsp sweetener (Since honey is thick & does not mix well with cold things, I premix a jar of 3/4 honey to 1/4 water & shake until combined. You can then pour it & it mixes nicely.)
It's a nice dessert-ish snack after lunch.

Another way I sneak it in is:

Winter Salsa

2 c. shopped green cabbage
1/2 c. chopped cillantro
4-5 chopped canned jalapenos
1/2 c. vinigar from canned jalapenos
2 tbsp kifer
2 tbsp sour cream
salt & pepper to taste

From Jamie:

In a blender mix:

1/2 cup kefir

1 cup yogurt

cinnamon, nutmeg, a pinch of salt, some vanilla

frozen berries

a banana - frozen or not

Blend and drink.  The spices will kill some of the taste. 

Note.... Jamie has also made some kefir cheese and made a quiche out of it.  She also suggested adding it to your sourdough sponge.  I did and it was good.  I have not had time to try the cheese yet, but look forward to a recipe hitting my inbox with pictures :)

From Chara:

I put my kefir together in the evening, let it sit overnight and in the morning throw it into a smoothie with whatever I have in the house... This morning it was bananas, kefir, raw milk, a few liquid supplements and a maple yogurt. I use coconut milk, all different kinds of fruit (whatever is in the fridge), yogurts- plain, vanilla, maple, mostly I use kefir in smoothies...

From Jamie:

Breakfast Pie or Quiche if you skip the potato crust and just use a regular pie crust.

For the crust you'll need:

 

3 potatoes

2 tablespoons self-rising flour

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red and black pepper blend

 

For the filling you'll need:

 

6 strips good smoked bacon, cooked crisp and chopped

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

1 cup grated cheese

6 eggs

1/2 cup kefir

1 clove garlic minced

1/4 teaspoon red and black pepper blend

pinch of salt

 

Preheat oven to 350

 

Crust:

Grate the potatoes into a colander and rinse thoroughly with cold water, set aside to drain.  Beat one egg well with onion powder and pepper blend.  Heat a 10 inch cast iron skillet over medium high heat until pan is hot.  Use whatever oil you prefer, I used olive oil.  Toss grated potatoes with two tablespoons self-rising flour.  Mix floured potatoes with egg mixture thoroughly and place in hot skillet making sure to cover the bottom evenly and push the potato mixture to the edges of the pan and almost two inches up the side.  Lower heat to medium.  Don't turn the potatoes, you're only trying to get the bottom good and browned.  Shouldn't take but maybe 10 minutes tops depending on whether or not you use gas or electric stove.  Once potatoes have browned remove from heat.

 

Filling:

Blend six eggs with kefir then add remaining ingredients.  Pour into potato crust in  cast iron skillet and put into preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes.  If it doesn't look pretty enough for you sprinkle some grated cheese over the top and run under the broiler for a couple minutes.

 

There you go, a meal in one pan.

More to follow......

The House Around the Corner - Success Stories

Some Stories Shared

We had a great day yesterday with the sourdough class.  Sampling lots of different kinds of bread as everyone develops their recipes is something to look forward to.  It is so fun to see each bread recipe "tweeked" to fit the house that it is being made in.

Really, what is sourdough bread?  Starter, flour, salt, oil and a little sweetner.  You can add other things, change the process, shape it to suit you, sour it to suit your families taste and learn to appreciate an art from yesteryear. 

Ultimately, we are a community, sharing ideas.  Our community is comprised of strangers and friends, old and young, and every spectrum of world views you could ever hope to find.  I love it :)  The stories, ideas and tips on sourdough bread that have been coming in are helpful, encouraging and all sound so good.  This page is listing out some of the stories. 

I have lost the wonderful sourdough cinnamon roll recipe Becky sent me, but she is sweet and will probably just send it again.  The rolls were a lot better than my first try.  Mine had the consistency of... I don't know... a brick?  They were OK dipped in coffee.  One of Becky's got hidden to have with a cup of coffee at choir practice.  So good Becky.

My friend Sherri has sent in not just a recipe, but a history of sourdough starter and some of her memories.  It can be found on her blog.  She has lots of other ideas from another era.  She loves to study how things were done in another age.  I think you will enjoy her story.  It is refreshing to go visit her "keeping room"

Sherri Ann's Keeping Room

Vanessa made her first batch of sourdough bread, and some butter with it.  What is so fun is that she used Bobbi's recipe and pictures as her guide.  I still need to try the egg wash.

Vanessa's Bread and Butter 

Bobbi Jo's Heavenly Loaf 

Melissa is now an old hand at sprouting wheat, making bread and coming up with clever, non-plastic storage ideas.  She is also trying the butter.  She shared her pictures and knowledge here recently.  She is in the middle of the butter adventure.  

Evelyn Fields Cultured Butter 

The House Around the Corner - Melissa's Sourdough sprouted wheat bread 

Finally, Jamie has been sending in a lot of good ideas, pictures and clear directions.  She is a wonderful researcher and writer and has been trying so many ideas, writing about them and getting them to me.  Hopefully she will just fire up her own blog soon.  Gotta do it Jamie! (Why don't you already have one?)

The House Around the Corner - Jamie's Bread 

Our church community has been trying hard to change a lot of our old habits.  Pot lucks now have a lot of nutrient dense foods there.  We are doing a meal tonight for the young couple's group of a very dense soup (chicken, rice, quinoa, veggies and broth), salad and sourdough bread...oh, and latte's made with some really good milk.  I will take pictures and post them soon.  It should be another fun evening.

Be blessed and healthy.  Make wise choices for your family.  Is there one change you can make today?

Cindy

Tortilla Dough

When we began to make sourdough bread on a regular basis and finally decided... no more buying bread except in emergencies... we struggled with having bread around when needed.  The loaf might not turn out, the bread might not be at the right place at the right time.... whatever happened, I needed a quick bread that could be used in place of sourdough.

This dough can be easily pulled together and used in thirty minutes.  You need that long for the protein in the flour to unwind.  It is better if it has 8-12 hours of soak time.

While this might not be perfect,  it worked in our household and helped transition.  Hope you enjoy the recipe. 

Tortilla Dough

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp olive oil

1 cup warm water

2 Tbsp sourdough starter

Bring this together into a nice dough.  A dough hook works well with this.  This dough needs to rest for at least 30 minutes.  It is just about perfect at 8-12 hours.  If it goes much beyond this, throw the rest into your current batch of bread.

Generously flour the counter.  Pull your dough into sections and roll into a ball.  You will just have to figure out how big, but a little bigger than a golf ball, smaller than a tennis ball.  Roll them all into smooth balls.


Heat your cast iron frying pan or griddle.  Medium heat.  Begin to flatten out your balls.  It works best to flatten them all, then go back and begin rolling them with a rolling pin.  Roll out, the put in the pan.  We like to use coconut oil, but you can also use an ungreased pan.  Cook about 45 seconds on each side and flip three times.

When you are ready to pull one off, just put it between two plates to hold the moisture and heat in.  Then, keep stacking them between the plates as you finish them. 

Enjoy
Cindy

The Sourdough Bread Class

Today's Recipe

So... anyone that knows me knows that I am constantly messing with recipes.  I just can't help myself.  After getting so many good recipes from friends, the old recipe underwent some changes.

It started with a cousin's old family recipe (not listed yet... still to come) which starts with a "sponge", made the dough less stiff (thanks Melissa), added flax meal (thanks Bobbi Jo), added kefir  and a longer "rise" (thanks Jamie).  Still to be added to my routine is an egg wash (the egg whites are sitting there from making mayonnaise).  So, from the class today, here is the bread that I am pretty sure we made.

Community Sourdough Bread

The Sponge

1 cup sourdough starter

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups barley flour

2 cups white flour

1/2 cup flax meal

2 Tbsp. sesame seeds

1 cup kefir

Water to make it a slurry

Just bring this together, it is not necessary to knead it.  Put it into a bowl, cover with a wet towel and let rise until double in volumne (probably about 10-12 hours)

The Dough

The sponge from before

2 tsp. sea salt

3 Tbsp. Olive oil

2 Tbsp. sweetner (I used Palm Sugar today)

Flour to make a slightly sticky dough

Form into your loaf and let rise again.  I put my loaf on parchment paper, then onto a plate.  This makes it easier to move around.  The dough should double in volume.  It often takes several hours, but this morning my loaf took only 1-1/2 hours to rise.  I had to knead it down and try again since I wanted to bake it at the class.

Baking

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  

I like to either spritz water in or put a small pan of water in.
It gives your crust a nice feel.  

A stone is nice, but it is not necessary.

Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes, then turn down the over to 325 degrees for approximately 15-25 minutes.  The times will vary depending on your loaf size and density.

There are two ways to check and see if it done....
a thermometer inserted - 210 degrees

.... or turn the loaf over and tap the bottom...
if it sounds hollow, it is done.

When I take it out I either immediately run the loaf under water or put butter on the top.  

This makes it a lot easier to cut.

Serving Suggestions

Two of our favorite ways to eat fresh sourdough bread

1)  Spread with butter and lemon curd (recipe to follow)

2)  Spread with butter and sauerkraut

Enjoy
Cindy

Reasons for drinking Raw Milk

Raw Milk

The Adventure Continues

Well, here we are.  Raw milk.  Somewhere I never really thought we would be.  If you want to see the beginning of our raw milk adventure, it is here. 

I don't want to be repetitions, but please, please.... study some of the articles I have linked, pray about what step you are going to take.  Make good decisions based on what is best for your family.  I will continue to list the reasons our family has made the switch under my rambling, but there is SO MUCH great information in these links that I would ask you to just hop around.  That way you can find what you need.  Don't let the number of articles overwhelm you.  Just look at one or two, then think about it and maybe revisit and look over a few more.

personal note:  trying again to talk my hubby 
into getting a milk cow! -

turn our grass into healthy protein!

Milk is listed here in this section for the fats.  It could be in any section, but this is where it landed.  I have already done some discussion on raw milk for general gut health.  The article for that is here.   Overall, what we have done for several years is to get a good, organic pasteurized... but not homogenized milk.  Strauss Family Farms has a great milk that is lightly pasturized but the fat structure is intact.  If you can study what happens on factory farms, when milk products are homogenized and what happens to the enzymes when milk is pasturized you will have a good foundation for making the best decision you can.  We have just recently switched to raw.

We are blessed in California to be able to buy raw milk, and Organic Pastures (home page) does an amazing job with their cows.  They are grass fed and healthy, and the milk is fresh and good.  My favorite article on raw milk is from the Nourished Kitchen.  Please take a minute to look over the reasons she has listed.

The Nourished Kitchen

 Another site that has been listed before... cheeseslave.  She lists out the top ten reasons to drink raw milk.  If you can go there, I would recommend it.

Top Ten Reasons to drink Raw Milk 

The Weston A Price Foundation has done so much work on this subject.  They have a really good page on the safety of raw milk for babies.  I would suggest you spend some time on this page.  If you are politically minded, the Campaign for raw milk is a good place to put some energy.

Is Raw Milk safe for babies?
A Campaign for Real (Raw) Milk

The Weston A Price Foundation has also done several articles rebutting the claims by the agribusiness/FDA conglomerate that has an iron grip on our food supply.  Please take a little time to read them if you are nervous about raw milk.  If the cows are grass fed, you are probably fine.  If your gut is in good shape, you can fight off any lousy stuff that comes.  If you cannot buy raw milk, get the best choice you can and perhaps culture it with kefir beads.  Directions are here.

Kefir Directions 

Another great site I found, especially if you are thinking about getting a cow or working with raw milk is the Modern Country Dairy.  They also have lots of info on raw milk.

Modern Country Dairy 

...and if you would rather read something personal with reasons listed out there is a kind of neat story called "Why would anyone drink raw milk?"  It is kind of funny.

Mean Rooster Soup

Anyway, sorry this is not a personal page.  There is just so much to this subject.  Please study and read and think and pray.

Best of Health to you

Cindy

The House Around the Corner - Kefir

Note from Cindy:  If you have a way to drink kefir, we would all appreciate your sharing of that information.  Jamie has added a cool way to drink it, but if you can make a comment with your recipe, it would be great.  Maybe Apryle will share her smoothie recipe that she used it in.  It is yummy. I don't want to say kefir is gross, just a really new flavor and texture.  Any helpful tips are appreciated.  I changed the settings so you can do an anonymous log in and post.  If anyone leaves something weird, I will just delete it.... but why would they  :)  I can then gather them into a top ten ways to add kefir to your life or something like that.

 

Jamie's Kefir Recipe

My kefir grains arrived by mail, sealed in a double plastic bag and shipped in a plastic bubble envelope. Not very impressive are they?  These grains were shipped with a little milk added to feed them during their trip and when you first open the sealed bags you'll notice a sour, yeasty odor, don't panic, that's normal.

 The first thing you want to do is clean your grains. This is really easy. First take a sieve and dump them in, if you have trouble getting them out of the bag just pour a little milk in to loosen things up. After you've gotten the little grains out of the bag you want to pour a little milk or distilled water over them while gently shaking the sieve.

This is what they look like once they're all cleaned up.

 Now you simply dump them into a clean jar, the one shown is quart size.

Another picture of the clean grains.

 Here you'll see that I've added two cups of whole milk. Ideally you would want to use raw milk, but since it's unavailable in my area I've used organic whole milk instead.

You want to cover the jar with a cloth, you can't seal it up tight, kefir needs to breathe. Notice my high-tech dishcloth and rubber band combo, it worked great!

 Kefir actually likes to be disturbed so I would give the jar a little shake everytime I walked through the kitchen. It's quite cool in my house so it took almost two whole days for my first batch to culture.

Here it is, almost two days later, ready to strain. Notice the streaking on the jar.

It will be quite thick at first, you'll think you messed up. You didn't.

You'll need your sieve, large bowl or measuring cup and a wooden spoon now. Place the sieve over the bowl, dump in the cultured kefir and you might have to stir gently with the wooden spoon but eventually all the kefir will strain through leaving only the grains, which have multiplied! Wow, busy little critters.

Here is the strained kefir, lousy picture, I know.

Here are the kefir grains that have increased in numbers by almost half!!

Here is my second batch of kefir set up and ready to culture again.

The finished product! If you haven't followed the baby steps to cultured foods I would recommend you start slow, just a couple tablespoons at first.  For a great breakfast drink blend one cup chilled kefir with blueberries and some honey, it's wonderful!

Directions for Raw Cultured Butter

If you are interested in reading about the beginning of my raw milk adventure, go here.


So, step one... acquire some raw cream.  I got mine at the Whole Foods Depot for $10.65.

Step two..  put it into a glass jar and mix it with some cultured milk... I used creme fraiche ($5.79) to culture mine.  Leave it on the counter.  I left mine out for about 12 hours.  I don't know if that is how long your are supposed to leave it out.  If I ever find out, I will let you know.  You can also use buttermilk from a previous batch of butter.

Step three.. pour through a strainer and the clumps of stuff go into a small jar, along with some of the cultured cream.  Label it.  This is your starter for next time so you don't need to buy the creme fraiche again.  I think if you leave it out longer, you end up with a clabbered cream, which is creme fraiche.

Step four... put the cream into the fridge and get cold.  You might also want to refrigerate or freeze your kitchenaid bowl and your wire whisk.

Step five... put the cream into the bowl and it is just like making whipped cream.  It took less than four minutes for mine.  It passes the stiff peak phase and moves right into the really, really stiff phase and suddenly - BAM - you have butter.  Just like a miracle.

Step six...  I don't know if this is the right way, but I just poured mine into the wire mesh strainer over a bowl and let the buttermilk drain out.  Then I bottled up the buttermilk and eventually used it to culture a loaf of bread.  It was so good.

Step seven... wash the butter.  VERY important.  I need to find a better way, but I used my wooden bowl and just used running water and kneaded and turned it until the water ran clear.

**Changing this a little bit.  I forgot something... so sorry.  I put my butter back into the mixer and added about 1 tsp of sea salt.  This is for preservation and for flavor.  THEN move on to...

Step eight...  If you want to mold it into pretty shapes.... this is the time.

Step nine.... ENJOY!

Note:  I just kept a little on the counter in my butter dish at a time.  Then it was soft for use, but the bulk of it I kept in the fridge in a glass jar.   Some of it I mixed half and half with my organic, but not raw or cultured, butter.  I try to just have enough out for the day.  I like to put some into my little butter crock at night and try to estimate how much I will need for the next morning.  Remember, if it sours, it is still healthy and good... just sour.  Disguise it in something:)