Real Food 2

Ok so to continue what I was talking about yesterday- food changes. This morning I took some pictures of stuff I've been doing, because if you're like me, I like to see what other people do in their homes. I guess I'm just really curious, or nosy, but curious sounds nicer.

So, I'll start with breakfast. Last night I made some mostly grain free granola. I've made granola a lot, and even though it usually turns out well, this time it wasn't perfect. I didn't use a recipe or measure, and got a bit too much coconut oil in the mix. And then it slightly burned. But here it is:

 It is a combo of coconut, cashews, almonds, pecans, coconut oil, honey, cinnamon and vanilla. After I finished baking it I added lots of dried berries. For breakfast I put some in a bowl, topped with plain full fat yogurt, honey and blueberries from our local farm. Pretty good!

So, sitting around in my kitchen I have a crockpot full of homemade chicken stock that I started yesterday. No pics...I also have this! A new thing I'm trying- homemade probiotic soda.
 (this picture looked better before I uploaded it, sorry it's dark. It's a pretty pink color)

Up close of the bubbles which I was really glad to see since it meant that my ginger culture worked!

 The ginger 'bug' or culture that I started last week, which is how you make the soda.

 I learned about it here and used this recipe.


In the fridge I have lacto-fermented sweet pickles. My husband's parents have an abundance of cucumbers, and my plants didn't do so well, so they  have passed them on to me. I found this recipe, not sure where I got it I just searched for sweet fermented pickle recipe and found one. They taste pretty much like a sweet pickle.

And then I also make dairy kefir. Kefir is so cool because one it's very easy, and the friendly bacteria it creates actually go into the digestive tract and take up residence. Yogurt is more of a 'keep it clean and tuned up' but kefir helps repopulate the gut with the good bacterias that help keep us healthy. I made it for a long time and then when pregnant, it repulsed me and I quit. It's taken me awhile to get back into it, and I mainly use it in a fruit smoothie or a replacement for buttermilk. The 'grains' are very healthy and active!

Not pictured is my sourdough starter. I will get that out later today and feed it, which gets the culture active and get it ready for bread making. I use a white flour starter at this point, and will gradually make a whole wheat sourdough bread, but I'm still slowly introducing all this stuff. So, for now it's white sourdough bread.

Today is a very big day. I have been growing cabbages for months, waiting for those things to get big enough for homemade sauerkraut. My whole family- cousins,sister,parents etc.- loves the homemade kraut and have been anxiously waiting for this LOL. Today is the day- I'm straining my yogurt to get the whey that I use to help the good bacteria proliferate and keep the bad from growing. In awhile I'll go dig these up and wash them and start the sauerkraut making process! Yay it'll be ready in time for the 4th of July bratwursts and hot dogs.

The purple or red cabbages aren't quite ready yet. I'll leave them and pray the grasshoppers leave them alone! Our garden is in sad shape...really sad. But I have to say that this is my husband's domain, and he's been busy and a little negligent...my plants however look pretty good! A few years ago this was not possible, I just killed everything, but for some reason I seem to get it now!

My plants- a red geranium that I revived, my second basil plant, some kind of begonia that got revived and an aloe vera that was at death's door but has made a miraculous recovery!

The front yard plants. We have lots of shade and for once I made good plant choices! They have done really well and I have actually remembered to water and fertilize them:)

And in all fairness, here is my peppermint plants. I haven't neglected them, but they aren't doing great. I think they need bigger pots but I don't have any and keep forgetting to get more.

Here are some of the things I got in my box of veggies from our local farm- giant green tomatoes! I guess in typical southern fashion, I should fry them. But I don't really remember what they taste like. I found a recipe for a vegetable relish that use green tomatoes and I might do that, at least with the big one. The ripe tomatoes are ours.

Today I'm also working on some herbal stuff that I'll blog about another time. So what are my children doing during all of this? Their cousin is over and they are playing dress up, legos, school in our school room, and making lots of rubber band jewelry. I am basically just feeding them and then they run off to play. Swimming is coming up shortly I'm sure!

So, there's a glimpse into my abnormal kitchen concoctions. We like it.