Broccoli With Cheese Sauce

   I went to Whole Foods the other day and was delighted to find so many neat items. One item I found was Applegate Farms Emmentaler Swiss Cheese, so I bought some. I had not seen this cheese anywhere else, so far. I like the taste of it too.
   Here is what I made with 2 small heads of broccoli that I had to use up. I actually put the heads of broccoli in a large slow cooker that was cooking a chicken and making chicken broth. I took the broccoli out and made a cheese sauce with it using the Emmentaler Swiss Cheese.

Broccoli With Cheese Sauce

1 large head broccoli or 2 small heads, steamed
1/2 cup milk
1 TBS. corn starch
2 slices Emmentaler Swiss Cheese
Salt, to taste
Butter

   Steam the broccoli first. Add corn starch to milk, and heat until thickened, until it starts to boil. Stir until the cornstarch and milk are completely combined. Once the sauce is thick, add the cheese to it. Let the cheese melt and pour over broccoli. Add salt and butter, if desired. Serves 3-4.

Homemade Root Beer - A Fizzy Experiment!

          I did it. After all these years, I made root beer from scratch! I found a good recipe from Wellness Mama, and followed the directions as given. Of course, we will not be able to find the complete results until late tomorrow night as you can start testing it two days after it has been bottled.

  Will it be flat, or will it explode? I received a gift certificate for amazon.com and decided to invest in  bottles and the ingredients, which were a little on the expensive side.

           So, after boiling the mixture (which contained the sassafras bark, wintergreen leaf, allspice, and cinnamon chunks in filtered water) for 15 minutes or so, the water turned the right color! Then I added the other ingredients and strained the liquid and poured it into the bottles. I want to make another batch of this as I could drink root beer all day. Root beer goes great with Pizza, and even though I do not advocate drinking soda with a meal, I think there is something safe about drinking homemade root beer with a meal, occasionally.

  This root beer recipe is a probiotic drink as well, which means it contains probiotics which can help put good microbes into your gut. The reason why it is probiotic is because of the 'Ginger Bug' I made to put into the root beer mixture. Grated ginger is placed in filtered water with sugar. Each day, a little more sugar and grated ginger is added to the mix. It should be bubbly in 5 days, and can be used, or, it can be refrigerated and brought out at another time to use. Wellness Mama has recipes for both the root beer and the 'Ginger Bug'.
http://wellnessmama.com/11392/homemade-root-beer/
http://wellnessmama.com/8942/how-to-make-a-ginger-bug/

Homemade Root Beer as it Ferments

Why We Need Fresh Air and Oxygen - Let The Fresh Air In!

  When I was a kid, in the 1960s, I lived up North for a long time. Kids were always outside playing. I spent quite a bit of time outside, except when it was snowing. It was normal to see a group of people playing softball in the street, or riding bikes.
   We moved down to Florida in 1965, and we were still outside much of the time. We definitely got our fresh air intake and exercise from riding bikes. But all that has changed.
  My children were born in the 80s and 90s. They spent some time outside, but most of their activities were done indoors. Maybe it was because it was so hot outside. Perhaps watching television or playing video games was more fun than riding bikes.
  I go to a clinic where were learn about the 5 M's of Maximized Living. They have to do with eating right, exercise, eliminating toxins, building muscles, and breathing clean air. But why is oxygen so important to us?
  There are two things human beings cannot live without for very long. One is water, and the other is oxygen. Water is necessary for our bodies to make blood with. If we go without oxygen for even a short length of time, we could die or our kidneys could shut down. Plus, our cells need to breathe, and they need oxygen for respiration.
  We need to have good, unpolluted oxygen in our lungs. With so much pollution in the air today, it is challenging to get clean air, but it can be done.
   Human beings breathe in oxygen, and give off carbon dioxide. Plants take in carbon dioxide, and give off oxygen. It is good to live in an area where there are a lot of trees and plants, for this reason alone.
  With our artistically perfect, artificial world we live in, we are being cheated out of getting the real thing. If there is a choice to have a real tree or plant, or an artificial one, pick the real one. No oxygen can come from a plastic tree!
  There are ways we can even renovate our yards and homes, in order to make our ambience serve us. Edible landscaping is a way of gardening that not only produces food, but it makes the landscape look aesthetically acceptable. Plus, with all the green, lots of oxygen is being produced, which is beneficially to us as well as the produce.
   Clean oxygen and lots of oxygen is what we need. Clean food and water is necessary too. So, the tip for today would be to plant lots of plants. Also, when the weather isn't so hot, open the windows and doors if possible, to let the fresh air in. Let the stale air out and the new air into the house. Let the wash dry in the sun, or let it freeze dry, like they did in the days of 'Little House'.

Plant a tree in order to get oxygen!

How Can Americans Become Healthy Again?

   Years ago, the word 'cancer' meant an automatic death sentence. Sadly, although many advances have been made, it is still a scary word. More people get cancer today, in America, than ever before. Many are prone to diabetes, and Lyme Disease is even becoming more widespread. Isn't there anything we can do to help us prevent sicknesses?
 
  I believe there is an answer. I have heard, many times where people who are 'gluten intolerant' can go to another country and eat bread without any problem. People have come up with valid cures for cancer, but they go to prison. The point is, there is hope.

   The best way to not get sick is to prevent the sickness in the first place. Modern medicinal thinking would lead us to believe that sickness is inevitable, and that we treat it whenever we get sick, but there really is a better way.

   I have heard of people beating cancer by eliminating certain types of food items, such as sugar, from their diets. We have a friend who is beating Chron's Disease by this same type of diet. No preservatives, no sugar, no white flour products (in America today, we also include all grain products, possibly due to GMO or the wheat being sprayed with toxic chemicals).

  I have a page on Facebook called, 'I Can Be Cancer Free' which discusses different ways people have beat cancer.

   On the page, whenever I find articles of how someone beat cancer, I will post the article. I have read where people have been cured from cancer by using baking soda. I have heard other stories of different things people did to get rid of cancer. There is a science behind everything that happens in our bodies, and there are scientific ways of working with our bodies to prevent sickness.

I Can Be, Cancer Free

   If you are a reader and read current health articles, you may find conflicting information. Sometimes, it is done intentionally, such as the modern American medical groups, who find natural advances to curing cancer disturbing. But there are other difficulties as well. For example, strawberries are very good for you to eat. So, while you are eating your strawberries, you might want to be aware of the fact that strawberries are heavily sprayed with insecticides. Years ago, while being on a bird email list, I read about a woman's parrot that died because it ate an apple. She explained that the bird ate the part of the apple closest to the core. I would have thought that the skin of the apple would have been worse, but as she explained how the chemical, whether it was an herbicide or pesticide, I don't know, was taken in by the tree's roots and the core of the apple was where the toxin settled. I think that if my bird is ever to get apples, I would make sure they are organic before she eats them. But, other than the spray, apples are excellent for nourishment.

   You may have heard that milk is bad for you. You might have seen commercials where milk is good for you. Who is right? Actually, in a sense, both are. In the olden days, before milk was pasteurized and homogenized, it was very good to drink. Today though, most milk is pasteurized, homogenized, and has additives to it. Also, the cow from where the milk came from, has probably had growth hormones and antibiotics given to her. The farmers on large commercial dairies do that to protect the cow from getting diseases and also the growth hormones help the cow to be bigger, and also to produce more milk. But it isn't good for people to drink milk from such cows. Could this be a reason why girls begin puberty earlier than their grandmothers did?

   Raw milk, on the other hand, is an excellent source of nourishment. The more cream it has, the more nourishing it is. Of course, too much of anything will put on weight! Also, it depends upon what the cow has eaten, and if the cow has been given antibiotics and growth hormones. Usually, the farmers who leave their milk raw, also do not give growth hormones or antibiotics to their cows, but it is wise to check anyway, just to make sure. Grass fed cows produce top-notch milk. Do not let any health articles scare you on the so called, 'dangers of raw milk'.

   Yes, there are many things we can do to keep ourselves healthy. It is a matter of choice, and for some, it will be a hard choice. With all the information we have available to us on preventing sickness, it is amazing to see the lines at the fast food restaurants as I go to the chiropractor (health clinic). It's hard to give up junk food, and some would rather hold on to it, and die early. That is a choice we all have to make in America today. Do I want to live long, and die a natural death when my time comes, or do I want to die early of a horrible, painful disease at a younger age?

Homemade Cereal - Much Better For You Than Boxed Cereal

  There is a saying, and I don't remember the exact words, of course, but it goes something like this; The longer the shelf life of a product, the shorter the person's life is, who uses that product. I know, I completely rephrased this, but you get the point.

 I want to buy less and less products that are on the shelves (conventional food), so, little by little, I am making my own. I use some items that are on the shelves, and some I make in my kitchen to remake typical cereal.

  I was never a cereal eater. My mom was so desperate for me to eat breakfast, that she made it into a game. Some of our bowls had a little mark on the bottom of the bowl. We were to eat our cereal and see if we could find this mark that she was talking about. I wasn't impressed. I found the mark once or twice and went back to not wanting to eat breakfast again.

  In case you haven't noticed the ingredient panel on cereal boxes, the main ingredient is sugar. The rest is processed with some additives to preserve, flavor, or color. There is very little nutrition in boxed cereal. Maybe it was a good thing after all, that I never ate my cereal when I was a kid.

 I think if a food is genuine, I can eat it now. Here is a basic recipe for a nourishing cereal:

Arrowhead Mills Spelt flakes or sweetened rice flakes
Assorted dried fruit  (I use dried cherries, dried peaches, dried dates, dehydrated bananas)
Soaked and dried nuts, chopped up

I just do everything to taste and don't measure. I like a lot of fruit, so I put (probably more than I should) a good amount of dried fruit on. The soaked and dried nuts are made from a recipe in 'Nourishing Traditions' cookbook. You soak the nuts for 12 hours and dry them for 8 hours (or the other way around!) They have to be soaked so they can be properly digested. I use mainly almonds for this, but walnuts are great too!

  You can get Arrowhead Mills cereals through amazon.com. Costco has a good selection of nuts.

  You can use oatmeal or other grains too, but they must be soaked for many hours if you want to use them in cooking or eating.

   When it is all finished, I pour raw milk on it. Yummmmm!

The new 'Breakfast of Champions'?

The Slander of Coconut Oil and the Praise of Soy

   I was reading a book written by Fran McCullough called, The Good Fat Cookbook, and in the book she explained an incident that took place, I believe in the 70s. I didn't want to go and skim the book to find the info on it, so I did a computer search using some key words, and found this article on it: http://medicalconsumers.org/2003/12/30/the-good-fat-cookbook-by-fran-mccullough/ 

   I was thinking about this because of the promotion of a product called, 'Roundup' which is a product of Monsanto. It is touted to be very effective in getting rid of weeds. What the company doesn't tell you though, are the dangers and implications of this product.

  Many years ago, there was a product called, 'Sevin' which was a powder that was used to kill bugs. It was supposed to be pet-safe, or at least that is what the bag said. I sprinkled some on my dog to get rid of the fleas. He got sick after I put it on him. Never again would I do that.
 
   The makers of 'Roundup' will advertise their product and tell you the benefits. Not only is Roundup a chemical that is not good to ingest, but it also is a political ploy.

  I am not a conspiracy theory believer, but, if you follow this thinking of Monsanto, and their tactics, you will see something interesting.

  Because of our sinful, selfish, greedy hearts (which every person has), when we invent or create a product, and it takes off, we make a lot of money, but the money will never be enough. We raise our standard of living to match our growing income. We become more selfish, and less satisfied. Many who have received money or who have made lots of money end up in debt! Not surprisingly, because we start trusting in our money and it keeps us selfish if we are not careful. That is why the Bible says, 'The love of money is the root of all evil'. Not money itself, but loving it and wanting more of it is where we go wrong.

 Monsanto is a big company and is gaining more power every day. Here is where the problem is; there are people who are on talk shows and who write articles saying that there is no danger in genetically modified food. What they don't tell you is that if Monsanto were able to have more control over the food industry, most, of not all, of our food would be genetically modified. If that isn't bad enough, the seeds would be patented, and, unless a farmer buys the license to plant the seed (from Monsanto), he will not be able to use the seed on his farm. You would think the alternative would be to use his own seed. That would be good, but, Monsanto created 'Roundup' which is a weed killer, and all of Monsanto's seeds are resistant to Roundup. The farmer's seeds aren't resistant to Roundup and will not be able to grow the way the genetically modified seeds grow.

   If Monsanto gains enough control and governmental support, they could send airplanes to spray anywhere they choose. Any seeds that are genetically modified will survive. Any seeds that aren't genetically modified will die. Do you see what harm could come about if Monsanto gets their way?

   Back to the coconut farms. The coconut farms were doing well until the soy farmers realized how well they were doing. The soy farmers decided to slander the coconut farms. The coconut farmers were taken by surprise and were not able to defend themselves, so, their business went way down, while people believed the lie that coconut oil was bad for you, but soy was now known to be good for you. But over time, the coconut industry rebounded and today, people are enjoying coconut products once more.

    Here is a quote from Fran McCullough concerning this campaign: "Coconut oil used to be the predominant fat used in cookies, crackers, and most baked goods. In 1986, writes McCullough, the soy industry mounted a campaign to discredit coconut oil and warn the public of its dangers. The campaign was successful, according to McCullough, because “there is no Coconut Council to fund research and send out press kits, take journalists on junkets, and lobby Washington for favorable treatment in the way other elements in the agribusiness food industry cooked up the Dietary Guidelines.”

(I highly recommend Fran McCullough's book called, 'The Good Fat Cookbook")

   I find it interesting because so many food items have been misrepresented, and I wonder why? There was a long period of time where people would not eat eggs. Eggs had cholesterol and were supposedly bad for the heart. Eating egg yolks could clog your arteries. I wonder what kind of school taught this?

  I can see people's complaints about drinking milk and eating meat. On the one hand, drinking milk and eating meat is bad for you. The reason is, because there are growth hormones, antibiotics, and products fed to cows that aren't suited for them to eat. People have all kinds of reactions to drinking milk, and many cannot drink it. God never intended for people to eat food containing growth hormones and antibiotics. Could our reactions and allergies be due to the processing and all the additives the cows are taking in?

  On the other hand, drinking milk and eating meat can be very good for your health. The qualifier is, that you have to drink raw milk from cows that haven't been treated with antibiotics and growth hormones, and have been fed grass instead of grains, for their diet. It is amazing that even today, there are articles out there on the dangers of drinking raw milk. There are no dangers in raw milk. If the cow is sick, then hopefully the farmer won't sell the milk from the cow.

   Can you see how greediness is destroying our food system? It's kind of scary, but it has caused me to do a lot of research on food, what to eat, and why we should eat it, and what we should avoid eating. It has taught me how can we carefully work within the system, and how to create our own system.

  I am grateful for the internet, where I can learn about almost any subject from many different angles. And I am glad that we have access to good food that is nourishing, and methods that we can produce our own food, safely.

A Very 'Cultural' Day

  I don't know if I am hungry or if I am just in the mood to do cooking, but I have accomplished many things today in the kitchen.
  I have been wanting to make soaked bread for a couple of days now. I am trying to not have to buy bread from the store any more, or just to buy it less often. Of course, that means I will have to make my own. I can't get behind on it either, because, well, when we need bread, we need bread (or, we knead bread!). If I don't plan ahead, I will either have to run out to the store and get some bread from the bakery department, or, I will have to make a loaf quickly using the bread machine. But that defeats the purpose of eating soaked bread. You just don't get the benefits from bread if the grains are not soaked first.
   I have been wanting to make cheese for some time now, and I came across a recipe for Farmer's Cheese. It doesn't look too hard to make, but I have to have buttermilk made ahead of time in order to make the cheese. One more thing to prepare that I didn't plan on. Guess the cheese will have to wait another day now, so I can make the buttermilk tomorrow.
  I can't make buttermilk tonight, because whenever you make a cultured product, you can have only one cultured product culturing in a room. If you have more than one culture in the same room, strains of the yeast will contaminate the other cultures. So, if I am making yogurt, which I did the other day, I should not have buttermilk culturing on the counter in the same room.
  Tonight I am running out of room. I got all of the ingredients for the bread to soak, and I put that mixture in a big, glass measuring cup, and set it on a table in the back room.
  One of the things I do when I get some raw cream, is to make cultured butter with it. I took some raw cream and sprinkled some mesophilic starter on top of the cream. It has to sit on the counter for 24 hours, then I will put it in the fridge for 6 hours before I whip it up into butter!
  I found a can of nuts and decided to soak them in water with a little salt, then I will dry them for several hours in the dehydrator. Maybe I can make that into nut butter. I put the nuts that are soaking, on a chest in the hallway, so they can soak without being contaminated by the other cultures.
  I would put things in the dining room, but that is where the kombucha is fermenting. That has to be separate from all the other cultures as well.
  The most interesting thing I am culturing is called the 'ginger bug'. It is necessary to have when making homemade root beer, which I have just ordered the ingredients to make this root beer. I have to feed it for several days, and it should become bubbly at some point.
  Here is the list of things that are fermenting or soaking:
1. Dough for the soaked bread
2. Nuts to dry
3. Cultured butter
4. kombucha
5. the Ginger Bug

  Tomorrow, we possibly will make homemade cream cheese! By the time the cheese has to hang, everything else should be finished culturing, so I will have a place for the cheese to drain all night.
Guten Appetit!