How Does My Garden Grow...

We did it!  We finally got our garden veggies planted last night!  Mark built this beautiful raised bed over a month ago and we have just been waiting to find the best and most affordable way to fill it with good soil.  We finally got a truckload in it yesterday.  We planted mostly cool weather veggies, since we live here on the coast.  We have a mesclun blend of greens in those first few rows, then some rainbow chard, a winter squash, a summer squash, a row of carrots, a row of beets, some broccoli, and sugar snap peas growing up the lattice against the far end of the wall!  Fingers crossed that everything grows well.  We had a very very small little garden in our last home....but this is my first real vegetable garden and I am so excited to see how it turns out.  Man oh man, if we can get away with eating veggies only from here and not have to buy produce for a while, I will be so ecstatic!  Lord willing, I am diligent to tend to it regularly with loving care!

And, now we are just waiting for an opportunity for more soil to fill the area to the right of the garden bed in which we can plant grass seed!  Then, Vienne and I will have a little side yard to play in during the summer!  Oh I do hope that this works out and that we can grow the grass quickly.  Soil is so gosh darn expensive!  

And, finally, we will finish this area off with a compost bin that Mark will build from scrap wood.  Then I won't feel so guilty about throwing food scraps into the garbage and we will have compost for our garden!

This is how my garden is growing!

God's Pharmacy

A friend sent this to me...and you may have even seen this before, but I think it's soooo cool!

 It's been said that God first separated the salt water from the fresh, made dry land, planted a garden, made animals and fish.... all before making a human. He made and provided what we'd need before we were born. These are best & more powerful when eaten raw. We're such slow learners...

God left us great clues as to what foods help what part of our body!
God's Pharmacy! Amazing! 
A slicedCarrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... and YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flowto and function of the eyes.
A Tomatohas four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research showstomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.
Grapeshang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like ablood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.
A Walnutlooks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.
Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like thehuman kidneys.
Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak.. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.
Avocadoes, Eggplant and Pearstarget the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).
Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility. 
Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.
Olivesassist the health and function of the ovaries
Oranges,Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruitslook just like themammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.
Onionslook like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion,Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

Eat Your Vegetables!

I often get asked for easy tips on eating healthy.  One of my main focuses, for a healthy diet, has always been on vegetables.  You've always heard it from mom: "Eat those vegetables!"  An abundant array of colorful veggies should be our main source of vitamins...not synthetic bottled supplements, filling your body with fake junk that is barely absorbed.  If your vitamins are not made from whole foods, then they are synthetic vitamins, which your body isn't capable of fully absorbing (so, check your source of vitamins!).  Not only are you wasting money on those bottles but your are also wasting effort and energy that it takes for your body to try and process them.  (Read here for more info from one of many articles on this topic.)  Though, as a side note, if you feel that you are still lacking in your diet and need to take a multi-vitamin, I highly suggest a good whole food vitamin:  check out 'New Chapter' vitamins - it's the brand of prenatals that carried me through my pregnancy.  They are sold at most health food stores and at great discounts online.

If you are eating your vegetables, like our ancestors always did, then you won't have such a dire need for supplements...but, most importantly, your body will be enriched and healthier than ever before!  Have you ever asked yourself how our ancestors got their nourishment?  They never bought it in a bottle.  They got it straight from the right foods. 

So, when I first started my journey towards a healthier lifestyle, I knew that I needed to start incorporating a much more colorful array of produce than what I was eating before.  The more colors of veggies that you eat, the more nutrients and vitamins your body will be receiving.  I was instructed by my naturopath to try and eat 6-8 different colored veggies with each meal.  Phew!  I was overwhelmed by this idea!  The main thing that intimidated me was having to constantly prepare all of these vegetables.  I hated chopping veggies and rarely made a salad beyond torn lettuce and baby carrots.  But, then I learned the simplest piece of advice for staying on top of this crucial necessity for my body:

Buy 6-8 different types of vegetables, of varying colors.  For example, I typically try to buy what's in season, first of all, but a good basic assortment usually consists of:  carrots, celery, kale, red cabbage, broccoli, red or green peppers (if in season), zucchini, and maybe tomatoes (if in season). Darker greens have more vitamins in them.  Then chop a small portion (like a 1/4) of each vegetable and store them all together in a large container in the fridge.  Voila!  Now, you have this large mix of freshly chop vegetables always on hand to mix in with anything.  With this mix, you may toss a handful in with some lettuce or spinach leaves and have a salad.  You can saute it in with scrambled eggs (add some goat cheese and it makes for a fab-o breakfast!).  You may saute it up with some sausage or chicken for a quick lunch or dinner - get creative with the seasonings or sauces.  Or you can steam a handful of the mixed veggies....eat that with butter and S&P as a side with your main course or toss it with some pasta or rice or soup!  Once I established this easy discipline of making sure that I have a container full of freshly chopped veggies always on hand, it makes it sooo much easier to make sure that I am always eating a wonderfully balanced meal and that I am getting those nutrients that I need.  My biggest set back beforehand was just the prep of always chopping vegetables when I wanted a salad or something.  I'm lazy.  When I'm hungry, I want to eat now.  This wonderful habit helps to give me my food now and give it to me healthy.  I would say that my large container of chopped veggies lasts us about 3-4 days...so, that's only chopping like twice a week!  Not bad.  Anyone could handle that!

I personally believe that above all other ways of eating, this is one of the best and easiest ways to get started on the healthy track.  Don't get yourself overwhelmed by lacto-fermented drinks or eating low-fat or even with books like Nourishing Traditions if you are new to these ideas.  Don't get me wrong...I LOVE that book, but it is not always for the beginner.  Most people that I come across that say they wish to eat better are usually looking for an easy answer.  This is my easy answer.  And, I believe that once you start incorporating these veggies in with your meals, you will start decreasing the amount of other unhealthy things that you may have previously chosen or eaten with your main courses....ie:  packaged/processed foods, foods w/saturated fats...etc.  And, of course, I always have to recommend going organic...but, I do know that many people who wish to eat healthier or are new to all this are still not willing to pay for organic items.  So, if it comes down to that and you think you just can't afford organic or it's just not the priority for you yet....still buy all the veggies and know that you're doing so much better than before!  I will write my thoughts on sacrificing for the higher prices of organic foods some other time.

So, to go along with your new colorful salads, I thought I would include a new favorite salad dressing of mine.  I don't typically buy dressings - too much crap in them.  We usually just use EVOO and balsamic vinegar, but I came across this recipe and it has made my salads oooohhhh-sooo-yummy!

Honey Mustard Dill Dressing

3 TB EVOO

2 tsp. dried dill or 1 TB of fresh chopped dill

1 TB Sherry wine vinegar

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. honey

S&P to taste

Whisk altogether, and you have it!

Kombucha Baby!

So, I first got addicted to kombucha by drinking 'GT Dave's' brand of kombucha drinks which are bottled with pure fruit juices and are extra super fizzy.  I love kombucha, not only because it is soooooo healthy for me (read here for health info on it) but also because it gives me that 'fix' for any cravings I might have for juice (which is packed with sugar...too much natural sugars are even bad for us) or for pop.  After spending about $3.50 per bottle (I know...SICK), I realized that I needed to be making this stuff myself.  Thankfully, my dear friend Lacey gave me one of her 'bucha babies and I have been a 'bucha brewing fanatic for a while now!  My one hesitation about brewing it myself was knowing that home brews do not taste like what I buy from the store...and that's the kind that I like!   So, once I started, I was determined to make my kombucha fruity and just as carbonated as the store-bought brands. I've done a lot of reading on different kombucha sites and never really found instructions for the results I was looking for.  Sooooo...I started to experiment, myself.  And, after a few trials, I've finally successfully done it!  For a few weeks now, I have been brewing and bottling incredibly yummy, fruity, fizzy kombucha!  So far, I've made it with cranberry juice, pomegranate juice, dark cherry juice, apple juice, and grape juice (my fave!).

A lot of my friends already know how to brew kombucha and there are tons of instructional sites out there for it...but ever since I started giving out my fresh kombucha starters to other friends and writing out the brewing methods, I decided to document it here, along with my new bottling methods.

So, here's what you need to start:

-1 kombucha scoby or 'baby' or starter that is kept in at least 1+ cp. of previously brewed kombucha tea.  FYI:  "SCOBY" stands for 'symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts' for those who wanted to know and get on with the lingo!

- A large pot for making the tea

- 16 cups of water

- 6 black or green tea bags *you need the caffeine for successful brewing  *stay away from flavored teas because the oils can harm your scoby.

- 1-1 1/2 cups of plain white sugar

- A large glass bowl, glass container, or beverage dispenser like you will see in my pictures (about a gallon or bigger)

- cheese cloth or light weight cotton towel and string or rubber band to cover the bowl with.

For bottling:

- About 8-10 grolsch style or flip-top bottles

- Fruit juice of your choice.  I would steer clear of citrus juices for I'm not sure how they would turn out with the kombucha.  Sounds gross to me.  Try cranberry, apple, grape, cherry, peach, pomegranate, or ginger...etc.

Here we go:

Start by boiling 16 cps. of water.  Once it is brought to a boili

ng, turn the stove off.  Slowly add in 1 - 1 1/2 cps. of plain white sugar and let the sugar completely dissolve for about 10 minutes.  Then add in the 6 tea bags (black or green....or 3 of each) and let steep for 10 more minutes.  You're basically making a huge pot of sweetened tea.

After 10 minutes, discard the tea bags.  Now let the tea cool to room temperature.  I take it off the stove and let it sit for a few hours until cooled.

Always keep your new scoby with about 1 cp. of brewed kombucha tea that has been reserved from your last batch...this helps start the fermenting process.  In this picture, I have removed my newly formed scoby and reserved it with about 1 cp. of newly fermented kombucha tea....it is set on a plate while I clean out the the glass dispenser.  I add in the cooled tea that I have just made and then gently slip this scoby into the tea, along with this reserved kombucha tea.

Next, cover the top with the cheese cloth or towel and secure with a string or rubber band - this prevents dust from settling on the tea while it is fermenting.  You will notice that your scoby might float around for a while until it settles and a new scoby starts to form.

Place your container in a warm dark place to ferment for about 7-10 days.  I place mine on the top shelf of my pantry closet.  The longer it sits, fermenting, the more vinegary it will taste.

After the 7-10 day mark, check your kombucha tea.  You will notice in my picture how a new layer of scoby has formed on top...this is exactly what you want!  Taste your 'bucha.  If it has a light cider vinegar taste with soft carbonation, it is ready.  If it is still flat, then let it sit for a few more days.  It needs to be carbonated to be ready.  It will slightly taste like hard cider.

This is the look of my new scoby layer....smooth and creamy.  Everyone's does seem to look a bit different, as I've learned from other friends.  But this is how mine always looks.  I'm always proud of my new "babies" that have formed.  You may peel this new layer off now and share it with a friend....remember to give it to them with at least a cup of your brewed kombucha tea, as well, to help preserve it and start the next fermenting batch.  Then you may start a new batch with your original 'Mother Scoby'.  When your 'Mother' starts to look brown and old after a few batches, you may discard it and use one of your babies for your next batch.  I have learned that if I don't discard my new layers, but keep them altogether each new time that I brew, the stronger and more vinegary my brew tastes.  I prefer a lighter vinegar taste, so I only brew with one layer of scoby each time.  This is my preference, but not a rule.

So, once your bucha is ready after your taste-tests, you may choose to either drink it now, straight from the dispenser or bowl....or, like me, you may bottle it with juice for a more exciting drink!  For this batch, I chose to bottle with organic cherry juice...NO added sugars.

Make sure to thoroughly wash and sterilize your bottles each time you re-use them.  Contamination is one thing to be very very alert to and careful of during the brewing/bottling process.  My husband brews beer so, thankfully, we have all the gear for sterilization.  Good, safe cleaning products and a bottle brush will also do fine.

Once your bottles are ready, fill each bottle about 1/3-1/2 full of fruit juice then fill the rest of the bottle with your kombucha tea....leave a little room at the top of the bottle for breathing.  If you choose to use grape, use less juice....I have discovered that grape is a very sugary juice.  The sugar in the juice is what will make your kombucha more and more carbonated (like in beer).  Therefore, the more sugary your juice, the more carbonated it will be.  If it gets too carbonated, your bottles could explode!  This is one reason why I use the grolsch bottles - they are so thick and sturdy and their caps are securely fastened.  But, I did have one grape explosion when I opened a bottle one day that had too much juice in it.  Grape ALL over my kitchen and me!!  So, be careful with the juice and carbonation! 

Once bottled, I set my bottles back in the pantry for about 5-7 days and then transfer to the fridge.  The longer they stay in the warm pantry, the longer it will continue to ferment.  When you transfer it to the fridge, it will slow that process down.

After that week of bottling my kombucha is ready to drink!  And look at the head on that 'bucha!!  Just beautiful!  Perfect!  Oh and it is sooooo yummy and refreshing.  

I hope this was helpful!

Here are a few other websites that are helpful with kombucha information.  I am by no means a kombucha expert...I am learning just like the rest of us.  I just wanted to share what I've learned.  Check these sites out....or write me a question if you are in the midst of brewing and have one!  

www.organic-kombucha.com

http//kombuchatea.tribe.net

www.happyherbalist.com

Chocolate coconut almond bars

I haven't been making much effort to write lately.  But, I was sitting here at the computer nibbling on my new favorite treat and thought that I needed to share them.

Check out these 'power bars'!  They are oh-so-yummy and totally give me that "fix" when I need a sweet treat (which is far too often).  Thankfully, the ingredients are everything that I keep in my pantry on a regular basis - so I can whip these up anytime.  This last time I made them, I didn't want to use all of my precious raw almonds, so I made a mixture of almonds, walnuts, and sunflower seeds and they turned out great.

This is a great blog btw, and even though I am not gluten-intolerant, she has some fun creative recipes.

My Granola

Mmmmm....mmmm...mmm...mm!  I am proud to say that I have created some fabulous granola! And, guess what?!  I'm actually willing to share the recipe!

Maple Almond Granola with Figs

1/4 cp. Rapadura (or sucanat or brown sugar)

1/2 cp. pure maple syrup

2 TB molasses

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cp. almond butter (or peanut butter)

1 tsp. salt

1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. allspice

4 cps. old fashioned organic oats

1 cp. almonds, coarsely chopped 

1/4 cp. flax seeds or flax meal

1/4 cp. sunflower seeds (or sesame seeds)

1/4 cp. shelled pumpkin seeds

1/4+ cp. unsweetened shredded coconut

1 cp. chopped dried figs

Preheat oven at 325 degrees F.  Mix all dry, 

oats -coconut, except the figs together in a large bowl.

Stir the sugar through allspice in a small saucepan over low heat until all is dissolved and mixed smoothly together.

Mix the wet in with the dry, until all is fully coated.

Spread mixture on a baking sheet that is prepared with either butter or coconut oil.  I usually need two baking sheets.  Bake for 10 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.  Now add in the figs and bake for another 5 minutes.

Enjoy!!

You can use any dried fruit and nuts you have on hand.  I had figs this week and discovered how much I love them - and they're a fun different treat from raisins or cranberries.

I am going to turn this recipe into granola bars this week, as well.  I am just going to pack all the granola tightly into the baking sheets that are lined w/parchment paper...pressing down until it is firmly packed together.  I will still bake for about 15 minutes or less, without stirring.  Then, I am going to pull it out and gently lift the parchment paper which is holding the granola and place it on a cooling rack to let it fully cool.  Then, with a very sharp large knife, I will attempt to cut it into bars.  I will post back to let you know if it worked!

Happy 'Ducken' Day

Herb roasted duck.  Cinnamon and spice roasted chicken. Mashed fingerling potatoes with creme fraische and chives. Roasted beet salad.  "Ducken" gravy (duck and chicken - for those who have not caught onto our lame sense of humor). Pomegranate Cranberry sauce.  Pumpkin Gingersnap Tiramisu. Wine, home brewed beer, home brewed kombucha. Happiness. Love.  Fun.  Frustrating cooking moments.  Laughing. Snorting. Geeky boys and their pipes.  'Nourishing' obsessed girls in the kitchen.  A True "Piscibert-Holbelli" (another reference to our geeky humor) Family Event.

  

We celebrated a Pre-Thanksgiving Feast with our good friends, the Holberts, this past weekend.  They are family to us.  Lacey and I share the same passions in the kitchen (and for the home) and so we attempted to create a gourmet feast, 'Nourishing-Style' - but mainly focused on fresh, organic, local and seasonal foods.

Here's some of the stuff we did:

I tried to prepare some fermented gingered carrots, as instructed in Nourishing Traditions...unfortunately, we found that the carrots were just not ready for our 

meal on Saturday night so we will enjoy (hopefully) them another time.  Supposedly, this recipe is one of the best for introducing fermented foods into your diet.  Check out this site to learn more about implementing fermented foods into your diet.  I'm assuming these turn out like a carrot sauerkraut.  It was super easy to make....here's the recipe:

4 cps.  grated carrots, tightly packed

1 TB fresh grated ginger root

1 TB sea salt

4 TB whey (if not available, use an additional 1 TB salt)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and pound with a wooden pounder or meat hammer to release the juices.  Place in a quart-sized jar and press down firmly until juices cover the carrots. The top of the carrots should be at least 1" below the top of the jar.  Cover tightly and leave at room temp. about 3 days before transferring to cold storage.

For the chicken, I used this recipe.

The roasted beet salad was my favorite dish.  Here's what we did:

About 6 small red beets

2 crushed garlic cloves

Dash of olive oil, S&P

Bunch of rainbow chard - enough to fill your salad bowl

About a cup+ of candied walnuts or pecans

About a cup of goat cheese

Dressing:

3 TB olive oil

1 TB honey

S&P

Mix dressing ingredients together. Scrub and peel the beets.   

Slice them thin.  Toss them in the olive oil, garlic, and S&P. Lay them out on a baking sheet and roast at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes, checking to see that they are getting soft.  When you can pierce a fork through, remove them and let cool for a few minutes.  Toss the rest of the ingredients together in salad bowl, along with the dressing and top off w/the beets.

I found the Pomegranate Cranberry Sauce in 'Food & Wine' magazine.

1 1/2 lbs. fresh or frozen cranberries

2 cups sugar (I used Rapadura)

1 cup pomegranate juice

2 cups fresh pomegranate seeds

In a medium saucepan, combine the cranberries, sugar, and juice.  Bring to a simmer and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until most of the cranberries have burst (10 min). Scrape the sauce into a bowl and let cool.  Fold in pomegranate seeds and serve.

And, finally, for dessert!  Pumpkin Gingersnap Tiramisu.  For the gingersnaps, I made my secret family recipe...so I cannot share that part! ;)  We replaced the sugar with Rapadura and topped it with eggnog whipped cream. This was a creative alternative to pumpkin pie.

We had a grand time and enjoyed every morsel.  Now for the real Thanksgiving....just a few short days away!

First Foods

This week we embarked on the adventure of solid foods for Vienne! After much research we decided to start with avocados. Avocados are considered nature's 'perfect food' - a food in which we could lively solely off of. The high healthy fat content is perfect for babies...especially for our little one who is a bit small.

But, why not start her off with cereal? Well after much reading, especially in Sally Fallon's 'Nourishing Traditions', I learned that cereal is actually the worst food to start baby off with. What?!! I know, I was confounded, as well. As it turns out, grains are actually the hardest food for humans to digest! (for more info on this read here)  Hhhmmm...makes some sense when you think about all the gluten-sensitive people you know out there, huh? Well, I guess that grains naturally have an acid on them called 'phytates'. Phytates are what make them so difficult on our digestive system. We, adults, have an enzyme, 'amylase', that helps us to digest these phytates...but it's still difficult even on our adult systems. I guess that babies do not have enough of this amylase to break down the phytates...making the acid wreak havoc on their poor little bodies. Feeding grains to babies too early may lead to grain allergies. I know that most babies seem fine when they do eat cereals...but it's all about prevention. Symptoms develop over time. Don't we want to lay down good foundations for our little ones? I learned that it is best to wait until your baby reaches 12+ months of age to feed them grains.
So, what should I feed her in the meantime? After much searching and reading, Nourishing Traditions and La Leche League both recommend animal proteins as healthy foods to start baby on because of the high protein and iron content. Softly cooked egg yolks have been strongly recommended. For me, personally though, I felt weird feeding her pureed chicken as her first introduction to foods. First off, it just sounds GROSS and secondly I have often felt that meat was a bit hard to digest as well...at least for myself. So, I opted for fruits. Avocado first and then banana. I can't wait to introduce her to more yummy goodness and watch that beautiful little mouth work and squish it all around!
And, now I'm done with my nerdy science talk....off to good eatin' and more exciting things!