Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Health › Nutrition and Good Eating › Traditional Foods › NT mamas - July thread
New Posts  All Forums:
 

NT mamas - July thread - Page 4

post #61 of 90
7/21/05 at 7:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HerthElde
Because it's live, it doesn't typically go bad for a long time.
does this apply to store bought kefir as well as home cultured? Is there a difference in the kefir made from powder and grains as far as how long it will last??

You may also like:

Earth Day Books the Whole Family Will Love
There Is Not Always a "Fix" For the Difficult Child
10 Things You Don't Need For a New Baby
post #62 of 90
7/22/05 at 2:04am
The live grains are better, but the powder is better than nothing. I can't handle the live grains. I get an inbalance in yeast so bad when I drink kefir made from the live grains. I have not had any problems with the powder kefir starter. I think of it as yoghurt with some good yeast added in for good measure. I would treat it more like home made yoghurt and wouldn't let it sit for weeks. I made a double batch almost 2 weeks ago and it still fine. I use it in place of buttermilk because I can culture it in goats milk for ds.

I made my first batch of kombucha! It looks like it turned out ok. It produced a perfect baby scoby that I have sitting on my counter in a bag with some of the kombucha. Anyone know what I'm supposed to do with it? If it produces a new scoby each time I can't possibly use them all. I would end up with a kombucha factory in my kitchen and I know dh would not be impressed. It has a distict fermented, sweet, tea smell to it. I just don't know if I can keep it in my fridge as a back up or if I let it sit out on the counter? Or if I can even keep it at all. Any ideas?

Oh, I found the best bottles to use for it. I went to a beer making store and found nothing. Then I went to a liquor store and bought some old fashioned, naturally fermented beer in these great bottles with corks. After I bought them I realized that I can't re-use the corks. So I went to another liquor store and they had some beer made locally that comes in 1L bottles with rubber stoppers and a metal band that secures it. Totally re-usable and should last forever. Of course I had to drink a Litre of beer last night. It was rasberry beer with no preservatives, and naturally fermented. It was pretty good. I bought a espresso stout beer (actually made with espresso) in the same type of bottle that I will need to work on this weekend. :LOL
post #63 of 90
7/22/05 at 12:53pm
Hey y'all! Wow, I've been off of this list too long! Honestly, as each month rolls around, I forget to subscribe to the new thread. I need to do better!

I have a couple of questions. I have purchased these bars from a company called "Go Raw." The first bar is a sort of crunchy cracker, made from sprouted flax, sunflower, and sesame seeds, and then it has some spices and Bragg's Amino Acids in there for some flavors. It is then dehydrated into a crispy yummy cracker that DD loves. However, it is quite expensive!

That company also makes another bar that is sweeter. It's made from some fruits and it has sprouted flax seeds mixed in. Then it's dehydrated into a rather thick fruit leather type thing. Also - quite expensive.

So I'd really like to learn how to make these things myself. One thing that I notice about these "sprouted" bars is that none of those seeds have a sprout on them. So I'm wondering if they were just "soaked" instead.

But my main question is the treatment of the flax seeds. NT doesn't recommend sprouting them because of the mucilagenous (sp?) fiber. I soaked some overnight in salted water and kept them warm, and I have some gooey stuff this morning! But, I could mix that gooey stuff with the other seeds and dehydrate that....?

OK, now I'm onto rambling. My point: Does anyone know those bars and know what I'm talking about? Has anyone tried to duplicate the process? Any advice or hints for those flax seeds?

Thanks!
post #64 of 90
7/22/05 at 2:09pm
I bought some Lara bars. I finally found them here in Canada. $3/bar!! wow. They are tasty, but all they are are mushed dried fruits and nuts. I would love to be able to make my own, but like you don't know where to start.
post #65 of 90
7/22/05 at 3:22pm
Well, I'm forging ahead with experimentation! I still hope to get some advice from this board. I'll let y'all know how it works out and share my recipes when they develop.

cjr - I don't "do" kombucha tea, but I know a lady who sautees her scoby in coconut oil and eats it. You can also blend them into smoothies, so I've heard.
post #66 of 90
7/22/05 at 4:20pm
For bars IMO, it is essential to have a dehydrator. You can do it in the oven put it isn't as effective.

I use the carob sunflower brownie recipe as a base then I add sprouted seeds, mashed fruit, maple syrup and ingredients like oatbran, rice bran, ground flax seed et al. You will know when you have the right consistency because you can spread it evenly on your dehydrator sheet with little effort. I make the bars about 1 inch to 2 inches thick depending on the ingredients.

Sorry I can't post a recipe because its always off the cuff, depending on what is in the fridge at the time.

post #67 of 90
7/22/05 at 5:26pm
I made NT Grape Nuts with the kids today. I love Grape Nuts and we can't buy them here, so I was thrilled to find an NT recipe for them! The kids had a blast grinding the flour.

Anyone doing NT first foods? DD is almost 7 months now and getting curious about food. I wasn't too impressed with the NT chapter on infant feeding. I have thought about liver, but I'd have to order it and haven't gotten around to it.
post #68 of 90
7/22/05 at 9:34pm
Thanks Mountain Mom! I just got my Excalibur dehydrator, so I'm rarin' to go! I'll look up the sunflower brownie recipe and do a little dabbling myself.

So far today, I've done a few trays:

1 - Blueberry puree with a few soaked flax seeds thrown in. Taste: not bad. It's a little bland, but I have nothing to compare it to except the artificially flavored storebought stuff. But, DD LOVES it, so it's a success!

2 - Blueberry puree with more flax seeds in there plus some soaked sesame seeds. - still waiting.

3 - Blueberry puree with flax, sesame, and soaked sunflower seeds. This time I put in more seeds than puree, so the puree will add a sweetness and cheweyness, but it will be mostly seeds. I squeezed in a lime to enhance the tartness of the berries, and to offset the salt that was in the flax goo. (oops!)

4 - Mixed all my leftover seeds together (had LOTS of flax goo) and added in some garlic powder, organic wheat-free tamari, and some ground kelp. This will hopefully turn out like that crunchy cracker.

Oh, gotta run! I'll let y'all know the results tomorrow.
post #69 of 90
7/23/05 at 12:17am
Pilgrim, that last one sounds awesome. I bet it would be awesome crumbled on salad. Lots of savoury bars I have hope would be bars have turned out to be salad toppers! :LOL
post #70 of 90
7/23/05 at 2:28am
chocomoto, what is the grape nuts recipe? Where is it?
I was also unimpressed with the infant nutrition stuff - specifically the bfing stuff (I think most of us here were). However, I do agree it's best to wait as long as possible (until your child either shows signs it's neccessary or really really really wants some :LOL). With dd, she didn't really start eating any solids until around 9 months or so, but did have the odd "nibble" on a piece of fruit or raw veggie before that (she basically just sucked on them a bit, so got a bit of juice from them - I'm kind of anti-fruit juice as a rule and look at it as a treat, so she's only had a couple sips of actual juice here and there so far, now at 18 months). Even at that, she was still about 99% bf'd until around a year, and 90-95% until about 15 months, when I got pg - now she eats everything in sight.
We waited with grains as long as we could. I agreed with that part of the book. Besides, we started her on easy finger foods anyway, like cubes of potato, sweet potato, carrots, cheese, and little slivers of beef and chicken.
Didn't really end up doing the egg yolk thing - she just really had no interest.

On the raw bar topic, I just bought a raw foods cookbook, and am excited to try some of the recipes. Of course, the grains and nuts are all sprouted before use, there's no sugar in any of the recipes, yet there are some really incredible looking desserts. I got the book because with it being summer I don't like to use the stove on hot days, and I can make these recipes without. Looks like I'll need a dehydrator and a juicer though (both of which I really want anyway), so any recommendations? The book seems to specifically call for a "homogenizing juicer" in a lot of the recipes. Any experience with the different types?
post #71 of 90
7/23/05 at 11:24am
HerthElde, I have a few raw foods cookbooks..Raw by Juiliano and Delights of the Garden by Imar Hutchins. Which one did you get?

For juicers here is my research.

For keeping the enzyme content intake, Greenstar is the best choice. Most expensive but you can do many more things with it beyond juicing. Although there claim that you can make nut butter is wrong IMO, since the nuts ground end up to be fluff and you have to reconstitute with oodles and oodles of oil.

Champion makes great nut butter, juices fine but it creates huge heat while juicer thus cooking the raw a bit.

Vitamix is also a fine choice, doesn't leave a lot of the enzymes there but is affordable and works well.

Angel juicer IMO is the best choice. Although it is the most expensive ever.

http://www.angel-juicer.com/angel_en...y/greeting.php

Dehydrator is Exchaliber IMO.

Gotta run!
post #72 of 90
7/23/05 at 11:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mountain mom
HerthElde, I have a few raw foods cookbooks..Raw by Juiliano and Delights of the Garden by Imar Hutchins. Which one did you get?
The Raw Truth, by Jeremy Safron. It really seems very interesting!
Thanks for the info on the juicer and dehydrator!
post #73 of 90
7/25/05 at 9:24am
: I am currently a lacto/ovo vegetarian but seem to never feel satisfied. I have been looking into the NT way of eating. My dh loves meat and was never really on board with my veggie style of eating. The kids seem to really love meat too. What other books do you recommend besides the nourishing traditions book? I saw that Amazon recommends wild fermentation. Is that a good one too? thanks for any info on starting out.
post #74 of 90
7/25/05 at 10:30am
We just picked up our 'cow' (well, a 1/4 of a cow) with meat cut to our specifications. Pasture raised, organic, local beef. I made a tbone last night and it was amazing. And me...a veg for nearly 2 decades.
post #75 of 90
7/25/05 at 2:35pm
Hi ladies!

memory maker -- Wild Fermentation is a fantastic book, but it won't help you much with meat. Buy it anyway for a great read if nothing else. I think NT will get you started very easily.

UUMom- yumm. We should be getting our full cow, well steer, any day now. We need to make some freezer space for it. I imagine it's more meat than have considered. We have a 20 cf freezer, but it's got a lot of left-overs in it now.
post #76 of 90
7/25/05 at 2:50pm
Memory Maker, I would start with the bone broths. I was in your position one year ago and thats were I started. I cannot believe the energy I have now!!! Ask me any questions you want. I was vegan/veggie for over 15 years before making the switch last year. My health has never been so strong. I am truly amazed.

post #77 of 90
7/25/05 at 4:49pm
Hey ladies! Well I have some taste test results and some more questions...

On all of my fruit leather experiments.....

They all came out rather well. The textures came out very good, but the flavors of the seeds were rather overpowering to the blueberries, so I'd have to work out the flavors a bit. Perhaps mixing in some other fruits, or adding in some stevia. But DD likes to eat them, so that's good.

The crunchy bar turned out really well! (Mountain Mom - you cracked me up with your "experiments turned into salad toppers" bit!) :LOL

But it came out VERY close to the GoRaw brand cracker that I had purchased.

Now I have a question - what's the best way to store that stuff? The cracker I just broke into pieces into a mason jar and put in the pantry. I think that should keep a LONG time like that. The fruit leathers are in the fridge at the moment. I have so much of it, that I feel like I should freeze some of it since there are no preservatives in it. Anybody have any idea how long homemade fruit leathers last? Especially ones with seeds?

Thanks y'all!
post #78 of 90
7/25/05 at 5:29pm
ok since I am new to this I have a question. today in the crockpot I am cooking tonights meal. Right now there is chicken breast (on the bones) in the crockpot. later I will be adding some carrots and noodles. After tonights dinner what can I do with the broth that is left? what can I make with it and how should I store it until being used?
post #79 of 90
7/25/05 at 5:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by memory maker
: I am currently a lacto/ovo vegetarian but seem to never feel satisfied. I have been looking into the NT way of eating. My dh loves meat and was never really on board with my veggie style of eating. The kids seem to really love meat too. What other books do you recommend besides the nourishing traditions book? I saw that Amazon recommends wild fermentation. Is that a good one too? thanks for any info on starting out.
Try reading The Garden of Eating Diet too: http://www.thegardenofeatingdiet.com
Really stresses the importance of vegetables along with a traditional diet.
post #80 of 90
7/25/05 at 7:01pm
Today is the last day for the sale on the pints http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/vi...oconut_oil.htm

memory maker~ I usually make soup with broth, I usually do it the next day because it is easy to do it then. You could freeze the broth if you didn't want to use it right away, I am not sure how long it could stay in the fridge. Someone will probably know.

You may also like:

Earth Day Books the Whole Family Will Love
There Is Not Always a "Fix" For the Difficult Child
10 Things You Don't Need For a New Baby
Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Health › Nutrition and Good Eating › Traditional Foods › NT mamas - July thread