How to Enjoy Kefir: My favorite breakfast shake

As evidence by my blog posting dates, learning about health has fallen off my radar.  However, eating and living healthy have not!!!  One of my favorite health secrets right now is kefir.  It's a yummy way to get fermented food and probiotics into your diet. Here's what you do:

1) Get kefir "grains" from a friend (they look like the tops of cauliflower).  Anyone who makes kefir has multiplying grains, so there's always plenty to share.  There are also places to buy them online. I've always just asked on a local e-mail loop.

2) Get good quality milk (raw, from a farm) and put at a least a couple teaspoons of grain in a quart of milk (or how ever much kefir you want to make.)  Let it sit out about half a day on the counter.  You are looking for it to thicken up around the grains at the top. OR do an internet a recipe for refrigerator kefir and make it slowly in refrigerator.

3) Use a strainer to separate the grains from the kefir.  Store grains in a little milk in the refrigerator till you are ready to make another batch.

4) Store kefir in fridge.  In my rather picky opinion, the kefir isn't good to eat plain.

5) Make a kefir shake.  Here's my recipe that I often enjoy for breakfast.

 Put in to blender:

•  1 cup kefir (I use the marks on the blender itself.)
• about 1/2 a frozen banana (stored cut into small chunks)
• berries or other fruit (such as 3-4 strawberries)
• one scoop of stevia (using the scoop that comes in my stevia...it is very small..the sweetness counters the sour kefir taste.)
• a squirt of honey (stevia sweetens, but this just adds a bit of flavor) 
• Cinnamon (helps blood sugar) and Nutmeg (good for adrenals)...I like the taste, but added these originally for health benefits...I have also use the above too with clove when I was worried about a possible ulcer.
• Sometimes I add a green powder or a few fresh green leaves.  I like to keep it small so  I don't affect the taste.

I love the taste and I feel great when I have this for breakfast. When you try it, let me know what you think!

Extreme Recipe Makeover

At a family gathering, I tried a delicious dish that the cook called "Sammies".  Of course, it had ham (which I almost never touch, as I avoid the "dirty" foods mentioned in the Bible), white flour bread, and sugar.  But it's so easy to make it healthy.  Only problem is I need to exercise self-control not to overeat!

Make your sandwiches as normal.  I use natural sandwich meat DeBecca and Organic Valley raw cheddar cheese.  I make it on my homemade bread.

The standard way to make it is to place sandwiches in a casserole dish, pour sauce over the top, and then cook in the oven (about 350 F) for 20 min or so.  I have also poured it over a grill cheese and meat sandwich I made.  Anyway the sauce is made by mixing:

Melted Butter (make sure it's high quality)
Organic Tamari (organic is important with any soy so it's not GMO)
Mustard powder (or you could use real mustard--we never have any)
Poppy seeds
A dash of Stevia (other sweeteners are ok, but Stevia is the healthiest.  This is one recipe where I think it tastes just as good, which is not always the case.)

When I make things up, I don't measure.  Sorry!  But butter is the main ingredient and largest proportion.  Tamari is less, but a decent amount--the rest is in small amounts.  And I listed them in order from largest to least.  And I taste it before I pour it on. 

A simple conversion and in my opinion a much yummier sandwich.  I especially like that my hearty bread soaks up the sauce so well.

Don't say I didn't warn you that they are addictive.  ENJOY!

Cheesy Tuna Patties

This recipe was contributed to our contest by Carrie from www.naturalmomsrecipes.com :

Ingredients:

• 4 cans tuna (may substitute canned salmon)
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 t chopped garlic (or to taste)
• 1 egg
• 1 T  Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients together and shape into patties. You may either fry on stovetop in oil or bake in the oven. To bake, preheat oven to 425F. Place on well greased baking pan and bake for 15-20 minutes or until well browned.

Thanks Carrie!  Sounds yummy! And easy. 

I'll use my healthy soaked whole wheat bread for the bread crumbs.  When I cut my bread, I save the crumbs in a bag in the freezer.  I haven't found a healthy worchestershire sauce, though I need to look for one. (If you know one, please share in the comments.)  I usually just use organic tamari and that works well.

Quick and Healthy: Fried Rice

Since I'm asking you to share a favorite easy recipe, I thought I'd share one of mine. Actually it's not mine though, so I'm going to refer you back to where I got this yummy recipe:

http://accidentalvegetarian.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-do-really-good-fried-rice.html

I'm not at all a vegetarian, but I'm thankful to the "Accidental Vegetarian" for sharing her recipe! My only tweaks to the recipe are that I sprout my rice with vinegar. And I leave out the saffron (a bit to pricey) and sorry, but I've yet to find the ginger paste, so I do just use the ginger powder--don't recommend it, but that's what I actually do and it's still super yummy!

Looking forward to posting our first contest entry recipe, so send in your best!

Quick Whole Foods Recipe Contest!

It's a juggling act to balance whole foods cooking with time and modern life! So, give me your best recipe. It has to meet my standards of cooking (or only be cheat a little) and be easy. 15 minutes would be great, but longer will do especially when the cook is just waiting on something in the oven. :)

Right now my family does things like hot dogs (organic beef ones) when we don't have a meal ready, but those are neither cheap nor that healthy. :) So, give me your best recipe. It does not have to be a main dish, but does need to be something simple to help when there is "nothing to eat". I'm probably a little prejudice toward main dishes though. And whatever my family likes best will win.

I will summarize my health standards so you don't have to read ALL my old posts before entering:

-Grains, beans, rice, and nuts should (mostly) be sprouted or soaked for full nutrition.

-Fermented products are good (around our house we often have kefir and fermented salsa--recipe is on here)

-No artificial products, canned products, soy (except fermented soy and small quantities of non-GMO products), pork, or shellfish. 

-Must be something you've made before and have clear instructions (so when I make it--it works and taste good!) 

-I only use quality whole food, so milk is raw milk, oil is olive oil or coconut oil (not canola or vegetable oil), salt is Real Salt etc. You do not have to spell all that out if you don't want to. 

-While I think organ meat is fantastic for your body, we can only handle it when it's really well hidden in food. 

-We use homemade bone broth and do usually have some of this on hand. 

(A hint: the judge's family doesn't eat much fish. :) )

 Prize will be awarded only if there are at least 15 entries! Prize will be a $5 gift credit to Amazon.Not huge, but I don't really make money off this blog (probably should work on that, but I'm too busy homeschooling and trying to cook from scratch and just don't have time to care!) If I have a lot of entries I MAY award 2 prizes instead of one, especially if I can't make up my mind.

 Deadline for entry is June 5th.  Recipes should be submitted to the e-mail address in the about me section on the left side of the page. Submission indicates permission to post the recipe on this blog. Please include a name to post with your recipe (can be a screen name, first name, or whatever). Also feel free to include your blog or website if you want that listed. Up to 3 recipes per person allowed.

 Feel free to send a photo (that is a reasonably sized file) to go with your recipe to entice me to try it. I don't promise to try every recipe--only those that sound good (otherwise it would be months before I could decide!) AND you are also welcome to have your friends comment on the recipe if they try and want to say how great it is! :) Again, prize will be award to my favorite recipe, so no promises to be "fair". That's about it.

Can't wait to see your recipes! Please do me a favor and share this with all your healthy friends. The more people that enter, the more recipes we all get to try!

If you don't have a recipe, look here for how you can still enter to win:  http://lymeadehealth.blogspot.com/2012/05/another-way-to-win.html

A contest is in the works

Just wanted to give you a heads up on what I'm planning....I'm on the lookout for "convenience whole food". Who can keep a standard of practically perfect food in our fast-paced world? So, sometimes we eat healthy and sometime we just eat! Not "fast food", but not as healthy what we wish we could eat. But I'm trying to work on more foods that meet my standards that are easy. So, I'll be giving a prize to my favorite quick and healthy recipe. And of course I'll be sharing all the delicious recipes with you!

So, start looking for your healthy recipes and I'll post more info next week.

Soaked Grain Bread Recipe

This is my whole food, freshly ground, soaked grain bread. It's as healthy as Ezekiel bread, but much yummier! I use a grain mill and a Bosch mixer, so my flour measures a bit different and I don't need to let it rise twice. If you try it, tell me what you think!

Lymeade Lady Bread

12 (to 13) c. freshly ground whole wheat or whole Kamut flour

 ¼ c. apple cider vinegar
3 ½ c. water

Add liquid gradually to flour. Mix in Bosch on low speed and leave to soak for 12-24 hours. Cover with plastic wrap on dough to keep moist.

Add:

7 ½ TBL ex. virgin coconut oil (4 TBL= ¼ cup)
7 ½ TBL honey
2 egg
1 TBL salt
3 ¾ TBL yeast

Mix on low speed until moistened (break into pieces with hand if needed). Then knead on medium speed (3) for 10 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic ball. If it is too liquid-y, gradually add more flour. Grease pans while waiting.

Shape loaves and/or other breads (approximately 6 loaves)***. Don't let dough dry out--keep covered. Let rise in greased loaf pans for 30 minutes or until doubled. For the fluffiest loaves, be sure to let it rise enough in the pans before baking.

Do the Touch Test:
1. Press the dough on the side with the tips of two fingers lightly and quickly about 1/2 inch into the dough, and;
2. If the impression you made stays, the dough has doubled. If the indent quickly disappears, it needs a little more time; cover and let rise longer.
Don't over rise; or it will flatten out in the oven. You want just the right point where it has risen all it can or should, but not too much.

Bake in preheated 350 oven for 30 minutes.

Remove from pans and cool loaves on their sides on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

**Dough can be made into various types of bread. Here’s what I often do: Shape 3 portions of dough into loaves (filling a bit less than half the bread pan).

Shape another portion of dough into a ball and press down to make a pizza crust. Work from inside to outside, leaving a thicker edge as a crust. While waiting prepare sauce, cheese, and toppings. Cook about 12 min without preheating or 9-10 with preheating. Crust should be cooked, but not brown. Add sauce, cheese, and toppings and cook another 10-15 min. until crust is brown.

Use remaining dough to make a small stuffed crust pizza. First I make crust and cook 10-15 min. Then, I put on topping and top crust and cook another 10-15 min. OR use remaining dough to make a dessert pizza with honey, cinnamon, and diced apples.

Fermented Salsa--Probiotics and Enzymes the natural (and free!) way

I did it! I made fermented salsa! It really tastes pretty much like salsa, but it's got great probiotics in it. Let me share my recipe.

Add to Mason jar (makes almost a quart):
6-8 organic tomatoes, peeled, seeded & diced
1 med vidala onion, very finely diced
1 med green pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 med jalapeno, mostly seeded (gotta have a few for spice) and finely diced
roughly 1 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro
1 clove of minced Garlic
roughly 1/2- 1 tsp dried oregano
1 TBSP sea salt
2 lemons' worth of juice
2 TBSP apple cider vinegar (Bragg's or another raw vinegar)

Add enough water to cover top of veggies after smooched down. Cover jar. Let sit 48hrs or so on the counter to ferment. This turned out more like Pico de Gallo (how do you spell that?), but if you put it in the blender for just a second it's more like traditional salsa. If you blend very long at all, it turns into liquid, so be careful! Or you can blend half of it so you keep some nice pieces, but get more liquid. Refrigerate after 48 hours.

The last 3 ingredients are key to making sure it develops good bacteria, not bad, so don't skip any of those. Make sure your tomatoes and green peppers are organic (or homegrown, un-sprayed) and you use the raw vinegar.

Why ferment? There are lots of health benefits, but do you know that traditional food was fermented to preserve it. So, refrigerators let us cheat and skip the fermenting part and it's made it hard on our health. That's why people need digestive enzymes and probiotics--we don't eat fermented food! But do you know that yogurt, pickles, sauerkraut, vinegar, and many other "normal" foods were originally fermented. Now they have the taste (from processed vinegar) but none of the health benefits. I think that's why a lot of people do better on a raw vegetarian diet--they get more enzymes. But I think the traditional diet is actually best b/c of the fermented food!

If you try my new recipe, be sure and let me know what you think!

Healthy and convenient snack idea!

Great find! I love Lara bars--raw food with only 4 or so ingredients to take when out and about. Now I'll have to try making them at home following these instructions:

http://enlightenedcooking.blogspot.com/2008/02/home-made-lara-bars-energy-bars-part-3.html

I don't eat Lara bars much b/c of expense....maybe I can change that! :) Enjoy.

Healthy chips?

Well, I'm not sure I believe chips are healthy. As of yet, I haven't tried making my own, so they are still a processed food at my house. But I thought I'd share my trick for making them super delicious by adding only healthy stuff!

First, take a organic chips that have no hydrogenated oils. Place in a bowl. (Unsalted or with sea salt is best).

Second, put several scoops of coconut oil on the chips--spreading it out a bit.

Third, sprinkle with RealSalt. This is the way salt should be--healthy and good for you! These days I crave salt--apparently that's due to adrenal fatigue--common with chronic illness or just modern-day stress.

Fourth, heat (in a toaster oven or oven, of course, since microwaves are neither healthy nor helpful for food texture.)

This is a great way to get chips that are as good or better than the restaurant chips that are so tempting. It's amazing what heating them alone does. Don't cheat on the organic part unless you find some actually labeled "NO GMO's". Otherwise you're likely eating mutated/indigestible "food"!

One day I'll actually figure out how to make my own chips and maybe then I can claim they are healthy. Until then, at least I can make them decent. I have to have something to eat guac and salsa with. I'm from Texas!

Lymeade Lady's Guacamole--Recipe for a yummy immune booster

Guacamole is one thing I really like to make. I don't have an exact measurements as I do it all to taste and avocados can vary in size. But it's pretty easy to make and great for your health.

Cut avocado into 6 pieces. Peel skin. (this prevents waste and mess.) Mash with a fork into bowl. (Save seed to store with leftovers, though I never have any!)

Add to taste:
Finely chopped onion (about a half on a small onion)
Minced garlic (1-2 cloves)
Sea salt (such as real salt or Celtic Sea Salt--I use about 1/2 to 1 tsp.)
A squeeze of fresh lemon juice (you can also use lime--it would fit the recipe name better!)
Cayenne pepper (small amount to give kick- maybe an 1/8 tsp., but better to add too little than too much)

Avocados are one food you can eat non-organic without much worry--it rarely needs pesticides. But get them fresh. I prefer the onion, garlic, and lemon to be organic and the cayenne pepper to be "non-irradiated".

Ok, so you have this great guac. Think carefully before you spoil it with hydrogenated, genetically modified corn chips. But at least find some healthy chips! I'm currently working on making homemade sprouted tortillas--if it works I might branch out to making chips. But for now I get organic chips with good oil.

If you want to go way healthy, try dipping carrots in it. I came up with this when I was breaking the fast with my first Master Cleanse . It keeps it in the raw food category and is surprisingly really good. Definitely the way to go if your under the weather and looking for a good way to eat raw onion and garlic without suffering!

Happy eating! Please let me know if you have suggestions for the recipe!

Apple Cider Vinegar Tonic

It's easy, it's cheap, it's sweet, and it boosts your health. The Apple Cider Vinegar Tonic. If you've being reading here for a while, you probably already know about it, but I thought it deserved a post to spotlight it. It's what I recommend to start making healthy lifestyle changes.

Recipe:
Add:
2 tsp honey and
2 tsp of Raw Apple Cider Vinegar to an
8oz glass of water

Don't bother with typical grocery store vinegar. It won't help you. You need to get something raw with the strands floating around in it. I use a brand called Bragg's. Anytime I need vinegar (of any kind) I use this.

You may have heard vinegar is acidic. Most is, but the raw ACV works just the opposite in your body.

Hints: You can always add more honey until you like the taste until you get used to it. I add it to room temp. water and it mixes well. Others add a bit of hot water to dissolve the honey and then add the chilled water.

Raw ACV has enzymes to help you digest the other over-processed food in your diet and that it has good bacteria (like yogurt). This is the strands you see in it. I like to drink it when I'm going to eat out or take some to make drinks on a trip.

According to my Amish Home Remedies book, you can use this for upset stomachs, when you are about to come down with a cold, or to prevent the worst signs of aging. How? Basically it just helps your body do what God made it to do. And with food poisoning or stomach viruses, it puts good bacteria in your stomach which cancel out the bad germs.

So, concern joining me in drink ACV drink every morning (about 20 min. before breakfast) and let's see how young we can stay!

Cooking Soaked/Sprouted Brown Rice

Take a pot and add:

4 1/2 c. water (prefer filtered or purified)
4 Tbsp. Raw Apple Cider Vinegar (like Bragg's) or lemon juice, buttermilk, yogurt, kefir, or whey
2 c. brown rice

Stir and cover with lid and leave for at least 7 hours on the counter. (If you have less time, do as long as possible, any bit helps).

In same pot, add 1 tsp. sea salt (opt.). Bring water to a boil for 5 min. uncovered. Then boil covered on low heat for 30-45 min. Do not take lid off early. Check to see if water is absorbed and rice is tender. If not, do not stir, but cover and cook another 10 min. or so until done.


--------------
If you are curious what this does, you might look closely at the rice before you cook it. You can see it looks like a sprouted seed, though I rarely pay attention any more, so no promises that it will every time--I don't actually check. But the sprouting is something that changes the grain and makes the nutrients more digestible and also helps those with sensitive stomachs.


This recipe takes no extra time, just a bit planning. It should cook quicker b/c it is soaked. If you like, double the recipe and keep the extra for another meal. It's very soft and SO good for you. Sometimes I just add a bit of scrambled eggs, some coconut oil, tamari, and some veggies (like onion, pepper, or shreds of carrots) and make a meal of it. Or I add it to some chicken broth and make some soup.

For more info on soaking and sprouting grains, see: http://www.suegregg.com/about/c.htm. At the bottom of the page is an excellent brochure you can print out. Sue Gregg cookbooks are my favorites. You might also want to read this previous post.

The Chicken Soup Cure

One of my favorite healing meals is a soup made from homemade Chicken Broth. In fact, today I was starting to feel a cold coming on b/c of the cold, lack of sleep, and general busyness. So, I started out lunch with Chicken Broth and added Tamari (for saltiness--RealSalt would work too), a dash of cayenne and a small clove of fresh garlic (both for health and added right before eating). Now it was pretty strong with the garlic and cayenne, but it really did the trick.

Now how I made the Broth:

Take a whole Chicken (organic or at least natural--you can afford it if you are buying the whole chicken) and cut the wings off and cut them up. Put it all in a large crockpot and cover with water. (If your ambitious you can take off the skin, but that's too hard for me.) Add a few Tablespoons of Raw Apple Cider Vinegar. Add a few vegetables, like Carrots and Onions. Add some spices, like Basil, Oregano. Ideally fresh, but I never have those! Cook for 12-24 hours. The vinegar makes the calcium come right out of the bones, into the broth, and into you! The bones will be extremely brittle.

Take the chicken out (use for whatever). Strain out the vegetables and bones. Refrigerate until the fat is solid on top (I usually wait about a day.) Take the fat (and all the toxins in it) off. Freeze some of the broth in 1-2 c. portions to use in cooking.

Make the rest into a soup. Sometimes I just add the vegetables and the small bits of chicken back in along with some cooked rice and tomato sauce and spice it to taste. I just love these soups and fill so satisfied. I've learn that I am most satisfied with my food when it's healthy like this.

Now you know why your grandma said eat Chicken Noodle Soup for a cold. Unfortunately, the store bought stuff is not made this way, so you probably didn't think her advice worked. But now you know!