Pages

Categories

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Coconut Hot Chocolate & Kefir Whipped Cream

I love this hot chocolate because it's not so sweet that it locks my jaws and spikes my insulin levels! I didn't even have all the ingredients that the original recipe called for, so I substituted with what I had and know I like. It was delish!

         

Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a great recipe for using your discarded starter if, like me, you don't want to throw it in the compost pile. The first time I made cookies using sourdough starter, I fed the starter before putting it in the recipe. Don't do that. It needs to be hungry so it will enjoy the flour you give it in the cookie dough!

Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Probiotic Potato Salad

I've never liked a potato salad that I've made until I made Donna Schwenk's "Probiotic Potato Salad" recipe. I modified it slightly, but you can view the original recipe at http://culturedfoodlife.com/probiotic-potato-salad/. Here's my version:

 
 

Kefir Sour Cream


If you use one of your jars of kefir to make whey that you can use to culture other foods, you will have kefir cheese left after the whey drains off. Don't throw it in the compost pile!!! Instead, make kefir sour cream. Here's how:

Kefir Whey and Cheese

Once you get the hang of making kefir every day, you'll want to expand on the ways you can use it. Making kefir whey to use in culturing and adding probiotics to other foods is very easy to do. Here's how it works:

Cutting Board Storage

Sometimes when you clean out your closets, you find stuff you really needed once upon a time, but then you didn't. This is not a problem; this is an opportunity!  Here's the burning question: What can I use this thing for now that I don't need it for that other thing?

Case in point: Lucite stacking file holder. 

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Keep Kitchen Utensils Handy

Now that I'm pursuing a more natural, organic lifestyle, I have several recurring activities that require my attention daily, bi-weekly, weekly, or monthly. For example, I make kefir every day; I make some type of fermented garden vegetable a couple of times per week; I make Kombucha tea weekly; and I make sauerkraut monthly.  I got tired of putting utensils away and getting them out again. So, I decided to make it simpler for myself by doing things differently.

 

I had a cute silverware basket that I had no intention of putting in a drawer (who would see the chickens on it?). Turns out, it's just the right size and configuration to hold my assortment of often used utensils. 

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Why Baking Soda & Fermented Foods Provide the Best Dental Care


In my first post titled "Most Powerful Medicine #1", I shared the great results I have enjoyed because I switched from commercial toothpaste to baking soda. I thought I would follow up with excerpts from an article by Dr. Mercola in which he shares information from Dr. Tim Rainey, a pioneer in biological dentistry.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Fermented Lemons

If you want to create a food that is so different you can't explain it by comparing it to any other food you've ever tasted, try fermented lemons. I was very skeptical about this recipe, because lemons are just so sour - if you don't pair them with sugar, you can't take it. Well - now you can have your lemons without sugar - and love them.

The only draw-back is that you have to wait 30 days - a whole month - for them to be ready! But take my word for it, they are worth the wait. If you want to try your hand at fermenting food, this is the easiest recipe ever!

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Homemade No-Fail Kefir


If you've read my post on Kefir under the HEALTH tab, you know it's a cultured food that is really good for you. You can buy Kefir in the store, but it costs about $3.50 for 32 ounces, and it only has a few different strains of beneficial bacteria in it.

However, if you get your own Kefir grains, you can make Kefir at home for pennies, and it has about 50 different strains of beneficial bacteria!

I've tried several different ways of making my Kefir, and here is my recipe for No-Fail Kefir that is perfect every time! This recipe produces the fattest, lushest Kefir grains ever, and a thick, delicious Kefir that is almost like drinking a milkshake!

Saturday, August 10, 2013

The Most Powerful Medicine #5 - Kefir

 
Kefir is simply the easiest, fastest, simplest way to incorporate probiotics into your diet. Why is that important? Because probiotics "pre-digest" your food - taking a huge load off your digestive system. They also perform very intricate transformations of food to super-charged nutrients that are impossible to duplicate with any man-made substitutes. Kefir has 56 more strains of beneficial bacteria than yogurt! Take my word for it - or research fermented foods on your own: you can't buy health like this at any price!

Easiest Homade Pickles Ever!


I have NEVER liked pickles. Couldn't tell you why, until I started eating fermenting foods. It's the VINEGAR!!!

The only vinegar I have ever been able to like and tolerate is apple cider vinegar - made from (wait for it....) FERMENTED apples.

I decided to give this recipe a try only because we have so many cucumbers, I didn't know what else to do with them.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Homemade Greek Yogurt


homemade greek yogurt

You should be eating yogurt - Greek yogurt - homemade Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt has more beneficial probiotics than regular yogurt, and homemade Greek yogurt has WAY more beneficial probiotics than store-bought Greek yogurt - and tastes way better, too.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Sauerkraut

I have never eaten sauerkraut. I remember my Dad eating it when I was a kid; it was stinky and yucky looking. Nope - not for me. If that's you, too, you owe it to yourself to try this recipe. It is the most delicious thing you will ever eat made from a head of cabbage. I promise! It does not stink; it's salty and fresh and - oh, there's no way to describe it. Just try it - you will be hooked as well as healthy. I even put 1 tablespoon full of it in my dogs' food once per day. Homemade sauerkraut has 13 different strains of beneficial bacteria - it is the powerhouse of cultured foods.

Homemade sauerkraut



1 small head of organic cabbage
1 carrot
1 tsp dill seed
1 T caraway seed
1 T salt

Cut cabbage in quarters and grate in food processor, or slice thinly. Place in large bowl. Grate carrot and add to cabbage.

Add dill seed, caraway seed, and salt. Mix thoroughly with hands.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Chipotle Peach Salsa

I love salsa. Salsa and corn chips. Sometimes when I'm tired or lazy, I'll grab a bag of tortilla chips and some salsa and - instant dinner!

So imagine how thrilled I was to discover fermented salsa that is actually even WAY better for you than regular salsa. (Remember, Dr. Oz says that a whole country should be named after tomatoes because they are so healthy; cooked ones even more so than raw.)

Now, I've always eaten salsa that is Tex-Mex in nature - salty, cilantro, jalapenos, the works.

So I was somewhat leery of this "peach salsa" recipe, but I had an abundance of ripe, fresh peaches off my beautiful peach trees. When I saw it had chipotle in it, I was okay.  OMG!!! This stuff is as good fresh as it is fermented! TRY IT.

Spot Cleaning

When I worked full time, my house was usually clean. Just about all I did at home was bathe, sleep, and get ready to go to work again. But now that I'm actually in my house all the time, keeping it clean is a big deal.

I'm retired, and I don't want to clean house any more; I want to do all those things I dreamed about doing when I had to go to work every day. The catch 22? I can't stand it when my house is dirty. It bugs me. A lot.

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Most Powerful Medicine #4 - Kombucha

Pronounced "Come Boocha," it is a delicious, healthy drink that sells for $3 or $4 a bottle from a health food store, but you can make your own for pennies.

   

Peach Crisp - Healthy Dessert!


I got this great healthy dessert recipe from the Organic Gardening website.

GRILLED PEACHES
 
Ingredients
 
 
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 large peaches, halved
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch ground black pepper
 

Friday, August 2, 2013

Most Powerful Medicine #3 - Fermented Foods

If you've seen my pictures on Facebook, you know I've been on a new tangent - fermenting food.

Most people are shocked when the topic of fermented foods is broached - probably because it conjures up images of those nasty-looking moldy blobs of stuff you find in a long-forgotten container in the back of your fridge every now and then. But let me put this in the proper perspective.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Polish Car Headlights

I am probably the only person in the USA who drives vehicles more than 3 years old, but just in case, I'm going to post this DIY trick I used to polish the headlights on our car and truck.

The headlight lens on our Honda especially had gotten oxidized and opaque looking. So I was ready to try this.

Most Powerful Medicine #2 - Apple Cider Vinegar

There are only two times in my life that I haven't been slim - when I was pregnant, and beginning a year or two after menopause. I guess hormones are everything, huh?

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Most Powerful Medicine #1 - Baking Soda

I guess it's dumb to wait until you're puny to start trying to maximize your health. But if you feel great, have tons of energy, and everything's working - you must be doing everything right, right?