Gut and Psychology Syndrome

Sauerkraut, mmmmmm!

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I am popping in today to post the recipe from the little booklet that came with my Harsch crock, since I can never remember how much salt to add.

Never fill more than 4/5ths of the way up (the carbonic acid and the weighing stones need some space).

approx 5 – 8 kg of cabbage for the 10 L pot – I have the 5 L pot, so that means 2.5 – 4 kg cabbage (usually two big ones or three small ones fit nicely).

approx 5 – 8 g (max 15 g) salt per 1 kg of cabbage

If you need to add liquid (so that the stones are covered by 3 – 4 cm of liquid), use filtered and salted water that has been boiled and cooled (15g of salt for 1 L water).

FYI, my 5L crock makes about four quart jars of finished sauerkraut. Kent prefers the green cabbage over purple and he’s not a fan of caraway seeds, so plain green cabbage is what I usually make – and it’s delicious. Everett LOVES kraut juice when he can get it! I try to serve something fermented with EVERY meal. And, we found some real lactofermented kimchi at the commissary of all places. YUM!!!

 

Brain Gut Connection – articles you do NOT want to miss!

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I recently came across a series of articles on Andrea Bowers’ blog on the Brain Gut Connection that I wanted to share. I think this series will be extremely eye-opening for any person with digestive/gut issues and especially for any moms with special needs kids (because every brain-injured kid that I have ever heard of has gut issues – usually constipation). Andrea Bowers is a practitioner in CA trained in both the Anat Baniel Method AND Masgutova Neurosensorimotor Reflex Integration!!! So exciting!!!

Part 1 introduces the experts in the Brain Gut Series: Dr. Mark Hyman and Elinor Silverstein

Part 2 starts the discussion about how the gut and liver work and how dysfunction can affect the brain, central nervous system, muscle tissues, and other systems of the body due to inflammatory response, inability to eliminate toxins, and/or inability to deliver nutrients to the cells themselves

Part 3 discusses the impact of nutrition,  genetics, and epigenetics in children with special needs. She also tells an unbelievable story about Monsanto working with Cal Poly scientists to genetically modify wheat in 1978! They increased the gluten content of the wheat to the power of FOUR (not four times – i.e. from 10 to 10,000). Elinor Silverstein (while getting her degree) worked in the lab doing the genetic modification on wheat for Monsanto!

Part 4 discusses the important role of Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (the MTHFR gene encodes the MTHFR enzyme), vitamin B12, as well as the overall “toxic load” on our bodies

Part 5 discusses how the brain (central nervous system) and the gut (enteric nervous system) are so closely related that it is impossible to damage one without damaging the other. So, kids with CP are said to be brain-injured, but that means that by definition they are also gut-injured (my words here). This information-packed article includes several videos with Elinor Silverstein explaining all this stuff and the post also includes a list of symptoms that can indicate your child’s issues with their musculoskeletal system/brain might be connected to their gut.

There is another Elinor Silverstein video HERE on nutrition and the MTHFR gene.

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What do you think? Is anyone else as excited about this as I am? Leave me a comment!

Show-And-Taste Fermentation Party

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I had a fermentation party! By far, the coolest one was in Groton, CT, organized by my friend Heather (also the woman who got me hooked on kombucha). I will never forget the delicious piña colada smoothies Amber brought — I need to make that, stat! Basically, a bunch of people brought stuff they had fermented and everybody got to try some. I had so much fun and learned so much that I’ve now hosted two of my own, just to help other people start fermenting too. I think it can be intimidating if you’ve never been around lactofermented foods, but if you can taste the deliciousness and see how easy it is to make yourself, then it’s more doable. I call it a Show-And-Taste Fermentation Party. =)

Anne showing us her cool Harsch Crock

The lid has two little holes that allow the air to escape. With the lid off, you can see the ring that you fill up with water once you are ready to start the fermentation. This allows air to escape (because air is produced as the veg ferments) without allowing air in (which can contaminate the ferment). There are also two stones that go on the top to hold the cabbage or whatever veg down below the surface of the liquid. Anne is also holding the AWESOMELY DELICIOUS batch of sauerkraut that Anne brought for us to taste (and she left some with me – Thanks, Anne!)

Here are a few lids with various air-lock contraptions to be used if you don’t have the awesome, but very expensive fermentation crock. Mine is the one on the far left – a ReCap that fits a standard mason jar fitted with a stopper and airlock from a homebrew store. The other two are Anne’s, but she said the black stoppers are smaller and do occasionally fail. My advice is to start with the ReCap + stopper + airlock setup which costs less than $10. You can read a bit more about the idea (including better pics of each item) here.

There are a few theories about the “best” method of fermentation (i.e. “wild” with no probiotic starter, or the Nourishing Traditions method which uses liquid whey as a starter). Regardless of the method you choose, the bottom line is that we all need more probiotics for healthy digestion and probiotic food is an easy and cost-effective way to do it. And it tastes SOOOOO GOOD!

If you are interested in fermenting, but aren’t sure where to start, check out Body Ecology for free recipes here or here. Also, Nourishing Traditions is considered by many to be the bible of fermentation – I highly recommend it!
What do you like to ferment? Please share in the comments.

What you’ll find in our pantry

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I’ll admit it. We are weird. And our pantry is weird. We don’t have a lot of things that most people consider essential (like a microwave) and we have things that most people can’t imagine a use for (like five gallons of coconut oil). So here’s a list of things we try to keep on hand in our pantry.

BULK ITEMS IN THE BASEMENT

Coconut Oil – We use a lot so we buy it in bulk. We are on our second five gallon bucket and it looks like this one will last about 16 months. We use it for diaper cream, facial moisturizer, and of course cooking.

Charlie’s Soap – We buy this in bulk too. One container lasts us about 18 months. I love that I don’t have to carry heavy containers of laundry detergent home from the store, not to mention the plastic containers I don’t have to waste. I think Charlie’s Soap was my gateway drug to the crunchy and homesteader lifestyle. When we began cloth diapering, I found out that my regular laundry detergent (as well as my fabric softener and dryer sheets) were incompatible with the new diapers. The informational packet that came with the diapers explained that these products leave residue on the diapers (and any other laundry) that can stink when it comes into contact with pee. Anyway, it was the first step in leaving the mainstream for us . . .

Regular (Refined) Organic White Sugar – I know, real foodies aren’t supposed to use white sugar, and they certainly shouldn’t be using so much of it that they buy it in bulk. I use it exclusively for making kombucha (you can’t use honey or maple syrup or any alternative sweeteners to brew kombucha). and I try not to make eye contact when purchasing it at the grocery store.

Vodka – It’s actually vanilla extract (in the making). After slicing lengthwise, I put the vanilla beans straight into the glass jars the vodka came in. It smells like vanilla already, but it is supposed to go for at least six month or so before it’s ready. I am actually planning to buy a few more bottles of vodka because I want to make some herbal tinctures!

IN THE ACTUAL PANTRY

Bragg’s (raw) Apple Cider Vinegar – I use this for so many things! I mix it with olive oil and a spice blend (21 Seasoning Salute from Trader Joe’s) for quick and delicious salad dressing (you can add mustard for a nice twist). I like to keep a few gallons on hand just so that I never run out.

local honey – I buy the Really Raw brand. Hopefully, I’ll have my own honey soon!

maple syrup – We buy this on our annual drive to Vermont with Kent’s parents in the Autumn. Last year, we bought two gallons! Yum!

unpasteurized soy sauce – can be used as a starter for ferments

compost – I use a 5-gallon compost bucket. I laugh at those wimpy counter-top compost bins! I used to use one but it would get full just from making breakfast. When you eat real food, you have a lot of scraps for compost (or to feed to the chickens, or to put in the freezer for chicken stock . . . )

IN THE FRIDGE

raw milk – we buy between three and six gallons each week and we use extra for yogurt and kefir. I know that most people think that raw milk is “dangerous” but really pasteurized milk is much more dangerous (and has killed more people in the last 30 years, while there have been NO deaths from raw milk in the last 30 years) and I will not allow my kids to drink pasteurized milk, ever.

raw cream (we buy one quart a week) – we use this to make ice cream in the summer and custard in the winter. Both are not overly sweet and sooooooo good.

Spring (raw) Butter – expensive ($15/lb) but worth every penny. It’s really important to have this when you are taking fermented cod liver oil because the Vitamin K2 in the cream/butter is an essential “activator” for the Vitamin A and Vitamin D in the cod liver oil. It’s all about the synergy, people =)

homemade yogurt

homemade kefir

Chicken or Beef Broth

homemade ferments – like sauerkraut, kimchi, etc. I still use the airlock method (described here), but I got a German fermenting crock (like this) for Christmas and I love it so much. I really want about 10 more! In fact I want to have a root cellar just like this to put them in:

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fermented cod liver oil – We keep about three bottles on hand at all times, just so we never worry about running out. Once we get a root cellar, then I will really stock up, but for now it has to go in the fridge where space is at a premium.

IN THE FREEZER

Bones, cheese rinds,  and ends of veggies  – to be used in the next batch of stock. I love to add lots of chicken feet for the collagen they add to the stock. It is supposed to be even more effective than a glucosamine and chondroitin supplement. I even add egg shells for the added calcium.

frozen pizza dough balls (separated into baggies – one crust per bag). We make these in bulk – maybe 8 at a time (it’s a lot of work since we mill our own flour, then soak it overnight, then do several rises and the sourdough starter needs a lot of care too). We just take out the number of doughs that we want for that night around lunchtime on Friday and they are thawed and fluffy by dinner time.

lots of homemade chicken broth and beef broth

lots of frozen grass-fed ground beef

lots of frozen pastured chicken. I do occasionally buy whole chickens, but I mostly buy just the breasts because they can be thawed quickly, thus they are easier for me to use at the last minute.

a couple of grass-fed briskets and chuck roasts – these are AWESOME in the crock pot with pretty much any liquid dumped on top. I just put it straight from the freezer into the crockpot sometime after breakfast on WARM (my new crockpot runs really hot, so the warm setting cooks it plenty hot enough). Some of my favorites are:

  • Sala Verde from Trader Joes (no chemicals!) – this might be my favorite and it’s the easiest!!!
  • some red wine and maybe some garlic and onion with 21 Seasoning Salute (or any salt-free spice blend with no additives)
  • a splash of worcestershire sauce and maybe some unpasteurized soy sauce

OUT ON THE COUNTER

Two gallons of kombucha

Kefir

AROUND THE HOUSE, BUT MADE IN THE KITCHEN =)

Probiotic deodorant – OK this is something I am so proud of. It really works!!! Even if I don’t shower right away the next morning I don’t stink! (info and recipe here)

magnesium body butter (more info here)

homemade soap – it’s a great recipe that works well for hair as well as skin

a whole lot of herbs for nutrition, for example nettle tea (info here)

ON DECK (projects I really want to start ASAP)

fish stock (here)

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Here’s what you won’t find in our pantry here.

See pics of our (former) kitchen and pantry here.