NT mamas - July thread - Page 3

[gardenmommy]

Wow, Amanda! That is a really cool house! It sounds like you really have your plate full fixing it up. I'd love to see pictures of it as you complete your renovations (the links in the text didn't work for me).

[cjr]

I don't think it's the powder that is making it thinner, I think it's the goat milk. Goat milk proteins are softer than cow's milk and this seems to effect the thickness. My goat milk yoghurt is also very thin and runny. The benefits of cultured bacteria and yeast are still present in the powdered kefir culture. I think of it like yoghurt. That culture is powdered, but it produces a live products.

[JaneS]

Originally Posted by Gale Force

Hey gals. I feel like I just had a baby, a virtual baby that is. This sort of baby won't zap you of your B-vitamins, unless you get overly stressed by it of course. You'll find the new baby in my signature. It's totally OT.

Great site and even greater house! What a beautiful tremendous undertaking you've begun...

[Gale Force]

Originally Posted by gardenmommy

I'd love to see pictures of it as you complete your renovations (the links in the text didn't work for me).

Hmm. I'll have to check that out. We have very little in terms of complete renovations up to this point. It's been mostly clean-up and other less interesting jobs. Some of the nitty gritty is in the blog. Here's the direct link to the blog:

http://hilltop.typepad.com/irving_gills_williams_hou/

I started getting house stories and just got one incredible one about the local hot springs. A friend claims that her grandmother attributed her daughter's polio cure to soaking in the springs.

[mountain mom]

Amanda! What an interesting tale of the hot springs.

I am very interested in your project and will subsribe to the blog! I am just checking in before we head to the mountains for the week.

Your house is so incredible!

Good luck with everything.

[Gale Force]

Cool MM. Have a good week. It sounds great.

[3under5]

Hi from a newbie NT mama

I'm so pleased to see other people doing this. The approach to fats and all the wonderful stock cooking makes sense to me as i come from a family of healthy home steaders that kind of eats like this. I'm comfortable with the raw meat recipes but kind of wondering if the lactic fermented pickles and the like need special bottles or anything. Even after reading the book I
m not quite sure i get it.

The whole family's liking it so far and my youngest DS has had an end to indigestion (hooray! Previouly really gassy boy!)

[myjo]

Amanda, I took a look at your websight. What a beautiful house! Have fun with it!

cjr, that makes sense. I made cow milk kefir too and it actually got much thicker. The goat milk kefir tastes pretty good, I've been using it in smoothies.

3under5, welcome! I'm not one of the regulars here, although I used to be. I'm trying to use this diet to help heal our digestion. I'm glad you're having some success!

[toraji]

GaleForce, awesome house! Thanks for the link and update.

[Gale Force]

Thanks for taking a look ladies.

My husband mentioned the polio story to the hot springs owners and they said that they hear reports like that all the time. Wow. We hope to collect those stories as well.

[steffanie3]

How do you skim the cream off of your milk? I have been just taking a big spoon and scooping it off until it starts to mix with the milk.

Do you add anything to make sour cream or whey and cream cheese? I think the NT said if it was raw you didn't have to, but I wasn't sure I understood it right.

[morninglark]

I don't add anything to make whey and cream cheese. While raw milk is preferred, I use a cultured organic buttermilk that I buy at the store. You do have to use a culture to make buttermilk from raw milk--which is one reason why I haven't used raw milk yet for this.

[gardenmommy]

nak

I skim the cream from milk with my 1/4 cup measure; works very well. I have lovely buttermilk after I make butter!

Have'nt tried sour cream yet.

We are eating some very tastey organic eggs and chicken right now. I think I'll put in an order for some this fall.

We aren't eating very much meat, though, because there are so many gresh veggies in the garden.

What is everyone else eating right now?

[nichole]

kefir and stuff

hi i heard you guys know a thing or two about kefir

i just bought some at the grocery store just to try. WOW it is sour. is it really necessary to take first thing in the morning on an empty stomach (that time is reserved for my thyroid med)? i guess i could start having a kefir smoothie for breakfast and i'm sure my son would want some. i'm just scared the smoothie will not taste good at all. and i want to work my way up slowly so maybe i would only put a couple of ounces in and do the rest juice, fruit, nutritional boosts? help! i don't know what i'm doing.

i keep reading about soaking grains. what do you soak them in and what is the benefit?

i'm a little intimidated to buy the NT book. i'm also interested in the book eat to live. i want to learn all that i can about nutrition (but i'm afraid of getting overwhelmed which i easily do!) we eat a lot better since we started doing a lot of changes to our diet (more whole foods) a year ago.

[cjr]

The free range chicken and eggs are so good right now. Must be all that green grass they're eating. I am going to buy a freezer full in August. He freezes them and continues to sell them all year long, but I think he freezes them in late fall and they just taste better in the summer.

I don't always drink my kefir in the morning. Like today we had a strawberry and kefir smoothie for an afternoon snack. I don't drink it alone. I always put it in a smoothie, but I don't like plain yoghurt either.

[nini2033a]

Kefir- its not just for breakfast anymore...

I have kefir almost daily, but at all times of the day. I make smoothies for breakfast with a frozen banana, a raw free range organic egg, berries , raw honey if needed, a spoon ful o coconut oil, some type of fiber (currently using coconut flour) sometimes depending on what else, I add some nutritional yeast. I also freeze the smoothies into popsicles for the kids on hot afternoons, and we have been playing around with fresh ground organic coffee and coconibs for frosty adult beverages. Sometimes I make kefir cream and freeze it or dessert instead of ice cream. I also use it to soak my grains before making weekend blender pancakes. Oh, and I use it to soak oatmeal overnight or I eat it with my cereal in place of milk, (really good with granola)
But all this is made with live kefir grains, not store bought kefir.
Karen

[nichole]

thanks i put a little kefir in my smoothie this morning. i didn't notice the taste b/c the other stuff i put in really overpowered it. my smoothies are getting more and more bitter these days (maybe a little bit too much stuff like seeds and greens, but i think we are getting used to it!) my son and i had two servings.

so what do you soak your grains in?

[nichole]

and how do you know when the kefir has gone bad? it doesn't have an expiration date. i am thinking a week after i open it?

[HerthElde]

Because it's live, it doesn't typically go bad for a long time.

[nini2033a]

I soak my grains and nuts in water and whey in a large (1/2 gallon) mason jar with a seed sprouting lid. Then I dehydrate them again on low in the oven then grind them up into flours for breads.
The nuts, I just grind and eat as snacks...
Karen