Milk Kefir

Well, I have finally ventured into milk kefir. I started out trying to use the starter cultures that you can find in the store. But, that got expensive since they don't really multiply well. I purchased real milk kefir grains about two weeks ago. They arrived last week. I covered them in raw whole milk and set them on my counter. Today, I finally had the time to do something with them. I may have left them a little longer than necessary, but they seem happy. They've multiplied already! As I said, I may have left them a bit too long - the kefir is slightly cheesy-flavored, but otherwise good.

I started off with a bit over 1 tablespoon of grains. I split them among 4 jars. Covered each with 1 cup of raw whole milk. Set on the counter for 5 days at room temperature.

They finally decided to 'set' yesterday and thicken nicely.

Today, I strained the grains from the kefir. Do not use metal utensils as the grains won't be happy.

Just allow the kefir to drain. Don't mash it through the strainer. You don't want to lose too many 'baby' kefir grains.

You should have thick and creamy kefir. It's about the same consistency as runny yogurt, but so much better for you!

You should have more grains than when you started. Mine multiplied slightly. I ended up putting some in another jar. So, I now have 5 jars on the counter for my next batch.

Milk kefir is very versatile and one of the best ways to get probiotics. You can drink it as-is, mix in fruit, honey or vanilla (or other extracts to your taste), use in smoothies, cold soups and much more. You can also use it in baking and other cooking in place of milk, but you will lose much of the probiotics due to heating.

Raw Strawberry Ice 'Cream' Recipe

I found this recipe here: 3 Ingredient Ginger Strawberry Sorbet
This was so good. I followed the recipe exactly. I need a more powerful blender! I had to stop and start several times to push the frozen fruit down. But, in the end, it was worth it!
I also topped it with cacao nibs.

This made 2 servings.
It was served with yummy lamb steak and raw milk.

Cacao Date Bars Recipe

I found this original recipe here: Chocolate-Date Squares.
I changed very little. I used Deglet Noor dates as I was out of Medjools. They are a slightly smaller date, so I used 12. I also added a couple of pine nuts to top each bar.
My mini cuisinart was too small for all of the ingredients. Since I really didn't want to use the big one, I just used my blender to mix all of the ingredients.
I used a loaf pan to freeze it.

 Pine nuts are not pictured.

 Pine nuts were added before freezing.

 Wrapped in parchment paper and ready to add to my travel lunches.
This recipe made 6 bars. Each bar was about 1.5x4x.5 inches.

Nutty Cereal Recipe

Having gone totally wheat-free and gluten-free, my mom was still craving 'cereal', so I found a way to satisfy her.

1 cup roughly chopped raw walnuts
1/2 cup finely chopped raw almonds
1/2 cup finely chopped raw macadamias
1/2 cup finely ground raw pecans
1/2 cup finely ground raw cashews
1/4 cup chopped raw pine nuts
1-1/2 Tablespoons raw cacao nibs
2 Tablespoons dried cherries
2 Tablespoons dried blueberries
2 Tablespoons raisins
2 Tablespoons raw sunflower seeds
1/2 teaspoon raw maca powder
2 Tablespoons raw shredded coconut

(Raisins and sunflower seeds not pictured above.)

Mix together thoroughly and store in glass jar.

Serve 1/2 cup of nutty cereal with raw milk.

Purple Avocado Smoothie Recipe

I'm starting to experiment more with avocados.

8 oz. fresh blackberries
1 frozen banana
1/2 Hass avocado
1/4 teaspoon maca powder
1 teaspoon cacao nibs
1/2 cup raw cream
1/2 cup raw milk

Blend until smoothie consistency. Depending on your preferred smoothie thickness, use more or less cream or milk. I normally use 1 cup cream, but I ran out. So, I did half and half.

You can also add a tablespoon of raw pecan butter for a really nice extra bit of flavor.

Cough Syrup Base Recipe

I saw this article yesterday: Preparing For The Winter and decided to give the remedy a try. This will be used for cough syrup or sore throat syrup.

16 oz. local raw honey
1.5 lemons (with rind,) sliced thin
1-inch knob ginger, sliced thin

Put lemon and ginger slices in 24-ounce jar. Pour 16-oz. honey over all, until completely immersed. Stir until all air bubbles are dispersed. Keep in refrigerator until lemon and ginger slices dissolve (may take several weeks.) The concoction will look like marmalade.

This can be used to flavor tea or other drinks by the teaspoonful. Can also be taken directly from the spoon as a remedy for coughs or sore throats.

Honey is an excellent 'preservative' and will last indefinitely. As this is used, you can keep 'topping it off' by adding more lemon, ginger and honey, as long as the lemon and ginger are completely covered.

Food Lifestyle

I have been doing a lot of experimenting with the things I eat and what they do to me as far as allergies and other reactions. I've always had a lot of irritating health issues and the more I learn the more I find that they were nearly all related to food choices. My allergies and asthma are essentially gone. My other lung issues are nearly a thing of the past. I no longer have heartburn or the stomach & intestinal issues I used to have. And, my chronic joint issues/synovitis that I have had since childhood are almost non-existent. (I'm still working on the occasional migraines I still have, though.) How? Eliminating processed foods and modern grains, mostly. Organic, real foods are what our bodies were meant to consume. Plant AND animal sources. The way I now eat is nothing radical. It's the way humans used to eat until about 100 years ago, with very few exceptions. Before rampant obesity; before chronic health problems. Another plus for me is that my mom is seeing the benefits, too. She is recalling how she ate as a child. She used to think it was because her family was poor, but now she remembers she was never sick & she was skinny. That really didn't change for her until the 1960s. She has lost nearly 50 lbs. in the past year & is feeling much better now. She is down to about 5 prescriptions from 19 less than a year ago. She was diagnosed 12 years ago as diabetic, obese, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, et al. What caused all this? The food she WAS eating for about 30 years. Processed foods. High carbs/grains. She is now 72 & feels better than she has in almost 20 years. She is walking more now. She is eating the way her body needs and eliminating symptom-suppressing medications. We are getting to the source of our problems, not hiding the symptoms. We've done this in baby steps. So, it has taken a better part of the past year, but we have seen progress every step of the way. One little thing at a time. We're patient! Anyone can do it. Just say no to anything that is sold in a can, plastic bottle, styrofoam box, etc., or that has ingredients that you cannot pronounce or that didn't exist 100 years ago. And, stay away from restaurants (not just 'fast food'.) Trust me. You won't miss it after a while. Personally, I would rather pay for good food that I make myself than pay the exhorbitant prices charged by restaurants and doctors. I'm looking toward the long-term, not the quick fix.
How do we eat? We eat organic meats. Mostly organic/pasture-fed pork, lamb, poultry & rabbit as I have found local organic sources. I am still looking for local beef. Occasionally, trout or other seafood. We get pastured eggs from a local farmer (the hens roam on grass & eat bugs and other things chickens are meant to eat.) We eat and/or juice lots of fruits and veggies (organic & mostly local - go to your local farmer's markets and talk directly with the source!) We also grow a bit of our own fruits and veggies in our small space. We drink filtered water (and occasionally buy real spring water - sadly we don't have a local spring nearby.) We eat & drink organic and/or raw dairy from local creameries (WHOLE milk, WHOLE cream, real cheese - not that dyed orange pretend cheese crap, real butter from pastured, grass-fed cows.) Check out the following websites to help you start on the path to better health through food:
Local Harvest
Weston A. Price Foundation
Daniel Vitalis' blog
David Wolfe's blog
Mark's Daily Apple
These are just a few that I visit regularly. There are MANY more.
Remember, most doctor's are NOT taught nutrition while pursuing their medical degrees. Yet, many take the Hippocratic Oath (which in truth has been adulterated over the years.) One of Hippocrates' original lines was, "I will apply dietic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice.
I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art." He also originated the phrase, "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food".
Many will tell you to go what I consider the radical route (you must eat raw only, you must avoid all animal-sourced foods, you must eat or not eat this, etc.) Honestly, there is not a 'one-size' fits all 'diet' plan for everyone. I was vegetarian (almost vegan) for 10 years. It was not for me. I felt like crap all the time & it exacerbated many of my health problems. But, for others, it may work. But, the main thing I profess is to eat as closely to what our ancestors ate as you can - this is NOT necessarily a strict Primal or Paleo-type diet. They did not go to McDonald's or Starbucks every day. They did not use microwaves. The did not eat out of boxes or cans. Pick one or 2 things that you can do 'right now' to start your journey. Once you have that working, pick another and another, until you have the healthy diet that works for you. It doesn't have to happen overnight, but gradually it will. And, you will see and feel the difference!

Apple/Pear/Ginger Juice recipe

I found this recipe in my old Juiceman book. He called it Ginger Jolt.

This is what I used:

2 Organic Pink Lady apples
1 Organic d'Anjou pear
1-inch raw organic ginger root

Wash fruit & ginger. Cut fruit in wedges. Juice 1 apple, then half pear, then the piece of ginger, then the rest of the fruit.

 Enjoy!

Raw Milk article

homegrown & handmade: What's so bad about raw milk?

What's so bad about raw milk? Maybe it's just coincidence or maybe it's just my imagination, but it seems that since Farmageddon was released, the heat has been turned up against raw milk....

Ginger Smoothie recipe

This smoothie was so easy and the results are really yummy! I got the recipe from +Tracy Russell of IncredibleSmoothies.com on G+. I adapted it slightly.

2 frozen organic bananas
1 cup raw almond milk
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
(I was out of molasses, so I substituted organic dark maple syrup.)

Blend. Garnish with pinch of cinnamon.

Smoothie Lunch

As usual, I got sick around Thanksgiving. This is nothing new for me. But, the type of illness and the duration is different. I didn't get pneumonia & wasn't nearly bedridden for a week as in the past - happened nearly every year for about ten years. The past couple of years since I have been eating better & exercising, I have not gotten pneumonia at all. Last year I had a bad cough & lung congestion, but it went away on its own. This year, I got a bad migraine (which is also something I had chronically for over ten years until very recently) which may, in fact, be a sinus infection. I've had it for about 3 days & it seems to be fading as I write this.
Anyway, today's lunch is a raw smoothie made of 1 cup herbal tea (your choice), 1 organic banana, about 1 cup frozen golden raspberries, 1 teaspoon hemp seeds & 1 teaspoon maca powder. It's a pretty golden color, which being in an amber mug, you can't really see! And, it tastes great! I was worried about the maca, as it can be so bitter to me, but the fruit covers that very well.

Dog Treat video

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Make your own FREE homemade natural dog treats! - NaturalNews.tv

Tired of wasting money by throwing out your rotting produce?! Make this great fruit/veggie puree for your canine friend, instead! Visit GroceryGeek.com for more natural foods tips and recipes!

Sprouts!

I am finally making sprouts! Alfalfa sprouts to be exact. I bought these sprouting trays a month or so ago & thought I better start using them! This is about 48 hours in.

I won't be using such small seeds in these trays in the future, but the alfalfa seeds came with it. They are hard to rinse as they flow out the sides, then I have to pick them out of the sink! Kind of annoying. So, I'll stick to jars for the little seeds. But, bigger seeds and nuts will work great in it.

Raw Nuts article

Raw nuts lower elevated blood sugar levels and high blood pressure to fight metabolic syndrome

Raw nuts lower elevated blood sugar levels and high blood pressure to fight metabolic syndrome

Honey article

So glad I buy local, raw, organic honey!!

Tests Show Most Store Honey Isn't Honey

Tests Show Most Store Honey Isn't Honey. Ultra-filtering Removes Pollen, Hides Honey Origins. by Andrew Schneider | Nov 07, 2011. More than three-fourths of the honey sold in US grocery stores isn...

Macadamia Butter Cups recipe

I got this recipe from Blythe Metz and it can be found on her BlytheRawLive website here: http://www.blytheraw.com/episode-11-the-chocolate-tree Scroll half-way down the page.

I halved the recipe. I used the exact same ingredients, so I didn't want to waste the cacao powder if I am going to have a reaction to it (chocolate.) I haven't tried them yet, they are still in the fridge, setting. Can't wait!

Co-op Goodies

I went to the food co-op in Davis this morning and got some good food. And, I found raw Macadamia nuts!! Very small amounts in little bags, but just the right size for a recipe I want to make when I get home tomorrow. I am soaking them now. They are huge compared to the roasted-to-death nuts my mom used to buy in the jar. Can't wait to make this recipe from BlytheRawLive: http://www.blytheraw.com/episode-11-the-chocolate-tree (scroll half-way down the page.) I am making half the recipe. I do still have an order coming through the mail for raw Macadamia nuts that I bought on eBay a few days ago.

I also found organic red plums. They are so pretty. I haven't seen any like them in the regular grocery in ages.

And, I also got in the mail, the butter oil/fermented cod liver oil capsules I ordered! Going to now add it to my daily regimen for my teeth, following the advice of Weston A. Price, DDS.

Raw Almond Milk recipe

I am really enjoying making my own almond milk these days. So much better than store-bought! Plus, I get the pulp to cook with! This recipe can also be used with other types of nuts.

4 cups filtered water (or spring water if you are lucky enough to have a source!)
1 cup organic raw almonds (soaked 24 hours to germinate)
2-4 Medjool dates (pitted), optional
2 teaspoons organic vanilla, optional

Add ingredients to blender. Blend on high for about 45 seconds. Pour through a nut milk bag into a bowl or pitcher. Squeeze bag tightly until all liquid is removed and only almond pulp remains. Refrigerate milk and use within about 4 days. Place almond pulp in container for later use and freeze. The pulp can be used for a variety of recipes.

Raw Salad Taco recipe

I made this recipe up about a week ago and it turned out really good. All ingredients are raw and/or organic, except the olives (but they are 'natural'.)

1 Rudi's Organic Whole Spelt tortilla
1/2 cup Truly Raw cheddar cheese (shredded)
Handful of organic baby spinach or Spring mix
Organic heirloom tomato of choice, sliced
Handful black olives, crushed with fingers or sliced
Bragg's Vinegar & Sesame salad dressing to taste (or your favorite)
1/4 cup chopped or sliced organic sweet onion
2 Tablespoons sliced raw organic almonds
2 pinchfuls of organic alfalfa sprouts (or favorite)
salt & pepper to taste

Layer all ingredients on tortilla. Roll or fold tortilla around stuffing. Eat and enjoy!!

Stuffed Dates snack recipe

This is one of my favorite snacks.

4 Medjool Dates
Organic Cream Cheese (or favorite raw organic nut butter)
4 raw organic pecan or walnut halves

Slice dates and remove pits. Spoon cream cheese into dates. Top with nut. Eat & enjoy!