Homemade Almond Milk

I really did not believe that one could take almonds and make milk out of them but here it is. You have to soak the almonds in water and place in the refrigerator for eight hours or more. Then you drain the almonds and put them in a blender and add a couple of cups of water. Blend them and strain. You can find the full recipe in the recent issue of Mother Earth Living. 

My Kitchen Is A Lab, And I Am The Guinea Pig

My husband commented one time about my kitchen being a lab. I thought about it for 2 seconds and realized he was right.

On any given day, I may have a concoction going, or there may be several things brewing around the house.

Today, I am fermenting cabbage that will hopefully turn into sauerkraut in a couple of days. I had sourdough starter sitting on the counter to make bread with today. Pasta was made this morning and is cooking in the slow cooker with a cheese sauce over it. There are a few other things going on as well.

Got out my big dehydrator and am drying peppers and fruit to put into my cereal. (The peppers will probably be for my bird.)

So much fun. So time consuming though. But it will be worth it.

Oh, I also have my oil box in the kitchen, and regularly reach for my oils for whatever the need is, whether cooking or for some other reason.

Last week, I made yogurt and kefir. What to make next week? Maybe ricotta cheese?

A word of caution though, for those of you who are like me in this area. Cultures like yogurt and kefir must be in separate places while they are culturing. The strains of the cultures do go through the air and can land in the containers of the different things that are growing on your counters.

I used to grow a ginger bug. I kept it in my den, so that it wouldn't become weak because of something else I am growing. I did have kombucha growing and kept it in the same room as the cream cheese I was making. Not sure if any cross contamination went on.

Bulgarian Yogurt

Homemade cheese being brushed
with brine

Red Cabbage in Perfect Pickler jar

Homemade Kefir

Lemon Soap

Did you know that you can make soap in a slow cooker? It is called 'Hot Processed' soap, and I have yet to make it. It requires grain alcohol, which is kind of expensive. I now have the slow cooker to make it in and will have to try it sometime. Will have to see if I can find a good deal on quality grain alcohol sometime soon.

The Perfect Pickler - A Way To Make Fermented Food Without The Canning Process

I just opened up my kit for the Perfect Pickler. It comes with a little booklet with recipes, a wide-mouth cap and gasket, brine overflow cup, and fermentation lock.

I think that making sauerkraut is a little more work than the other recipes though, because you have to cut out a piece of the cabbage that is about the same size as the lid.

The web site for the Perfect Pickler is www.perfectpickler.com. They also have some videos and instructions. You can also find some Perfect Pickler videos on Youtube.

Here is an amazon link to the Perfect Pickler. It is my amazon affiliate link. There are other associated items as well as reviews on the product.



You might be asking, why should we even eat fermented foods? What are the benefits?
Fermented foods, like pickles and sauerkraut, contain probably trillions of beneficial bacteria that we need to have. In our modern Western diet, we are lacking many nutrients. We have a lot of diseases that we didn't have years ago, and we wonder why.

Hippocrates believed that all health begins in the gut. He is probably at least partially, if not completely correct.

Here is an excerpt from www.eatingwell.com, written by Lisa D'Agrosa M.S. R.D.

The trillions of tiny creatures living in our bodies have been making headlines lately—and for good reasons. These good bacteria—particularly those in our gut—may improve digestion, boost immunity and—according to some preliminary studies—they may even help us get leaner. Research is still emerging on just how important these mighty microbes might be for our health, but the early results are promising. There’s plenty you can do now to encourage their growth. The most effective way is by eating foods packed with probiotics—good bacteria that live in your gut and show up in fermented foods. Add these seven fermented foods to your diet for a healthy dose of probiotics.

This helps us understand the importance of eating fermented food. I remember hearing a story told by my mom, of a lady who was a friend of the family, who was found to have terminal cancer. The woman chose to make cabbage soup every night. She never died of cancer. 

I don't think that the cabbage soup was necessarily fermented, but it does show the power of the cancer inhibiting properties of cabbage. Combine a vegetable like cabbage with the process of fermentation, and see what a powerful food it turns out to be!

So, the choice is up to us. We can spend some quality time in the kitchen, making things that will benefit our health, or, we can just go to the grocery store and pick up almost any kind of food item that is already made. We know that making pickles and sauerkraut involves work, but what rewarding work it is! It can benefit us immensely if we just follow the rules, work hard, and don't live our lives for convenience.

Almost finished. Now it has to
sit for 4 days. Had to add an apple
to it in order to make the level
higher.

The Warning About Eastern Medicine

Maybe you haven't noticed yet, but Eastern medicine is way better than Western medicine. The philosophy behind Eastern medicine is basically that your body heals itself if given the proper elements. But, there is a problem.

I have been researching health and healing for the past several years now. Most of my research is done by professionals who upload their articles and share their wisdom on the Internet. I must say, I have learned quite a bit. But, there is a warning, and I will explain.

Many of the practitioners of Eastern medicine also incorporate their spiritual ideas based on their tradition. Much of their medical practice is tied in with their religious beliefs.

For example, many will put an emphasis on things like finding or sending good vibes. They incorporate ideas like meditation and using mantras. On the outset, it might not look dangerous, but if you listen to their suggestions of words to use when chanting or things to meditate on, you will find things that encourage you to tell yourself how great you are, or that you 'can' do it. A lot of what they teach sounds similar to the prosperity Gospel or something from the Therapeutic Movement.

I actually saw a post today telling us why we should trust the Universe. One person commented saying that he or she trusts in the One who made the universe. Someone else replied to that saying that we are the universe. Another instructor teaching a class informed us that we are the Creator. I guess this confirms the world's idea of man being the measure of all things.

While I love all the medical aspects of what I am learning, and I have a lot of respect for those who are teaching Eastern medicine, I am very concerned that we could end up doing the same thing they are doing. Can we separate the spiritual aspect from the reality and benefits of the medical knowledge? Or will we be the ones telling our patients and those we care for to chant certain words or send good vibes somewhere?

This teaching or thinking seems to be everywhere. If we are not careful, and unless we are well grounded in the Word, I am afraid that we will get sucked up into these activities that are opposed to God.

All I can say is, please be careful and discerning. In almost every area of alternative medicine, this kind of thing is continually popping up. From chiropractors to aromatherapists, these ideas are being incorporated. Please take the good out and throw out the bad.

The Reason Why We Strive To Be Healthy

The reason we take measures to take care of our bodies is not so much that we live a long, long life, although that is a wonderful benefit, but, the reason more specifically is, that we can be fully functional and not living in unnecessary pain until the day we take our last breath.

We live in a toxic society, and a society that perpetuates sickness with everything around us. All of this, of course, is done under the guise of 'convenience' because we have been taught the convenience is the most valued thing around.

We live for today, and take short cuts whenever possible. We have microwave ovens wherever we go. It takes too long to heat something up by any other means and we have to get back to what we were doing. Stores sell tons of food items where the only preparation is adding water or milk, and then viola, the dinner is served. Clean up is minimal.

Take the opportunities that we have, for us to go to a fast food restaurant and get something on the go. We don't only do these things on Sunday, after the church service. Anytime time gets tight, we rush to the nearest hamburger joint or pizza place.

I am not necessarily going to say it is wrong to go to a fast food place or buy prepared food from the grocery store. But what is the trade off? This applies to all of us, especially today in America.

America is one of the sickest nations in the world. This should be surprising since we are also one of the top technologically inclined nations of all nations anywhere. There are many articles written and much research has been done on the correlation of how we live and why we are sick today. Yet, nothing really changes. The fast food places are still packed. We continually hear about friends and relatives who develop cancer at an early age. We lose friends and family members to cancer all the time. We wonder when our turn will come.

But my question is, do we have to succumb to sicknesses like this? Is this specific to America in the 21st century? Is there anything we can do to help solve this problem?

I do believe we can work with this. We can take measures that should help us to have better health. That doesn't mean that if we all took these measures and applied them to our lives that no one would get cancer or any of the other dreaded diseases that so many are getting today. But it is a step in the right direction and can be helpful.

    There does seem to be a correlation between what we eat, touch, and breathe in. We can do some things to get rid of toxins in our bodies. The question is, do we want to pay the price for having good health and feeling good physically, or would we rather satisfy our taste buds and not make any changes in the way we prepare our food? Can we take the time and do some research or listen to trusted people who have studied the affects of what we eat and how it affects our bodies? Can we learn how to nourish our bodies so they will be able to fight off sicknesses and disease? Can we learn how to eliminate toxins from our environment or is that too much work for us who live in a society that demands instant results and gratification?

The choice is ours. We are fortunate to be able to have this choice. We can choose to live the fast paced life or we can choose to live our lives carefully and healthfully. What we do will not only determine how long we live, but it will also determine the quality of our lives. Which is the best choice for you?

A Good And Safe Waffle Iron

I had spent the last couple of years analyzing waffle irons. I do not like the ones that have a non-stick coating on them. So, I searched but never found what I was looking for until someone suggested using a ceramic waffle iron. I found one on amazon.com and I love it. So grateful for the suggestion and that I asked the question in the forum at the right moment.




This is just like the one I got. Amazon has other ones as well, and this particular brand has a couple of different colors offered too. Using this one has been easier than using the one I had prior to this. There is no need to spray or butter the plates. The finished waffles come right off. The cleanup is easy too.

There are a lot of recipes on the Internet for making waffles. I have even seen sourdough waffle recipes. By now, there may even be gluten free recipes.

If you do ever get a waffle iron like this one, please read the instruction booklet that comes with it. This applies to any appliance we get. Don't assume you know everything about the machine if you have never used one before.

I Like My Teeth Nice And Clean - Update

I went to the dentist not too long ago, and the hygienist was cleaning my teeth. She mentioned a couple of times that my teeth were very clean. She also commented that she noticed less tartar on my teeth (guess my teeth made an impression on her for her to remember my teeth condition from the last time she did my teeth). So, the oils seem to be helping. I will continue on with this and see how we do next time.