This week will be the final week! We're going to learn about organ meats! I'm excited! :)
The focus during week 3 was on ferments and cultured foods. I'm a big fan of bacteria - funny as it is to say! I'm just amazed at the design of our Creator - He made colonies of beneficial microscopic organisms that work to help us digest our food, make our food more nurturing, protect us from hostile little bugs, and so much more!
Here's what I learned this week:
*SCOBY stands for Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeasts - like water kefir grains, milk kefir grains, Kombucha mothers, and ginger beer plant. They help to ferment foods and beverages.
*The kombucha we learned about is *not* the same as the Japanese kelp tea (Konbu=kelp, cha=tea) that a friend and I thought it might be (random trivia fact - I have a BA in Japanese language and culture!)
*There are a ton of cultured dairy foods other than yogurt and kefir. Read about them here.
*We should think of cheese as a seasonal food. This really struck me as I've begun to see the value in God's perfect timing and the consequences of insisting on eating outside of the seasonal schedule He has set (shipping foods in from far away places and cooping chickens up with space heaters to keep them laying, etc). Cheese should keep dairy in our diets when the cows stop lactating and fresh milk become unavailable for a season. What a different way of life! I really need a farm...
*Seeds and nuts require preparation too! The skins contain enzyme inhibitors.
*Beans need soaking in warmth and acid to decrease the phytic acids. I soaked our lentils Sunday! :)
Real food goals I'm setting for myself:
*I purchased a milk kefir starter - now I need to use it!
*I'm going to make yogurt cheese this week (wasn't in the budget last week)
*Going to sit down and read through this article from the Weston A. Price Foundation on Curds and Whey, as well as this post on foods that contain the most vitamins and minerals.
*When the raw almonds I ordered come in, I'm going to soak them!
If you'd like to get caught up on all of the awesome emails that have been sent out to participants, check out the challenge archives at Nourished Kitchen.
I also really appreciated another blog post I read this week at Live Renewed about ditching anti-bacterial products that fit right in to the challenge this week!
See how everyone else is doing over at Nourished Kitchen.
4 comments:
Just wondering, why is it bad to let chickens lay year round? I mean, does it somehow diminish the health of the bird or quality of the egg?
I *think* that it's not so much that it's bad for them to lay, but that there are some that just don't when the weather is cold (and there are fewer daylight hours), and cooping them up in artificial conditions to keep them laying isn't ideal. I have read that if hens aren't allowed to rest and molt for a few weeks during the winter, they won't return to full production.
Anyone else wanna weigh in on that? I'll do some more research since I randomly threw that out there.
Anjanette -
GREAT round-up! I'm so happy someone else can appreciate my love of truly seasonal foods. I think it's beautiful the way cheeses sustain us when cows don't produce milk, you know? There's a real charm to eating truly in season.
Annie -
Chickens simply don't lay year round - that is, if they're naturally fed and cared for with respect to their cycle of living. Sure, you might get a stray egg here or there during the deepest, darkest days of winter, but they won't produce as readily as they do when the days are longer. Just the way it is.
The reason why eggs are available year-round is due to heavy duty industrialization of the food supply and the institution of false-moltings. By keeping hens indoors and away from natural light, egg manufacturers can essentially create false seasons, force molting etc. In order to create these conditions, producers won't be able to allow hens to live outdoors, peck at sprouts and grubs and its the natural raising of hens that ensures a nutrient-dense egg.
Thanks for the insight, Jenny! I'm beginning to no longer be surprised when we learn that there are consequences for the convenient shortcuts we take!
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