Carob Chips

I love chocolate.  But I know it's not healthy.  Especially right now.  Caffeine, sugar, no nutrients.  But I can't go completely without.  So I decided to try substituing carob.  Nourishing Traditions uses it quite a bit.  So I'm experimenting with it.  I bought carob powder a couple weeks ago.  And decided my first experiment would be carob chips since they are so versatile.  You can eat them plain (always nice to be able to have just a tiny taste to get your chocolate fix :), put them in baked goods or use them in and on ice cream.  This recipe is pretty similar the to homemade chocolate chip recipe I made a few months ago.  It is super easy to make.  And it turned out really well!  I couldn't find chocolate extract at Meijer.  But I decided to make the chips without it and see what happened.  They still taste great.  I think Rebecca likes them more than I do :)  She is definitely a chocolate lover!  She kept asking for more.  At first she said she wanted two (she's learned to ask for more than one of something ;).  Then she said she wanted them all.  Nice try :)  The only thing I would do differently next time is use a 9x13 pan instead of a baking sheet.  It's much easier to set up the parchment paper well that way.  I ended up with some of the sauce getting under the paper.  And since I didn't have space in my fridge I stuck them in the freezer to harden.  They were ready in just a few minutes!  I love how coconut oil hardens so quickly when it's cold :)  This isn't cheap since it takes a cup of coconut oil.  But definitely good!  And a great alternative to coccoa/chocolate.  I'm anxious to use my carob powder in other recipes.

Here's a bit of info on carob from NT:
"Carob is an excellent source of calcium - containing three times more calcium than mother's milk!  It also contains carotenoids, B vitamins, phosphorus and iron.  It is naturally sweet, containing about 50 percent sugars.  Unlike chocolate, carob contains no stimulants; it does, however, contain tannin, a substance that reduces the absorption of protein through the intestinal wall.  Roasting neutralizes most of the tannins so buy only powder made from roasted carob pods."

Chocolate that I can feel good about eating...that actual has nutrients!  I like it.

Carob Chips
Makes 1 cup

3/4 cup carob powder
1/4 cup Rapadura (I used oragnic cane sugar)
1 cup coconut oil
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. chocolate extract (I didn't have this, but I bet it would be good)

Place all ingredients in a glass container and set in simmering water until melted (I used a glass bowl on top of a pan, like a double boiler.).

Mix together well.Spread mixture onto a piece of buttered parchment paper and allow to cool in the refrigerator. 

When hardened remove parchment paper and cut into chips (I break them into chunks.).  Store cihps in an airtight container in the referigerator.

Kishk

Nourishing Traditions uses kishk in multiple recipes.  And it is the only cold cereal it recommends.  Plus it's an alternative to my soaked/dried oats that I use for granola.  So I thought I'd give it a try.  You are supposed to make it with bulgur or cracked wheat.  I made bulgur...flour.  I forgot to do a course grind after I sprouted and dried my wheat.  I did a fine grind as always.  But I used it anyway.  This tastes pretty much the same as soaked/dried oats.  It has a pretty strong sour taste from the yogurt.  I don't know that I could eat this plain with milk on it.  But I am excited to try using it to make granola.  And I hope to try it again using both bulgur and cracked wheat.  See how it turns out.  It will probably just change the texture a bit.  This is quite hard.  My food processor had a tough time breaking it up.  But at least it does't break your teeth :P  And making granola with it (all the liquid) will help soften it a bit too I think.

Just a side note that you need to oil your pan VERY well.  I used EVOO spread over the whole pan.  But I didn't use parchment paper...I should have.  This really stuck to the pan.

I only made a half recipe to try it out.

Here is what NT has to say about kishk:
"This fermented dish comes from the Middle East.  It is traditionally added to soups but can also be eaten with milk or cream as a cold breakfast cereal.  In fact, it is the only cold breakfast cereal that we can recommend."

Kishk
Makes 1 quart

4 cups cracked wheat or bulgur
4 cups yogurt

Mix ingredients together in a bowl.  Cover and soak at room temp for 24 hours in a dark place.  Spread as thinly as possible on oiled cookie sheet and bake at 150 degrees until dry.  Place in batches in food processor and pulse until coursely crumbled.  Do not overprocess.  Store in airtight container in the refrigerator.

End of Month Recap - June 2010

Wow, June sure flew by!  I'm both sad and happy about that.  But now it's time to move on to July...more to come on that tomorrow.  June was a pretty crazy month in terms of food/personal goals.  I did a pretty big overhaul on eating and lifestyle.  It was definitely a challenge, but a worthwhile one with rewards :)  So I'll get started on the rundown of how I did this month.

Cost Savings

1. Continue recording spending and sales - this is part of my regular weekly routine now.  I love seeing how I'm spending money...and seeing that it's only going towards worthwhile things :)

2. Food budget - stick with $100/week.  In May I was averaging about $100/week for food.  And I had planned to stick to that.  But I didn't factor in the summer produce/preservation time.  I ended up spending more than $100/week on food.  But that's ok.  Right now I'm stocking up on good food that will last the rest of the year.  Hopefully at the end of the year I can average everything and see what I spent per week for the year.  For now I'm happy to spend a little extra money on weekly visits to the farmer's market :)  In the end it will save us money, and we'll be getting much better food.

3. Continue to calculate homemade costs.  No time for this in June.  But I do want to do it at some point.  Maybe after I'm done making major diet changes and things are more "normal."

4. Continue to plan meals based on sales/what we have on hand/2 class nights a week.  This went well.  About the only thing I was buying full price for meals was some fresh produce.  I'm ok with that.  And it was a challenge to work around 2 class nights a week. But we made it.  And Justin's class is over now! :)

5. Continue to make as much food as possible from scratch.  Here's the rundown of June's kitchen experiments.

dairy kefir
sourdough english muffins
kishk
carob chips
raspberry sauce
bulgur flour
chicken broth
beef broth
crispy cashews
crispy almonds
cashew butter
almond butter
strawberry topping
granola
strawberry ice cream
frozen cherries, strawberries and grapes
dried cherries, strawberries, apples, honeydew, pineapple and raisins
strawberry fruit roll-ups
cherry crisp
strawberry shortcake
strawberry banana sourdough muffins
strawberry banand and strawberry rhubarb bread
mayo
beef jerky
strawberry rhubarb crunch
fermented black bean paste and pinto bean paste
black bean brownies
sprouted vanilla wafers
sprouted whole wheat bread
sprouted apple cinnamin bagels
sourdough pancakes
fermented punch

6. 2nd hand shopping - when the need arises.  No need this month.  And as a side note.  I checked to see how much I have spent on clothes for myself so far this year...less than $30!  And most/if not all of that was socks/underwear.  Not bad.

7. Voogt beef - receive order and deliver to family.  Done and done :)  Exciting to have a freezer stocked with good beef again.

8. Simplify - I continue to minimize my use of  boughten cleaning products and health and beauty products.  I have pretty much stopped using hand sanitizer unless we really need to clean up and we're nowhere near a bathroom.  I am really enjoying the simplifying process.

Food

Gut Health
1. Continue taking a probiotic.  Still doing well with this.  But still on the lookout for a better quality probiotic I think.  I just wish they weren't so expensive!  I hope at some point not to need one at all...when my gut is a lot healthier and I get everything I need from my food.  But for now I need some help.

2. Eat more cultured dairy (i.e. yogurt, kefir).  This has been going well.  I'm finally getting the hang of kefir making.  And I have actually started eating just kefir some days...not mixing it with yogurt.  I wasn't sure I could do that.  I do need to add a little flavoring (too sour for me to eat totally plain), but it's still better than only doing a half serving of kefir and half of yogurt.  And most days I eat at least 2 servings.

3. Eat fermented foods and drinks daily.  This has also been going well.  I eat fermented bean paste almost every day.  Whenever we have a meal that is served with ketchup that is another fermented food.  And I drink some fermented punch every day.

4. Reduce sugar as much as possible (sugar feeds bad bacteria) - This is going well for the most part.  I have definitely cut back from what I used to eat.  But it's tough while I'm taking hormones.  They take over :P  But I still try my best.  And my latest strategy is to eat some protein when I crave sugar...since it's likely that's what I really need.  Having lots of crispy nuts, nut butters and beef jerky on hand help with that...quick, easy, protein-filled snacks.

5. Don't overdo on grains - what I do eat must be whole grain that is soaked, sprouted or sourdough -  Going strong with the soaked/sprouted/sourdough grains.  And not overdoing on them.  I think this really helps my gut.

6. Nothing refined, no chemicals, preservatives, nothing synthetic, etc. - only real food - I've stuck to this for the most part.  There are things here and there that I know aren't 100% good/real.  But nobody can be perfect.  And I figure as long as I'm eating well most of the time my body can handle a tiny bit of bad stuff once in a while.  As long as I'm not taxing my system with junk all the time (like I used to) it can still continue the healing process even with a little junk once in a great while.  It is rare, but it does sneak in sometimes.

7. Eat bone broth - I made both chicken broth and beef broth this month.  And have been eating them fairly regularly.  Not always every day.  But quite often.  And I have a nice stock in the freezer too.

The results...a definite improvement in my gut health.  I still have a long way to go, but at least I know I'm getting there and am confident that I'm finally on the right track.

Fertility
1. Eat plenty of full fat dairy - This has not been a problem for me.  I eat yogurt and/or kefir every day, often twice a day.  I eat plenty of cheese.  I have milk sometimes.  Homemade cream cheese.  And of course I have to have ice cream once in a while.  And none of this dairy is remotely low fat :)

2. Eat plenty of animal products/fats - butter, eggs, meat, cheese, organ meats - I have been eating a lot more eggs lately.  I try to make some kind of egg for breakfast a couple times a week.  I add raw eggs to smoothies.  I use raw eggs in homemade mayo and ice cream.  I've eaten egg salad a few times.  I can't believe how quickly we go through eggs now.  I also can't believe how much butter we use!  Especially me.  I slather it on whatever I can now :)  I've found it's sooooo good on anything sourdough.  I don't make many meatless meals these days.  Not that I don't ever or won't do it once in a while in the future.  I'm just trying to make sure I'm getting plenty at this critical time.  So not many meatless meals here at the moment.  And if I do make something meatless it usually involves eggs :)  I also just got my beef liver.  I still have to figure out how to cook it.  Hopefully that will be on the menu in the next few weeks.  I'd also like to try chicken liver.  We'll see if the co-op has any next month.

3. Eat more seafood - Overall I've been doing pretty well with this (considering we pretty much weren't eating any before), even with my limited supply of seafood.  We've been having it at least once a week. Sometimes 2 or 3 times.  I'm happy to say our whole family has really been enjoying it!  Especially Rebecca.  She really loves salmon.  I'm hoping to stock up on more seafood later this week.  And I'm glad we're getting in this habit since it's so healthy.  And so critical for fertility and pregnancy.

4. Eat more veggies, less fruit - I really thought this one would be tough.  I normally eat a lot of fruit.  And I love fruit...who doesn't?  I've been pleasantly surprised by the changes this month.  I now eat veggies with breakfast almost every day.  And I limit my intake of fruit.  I snack on the fresh, in-season stuff we have on hand.  But I don't overdo.  This is a trend that I think will carry on for a lifetime.  More veggies is always a good thing.  And I love that I'm getting so much more variety now, sometimes 8 or 9 different veggies in one day!

5. Eat plenty of lentils, nuts and beans - No problem there.  I love all 3!  I especially eat lots of nuts.  I eat crispy nuts or nut butter pretty much every day.  I stir some nut butter into my kefir/yogurt for extra protein and to add a little extra coconut oil into my diet.

6. Use unrefined sea salt each day - No problem there.  I love salt :)  Plus I use it in all of my cooking and baking.  So this doesn't require any effort.

7. Use natural vitamins - I took a few days off my new vitamins at the beginning of the month to wait until my gut had adjusted to all of the other changes going on.  Then I tried them again...and did just fine.  So I've been free of my synthetic multi-vitamin and folic acid for several weeks :)

8. Eat bone broth - see #7 under gut health.

The results...I'll let you know when I know :P  Hopefully real soon I'll be seeing some good results.  For now I have no idea.  I'm just praying this is all helping.
Kitchen
1. Sprouting grains - includes wheat and other grains - use it in baking when possible - check :)

2. Sprouting beans - check :)

3. Make more sourdough recipes - check :)

4. More fermenting - check :)

5. More cultured dairy - I've gotten into kefir making now.  And I think it's really helping my gut.

6. Make bone broth - check :)

7. Try new seafood recipes - so far I've done simple seafood prep (baking, pan searing, just oil/salt/pepper/garlic mostly).  We all enjoy it, and it's easy.  But I might try some more elaborate recipes soon.

8. Figure out how to prepare liver - still working on this.

9. Make homemade salad dressing - I did this a few times at the beginning fo the  month.  But I haven't done it since then since we haven't been eating salads lately.  My gut can't handle too much raw stuff right now.

10. Make homemade mayo - I made one batch...not good.  Just threw it out yesterday.  The EVOO was way too strong.  I'll try another recipe soon.

11. Find ways to cook without using the oven when it's hot - I've been using my dehydrator for a lot of things.  I make dinner in the oven once in a while, but not often.  I try to do most of my baking early in the morning or later in the evening...when it's cooler and we can open the windows.

12. Food preservation as fresh fruits and veggies are available - I've done a fair amount of drying and freezing so far.

13. Continue with co-op - check :)  Loving it so far.

14. Experiment with new foods for breakfast...that aren't sweet - no major experiments, but I've been adding more eggs to the breakfast menu.  And by eating veggies for breakfast I have cut my sweet foods down a lot.

15. Weekly visits to the farmer's market - check :)

That's pretty much my month in a nutshell.  We didn't end up doing very much with Justin being so busy with class and then Rebecca getting sick.  But that's ok.  I love being home :)  It's my favorite place.  And I generally don't feel like doing too much when my gut is all out of whack and I'm on hormones.  So it didn't bother me.  We are still trying to do a few fun things this week (Michigan's Adventure today!!!) and next week.  Mostly just taking things one day at a time and counting our blessings.  I'm so thankful for how far I've come with healing and changing in just a couple months.  All things are possible with God.  And I know he has so much more in store.  Check back tomorrow for the next installment of this crazy journey :)

Naturally Knocked Up eCourse

I just signed up for Donielle's eCourse at Naturally Knocked Up and thought I'd pass on the link.  She has a great website with tons of great info.  Whether you deal with infertility or not you can learn so much about getting pregnant, having a healthy pregnancy and raising a healthy family.  And if you sign up by July 3 you get a discount.  I can't wait for the course to start!

Whole Wheat Sourdough English Muffins

Justin is a big fan of english muffins, but I stopped buying them a while ago since they aren't healthy.  Since then I've been looking for good recipes for healthy english muffins.  I've made a couple kinds in the past.  One turned out very well...but it was made with white flour.  A couple weeks ago when I was searching for new sourdough recipes I found a lot of sourdough english muffin recipes.  I'd never thought of that.  So I did a search for whole wheat sourdough english muffins.  And the first good one I came across was from GNOWFGLINS.  I tried it yesterday.  The verdict...awesome!!!  Rebecca and I shared one with dinner last night, and we had them for breakfast this morning.  Yum!!  If you don't like sourdough, you won't like these.  But if you do (like I do...can't believe how much I love it now), you will definitely like these.  And they are quite simple to make.  When I first read the directions it seemed like a long process.  But really each step goes very quickly.  The first day you just mix a few ingredients together.  The second day you add a few more ingredients, shape the muffins, let them rest a bit and cook them.  Not much hands on time at all.  This is a keeper recipe for sure!  They are light and moist.  Perfect.  I used bulgur flour for this batch.  Any flour will do...and will produce a slightly different texture.  I also added a little ground flax seed.  And I used kefir for my liquid...made them even healthier!  If you're looking for a way to use your sourdough starter (or use up some kefir :), give these a try!

Whole Wheat Sourdough English Muffins

1/2 cup sourdough starter (thick or thin)
1 cup liquid (water*, milk, fermented dairy, coconut milk…) (I used dairy kefir)
2 cups flour (your choice) (I used bulgur flour)
Add-ins like seeds, dried fruit, or chopped nuts… (optional) (I used flax seeds)
1 Tbsp. raw honey (or any other sweetener)
3/4 to 1 tsp. sea salt of choice
1 tsp. baking soda

*Note: The English muffins will turn out if you use water instead of full fat or fermented dairy and if you add more flour initially for easier kneading. However, the results will not be as soft on the outside or as tender on the inside once you’ve finished the cooking.

Day 1:

Place 1/2 cup sourdough starter (thick or thin) into a medium size bowl. Pour onto that the 1 cup of liquid. This is the first place where the recipe is very flexible. Your liquid could be water, milk, any fermented dairy, coconut milk… Stir to combine starter and liquid.  If your sourdough starter is very stiff, you might need an extra 1/4 cup of liquid.

Once combined, add 2 cups of flour to the mixture. This is the second place where the recipe is very flexible. Use any combination of flours. I have used white wheat, whole wheat, and rye. I know there are a lot of spelt users out there and sprouted flour users, too. It’ll all work! The only flour I question is rice flour, but if used in combination with another flour, it might even work.  Stir well to combine. Along with the flour, I often add in a couple Tbsp. of ground flax seed or poppy and caraway seeds (when I make delicious rye sourdough english muffins). The soaking affects the seeds as well as the flour. So, great! Cover and let your dough sit overnight, even up to 24 hours (mine soaked about 24 hours).
 
Day 2:
 
On top of your soaked dough, sprinkle 1 tsp. celtic sea salt, 1 tsp. baking soda, and 1 Tbsp. honey. Use a wooden spoon to push/cut/stir in your newly added ingredients. Don’t worry about incorporating it perfectly; you will be kneading it in just a moment.

This next part of the directions might feel a little strange, because you are kneading something that could be quite wet. I pour about 1 tablespoon of olive oil onto my counter and spread it around with my hand and then rub my hands together. I then dump out my dough onto the oiled spot and knead the dough for 2 to 3 minutes. The purpose of this kneading is to incorporate the honey, baking soda, and salt. After this, I take a pizza cutter and separate my dough into 8 equal portions. (Be sure you use plenty of oil...the dough is wet and sticky.)

The dough is quite wet. Up until this point we have not added any new flour. At this time, I do find it helpful to dust my hands with flour before I shape each muffin. You might prefer to use all-purpose flour for this dusting, or sprouted flour where the sprouting has done the work of soaking. I usually use what is on hand… whole wheat. Whatever. (I just added extra oil to my hands as needed so I didn't have to add extra flour to the muffins.)

With dusted hands, pick up a portion and gently shape it into your muffin. My muffins are usually about 1 finger thick and maybe 2-1/2 inches wide. Sometimes they are nice and round. Sometimes not. Size and shape are not important here. Place your muffins on a lightly floured or cornmealed (greased might work if you want to stay away from newly added flour) sheet of wax paper or parchment paper. Cover with a dish towel and let rest for 45 minutes to 1 hour (mine rested for a little over an hour.).

About 5 minutes before you want to griddle/skillet your muffins, set the heat to mediumish. I usually set my cast iron to 4, the front of my stovetop griddle to 5 1/2, and the back of the griddle to 4 1/2. Each place distributes heat differently. You will figure out what works best for your situation. You don’t want the muffins to brown too quickly because the insides need a chance to cook. I also have found that I do not need to grease my skillet/griddle. Do what you think is best here as well (I did not add any grease.)

Carefully transfer the muffins onto your heat source. Cook the muffins for about five minutes on each side. You can take a little peek every now and again to make sure the bottoms are not getting too brown. When it is time to flip, do this carefully. Your muffins will plump up beautifully, and you do not want to deflate them by being too rough. Cook for the second five minutes. Now, if you find that the outside edge of your muffin is not as done as you like, feel free to pop these into a 350 degree oven for 5-10 minutes. I do not bother doing this (I did not do this.).

They last (if you can get them to last) for at least a week. I keep mine in a sealed container on the counter. They also freeze beautifully. Might want to slice them first. And it most definitely works to double or triple the recipe. Enjoy!
 
These are great with butter or any kind of nut butter!  Rebecca liked hers with peanut butter and jam.  I even ate one with egg salad on it.  Yum!!

Meal Plans Week of 6-27-10

The start of a new week.  We made it through sickness...at least I hope we're done with it.  Rebecca still has a few sores/blisters that are healing, but other than that she's totally back to normal.  So far Justin and I are healthy too.  We're still keeping our distance from anyone since Rebecca could still be contagious, so it was a long week of not being able to do much.  But we should be ok by later this week...and we have some fun things planned (gotta make up for all of our cancelled plans last week :P).

Rebecca and I will be staying home from church again today.  No big plans today.  Looks like it might storm, so we'll probably be inside.  Monday is Meijer day, and Justin is going out for dinner with work.  Tuesday is the farmer's market.  We are planning to go to Michigan's Adventure this week.  We're planning on Wednesday, but if the weather doesn't look good we'll go Thursday instead.  So my plans for those two days will be interchangeable.  I'm also hoping to get to Forest Hills Foods.  It just depends what days we do other stuff.  I could go Wed., Thurs., or Fri.  And yesterday we were saying it would be fun to get out to Holland Beach.  So we might do that on Friday.  Rebecca and I would go out in the afternoon, and Justin would join us after work to relax and have a picnic dinner.  We just thought of the idea yesterday, so I don't have a picnic meal planned yet.  Our plans are tentative anyway.  That's about it.  I still can't believe we're heading into the holiday weekend already.  July?  June went by way too fast.

Last week was productive.  For some reason I was in a cleaning mood.  I guess that's good after someone's been sick.  I totally cleaned the whole laundry room/bathroom, including inside and outside the washer and dryer.  It looks so much better now.  And I feel much better about washing our clothes.  Who knew washing machines could get so dirty :p  I organized the pantry and got rid of a few things, figured out what needs to be used up.  I organized everything but the drawer in our upright freezer.  And I realized I have a lot of baked goods in there! :P  Plenty of good breakfast items to use up.  I still have to go through the drawer in that freezer and organize our chest freezer.  That one's tougher wtih all of our beef.  And I can't do it while Rebecca is napping (too loud/right under where she sleeps).  Hopefully I can make time for that some morning or evening this week.  Yesterday I went through all of Rebecca's toys and cleaned them/organized a bit.  And I wiped down a lot of stuff in the living room.  Feels good to get the germs out :)  I was busy in the kitchen too.  I made kefir, strawberry ice cream, strawberry fruit-roll ups, cherry crisp (actually made it the right way this time :), an updated version of barbeque, soaked and dried oats, almonds and cashews, made cashew butter, almond butter, granola, froze grapes, strawberries, cherries, dried strawberries and cherries, made strawberry topping, whey, cream cheese and sprouted/dried wheat berries.

I have a few extras planned this week, but some things will be tentative since I'm not sure exactly what's going on Wed. - Fri.  I'll be making more kefir.  I want to try making kishk and possibly making some granola with it.  As a side note, a little while back I made flour out of sprouted/dried wheat berries.  And then yesterday as I was looking up how to make kishk I realized the flour I made is called bulgur.  I''ve heard of bulgur plenty but never knew what it was.  Apparently I've already made it before :P  And I'll be making it again today.  My berries just finished drying, so I'l grind the flour today.  I'd like to make sourdough english muffins.  Justin has been asking for english muffins.  I want to give these a try.  If time allows I'll get the dough started today and bake them tomorrow.  I'm almost out of bean paste, so I'm planning to make a new batch.  I have my pinto beans soaking right now.  I bought carob powder last week, and I'm planning to make some carob chips with it.  I love having homemade chocolate chips on hand.  I hope they taste good with the carob powder.  It's supposed to be a lot healthier than cocoa.  I also want to make some vanilla ice cream...and add a few of the carob chips :)  Our basil is growing well, so I want to make a batch of pesto.  I'll have to soak/dry some pine nuts and/or walnuts for that.  Depends what looks good at the store.  Other than that it's the usual fresh produce preservation.  I'll probably stock up on some more strawberries and cherries this week.  And we are getting quite a few raspberries from our garden this year.  So I need to do something with those.  I think I'm going to try a berry sauce.  Not sure I'll have the time to haul out the canner yet this week.  We'll see what I feel like doing with all of the fruit.  Maybe more fruit roll-ups.  Maybe jam.  I think that's it...unless I feel up to attempting another mayo recipe.  And of course prepping picnic food for Wed. and possibly Fri.

Some exciting kitchen news...our oven is fixed!!!  Thanks to my handyman husband :)  Saved us over $100 for him to do it.  And it didn't take long at all.  So happy to have an oven I can trust again.
That's about it for this week.  Stay tuned for my monthly recap and new goals later this week.  Here's what we've got on the menu.
-------------------------------------------------------
S (make kefir, grind flour, soak bulgur for kishk, make english muffin dough, boil eggs, cook beans, make bean paste, make bone broth)
  B - yogurt/kefir, granola, fruit (me), sourdough pancakes w/ strawberry topping (Justin)
  L - round steak and veggies in crockpot (use bone from steak to make beef broth)
  D - egg salad on sourdough (me), hot taco rice (Justin)

M (make kefir, make english muffins, Meijer, Justin out to eat for work, dry kishk)
  B - breakfast cookies (from freezer), orange/broccoli and pinto beans
  D - egg salad on sourdough, veggies

T (make kefir, make carob chips, make whey, farmer's market, prep food for Wed., make granola?, organize freezers, make berry syrup, soak walnuts)
  B - sourdough english muffins w/ nut butter, butter or jam, fruit/veggies
  D - baked cod w/ basil pesto (from freezer), cheesy pasta, roasted cauliflower and beets

W (Michigan's Adventure, soak oats, dry oats, dry walnuts)
  B - yogurt/kefir, granola, veggies (me), banana bread (from freezer), fruit (Justin)
  L - snacks/picnic food - yogurt, chewy granola bars (from freezer), cherries, grapes and blueberries, chips, crispy nuts, homemade grahams and vanilla wafers, cucumber slices
  D - grilled hot dogs, corn, sugar snap peas w/ pinto bean paste, chips, fruit

Th (chop/cook beets, beet greens, cauliflower and broccoli, make kefir, cut up watermelon, prep granola, make popsicles, make ice cream)
  B - banana bread, fruit (Justin), apple slices w/ cashew butter, veggies (me)
  D - mexican breakfast casserole, toast, veggies, fruit

F (bake granola, pit/freeze cherries FHF, HH, clean, make whey, make pickles)
  B - leftover breakfast casserole, toast, fruit/veggies
  D - shrimp and avocado over brown rice w/ homemade thousand island dressing

S (clean, laundry, make pesto, season skillet, make mayo?, make ketchup, make ice cream, make popsicles)
  B - leftover breakfast casserole, veggies (me), french toast (from freezer) (Justin)
  D - pesto pizza, beans

Fruit Leather/Fruit Roll-ups

I've been brainstorming ways to use up strawberries.  Yesterday I came across a "recipe" for fruit roll-ups  on Kat's food blog (just found her site yesterday...an old friend from an IBS message board we both used for a while).  This could not be any easier.  And it turns out great!!!  Honestly, I think it tastes exactly like the fruit roll-ups I ate growing up...and they were not healthy by any means.  This is just strawberries and a drizzle of honey.  That's it!  And it doesn't taste like you're missing out on anything.  A wonderful way to use up my last few strawberries.  The best part...Rebecca loves them!  I'm planning to make more...when I get more strawberries :)  And I can't wait to try it with other fruit too.  I'll post Kat's directions.  But you really just make it to taste.  I didn't measure anything.  Just pureed what I had and added honey to my liking.

Fruit Leather/Fruit Roll-ups

1 1/2 cups strawberries, pureed (I'm assuming this would work just fine with frozen berries too...so we can make them year round...especially since I'm freezing some strawberry puree.  Other berries would work too.  For some (raspberries, blueberries) you might want to strain them after pureeing.)
1 Tbsp. raw honey

Mix fruit and honey.  Poor onto a fruit leather lined tray and dry at 150 for about 10 hours.

I have a very basic dehydrator...no temp settings, I don't have any special screens or trays.  I just cut a piece of parchment paper to fit a regular tray.  Worked just fine.  Mine took around 13 hours.

Strawberry Ice Cream

I have a bunch of fresh strawberries in my fridge.  And I've been debating about what to do with them.  For some reason on Wed. strawberry ice cream sounded good.  I don't normally like fruity ice creams.  And if I did pick one strawberry would not be my first choice.  I am a chocolate girl all the way.  But I figured it was worth a try with all of these strawberries.  I wanted to make something with what I have in the house.  And to make something easy/qiuck.  I checked my Nourishing Traditions cookbook.  It has several ice cream recipes...that you don't have to cook!!  Love that.  If you're afraid of raw eggs, then the recipes are not for you.  I trust the eggs we buy, so I don't worry about it.  Plus, if they are good eggs, raw eggs (the yolks at least...not sure about the whites) are actually good for you.  I also wanted to make ice cream using just whole milk, no cream...since I don't have any cream on hand.  So I used the NT recipe as my base and modified it a bit.  Turned out pretty good.  Not quite as creamy as some ice cream...but I didn't use cream, remember? :)  And I didn't add any chemicals to make it taste creamy when it's not :P  But still good.  It's kind of like a sorbet.  It's a treat that I'll feel good about eating.  Only a few ingredients and all good ones.  I did have to use a couple tsp. of corn starch since I don't have any arrowroot.  But it's such a small amount I'm not worried about that.  I'll have to get arrowroot the next time I grocery shop.  I only made a half recipe since I didn't know if this would work or not.  If I make it again maybe I'll double the recipe to get a decent amount.  And I'd like to try it with other berries.  Blueberry ice cream sounds great!  That'll be on my list in July.  And I want to try making this using the NT vanilla recipe and then adding chopped strawberries at the end too.  Justin had some last night with fresh strawberries on top.  He thought it was ok...but not really like ice cream.  It is for sure a healthy, cool summer treat.  But it's not my final attempt at making a quicky, easy, healthy homemade ice cream.  NT calls this berry ice cream and suggests raspberries, boysenberries or blackberries.

And just to give you a little nudge to make homemade ice cream or at least think twice about which kind you buy, here is what NT has to say about some of the ingredients many ice cream manufacturers use.  They are not required by law to list the additives used in manufacturing.  So most ice cream is synthetic from start to finish.  And I personally don't consider a mixture of antifreeze, oil paint, mitrate solvent and lice killer much of a treat :P

DIETHYLGLYCOL: A cheap chemical used as an emulsifier instead of eggs is the same chemical used in antifreeze and paint removers.

PIPERONAL: Used in place of vanilla. This chemical is used to kill lice.

ALDEHYDE C-17: Used to flavor cherry ice cream. It is inflammable liquid also used in aniline dyes, plastic and rubber.

ETHYL ACETATE: Used to give ice cream a pineapple flavor - and as a cleaner for leather and textiles; its vapors have been known to cause chronic lung, liver and heart damage.

BUTYRALDEHYDE: Used in nut flavored ice cream. It is one of the ingredients of rubber cement.

AMYL ACETATE: Used for its banana flavor. It is also used as an oil paint solvent.

BENZYL ACETATE: Used for its strawberry flavor. It is a nitrate solvent.

Strawberry Ice Cream/Sorbet

2 cups fresh berries or 10 oz. frozen berries, partially thawed (I used fresh strawberries)
2 egg yolks
1 Tbsp. arrowroot (I substitued corn starch)
2 cups heavy cream, not ultrapasteurized (I used whole milk)
1/2 - 3/4 cup maple syrup

Process berries in food processor (I used a blender) for several minutes.  Add egg yolks, cream and arrowroot.  Process until well blended.  Gradually add maple syrup until desired sweetness is obtained.  Pour into an ice cream maker and process according to instructions.  Transfer to storage container and store in freezer.

Crockpot Meatloaf

This isn't really a new recipe.  I always use my mom's recipe for meatloaf.  And I posted it a long time ago.  It's definitely a family favorite here.  But in the summer I don't like to use the oven if I don't have to at dinner time...especially for over an hour.  So I wanted to find a new way to make it.  And this week in particular I had to...at dinner time on Monday our oven wouldn't turn on.  It happened once a few weeks ago too.  Justin is working on fixing it.  In the mean time, I remembered seeing a post about crockpot meatloaf on A Year of Crockpotting a long time ago.  So I thought I'd give that method a try.  I made the meatloaf just like always.  Then just stuck the pan right in my crockpot!  Pretty neat.  And it works.  One more way to cook good food in the summer without heating up the house with the oven (we don't have AC) and without using a microwave.  It's also nice if you need to prep dinner ahead of time.  So, this is my usual meatloaf recipe...in the crockpot.

Crockpot Meatloaf

1 1/2 lb. ground beef
3/4 cup oatmeal (I soaked mine the night before)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 egg, slightly beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup diced onion
1/3 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. mustard

Mix beef, oatmeal, salt, pepper, garlic powder, egg, milk and onion. Put in large loaf pan (that will fit in your crockpot). Mix ketchup, brown sugar and mustard. Put on top of meatloaf.  Place pan in crockpot.  Cook on high 4-5 hours or low 6-8 hours.  You can drain some of the grease just by tipping the pan a bit in the crockpot and letting it run out (then you just have to clean the crockpot later).

Crispy Cashews

I also made a batch of crispy cashews this week.  The method for soaking/drying cashews is slightly different than most nuts  They shouldn't be soaked for more than 6 hours, and they can be dried at a higher temp.  I still did mine in a dehydrator.  But I think I'll try to do them in the oven next time.  It took a while for them to dry, and some of them ended up developing a gross taste since they stayed moist too long.  I did both whole cashews and cashew pieces.  The pieces are cheaper, so I got those to use for cashew butter (I'll be grinding them anyway, might as well save some money :).  The whole cashews will be great for snacks or in salads.

Crispy Cashews

4 cups raw cashews (cashews don't come truly raw)
1 Tbsp. unrefined sea salt
filtered water

Soak cashews in salt and filtered water for 6 hours (no longer).  Drain in a colander.  Spread on a baking pan and place in a warm oven (200 - 250 degrees) for 12 - 24 hours, turning occasionally, until completely dry and crisp.  Store in an airtight container.

Crispy Almonds

I just finished making my first batch of crispy almonds.  It's pretty much the same recipe for making crispy walnuts, cripsy peanuts and crispy pecans.  Yum!!!  These are great to eat plain, and I can't wait to use some to make almond butter.  I used almonds with the skins on since that's what I found at the store.  Skinless almonds are easier to digest, though.  I'll have to try them sometime.

Crispy Almonds

4 cups almonds
1 Tbsp. unrefined sea salt
filtered water

Mix almonds, salt and water and leave in a warm place for at least 7 hours (I did about 24 hours).  Drain in a colander.  Spread on a baking pan and place in warm oven (150 degrees) for 12 - 24 hours, stirring occasionally, until completely dry and crisp.  Or you can dry them in a dehydrator.  Store in an airtight container.

Dairy Kefir - Take 2

Last week I got some kefir grains and made my first attempt at making some.  I wasn't really sure what I was doing or what it was supposed to look like/taste like.  And it didn't seem to work that well.  So I did a little more research, watched a few videos and tried again this week.  Well, I think it worked this time :)  And it really wasn't hard at all.  I think I just hadn't given my grains enough time to adjust/grow before.  My first batch of kefir is still probably on the thin side.  But it's way thicker than the stuff I made last week.  I mixed kefir and yogurt together yesterday for lunch.  That worked well.  The kefir does have a pretty strong sour taste.  I love the tangy taste of plain yogurt.  But kefir is different.  I haven't accquired the taste for eating it plain yet.  But maybe I will over time.  I'm excited to have kefir and to try in various recipes.  And mostly excited about its impact on my gut :)

In addition to dairy kefir there is also water kefir.  Which also is great for your digestive system.  I've read about it many places.  Maybe I'll try that next (thanks for the suggestions Sara and Donielle!).

Here's the basic idea of how to make dairy kefir:

Kefir

1. Put kefir grains in a clean container (a mason jar works well)
2. Poor milk into the jar (how much milk you use depends on how many grains you have and how much kefir you want to make.  To start out I'm only using about a cup of milk.) and stir with non-metallic spoon.

3.  Cover jar loosely (I use cheesecloth secured with a ring)
4.  Set in a warm spot, away from sunlight (I put mine in a kitchen cupboard...above my oven)
5.  In 12 - 48 hours you should have kefir (The time depends on your grains and how strong you like the kefir)

6.  Strain the kefir into another jar. (I pour it through a strainer)

7.  Put the grains back into the old jar and pour milk on top.  Repeat steps 3 - 6 for more kefir.  Or store in the refrigerator if you want a break from making kefir.

8.  Cover the kefir you just  made.  You can put it right in the refrigerator.  Or you can let it set out a while to continue to thicken and separate.  If it separates the top portion will be thicker, like yogurt.  The bottom will be whey.  You can use them together or separate, just like you do with yogurt.

Sweet Potato Casserole

I had some sweet potatoes that I wanted to use up this week.  I remebered a recipe for sweet potato casserole I made several years ago.  I hadn't made it since then because I thought it was unhealthy.  But I got the recipe back out...and realize it's very healthy!  Sweet potatoes, butter, eggs and nuts...hello?  All so good for you.  So I made it again last night, but I modified it a bit.  The original recipe has a topping made with brown sugar, flour and butter.  I don't think that's necessary at all to have all of that sugar and flour on top.  So I just sprinkled a tiny bit of sugar on top and added some crispy pecans.  The result...awesome!!  We all loved it.  Even Rebecca who can be picky about sweet potatoes sometimes.  She gobbled it up.  A new keeper for sure.

I didn't make a full recipe (wihich is a 9x13 pan).  I used 2 large sweet potatoes.  I cooked and mashed them in the morning in a glass pyrex container.  When it was time to prepare the casserole I just mixed it right in that container.  No need to get any other dishes dirty :)

I'll post my version of the casserole.  I don't know where I got the original.  It was years ago.

Sweet Potato Casserole

4 1/2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potato, cooled
1/2 cup butter, melted (or coconut oil)
1/3 cup milk or milk substitute
1/2 cup organic cane sugar or coconut sugar (you can sub honey/maple syrup, but you might want to cut back on the milk if you do so it's not too liquid)
2 eggs

topping:
2 Tbsp. organic brown cane sugar or coconut sugar
1 cup chopped crispy pecans

Heat oven to 350.  Place mashed potatoes in a greased baking dish (9x13 or 1 1/2-2 qt.).  Mix in butter, milk, sugar and eggs.  Smooth top.  Sprinkle brown sugar and pecans over top.  Bake 25 minutes.

Meal Plans Week of 6-20-10

Happy Father's Day!!!  Looks like it's going to be a beautiful day today.  Although we can't go to church with Justin this morning, hopefully we can still spend some time together as a family celebrating.  Maybe we can take one of our Sunday walks to the local ice cream stand this afternoon.

Last week was a bit crazy to say the least.  And not the way I had planned.  The week started out normally.  But Wed. Rebecca came down with hand, foot and mouth disease.  So the rest of the week was turned upside down.  She's still fighting the virus.  Poor thing is covered head to toe with sores/rashes/blisters.  But she's such a trooper.  At least the fever seems to finally be gone.  And she's sleeping better again.  We're praying that things start improving very soon.  In the meantime, we can't do very much.  We had a bunch of fun, family stuff planned over the next week.  But we'll have to cancel it while Rebecca recovers and wait until she is no longer contagious to get out again.  So there won't be a ton of stuff going on this week.  Today is Father's Day.  Nothing specific planned.  Hopefully some good family time.  Tuesday is Justin's last day of class!!!!  Woo Hoo!!!  We are all very happy about that.  It will be nice to have him around more again.  Tuesday is also the farmer's market.  Hopefully Rebecca and I can at least go there.  Wednesday we pick up our co-op order.  And one day this week I need to go grocery shopping.  That's probably it.  I guess that'll make time for some kitchen work :P

Last week was still somewhat productive, even though some things had to be put on hold.  I did deal with a lot of fruit.  I froze a bunch of strawberries (from the farmer's market) and grapes (stocked up on organic grapes...yeah!).  I also dried strawberries, grapes, apples and cherries.  I soaked and dried pecans.  I made mayonnaise, beef jerky, fermented punch, strawberry banana bread, strawberry shortcake and strawberry banana sourdough muffins.  I also started making kefir.  But didn't have time to really deal with it and wasn't totally sure how to do it.  So I stuck it in the fridge.  I've done some more reading and watched a couple how-to videos, and I made it to the store to get more milk.  So I'll try again this week.  I also got my compost bucket and wheat berry bucket.  Super excited about both of those!  The other thing I tried last week was using parchment paper in my dehydrator.  I don't have any screens for it.  So in the past I couldn't do anything very small or liquidy.  But I hate using the oven to dry things in the summer since we don't have AC.  So I tried parchment paper...worked great!  Can't wait to try it with my oats this week.

I didn't make it to Forrest Hills Foods last week because I couldn't take Rebecca.  So no new seafood.  But we'll keep eating what we've got in the house and hopefully get to FHF soon.  I did get to Harvest Health yesterday at least to stock up on a few basics.  I bought some carob powder there.  I'm anxious to experiment with that.  No luck on finding pickling lime.  I want to try soaking cornmeal...but you need lime water...which requires pickling lime.  I'll have to do some searching.  Anyone know of a place you can get it besides online?  Still going strong with my extra veggie intake.  It's actually rare now that I don't eat veggies for breakfast.  I'm still amazed at that.  I thought it would be so tough.  But I guess I do love veggies :)

This week will be somewhat tentative in terms of extras.  It depends how Rebecca's doing.  My hope is to make kefir, feed/use my sourdough starter, freeze and dry more strawberries and cherries, make strawberry shortcake for a work lunch for Justin, soak (already soaking right now) and dry oats (to use in granola), make granola, soak and dry cashews and almonds, maybe make cashew butter and/or almond butter, sprout/dry/grind wheat, make and freeze strawberry topping and maybe make some cherry crisp (we'll see if there are any tart cherries at the fm).

My other projects are organizing my pantry and freezers and organizing my desk.  All of them are a bit chaotic right now.  My brother and SIL picked up all of their beef yesterday.  So we have our freezers back :)  And I want to get them organized/see what needs to be used up before we start filling them with all of the summer produce.  And my pantry is becoming more empty jars than full jars :P  I want to get that rearranged too.

Starting to ride the crazy hormone train now :P  Not fun.  But I know it's worth it.  Hopefully I can continue to eat well and experience healing in spite of the pills, shots and treatments.  And in the end I have faith that God will use this experience for his glory, no matter what the outcome.

I guess that's it for this week.  We're playing things by ear a bit.  You'll see what we had planned, but don't anymore.  Hopefully we'll get to reschedule some of it in the next few weeks.  I'm learning that no matter how much I plan ultimately God is in control  And his plans are always better than mine.  So I'm taking things one day at a time and letting Him lead.
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S (church, nursery, Father's Day, dry oats, soak oats for meatloaf, soak cashews and almonds)
  B - strawberry banana bread, misc. veggies
  L - crockpot chicken noodle soup, sprouted wheat bread or cheese and crackers
  D - barbeque on buns, chips, roasted asparagus, home canned peaches

M (dry oats, dry cashews and almonds, start kefir, cook and mash sweet potatoes, make strawberry shortcake for Justin's work lunch, Meijer, freeze grapes, chop veggies, nursery cmt)
  B - orange and oat scones (from freezer), fruit/veggies
  D - meatloaf (using soaked oats and fermented ketchup, in crockpot?), sweet potato casserole, peas, pecan avocado chicken salad (oven broke)

T (roast and chop beets, chop and saute beet greens and mushrooms, dry oats, cashews and almonds, make kefir, clean bathroom, farmer's market, pick raspberries, last class!, chop, prep strawberries for shortcake, prep strawberries for strawberry topping, process oats, organize pantry)
  B -  fried egg, toast, veggies
  D - leftover pecan avocado chicken salad, meatloaf  (me), out to eat at San Chez (Justin)...no fair :P

W (make kefir, co-op pick up, make granola (if oven works), make/freeze strawberry topping, clean bathroom/laundry room)
  B - cereal w/ flax seed, crispy pecans and fresh raspberries and strawberries
  D - meatloaf in crockpot, sweet potatoe casserole, beans

Th (feed sd, make almond butter and cashew butter, freeze and dry cherries, dry strawberries, make ice cream, organize freezers, Michigan's Adventure (family day to celebrate Justin being done with class))
  B - cheesy scrambled eggs (with locally made gouda), toast/fruit/veggies
  D - sourdough pancakes w/ strawberry topping, bacon, fruit

F (make cherry crisp, clean, soak wheat berries, MOPS, pack, prep food)
  B - kefir strawberry cherry avocado smoothies
  D - baked salmon, TBD sides, leftover meatloaf, steamed broccoli and carrots

S (clean (sanitize after sickness), laundry, make something with raspberries?, Grand Blanc to visit family, sprout wheat berries)
  B - sourdough bread with butter and almond butter, veggies (me), sourdough pancakes with strawberry topping (Justin)
  D - corn dog muffins, veggies or pan seared salmon with mango chutney over brown rice, peas

Strawberry Banana Sourdough Muffins

It's strawberry season, and we have a bunch in the fridge.  And my sourdough starter is getting big.  So I figured I'd use them up together.  While searching for sourdough muffin recipes I mostly found recipe for blueberry muffins.  And most of them are very similar.  So I just picked one as my base.  Then I used strawberries and bananas (I have some bananas to use up too) instead of blueberries.  Any berry would work.  I bet diced apples would even be good.  I made these yesterday morning for breakfast.  Yum!!!  Very good.  All 3 of us really like them.  They taste great warm with a healthy spread of butter :)  Butter and sourdough are such a great match.  These are mildly sweet and still have a hint of the sourdough flavor.  I used the recipe from Sourdough Home.  I'll post the original recipe and add my adjustments.  This said it made 6 muffins, so I doubled the recipe...and got 21 muffins!  I filled the muffin cups to the top too.  Maybe it makes 6 jumbo muffins.  I fed my sourdough starter the night before and let it sit on the counter so it was ready in the morning.  I don't know if this step is necessary, but most recipes suggest it (although this one didn't).  Some chopped crispy walnuts would be really good in these.

*Edited 8/5/10 - I made another batch of these today with a little mashed banana and some blueberries.  So good!!!  And more moist than with the strawberries.  I used about 1 cup of berries instead of 1/2 cup.  I got 12 muffins out of it.

Strawberry Banana Sourdough Muffins
make 10-12 muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup sugar or fructose (You can double this if you want them sweeter. For a double batch I used 3/4 cups...worked well.)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup oil (I used coconut)
1 cup sourdough starter
1/2 cup blueberries (I added diced strawberries.  I also added some mashed banana and some small banana chunks.) (I think they're better with 1 cup of berries...blueberries work very well.)

Preheat oven to 425F.

Combine dry ingredients in small bowl. Stir in blueberries (strawberries and banana chunks). Combine wet ingredients (and mashed banana) in medium bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet ones.

Mix quickly and spoon into muffin cups (I used silicon muffin cups...the muffins popped right out.).

Bake at 425 for 18-20 minutes.

Strawberry Shortcake

I've never really been a fan of strawberry shortcake.  I don't like biscuit-type things or the sponge cake kind either.  And I don't like whipped cream.  So that leaves the strawberries :P  And that is what I would eat growing up when my mom made it...just the sweetened strawberries (sometimes on ice cream) while everyone else ate the shortcake.  It's strawberry season right now.  And I decided I'd try making shortcake...never have before.  Laura on Heavenly Homemakers posted a simple, healthy recipe the other day...that looked good to me...because it's not a biscuit or a sponge :P  Rebecca and I made it yesterday.  So easy!  And really good.  It is very mildly sweet.  And goes really well with strawberries.  I still have mine with ice cream instead of whipped cream, but at least this time I actually ate the shortcake :)  All 3 of us love it.  Of course Rebecca is a girl after my own heart...I got her a little dish...but she wouldn't eat it until I added ice cream and chocolate :P

Whole Wheat Strawberry Shortcake

1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour (I use some freshly ground sprouted whole wheat and some freshly ground whole wheat flour)
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup oil (I use coconut oil)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk (I used my mild kefir)

4-5 cups of fresh, sliced strawberries (I gave it to Rebecca with fresh strawberries.  I mashed some strawberries with cane sugar for ours :)  It's good both ways.)

Whipped cream (fresh cream whipped to form soft peaks, with a bit of stevia added for sweetness) (Justin had readi-whip on his...have some on hand to use up from a dessert I made for church last week.  I had ice cream on mine.)
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Mix together flour and baking powder. Add in eggs, honey, oil, vanilla and milk. Stir well (or mix well with hand mixer). Pour into a well buttered 8×8 inch baking pan. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes (Mine took about 30 minutes).

Allow cake to cool completely. Top with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. (9 servings)

Kefir

As I continue on my journey towards better health, I'm trying to find foods that will help heal my gut.  One that I've read a lot about is kefir.  It's kind of like yogurt (not as thick), but has a lot more good bacteria.  Although I've done a fair amount of research kefir is still somewhat of a mystery to me.  What it's supposed to taste like, how you use it, etc.  But I'm working on experimenting and finding the answers.

You can make kefir from grains or a powder.  Based on what I read the powder is pretty easy.  You just mix it with milk, let it set a bit, and it's done.  But then you have to buy more.  And it's not cheap!!  On the other hand, if you use grains to make kefir you only have to buy them once.  They can last forever!  Guess which one I chose?  Grains of course.  But they are a bit trickier (I think).  I got my grains last week and followed the instructions that came with them.  The grains themselves are definitely growing.  So I know I'm doing something right.  But the kefir itself...I'm still working on that.  It was really hot when I started the process, so I think the process was going faster than usaul.  After a few days of adding milk, letting it sit, dumping the  milk and repeating I got what I thought was my first actual batch of kefir.  It smelled and tasted like spoiled milk to me.  Maybe it was bad.  Or maybe it was just really strong kefir (some people compare it to buttermilk).  Either way I couldn't drink it.  Just to be safe I dumped it and rinsed the grains.  And started over.  I know I have healthy, growing grains, so I started fresh.  And I didn't let it ferment nearly as long.  So yesterday I made my first new batch.  I only let it go about 12 hours.  And it actually tasted good.  Similar to milk, but you could tell there was more to it than that...a little tangy and a little sweet at the same time.  I've got another batch going now (the tough part about kefir...you have to keep making it/keep feeding the grains).  We'll see how that one goes.  The down side is that it uses up a lot of milk.  But if I use the kefir in place of milk and buttermilk than I guess it evens out.

So I'm in the experimentation phase.  But hoping that even my mild kefir will have some health benefits.  And maybe over time I'll develop a taste for stronger kefir and can let it ferment longer.  I'm also figuring out how to use my kefir.  Last night I mixed some in with my yogurt.  That worked well (maybe a 1:3 ration, kefir to yogurt).  I'm planning to make kefir smoothies.  And I want to use it in some baking.  Plus just drink it plain sometimes (if I can :)  And maybe even use it on my granola.  Mmm.  That sounds good.

For now I'm not going to post a "recipe"/method of how to make keifr.  If you buy the grains you should get directions with them.  And I'm still figuring it out.  When I get more comfortable with it maybe I'll update this post and give some directions/tips.

If you're looking for grains, I ordered mine here (but from a different seller that isn't listed right now).  And if mine keep growing well, maybe I'll have some to give away :)

Note - the pictures are from various stages in the process.  You can see the grains growing.  I'll have to take a picture some other time when I have the grains clean.