That's Souper

The one thing I love about staying in cold Wyoming through one more winter is the opportunity to create lots and lots of delicious soup. And here is yet another idea. I am so sorry that I don't have real recipes.

8-10 medium potatoes ( I used my little spuds and had to double that at least) chopped and placed in pot.
Add water until just covering the potatoes.
Add 2 Tbs garlic powder (or more to taste)
Add juice from 1 lime
Add about 1 Tbs salt
Cover and boil over medium heat
Once potatoes are tender, pour potatoes and water into blender and blend thoroughly.
While still in blender, add 1 Tbs cilantro (or more to taste) and either 1 can green chiles or roasted red peppers. I added the red peppers.
Blend just enough to chop mixture, but not puree.
Add mixture back into pot and taste. Make any adjustments necessary. Once suitable, remove from heat and add 1/2 cup sour cream (or kefir) and stir in. Serve with quesadillas. Enjoy!

Another Recipe (kind of)

I like to experiment with food. I also like to use what I have on hand. Those two thoughts combined, made this wonderful concoction tonight.

I used some of the remaining garden fresh tomatoes (they have been sitting on my counter for weeks slowly turning from green to red).

I started by cutting about 12+ medium tomatoes and adding them to a pot with about 3 cups of water, 2 TBS garlic powder, 1 1/2 TBS Italian Seasoning and 1 tsp salt. While these ingredients cooked, I brought another pot of water to full boil and cooked the tortellini to tender. I simmered the tomatoes in the pot until tender then transferred the liquid to my blender. Once thoroughly mixed I placed soup back in pot and turn burner to low, and added the last of this year's cilantro (about 1 TBS) I might add a little less because the flavor was strong, but I still like it. And Added the juice from 1/2 a lime (again you could add less). Once soup has cooled some, add 1 cup kefir and stir in. Remove from heat. Add cooked and strained tortellini.
Enjoy! So good! I'm gonna go have another bowl. Shhh... don't tell.

Oh, and I promise I will get to why I don't use the microwave. I just have so much going on right now and so many different thoughts for other posts.

I'm Back

...well, kinda. I'm back on my blog after a week+ hiatus because we have been visiting family. But I'm not back home yet.

Being a visitor in someone else's home is a struggle when trying to stick to a more natural/organic/local diet. However, here are a few tips for you to try on your next trip.

1) Relax. You're not going to be in charge (for the most part) of what, where or when you eat. So, choose not to stress over it. It's okay if you eat out more than you do at home. Being healthy really is about making the right choices 80-90% of the time. Not 100%.


2) Pack what you can to bring with you. Troy and I had some fresh produce from our garden that we knew we would go bad anyway while we were gone, so we took it with us. It makes for much better snacks on the long drive as well as healthier options once you get there. I even brought my kefir with me (much to my mother-in-law's dismay).

3) If in season, try out the local flavor. There are actually more options for locally grown produce right now in Utah then there are in Wyoming which means that I have visited the road-side stands with cash in hand. Yum. And I am lucky enough to have parents that also garden, so when we leave tomorrow I will be bringing back organic pears, grapes, squash, tomatoes and peppers and I'll grab a couple of boxes of peaches, apples and a flat or two of berries from the local farmers.

A Great Recipe

I got this recipe from here.

We were invited to a friend's house for chili so I found this recipe and it turned out delicious AND IT USES KEFIR!. However, because of time constraint, I wasn't able to try soaking the grains even though I know how much better it is for you. Check back next week for a post on soaking/sprouting.

Cornbread

Amount: 8″ Square Baking Pan (12-16 pieces) I ended up baking mine in a cheesecake pan because I don't own a 8" square pan. It worked perfectly.

Bake: 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) 25-35 minutes

1. Place in blender; blend at high speed 3-5 minutes (the blender will “grind” the grain into a batter in the liquid medium. If it is a little gritty, blend more or let it set overnight for a smoother batter using the two stage soaking method.

1 cup kefir (my first choice!), buttermilk, sour milk, or yogurt
1/4 cup melted butter or olive oil
or 2 tablespoons each butter and oil (I use 2 Tbsp of coconut oil & 2 Tbsp olive oil or butter)
3 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
2/3 cup whole kernel dry corn
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry grain or 3/4 cup kamut grain
If you would like to use flour, use 1 cup of cornmeal and 1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour or kamut flour in replacement for the grain above. That's what I did since I didn't have the whole ingredients or the time to soak them. In fact, I didn't even use pastry flour. I used regular organic whole wheat flour and while it ended a little dense, I thought it was fine.
 
Second Stage: Optional (Recommended) Cover blender or bowl. Let batter stand at room temperature overnight or about 12-24 hours.
Add 2 eggs & blend
2. Mix in thoroughly, but briefly, using blender and/or rubber spatula as needed:
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3. Pour batter immediately into greased baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) 25-35 minutes or until knife or toothpick comes clean out of center. Mine was done at 25 min. so check yours on the early side of it.

My Friend, Kefir

Not to be confused with this guy.

This is the pal I'm meaning:

Cute little fella'

Why you should get one (of his zillions of siblings) for a friend of yours:
1. Kefir is a natural. As in, a natural probiotic.
2. He's super easy to have around. I have left him forgotten, sitting in my fridge for months at a time only to put him in a new bottle with fresh milk and voila! He's good as new.
3. He is versatile. Add the kefir milk to fresh oatmeal or make a fruit smoothie. You can even use the milk to make a cool and creamy salad dressing. Not bad.
4. Kefir will beat up the bad guys for you.
5. And, he is good for you. Enough said.

Link over here to find more reasons why.


More information about Kefir
Kefir is fermented milk that ends up taking the consistency of runny yogurt. You can find it in the stores in a smoothie type bottle, but these do not have the live culture for you to grow on your own.
A kefir grain (that's what the cultures are called) looks like a small cauliflower floret (see my picture above). The grains are a combination of bacteria and yeast, as well as small amounts of sugars and proteins. Because kefir is a culture, it will grow in size.


You can make your own kefir by adding the grain to milk (about 7 or 8 TBS milk to 1 TBS kefir). I do this in a glass jar (with lid). Be sure to keep the jar out of direct sunlight. Allow the milk to sit at room temperature for 12+ hours  to ferment. If it is warm in your house the kefir will ferment quicker than in a cold atmosphere. If this kind of creeps you out, you can leave the jar in the fridge, but it will take MUCH MUCH longer to thicken. When the liquid is thick like runny yogurt, it is done. Strain the kefir to find the grain and repeat the process. Use the milk mixture as kefir. (Kefir will keep in the refrigerator for months!)

Kefir tastes similar to plain yogurt, but it is an acquired taste. And of course, you can add fresh fruit to it to sweeten it up!

If you linked over earlier in the post, you will know that kefir has many health benefits. Kefir is full of probiotics and vitamins. The coolest thing, in my opinion, is that it actually restructures the bacteria in your intestines (unlike yogurt). And will help digest your food. A lot of people that have IBS or something similar really just need good kefir and then their tummies would be more settled. Kefir also helps with gas and bloating. You could almost just plan on eating some kefir before/after/during every meal and it would help your digestive system tremendously! Additionally, if you have a lactose intolerance, you can still eat kefir because kefir digests the sugars in the milk.

Kefir can also be used as a substitute for buttermilk, sour cream, or yogurt in various recipes. This can depend on the recipe and how long you've cultured the batch of kefir, since the kefir gets more tangy the longer it cultures. And since homemade kefir is cheaper than yogurt, sour cream, or buttermilk, there are endless ways to use it if you want to get creative!

Where can you get a kefir?
The easiest way to obtain some kefir culture is to get some from a friend who is making kefir.
Here is a list of people who either sell or give away (sometimes free to local pick-up, or just for the cost of shipping) kefir grains. (You have to email the individuals through that webpage for details.)

You can also find them online or at some health food stores.

Be sure to get kefir grains, not just a "starter", which is sometimes sold. Kefir grains can be used "forever", whereas "starters" can only be used 7 times.

*Many types of milk may be used to culture kefir, but kefir grains that are cultured in non-animal milk will stop growing. Consider using your excess grains to culture soy milk, rice milk, coconut milk, etc.