In the last 5 or so years I have taken a special interest in eating healthy and healing the natural way. I plan to really focus on these topics in this blog. I will as always continue to blog about family things and homeschooling and others things that are important to me. However our health is our number one priority around here so that is where I will start off with.
Ferments....what are they and why are they good for me? Ferments are any food that goes through a fermentation process to either make the food more easily digestible by the body or prolong the life of the food. This typically occurs with good bacteria. Think yogurt and sauerkraut, Those are 2 of the most commonly known fermented foods. However store bought ferments tend to be loaded with extras we don't need like sugar in yogurt. But there are so many more good ferments out there. Here's a peek into my kitchen and what I have fermenting. It will also show you just how tiny my kitchen is and that it doesn't matter how big or small your kitchen is....healthy eating is possible!
This here is banana bread "dough". The whole wheat was soaked in raw buttermilk for 24 hours and then mixed with the additional ingredients right before cooking. I buy raw milk from a local reputable farm and then skim off the cream and make my own butter. The remaining liquid is buttermilk which contains a lot of good bacteria that helps to break down the gluten. Hence my banana bread is not only whole wheat but it is easily digested and is soft and moist from all that good soaking!
The cooked banana bread! YUM! Gone in 2 days flat!
This here is my sourdough starter I make with rye flour. It has yet to get to the bubbly frothy stage but it is frigid outside and temperature is important in the fermentation process. I do keep it in the oven overniight with the light on. But instead of 7 days, it may take 10-14 days.
Up close of the starter - tiny bubbles can be seen which means the starter is "active" but still not ready to be used for bread making.
My favorite kitchen appliance! My grain processor! Here I am turning rye grain into rye flour. Because "raw" flour that is unprocessed goes rancid rather quickly, I put my flour in the freezer so I can make large batches at one time. This is handy when one has a nice large chest freezer in the basement!
Yummy kombucha! A wonderful fermented beverage! Here I am trying to make my own kombucha scoby. This takes approximately 2-4 weeks. Again temperature plays a role here so mine is 2 weeks old here and no proper scoby has formed yet. However it smells exactly like kombucha so I have no doubt it's working - just working ever so slowly!
And there you have it....what's cooking in my kitchen today. I must say that at times it can be overwhelming to deal with when one is homeschooling, working full time, and still dealing with minor health issues. But the rewards are so worth it! All this good bacteria helps the body fight off unhealthy yeasts, viruses, bad bacteria, and even parasites.
