NT mamas February thread - Page 3

[gardenmommy]

toraji, thank you for your encouragement. It is largely due to your helpfulness and encouraging words that I gathered enough courage to do what I knew was the right thing for my body and my baby. I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate you answering me with honesty when I needed it! I still struggle with what I would like to be doing in my diet, and what I know my body needs me to do.

[myjo]

Thank you so much for all your thoughts mountain mom and xenabyte. I think this babe was born with a weak immune system. I have an autoimmune disorder, and it really flared up during his pregnancy. I've known about his weak immunity for some time because he keeps getting sick. Even now he is congested.

I take cod liver oil, but I have not given much to him directly because of the taste. I know I should do so. I will now for sure. I also want to give him a GLA supplement because I read that that's something that's particularly lacking in people with eczema.
I have to be careful about taking immune boosters for myself because some of them, like echinacea, cause flare-ups in me. But I believe some of the adaptogens would be okay. My ND had me on astragalus, but it always makes me feel lousy for some reason.

I have some Weleda baby oil which has Calendula and some other essential oils, I believe lavender is one. Would that be helpful? I've just been using coconut oil with some tea tree mixed in. I have a dilemma now that we will be starting him on a homeopathic remedy as soon as dh gets home. Some of the essential oils can interfere with the effectiveness of homeopathic remedies. I believe the remedy I have chosen, finally, is correct. But as of now, I'm not so sure of anything. I'm just super scared and exhausted from being up with miserable baby!

[mountain mom]

Try the homeopathic and watch for the telltale signs of efficacy like the babe falling to sleep.

You can still use a wash for the skin without it interfering with the homeopathics, just administer at different times that are spaced apart.

to you Myjo!!

[Asquaredmom]

Help for Soggy Quick Breads!

How does one get a light textured quick bread w/soaked flour???

First I made the NT banana bread...I whipped the egg whites and folded them in hoping for a lighter texture, but it turned out like a soggy, slightly sour brick.

I made pancakes using the Sue Gregg blender method, blending the whole grains w/kefir until finely ground, fermenting overnight. The resulting pancakes were too moist and gummy for my taste. I was "lazy" and just wisked in the egg and leavenings the next day instead of blending it again. Perhaps the 2nd blending might whip in more air but I think overall result would still be fairly heavy.

I suppose I will try the pancakes again with less kefir and more milk, they were a bit on the sour side + a 2nd blending.

TIA!

[Brisen]

Kathleen, I have the same problem sometimes. I'm not sure what the cause is, but it seemed to be more likely to happen if I let the flour soak for a long time. I would usually start to soak the flour in the evening, then make the bread mid-morning of the next day. So it would soak for 12-14 hours. But if I waited until afternoon or evening, the bread would taste sour and be very moist. I have a friend in town who does NT, and she has tried to make the sourdough starter, but hers is always too sour and tastes "off" as opposed to fermented. She spoke with another woman in town who used to make sourdough, and she said that the airborne critters that help sour the mix just aren't good ones around here. I don't know if that is logical or not, but it would explain my bread failures!

It could also be a matter of personal taste. She had tried my quick bread when she visited a few times, and then when I had a baby she sent over a batch of NT muffins. We ended up finding out that we each preferred the way the others' turned out -- mine were more moist and heavy; hers were drier and lighter (but not crumbly).

HTH!

[Pilgrim]

I've just caught up on reading about the allergies & stuff. I thought I'd offer up our situation. DD has severe dairy allergeis. She can't eat ANY dairy in ANY form, including raw, fermented, or cultured, and hidden stuff. She can not tolerate it if *I* eat dairy in ANY form. In fact, she can't tolerate homeopathy because it is in lactose pills. She even reacts if *I* have any homeopathy. She has eczema too. I thought I'd mention this for consideration of the moms of babes with dairy allergies who are trying to treat it homemopathically, or who think that raw milk products are OK. Maybe they are for some babes, but not mine. You might consider this when doing your eliminations. Just for thought.......

[Brisen]

did I mess up my stock again?

So, I tried making stock from beef bones, being careful not to let it boil, to keep the stock clear. I started it Mon night, and each time I checked it, it was looking good. Well, things kept getting in the way of me moving the stock off the stove and straining it and putting it away. It kept getting darker and darker, very nice looking I thought. Sunday afternoon, I decided I needed to just do it. I skimmed some stuff off the top, and strained some (I would have to do it in batches, since my glass mixing bowl isn't very big). It smelled weird, almost plasticy or something. Just yuck. I couldn't smell "stock" smell off it anymore like I could earlier in the week, just this kind of yuck smell. So I trashed it. Can you simmer stock for too long? Should I give up and just stick to chicken or duck stock?

[cjr]

You left the stock on the stove for 6 days?!?! That seems like an awfully long time. I have only left the stock in the crock for no more then 24-36 hours. Usually just under 24. My stock is always dark and rich and most times I need to add water to it, and it's never clear.

[mountain mom]

Myjo, how is the babe today?

Question about stock...Anyone tried the double roasted bone trick? When you roast the bones then simmer the bones for a few hours then roast them again and then in the final simmer all the deep minerals release?

The organic chicken farmer told me about this method this weekend. She said that her stock is so thick you can cut it with a knife!

[myjo]

Hi mountain mom. The baby seemed slightly improved this morning. He slept well. I'm pretty sure we have the right remedy because his mood improved dramatically right after his first dose. He woke with no weepyness in the original rash. But the remedy has stopped working because he's as irritable as ever now, and the rash is becoming weepy and inflamed again. So I will get a higher potency of Mercurius from the ND and also have her prescribe antibiotics. I'm thinking if I can integrate the conventional and alternative treatments, maybe his immunity won't suffer quite so much. I'm going to put him on probiotics and evening primrose too.

Pilgrim, thanks for the heads up about homeopathy. Ds seems to be fine with it, in fact probably a little better. You can get lactose free homeopathic drops, so if you ever want to try it again, just look for those. I'm totally off dairy now as a precaution, I don't know if he's allergic to it or not, but I'm not taking chances at this point.

Sorry for hijacking the thread earlier!

[Gale Force]

Hi ladies.

stock

I let my stock simmer for 24 hours, strain it, and resimmer the bones. The first batch is best but the second is pretty good too. I have found that if it simmers too long, it gets bitter.

[Catarina]

Stock - I boil stock for 24-36 hours, too. I don't think stock need to be clear, I think that's mainly a cosmetic thing. In fancy cooking you can clarify stocks with an egg white and egg shells and so on, but I don't think that it's neccesary for home cooking.

Kefir baking - I don't use Sally's recipes, I adopt normal buttermilk recipes. Using buttermilk for scones and quickbreads really is traditional and people did it to get a light and tender crumb.

Here's my scone recipe-I'm afraid it's by weight, not really by volume.

9 ounces wheat or preferably, spelt flour (Two unsifted cups)
2 1/2 ounces butter, cut in.

1 1/4 cup kefir
Mix the butter-flour mixture and the kefir and leave to soak in a cool place for 24 hours or overnight.

Prepare the dry ingredients - mix well and set aside.

3 ounces white flour - around 3/4 cups
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

When preparing the scones, mix the dry ingredients into the wet. Mix well - I use a wire pastry cutter for this, or you could use a food processor I guess - leaving no flour showing, as it contains the salt and soda too.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, cut into scones with a drinking glass, and bake on a preheated baking stone.

They are really light, soft, and not sour. We have them for breakfast with butter and homemade marmalade.

I think you can adopt your normal recipes by subbing kefir for milk, and using baking soda instead of baking powder - I think in a ratio of about 1 teaspoon soda to one cup kefir. Also, spelt flour really does rise better.

[Hibou]

When I made the banana bread, I did 2 loaves. I poured half the batch into one bread pan, but it seemed too runny for banana bread, so for the other loaf I mixed in some white flour (not much, maybe half a cup). the first loaf was heavy and undercooked, but the second one turned out really well. I know it's not the best option for those who want to use all soaked flour, but it works for me!

[cjr]

I don't have the starter for the buttermilk so I have been using kefir too with great results. I made muffins and they were nice and light. I soak barley flour in kefir to make pancakes and they are awsome. You would never know they were made with whole grain flour. Tonight I have spelt flour soaking in kefir for biscuits for tomorrows dinner. I like the results I get with the kefir and my grains are gang busters right now so I have a lot of kefir. I don't think I will even bother with buttermilk. I use the yoghurt to get the whey and cream cheese. I would like to make the creme freshe.

Does anyone know what the book means when it says to "turn" the lemons in the preserved lemon recipe? Does she mean turn the jar or turn the actual lemons in the jar? It may seem like a stupid question, but I'm really at a loss on this one.

[Catarina]

Another thought about baking - I had a look at that blender baking website and I wasn't so sure about it. It seems as though you would be over-mixing the batter and would overwork the gluten, resulting in a very tough batter. Normally with pancakes, scones, quickbreads, the idea is to mix the batter as little as possible.

I think it's fine to add a little white flour at the end as white flour is lower in phytates and doesn't need soaked.

[myjo]

Update on the baby: He's on antibiotics, probiotics, ant. crudum, and topical goldenseal. Still looks nasty, but it's only a matter of time now 'til he's better. Any suggestions on minimizing the damage the antibiotics are doing? (He's on probiotics already and I'm taking immune boosters and a liver cleansing tea)

I'm off eggs and dairy and I've already lost a pound! I guess those foods are necessary for me to maintain my weight.

[HerthElde]

Just checking in to this month's thread. Will post the carob muffin recipe a little later. Also wanted to let you all know I changed my username (from KatzMama).

Oh, also, in regards to stock - if you don't want to leave it simmer on the stovetop overnight (I worry about my kitties), you can put it in the oven at 275F. It keeps it simmering nicely.

Mandy

[Gale Force]

Gals,

This is pretty much OT, but where else would I post this? Anyhoo, this is about a bit of internal turmoil I have today and had yesterday.

You see, this cannot be possible, but I am still wondering. I am two days late, but haven't charted so I don't really know for sure that I am late. I am feeling like I am going to start any minute for the last two days, but I haven't. I haven't slept well for a few days and I have been craving obscene amounts of butter. This is all very familiar to me. But we have been avoiding. Really. I am sure I am just late. I would be tickled if there was an exciting explanation, but it just does not seem possible.

So I guess I'll keep waiting.
And of course we are so remote and I ran out of tests during my last pg and m/c. And it seems so remote that it would be a waste of tests. Perhaps I have been working so hard and so into everything that I ovulated later than usual, though I am very regular even when I have an anovulatory cycle. Maybe it's early menopause.

edited to add that I'll get a test tomorrow and test Thursday morning if my period still hasn't started. I tried to do a boob check, but I feel like I've gained so much weight in the last six months that big boobs may just be a sign of my fat state.

[mountain mom]

Gale Force....I hope it is what we aren't saying it is!!!

:

[gardenmommy]

I am anxiously awaiting the test results!


When you soak flours, are you literally soaking the flour in a bowl, in liquid? In what liquid are you soaking the flour, and for how long? How does this affect the flour in the recipe? Do you just adjust the amount of liquid already called for? Sorry for all the questions. I've requested the NT book through my library, but it's obviously quite popular. I'm on a list, so who knows when I'll actually get it.

When I make my blender waffles, I soak the grains separately overnight, whole, unblended, then dump them into the blender. They seem to blend much more easily, and make GREAT waffles! I don't know if doing it that way is not good, but they sure are tasty!