Making Soaked Breads

  Learning how to eat right and feed the family properly takes a lot of time. Step by step we will get there. I love bread, and making bread. I could make a lot of money from making bread. I just about stopped making bread though. Bread is bad for you. Look at how many people have gluten intolerance.
  I don't know that much about gluten intolerance, but, I don't think I have it. Some people have it in a seriously bad way. But the interesting thing is that many who have a gluten intolerance can eat bread in a foreign country without having any side affects.
   We know that Americans use a lot of pesticides and chemical fertilizers on their plants. Monsanto is making it harder for people to grow their own gardens or even owning a farm. Has it always been this way?
  Wheat is not the same as it was in the olden days, but there are some ancient varieties that can still be grown today.
   Organic wheat will not be sprayed with pesticides, nor will it be fed with chemical fertilizers. I have found some sources for organic wheat. I do not know if organic wheat is genetically modified, but I would assume that it isn't. I do not know if modern wheat is genetically modified either, but if it is, I wonder if there is a connection between that and the rise of gluten intolerant people.
   All grains contain something called 'phytic acid' which hinders our intestines from digesting our food properly. Phytic acid can be neutralized by soaking the grains in an acidic liquid such as yogurt.
   Here is a link to a page with more info on it about soaking grains:
http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/bread-machine-loaf-made-with-soaked-flour/

  I am in the process of making the bread featured on that page. The grains must soak for at least 18 hours, so that means I will be ready to finish the bread sometime after 7 pm. The rest of the ingredients are put into a bread machine which is turned on to knead the dough, let it rise, and bake the bread. I'm going to use the bread machine, but only on the dough cycle.

   Here is a picture of the dough, after I mixed it at 1:00 in the morning.

Flour and grains must be soaked for a long period of time
in order to neutralize phytic acid. 

I wonder what its going to taste like! Won't know until late tonight!

The Best Natural Sports Drink Available Today

   With the different choices out there of the sports drinks, you might wonder which one does the best job. To start with, if you want something to do a good job, when it comes to your health and food, eliminate anything with sugar, artificial colors, artificial flavors, and preservatives. That eliminates almost all of the types of sports drinks available today. So which one item is the best sports drink out there?
  Drum roll............. It is, coconut water. Why is coconut water the best sports drink available? First, Natural unprocessed coconut water doesn't contain sugar (except sugar which occurs naturally in the coconut). Second, Coconut water contains lots of electrolytes and potassium. The only point that the commercially made sports drinks have over coconut water is that there is more sodium in the sports drinks than in the coconut water. Sodium is necessary in sports drinks. But, you must weigh the factors. Coconut water is a safe food, whereas store bought sports drinks contain many additives.

  I originally studied this because I have to keep my cat hydrated. I thought one good way of doing this is by taking a syringe full of coconut water and squirting it into Precious' precious mouth. I squirted some in Frankie's mouth as well. Can't hurt, can it?

  The coconut water doesn't last around here. I could easily drink a quart of it. But if I did that every day, I would have to get another job to pay for my habit.

Homemade Chicken Broth and Suggested Uses

Cooked Chicken and Chicken Broth

1 whole chicken (it can be cut up or whole)

3-4 cups water

1 bay leaf

2-3 carrots

1/2 onion

1 celery stalk

Garlic salt

Seasonings (I use a French type of seasoning) to taste

   Grease the inside of a slow cooker with softened butter or oil. You can also use a stove top pot to cook this in, but cooking time will be shorter and you will have to tend to the pot more often. If you have the insides of the chicken, like the liver and kidneys, throw them in the pot as well. Pour water over the chicken and in a food processor chop up the carrots, celery, and onion and place those in the slow cooker or pot along with the bay leaf, salt, and seasonings, if using. Set the slow cooker on low for about 6-8 hours, or longer. If cooking on the stove, cook on simmer or low boil for a couple of hours until the meat falls off the bones.

   Take the meat off the bones, after the meat has cooled off. Eat immediately or store meat and broth.

  You could use cut up turkey parts instead of chicken. You can use the broth to make soup or gravy to use in other recipes. Store leftover broth and meat in Mason jars and freeze. Broth and meat can be frozen together, or separately. If storing separately, add some broth to the chicken so it doesn't get freezer burn.

Some suggestions for chicken and broth:

Chicken noodle soup

Chicken rice soup

Chicken soup

Chicken pot pie

Chicken and gravy

Chicken stew

Chicken and dumplings

Chicken and rice

Chicken and noodles

Chicken ala king

Note: I also put a piece of kale in my broth, then I remove it after cooking. 

My Strawberry Milkshake a.k.a. 'Pink Milk'

When I was really little, my mom tried desperately to get us to eat. She would actually put Bosco in my bottle. (Yes, I had a bottle until I was 4 years old. Not a good idea). One thing that tasted really good was Nestle Strawberry Quik. In fact, I used to give this to my children because they didn't eat either.
  My daughter woke up one morning and her first words were 'pink' (we used to call it 'pink milk'). She would get a cup of it first thing in the morning.
 Times have changed and I am no longer going to buy the powder to make 'pink milk' with, but I figured out how I can make my own.
  Last week, for school, we had an assignment to read a book. The book I chose was called, 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' which was a novel written by Mark Haddon, but it was written as if the narrator was a 15 year old autistic boy. He was a picky eater and his mum catered to him in many ways. One of his favorite foods was a strawberry milk shake. As I read the book, I was remembering how good the Nestle Strawberry Quik tasted, so, I decided to try to make my own. Of course, mine is going to be without sugar.
  I took some strawberries and placed them in the Vitamix with a cup of raw milk and some drops of stevia. Problem was solved! Now I can have my own version of Nestle Strawberry Quik without all the additives!
  In addition to this, I am growing lots of Alpine strawberry plants, along with a regular strawberry plant (which should reproduce someday). I would love to have so many strawberries growing, that I could just pull them off whenever I want to make a strawberry shake.
  Did you know that strawberries are normally heavily sprayed, probably with insecticide? My strawberries are not going to be sprayed with conventional insecticides. I will put BT on them and maybe Diatomaceous Earth, but nothing chemical or artificial!
  The next question is, where will I put them once they are ready to be planted???

My own version of 'Pink Milk' - a recipe similar to 'Strawberry Quik'

Strawberry Milk Shake aka 'Pink Milk'

5 or 6 strawberries, or strawberries to taste and color

1 cup milk (can use almond or rice. Raw milk is best)

A few drops of liquid Stevia, or enough to taste

Put all ingredients in a blender or Vitamix, and blend until there are no more small pieces of strawberry left. 

For those of you who want to look at my gardens, please go to http://gardens4all.blogspot.com 

My Sick Kitty

  I have been very busy the last 2 weeks with a sick cat and a big schoolwork load. I can't complain about the schoolwork load for this class is only 2 credits and the workload is light, that is until I have a reading assignment like I did last week. I looked at the assignments on Saturday, and they are due midnight Wednesday. I had a whole book to read, and the assignment read, 'read the book in its entirety.' Well, you can imagine how much time I spent reading starting Sunday through Wednesday. It got done, but I had to let go of other things, even taking care of my cat.
   A couple of weeks ago, some people brought to my attention that my cat didn't look well. I took her to the vet, and she was hospitalized. They ran tests and rehydrated her. She has an enlarged heart, but also kidney failure (on its way). She had a UTI which was treated with meds and cleared up. Now for the problems with the kidneys.
  I was informed by the vet that eventually her kidneys will fail. She was put on a prescription diet and also fluid therapy. Now I have to give her an I.V. every day, so she can stay hydrated.
  I don't know about you, but I am not thrilled about putting my animals on a prescription diet. I know there might not be a perfect answer yet, for this dilemma. I went to a holistic pet store where they sell organic food, and pet food made without grains. I tried some raw chicken, which neither cat touched. I sent it back and got some dried cat food without grains. I have tried 3 or 4 different types of cat food that might be suitable for Precious and Frankie. They are the most finicky eaters anywhere!
   It's my fault though, for I insisted on my cats eating dry cat food. Eating dry cat food can help clean their teeth and is good for their gums compared to canned cat food. So, now I have to spend time researching ways I can get my finicky cats to eat food that will help with kidney problems. I don't want my cat to be a statistic. I want to beat this thing. But how hard this is when the cat doesn't want to cooperate!

Frankie and Precious following the laser light. Good
exercise for kitties. 

   Dry cat food doesn't contain the liquids that cats need to have, especially cats who have kidney problems and need to have their kidneys flushed.
     Precious is doing much better though, and I am pleased. She is 16 years old, and cats are pretty hardy. I hope to have her a long time. We lost one cat to cancer already, as well as a dog. Why? I don't know why my pets would get cancer, but I know that the dog who lived in this house before we moved in had cancer. It's got to be something in the house. Hopefully, it is no longer there. We've done a lot in this house to change things.
  I will continue to research the best way to take care of my pets. While I appreciate technology and veterinarian care, I want to look for a better way to keep my pets well. And as long as I have pets, I will look for the best for each of them and do research on keeping them healthy.