A Change of Pace

With the thrill of Covid-19, lots of things have changed while some remain the same... (Now, I have The Song Remains the Same going through my head!)

Today, two days earlier than expected, I received my recent order from Amazon: a case of Bai Puna Coconut Pineapple, Organic Chia Seeds, and Organic Stevia Powder. While I have consumed both the Bai Puna and the chia seeds, this will be my first attempt to use stevia powder. Sure, I hve consumed several things with stevia as a sweetener all ready included on the list or ingredients. The difference is that I don't add sugar/sweetener to anything. For instance, the tea I drink is always unsweetened.
One of the things that I like to drink, though, is Kevita's Lemon Cayenne water kefir. That uses stevia as the sweetener and it delivers only 5 calories per 8 oz. serving. I really like the limit in sugars, the taste, and the probitic effect that the kefir provides. I don't really like the price that one bottle costs, though. The best price that I can find it for is about $3. Not really expensive, but...

So, here's my plan! I'll brew some tea - either green tea or Bigelow's Lemon Ginger tea - and add some lemon juice, cayenne, and the stevia powder. I'll be lacking the benefit of the kefir but I'll gain the benefit of the lemon/cayenne. Bigelow's Lemon Ginger IS marketed as probiotic. It includes the ingredient of Ganeden BC30 probiotic (follow the link to learn more about that).
The RIGHT thing for me to do would be to squeeze my own lemons (and use grade B maple syrup) for the Master Cleanse, but that's not my current goal. I simply want to add the benefits of the lemon/cayenne beverage to my consumption without the price.
For dinner tonight, I'll be consuming about 5g of net carbs for the whole meal... chicken, cauliflower, cheese, and lemon ginger tea with the said added ingredients.

I definitely plan on increasing my lemon/cayenne tea over the next, couple of days. So, we'll see how well the added stevia powder works for me - I may just not like it...

Time Flies When...

OK, I am aware of the irony. I am writing a post entitled "Time Flies When..." on the first day after we set the clocks ahead one hour (well, at least in most of America) thanks to daylight savings time. However, as it has been several months since I last updated this blog (7 months to the day) the concept of time flying just seems to be a fitting title. (Song: "Time" - Pink Floyd)

As of the last post, I was producing two internet radio shows. Well, due to several factors, I am no longer.

As well, I was working as an intern for one of Hartford's radio stations, The Rock 106.9 WCCC. Well, I am still with WCCC, but in a different capacity. I am now officially employed! I am only part time (about 10-15 hours per week), but part of my duties include being the board operator on Friday mornings from 6-10 am during the 'Imus in the Morning' show. I have to coordinate the satellite feed with the local commercial spots as well as read the news, weather, and traffic on WCCC's AM station, WCCC AM 1290 Beethoven Radio.

Also in the last post, I mentioned that we were in pre-production of ConnecTV, the first television show produced entirely by graduates of the Connecticut School of Broadcasting. We now have four shows completed and airing on a regular basis over several cable access outlets across Connecticut. The show can also be seen on the internet at our Vimeo channel.

Time definitely flies...

Today, I renewed my commitment to The Maker's Diet. While I have been mostly following the guidelines of the diet, I haven't always been terribly strict. Well, I went back to phase one. I was really happy with the results of my first attempt to follow the Maker's Diet and I am hoping to to further improve  my health by returning to the basics.

My day started with a push ups workout. I have been following the program detailed on hundredpushups.com for the last couple of weeks. I have been pretty happy with the results so far.
I followed the workout with my daily dose of VIDACELL. This would be the only food that, while truly natural, might not truly qualify for the Maker's Diet guidelines. The benefits far outweigh what might be consequences for breaking the 'rules.'
Breakfast consisted of a 3 egg omelet made with free range eggs, raw cheese, and organic salsa. I also supplemented with Vitamin D.
After suitable time for digestion, I used a free pass to go to the YMCA and get another workout. This time, I spent 35 minutes on the elliptical machine. According to the calorie counter, I burned almost 400 calories. I also spent some time doing some resistance exercise - mostly to complement the push ups, I concentrated on back exercises.
Upon returning home, my wife and daughters were just leaving for a walk in the amazing weather, so I put the leash on Ginger and joined them!
The rest of my daily food consumption consisted of plain yogurt and a homemade lentil soup with lots of veggies.

A-Z Challenge - 'Y'

Yogurt is my topic for today - the second to last post in April's A-Z challenge. Yogurt plays a slightly smaller role in my journey to wellness now than it did even a couple of months ago only because it has taken a back seat to my homemade kefir (check out my post - Wouldn't It Be Nice - for the start of my kefir adventures). Like kefir, yogurt is a cultured milk product and is beneficial for digestion.

Early on my journey to wellness I attempted making yogurt at home with varying degrees of success. Yogurt doesn't take a lot of effort but it does take patience and warmth - and a little yogurt to get the process started. The only available heat source I have that suited my needs - well, the yogurt's needs - is my Crock-Pot. Sometimes it got too warm in the Crock-Pot for the culture and the yogurt didn't always come out right. At $7.50 per gallon of raw milk, I didn't really relish the potential of having a failed batch as a result of too much heat. As a result, I gave up on making my own yogurt until such time as I could acquire a yogurt maker designed for the purpose. They don't cost much, but kitchen space is a premium so I have held off on getting a new gadget. Making kefir is so much easier and requires no heat above room temperature, so that is now my primary source of probiotics.
The best commercial yogurt that I could find is from Stonyfield Farm though Deerfield Farm - the source of my raw milk - also makes yogurt regularly. When I get yogurt, it is from one of these two sources. In both cases though, the milk is pasteurized prior to being cultured.

I'm Not Crazy About It

While it is stated in the recipe to let the kvass sit at "room temperature for two days before transferring to the refrigerator," I gave it an extra day. As well, the instructions say that "when most of the liquid has been drunk, you may fill the container with water and keep at room temperature for another two days" for a 2nd batch.
I decided to pour off most of the liquid into new jars and refill them instead of waiting to drink it all. While it hasn't been refrigerated, I wanted to taste the 'brew.' Well, it tastes a little better than the store bought stuff, but I am still not crazy about it. (Song reference, Crazy by Seal). I am hoping that a little refrigeration will aid the taste. If not, I might try to tweak the recipe and try again. If after a second attempt it still doesn't suit me, I will just stick to the kefir.

No Easy 'Whey' Out

The title for this post was an easy one for me, yet contrary to the title I did get an easy 'whey' out! So, the song may or may not be obvious to you but it has long been one of my favorites. It is 'No Easy Way Out' and can be found on the soundtrack from Rocky IV.
We were running low on milk, so I made a call to Deerfield Farm yesterday to reserve 3 gallons for today. I was surprised when Melynda answered the phone as I usually get the answering machine. I was further surprised when she told me that she had some whey for me! While I had inquired about having them reserve some whey for me when they made cheese, we hadn't been able to coordinate it up until today. Now I am the proud owner of a half gallon of whey! Well, it is now slightly less than a half gallon as I added some to the smoothie that I had for dinner...
As I haven't made my own yogurt in quite some time, I really haven't has any whey to use for other purposes. Unlike making yogurt and cheese, making kefir doesn't produce whey as a by-product. Now that I have a decent quantity of whey, I plan to make some kvass even though I wasn't terribly impressed by the taste of the kvass that I purchased. I plan to pick up some vegetables on our grocery shopping trip tomorrow so that I can try a couple of different blends in making my own kvass. I don't plan to make too much as I am not sure that I will like my own 'brew' any better than the purchased variety.

Changes

I admit it, I was having a really hard time coming up with a suitable song link for this post.  What I really want to talk about today is a trio of probiotic, fermented beverages and I just couldn't find a related song, band, or album to go along with them.  One possible link was The KKK Took My Baby Away by the Ramones, but only because all three of these drinks begin with the letter 'K.'  While I mention that song here, I decided against using it as the reference for this post.  Instead, I decided on Changes by David Bowie.  This is because adding these three drinks to my daily diet definitely (how's that alliteration?) represents a change for me.

So, what are these drinks?

First, I want to talk about kefir.  I am still not quite sure of the proper pronunciation of this word.  I have heard it pronounced as 'key-fur' as well as 'keh-fear.'  Either way, this is great stuff!  Kefir is primarily found as a cultured milk product.  I mentioned my then-new project of making my own kefir in a previous post - Wouldn't It Be Nice - so I won't go into too much detail about that here.  According to kefir.net, kefir is:

"a cultured, enzyme-rich food filled with friendly micro-organisms that help balance your “inner ecosystem.” More nutritious and therapeutic than yogurt, it supplies complete protein, essential minerals, and valuable B vitamins."

Since I began making my own kefir a couple of months ago, I have been drinking it almost daily - except for the duration of the master cleanse.  At first, I wasn't quite thrilled by the taste but neither did I hate it.  Now, I actually like it.  For that matter, I am also enjoying the taste of plain yogurt now though I really couldn't stand it when I first tried it.  My taste buds have definitely adjusted to a lot of foods that I never used to like.  While I haven't seen any major improvement in my health since I started drinking kefir, I know that I am better off because of it.  As with everything else, healing takes time.  While kefir is available at the grocery stores, I have yet to find any that is made from whole milk and doesn't contain undesirable additives.  Plus, all of the bottled kefir that I have found is pasteurized.

Next comes kombucha.  Kombucha is a fermented tea drink.  It is essentially made by using a kombucha 'mushroom' or 'mother' to ferment any variety of tea.  Because of the fact that it is made from tea, it can come in many flavors.  I have only been able to find one brand of kombucha locally, though I haven't exhausted all possibilities.  Neither Stop & Shop nor Trader Joe's carry it.  I am told that Whole Foods sells it, but I don't get out there very often.  As of now, the only place I have been able to get it is It's Only Natural so I am limited to what they carry.  Today, I picked up some Botanic No. 9 and Gingerade varieties.  I had previously tried the Multigreen flavor but I am not too thrilled with the taste.  It wasn't bad and I would drink it if the others weren't available, but it wouldn't be my first choice.
I am tempted to try to make my own kombucha.  The start-up cost is a bit higher than it was for kefir, but it seems like the ongoing costs would be less.  Rather than using raw milk that I pay $7.50 per gallon to make kefir, I would be using tea and sugar.  One gallon of sweetened tea costs a lot less than $7.50!  In addition to the mother, I would eventually need to buy some larger jars to make the kombucha in.  I currently use the one quart mason jars for kefir and I could start with them, but given the fact that kombucha takes longer to ferment than kefir, I would want to make larger batches.

Finally, kvass is another beverage that has been around for a long time.  There are a couple of different ways to make kvass.  One uses stale rye bread while another uses beets.  Kvass is really new to me.  I read about it in Nourishing Traditions, but have only recently tried it.  It was sitting in the cooler at It's Only Natural right next to the kombucha with a big sign: "If you like kombucha, you will LOVE KVASS!"  Well, I figured that I would give it a shot...  So much for truth in advertising!  While I do like kombucha, I certainly do not love kvass - at least, not the variety that I tried.  The flavor that I purchased was ginger-carrot kvass.  My guess is that instead of using beets to make the kvass, they used ginger and carrots.  It wasn't great but neither was it horrible.  Today on my trip to I.O.N., I decided to give it another shot.  This time I opted for the beet kvass (as I write this, the kvass is sitting in the fridge while I am drinking Gingerade kombucha).
Kvass seems to be a lot easier to make than kombucha - similar to kefir in complexity and time.  It does, however, require whey as the fermentation agent - at least, for the first batch.  Fortunately, whey is easy to acquire - I can separate some raw milk on my own or get some from Deerfield Farm when they make cheese.  While the jury hasn't reached a verdict on kvass - maybe it is just an acquired taste - I am thinking that the relative ease of making it and the ability to customize the taste by using different vegetables will make kvass a staple for me.  We'll see how that goes, though.


Without actually doing the math, it is obvious that making/brewing my own probiotic drinks is a lot more cost effective than buying them retail.  Of the three, kombucha is the most labor intensive having to first brew the tea, add sugar and the mother, and allow to ferment for 7-10 days.  Kefir simply requires the addition of the grains to fresh milk in a loosely covered jar (I use a coffee filter over the mouth of a mason jar secured with the mason jar ring) with an occasional stir during the 24-48 hours of fermentation.  Kvass seems to merely require cutting the vegetables into cubes, adding them to a jar with whey, sea salt, and water, and allowing the fermentation to occur at room temperature for 48 hours.

It will be interesting to see how it works!