I’m plugging right along on the Real Food Challenge! This week focused on fermented foods, and the proper preparation of nuts, seeds and legumes.
Day #15: What’s a SCOBY? After several months making kombucha, I’ve more or less abandoned it. I am the only one drinking it, so I’m focusing now on water and milk kefir instead. Almost everyone will drink water kefir double-brewed into something resembling grape soda, and if I want a special treat, I’ll make some coconut kefir with coconut water. I was very relieved when I listened to Cheeseslave’s podcast with Julie Feickert at Cultures for Health. I didn’t know if I could use raw milk to make kefir, or if it needed to be heated first. But, she reassured me that I don’t need to heat my milk to kefir-ize it! YAY!
Day #16: Get Cultured (Veggies) We are still working on training our palates for cultured veggies. Right now I have pickled red peppers, fermented turnips and rutabagas and sauerkraut in the fridge. I’m so glad that all I need is a forkful for the beneficial bacteria to get into my diet! We’re still working on the kids. Usually the conversation goes like this:
“What’s for dinner, Mom?”
“Something from a jar.” (That’s what we call our ferments)
“What ELSE?”
“AFTER something in a jar? We have meatloaf, mashed potatoes and salad.”
I’m trying to encourage them to remember the ferments once a day, but sometimes even I forget! I’ll know I’ve reached my goal when the kids remind me that there’s nothing fermented on the dinner table!
Day #17: Yogurt and Cultured Dairy I love mesophilic yogurt. Between heating the milk and keeping the culture at a certain temperature, thermophilic yogurt can be a real pain. But adding the culture to the milk then setting it on the counter? That I can do.
Day #18: Cheesemaking for Everyone I like substituting yogurt cheese for cream cheese. It has a good consistency and flavor. When cucumbers are in season, one of our favorite ways to use yogurt cheese is filled between rings of cucumber! Yum!
Day #19: Nuts & Seeds We use nuts and seeds very sparingly here. I do soak and dehydrate them because even though the jury is still out on the phytic acid debate, we have a history of the dental problems that Rami Nagel says can be worsened by phytic acid intake. It’s just not a big deal for us to soak or sprout anyway, so I usually do.
Day #20: Preparing Beans & Legumes I almost always sprout beans and legumes. I find that sprouting them makes them far, far less “gassy.” The only reason I wouldn’t sprout them, but only add an acid when soaking, would be if I didn’t plan right and I didn’t have the lead time to sprout them. But I’m definitely getting better about that!
Come check on all the participants’ progress and see what’s shaking next on the Real Food Challenge over at Nourished Kitchen!
The Dark Side of Fat Loss
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February 22, 2010 at 11:51 am
Maggie
Okay, first… I owe you an email. I’m getting there. Not super fast. But I’m getting there.
Now… After you sprout your beans/legumes, do you use them the same way as before, like in chili or soup or however you use them? Or have you adopted different was of using them?
I tried kombucha. We’re not friends. I do like milk kefir though. Have you made any flavored versions? Is that possible at home? I’d like to try water kefir. How do you do your grape soda-ish version?
I am really, really confident my kids would not remind me if I forgot to put fermented foods on the table. If that was a game-deciding question on a game show, I could be rich. “No, they wouldn’t remind me. That’s my final answer.”
I’m so impressed by how much you’ve done.
February 22, 2010 at 4:05 pm
Local Nourishment
Now, keep in mind, Maggie, I’ve been doing this for just over a year! This course was kind of a “refresher session” for me. And I’m still learning…
I do use the sprouted legumes exactly the same way I would use non-sprouted. They cook a tad faster, but otherwise there’s almost no difference. And because I’m only sprouting them to about 1/2 inch, it’s not like the kids have to deal with “tentacles.”
I read your Ode to Kombucha. I’ve never had one blow up on me (yet) but I can sure see how it could happen! Oh my yes, we flavor it. I’m not a fan of tea to begin with! We usually use a ratio of 90-10 tea to fruit juice after removing the mother. Then I leave it at room temp so the tea can “ferment” a little sugar out of the juice before I refrigerate it. It’s still pretty tangy, though!
For milk kefir, we add flavors after the ferment, but I refrigerate it or use it right after the flavor is added. Our #1 biggest use of milk kefir here is in smoothies. Here’s the recipe I use for my water kefir soda pop: http://www.cheeseslave.com/2009/06/05/how-to-make-homemade-soda-pop-with-kefir-grains/ We bottle it in washed GT Kombucha bottles, but you can even keep it in a canning jar and it will be quite happy. I have found water kefir to be one of the least “snobbish” cultures I’ve dealt with!
February 23, 2010 at 10:05 pm
Jenny @ Nourished Kitchen
I love the “something from a jar” for dinner! We do that too – it makes suppers so easy. Meat, veggies, greens and something for jar.