Traditional Foods (NT) Mamas-June Thread - Page 3

[MaryCeleste]

Originally Posted by RAF

Hello,

Anyone ever try making gluten free sourdough? Well, I am starting some buckwheat sourdough starter and will let you all know how it turns out.

I've used the brown rice sourdough from G.E.M. cultures. The recipes they provided (for small pancakes, and a dense bread) were very tasty. The starter was going great, for months...until I forgot about it, and it dried up. :

Yesterday, I started two new sourdoughs: rice and oat. Our CSA box had some organic plums with a lovely bloom, so I threw them in, as per the suggestion in "Wild Fermentation." If they don't work, I'll order from G.E.M. again. (As well as the sourdough, we got their kefir and fil mjolk, both of which worked great. The kefir took a few days to recover from its journey, but it's been fine ever since, despite some terrible episodes of neglect on my part. We've even convinced FIL to try it; now he's a big fan, and is distributing his extra grains among his friends at church...brings a new meaning to the word "conversion"! )

[MaryCeleste]

When I was pg, I tried to follow a combined WAP/Brewer Diet. Due to morning sickness, though, I couldn't eat red meat, fish, green veggies, onions, or raw milk, for the first 20 weeks. (Those are usually my favorite foods.) During that time, my diet was limited to brown rice, oats, eggs, almond butter, beans, cheese, miso, umeboshi plums, orange juice, apples, and tomatoes....liberally supplemented with candy, cookies, chocolate, and ice cream. It was pathetic; I had no self-control with sugar.

Things did get better in the last half of my pregnancy, and DD turned out great. Still, I'm hoping to avoid a repeat performance with baby #2.

At the time, I remember being very confused by Margie Profet's book "Pregnancy Sickness", which claims that m/s is an evolutionary advantage, because meats and vegetables might contain toxins, while grains and fruits are safer. Does anyone know of any traditional societies whose customs support her thesis?

Very interested in this topic!

[farmer mama]

If anyone in the Puget Sound Area are looking for a class on these types of foods, Ravencroft Garden in Startup, WA (45 min from Seattle out Hwy 2) is doing a Food camp. From their website:

Food Camp
August 15, 16 & 17
Changing ourselves & our world, one bite at a time!
Food Camp is a grassroots look at what food is & where it comes from. Learn how people the world over have allied with local micro-organisms and nature to preserve food, increase digestibility and improve nutrient uptake. Find out why these time-honored methods are being lost and how you can keep them alive!

Cheeses in the Cellar, Yogurt in the Fridge
Friday, August 15th
What magic turns milk to cheese, yogurt, keifer and buttermilk? You will make & taste a variety of cultured milk-based foods and learn the tradition and science behind their creation. Come & meet the cultures!

Sauerkraut, Crock Pickles & Fermented Vegetables
Saturday, August 16th
Learn lactic fermentation skills for preserving vegetables, what to expect from the ferment and how to tend the crock for optimum safety. You'll create sauerkraut, dill pickles, kimchees, herbed miso, tsukemono and gain an appreciation for worldwide fermented foods. Naturally fermented dandelion leek miso for lunch!

Crafting Fermented Beverages: Wine, Beer & Soda
Sunday, August 17th
Oregon grape, elder berries, dandelion blossom, rhubarb, a little yeast, sweetener and time, and voila….delectable, healthful beverages. We'll brew & drink Root Beer made with fresh sassafras root, maple syrup and local roots from the garden or perhaps elderflower champagne. Learn tricks and techniques that will fill your cellar with tasty beverages for the whole family!

The website is www.ravencroftgarden.com. Click on education, and then Day workshops and scroll down to Food camp for more info. I am not affiliated with them, just friend of a friend, and have never attended one of their workshops, but it sounds pretty cool.

[TigerTail]

am making plum wine. if i never see, smell, or feel another bushel of plums in my life i will be happy. plum jam, no-sugar plum jam, plum pies...

cutting up tomatoes for drying will be like a party after all these damn plums (the principe borgheses have gone nuts!)

oh dear, i think i have left my goat kefir a little too long. perhaps it is merely cheese now. send me braveness vibes so i can rescue my kefir!

suse

[Gale Force]

Thanks for the link for pregnant moms.

OK, I knew about the website, but I just needed a reason to tell you all that the particular website on diets during pregnancy is suddenly relevant to me. edd 3/6/05

[Brisen]

Congratulations, Gale Force!

[Worldshakerz]

Farmer mama, those classes sound so fun. Alas, I'm here in Florida.

Fourangels, I got some Ezekial cereal today. I had like 1/3 cup of it with cream instead of milk. It was my dessert after my dinner of leftover lamb and bison.

The metabolic typing diet is going great. Since I started on Sunday, I've lost about 6 lbs. I'm finding that I can still have some of my favorite NT carbs like oatmeal (had some for breakfast with eggs and lamb), as long as it is a small portion compared to my protiens.

And since I had lots of leftover oatmeal I made fried mush today topped with my first batch of apple butter...good stuff. Ds really liked his regular oatmeal with the apple butter instead of maple syrup today. If I wasn't on this diet my habit of using leftovers right away would have prevailed and I would have eaten fried mush and apple butter all day, lunch, snack and dinner. However, there is a bowl full in the fridge to last us for a few days.

My kombucha is almost gone and i haven't started a new batch...I'm doing it tonight. I hate it when I don't start a new batch right away...then I go a whole 8-10 day without it!

Oh yeah....I'm ordering from my co-op a 6lb eye of round steak to make pemmican. My mouth has been watering for the last few days thinking about it. I just need to find a good source of suet.

[fourangels]

MMMMMM...ezekial cereal with cream! Sounds super yummy!! I ate a wonderful dinner of line caught Salmon and swiss chard then went out for an ice cream I always crave ice cream while I am pregnant! I probably wouldn't gain more than 5 lbs if I just fought off the urge! My kids love it when I'm pregnant, they get to eat ice cream 3 times a week. My oldest (13) told me today I should have 9 kids...this is #4 and will most likely be the last

[Gale Force]

My raspberry drink has been in the fridge for about 10 days and is getting really nice and fizzy. Does anyone know how long this keeps? It's so good, I could see letting it cook for 10 days - 2 weeks in the fridge before drinking it. On some of her other similar drinks she mentions that they keep for months. My guess is it's not a problem.

Thanks Brisen.

[Persephone]

I had to take my NT book back to the library, but I just bought a TON of beans, and I'd like to have some tomorrow for dinner. So, can anyone give me the specs for soaking beans? (eg, how long, do I rinse, etc? I need details) And secondly, does anyone have any really yummy rice and bean recipes? The more ethnic the better. Thanks!

[OceanMomma]

As it so happens my copy is right here. It says for basic beans to soak 2 cups of beans in enuf warm water to cover plus 2tbsp of whey or lemon juice. Soak for 12 - 24 hrs depending on size of bean. Drain & rinse well. Bring to the boil & skim off the scum that rises to the top.

If you want some nice ethnic bean & rice recipes here is the url to a vegan recipe site with lots of recipes from around the world.

http://www.ivu.org/recipes/regions.html

[toraji]

Congrats, Gale Force! I am so happy to see so many mamas who are going through/have already gone through pregnancies eating a traditional diet!

I have an addition to the book list: The Permaculture Book of Ferment & Human Nutrition, by Bill Mollison. Absolutely great book.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...07335?v=glance

[Gale Force]

Originally Posted by toraji

Congrats, Gale Force! I am so happy to see so many mamas who are going through/have already gone through pregnancies eating a traditional diet!

Thanks toraji!

You know, I found this diet after severe fatigue and depression in my first pregnancy followed by severe PPD. I worked with some docs to find the underlying cause. Take 10 guesses. Actually, you could guess in fewer. I was a vegan for 4 years before I was pg and had little animal fat in my life leading up to that vegan diet. And I wasn't a chips and crackers vegetarian as some of my friends were, but ate almost all whole foods. My amino acid levels were "some of the worst" the clinician had ever seen (it was a national lab at that). "No wonder she has depression." I've been on a good path diet-wise for 18 months and have supplemented my amino acids as well. It's made all the difference. I am just over 5 weeks now, but I am already feeling much better than the first time around -- the fatigue actually hit that quickly. So, I am pretty excited about the change and I am grateful that I have found a sustainable lifestyle to pass on to my children.

[Persephone]

Oceanmama thanks! But what happens if the beans soak up all the liquid? Should I add more? Or just let it be?

[RAF]

Originally Posted by Persephone

Oceanmama thanks! But what happens if the beans soak up all the liquid? Should I add more? Or just let it be?

I always add more.

[Persephone]

Thanks so much! I didn't add more, but it ended up being ok. I made a bean loaf (like meat loaf, but with beans. Much better tasting than it sounds. ) And corn fritters. Today, we had rice and bean burritos with homemade tortillas (because they taste better, and the ones in the store make me sick.) and Mexican style corn. The beans today were leftovers from yesterday. I'm really proud of myself. (Then my dad took us out for dessert, and I had a decadent chocolate cake. )

Oh, btw, if you ever get gas, have some fennel seeds. I had very painful gas from the beans last night (confused me, because I thought the soaking was supposed to help with that) but the fennel took it away almost immediately. I had some peppermint tea too, so that might have helped.

[mountain mom]

After soaking the beans did you rinse with clean water and then cook in clean water?

wash the beans
soak the beans in purified water for at least 8 hours
rinse the beans
cook the beans in clean water

Hope that helps...we eat alot of beans here...the cycle of soak/rinse/cook/ or sprout is always happening.

[Persephone]

Sure did! I soaked them for almost 24 hours, some of them had sprouted, but most of them hadn't. Then I rinsed them well, and cooked them in fresh water.

[yitlan]

hmmm...did you perhaps have a LOT of beans after going awhile without eating them much? That can sometimes "jolt" your system.

[TigerTail]

fermenting them kept down the farts, but gave them a real kraut-y taste.

btw, persephone, did you use masa or make wheat flour ones? i have started making masa ones after years of being too chicken to make anything but flour, & with the tortilla maker i just got it is so much easier than i thought it would be (but practise definately helps!) i'd like to be able to make low-carb ones, kind of ot, if anyone has any ideas btw. i'm not a huge soy flour fan, but dh...

suse