Soaked Grain Wonder (fulness)

Colette! As per your request, here is the basic information on soaking wheat!

Quick review of the "why".... Wheat was created to sit on the shelf for decades without rotting. There is a coating of phytic acid on the outside and there are enzyme inhibitors in play to keep food from decomposing before its time.

As you know, if a food doesn't rot easily outside your body, it won't decompose or digest easily inside your body. So, traditional cultures right up until the first couple of decades of the 1900s all soaked their grains before cooking. We lost this wisdom with the advent of "quick", "convenient" modern, industrial food. Now we even bake this unsoaked grain at high temperatures, add some chemicals and intensely refined sweeteners and wish our bodies luck at actually absorbing something good. Hmm...

So, think about it the night before and soak your grain on the counter prior to cooking. Simple, and super revealing as you see what the soaking liquid unveils.

The recipe below is a pancake recipe. We also use this as a flat bread. There is some concern and research about the down sides of industrial revolution yeasts (can you say "quick") and so my preference is for a sourdough or a flat bread to keep my body in balance.

One of these pancakes with some real butter and real maple syrup and you will feel well-fed till lunch!

Pancakes

2 cups freshly ground flour
2 cups water
2 T cider or lemon juice (or kefir or yogurt)

Soak overnight or up to 24 hours in a covered glass bowl. I just put a plate on top to be environmentally clean and avoid any toxins from plastic wrap.

In the morning:
Drain off liquid and blend in:

2 eggs
½ t sea salt
1 t baking soda
2 T melted butter

Cook as usual in a a good quality oil such as coconut oil or butter.

Enjoy!

We also use this soaked grain as a base for healthier chocolate chip cookies by adjusting the liquids in the recipe a bit and then adding a simple gluten free flour like rice flour (or whatever is working well for us that week). We don't really use a recipe, just mix and play with the basic "Toll House Cookie" recipe till it looks and tastes about right.

When it comes to comfort food--these cookies are a simple use of soaked grains that will actually make you feel better longer!

Water Kefir.. the care and maintenance

After my usual rant about the evils of soda (I know, I was an addict!) one of my friends exclaimed, "Then what am I supposed to drink?" 

It is a common concern as fruit juices cause a sugar spike, milk is difficult for many people to digest, soy has hormonal consequences and water simply gets boring to many people.  To my friend I have to reply....

Water Kefir!  

It is a wonderful drinking option.



Water kefir is a wonderful way to add 'good' bacteria to your gut. There seems to be a wave of research and marketing going on right now in Western culture about the benefits of probiotics, thankfully. Here's one about mental ability and behavior  and one about arthritis from today's feed. We know that many ancient cultures made great use of fermented, probiotic-creating preservation methods, and apparently not just to preserve their food resources.

Probiotic foods, like raw probiotics, make nutrition from your food intake more easily absorbed and bioavailable.  Making your own Kombucha or Water Kefir is a cheap way to build these beneficial but tiny friends into your daily life.

Making water kefir is simple and quick and is well explained here and a great video here. These well-known bloggers did such a great job, I think I'll just pass you over...


You might notice that there are some discrepancies between these two blogger's descriptions of how to make water kefir. Does the water have to be boiled with the sugar? Or can you just swish it around in pre-boiled water?? Can you add fruit in the first ferment or not??

It sounds confusing, but in my experience, so far,  I have found that it really doesn't make a big difference. Whatever your preference, it will be OK! As one writer said, "it isn't rocket science" and she is right. This has been done for centuries and there has to be a huge range of details that have been employed... all good!

One thing that absolutely does matter is the quality and mineral content of your water. City water can have additives that will kill the good bacteria and yeast--like Chlorine for instance. Super filtered water is wonderful for you and your kefir grains, but may be lacking in the trace minerals that we both need for growth. A simple squirt of trace minerals in your water is recommended by Cultures for Health, find theirs here.  I find that my grains won't ferment as well without this addition.

But what about the care an maintenance of the kefir grains and the water kefir that is produced? 

First, kefir grains are alive and so need to continually be fed. They feed on sugar and turn it into a balance of good yeast and bacteria, so keep them active!

Secondly, they respond to temperature. The warmer the environment, the more the grains will grow and consume. So, if you go on vacation or get an overload of kefir on hand, make sure you feed them and slow their little metabolisms way down by putting them in the fridge.

Leaving them without an additional feeding for a long period of time can lead to an over/undergrowth and the balance of yeast and bacteria can get out of whack. One blogger reports that if growth slows down, then she adds a little honey to the second fermentation to get the good yeast back on track. I gather that it is more common for the bacteria to overgrow the yeast than vice versa, but you will get to know your own grains and your own colony with a little experimentation.

Don't be afraid to try new things! Here are a few rules that I've gleaned from a myriad of bloggers and retailers...

1. Don't use honey in the first fermentation. It is naturally anti-bacterial and will get things out of balance.

2. General agreement is that adding fruit juices or dried fruit in the first fermentation may damage your grains, so better to add them the second fermentation.

3. Counter time is generally 48 hours. Don't stress over this number and understand that there is flexibility. Life happens! Putting your kefir in the fridge slows the fermentation way down and holds it until you are ready to drink it...within reason.

4. Mold is a bad thing! It shows an absolute conquest of the good yeast by the bacteria or the invasion of "bad" bacteria.  If you see it, throw out your kefir. Rinse your grains well if they were involved and then try another batch with extra care for cleanliness...if the second batch is bad, get new grains.

5. Mold can happen from cross contamination. If you have yogurt or kimchi going on the same counter, both fermenting in the open air with just cloth between them, cross contamination can happen.

6. Mold can happen from too much cooking/cleaning/dust in your fermenting area. Generally the kitchen area is pretty clean, so this is usually safe, but be aware of the fermenting environment and take notice if something impacts the taste and health of  your kefir.

7. REAL FOOD ROTS, which is a good thing that makes it digestible and absorb-able, but it also makes it so it can't sit on the shelf or in the fridge indefinitely.  If your kefir gets strange floaties that taste, smell or looks suspect, throw it out.

It will cost you a quarter cup of sugar to start again! Not bad!

So...keeping those seven points in mind, try adding fruits, juices, and fun to your second ferment. The fizziness and the variety of flavors will keep you feeding your gut flora, and if you stumble on something wonderful, please share it!

Eating foods "in the season thereof" is such an important thing for gut health. Kefir is a great place to add seasonal favorites, so mix it up and have some fun!

Fermented beverages

Hi Enochka! :)

This blog post is especially for you and for anyone else wondering about natural, food-based ways of getting pro-biotics into your diet.  Why?? Well, Sarah Pope does a great job of explaining some the ways that pro-biotic foods have traditionally helped the body.

There are so many diets and ways of eating out there, bookshelves of data to try to digest! But, in reality, they are based on ideas and theories and sometimes they may miss a key piece of data that inadvertently shifts their fundamental premise into the realm of, well, unhealthy.

I LOVE the Weston A. Price information because it is based on traditional diets and real food that blessed cultures where folks died of acute events, not painful, chronic illness. Pre-industrial revolution eating honored the state of food as it was placed on this earth, without the fundamental altering of it (and profit making) by mankind. There is something very natural and real about that!

Did I mention that chronic illness is definitely on my top ten of worst fears?? I have lost two sisters to chronic illnesses, and their last decades were painful. I've spent time on that path, and I have researched and changed my life to get gut healthy and to reach better brain functioning as a result. What I share on this blog is probably a direct result of the reality checks when my second sister passed. I miss them both and don't want to lose anyone else to metabolic dysfunction, no matter what their genetic tendencies.

It is a journey, so please take this information one bite at a time and do what you can do. Whenever you are ready for another bite, check in here or go to one of these beginner videos and see what looks great for you next! There is so much great information out there--and I want to share it even in little bites.

Next post will be the whys and hows of water kefir use....see you then!

Beautiful beans!

Today my sweet niece called asking about good, better and best choices for her shopping needs. She lives in another state, so I forget sometimes what I have shared with her and what I have not. So, I promised to write up some basics. My son is asking for similar notes, so I am finally prompted to use this blog that my second son set up for me. Thanks Ky! So...here goes!

Beans/legumes are wonderful food basics. They are inexpensive and loaded with nutrients. Here is an example recipe and some discussion about concerns and solutions. Proper combining can reportedly create complete proteins, but they do not provide those building blocks and neurologically necessary fat-soluble vitamins D, K and A, so it is best to combine them in a meal with some high quality meats from a pasture-based or free-range source, so make some beans this week.  But...well, you know what I'm thinking ...some people just won't use beans for lots of uncomfortable reasons....awkward but true. So let's fix this beanie problem!

Reasons for not wanting to use beans are widely similar--they cause gas, tummy upset and are time consuming to prepare. Besides, it is easier to open a can! I understand! I had similar feelings until I encountered the works of Weston A. Price and learned that our society has simply lost the know-how to aptly use these lovely foods during the Industrial Revolution. Turns out, it takes some thought, but not much more time to get these foods right. So here is the blow by blow for a simple, brain healing food...beans!

Today happens to be a day I am craving Lentils, but the same process works for other beans.

Baking soda and legumes..and a lovely glass jar. Walmart or Ross are my favorite cheap sources for good jars. Add just a pinch of backing soda to the dry legumes in a glass jar at least large enough for the beans to triple in size.
Then label your jar, or add a sticky note to the lid, and add water...voila!

The key now is to wait 24 to 48 hours to let the soaking process remove harmful acids and to enzyme inhibitors.  Rinse the beans once or twice during this time and replace the water. But otherwise, just leave it on your counter. Does it matter if you do this? Take a look...

These are organic, raw almonds soaked using a similar method (salt instead of baking soda) and soaked for about 36 hours. I must admit, this is the cleanest water I have seen yet with my soaking, but it is all I have at the soaked phase right now to show you. I'll update the pictures later of course, but you get the idea..bad stuff leaves the nuts and you wouldn't really want that yuckiness in your gut.

So, get soaking and, if you really want to boost your brains, jump into some broth making for your final chili making in another day. But otherwise, you can forget about your beans.  To simplify your work, look for a massive jar like this one that is easily twice the size of my usual soaking jar. With this new addition I can soak enough beans for a month and just freeze them in labeled bags. Easy crockpot meals ahead!

If you really want to multi-task, get a chicken for dinner tonight and I'll show you how to turn tonight's carcass into brain blessing broth for your chili tomorrow..
Some shops, like Nugget Market will actually sell you pre-cooked roasted free-range chickens..Yeah!

Taking the phrase "Happy Cooking" to a whole new level!
Jean