Homesteading: Why we have chosen to move to a home with land - Part 1

Since moving to a home where we have land, one of my goals has been to provide our family with all of our food right here at home. Why? I think first and foremost, my desire comes from the instinct to take care of my family, especially my children. For the past five years I have been learning about different food ideologies. There are many, including myself, who are very passionate about providing our bodies with the healthiest food we can. No matter where my research has lead me, one thing I could consistently take away is that our food today, whether organic or not, is void of much of its nutrients, caused primarily because of poor farming practices. So, what can I do? I could choose the route of adding supplements to our diet to help fill out was is missing in food. However, for me there is one problem with this approach. I don't believe we truly understand vitamins and minerals yet, especially how they work with one another within our body. It's why there is a steady flow of changing information on what to take for the best overall health. Instead I've decided I'd rather focus on growing the most nutrient rich food I can in a sustainable way and allow it to nourish our bodies.

Beyond the overall nutrition, I realize it's also not just enough to feed my children, I also feel it's important that they understand food; how it's grown, where it comes from and why it's so important for their bodies. I hope as they work in the garden, and this year start a garden of their own, they can begin to learn to appreciate nature and how God called us to be stewards of the land.

How to Make Kefir w/ Kefir Grains & more helpful information

Three or four years ago I started making my own yogurt and it's been a fun experiment project as I've tested various methods to come up with the best process for my family. Well perhaps, not always fun, because while learning I've ruined plenty of milk for one reason or another. In that time I've been reading about the many benefits of drinking milk Kefir. For a quite a while, I wasn't ready to add another step in my daily/weekly food routine. However, once I was, I then wasn't sure how to actually go about making Kefir. Sometime over the course of the last couple of years I heard about Kefir grains, but I had no idea how to actually get any. They aren't exactly something you find at the local grocery store or co-op. About 6 - 8 months ago I was finally able to purchase some grains online through Cultures for Health. By this point I was thrilled to finally start another step in my real food journey. However after only using my Kefir grains for a couple of months I accidentally threw them away because I didn't clearly mark the jar they were stored in in the refrigerator. Oops. I reached out to my Twin Cities Weston Price chapter and one very kind woman passed on to me some of her grains. Then about two months ago, another kind woman passed on another type of Kefir grain and I now once again have experiments going on in the kitchen as I compare the two types to see which makes the best Kefir.

Since I've kind of gone ahead of myself and some of you may be thoroughly confused... Kefir.... grain... let me share some of the things I've learned over the last couple of months.

What is Milk Kefir and Kefir Grains

Milk Kefir is a probiotic beverage made with milk (cow, goat or other animals milk and even coconut milk). These so called grains are actually a combination of more than 30 bacteria and yeasts. From what I've read yogurt contains as few as  2 or 3 types of bacteria. What a difference between the two. Al Sears, MD shares in his article Mysterious Magic Milk,

"Kefir grains are nothing like the foods we call grains today. Each one looks like a small version of cauliflower. The granules are made up of colonies of healthy bacteria that grow together, symbiotically, in a culture of the milk protein casein. And it's all held together by a sugary matrix name kefiran. The bacteria are the same types of 'flora' that are an integral part of your digestive system, and may even help you make B vitamins."

History

Kefir grains have a fascinating history, actually several histories, because there is some debate about where they actually originated.  The most popular belief is the grains came from the Ossetians, a tribe of people living in the Caucasus Mountain. 

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Azerbajian_landscape.jpg

The Kefir grains were highly prized and kept well guarded by the Muslim people of the area who believed they were a blessing from Allah. Generation after generation passed down the grains and the knowledge of how to use them.

Another belief is the Kefir grains were the manna provided by God to feed the Israelites during their 40 years of wondering in the desert before they were lead by Moses to the promise land. I've also read that there are those who believe, " that an angel descended from heaven to teach Abraham how to make kefir." (Shirley Tesser http://www.aldo.com/sgt/TesslerOnKefir2.htm#_ftn7)

Preserving Milk and Storage

Kefir is an excellent way to preserve fresh milk for longer periods of time, especially prior to the advent of refrigeration. It can be stored in the refrigerator for several months or on the counter (length of time would depend on the temperature in the room). The site Seeds For Health shares some useful information on this topic:

"Store the kefir in a glass jar in the fridge. The kefir will keep a long time in the fridge. Add new batches of kefir to the storage jar as they are made and give it a shake to mix them. You can store it on the kitchen counter instead of the fridge but be aware that it will continue to ferment, although not as fast as it would with the kefir grains in it. If you want to do that you should always use jars with a rubber seal that will allow excess pressure to escape and prevent possible explosions! It can be a very vigorous culture and has caused jars to explode when stored out of a fridge over a period of time. A kilner jar is good. The beneficial bacteria and yeasts help to prevent the kefir from spoiling but it gets very sour and fizzy. Not for the fainthearted!"

 Once you've made your Kefir, if it's your desire to take a break before making the next batch, the grains can be stored in a clean glass jar with a lid in a couple cups of milk. They can be kept this way for several weeks in the refrigerator. When you want to make more Kefir, pull the jar out of the fridge, remove lid and cover the jar opening with a towel (see instructions. below) and cont. to make Kefir like usual. 

What To Do With Excess Kefir Grains

As you make Kefir, you'll begin to notice that the grains will grow in quantity and/or size. To make a good Kefir, it's wise to keep a 1 part Kefir grain to 7 parts milk ratio (Dom's Kefir website). This will mean you need to either remove some of the grains as they produce more or increase the quantity of milk you ferment. I personally ferment about a 1/2 gallon of kefir at a time. With 4 of us drinking it, this last us two days, which is about the time it takes to make the next batch. 

When you start to have too many grains, this is an excellent time to share your "wealth" and pass on this excellent probiotic to friends. Another options is to eat the grains themselves. They are excellent for your health.

You can also choose to dehydrate them and put them away for as long as 18 months. To do this, remove grains from milk/Kefir, gently rinse them off with purified water or water that has been boiled and then allowed to cool. Set them on a clean, sanitized towel (one recommendation to sanitize the towel is to iron it before using it) and allow it to absorb the excess water on the grains. Place in dehydrator or leave on counter with some type of netting over top to keep flies off and allow to dry until they are hard. They will become opaque and yellow. This usually takes 2-4 days. They can then be stored in an airtight container for up to 18 months. It can be helpful to store them in in powdered milk, enough to cover the grains, during this time and keep them in the refrigerator. The dried grains can be eaten as they are or re-hydrated and used to make future Kefir.

Powdered Kefir Culture

It should be mentioned that you can also make Kefir from a powdered Kefir culture, but you aren't getting the same quality product. There is a greater investment because you must use a new packet of powdered culture for each batch of kefir you make. Where as with Kefir grains, they will live forever as long as you take care of them. The powdered culture also only has about 6 probiotic cultures versus about 30 with the Kefir grains.

Where to Get Kefir Grains

If you can, try to get your hands on Kefir grains from someone who is already making Kefir on a regular basis. The grains multiply themselves on their own and most people who have extra are always willing to share. That's how Kefir grains have continued to survive so many different cultures for so long. However, since we don't all have access to friends with Kefir grains on hands, they can be purchased online. Cultures for Health is one excellent online store to check out. They have a wide variety of cultured items you can purchase for home use, as well as, fabulous information and "how to" videos. I strongly encourage anyone who isn't familiar with this site, to see what they are about and check out some of their great products.

Kefir Grains Don't All Look the Same

I have two "types" of Kefir grains. One looks very similar to cottage cheese, each grain basically being an individual piece.  Then there is clumping Kefir. The grains are all stuck together and look like a small (or large) piece of cauliflower. What I've come to learn through Dom's Kefir webiste is that the clumping Kefir, as I call it, is actually the Mother grain. The Mother can range in size and shape. The smaller pieces are the baby-grains. Dominic Anfiteatro share on his very informative site:

Traditional kefir grains of Caucasus is a fascinating natural mother-culture. Each granular body is formed through the effort of a dynamic, or symbiotic relationship shared among the complex microflora [bacteria and yeast], which render an irregular sheath, composed of protein, polysaccharide and lipid complex. The irregular fashioned sheath forms as a multiple irregular body with many lobules to create each kefir grain. I refer to these lobules as baby-grains, formed together as a mother-grain. The irregular lobules have a natural tendency to form as self-enclosed bio-structures or bodies, having a similar growth-signature to each other, with some variation between each baby-grain. The lobules are conjoined at a common midsection, radiating outwardly to form a mother-grain [a complete grain with all lobules attached]. On appearance, the growth pattern of conjoined baby-grains share self-similarity with the mother-grain, which it forms together as one body. Some kefir grains share similarity with the physical structure [morphology] of the brain, pancreas, and other internal body organs.

After a period of time, and possibly due to external stress or physical trauma, one or more lobular bodies detach from any particular mother-grain. The smaller bodies, or baby-grains, eventually propagate into mother-grains, usually by increasing in overall size, with multiple lobular bodies forming over the entire grain. This growth-cycle simply repeats, to continue the ongoing process in a similar fashion. This is self-propagation. Some kefir grains may not shed any sections for some months, and in some instances for up to a year or longer. Such grains may instead form as one large structure or one massive kefir grain, retaining all lobular bio-structures. This can occur if the physical makeup of such grains is firm due to culture conditions, and if the grains are not subjected to hash physical trauma during the straining process e.g. In such cases, sections of baby-grains may be removed from a large mother-grain, by dissecting the grain by hand.

I use both the mother-Kefir grains and baby-Kefir grains, but keep them separated from one another. In my experience the grains that are individual pieces tend to ferment the milk much, much faster, often in half the time that it takes for the clump or mother-Kefir to ferment the same amount of milk. However, it's far easier to over ferment the milk too. This isn't bad for you, but the Kefir will have a more sour flavor and be more effervescent. You'll know it's gone too long when the Kefir starts to separate with a curd floating to the top and a clear green/yellow liquid called whey at the bottom. With the grains I have like this, the Kefir also tends to be the consistency of cultured buttermilk you might buy at the store. Now with the clumping Kefir grains, while they do take longer to ferment, you don't have to go through the effort of separating out the grains (read below) and instead can pull the whole clump out with a spoon. Very handy and easy. My Kefir with these grains tends to be very thick and more similar to the consistency of yogurt. So far, I've never had issues with the mother-Kefir over fermenting too quickly and separating. 

Washing Kefir Grains

If you research making Kefir, you'll eventually see someone who says you should wash your grains after each use. I have read in enough places now that this isn't a wise step to add to the process. Washing the grains can actually damage them, except if you are going to be drying them. Instead, remove as much excess Kefir from the grains as you can and then place them in the next jar of milk and make Kefir as usual.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is certainly a lot more information about Kefir, but I chose to stick with the more basic parts to help give a simple overview. I have found Dom's Kefir website to be fascinating and filled with a wealth of information, please check it out and as I mentioned above also check out Cultures for Health.
The site Wild Fermentation shares several more website, as well as a link to a group who shares their Kefir grains around the world (http://www.torontoadvisors.com/Kefir/kefir-list.php).

Now on to making Kefir. There aren't overly precise measurements when making Kefir, more guidelines, but the "recipe" below should give you a good start and then you can experiment and see how your Kefir grains work best.

What You'll Need

1-2 tbsp. Kefir grains
3-4 cups organic, whole milk (any animals milk or coconut milk will do and if possible have it be fresh, organic, raw milk)

A very clean glass quart mason jar 

Wood spoon or rubber spatula

A thin towel, wash cloth or even a coffee filter

Rubber band or string

Mesh strainer, preferably not metal, but if so, must be stainless steel 

Bowl or second container to pour finished Kefir into

Getting Started

1. Place Kefir grains in jar, pour milk over top (milk can be chilled from the fridge or fresh from the cow, if it's chilled it will take a little longer to ferment) and give a quick stir with wooden spoon. Cover with thin towel or coffee filter so the Kefir can breath during the fermentation process. If you have other items in your kitchen fermenting as well, try to keep at least a couple feet between each item or you risk having your cultures contaminating one another.

2. How long the grains will take to ferment the milk will be very dependent on the temperature in your home. The ideal temperature will fall somewhere between 70°F - 80°F. The cooler your room is the longer the fermentation will take and then just the opposite with a warmer room. Typically my Kefir averages 24 - 36 hours for fermentation in the  70°F - 80°F range.  The easiest way to know how long to let the milk ferment is by checking on it every 6 or so hours. Give it a stir with a wooden spoon. When it has a consistency similar to buttermilk or like store bought kefir, you know it's done.

3. If you have the type of Kefir grains that are individual pieces you are going to need to pour the ready Kefir through a mesh strainer. In my picture you'll see I use a small stainless steel one. A non metal, mesh strainer is best, but a stainless steal one works just find, simply be sure to stay away from any material that could be reactive, like aluminum or copper. Pour the Kefir through the strainer. Use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to help gently force the Kefir through the strainer, taking care to not damage the grains themselves.

4. That's it, the Kefir is ready to go!  Pour the Kefir into a glass storage container with a lid and keep in the fridge for up to several months or on the counter. If you go the counter route, make sure the Kefir can breath some or you'll risk it blowing up the glass jar as it continue to ferment. How long it lasts on the counter will be dependent on the room temperature. Give it a taste and a sniff to let you know if it's good or not. Have to remember, this is how people always use to tell when their food was bad. There were no "sell by" dates! :-)

5. Now, at this point you can take the Kefir making a step further, which some sites recommend. After removing the Kefir grains from the now fermented milk, allow the fresh Kefir to sit on the counter for 1-3 days, to ferment further on it's own before drinking it. 

6. You can add any sweetener you like to your Kefir, like Stevia or grade B maple syrup. My favorite addition is pureed berries. Instead of blending the Kefir with fruit for a smoothing, which I've heard can damage the healthy probiotics in the Kefir, we choose to puree our fruit (most often berries) and then stir it into the kefir. The kids love this and drink Kefir almost every day. By adding the fruit, you also add a lot of natural sweetness, so you don't need to sweeten the Kefir as much, if at all. Huge plus in my book. You can always drink the Kefir straight up, which is what I often do for myself.

Kefir with fresh pureed strawberries.

Good luck making your Kefir. Let me know if you have any suggestion or tips!
Enjoy!

Check out Simple Lives Thursday & see what everyone has to share!

An easy dish for the grill - potatoes, garlic scapes, purple scallions & summer savory. Also some photos of our summer fun!

One very, very tired little girl enjoying the last moments of July 4th before bed.

One happy girl.

We had the most wonderful holiday weekend, with plenty of time outside enjoying the absolutely beautiful weather. Although, I must admit I got far too much sun on Monday when we took the kids swimming. Eek! My back is extremely burnt, not so much fun there, but besides that all I can think about are the wonderful blessing we were able to enjoy. Like having friends over Saturday evening, watching the kids play make believe games, running barefoot in the grass, lots of wonderful food and just overall some awesome family time. Weekends like this are a must in my mind. There was no stress to feeling like certain things had to be done. Other then having friends over on Saturday evening and then church on Sunday, our whole weekend was about playing-it-by-ear and enjoy what rolls our way.

Over the last week in a half, we've gone strawberry picking (and picked a whopping 20+ lbs), biking, swimming, had friends over for a nice evening of talking and watching kids play, lit fireworks on the driveway and all in all, eaten some pretty fabulous food, most of which was grilled on a new (but very, very used) grill our neighbor was giving away for free. I have to say that we are pretty stoked about the grill (Char-Griller with smoker) because we were looking at buying the exact same one new, which was around $200. The one we got from our neighbor was extremely dirty, as in you couldn't actually see through the cast iron grills because so much junk was cooked onto them.  After several days of cleaning and me getting filthy in the process, we have a very nice, very usable smoker/grill and all we had to do was wheel it from our neighbors house (right next store) to our place. Not too bad if I do say so myself! Now that we have a decent grill again I can get back to enjoying the many fantastic foods that taste best when they are cooked on an open flame!  

Two little kids memorized by the fireworks we did on our driveway.

 

One of the fun activities we did last week, actually we did it for my birthday, was strawberry picking. Have you ever tried visiting a pick-your-own farm? Honestly, it's a must, especially if you want to save money on fresh summer items like berries. At the pick-your own farm we went to (Apple Jacks in Delano, MN) the strawberries weren't sprayed and I think the price was around $1.85 a lb. An extra bonus was they were very friendly to kids (not all farms are). I washed and froze a bunch of our strawberries, made fruit roll-ups, dried some, pureed a bunch for smoothies and made 4 batches of strawberry ice cream. We've been enjoying the strawberries so much that I'm actually heading back out with the kids and a friend tomorrow to do it again!

My daughter trying to help pick strawberries.

I have a new Excalibur Food Deydrator coming in the mail, which was a gift from my mom. Yeah for moms!!! It should get here just in time for me to dry all of my next batches of fruit. My last dehydrator did a better job burning the food then drying it, hence the desire for a new one. One of my goals for this summer and the harvest season is to be able to preserve as much food as I can, preferably without the use of refrigeration or freezing. I'm not sure I'll get to quite as much as I want, because we are moving in Sept., which is right at peak season, but I'm gonna try my best. I'm hoping I can get a couple months of food preserved for the winter months, that way I don't have to rely on the co-op so heavily. I'll be sure to keep you all up to date on my progress there. This desire to preserve our summer bounty also comes from another desire of wanting to learn to live a little or a lot (trying to figure that part out still) off the grid.

Over the weekend, we made sure to use as much of the fresh produce from our CSA box from Driftless Organics as we could. Last week our CSA box was once again loaded with some wonderful vegetables and I am truly enjoying our attempts at figuring out new ways to use all the different foods that come. For instance, last night my husband made a simple, yet delicious, coleslaw, using 1 kohlrabi, 1 turnip, 3 carrots, apple cider, a bit of sugar, a touch of homemade mustard, homemade mayonnaise, sea salt and black pepper. The freshness of this coleslaw was awesome and the different vegetables were great together. I truly doubt we would have ever bought these ingredients at the store for a coleslaw, but because we had the kohlrabi and turnip in the box we wanted to find a new use for them.

CSA box week 3.

This potato dish was the same way. I actually made it Thursday evening right after my husband brought our CSA box home. It was very hot and I didn't have a real desire to turn on the stove, so instead we prepared all our food on the grill. This is more of a throw-it-together dish and not one you need to be overly precise with measurements and quantities. When it comes to cooking, I let my eyes and taste buds do the guiding. That can make it hard to share a recipe on a blog though. So, here I've given very basic measurements to give you a general idea of what to toss together. The garlic scapes, scallions and summery savory all came from this weeks CSA box, while the potatoes were a mix from the co-op and our CSA box from a couple weeks ago.

What You'll Need

serves 4-6 

2 lbs potatoes, I used a mixture of yellow and red potatoes, chopped into rough 1" chunks

3 garlic scapes, sliced into 1/4" pieces
5 purple scallions, sliced into 1/4" pieces

1 tbsp fresh summer savory, finely chopped

4 tbsp melted, unsalted butter

Celtic sea salt

Fresh ground black pepper

Getting Stared

1. Have your grill nice and hot and allow for about 30 minutes of cooking time. We cooked our vegetables first, set kept the covered for another 10 min. while we cooked our hamburgers. Always have your coals on one side of grill allowing for a cooking place for food that needs more indirect heat.

2. Well, it truly doesn't get easier than this. Grab a decent size cast iron skillet (12" is what I used) with lid or a large piece of heavy duty aluminum foil. Toss in all your ingredients and top of with a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Mix everything together to well distribute all the ingredients.

Potatoes have been cooking for about 10 minutes, just took lid of to give them a stir.

I love when my husband grills! 

3. Cover with lid (or make a pouch with the aluminum foil) and place on the grill on indirect heat. If there is a lid for the grill, close it. Check potatoes in about 10 minutes, giving them a good stirring to help make sure they all get well browned. Depending on the heat of your grill the potatoes will likely cook for another 10 - 20 minutes. During the time be sure to continue to check them every 5 minutes to make sure they don't burn and to give them a stir. Also, pull out a small piece of potato to taste test for doneness and seasoning. 

4. Once the potatoes are nicely browned on the outside and have a soft, but not fall apart consistency they are done. Enjoy immediately or keep covered and allow them to sit while you finishing grilling your main course. When we were ready to serve ours we did add a couple more pats of butter, but this isn't necessary.

Enjoy and have fun experimenting with your food!

The end product with a couple extra pats of butter.

Fresh Aspargus Guacamole

Yes, I know, asparagus season is over for many of us, but I still had to share this recipe, because it's simply to darn good not to. We have been eating it up like crazy the last couple of weeks, whether it's been topped off on beans, added to scrambled eggs, on breakfast sandwiches (or any other sandwich for that matter), with chips, it's great. One of the things I like about this type of guacamole is you can store it in the fridge for a couple of days with no issues of it going bad like with avocados. Don't get me wrong, this house loves avocado, but it's nice to mix it up!

This is also a fun way to try to get the kids used to different flavors and possibly eat a food they wouldn't normally. My daughter was eating it by the spoonfuls when we made it the first time!  The more variety we can encourage our children to eat, the less picky they'll be as they get older, plus you're helping develop their ability to enjoy good food that is healthy for them.

Our favorite breakfast. This sandwich included fresh baked sourdough bread, ricotta cheese, purple cabbage sauerkraut, asparagus guacamole, hot sauce and an egg. Extra bonus, everything but the hot sauce is homemade.

What You'll Need

serving: 3+ cups 

1 lb. fresh asparagus

1/2 cup diced white onion

1/2 cup mayonnaise (sour cream or yogurt work too)

1/3 cup chopped, well-packed, fresh cilantro

1 garlic clove, diced finely or 2 fresh garlic

Juice of 1 lime

Unrefined sea salt to taste

Fresh ground black pepper

Optional: 1 large fresh tomato, chopped

Getting Started

1. Steam your asparagus in a large pot in a steaming basket. Alternatively you can coat the asparagus in some olive oil, then spread in a single layer in a pan or casserole dish and roast in a 400° F oven for about 25 minutes or until tender, but still crisp.  Allow asparagus to completely cool and even be chilled if you want a cold guacamole.

2. Chop cooked asparagus into large piece and place in a food processor with the metal blade. Add onions too, then puree until smooth.

3. Add mayonnaise, cilantro, garlic and lime juice to asparagus mixture, then blend together.

4. Put guacamole in a large bowl, stir in salt and pepper to taste, then fold in tomato if you are choosing to use it. Serve immediately with just about anything your heart desires. Go for the normal and serve it up with chips or one of my favorite ways to enjoy it is on a breakfast sandwich in the morning. Oh so very, very good!

Potato & Parsnips with Fresh Basil Pesto

One of the reasons the blog has been so silent is I've been doing research for a big post/series that I'll be sharing when I kick off my new website. It's one of those post that I thought would take a couple of weeks to do and instead has turned into several months. I can't wait for the post to be done, but I want to do it right. Curious about what the topic is? Well stay tuned... :)

In the mean time, since Artistta certainly can't stay quiet forever and I have so many recipes to share, it's time to get back to what I love to do and share what I'm learning and experimenting with in the kitchen. Over the last couple of months I been trying to learn about making more fermented foods, been experimenting with making cultured products, testing out different sourdough recipes and trying out new recipes. Last night we sat down to a fabulous meal of broiled salmon (picked up at Mill City Farmers Market Saturday morning), fresh greens and a mixture of potatoes and parsnips tossed in basil pesto.

Some of the potatoes we pull out of our CSA box.

If you follow Artistta on Facebook, you may have seen the post that I put up late last week mentioning that we received our first CSA box from Driftless Organics. Hurray! Now I have the fun of putting together dishes which incorporate whatever surprises us in our CSA box for the week.

This last week our box included asparagus, collard greens, green garlic, parsnips, pea vines, radishes, fresh thyme and Tsoi-sim. We've used just about everything up. With the asparagus I made an asparagus guacamole, which I added a couple of the green garlic to.  (This was incredible and might be a new house favorite. I'm going to make it again later this week to snap some photos and share the recipe with you all.) With the collards, I sliced them into strips and tossed them with some lard, bacon, cilantro and garlic, then added it all to a pot of pinto beans which I cooked it chicken broth. We topped the beans off with some homemade sour cream, the asparagus guacamole, cheese and salsa. All scooped up and eaten with fresh, homemade tortillas! Once again awesome flavor and an easy, satisfying meal.

Here's a quick run down of how we made our potato and parsnip dish last night.

Potatoes and Parsnips with Basil Pesto

What You'll Need

serves 4-6

1 tsp unrefined sea salt

5 small to medium organic potatoes

3 small to medium organic parsnips

3 tbsp organic butter

1/3 cup of fresh basil pesto (click HERE for my recipe)

Unrefined sea salt to taste

Fresh grated Parmesan cheese to garnish with

Getting Started

 1. Bring 2 quarts of filtered water and 1 tsp of salt to a boil in a 4 quart pot. While waiting for water to boil, wash and slice potatoes into ~1/3" chunks. (I like to leave the skin on my potatoes, since most of their nutrients is removed when you peel them.) Also, peel and slice the parsnips into similar size chunks.

2. Add the potatoes and parsnips to the boiling water and cook until fork tender but not falling a part, about 6-8 minutes. Drain from the water, then set aside. If you wanted you could easily do all of this the day before you make this dish or even earlier in the day and then set the potatoes and parsnips in the fridge until you are ready to use them.

3. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat then add potatoes and parsnips. Fry until everything is golden brown. Remove from heat and place potatoes and parsnips into a large bowl. Season with a bit of salt and toss with pesto. Garnish with the fresh grated Parmesan and enjoy!

A closer look at glycerin & whether it's wise to be in toothpaste & a homemade toothpaste recipe

Several months ago I ran across a post on the blog Goofy Momma. Allison shared information about glycerin in toothpaste and how glycerin coats the teeth and keeps them from remineralizing. I had never heard of any negatives for glycerin and actually hadn't realized that it's in nearly every toothpaste, natural or not. I always overlooked it when reading toothpaste labels and yes I ALWAYS read toothpaste labels. I will not buy a toothpaste that has fluoride or if at all possible sodium laurel sulfate in it. I'll share why in another post on another day.

When it comes to our health, there is a whole lot of contradictory information. For every "fact" that exist you can almost always find information that contradicts it. Taking a closer look at glycerin and it's affect on teeth, this is defiantly one of those topics that includes a lot of contradictory information. In the end you will have to use your own judgement and research to decide what is best for your family and you. When searching how glycerin affects the teeth, there are plenty of sites which include information on how glycerin can block the teeth's ability to remineralize. The belief is glycerin leaves a thin coat on the teeth, keeping the teeth from having the natural ability to remineralize, which happens from the saliva in the mouth. I have read in numerous places that it can take anywhere from 20 - 30 times of brushing without glycerin to remove it from the teeth. It seems that the bases for this information comes from the research of Dr. Gerald Judd.  

Oven Baked Potato Chips

What You'll Need 

 - serves 2-3

1 lbs of organic potatoes

4 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. fresh ground pepper

1 tsp. sea salt

Getting Started

1.  Pre-heat oven to 450º. Slice your potatoes 1/8" thick. Leave the skin on for the extra nutrients and great flavor. Do your best to make sure they are all sliced to the same thickness so they bake more evenly. 

Fresh Zucchini and Millet Salad

I'm always looking for ways to use up all the zucchini that makes it ways into my hands each year. Until recently, I had no idea you could eat it raw, it simply had never occurred to me, because all the recipes you typically see for it has you cooking or baking it at some point.
Right now I've been working on cleaning out our pantry and deep freeze, trying to eat up everything that's been sitting on the shelves for awhile, so I can add this seasons produce. When you get down to the odds and ends, which is where we're at, you have to start getting creative with how to use everything up. I had exactly 1/2 cup of millet left in the cabinet. Typically I mix millet in with my oats for a hot breakfast cereal, but this time I decided to make it for a salad.
 It was a great way to use some of my fresh herbs, veggies and fruit. This salad was a perfect compliment to our main dish of skirt steak rapped asparagus. 


What You'll Need: serves 4-6
     • 1/2 cup dried millet
     • 1 1/2 cups water, or alternatively your
       favorite broth or stock
     •1 tsp. sea salt
     • 2 cups fresh zucchini chopped into 1/4"
       or smaller chunks
     • 2 cups red grapes, halved
     • 1 tsp. dried thyme or 3 tsp. fresh thyme
     • Several sprigs of fresh parsley, chopped
     • Small bunch of garlic or regular chives, chopped
     • 1/4+ cup extra virgin olive oil
     • Salt and pepper to taste

Getting Started:
1. In a small saucepan bring your 1 1/2 cups of liquid and 1 tsp. of salt (if you are using unsalted water or broth/stock) to a boil, then add your millet. Allow to cook for approx. 20 - 25 minutes until millet is still very slightly al dente. If you overcook the millet, it will come out the consistency of mashed potatoes, not particularly pleasing for a salad.

2. During the last 5 minutes of cooking stir in your thyme.

3. Remove millet from the stove and place into a large bowl. Stir in your olive oil while millet is still hot.

4. Stir in the rest of your ingredients and then season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve either warm or cold. Enjoy!

Fresh Hummus

Hummus is one of the world's oldest foods, with evidence suggesting use of chickpeas by ancient Egyptians 7,000 years ago and active cultivation in the Mediterranean basin beginning around 5,000 years ago. ~ eHow

If you aren't a fan of mayonnaise or some of the other typical sandwich toppings, you may consider slathering on a delicious helping of hummus on your next sandwich. It's one my husband's favorite toppings for the egg sandwich he takes to work every morning. Garbanzo beans, the primary ingredients in hummus, are excellent for maintaining a healthy body. You can easily make a large batch of hummus and enjoy it with a variety of dishes throughout your week, plus it stores wonderfully. We've kept hummus in the fridge for several weeks with no problems. 

I checked out what The World's Healthiest Foods website had to say on hummus. Here is just a small excerpt:

"Garbanzos (also called chickpeas) are a good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber, as are most other beans. In addition to lowering cholesterol, garbanzos' high fiber content prevents blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after a meal, making these beans an especially good choice for individuals with diabetes, insulin resistance or hypoglycemia. When combined with whole grains such as rice, garbanzos provide virtually fat-free high quality protein. But this is far from all garbanzos have to offer. Garbanzos are an excellent source of the trace mineral, molybdenum, an integral component of the enzyme sulfite oxidase, which is responsible for detoxifying sulfites. Sulfites are a type of preservative commonly added to prepared foods like delicatessen salads and salad bars. Persons who are sensitive to sulfites in these foods may experience rapid heartbeat, headache or disorientation if sulfites are unwittingly consumed. If you have ever reacted to sulfites, it may be because your molybdenum stores are insufficient to detoxify them." 

What You'll Need: for about 2 cups of hummus
     • 2 cups rehydrated* or canned garbanzo beans
     • Juice of two lemons
     • 3 cloves of garlic smashed and chopped
     • 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
     • 1 tsp. sea salt
     • 1/2 cup tahini**
     • 1/2+ cup liquid*** from beans or water

*If you are using dried garbanzo beans, to rehydrate them allow them to soak overnight in water. One cup of dried garbanzo beans typically needs about 3 cups water. The next day bring water and beans to a boil, skim off any foam that may have risen to the top and then lower heat to low. Allow to simmer for about an hour or until soft.

**Wondering what tahini is? Tahini is a paste made from ground up sesame seeds. It can be purchased at most coops. Ours sells it in the bulk, cold section.

***If you rehydrate you garbanzo beans yourself, don't pitch the extra liquid, use it to thin the hummus. You could also use the liquid from canned garbanzo beans.


Getting Started: 
1. This is easy. Toss all of your ingredients, except the bean liquid, into your food process. Process until thick and basically smooth.

2. While food processor is running, add a couple tablespoon of your bean liquid at a time until you get your desired thickness. For me that was around 1/2 cup of liquid.

Enjoy and try your hummus with something new! Let me know your favorite way to eat hummus!!