Milk and Honey

Did you know that honey is good at curing burns? Check out this interesting blog (Note: I cannot vouch for the quality of the comments). Two things come to mind: "Wow, God is amazing" and "I sure have a lot to learn."



So, last night I made my first batch of yogurt. I do believe that James and I could do the amazing thing (for us) of drinking a gallon of milk in a week (neither of us are milk drinkers naturally), but for the past several weeks, the milk has gone sour on day four, and we are left with half a gallon of unappetizing milk. Thankfully, raw milk that has soured is not like the clotted, putrid stuff processed milk turns into when it goes rancid. Sour milk can be used in soup and baking without ill effect, and I probably could drink it, but don't really care to. So, in order to alleviate waste, I decided to turn half of my gallon of milk into a delicious morning treat and make my own yogurt.

Most of the information I gleaned about yogurt making was from several helpful websites. Words like "sterilize" and "inoculate" and tools like "thermometer" and "incubator" scared me into feeling like I was about to do some weird science lab experiment that might succeed in killing us all, but I determined to be very careful and put my full attention into cooking, for once.

After dishwasher and hot-soapy-water-handwash sterilizing the stainless steel pot, thermometer, spoon, measuring cup, and 9 1/2 pint canning jars, I slowly heated eight cups of raw milk on the stove to 180 degrees while stirring to make sure that the milk on the bottom didn't scorch. It smelled heavenly and made me think of sweet custard. Then I set the pan of milk in the sink which was half filled with cold water. It took two minutes for the temperature to drop down to 110 degrees (the perfect incubating temperature) when I quickly removed it. I then mixed a portion of the cooled milk with a half a cup of Nancy's Organic Whole Milk yogurt until smooth then added the mixture to the pot of milk and stirred well. I ladled the warm milk into canning jars, tightened the lids, and set them in water in my slow cooker had already preheated to "warm." I then put the thermometer in the water, put the lid on, set a timer for three hours, and walked away. Or, I wish I had . . .

Anxious fluttering cook that I am, I put the lid on, took the lid off, turned the heat up, turned the heat down, and THEN walked away. However, my unfortunate decision to turn the heat up to "low," however briefly (maybe 10 minutes), resulted in the heat gradually continuing to rise to 130 degrees which killed the yogurt culture and prevented it from working on the milk. Who knows, probably all the fiddling with it didn't help much either (I read that the milk should not be bumped or disturbed while incubating). Three hours later, the milk tasted like a sweet, warm drink--but definitely not yogurt.

Then I got the bold new idea to try again. I poured all of the milk, still warm, into the pan added ANOTHER half cup of active yogurt, stirred it all together, ladled it into the jars, set the jars in the still warm slow cooker, stuck in the thermometer, put the lid on top, and did not touch a single jar (although I peeked through the glass at the thermometer now and then--it stayed constantly in it's correct temperature range). Three hours later, I gingerly took out a jar and gently tilted it back and forth. I was happy to see the thick liquid giving way to soft globs of congealed yogurt. I tasted it too, and although it retained some natural sweetness, it also had that very distinct yogurt flavor. Yay! My cow made yogurt!

Although my yogurt can be eaten with a spoon, it also tasted delicious as a thick yogurt drink. I added a teaspoon of grade B maple syrup (I have read that fruit sugars can interfere with the ability of the yogurt to "do its job"), stirred well, and drank up. A sweet success.

Next week, I hope to do things differently:
--Obviously, I don't want to kill my starter by over heating the yogurt!
--I will buy more yogurt starter that is as fresh as the store can provide (once I get a good run going, I can use my own yogurt for starter, but with my unorthodox beginning, I wanted to try again).
--I will look into the possibility of adding a small quantity of powdered milk to my yogurt to add more thickness and consistency.

But for now, I have eight beautiful jars of yogurt to eat for breakfast and a half gallon of raw milk to drink before Sunday. Moo!

A Daunting List

In my pursuit of New Year's resolution #2, I have slowly begun the snowballing effort of evaluating our food, home, resources, habits, and life. It seems that I can't zone in on one area, eating organic, for example, without several others popping up: green living, local eating, hormone free, grass fed, raw, etc.

Here is a recent list of things that I have learned about and am now trying to muster up an opinion.

~~~

Pesticides are bad for you. Poison for bugs becomes poison for humans when it soaks into the plants we eat.

Hormones in meat and dairy are bad for you. They lead to premature development in girls and have been linked to female cancers.

MSG (called many things including natural flavors) is bad for you. It can cause seizures, brain damage, and eye damage, and has been shown to promote obesity and diabetes in lab rats.

High fructose corn syrup (HSFC) is bad for you. An unnatural sweetener that isn't processed well by the body and leads to obesity.

Aspartame is bad for you. Studies have shown that it is stored in our bodies and turns into a formaldehyde type preservative.

Hydrogenated oils are bad for you. A cheap alternative to butter, they are heated oils that don't meet your bodies' need for fats and just get stored.

Most cooking oils (except for olive, coconut, and cold pressed) are bad for you and all go rancid quickly outside of the refrigerator. Corn oil is used to cause tumors when experimenting on rats and can impair immune function, soy wrecks havoc with the thyroid, and so on.

Homogenized and pasteurized dairy is bad for you. Although if it it is free of growth hormones it is slightly better for you, the homogenization and pasteurization process robs milk of it's natural, healthy properties (sometimes still found in yogurts, etc.). Raw milk is so much better for you.

White flour is bad for you. At least it contains nothing good in it and sometimes has harmful additives.

White sugar is bad for you. When honey and maple syrup are available full of natural minerals, overly processed sugar is an empty alternative.

Aluminum in food (baking power, salt, etc.), cans, deodorant, and cooking tools (pans, foil, etc.) is bad for you. Aluminum has been linked to Alzheimer's and other brain disorders.

Teflon non-stick cook wear is bad for you. Well, it's fine until it's heated. The fumes of the chemical breakdown can cause cancer and organ damage.

Plastics 1 (soft drink bottles, etc.), 3 (cling wrap, peanut butter jars, etc.), 6 (Styrofoam), and some 7s (polycarbonates [BPA]: sports bottles, baby bottles) are bad for you especially when heated up and/or combined with liquids. These chemicals are linked to brain dysfunctions, infertility, miscarriage, cancers, and a whole slew of harmful effects.

Microwaves are bad for you. Recently, scientists have learned that baby formula changes composition when heated by a microwave. What is it doing to the rest of our food and the area in which it operates?

Fluoride is bad for you. Found in drinking water, toothpaste, and at the dentist office, fluoride builds up in the body and harms internal organs and can also harm fertility and pre-natal development.

Parabeans (a preservative in most lotions and soaps) are bad for you. Parabeans from these products have been found in cancerous tumors in the body.

Dibutyl phthalate (DBP, plasticizers, butyl ester, or fragrance) is bad for you. These are plastic additives to toiletries that can leach through the skin.

Benzophenone-3 (found in sunscreen) is bad for you. Another plastic type chemical that has been shown to be excreted in the urine of the users of those sunscreens even five days after the user has stopped wearing the lotion.

Talcum powder is bad for you. It has substances similar to asbestos in it and has been shown to cause cancer. That's a nice after shower treat!

Flame retardant chemicals (in mattresses, pillows, children's pajamas) are bad for you. These are breathed in by sleeping adults and children and can be absorbed through the skin. They also do not flame up, but they can melt onto the skin.

Many synthetic clothes (made with plastics) are bad for you. Similar to those that are flame retardant, they often contain unhealthy chemicals and will still melt onto you.

Paraffin (in candles and wicks) is bad for you. The fumes from paraffin wax candles is similar to the fumes of burnt diesel fuel.

Many cleaning products are dangerous to handle and breathe. Inadvertently combining them could cause death.

~ ~ ~

Phew, I feel a mixture of catharsis to have written all these things down publicly and panic from the somewhat drastic life changes these dangers could merit. Probably there are items on this list that are dramatically more dangerous than others and I know I probably omitted items that are either unknown by me or the public. As I imagine life without these things, I see a fairly bare existance. Kitchen cupboards would be purged of foods, pans, containers, and utensils. Bathroom cupboards would be emptied. The linen and clothes closets might look a little sparse. But it makes me think of a kitchen and home a hundred or even just sixty years ago before all of our "conviniences" robbed us of our health and well being. How I would love to learn how to feed my family whole foods, make my own bread and yogurt, grow and raise basic staples of our diets in our own back yard. But I'll save all that for a later post.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Barbara Kingsolver is one of my favorite authors. Reading her work is kind of a guilty pleasure for me as her world view is polar opposite of mine (Poisonwood Bible is even a critical look at a fictional missionary family), but she has total mastery over her craft, an intuitive look at nature, and sympathetic characters that draw me in. Recently I read the two book series about a single woman who adopted a Native American baby abandoned in her car in The Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven. So when I saw a recommendation for her book on a conservative Christian blog, I couldn't resist reading what I knew would be delightful prose on a compelling subject. I was not prepared for just how eye opening and potentially life changing her book would be.

For someone who does not believe in God and points to evolution to tell her little daughter how things came into being, Barbara Kingsolver has a deep respect for natural processes, the order of seasons, the symbiosis of birds-insects-plants-minerals in organic growth, and the importance of the family table and nutrition. So even though occasionally, I differed from her opinion 100%, most of the time I found myself learning at the feet of a woman with knowledge and experience that I want to emulate.

This book, co written by Kingsolver's husband, Steven Hopp, and daughter, Camille Kingsolver, covered a year in which their family ate food grown or produced within a 100 mile radius of their home: a small farm in Virginia's Appalachian Mountains. Although, the Kingsolver-Hopp family members were not strangers to growing, preserving, and cooking their own food from scratch, their decision to eat ONLY local foods was a journey of learning that the book chronicles in delightful detail.

Following the seasons of Spring (greens, mushrooms, asparagus), Summer (zucchini, tomatoes, and a plethora of other veggies), Fall (potatoes, pumpkins, garlic, root crops), and Winter (winter squash, root cellar holdings), the family grows, hatches, butchers, cures, pickles, freezes, dries, and preserves all the food they need to comfortably live for a year. They frequent farmers’ markets and local farms for available fruits, meat, and milk that they themselves don’t grow. They learn to make cheese and yogurt. They travel to different parts of the country to observe organic farming elsewhere. They take a trip to Italy to see a country centered on a food culture of growing and producing local olive oil, vegetables, cheese, pasta, and meats.

They give compelling arguments for supporting local agriculture, cooking from scratch, and “voting with our dollars” to avoid processed foods and foods that have traveled across continents to reach us (apples from New Zealand anyone?). They also talk about foods that cannot be reasonably purchased locally (olive oil, spices, coffee, and chocolate) and, instead of giving up and going down to the local grocery store, buying from small farms elsewhere through free market enterprises to support someone else’s local economy (without supporting big foreign businesses who don’t have as much respect for the land or individuals in that place).

This can be done much more reasonably than I expected. The first part of the book, I wished ruefully that it could be done where I lived. However, a little bit of research (specifically on localharvest.org) quickly showed that I can buy fresh local produce through a local farm CSA (for community supported agriculture) which will allow me to “subscribe” to a farm and receive fresh seasonal produce weekly through the growing year. I also have the option of buying into a not so local CSA in Oregon called “Full Circle Farms” which gathers food from small farms locally and farther afield to provide fresh organic produce year round. I also found several local dairies that will allow me to “share” in a cow’s ownership to buy fresh raw milk (which can then become yogurt and cheese). I also found places within 50 miles of me that sell eggs, syrup, beef, and chicken meat. I suddenly remembered the local summer farmer’s markets in Anchorage and Wasilla that I was too busy for. The options are really much more varied that I had ever hoped! I can even start a small window garden in my apartment to grow several salads. The possibilities get more and more exciting.

Although I hope to write more later, I did want to point out that this method of eating and living may not be the most frugal method at first. Buying local produce may cost a little more than buying produce shipped from South America, and buying hormone free, grass fed meat will definitely be costlier, but setting those pennies aside, the gains of making sure that local food producers stay in business (no matter what happens world wide), the local economy stays strong, healthy food is on your table daily, and whole foods are prepared from scratch with the ingredients you choose is really a much healthier alternative over all. This method of eating does not have to be done all or nothing. It could be done by choosing only one or two local items to incorporate, or it may be done to any degree that works for your family. Becoming educated and supporting local food however you can is a big step in itself.

In conclusion, I strongly encourage anyone who is interested in feeding their family naturally to look into this book. It contains a treasure trove of ideas, recipes, resources, and motivation. It comes out in paperback April 29, 2008.

The most depressing day of the year . . .

Factoring in weather conditions, low sunlight levels, holiday debt, time since Christmas, failed new year’s resolutions, and low motivational levels while feeling a need to take action (1/8W+(D-d) 3/8xTQ MxNA), psychology professor Cliff Arnall calculated the third Monday in January to be "Blue Monday": the most depressing day of the year. Somebody take a look at that equation; it looks rather fishy to me. It also doesn't make much sense that "the most depressing day of the year" would fall on a school holiday (Thank you, Martin Luther King Jr.)! To take away even more credibility, Wikipedia claims that the whole idea was just a marketing ploy for a travel company. However, I have learned that sometimes giving a solid reason for irrational feelings can make the feelings appear less permanent or make them go away entirely. So naming "Blue Monday" shows that the January blahs can be waved away with a chuckle and a "pshaw" because we know eventually those factors will melt away and life will be good again.

Unfortunately, one more factor played into our weekend. While still feeling highly motivated to have a productive year, thankful for James' extra income this semester, and looking forward to Valentine's day (although tired of sunless and rainy (!) outdoors), on Friday I decided to walk the dog, carry our laundry to the basement washers and driers, and talk on the phone to my mother all at once. Then, bending over to pick up a sock while on the phone, I felt a sharp twinge in my lower back and started a weekend of excruciating pain.

To tell you that I spent the majority of Friday evening crying, pretty much sums it up. Sitting or standing brought horrible crushing pain that made me feel like my lower spine was being pulverized. Getting from sitting to standing (and vice versa) took my breath away and made tears start again. Lying down just caused a numbing pain. My sweet husband brought home a wonderful heating pad which became the only source of relief for me (600 mg of Motrin did nothing, and I was scared to take more). Any hopes of using our three day weekend to catch up on life or to do something recreational were dashed. All I could do was pray, and that just made me cry more!

Little by little, I have tried to work out the muscles to bring gradual mobility with less pain. In desperation on Saturday, I discovered that kneeling somehow did not hurt as bad as stooping and so made the bed and straightened our room from that position (James was already cooking, doing dishes, walking the dog, and running around for me). Sunday, I went to church and sat stiffly in the pew. I gave up halfway through and lay down in the cry room. Monday, we made an appointment for a professional back massage. It was relaxing, but hardly a cure. Thankfully, each little push past comfort each day has brought more relief. Because it was a three day weekend, I have not had to miss any work. Driving in my car and sitting at work, I have realized what little back support those seats offer, and I am working on remedying that. I'm looking into a visit to the chiropractor and slowly beginning to stretch and exercise my back muscles to strengthen them. Life is seeming a little more bearable day by day.

It is quite a wake up call, though, to be knocked down flat while doing a mundane household chore. It is humbling to know how dependant we are on each muscle and ligament in our bodies behaving properly. But beyond that, we don't have the right to make weekend plans because absolutely nothing is within our control - not even our own back muscles. I say so often, "God willing" but do I really mean it? Am I just saying it so I don't "jinx" myself, or am I really saying "God's will is best; I'd rather do what He has planned for me." I can't say what He planned for me this weekend was what I wanted, but I pray that the pain, the humility, and the submission taught me the lessons He wanted me me to learn.

Here is a verse James shared with me this weekend:

Come, and let us return to the LORD;

For He has torn, but He will heal us;

He has stricken, but He will bind us up.

After two days He will revive us;

On the third day He will raise us up,

That we may live in His sight.

Let us know,

Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD.

His going forth is established as the morning;

He will come to us like the rain,

Like the latter and former rain to the earth.
Hosea 6:1-3

The Last Supper

Just so you know, I cooked up our last Saving Dinner freezer meal December 20th. Twenty-two meals for two people turned into almost exactly two months of dinners and left-over lunches. Based on James' school schedule (Mondays not coming home until late) and my work schedule (Fridays being fed a big breakfast and not being hungry for lunch) and our church schedule (Sundays having a fellowship meal together and often meeting Sunday evenings to share finger-food and snacks), even though we didn't eat out (James grabbed an occasional lunch) or order pizza the entire two months, we still ended up using an average of 3 meals a week.

I have to say that although some meals I was excited about pulling out (the "Chicken Scaloppini" with basil and pine nuts or the "Lasagna"), and some I was not quite so excited about cooking up (the fish meals mostly!), every single meal was delicious! Some had recipes for perfect complimentary side dishes. Some, spread well over several days as we added noodles or rice to extend our leftovers further. If I had materials to make a fresh salad, yum. If not, a can of corn or microwave steamed veggies from the freezer would do fine. Over all, it was a very easy way of keeping healthy food on the table.

As far as saving money, it's very hard to tell how much I actually did save not shopping for dinner ingredients every week, because I replaced that spending buying baking, gift, and holiday grocery items. Oh well, I am thankful that I did not need to buy dinner items too! Next time, I will be more focused on the cost effectiveness of the meals, get a better cost estimate, and try to cut out unnecessary expensive ingredients as possible without destroying the integrity of the recipes.

I would be very happy to cook up the whole batch of 22 meals again, but I bought a second month of recipes which I will try next. I can't wait! First, however, I think we are going to try to do something with that ham . . .

Blogging, Blahs, and Birthdays

I've been having fun following links around the net. It's exciting to stumble upon good, uplifting, positive blogs and websites that make me want to be a better person. Recently, I've found a whole nest of blogging links and connections among godly, home-schooling, home-keeping women who post about parenting, frugal living, cooking, and running a house. I don't know if I'm the wheat-grinding, cloth-diapering, paper-towel-free kind of woman, but it's still neat to find out about different ideas shared among these sweet ladies.

We are in the throes of preparations for finals. For the past 5 days straight, James has spent 12 hours at UAA working with his group to finish designing a steel bridge. The stakes are much higher than for the balsa bridge he built as a Freshman. This time a couple of boards will be reviewing his bridge, and in addition to a grade, he may receive big awards and a trip to Oregon based on their work and designs. While I don't LIKE being at home alone for as long as I'm at work and having a grouchy and exhausted husband come home to crash and burn, I'm still really proud of him and SO happy that this is all almost over. One more week (plus a day or two) and our holiday will truly start.

In the meantime, I've been going to the birthday parties of my niece, Niqui (4) and brothers, Isaac (10) and Adam (6). Half-Peruvian Niquelina (Niqui) had a traditional party complete with streamers, hats, a pinata, a pretty birthday dress, and other 4-year-olds. Isaac, for the first time in his life, had a "friend" birthday party which he celebrated by conscientiously inviting every single student from his Bible class to the bowling alley for two hours of pizza, cake, and bowling. Next Friday, on Adam's REAL birthday, he will get to do something fun with the family.

Isaac and Adam's "family" birthday party we celebrated Sunday with a cowboy theme. We all arrived dressed for the part. Everything started with a dinner of ribs, fried potatoes, baked beans, and biscuits served in wrought iron dishes onto blue speckled plates and washed down with root beer in bottles! The table was lit by lanterns and spread with red-checked and cowboy-themed print and each person had a goodie-bag of trail mix, cow tails (ha!), and gold nugget gum. Afterward, Mom's beautiful cake was presented which showed a field of cows grazing by a stream (complete with bulrushes, ducks, and river rocks) and a couple of cowboys hunkered under a tree by a campfire. The charred wood (pretzels) and eggs in the frying pan added realistic touches. Then, when the candles were lit, a hidden sugar-cube previously doused with peppermint extract was lit as well, making a little fire for the cowboys to really warm up to!

After this, we were told by the sheriff (a.k.a. Dad) that in order to be deputized to go after some cattle rustlers, we had to pass a series of tests. From there, each on of us were timed in how fast we could lasso a (rocking) horse, shoot a series of targets, aim a bow and arrow, corral and herd (with a broom) a group of cows (balloons), kill a scorpion in a boot with a rock (ping-pong ball), return the cows to their pen (under the piano), and ring the triangle--all to the background music of "Rawhide"! We laughed so hard! Everyone was a good sport and got deputized! Sometimes, I think I forget that I'm 26, but as the average age at the party was 34.25 (I just did the math), I guess I wasn't the only one to forget my age.

Look What I Did!

I made Cheerios #1! No, that was a long time ago. : ) I made my freezer into a mess. Well, maybe. But at risk of turning this blog into some sort of feminine domestic saga, I'd like to show you what happens when someone puts a month of meals in the freezer. After shopping trips to Fred Meyer and Costco, $240, and seven hours of preparation, I closed my freezer at midnight last night on 21 assembled 4-serving meals ready to go. Averaging $2.85 per serving and 20 minutes prep time per meal, I feel pretty good about my accomplishment. The recipes included ingredients like lamb, fish, steak, pine nuts, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh herbs, and a couple of varieties of cheeses.

However, I can't take all the credit. A few months ago, I came across Leanne Ely's website http://www.savingdinner.com/. Her purpose is to create useful, simple, and delicious menus for busy families to use in having family dinner time every day. I registered to receive her free weekly menus (complete with an organized shopping list, recipes, and tips). I liked how Leanne encouraged using whole foods (fresh vegetables, real butter and olive oil, no prepared sauces or mixes) and encouraged cooks to expand their exposure to spices. The organization was excellent, the meals quick and easy to make (yet pushed me out of my rut), and I soon had a well stocked spice cupboard and something for dinner every night! It was a good feeling. Two weeks ago, her website offered a discount on their monthly menu sets. So, I bought two to try.

The 20 meals a month are taking into consideration that families will sometimes like to have a pizza night or have a favorite family recipe now and then. For us, it works great because on Monday James leaves at 7:45 AM and doesn't get home until 10:30 PM and on Sundays we eat with the church and young adult group. Since the meals are for four, we also have the option of eating the leftovers for lunch the next day (as usual) or inviting another couple to come share dinner with us! I could even give guests a list of meals for requests . . . nah!

I was completely beat, though, after seven hours on my feet in the kitchen. My hands (and the whole house) smell of the nine chopped onions and countless diced garlic cloves that went into the meals. Most of the meals made me say, "Yum," when I assembled them but a few made me say, "Well, that will be interesting" or "Hmm." And although I am thankful for the 21 meals ready to go, I don't relish the idea of another two day shopping and cooking marathon. We will see! I think it might have been easier if I had help (poor James was slaving over a take home structural foundations test) or someone else to collaborate with. I guess we'll see in a month if I get ready to cook up my second month of menus!

Since the meals are assembled now, all I will need to do is choose the meal I want to eat the night before I need it, put it in the fridge to thaw over night, cook it, and add a freshly tossed salad, veggies, or noodles (rice is already included) as a side to the meal. The organization is so superb that there is a separate shopping list that gives suggested sides and necessary last minute ingredients (like lime wedges or sour cream). The monthly menus also have the option of separating the meals into meat groups so instead of assembling the meals all at once, I could have fixed the five that called for chicken at one time, etc. This gives the benefit of being able to wait for good sales, use time effectively, and not needing to pay for 12 pork chops, 14 chicken breasts, 16 turkey cutlets, etc. all at once. But me? I never like doing things the easy way!

As a side note, the ham in the freezer is a Christmas gift from the company James worked with before the last one (I doubt the $3 rebate is still good!). We will probably have to find a time to thaw it out and do a month of ham meals. : / I won't mention that one of the Rubbermaid containers holds remainders of cooked turkey from the year before last! I used the cutting board in a vain attempt to make the food bags freeze flat. And now you know that we like Breyer's ice cream!