If you have thought about any of the above things or are simply curious what this whole water kefir thing is about then I urge you to give it a try! You will be amazed at how good it can taste and at how fun it is to drink and prepare. Water kefir works much the same way that dairy kefir does in that you have special grains that you add a liquid mixture to and give it a while to ferment into a healthful pro-biotic drink. The difference between milk and water kefir is that with water kefir you use special water kefir grains and the liquid used to ferment is just plain sugar water. See the grains, much like our own body needs sugar to feed off of and to convert to energy. Or in the case of kefir it converts the sugar into several different forms of bacteria and yeast, with the byproduct being CO2 just like the mitochondria in our cells produce. CO2 is also what makes the kefir bubbly. With soda, the sugary syrup is force carbonate much the same way that beer in kegs is done. However when you allow the grains to mix with the sugar water and sit for a while then this process happens naturally and you end up with very little sugar if any in the end.

Here is an explanation about what water kefir grains are and how they work according to Wikipedia (however there are plently of other sources out there, I encourage you to look some up if your into that kind of thing like I am):

Tibicos, also known as tibi, water kefir grains, sugar kefir grains, Japanese water crystals and California Bees, and in older literature also known as Bébées, African bees, Ale nuts, Australian bees, Balm of Gilead, Beer seeds, Beer plant, Bees, Ginger Beer plant, Ginger bees, Japanese Beer seeds and Vinegar bees^[1] are a culture of bacteria and yeast held in a polysaccharide matrix created by the bacteria. As with kefir grains, the microbes present in tibicos act in symbiosis to maintain a stable culture. Tibicos can do this in many different sugary liquids, feeding off the sugar to produce lactic acid, alcohol (ethanol), and carbon dioxide gas which carbonates the drink.

Tibicos are found around the world, with no two cultures being exactly the same. Typical tibicos have a mix of Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Pediococcus and Leuconostoc bacteria with yeasts from Saccharomyces, Candida, Kloeckera and possibly others. Lactobacillus brevis has been identified as the species responsible for the production of the polysaccharide (dextran) that forms the grains.[

If you are curious about the alcohol content then you might find this very in-depth experiment by Kelly The Kitchen Kop and her chemist brother. You will see that they came up with >1% ABV so I don’t worry about giving some to my kids. Actually they are the real reason that I started brewing water kefir to begin with-so they could have a soda replacement that was not only not bad for them but GOOD for them.  You do have to pay attention to your ferment times, especially the secondary ferment if you are using juice which does contain sugar. The longer you ferment and the higher the sugar content then the more alcohol you will end up with.

Water kefir grains are funny looking little guys and they will take on the color of whatever you use to ferment them with. They have the same cauliflower shape of milk kefir grains but are translucent instead of white.  Mine are a light brown color because I generally only ever use rapadura sugar for its high mineral content to brew my kefir soda (You can also use sucanat or regular organic sugar with some molasses added). The point is to have a high level of minerals for the grains to feed off of. Using mineral water is recommended for the first few batches of water kefir but once the grains are actively brewing batches you can use regular filtered water if you aren’t on well water. This is especially true if you start with dehydrated grains. I actually recommend that you only use sugar and water for a primary ferment (the you do WITH the grains) and then add flavoring for a secondary ferment in grolsh bottles (AFTER you strain out the grains) to get a good carbonation level, and to make sure that you don’t contaminate or weaken your grains. This is the method that I use and my grains are super healthy and they multiply like crazy. In a month I went from having 1 tbls. of grains to over 2 cups! I give them away and they still multiply.

So with all of that being said…making it is so easy! Really it only takes a few minutes to get your grains brewing and another few minutes to bottle up the water kefir to make it carbonated and to give it a flavor that you enjoy.

Here’s what you need for 1 quart of water kefir:

1 tablespoon water kefir grains

5 Tbls. high mineral sugar (rapadura, sucanat, or a combination of organic granulated sugar and molasses)

Enough filtered or mineral water to almost fill jar

Quart sized wide mouth jar

coffee filter and rubber band to cover jar

Directions:

First combine about a cup of hot water with the sugar and stir it around to fully dissolve the sugar. Then pour the sugar water in the clean jar and add the rest of the room temperature water. Check to make sure that the water is at room temperature and not hot as you can kill your grains. One the water is cool-ish but not cold then go ahead and carefully add the grains, caring that they don’t spill out on the counter. You will need about a generous tablespoon of grains for 1 quart of sugar water.  Make sure that you have about 2-3 inches of head space in the jar and cover it with the coffee filter and rubber band to secure it. Take note of the color of your water. If you used rapadura then it should be pretty dark like mine is in the above picture. In a day or two you will notice that the water is a much lighter color like this:

After 1-3 days (length of fermenting time depends on preference and room temperature. The warmer the room the faster the fermentation will take place. I like to let the grains go for 2 days in the primary ferment and no more than 1 day in the secondary ferment when they are in grolsh flip top bottles which I highly recommend if you are going for a fizzy drink. If not then you can stick with regular jars that have a tight-fitting lid.

While your kefir is being made you will notice that it bubbles up some and some of the grains may float up to the top. You might also notice a bit of scum on the top but don’t be alarmed as it’s harmless. You can either skim it off or just mix it back in. It’s most likely just spent yeast and it’s nothing to be concerned with. Some people will add a bit of fruit to the ferment and that’s when you have to be concerned with mold, which is why I avoid mixing anything with the grains. If you do add fruit make sure that it is completely submerged in the water so you don’t attract mold.

Once your water kefir is done you can flavor it. This is the fun part! There are endless possibilities! I will share three recipes for flavoring that we all really enjoy:

Ginger-ail kefir:

In a flip top bottle fill it up about 1/3 of the way with ginger juice that you kind find at the health food store. You can also cut up some small pieces of fresh ginger for a real ginger snap. Allow to sit at room temperature for about 1 day then move the the fridge or enjoy right away over ice.

Kefir Cream Soda:

In a flip top grolsh bottle add 1 tbls. of real maple syrup (grade B preferred) and 1 small tbl. of good quality vanilla extract. Let sit at room temperature for 1 day then enjoy or store in the fridge.

Pomegranate blueberry Kefir Soda:

In a flip top bottle or glass jar with a tight-fitting lid add good quality pomegranate and blueberry juice filling it up NO MORE THAN 1/3 of the way. Adding anymore may cause too much carbonation to fill up and your soda will overflow when you go to open it up. I always open my jars over the sink because you will have this happen from time to time depending on the ratio of juice to water kefir and length of ferment time.

Enjoy! Please share your recipes and experiences and questions! I hope you love water kefir soda as much as we do!

This post is shared at Monday Mania 6/27 , Real Food Wed. 6/29,  Simple Lives Thursday #50, and Fight Back Friday 7/1 & 7/8

Last night I went into DC and saw the movie Farmageddon. I must say that it was very moving and really grabbed those emotions. I went with my husband who appreciates and puts up with all of my traditional cooking and grass-fed everything, and he was very touched by it. He is so not the type of person to be an activist about things but he told me this morning that he had a tough time getting to sleep last night because he was thinking about the attack on all the small family farms. It’s a must watch! I highly recommend it! Although it has re-lit the fire under us to get some land and become more self-sufficient-so be warned!

On the cooking front I have immersed myself in all things sourdough! I am loving this stuff! I have made so many new things and even managed to come up with a recipe of my own. Right now there are 4 loaves of bread rising slowly for spelt sandwich bread that turns our great every time!  I made an adaption to my pop-over recipe to incorporate sourdough and it went very well! I cannot believe that I waited so long to get a starter going! It’s so easy!

I have also been tipping my toes in lacto-fermenting veggies. In fact I have 3 quart of veggies pickling now and some yummy gingered carrots and beet kavas in the fridge right now.

I think my next post is going to be a tutorial on making water kefir and pickling! Or maybe peach-rhubarb cobbler, hmmm…

So, that’s what’s going on in my world and why I have been a bit absent lately. But good things will be coming soon so stay tuned! I hope all of you have had a good jump-start to your summer and I would love to hear from you about what’s going on in your world.

Then I heard the news about the new recommendations for grains soaking and sourdough really seemed to be the best option. I had read that it does that beast job in breaking down the phytic acid anyways so I decided to give it a go. But there was NO WAY I was going to wait several weeks for a completely wild starter to get going (I am way to impatient for that) and I also didn’t’ want to shell out any cash to purchase one.  So I dug around on-line some and found two ways to get a starter going quickly. I ran across two blog’s that claimed that by doing it there way you were sure to get a starter in no time. Why not, what do I have to lose I thought.

The first blog said to simply combine the flour with apple juice kefir rather that water. It claimed that the naturally occurring bacteria would jump start the starter and also help to ward off mold. I thought that was cool so I followed the directions and mixed up 2/3 flour with 2/3 cup apple juice kefir and let it site for about a day. This option is great if you are currently brewing water kefir because you can simply add organic apple juice in the secondary ferment.  But being the nerd that I am, I wanted to try another way because surely it could be this simple. That led me to another blog that said to add some salt, sugar, and raw potato to the flour mixture. Ok….a little weird gave it a try. On this one I decided to REALLY geek it up and try one batch with unbleached white flour and the other with regular whole grain flour (the first one was whole grain flour too). I figured that the white flour starter would be faster because it was lighter and didn’t have much to compete with the wild yeast and bacteria-I was correct in that assumption (it got fluffier and lighter first anyhow)

From left to right: apple juice kefir with whole grain flour, potato-sugar-salt combo with whole grain flour, potato-sugar-salt combo with unbleached white flour (This is at about day 1-2)

The Verdict? I would say that if you have water kefir grains that you should go for the apple juice kefir starter as it was super fast, even using 100% whole grain flour. If you don’t then I would go for the potato combo one but use white flour (depending on how much of a rush you are because you will most likely want to convert it to whole grain after after it’s matured)

See, the potato mixture one with whole grain got a lot of hooch on it very very quickly and didn’t bubble up much until about 5 days later. The hooch is ok, but being new at sourdough I was a little weirded out by it. I just poured it off and added more flour and water (this is called a feeding) and it was ok. The hooch develops because the bacteria is eating the yeast quickly and the hooch is actually just spent yeast (I think). Although in retrospect I think that if I added a bit less of the grated potato that the recipe called for this wouldn’t happen. That’s what I did with the white flour one and there was no hooch at all. The hooch also makes for a more sour tasting final product but doesn’t effect the quality at all. And I should add that everything I have made with sourdough so far has only had a very mild sourdough taste.

This is the hooch I was talking about

This is in the same order as the other comparison shot I took-notice the major bubble action on the white flour one?

Comparing the two potato-sugar-salt starters: both after 2 days

This one was my favorite and it became the one that I ended up using. Eventually I put the white flour one in the fridge but not until I made my first sourdough recipe which was English Muffins! I also ended up just combining the whole wheat potato mixture starter to the apple juice kefir recipe and now that’s the only one that I use. I also leave it out at room temperature because I use it nearly everyday.

Here are the starter recipes, choose which one you want to use and PLEASE let me know how it goes if you do!

Potato mixture from A Good and Simple Life:

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. salt*
1 tsp. sugar*
1 grated raw potato, small to medium sized* ( Note that I used less potato with good results and I also gave each version a 1/3 cup feeding of each water and flour after 24 hours and then again every 12 hours)

Apple Juice Kefir Recipe from Coooking Traditional Foods:

2/3 cup apple juice kefir

2/3 cup flour (I used whole wheat flour)

How To:

Just combine it and let it sit for 24 hours. I did this but didn’t notice much more than a couple of bubbles and a very sour smell so I fed it 2/3 cup each of apple juice kefir and flour for the first 2 subsequent feedings spread out 12 hours each then I just switched to water and flour. After 2 days it was ready to go, but I waited 3 days to allow it to mature a bit more.

Some Notes:

• Make sure your container is large enough after the 1st day to accommodate the mixture doubling or even tripping

• make sure that you stir it each time you feed it VERY well taking care to incorporate air into the starter to give the yeast and bacteria into the starter

• Cover your starter with something that allows air flow-I started off in a quart sized mason jar with a coffee filter on top but eventually moved to a larger bowl with a tea towel or hand towel

• Don’t feed it more that 3 times it’s volume at one time- ex. if you have a cup of starter don’t add more that 3 cups each of flour and water

• Understand that the temperature of your room will have an effect on how quickly your starter gets going. Around 80 degrees is an ideal temperature

• Don’t have the starter in too close of a proximity with other ferments like kefir or kombucha that you have going or it could cause cross-contamination of your ferment and the starters will weaken over time

• Have FUN! Really, you will be so psyched when you see those bubbles going and see how the starter rises up and then falls back down once it’s reached its “active phase”

Finally, I want to highly recommend taking The GNOWFGLINS e-course for sourdough. I have learned so much about sourdough after only using it one week and tried out a TON of recipes that she has on there. There are recipes for pancakes, English muffins, muffins, cornbread, pizza dough, bread, etc. The cost is very reasonable and you also get access to her other e-courses  and an active on-line forum. And NO I’m not getting paid to say that-it’s really that good.

That’s it, I hope you enjoyed my comparison of two sourdough starters. Three really if you count the different flours used with the potato mixture. Please let me know how it works for you!

This post is shared at Real Food Friday6/10 and Fresh Bites Friday 6/10, and Monday Mania 6/13, and Real Food Wed. 6/15, and Simple Lives Thursday# 48 and Fight Back Friday 6/17

by:  Julie Hunter

This post was written by a friend of mine, Julie Hunter.  Over the past several months almost a year she made the personal decision to cut sugar completely out of her diet. The following is her personal story about how and why she made the change. She also shares some of the struggles she has had and also the great payoff that it has made in her health. Julie has shared a very easy home-made sugar free chocolate recipe that I can’t wait to try. I hope you enjoy reading about her journey and find it as inspiring as I have. I made a small change already by cutting out sugar in my morning coffee. If you have any questions I’m sure Julie wouldn’t mind popping over and answering them!

In September of last year, upon the advice of my wonderful doctor (and countless hours of surfing the internet for advice), I made a decision to kick my sugar habit to the curb once and for all. There was no way this was going to be easy, and there was no way I could just “cut back”. It had to be all or nothing, and it had to be right away.  My health was at stake, and I had put it off long enough.

I have always been addicted to sugar (note my use of the present tense there – it’s like being in AA… I will always be an addict). I grew up baking in my spare time, and had begun to carry on the tradition with my three-year old daughter, who had by that point become a total addict herself. We were making and eating cakes, breads, pies, and cookies every few days, and I often found myself completely out of willpower when faced with a moment alone and a counter full of yummy snacks.  “I have no idea how that cake disappeared so quickly, Honey!”  You all know how that goes.

I had previously been on a wheat-free and dairy-free diet for two and a half years while breastfeeding my daughter, but once she was weaned, I began to eat everything in sight, maybe making up for lost time, and quickly gained about fifteen pounds. I also gained a systemic yeast imbalance, which my body had probably been struggling with for years. The answer to my problems? As simple as it was difficult, I had to give up sugar and starve the yeast back into submission until it returned to normal levels (we all carry yeast in our guts, but when it gets out of control, an imbalance occurs – a systemic infection, if you will). And when I say give up sugar, I mean give up ALL forms of sugar. No

honey, no maple syrup, no sweeteners of any kind, with just one exception: stevia, which I discuss more in-depth below.

So how does an addict cope with and get over the inevitable sugar cravings? This is where the best piece of advice my doctor gave me comes in. To decrease sugar cravings, increase your saturated fat intake. Yes, plain and simple! I bought a ton of stevia as a back-up. Well, they are both my new best friends – saturated fat, mostly in the form of yummy healthy coconut oil, and then the stevia.  I managed to sail through Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas last year with nary a concern and not a single crystal of sugar.  I didn’t even hit the artificial stuff (that came later, when emotional stress eating reared its head and I got desperate, but that’s another story). Once I was off of sugar, and got accustomed to the upheaval in our family dietary habits, cooking, shopping, etc., I felt great. I felt wonderful, in fact. My skin cleared up, the bloat went away, I got sick less often, and I felt lighter! Within a couple of short months, I had lost ten pounds without even trying, and another ten would soon follow.

I am now eight months into this no sugar thing, and I still feel better than I have in a long time. I entertain thoughts of going back on sugar someday, once my system is completely back to normal (which may be less than another month). But just as often, I entertain thoughts of never ever touching the stuff again. Time will tell, I suppose, but I most surely have learned a lot. More than I ever imagined, in fact. And take it from me – what I have learned is some scary stuff! A friend from Europe remarked to me at one point that avoiding sugar ought to be easy. Well, in this country, my friend, it ain’t. There is sugar, in one form or another, in every.dang.thing. It is *everywhere*, and sometimes it’s not even listed on the label. Case in point: I just ate some fries from Wendy’s the other day when a friend offered me some. You know, the new ones they say are 100% natural cut potato, and the company’s own nutritional information says

they have no sugar? Yeah, well, it turns out they are dusted with dextrose before leaving the factory. Yup. Sugar. Why would they do that? Because we are all addicts, and they want us to keep coming back for more.  Case in point: a Spanish friend years ago, upon visiting the States, couldn’t get over how delicious the juice was here. Back home, he had a small amount a day at most, and while he liked it, it wasn’t on his list of favorites. Here, in contrast, he couldn’t get enough of it. He questioned why it was so, and I defended my country and its juice. Hmm… how wrong I was! Turns out the natural fresh-squeezed, unprocessed juice they drink over there is a far cry from what we get here.

So, I have had sugar slip-ups now and then, but they have all been accidents, and in each case I was unaware of the sugar content until after the fact. One particularly hurried day, I ordered a fast food cheeseburger (hold the bun), and forgot it had ketchup on it until I had scarfed it down. I was literally sick to my stomach for three days afterwards. I have also allowed myself a small degree of sugar alcohols in certain things, when I cannot find a satisfactory replacement. It is quite possible that this is part of why I have yet finished reversing my system imbalance. But I don’t mind anymore having to be on this diet, to tell the truth. I get frustrated more than I would like, yes – like when I find it near impossible to eat out because there’s nothing safe for me to order. Or when I have to cook two separate meals because my family is sick of eating only things that are safe for me to eat. But I feel good. I look good. And I am secure in the knowledge that I am not only doing what’s best for my gut short term, but also making a huge life change that will positively impact all of my remaining years. I hope, as well, that I am also setting an example for my daughter of what will power can do, and what healthy eating is really like (minus the aforementioned fast food).

The most difficult part of being sugar-free? Well, there are two hard parts. Eating out at restaurants is a near impossibility, because there is always hidden sugar, and sometimes not even the chefs are aware, unless you go someplace upscale that uses all fresh ingredients and you ask, ask, and ask again. Also a pain – snacks. I know that part of why I have been dropping the pounds so quickly is because there just aren’t enough good snack options for someone who is sugar-free. Even crackers often have sugar. There are only so many carrots and bell peppers I can eat! The answer of course, is fresh vegetables and fruits, but I still find it difficult to just grab something and rush out the door. In the end, I know this is better for me anyway. It puts an end to the kind of mindless eating that gets us all in trouble.

So what are some of my tips and tricks? I already mentioned the one about increasing saturated fat intake. I’ve mentioned stevia, but let me expound upon that one. Stevia is the only truly natural sugar-free sweetener you can get. It is 100% natural and safe, made from a leaf that is dried and ground up. You can even grow it yourself in your garden. It does have a slight aftertaste, but you do get used to it, and there are ways around that taste, anyhow. It turns out that stevia combines particularly well with citrus flavors, so add lemon flavored stevia to yogurt, for example, and voila – lemon yogurt with a touch of sweetness. It can be used in baking, with a few caveats, and I use it in my coffee every day. Another tip? Once you go off sugar, everything else tastes sweeter. You haven’t tasted a red pepper, a butternut squash, or a carrot until you’ve walked in sugar-free shoes!  My latest trick, which I share with you below, was passed on to me by a friend who has been on her own sugar-free diet for a few months longer than me. Chocolate. Oh yes, that had been  a tough one to give up, and even though I came up with my own way to make and enjoy hot chocolate during the winter months, the elusive chocolate bar was still out of reach. I mean… I must have chocolate! Well, below is the happy answer.

So, it is a learning process to go sugar-free, and it is not without its difficulties and inconveniences. But  is totally do-able, and really is worth the effort. There are more and more people doing it every day, believe me, and there are plenty of resources out there to help you through it. Find a like-minded friend, and go for it!

Julie before on the right and Julie after being sugar free on the left ( I think she looks great both

ways!)

VS.

——————————————————————————————

Homemade Chocolate with Stevia

Cashew butter (peanut or almond would also work) – approx. 2 tbsp

Coconut oil – approx. 1.5 tbsp

Cocoa powder – approx. 1 tbsp

Stevia powder – approx. 1/2 tsp

Food safe mold (to pour chocolate into)

Optional –coconut flakes, chopped nuts, almond or vanilla extract, or whatever else you like to add to chocolate

1. Melt the cashew butter and coconut oil in a double boiler (I just set a pyrex cup into a small pot filled with an inch of water)
2. Pour into a mold of some sort and chill in the freezer until set.
3. That’s it! These can be transferred to the fridge afterward if you like, but I prefer to keep them frozen. Because of the coconut oil in them, they *will* melt a bit in your fingers as you eat them. But since when is that a bad thing?

This is shared at Real Food Wed. 6/8,  Healthy2Day,  Hearth and Soul blog hop #51, Pennywise Platter Thurs. 6/9, Simple Lives Thursday # 47, and Fight Back Fridays 6/10

Obama Deregulates GMO Crops Despite Supreme Court Injunction

(Photo Credit)

See the deal is that phytic acid is something (a compound) that is attached directly to the bran in your food. The bran is the place that contains (is bound to) all the good things in your food-the reason to eat whole grains, beans,etc. in the first place. I’m talking about the calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc. So the bran is attached to all the good stuff and the phytic acid is attached to the bran. The phytic acid sort of holds the good stuff hostage so to speak. If you don’t break it down by either in fermenting (the best option-think sourdough), through soaking the grains, or sprouting (also a very good option) then you might as well not even bother with the whole grains, etc. in my opinion. How do we know all of this? Well it’s been a long road in the world of food science and this topic has been studied over the past several decades.  One can get pretty geeked (ME!) out about this topic and if you are a research junkie as I am you should really consider downloading “The Phytic Acid White Paper” for about $15. ( This is where most of the above information is from) It’s worth it and Amanda Roses’ tireless research really comes to life in her real life approach to preparing foods and the reduction of phytic acid and other enzyme inhibitors. She also offers an e-course that goes with it for folks who would like even more information and ways to apply it in their cooking.

Now having said all of that about WHY phytic acid should be avoided the question is HOW do we easily remove it from our foods? The old word is that you can soak your grains in an acid solution such as buttermilk, yogurt, and dairy kefir. Well recent research says that calcium can actually INHIBIT the breakdown process and that you should just use warm water instead. You can still use water with vinegar or lemon juice and I would imagine that water kefir and komucha are ok but I’m not sure how they would fair in many recipes. So, for now I will stick with soaking my grains in plain warm filtered water. Better yet still is sourdough! I have been putting off creating a starter but after reading this research and knowing that there are TONS of recipes out there using a sourdough starter I realized that my excuses were over. HOWEVER I am NOT doing it old school with just water and flour as I simply don’t have the patience that it takes to wait for it to be ready. I ran across a cool recipe on Coooking Traditional Foods that says you simply combine equal parts whole grain flour with apple juice water kefir. So, we shall see how that goes I am very hopeful about it.

If you do plan on soaking your grains then ditch the kefir and use slightly more warm water than flour and let it soak the usual amount of time which is 7-24 hours. 12 hours is a pretty good bet, especially for your morning breakfast routine. Simply combine warm water with your oats and a touch of flour the night before, put the lid on to keep it as warm as possible and cook it in the morning. Keep in mind that cooking time is cut in half by soaking your grains so your morning oatmeal routine is even faster when you take the time to soak them the night before.It’s also important to point out that freshly ground flour takes a little less time to break down the phytic acid in addition to its superior flavor, texture, and nutritional value; so you can stick closer to 5-7 hours at the least when the flour is fresh.

As for beans-just give them a good long soak as you usually would taking care to start with very warm filtered water. 18 hours is the recommended soak time for most beans. A good tip is to soak a lot of beans, partially cook them and then pop about half of them in the freezer so you can grab them anytime for a quick bean dinner.

Confused yet? Perplexed? I hope  not. All of this phytic acid stuff can seem a bit overwhelming at first and I will admit that it took me a while to really get it in my head and apply it. I was certainly surprised to find out that my kefir soaked grains may not be as beneficial as I thought but I won’t let that stop me from doing the best I can for my family’s health-I hope you don’t either! Just take a deep breath and jump in-slowly is usually the best approach as it’s more likely to stick. I suggest jumping right in with sourdough, but that’s just my style. 

UPDATE:

As I said in this post I have gotten the research from “The White Paper” written by Amanda Rose which I highly recommend. I have not read the scientific articles that she has listed in her works cited page myself but I trust the research that she has done on this topic. I am literally quoting from her paper the works cited that she used in writing this paper to give readers a better idea on the truth in this whole phytic acid issue.

Works Cited
Ahmad S. and D.K. Pathak, 2000. Nutritional changes in soybean during germination. Journal of Food Science and Technology, India 37 (6): 665-666.
Babu, S. 1976. Effect of germination on folic acid content of Bengalgram and ragi. Indian Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics 13 (5): 139-141.
Bæch, S.B., M. Hansen, K. Bukhave, M. Jensen, S. S. Sørensen, L. Kristensen, P. P. Purslow, L. H. Skibsted and B. Sandström, 2003. Nonheme-iron absorption from a phytate-rich meal is increased by the addition of small amounts of pork meat. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 77(1): 173-179.
Bohn, T., L. Davidsson, T. Walczyk, and R. Hurrell. 2004. Phytic acid added to white wheat bread inhibits fractional apparent magnesium absorption in humans. Journal of Clinical Nutrition 79(3): 418-23.
Czerniejewski, C.P., C.W. Shank, W.G. Bechtel, and W.B. Bradley. 1964. The minerals of wheat, flour and bread. Cereal Chemistry 41(2): 65-72. Egli, I., L. Davidsson, M.A. Juillierat, D. Barclay, and R. Hurrell. 2003. Phytic Acid Degradation in Complementary Foods Using Phytase Naturally Occurring
in Whole Grain Cereals. Journal of Food Science 68(5): 1855-9.
Egli, I., L. Davidsson, and C. Zeder. 2004. Dephitinization of Complementary Foods Based on wheat and soy increased zinc, but not copper, apparent absorption in adults. Journal of Nutrition 134(5): 1077-80.
Egounlety M and OC Aworth. 2003. Effect of soaking, dehulling, cooking and fermentation with Rhizopus oligosporus on the oligosaccharides, trypsin inhibitor, phytic acid and tannins of soybean (Glycine max Merr.), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) and groundbean (Macrotyloma geocarpa Harms).
Journal of Food Engineering 56 (2/3): 249-254.
Engelmann, Mads D. M, Lena Davidsson, Brittmarie Sandstrom, Thomas Walczyk, Richard F. Hurrell, and Kim Michaelsen, 1998. The Influence of Meat on Nonheme Iron Absorption in Infants. Pediatric Research 43(6): 768-773.
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This post is shared at Real Food Wed. 6/1 at Kelly the Kitchen Kop,  Simple Lives Thursday #46, Hearth and Soul Blog Hop 5/30,  Living Well Blog Hop #1 , Fight Back Fridays 6/3, and Monday Mania 6/6

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I usually like to make triple berry jam and not just plain strawberry jam but I didn’t have any other berries ready to go today when I set out to make my jam. I will be writing a post soon about my experience making jam, although it didn’t go as smoothly this time around.

Well that little detour brings me to talk about what I’m cooking up for dinner tonight. This is the third week now where I have asked everyone to chime in and share a meal that they made this weekend. It’s a great weekend for it too because it’s Memorial weekend and most people are hitting the grill pretty hard. Today we are grilling up some grass-fed boneless chops that are fresh off the press from my meat pick-up yesterday. We are topping it off with a nice garden salad filled with all the goodies I got at my CSA pickup this past week, and skillet cornbread with freshly ground corn. And if I have any energy left my wonderful husband, who eagerly (mostly) helped me hull and mash all those strawberry’s, has asked for some strawberry sorbet. I think I will humor him on that one, especially since we mashed up some extra berry’s already.

So, what are you all cooking up this weekend? Please share! And post a recipe too if you like! I am actually going to be making shortcake with the recipe shared on the first “What’s on Your Plate Sunday”.  We have a BBQ with Justin’s family (Justin in my hubby) to go to tomorrow and they always appreciate a good desert.

So anyways, I searched on-line for different recipes and tried different ones and they were all very good. I learned how to make different toppings for them, trying to avoid just straight ketchup as I’m not really a huge fan of the stuff. It reminds me of when I was waiting tables with my good friend Lisa Gale like 10 years ago and we used to have to fill up the containers with this bulk bag of ketchup. I think it just spilled all over me way to many times and I would have to walk around all day smelling like it, it just eeked me out.  I don’t mind ketchup if it’s IN things but you won’t find me dipping my french fries in it or anything. Maybe when I start making my own but I haven’t done that just yet.

So anyways, I digress.  This is a pretty straight forward recipe, and also very forgiving with seasonings and such.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 lb. grass-fed beef
• 1 lb. grass-fed Italian sausage
• 1/2 cup oats (or enough to make sure it molds together)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic through your garlic press (or finely diced)
• Season to your liking (go gently though because the sausage has plenty):
• sea salt, pepper, and adobo

For The Topping:

• 1 cup ketchup
• dash or two of hot sauce
• 1 tbl. buckwheat honey or molasses
• 1 tbls. rapadura sugar
• 2 cloves garlic through garlic press or finely diced

The How To:

First pre-heat the oven to 375. Then combine all the ingredients for the loaf part and let it sit while you combine everything for the topping. Now grease a 9 x 13 inch pan and place the loaf part into the pan, patting down on it so it conforms to the pan. It doesn’t need to be exact as it will shrink up some as it cooks. Now just pour the topping all over the meat and pop it in the oven for about an hour. You might want to check it half way through and drain off any excess grease. Let it rest a few minutes before you serve it. It’s really very easy and so good! I served it with buttered egg noodles which was good, but so would creamy mashed potatoes and a salad!

Serves about 6

(Picture taken before cooking it)

This recipe was originally adapted from Kitchen Stewardships baked granola recipe.

You will need:

• 4 1/2 cups rolled oats (soaked and dried for better nutrient assimilation)
• 1/2 cup whole grain flour-can use spelt, whole wheat pastry, or regular whole wheat flour
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• 1/2 cup grass-fed butter
• 1/2 cup raw honey
• 1/2 maple syrup- grade B is the best
• 4 tbls. organic peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp real sea salt
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1 cup raisins
• chocolate chips (optional but use bittersweet if you do)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1-2 tsp. good quality vanilla extract

The how to:

First you want to melt the butter, syrup, honey, and peanut butter over med/low heat. Allow the mixture to gently bubble up and boil for about 10 mins., stirring often. While the mixture is bubbling GENTLY away, you can go ahead and mix the oats and flour. After the wet mixture has cooked long enough go ahead and add it to the oats and flour and combine it all together. Now is when you add in the other items and mix everything together very well.  Now put the mixture into a well-greased 9×13 inch pan and pat it down as hard as you can. You really want to mash it in there. You can use your hands or parchment paper if you don’t want to get sticky. Next, you just pop it in the oven at 325 for 10-15 mins.

Take it out and let it cool a minute or so before you press down on the granola again. Allow to cool completely before cutting them into small-sized bars. This process can be expedited by putting it into the fridge. If you find that bars are a bit crumbly when you cut them, you can pop them in a dehydrator for an hour or so but it’s not required for this recipe to work. These bad boys are GOOD even if they are a tad crumbly. I cut the honey content way down and subbed the maple syrup for this recipe because I found that it was way to sweet with the full cup of honey that the original recipe called for. You can also experiment with adding more peanut butter, as this just gives a light peanut butter taste. Enjoy!

This recipe shared at Fresh Bites Friday 5/27 , Pennywise Platter Thursday 5/26, Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist 5/30,  Melt in Your Mouth Mondays week 15,  and Real Food Wed. 7/6