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.

The Disadvantages Of Industrialized Food For Us And For Our Livestock - Part 2

   This will be a series of mini messages. I could write a book on this subject, but writing it in blog format makes it impossible to write everything on one page. The reason I am even writing this is ultimately, that my readers will have a foundational understanding of what has gone wrong in the health industry and why people in our country are not healthy today. There is an underlying reason, and it might take many posts to lay the foundation, but I think you will appreciate this information.

   There are so many things wrong with our commercial food system, and if we don't pay attention, there will be some bad ramifications coming about. In order to understand what I am explaining here, you have to understand the kind of culture we live in, and what has happened to make it the way it is today.

   First, some terminology learning will be helpful. We need to learn what the word, 'pragmatic' means. The definition given by dictionary.cambridge.org explains pragmatic as being based on practical judgments rather than principles. Pragmatic people want a quick answer and tend to be short sighted. They do not have a long term vision for something. If it works today, that's what we want. We are not interested in finding out bad news that will happen in the future, if we do this very thing. We aren't going to take the time to study and research the long term effects on something. If we do find something wrong, or a bad result that will come because of the use of a particular thing, we don't want to know. If we find out, then we will be accountable and responsible for change. That would cost us way too much money.

  That is the problem right now. Is is any wonder the Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil? The FDA works hand in hand with Monsanto, and they work together with the American Medical Association and other groups supported by government funding. For instance, Michael Taylor was a lawyer for Monsanto, as well as the head of the FDA. If a person like Michael Taylor who has such authority in these groups, is a person who lacks judgment, then we all are going to suffer because of the decisions that he will make. So, the FDA not only approves adding fluoride to our drinking water, but has also made it mandatory. Most other countries forbid this practice, but no amount of reasoning with the FDA will change their minds. Fluoride may help protect our teeth from decay, but at the same time, it is very toxic and it is a carcinogen. Brushing our teeth will also protect decay from happening in our mouths. One teaspoon of fluoride is enough to kill 20 children. Another issue that is being approved and is gaining momentum in becoming mandatory is that of genetically modifying organisms. GMO as it is known by, is not a way to help feed people in Third World countries. Genetically modified food has little nutritional value and, in time, will end up preventing local farmers and gardeners from being able to produce their own food. The goal is to produce mass quantities of food, at the least expense possible. That it does, but, not without cost to us. We need food that has nutritional value to it, not tampered with seed production which produces tons of non-valuable food. Unfortunately, the government fully supports this activity, even with the knowledge of the harm it will bring. 

   O.K. I didn't forget the vet story. It is found in Mother Earth News, June/July 2014 issue. A veterinarian named Will Winter, who lives in Minnesota, got tired of taking care of sick cows. These cows were fed a diet of ground grain and protein meal, a perfect example of food that has been mass produced to feed many cows, but lacking nutritional value. All the cows have gotten sick from being on this diet. But Will Winter has taken these sick cows to an established pasture where they can roam and the cows can eat grass, brush, and woody stuff (not sure what that is, but whatever it is, it is natural). The cows always got better when they were brought to this type of pasture. Instinct tells the cows that they need minerals, and that these minerals are found in the roots of these plants that grow in this pastureland. 

   Stay tuned for the next part in this series. We will cover 'hidden hunger'; what it is, who has it and why, and some cures for it.

http://pasturetoprofit.blogspot.com/2011/09/herbal-clover-pastures-challenge-our.html

   

The Disadvantages of Industrialized Food For Us And Also For Our Livestock

  (I originally wrote this as a whole article, but it is way too long to put it into this blog. I am going to divide it up in parts, or put it on another blog and summarize it here.)

   I am not sure which blog page I should put this on, so I may put it on more than one. Is it a political issue, or a health issue? It's really both. You will see why in a moment.
   I have been watching a Youtube video called, 'Back To Eden' gardening. I am not quite sure where the guy is coming from theologically, but he definitely sees God's handiwork in fruits and vegetables! This man explains how to do a garden naturally, which will end up using very little work effort. This man can grow all kinds of food that aren't supposed to grow in his area. All of nature works together in his yard to grow a lot of food.
   There are so many things wrong with our commercial food system, and if we don't pay attention, there will be some bad ramifications coming about. In order to understand what I am explaining here, you have to understand the kind of culture we live in, and what has happened to make it the way it is today.
 I am going to end the article here for today. I did want to point out something I saw in the video 'Back To Eden' tour. The farmer, who is totally natural and organic, had some excellent points. I am going through this video on a continual basis to become familiar with this method of gardening. One example of what he shares is with his dog not eating store bought organic carrots. The dog loves vegetables from the garden. But when offered carrots, even ones which are labeled 'organic' the dog would not eat them. Why? Because the dog is able to smell poisons and chemicals that are on the vegetables, and by instinct, he knows not to eat them. The farmer actually called the carrot company to ask about the carrots, and was told that the carrots are sprayed with some kind of chemical before being bagged. Why would organic carrots have poison on them? According to the farmer, these organic carrots, which look very pretty and clean, are sprayed with some type of cleaner. It actually causes the carrots to be slimy. I have also heard about those pretty little short carrots they sell in bags in the produce section. They are labeled organic. But, they are washed in bleach water. Yes, they really are organic carrots, but there is no law that says you can't spray or soak the organic carrots in bleach water. When I found this out, I was disappointed, for I have often bought these carrots at the store.

Dogs know intuitively
when something is
toxic

More to come. I'll share about the vet who got tired of treating sick cows and how he cured them with a simple answer.