A-Z Challenge - 'N'

Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats is the topic for today.
Yes, that is a really long title for a book - but it is a really big book! Sally Fallon, the author, is the president and co-founder of the Weston A. Price Foundation - a nonprofit, tax-exempt nutrition education foundation. Both the foundation and the book shine a light on the benefits of proper, traditional nutrition and the drawbacks of the highly processed - supposedly healthy - foods that we are now inundated with.

The back cover of the book says it best:
"Recalling the culinary customs of our ancestors, and looking ahead to a future of robust good health for young and old, Nourishing Traditions offers modern families a fascinating guide to wise food choices and proper preparation techniques. Sally Fallon unites the wisdom of the ancients with the latest independent and accurate scientific research in over 700 delicious recipes that will please both exacting gourmets and busy parents."

This book has been a wonderful tool on my journey to wellness. In his book, The Maker's Diet, Jordan Rubin references Nourishing Traditions frequently. After reading Rubin's book, I immediately checked Nourishing Traditions out from the library and have since purchased the Kindle version of it that I use on the Kindle for PC (a free download from amazon.com).

A-Z Challenge - 'E'

Nope, vitamin E is not the topic of the day. Instead, I am choosing Ezekiel 4:9 Bread as my topic. One of the giant steps on my journey to wellness was when I began to follow The Maker's Diet which recommends limiting the intake of bread. When eating bread, however, the author suggests using an Ezekiel-type bread - meaning a bread made from sprouted grains.
Ezekiel Bread gets its name from the biblical passage: "Take also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make bread of it..." Food For Life, Inc. says: "We discovered when these six grains and legumes are sprouted and combined, an amazing thing happens. A complete protein is created that closely parallels the protein found in milk and eggs. In fact, the protein quality is so high, that it is 84.3% as efficient as the highest recognized source of protein, containing all 9 essential amino acids. There are 18 amino acids present in this unique bread – from all vegetable sources – naturally balanced in nature.
Ezekiel 4:9® Bread, made from freshly sprouted organically grown grains, is naturally flavorful and bursting with nutrients. Rich in protein, vitamins, minerals and natural fiber with no added fat. Try it served warm to release its exceptionally rich nutty flavor."
One of the major problems with the Standard American Diet is the inclusion of bleached white flour. Whole wheat flour isn't much better, either. Sprouted grains are really what we should be using. I recommend reading any or all of the following books:

• Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats 
• Sproutman's Kitchen Garden Cookbook: 250 flourless, Dairyless, Low Temperature, Low Fat, Low Salt, Living Food Vegetarian Recipes
• The Maker's Diet

You Can't Always Get What You Want

...but if you try, sometimes you get what you need. In all of my posts that use songs or song references as titles, I don't think that I have ever used a Rolling Stones song. It seemed about time and You Can't Always Get What You Want seemed the perfect one for this post. When I got the whey from Deerfield Farm last Wednesday, I was all excited to try my hand at making beet kvass. When I went to the grocery store on Thursday, I was fully intending to buy some beets for the same purpose. No luck - I couldn't get what I wanted. But I tried again today, and I got what I needed! So today, I started the kvass-making process.

Sally Fallon provides a recipe for beet kvass in her book, Nourishing Traditions. It is as follows:

• 3 medium or 2 large beets, peeled and chopped up coarsely (I cubed them)
• 1/4 cup whey
• 1 Tablespoon sea salt
• Filtered water

Add all of the ingredients to a 2 quart container (I used two 1 quart mason jars). Add filtered water to fill the container, stir well, and cover securely. Leave the container(s) at room temperature for two days before transferring to the refrigerator.
That's it!

I gathered all of the ingredients and got ready to put it all together. For a little variety, I added a couple of baby carrots and a celery stalk to the recipe. As I don't have a larger jar to use (other than a plastic container that I don't want to use as the beet juice might permanently stain it), I am using two of my 1-quart mason jars. The 1/2 gallon container to the right of center of the picture is the whey.

I cubed the beets, carrots, and celery (though the celery obviously didn't result in cube shaped pieces!). It is not recommended to shred them as that would produce too much juice and the fermentation would happen too fast. This would result in more alcohol and less lactic acid. It is the lactic acid that we are after, here.

I divided the vegetables equally into my two mason jars to which I had already added 1/8 cup of whey (half of the called for quantity in each jar) and 1 teaspoon of sea salt. From feedback that I have read, following the recipe as written results in a too-salty drink. Rather than using the full tablespoon of salt, I used only the two teaspoons. I am hoping that adding the carrots and celery might produce a somewhat sweeter tasting kvass.

Finally, I added the filtered water to the jars and screwed on the lids. The jars are currently sitting on the kitchen counter (right next to my most recent batch of kefir!) where they will remain for the next 48 hours.


According to Sally Fallon, after most of the liquid has been consumed, I can simply top off the jars with more filtered water to make a second, slightly weaker batch. So, at a cost of $2.49 for the beets I will have about a gallon of kvass when all is done. This is considerably more affordable than buying bottled beet kvass at retail!

While I was in the 'creating' mode, I decided to be experimental with my smoothie for dinner. I used my standard 1 cup of frozen mixed berries (Trader Joe's Very Cherry Berry Blend) as a starter. To this, I added whey, kefir, some milk and raw honey, and a couple of prunes. For the experiment, I added a celery stalk! I wasn't sure if my blender would do a decent job of turning celery into a puree, but it worked. I was really surprised at how good it tasted. The celery was evident but not overpowering. Adding it is going to be a regular thing.

Went away (from blogging) for a while, but now I am back.

For the last month - and then some! - I just haven't posted any new information here.  It isn't because I have lost interest in blogging about my experience with The Maker's Diet, but rather it is because there just hasn't been anything new to report on.  I have pretty much settled in to the eating habits and have not varied my food choices very much.  I have revisited the 'egg fast' as I described in an earlier post, Eating on less than $3.00 per day, several times over the last month.  I am also still keeping to an average of one slice of Ezekiel 4:9 bread per day.  About the only change has resulted from my continuing effort to find better options for the foods that I eat.  I have been able to upgrade quite a few of the foods - cage free eggs and grass fed beef, specifically.

One thing that has changed for the better is the addition of 'quinoa' to my diet.  I have been hearing about this 'grain' for a while, but I balked at the price in the store as it is not terribly inexpensive.  Oddly enough, I finally decided to buy some when I was shopping at It's Only Natural the other day.  What is odd is that It's Only Natural is not the place to shop when looking for low prices yet they had quinoa in their bulk section that was priced comparable to other stores.  The truly nice thing was that I could buy only as much as I wanted.

Pretty much every reference that I could find to preparing quinoa called for it to be soaked prior to cooking.  Most called for it to be soaked for a minimum of two hours.  Nourishing Traditions has only one recipe that I could find that included quinoa.  This recipe called for the quinoa to be soaked in a solution of filtered water and yogurt for at least 12 hours.  Having never prepared quinoa before, I opted for the longer soak.  So, last night I started soaking the quinoa.  I used 1/2 cup of the dry quinoa in a solution of 1 cup of water with 1 tablespoon of plain yogurt.
Today, I rinsed the quinoa and set it to boil in 1 cup of fresh, filtered water with a teaspoon of soy sauce.  After bringing it to a boil, I turned down the heat to a simmer and added some peas, onion, and green pepper to the mix.  It seems that I should have cut down on the water a little bit because it took quite some time for it to cook off.  At any rate, I am happy to say that it turned out great!  I think that I have found my new favorite side dish.  As it is prepared similarly to rice, it can easily be substituted for - or blended with - rice to provide some variety.

According to NutritionData.com, one serving (one cup, cooked) of quinoa has:

• 4g of fat
• 39g of carbohydrate 
• 5g of fiber
• 8g of protein.

Compare this to a one cup serving of medium-grain brown rice at:

• 2g of fat
• 46g of carbohydrate 
• 4g of fiber
• 5g of protein.

In addition to buying the quinoa at It's Only Natural, I also bought two other Ezekiel 4:9 products; the Ezekiel 4:9 tortillas and the Genesis 1:29 English muffins.  These give me a little variety over just the bread.

Well, tomorrow morning I intend to start my day with a hot quinoa 'cereal' for breakfast.  I put 1/2 cup of dried quinoa in filtered water to soak overnight.  Tomorrow, I will prepare it with raisins, cinnamon, and some raw honey.  Rather than preparing it separately, I will add my VidaCell to the mix.  I am really looking forward to breakfast!

Happy Spring Day!

Today is the first day of spring and it is absolutely amazing weather!

It is also my birthday, today.  I had set a goal for myself to be down to 250 lbs. though my nutrition plan is not focused on weight loss.  Since I have started on The Maker's Diet, I have been losing weight at a fairly regular pace.  I figured that I might as well set a goal for myself.  When I set the goal, 250 lbs. seemed like a reachable goal, though not too simple.
Well, I haven't weighed myself yet.  I honestly don't think that I have made it to that goal and I don't really care that much.  I suppose that if weight loss were my primary reason for following the diet, I would be a little more anxious about it.  Depending on how the day unfolds - if I have the time - I may get around to weighing myself to see how close I came to my goal.

It has been a busy day, already.  This morning, I made French Toast again.  I used the Ezekiel 4:9 bread for mine, but for everyone else I bought a loaf of Texas Toast at Trader Joe's yesterday.  I think my cast iron skillet is finally seasoned properly.  I had no issues with the egg sticking to it at all.
After breakfast, we drove down to Deerfield Farm to buy some more milk.  On the way back, I went into It's Only Natural.  I have been wanting to pick up a mortar and pestle so that I can grind my own spices and It's Only Natural has a decent selection to choose from.  I also picked up a few other things - like Ezekiel 4:9 cinnamon raisin cereal! (This link is to the almond variety, but they don't seem to have the cinnamon raisin on their website)  I am looking forward to trying this cereal out.  It is a little pricey ($4.99 per box at I.O.N.) so I am sure that I will be using it only sparingly.  It will be nice to have something to eat that is easily and quickly prepared (get bowl, pour cereal, add milk, eat!) - not to mention easy clean-up - when I just don't have the motivation to cook a meal.

After arriving home, I washed my newly acquired mortar and pestle and started preparing some Crispy Almonds.  The almonds need to soak in filtered water and sea salt for 12 hours before being transferred to my food dehydrator.  I liked the way they tasted when I added granulated garlic to the soaking solution, so I did that again.

For lunch - not being terribly hungry - I ate a RAW Revolution Coconut and Agave bar and an apple.  Stop & Shop has three varieties of the RAW Revolution bars and they put them on sale for 3/$4.00.  I figured I would at least give it a try.  It was good, but it is not something that I will be eating too often (if at all).  I really like what they have to say about food, though.  From their website: "Raw, living foods are clean, and have higher nutrient content than cooked food. Processed foods such as protein isolates and grain based fillers are acidic and cause fermentation in the body. Raw Organic foods are closest to their natural state, bringing us closer to healing ourselves and the global ecology."  The bars are gluten free, vegan, wheat free, corn free, soy free, as well as being trans-fat, cholesterol and refined sugar free.  Personally, I am not concerned with gluten or cholesterol.  I have long been of the belief that dietary cholesterol is not the villain that it has been made out to be and while many people have issues with wheat gluten, I do not.  I also think that issues with gluten and lactose are more a result of the processing flour and milk undergo than any sort of inherent allergy - but that is a soapbox for a different day.

As I write this entry, I am sitting outside in the late-afternoon sun typing on my laptop.  My kids are playing with the neighbors, my wife is reading a book, and our dog is alternating between trying to make sure that she knows where everybody is and curling up at my feet.  The mail arrived a while ago and included were the tickets I bought to the New Britain Rock Cats games for the family as a Christmas present.  My older daughter announced that - in celebration of MY birthday - she is buying pizza dinner for the family (so I can't eat the pizza, but the thought is there).

All in all, a pretty good day!