Friday, May 21, 2010

Cool Video!!



I've always equated learning about the REAL food movement and the Matrix movie.  Hope watching this was informative and awakening in a Cartoon Channel kind of way.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Awesome Pumpkin Bread


Last night I baked an incredible Pumpkin Bread; it was moist and sweet and the kids loved it!  I packed some for their lunches today, along with some homemade bone broth chicken soup.  I just love that feeling of sending a bit of home and my love with them to school.  It may sound corny, buy I bet they have a better day (energetically speaking) just by having all those good vibes pouring out of their lunch boxes.   I don't always pack a lunch with so much homemade effort as today, but today's lunch got it right.

My Pumpkin Bread is made without yeast, by the way.   It is made by leaving spelt flour and yogurt (Seven Stars brand is organic, all natural, and full fat) in my warming draw, which has a proof setting, overnight.  Leaving a dough in a warm place overnight helps to make the bread more digestible; grains are a tough one for our bodies if not treated this way.  Not only does it make the bread  more digestible by leaving energy for our bodies to attend to other things, like thinking and staying healthy, it allows the nutrients in the flour (especially if it is freshly ground flour) to be absorbed more easily.

The next day you simply add the rest of the ingredients and bake--easy!  Then I spread on some homemade cream cheese and raw honey and kissed my fingers in that French kind of gesture.

Homemade cream cheese is procured by taking raw milk and leaving it out of refrigeration for a day or so until the milk divides itself into whey (the yellowish liquid) and curd (the cream cheese solid).  The whey I use for fermenting veggies, like pickles and sauerkraut, and the curd/cream cheese is what I spread on the Pumpkin Bread.  The cream cheese from raw milk can be a bit bitter, for my taste, but by adding just a bit of honey, it was delicious.

Making your own food the traditional way is a bit like science.  That alone can be beneficial for the kids, plus they are getting the best food on the planet.  Enjoy the recipe, and leave me a comment!

3 c           Spelt Four
2 c           Yogurt, Kefir, or Buttermilk  (keep them full fat for better results and taste)
3              Eggs
1/2 c        Maple Syrup
1 tsp        Sea Salt
2 tsp        Baking Soda
2 tsp        Allspice
2 tsp        Cinnamon
1 tsp        Ginger
3/4 can    Pumpkin
4 T          Melted Butter

Mix and soak flour and yogurt in warm place atleast 24 hours.  Blend in remaining ingredients after soaking and pour in buttered/floured casserole pan.  Bake at 350 approx. an hour.  Test with fork or toothpick.

Use your own judgement on spices--more or less to your liking.  Enjoy!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Sometimes, the Truth is Sweet

By now, you've heard that Princeton has come out with a scathing report on the effects of High Fructose Corn Syrup (something my friends and family are surely tired of hearing me repeat....for years now).  Yes, HFCS can cause you to GAIN weight, as if eating those Twinkies and washing it down with Sprite weren't enough!

What kind of sweeteners would be a better idea, you ask?  That's what I'm here for:  To give you the best darn advice I can find.   So let's just explain, briefly, why I don't recommend anything other than the ones I will below.  White sugar, Florida Crystals, Raw Sugar, Turbinado Sugar, and others like these are simply white sugar with a bit more brown sugar in them.  The problem with them is that they have been denatured, or rather, stripped of their natural nutrients.  Yes, sugar actually can be nutritious; you just need the best sugars.

These sugars won't let you down, and with some fat (good animal fats) in your diet, they won't bring you up--your blood sugar, that is:

Maple Sugar:  Pure maple sugar, Grade B is the best.  You can find this on Amazon!  Good stuff.

Molasses:  The natural by-product of white sugar.  Just get the unsulfured versions.

Honey:  Raw, unheated, unprocessed is best.  Some health food stores have them, or on-line.

Rapadura or Sucanat:  These are unrefined sugars that have all their yummy nutrients still intact.  Look for them in most health food stores or, again, Amazon.

Stevia Powder:  They are now selling this in supermarkets nationally.  I'd still look for the health food versions, just to be on the safe side.

Date Sugar, Maple Sugar, Rice Syrup, Sorghum Syrup:  All in the health food stores or on-line.

All of these are traditional sweetners; in other words, they've stayed the test of time.  Anything made by man/industry is usually a messed up thing to put into your body.  Especially into the growing bodies of our children.  Keep them safe and healthy, and go for the natural sweetness Mother Nature has provided.