Yellow Gold

Here's what $75 worth of grass-fed butter looks like.

Butter is better. It tastes better, it's real food, and it's good for you. Yay!

Two great articles

These are both great articles if you have the time. They take about 5 minutes to read, and are further confirmation that the low-fat, low-cholesterol diets are heavily questioned and not scientifically sound. I can personally attest to feeling much better, and losing weight when I stick to meats, butter, eggs, and cheese...

Interview with Sally Fallon
Healthy Food: Should we be eating more fat?

Farmer's Markets and Fun with Food

I think it's been a week since my last post! I've been busy cooking, planting, BBQ-ing, and visiting with fam and friends. Last Saturday, Mark came to the Hingham Farmer's Market with me. The unexpected surprises of the market were as follows:

kohlrabi
super sweet strawberries
bok choy
broccoli
romaine lettuce
green beans
beets

Kohlrabi is a fun vegetable I had never before encountered. It's like a mix between a cabbage and an apple. Sort of. So, I cut off the skin, cut it up in bite sized pieces, mixed with sliced apples and crispy pine nuts, and garnished with goat cheese, scallions, ACV, and flax oil. Delish! Oh, and I sauteed the leaves with garlic and butter and they were so tender and amazing.

The bok choy was an unexpected delight. I get so excited about food. (Who says a vegetable is an "unexpected delight"??) I sauteed the stalks and leaves separately, in peanut oil and mashed garlic, and have been feasting on it for dinner.

On another note, No-buy Ju-ly has been almost laughingly easy for me. I realized that I don't buy things. Maybe I need a new challenge. The only thing I was tempted to buy was the book Food, Not Lawns, and that was only because the library didn't have it. I have plenty of other books on my "to-read" list, so I figured I could go without. I'm currently plugging away at Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It's reminding me quite a bit of Omnivore's Dilemma.

I'm off to feed my sourdough starter. I started it four days ago, and will be ready to start a bread this weekend. I can't wait!

No-buy Ju-ly (and August too, while we're at it)

Somehow, one of my bookmarks folders was lost, and I found myself without easy access to my favorite blogs. I got lazy and never made a new folder, but that meant not checking up on Crunchy Chicken , Riana's site, These Days in French Life, or Mel's Gluten Free Krums. However, last night, I had an internetfest and I rediscovered my old faves, as well as some new faves - RyanIsHungry (helping me out with my vermicomposting dreams). Along the way, I was presented with the challenge of not buying. I've heard the idea before, but after reading Affluenza, I like the idea of an intentional month (or two) of just not buying. Now, I recognize there is power and position implicit in that statement, but I feel I need to do what I can, because I can. If I couldn't afford to buy anything, then perhaps this wouldn't be the challenge for me. But, despite the lack of jobs on both of our ends, I find myself purchasing little useless items, and I would like to go a month of intentional non-buying. I like the idea of relying on others reducing my carbon footprint, eliminating needless packaging, and continuing to simply life. Of course I'll buy food, though even that is getting increasingly more local due to the summer, and gas, and pay the bills. But nothing else. I'll make birthday cards, go hard-core freecycle, and beg, borrow, and steal. OK, maybe not the steal part, but you get what I mean. And only for those things that are really necessary.

Since there is no way I'm getting Mark to shut off the A/C anytime soon, no matter how nonchalantly I tell him (while sweating profusely in this heat wave) that I don't think we need it, this might be a good challenge...

PS The beet kvass is the best I've had ever. It's still pretty gross, but there was a certain sweetness about it this time that made it just a tad more tolerable.

Hummus and Crackers

This is a photo of sun-dried tomato hummus!


Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Makes 3 cups

2 cups cooked chickpeas (soaked and cooked - cheaper than canned, but more time consuming!)
1/3 c tahini
juice of 1 lemon
4 T EVOO
4 mashed garlic cloves
roasted red peppers (sun dried tomatoes, extra garlic, spinach - anything else can be substituted here to your liking!)
sea salt

In a blender combine beans, tahini, lemon, and EVOO. Process til smooth.
Add garlic and red pepper to desired consistency. Season to taste.

You can substitute anything that sounds good here: sun dried tomatoes, spinach, garlic--whatever tickles your fancy!


The hummus went well with homemade soaked whole wheat crackers...for the ambitious.

Whole Wheat Crackers
Makes about 4 dozen

2 1/2 c flour (ideally freshly ground, but I used organic whole wheat)
1 c plain yogurt (I used sour milk from fridge)
1 t sea salt
1 1/2 t aluminum free baking soda (recipe calls for Baking Powder)
2 T sesame seeds
8 T butter
mix of fresh or dried herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano, garlic - my favorite!)
unbleached white flour

Mix flour with yogurt or milk and leave in a warm place for 12 to 24 hours. Place soaked flour, salt, baking soda, and 4 T butter in a food processor and process til well blended. Add sesame seeds and pulse once or twice to blend. Roll out to about 1/8 inch on counter or pastry cloth, with some flour under to prevent sticking. I then brush on the rest of the butter, sprinkle the herbs over the crackers, cut them into squares, and place in the dehydrator for about 12 hours, or until crispy and dry.

I'm going nuts!

Well, not really. But I spent the day soaking, sprouting, rinsing, and drying various nuts. I bought walnuts, pine nuts, pecans, and almonds, and have soaked them in saline solutions to activate the enzymes that neutralize enzyme inhibitors (read = better digestibility, more nutrition). Then, to preserve their life, because soaked nuts means living nuts, which means they can get rancid quickly, I dry them in my dehydrator until they are nice and crispy. Walnuts and pecans don't have to be soaked for very long - they won't sprout - but they do benefit from being soaked overnight in warm, filtered water with high quality sea salt.

All you need to start sprouting is a jar or bowl, a strainer, and some TLC. Pack those nuts in your vessel, and pour warm, filtered water over them. Add sea salt, stir, and let them sit. Every 12 hours or so, rinse them (more frequently if you are doing small seeks like chia or fenugreek or poppy). You'll know when they are ready by the sprouts that appear as small white appendages.

I then do a final rinse, pat dry, and put on my drying trays. The pecans and walnuts I just dried took about 6 hours, and the pine nuts will be done earlier. Almonds can take up to 12 hours, depending on how many you put in a tray. Once they are completely crispy, store in an airtight container in the fridge (walnuts and pecans) or cool storage (almonds, pine nuts).

I also soaked chickpeas for 24 hours using warm filtered water and lemon juice, and then boiled them for about 5 hours, and they are soft and delicious! I am going to safe some for salads for the week, and use the rest to make hummus. To go with the hummus, I made some soaked whole wheat crackers, which are currently drying in the dehydrator. Recipes to follow!

Hello!

It's been a few days since my last post. I was having some horrible hair days, and contemplated giving up. I just couldn't see a remedy. In retrospect, I think I put too much honey in, so things were remarkably stickier and thicker than before, not to mention the white flakes. I did an ACV rinse this morning and my hair (and the rest of me) seems to be breathing a sigh of relief. Things are back to normal. I thought I'd go without the ACV since it seemed to be making my hair greasy, but I'll have to play around (again) with the EO ratio to see if I can't remedy the issue.

I have a dirty little secret. You can't tell my mother - I'm too proud. But...I threw away the liver. It was really unpleasant. Usually I buy WF's organic chicken, but this time I bought Murray's and it was just too liver-y. I have large, frozen beef liver in the freezer. Let's see how that one goes.

Now, I'm off to FINALLY do some planting. Italy in T minus 13 days!!!

Lovely Liver

As with most of my latest experiments, my liver consumption has the family asking, "Where did she come from?" Mark asked me to name three people who consume, and enjoy, liver. I thought for a moment and replied, "Cousin Nancy, my dad, and your dad." He then asked me to name "real" people...whatever that means. However, Mark did agree to try this evening's dish to prove that he loved me. I haven't really pulled out the "If you love me you'll _____" in the five years we've been married, so I think he knew I meant business. He hated it though, sadly. I guess I'll just have to settle for the fish oil capsules he's willing to take daily.

Why Liver? Take a look at the list provided by Lynn Razaitis in her article "The Liver Files" published on the Weston A. Price website:
In summary, liver provides:

More nutrients, gram for gram, than any other food
An excellent source of high-quality protein
Nature’s most concentrated source of vitamin A
All the B vitamins in abundance, particularly vitamin B12
One of our best sources of folic acid
A highly usable form of iron
Trace elements such as copper, zinc and chromium; liver is our best source of copper
An unidentified anti-fatigue factor
CoQ10, a nutrient that is especially important for cardio-vascular function
A good source of purines, nitrogen-containing compounds that serve as precursors for DNA and RNA

If you're worried about toxins, that's understandable. Liver gets a bad wrap. Indeed, it is the body's way to neutralize toxins, but it isn't the storehouse for them! Instead, it stores most of the body's vitamin A, D, E, K, B12 and folic acid, and minerals such as copper and iron. And if you're worried about the taste, check out that link to Lynn's article. There are some fantastic recipes on there (though I suppose I am jumping the gun, as I can't vouch for any of them...yet). I've only made liver one way, but since I like it, I'm sticking to it.

BREADED LIVER

Make sure the liver is fresh and organic. I choose chicken liver because I like the taste, and it is small and easy to deal with. I always soak it for a few hours or overnight in lemon juice to ensure that any impurities are properly drawn out - and it improves the taste!

chicken liver
lemon juice
spelt flour
dash of sea salt
dash of pepper
butter
EVOO
dijon mustard
shallots
parsley
garlic cloves
whole grain bread crumbs (I use Ian's)
melted butter

The amounts can vary according to taste, so I left them out altogether. I don't look at them anymore. I drain the liver and pat dry after soaking. Then, I mix the flour, salt, and pepper, and dredge the liver in it. Throw those in a skillet with EVOO and butter for a few minutes, til just stiffened. I like to keep my liver as raw as possible to receive all the good enzymes and nutrients, but you can cook it longer if you want. After all of the pieces are cooked, I mix the ingredients from mustard on down to bread crumbs, and brush that over the liver. I drizzle a little melted butter over the pieces, and put them under the broiler for a minute or two. Viola! Breaded liver. Let me know how things turn out. I'll do some more posts as I experiment with the recipes from Lynn's article.

Soaking Nuts and Grains

Whenever I tell someone that I soak my nuts, they either think I am 1. a squirrel, 2. nuts myself, or 3. inflicting cruel and unusual punishment on my husband. Thankfully, the answer is D. none of the above. Basically, I soak all of the grains, nuts, and seeds that I will consume. It takes some foresight, yes, but I believe it's well worth it.

Nuts and seeds contain enzyme inhibitors that put a strain on the digestive track, and make the nutrients less available. In order to neutralize the inhibitors, we can copy the practice of ancient peoples who soaked nuts and seeds in a saline solution. The salt activates other enzymes that act to neutralize the inhibitors. Usually, I dry out the seeds in my dehydrator so that they will last longer. The process is pretty simple, and just requires some counter space. I throw the seeds or nuts into a large bowl filled with filtered water and a tablespoon or so of sea salt. I let them rest for about 12-24 hours; then I drain through a colander, rinse, and fill the bowl back up with water and salt. Sometimes I drain again, but usually not. There's no exact science about when to rinse. I keep an eye out for the small appendage that tells me the seeds are sprouted. That's when I do my final rinse, and lay the seeds out on my drying racks. Before I had a dehydrator, I put them in a low temp oven (150 degrees), or else I only sprouted a small amount daily, so that they wouldn't go rancid. Remember, sprouting the nuts means they're living - and living food decomposes quickly!

As for grains...all grains contain phytic acid in the outer layer, or bran, of the grain. If the grain is untreated, as in whole grain cereals and breads, the phytic acid remains intact, and combines with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, and zinc in the digestive tract, rendering these minerals unabsorbable. A diet high in unfermented whole grains may lead to serious mineral deficiencies or bone loss! So that "whole grain," enriched cereal you thought was providing you with all your daily vitamins? Think again. The vitamins are only valuable if they are bioavailable, as in whole, unprocessed foods...OR if you soak and ferment your grains. When you soak, the enzymes, lactobacilli, and other helpful organisms break down and neutralize the phytic acid. If you soak in warm, acidulated water (such as with a T of whey, yogurt, or lemon juice), you'll vastly improve the nutritional benefits of your grains.

I eat organic rolled oats about 3-4 times per week. Before I go to bed, I throw between 1/2 and 1 cup of oatmeal into a bowl, cover it with water, and put in a dollop of plain yogurt or whey. By the time I wake up, the oatmeal has absorbed all of the water and will cook up in about 5 minutes. I usually add a banana and some cinnamon too. Yum!

The only grains I don't soak are rice and millet, because they contains lower levels of phytates. Mark and I don't like millet though. It has a weird consistency. However, I do cook my rice in a highly gelatinous broth for about three hours. More on good stock later!!

Making Whey and Cream Cheese

Many of the recipes from NT call for whey. I was a bit intimidated by the process at first, but now, it's like second nature to whip up a batch. Whey is useful as an inoculant and supplies lactobacilli. I use it almost daily!

Homemade whey is easy to make from good quality plain yogurt. My favorite is Seven Stars, as it is made without sugar. Sometimes I make a batch of maple flavored whey, especially when I make baked goods, but usually I just use plain yogurt. You will need a large strainer that rests over a bowl. Place 2 quarts in the strainer lined with a tea towel or unbleached cheesecloth. Cover with a plate and leave at room temperature overnight. The whey will drip out into the bowl. Place whey in clean glass jars and store in the refrigerator. The resulting matter in the strainer is a delicious cream cheese. I usually use it for making "ants on a log" or as a topping for sweet potatoes, so that the beta carotene will have the fat necessary to be able to readily convert into Vitamin A.

**Just a note from my experience: goat's milk yogurt doesn't quite produce the same amount of whey, nor does the resulting cheese get as thick!

Beet Kvass

I had no idea what kvass was this summer when I embarked on a journey to master this fizzy Russian drink. All I knew was that beets are some of the most nutritious foods on the planet, and that fermentation is a highly desirable, easily digestible way to consume food and drink. According to Sally Fallon, "Folk medicine values beets and beet kvass for their liver cleansing properties and beet kvass is widely used in cancer therapy in Europe. Anecdotal reports indicate that beet kvass is an excellent therapy for chronic fatigue, chemical sensitivities, allergies and digestive problems." The pigmentation in beets that gives it a rich hue is a cancer-fighting agent, and is especially known to combat colon cancer, which of course is always on our mind with Mark's Crohn's. So, in my attempt to introduce more nutrients into our bodies, I experimented with beet kvass. Now, I drink it when I'm feeling low on energy, or when I know my diet hasn't been as colorful as it could be.

Here is a simple recipe from NT:
2-3 large beets, peeled and cut up in 1 inch chunks
1/4 cup of whey
1 t of naturally harvested Celtic sea salt
filtered water
2 quart glass container

Mix all the ingredients together. Let sit at room temperature, tightly covered, for 2 days. Transfer to the refrigerator and enjoy! I drink about a half of a cup each morning before breakfast.

Raw Milk

Raw milk sounds like a disease waiting to happen right? When I tell people that I drink raw milk, I might as well have told them that I'm a Christian, or that I voted for George W. Bush...twice. It's the gateway to becoming a social pariah, a little like admitting to leprosy. Am I a bit dramatic? Perhaps, but perhaps not. The reactions I receive when people hear that I drive 40 miles once a month to purchase unpasteurized, unhomogenized milk for $8.50 a gallon are about the same as admitting to any of the above statements. Most people, I find, are uneducated about both the benefits and safety of raw milk, and the alternative toxicity of pasteurized milk, as I was. Of course I'm a huge believer in raw milk, but more than anything, I'm a believer in knowledge, and empowering people with the ability to make a choice, rather than blindly doing what "the man" has steered them into believing is correct. My goal is simply to dispel some myths about raw milk, and perhaps shed some light on Big Dairy's dirty little secrets...

The Real Milk website does a great job of expounding on all my ideas (or rather I do an OK job of summarizing theirs =), so I strongly recommend visiting it. The site has a list of raw milk dealers in all states, as well as ways to get involved in changing legislation to make raw milk legal. I recently read an article that deals with the politics of raw milk. It goes into some of the Big Dairy issues too.

Aren't all milks created equal?
Perhaps not. We're beginning to see pasteurized milk as a factor in or cause of many contemporary diseases - from Irritable Bowel and Crohn's disease, to allergies, heart disease, and cancer. Milk is heated to a high temperature to kill all of the harmful bacteria such that all of the enzymes, nutrients and helpful bacteria are killed off as well. So, they add back in the vitamins, but we're receiving synthetic versions of those vitamins, namely vitamin D3, which is considered toxic and linked to heart disease! Baby calves that are fed pasteurized milk fare poorly and often die! Raw milk, on the other hand, is more easily digested, contains lactic-acid producing bacteria that protects against pathogens, and has a full array of in-tact amino acids and proteins.

Now, I agree that back in Louis's day, when people moved in droves to the cities and we couldn't keep the milk clean due to over-population and lack of technology, pasteurization may have been a necessary evil. But today, we have the ability to keep the milk sources clean and free of harmful bacteria, and that is exactly what Terri Lawton of Oake Knoll Ayrshires in Foxborough, MA does. She is visited by government regulated dairy inspectors regularly, and her milk has been found to have no traces of harmful bacteria. She posts their results, so customers can feel safe and confident about her milk. Interestingly enough, farms that pasteurize their milk have far dirtier milk than raw milk dealers, "knowing" that there is room for error because of the heating process. However, that's not always the case. Just last year, four MA residents died of listeriosis from drinking PASTEURIZED milk. There are many cases where this has happened. Do some research and you'll be surprised!

Certainly Terri is not the only conscientious dairy farmer, so if raw milk interests you, I encourage you to find a local farm! Supporting small farms is about sustainability, accountability, and community. For me, it's been worth the money, and the effort. When it seems crazy, I like to remember that much of the rest of the world does NOT pasteurize their milk. And as for some fear tactics that the media or even friend try to impose, I think--far more people have died in the Iraqi conflict than from drinking raw milk...

Kefir

On my quest to eating a traditional diet, I discovered kefir - a fermented drink that resembles milk and yogurt. It is made from kefir grains, which is really a mother culture of lactic bacteria and yeast. It's amazing for digestion and filled with probiotics. The benefits of kefir are multifarious. It has been said to help in numerous ways, from eliminating acne in adolescents, to lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, to enhancing immune function. It's also touted as a gastrointestinal "friend", and since Mark *shouldn't* being doing much dairy, kefir seemed like a fantastic alternative. They sell it for about $4 per pint or so at Whole Foods (WF), but the price is exorbitant and commercially made kefir is really just a sugary drink with vitamins added back into it. That didn't seem really fitting with the whole traditional, back to basics thang, so, I scratched the kefir idea for awhile.

Fast forward 8 months, and I'm interested in kefir again, with a renewed sense of determination. I can brew this myself. (I did try, once, and it smelled like a dead mouse, so I threw away the mother culture and dismissed the idea that I was capable of success.) I ordered some grains from someone in the Kefir-making yahoo group, and she sent them almost immediately, and for free! I began brewing my kefir with 1 T of grains and 1-1.5 c of raw milk. The first few batches were almost intolerably tangy, and thin, but I made smoothies out of them and knocked it down. However, now my kefir is thicker and more mild. I still blend the fruit in, but it's not at all a chore to drink anymore.

The kefir making process is really easy. You take a glass pint jar, or anything else that may work, and mix together 1 T of grains, and 1 c of milk. Leave the jar for about 24 hours, until you see a separation of the curds and whey, and the kefir has a yeasty, almost beery smell. Then, with a small hole-d strainer, strain out the grains, and the result is a ready to drink kefir! You can also leave the kefir loosely covered at room temp for another day or so, and the folic acid content goes through the roof. (When/if I get pregnant, I will be consuming this bioavailable source of FA instead of the less effective capsules.) Save the grains, put them back into the jar, and pour in some more milk, and you'll have another jar of kefir ready the next day. Watch out though, as the grains multiply! You always want just one T, so either stir the extras into your drink, eat them, or chuck them!

This was a very basic tutorial, but Dom's Kefir site is the bible of Kefir making. It must be checked out to fully appreciate the benefits of kefir. My grains are great and multiply daily, so please let me know if you would like to share!

Health Check List

Here are the top twenty guiding health principles I live by:

1) Include wild caught fish, meats, organ meats, and dairy (from Weston A Price study of most healthful native diets)

2) Get at least 30 minutes of active exercise daily

3) Drink the purest water possible

4) Get 8 hours of sleep

5) Learn to avoid and properly handle stress (relaxation, meditation, prayer, diet)

6) Eliminate refined sugar, caffeine and minimize sweets (no soda!)

7) Eliminate refined flours

8) Avoid or preferably completely eliminate the consumption of microwaved, or over-cooked food.

9) If dairy is consumed, preferably use raw and cultured dairy

10) Eliminate artificial trans-fats (hydrogenated vegetable oils)

11) Include cultured and fermented foods and beverages if tolerated (like kefir, beet kvass, fermented condiments)

12) If grains, seeds, or nuts are consumed, soak or sprout them.

13) Get plenty of sun if possible (but don't get sunburned). Coconut oil is a great sunscreen!

14) Avoid harmful chemicals in food and environment (artificial food additives, natural food toxins, drugs, poisons)

15) Take good quality high vitamin cod liver oil daily, like Green Pastures fermented CLO (if you don't get adequate sun, seafood, and liver routinely)

16) Choose fully pastured or wild animal foods preferably from a clean environment

17) Choose minimally processed, seasonal, locally harvested organic produce (supports 10)

18) Use coconut oil, tallow, and/or butter for cooking

19) Minimize or eliminate factory processed/packaged, fake foods

20) Eliminate the use of conventional table salt and instead use a naturally harvested sea salt.

Nourishing Traditions

I have a little more energy to post again today.  

When I first began my search to cure my aching joints,  I started out reading The Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin.  I followed the diet religiously, and cut out everything except meat, nuts, healthy oils (including liberal amounts of coconut oil), and vegetables.  I lost 15 pounds in a few weeks, and was able to do more yoga and walking than ever before.  Then, after two weeks, I gradually incorporated some sprouted grains (another post on that later), fruits, and goat's milk yogurt.  I basically stick to this diet now, but will occasionally cheat.  

I was intrigued by Rubin's theories that fats were good, so I looked at his sources.  Weston A. Price, the Charles Darwin of nutrition and a dentist in the early 1900s, looked at primitive versus modernized people and their diets.  He wrote his findings in the book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. I special ordered it from a library down the cape, and read as much as I could until I had to return it. Price's seminal work was the foundation for a movement of what Sally Fallon calls "Politically Incorrect Nutrition." Fallon, a nutritionist and political activist, teamed up with Mary Enig, an expert in lipids and nutrition, to write the cookbook on steroids, Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats

. I can't say enough about this book. It's a well-researched cookbook that includes rationale for her startling nutritional premise, "Animal fats and cholesterol are not villains but vital factors in the diet, necessary for normal growth, proper function of the brain and nervous system, protection from disease and optimum energy levels." [NT] I think anyone who is interested in transforming their health should read this book. It's the bible of nutrition, IMAO. The Weston A. Price Foundation was founded in 1999 and has a fantastically informative website: http://www.westonaprice.org/splash_2.htm. It's worth checking out if you have questions or have some extra time.
I mentioned this in my first post, but it's worth mentioning again - the yahoo group Native Nutrition: Optimal Health Through Traditional Diet has been a great way to have some dialogue around these ideas. It's been so amazing to relearn nutritional principals and watch my body respond to what I believe it really wanted. Bonus: liberal amounts of butter, oil, eggs, and meats are actually GOOD for us!