This past weekend I attended a Sustainability Fair that was sponsored by my town and was completely free for us to attend. They even served a free lunch. The info I have below is really important and I feel very lucky that it was presented to us. This Sustainability Fair was a major highlight for me to have right here where I live since this lifestyle has been a passion of mine for the past 13 years.
Having lived in my conservative town for the past 6 years, I really never expected the concept of real sustainable living to reach the mainstream consciousness here so soon especially since this town is not as liberal or environmentally friendly as other places in my county. Attending this entire day long, well coordinated conference with expert speakers talking about all areas of sustainablility and how do we work together to achieve this for the single purpose of making this town the most sustainable and eco-friendly place to live was just so deeply rewarding to me on so many levels.
At the fair, they had an expo area with lots of companies explaining what they do in different areas relating to environmentalism. They also had presentations in different rooms by a few different panels of experts, most of whom were local to either my county or state. The topics covered were: Agriculture, Water, Alternative Energy and Recycling. There was also a keynote speaker and then lunch then a breakout session where we went to brainstorm and give ideas on each topic.
Since there was only time to go to two presentations out of the four, can you guess which two I picked? If you read this blog regularly, you can tell I’m pretty passionate about healthy food especially seasonal, local and organic plant based foods. Agriculture was my first stop and it was great.
There were 3 presenters and the first was a man named Tom who owns a large, local farm and builds solar powered farm equipment. His designs have been patented and he is now developing a solar powered tractor. His description about his whole way of living was inspiring to me.
Another man, Adrian from our county commissioner’s advisory board spoke about better farming practices and the need for younger, sustainably aware farmers since the average age of farmers now is 55. He spoke about how all of the confined animal feedlots (CAFO) are just so cruel to the animals and horrible for the environment also use the most fossil fuels and contribute to the the largest output of greenhouse gasses (including dairy and all kinds of meat production). That’s huge and the sooner we do away with these inhumane ways to raise livestock and go back to the local farms for pasture-raised flesh foods and dairy, it’s better both for the people’s health and the greatly minimized environmental impacts. We should not be eating animals everyday, 3 times a day. Plant based foods are healthier and better for you and the planet. Limit the intake of animal based foods (especially the cheap, antibiotic-laden factory farmed meats & dairy) because they are the biggest contributors to our planet’s degradation. CAFO also uses and pollutes enormous amounts of water (which I will speak about in part 2).
Next, a woman named Cindy spoke that runs our farmer’s market here in my town of which it is part of the larger county run farmer’s markets organization and there are many of these markets here in my county which is a great thing for the people and the local CO farmers. She said on the last day of the season (Nov.1st here), our largest farmer’s market in the county made $80,000 just from selling produce. Not from the arts and crafts vendors or the prepared meals food carts. Just the farmers themselves. That is astounding to me (and to them, too!) because it shows how many people are really interested in fresh, regional, seasonal, organic foods. It is what we need for our health and what is also good for our planet. So glad it’s on the upswing.
She also spoke at length about how many people are considered “food insecure” and how food banks and shelters are adding 200 people every week in our county and it’s only going to get worse as we go into this economic depression. There was talk about some trial programs my town just did with growing potatoes in a public park area on only about an eighth of an acre and volunteers came and dug them up a few weeks ago and donated all of the potatoes to the food bank. They grew several hundred pounds with very little effort so more of this type of growing on public land will be happening in the future to benefit the food insecure.
Cindy also spoke about the farm to school program aka – the “School Food Project” that they are trying to get established in my school district. Currently, in the bigger city in my county their school district is being trained by none other than Ann Cooper from Berkeley, CA’s school district (and I posted a great TED video of her speaking a few weeks ago). This woman is an amazing dynamo in terms of getting off the processed, subsidized food bandwagon which helps to make kids fat and unhealthy and she is also teaching the kitchen workers how to cook real food again from many locally sourced food items from farmers and it’s all done on the school’s budget. She also advocates teaching and growing a garden at each school and educating the children about where food comes from. I truly admire this woman and am so excited she is working with our neighboring school district because this means that program will come to my school district at some point and I would love to help out with getting that going. This is especially great for all of those children that have to rely on the free breakfast and lunch program and who have to consume many highly processed foods everyday. This will help turn the children’s health around by eating high quality, nutritious food which will also increase their mental acuity as well as educate them about sustainable living skills, too. All win-win.
Next, in part two I will write about the water and climate change presentations I went to and the very enlightening info I learned there.
Here is a Ted Video of Ann Cooper of the Berkeley, CA school system giving a talk about what she’s done and how she has changed the way kids eat school lunches. She teaches cooking classes for kids, shows them where food comes from, and has basically overhauled everything including a pie chart of what should be on a child’s plate for meals, etc. Her talk is very informative and passionate and I loved it. I feel just like she does about this subject and was so happy to see someone here in America making a difference like this and also supporting the local farmers, educating everyone on child health through good nutrition, the dangers of chemicals in our food especially on a child’s body, growing gardens at school, etc. A great video and clearly a great woman.
Well this is yet another bit of highly disappointing information I learned today. The Path To Freedom Blog posted today that Monsanto owns about 40% of all the fruit and veggie seeds sold in the U.S. and they are growing. It’s not bad enough that they’ve taken over grain production and made it into frankenfood and are destroying many family farms in the process but now they are invading the fruit and veggie seed market, too.
Here is what the PTF folks have to say about this:
We aren’t talking genetically modified seeds here were are talking about who is supplying the seeds. Even if you purchase non gmo seeds from a seed company who touts a ‘Safe Seed Pledge’ that variety may still be OWNED by Monsanto. Sorry to break the bad news to you, but that’s the facts folks. We, yes even PTF, is supporting the big M by purchasing seeds from our favorite seed companies and you probably are too.
Out of the 2,500 varieties that Monsanto has acquired from the Seminis takeover, here are a few of the published veg varieties that we know that Monsanto owns:
Beans: EZ Gold, Eureka, Goldrush, Kentucky King, Lynx, Bush Blue Lake 94
So what to do? Start saving fazing out listed Monsanto owned varieties, reach where your seeds come from and or save your own.
Taking Back Our Food Supply
Before agriculture became an industry, every gardener, farmer was responsible for the availability of seed for next years crop. With this recent merger and marketing tactics that has allow a certain “M”-onopoly to take over over the majority of the seed population. Seed-saving is one among many tactics of reclaiming our power (and freedom) to grow our own food, and an indispensable step towards fully sustainable and secure future.
I kept having insights and dreams about saving seeds before this growing season started. I was shown a local seed bank happening in my area and really, I’m not that skilled at seed saving and all it entails even though we have owned the book, “Seed To Seed” for many years just for this reason that one day we would have to rely on ourselves for ensuring our food production. Needless to say, we’ve slacked in that department over the past few years what with moving to the ‘burbs, major home renovations and having a kid and all. I’ve even discussed this a few times this past spring with different people in my area (including my friend Julie, a master gardener) to find out if there was a seed bank already happening where I live – there isn’t. Clearly why I’ve been shown this over and over again before we started growing anything this season was for a reason and we have been diligently saving heirloom organic seeds this summer the way my husband learned from his homesteading mom and step-dad.
This is bad news, people. Being more self-sufficient even with your own garden is becoming increasingly more important everyday. I recommend that you read up a bit on this topic if you don’t already know about what’s going on. It’s a big deal and I’m not kidding. Those who control the seeds of life control everything and they definitely do not have our best interests at heart.
Btw, which political party do you think they are affilitated with? Just saying.
The Child Nutrition Act includes legislation for the National School Lunch Program, which provides federal assistance for school lunches. This act is being reauthorized in 2009, and theUSDA would like your input on what needs to change. Submit your recommendations for improving vegetarian options by fax at 703-305-2879, or online. They are accepting comments until October 15, 2008.
Well you don’t have to twist my arm to get me to give my two cents to the USDA on what needs to change for the school lunch program! I am really hoping that many people will take action and give their comments to the USDA to help all of our children receive better nutrition and more whole, unprocessed foods in every school across America.
If we can get foods with high fructose corn syrup and other additives and preservatives removed from the menu as well as adding more vegetarian food options and non-dairy fortified drink options, our children could only benefit. They would be eating more fiber, vitamins, minerals have stable blood sugar for many hours of the day and will be eating more plant based foods and less processed foods which can only help them. It will also assist in lowering the childhood obesity rate that is skyrocketing here in our country and cutting down on consuming so much pasteurized dairy will reduce congestion issues (sinus, ear infections, sore throats) and constipation, too.
Last year, the PCRM published a “School Lunch Report Card” based on their criteria for healthy, whole foods and non-dairy options in some of the larger school district cafeterias. There is a lot of good information on this report, they did a really thorough job and it’s worth it to check it out.
Another great website on this school lunch issue to check out is also researched by the PCRM and is called Healthy School Lunches.org.
Right now I am in the midst of one of the biggest detoxes I’ve ever undertaken. And that’s saying something since I’ve done many different things over the years. Ten years ago, my husband and I followed “The Body Ecology Diet” for several months to clean our bodies from candida and parasites. We didn’t have any major problems but Michael did have pretty bad seasonal and some pet allergies. And some food ones, too. All of that warranted a good internal cleansing and we did that together. This was also our first attempt at making lacto-fermented saurkraut (as recommended by the book) which came out badly and we haven’t tried it again until this summer and we are lacto-fermenting veggies like crazy! We had excellent results from doing this program which really is a good cleansing and very healthy way to live. Michael’s allergies were almost totally gone!
Along with that particular cleanse, we did some colonics as is also recommended in the book. We really didn’t like the “closed circuit” colonics that we did so I’ve never gone back for them even though I am aware of how important it is to keep your colon clean. There is a quote from the Royal Academy of Physicians of Great Britain that says, “90 percent of all disease and discomfort is directly or indirectly related to an unclean colon.” Now that is really saying something. 90 percent. That’s a lot.
Being on a raw vegan diet is very deeply cleansing in itself. I thought I was doing enough sufficient exercise to sweat out the toxins that were being dredged up by this cleansing diet but I guess not since I’ve been having weird rashes come out on my skin the past few months. This is basically past prescription meds I’ve taken and heavy metals, solvents, etc that I’ve been exposed to over the years trying to make a quick exit through the largest elimination organ we have – the skin. It all gets stored away in the liver, one of our most important organs in the body that performs over 500 tasks everyday. Most skin problems are related to liver congestion or stagnation and the body trying to rid itself from it. I’ve known this and have done many liver flushes and herbal liver tonic blends over the years to try to keep mine in good working order.
A liver flush is generally a concoction blended in the blender every morning and drank on an empty stomach for 10 days then a 3 day break then do it again. Clearly this was not enough to get at the deep seated stuff for me. I also have been having visions of colonics so I knew it was a message and that I needed to do them again but I just didn’t like the kind I did before and didn’t realize there was another way until I started to read about it in some of my books.
I investigated this other type of colonic that has been recommended by many health experts and this one is called the “gravity feed” method. It is the most gentle way and very effective at cleaning you out. I found a practitioner in my area (that cured herself of liver cancer) and she is highly knowledgeable of many rather unpleasant facts and stories relating to sickness caused by toxed out people that she has treated over the years. I loved her right away and knew she was the person for me!
I have been hearing about how great zucchini hummus is from different raw vegan websites as well as seeing a few recipes for it in my raw cookbooks. I am quite a Middle Eastern food snob having lived in Israel at one time as well has having dated Israeli men and have dined at many of their recommended Middle Eastern restaurants both in NY and in Israel or ate their homemade food. I still have Israeli friends in NY that I visit when I go there and we inevitably go to one of the Middle Eastern restaurants where only Hebrew is spoken and they have some of the best food I’ve ever eaten there. I think besides Italian food, Middle Eastern food is my favorite and I’m very picky about it.
Since I’ve been scoffing at the idea of eating a hummus made without chickpeas, I’ve never bothered to try this recipe. I kept thinking, “How can it be good without beans?” Well, it is! It’s awesome, actually and I’m so glad I tried the recipe because I was not eating any beans (until recently) and I’ve really missed this dish!
This past weekend, I made 3 different versions I found for zucchini hummus. One was even a sundried tomato version of hummus (using zucchini) from Ani Phyo which was good but my favorite one is from Alissa Cohen. I’ve adapted the recipe just a little from Alissa Cohen’s book “Living On Live Food” and it really tastes and has the body of a chickpea hummus but is just a touch lighter, not as dense feeling and is easier to digest if anyone has a problem with digesting beans.
Boy am I stoked!! I’ve frozen 5 containers of this so far to eat throughout the year cause I have so much squash and zucchini coming out of my garden. I find that most patés freeze well.
Zucchini Hummus
by Alissa Cohen
5 cups zucchini or squash, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup tahini (I added an extra 1/4 cup more which really helped)
4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. cayenne
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. cumin (I added this to mine, Alissa didn’t have it in hers.)
Place all ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth.
It’s such an easy recipe and it tastes so unbelievably good! Now when you have a glut of squash or zucchini coming out of your garden, you have another great way to use it up!
I read this Q & A that was sent in to Jinjee from The Garden Diet to answer. She is a raw vegan mother of 5 raw vegan kids. I feel the info she gives is very important for all mothers to keep in mind:
Question of the week:
Q: All the years before becoming raw, i drank fish oil/cod liver oil daily. lately i literally feel like i’m loosing my mind, forgetting things, catch myself not thinking straight, anxiety, sadness (not like myself). i called our family naturopathic doctor and he says that without a doubt it is the lack of fish oil in my diet combined with breastfeeding my toddler = brain loss. he said that the body will get the (DHA) from my brain to give it to the breastmilk for the child = mom becoming sad and a little crazy. he said that is the reason for post-partum depression. and people just do not know it. what do you think? how do you have 5 children, nurse them, and not lose your mind?
A: Regarding losing your mind, I’m not totally happy with my memory but I attribute it to too much on my mind at any one time. Yoga, prayer, or meditation helps me a lot when I do these regularly. Breathing deeply is also good! And of course exercise is awesome for the brain as well as the body!
Here are some more fatty raw foods that can grease the brain:
purslane – an herb you can add to your smoothies, or eat plain! Very yummy! With natural vegetable DHAs
olives
olive oil
avocados
durian
coconuts – we think these are so important to brain function that we use these in our recipes and plain daily, even though they’re unfortunately not organic.
nuts, seeds, tahini, nutbutters, nutmilks
flax, flax seed oil
hemp seeds
hemp seed oil
ochra
If you significantly up the fats in your diet, you’ll find a lot of nice things happen, including thinking better and feeling happier!
But what about those well-known teachers who recommend limiting fats on the raw diet? Well, I simply disagree with them. Maybe a low fat raw diet works for some people, but not everyone. You have to find what works for you!
If you are a stressed out mama and you crave something like potato chips or lots of meat, that can very well be your body signaling it’s need for good quality fats. Do an experiment with yourself and either eat some healthy fats with your food – preferably not heated to get the most benefit – or pop a flax or hemp oil or fish oil capsule in your mouth or drizzle the oil on your salad, put it in a smoothie, etc. Use enough of it, don’t skimp and see if that helps you feel any better. It may take a few days of doing this but it does kick in pretty quick. These types of fats are essential to your body and you must eat some everyday especially if you are nursing.
I did my own experiment this summer with a low-fat version of the raw vegan diet. Since there was so much good fruit and veggies available everywhere and I’ve been reading up on the LFRV way I decided to up my fruit intake, not eat any dehydrated foods and not really eat much fat containing foods. I love to eat lots of sweet fruits and to juice the greens and veggies from my garden or eat a big salad and have not had the desire to make any real recipes since it’s been so hot out so it’s been easy to do this. I was really living on just fruit and greens and very little fat – a handful of olives or seeds, a little avocado once in a while and an occasional Israeli Salad (one of my all-time favorites). I have not eaten any raw chocolate, either since June or early July. That’s unheard of for me! I also hardly made any raw desserts like pies or cobblers, either.
Well, I’ve determined that someone sensitive to sugars (namely me who has had insulin resistance before) needs the fat to counteract that. Fat is grounding and nourishing and I think I’ve been craving and eating some of my son’s cooked vegan foods (millet, quinoa and beans) the past 2 weeks because of the lack of eating adequate fats all summer. When I ate a decent amount of raw fats everyday in my diet I didn’t crave much of anything at all. I found this whole experiment so interesting because my body really told me what it needs to stay in balance. For me personally, too much sweet puts my body out of whack and makes me crave the opposite end of the spectrum – dense cooked foods. Eating some cooked food again has been interesting and doesn’t make me feel better, either. It makes me tired, actually.
I made a big batch of Israeli salad (olive oil) and a big massaged kale salad (olive oil and avocado) today and have been slurping it down – I really couldn’t get enough of it. Clearly my body was craving good fats and now I feel really satisfied. I’m glad I gave the low-fat raw way a try and I’ve had lots of fun eating tons of juicy, organic watermelon, nectarines, peaches, plums, cherries, melons, etc (I would never eat much fruit in a day before going raw due to the IR) and now I know that my body needs enough of the healthy fats everyday to balance out the glut of sweet summer fruits. There are many people who thrive eating like this but as I’ve found out, I’m just not one of them. I also notice that I do feel more even-keeled all day eating the healthy, nourishing fats and a well balanced raw vegan diet – and that’s a good thing for both myself and my family!
I’ve been trying out different recipes for my son to eat that are both healthy and tasty for him. He thinks he’s getting a treat and I’m happy that he’s getting more produce.
Since he’s so picky, I’ve kept it pretty simple. Simple seems to work best and then I try to add on if he will allow it.
His favorite treat of all in the summer is a popsicle. We have some popsicle molds that we use and last year, he would only eat it if I put fruit juice or lemonade in it for him but this year, I’ve been buying so much more fresh fruit and he seems more interested in what I’m doing with it that I’ve made popsicles out of just whole fruit and a little raw agave nectar which has a very sweet taste and is low glycemic, i.e. does not raise your blood sugar like regular sugar does.
So here are a few simple but tasty treats for the kiddos:
Strawberry popsicle:
1/3# fresh, organic strawberries, washed
1T raw agave nectar
1/4 cup water
Puree in a high speed blender til smooth. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze.
You may need a bit more agave depending on how sweet the berries are. The first time I made this for him, he wanted it more sweet, of course so I just brushed on a little agave on the outside which made him a happy camper and he ate the whole thing. He asks for popsicles everyday and eats at least one a day especially after he comes home from camp.
His new favorite popsicle flavor is watermelon. We got a huge organic watermelon from the health food store the other day and it was so sweet. I could eat watermelon all the time, I love it! Whatever fruit we are eating he will ask me to make it into a popsicle now. It’s really funny to me.
Watermelon popsicle:
2 cups organic watermelon
1T raw agave nectar
Blend til smooth. Pour into molds and freeze.
If it’s not sweet enough, just brush a little agave onto the outside and that does the trick.
I have tried blending flavors and also adding in diluted supplements but that never goes over well and I end up having to eat it so I just stick to the basics. It’s cheap, nutritious, the whole fruit is eaten not just juice and it’s a fun food for the kiddos.
We have also been making lots of raw lemonade. Super easy and tasty.
Lemonade:
1T freshly juiced lemon juice (this is best, otherwise get unfiltered organic lemon juice)
1T raw agave nectar
Water to fill glass
Ice
1/4 tsp. Sea Salt (or Himalayan crystal salt is better). Add this if it’s really hot out for more electrolytes and water retention
Mix really well and drink. Tastes great like regular lemonade but you are using a low glycemic sweetener so your child won’t bounce off the walls and it’s also an electrolyte balancer to prevent dehydration. It’s really like a healthy Gatorade. Lemons also replenish electrolytes. This too, can be frozen as a popsicle.
We have been making sun teas, too. My favorite flavor for the summertime is Mint. Just put a bunch of washed fresh mint leaves in a gallon sun tea container, fill with filtered water and let sit in the sun all day. Refrigerate in the evening and the next day you have really cold mint tea which really cools you off when you drink that on a hot day. You can sweeten it, too but we all like it plain. Even my picky son loves cold mint tea. If you combine that with eating some cold watermelon, you will really cool down pretty quick.
Some cultures drink hot mint tea for cooling down in the heat but I still prefer the cold version best. Mint is a diaphoretic herb so drinking it hot opens the capillaries and helps you sweat which cools you down. It is also very good for the digestion.
The other snack my son Leif is loving is actually going into the garden and picking his own cucumber or greens, etc and we bring it inside and I wash and cut it up and he’s so happy to eat the food he’s watched grow. He will eat large amounts, too. He’s ecstatic that his little yellow pear tomatoes that he planted the seeds in a container himself in May and watered (a lot!) all summer are now bearing fruit and so are the cherry tomatoes growing right next to them. He goes and looks everyday and sees if they are yellow enough and when they are he picks it and pops it into his mouth. He does the same with the red ones, too. I think it’s the cutest thing ever, of course! He’s really into living foods and likes having them around him, just like his parents. The garden is one fascinating place to him.
Well we have been busy around here this week! Michael and I have been doing all sorts of preserving of our garden and finding really good deals on organic produce at the store and farmer’s market. We are looking at this season as more of one of experimentation because we are trying not to water bath can or pressure can (what we normally do each year) but to do more low tech preservation methods that keep the enzymes alive and nutrients intact since this is very important to me now.
So here’s the recap of what we’ve been doing every evening and last weekend: First, Dehydrating – both solar dehydrating outside and also with my new-this-year-and-I-love-it-so-much dehydrator. I purchased an Excalibur 9 tray dehydrator with teflex sheets back in January when I went raw and I couldn’t be happier with it. What an amazing investment this was – it has a temperature control on it and it’s square shaped so it feels like an oven so I can even put a lasagna pan in there to dehydrate a raw, living lasagna recipe. The 9 trays don’t have to be rotated since a fan blows on each individual tray from the back, there’s no dripping onto the trays below and I’ve dried both sweet and savory at the same time on different trays and there have been no crossover of flavors or any problems. The electricity usage when it’s on is low, too. It uses the same amount of power an ordinary light bulb uses when you dry at the lower temps.
I’ve been dehydrating herbs especially culinary ones like rosemary, mint, parsley, basil, dill, etc in it at a low temp and then crush and store it in little glass bottles for seasoning especially for this winter. I will continue to do this as the harvest progresses because it’s so damn easy and quick and I get a superior product to what I can get at the store – it’s still technically raw and organically grown, afterall – not to mention cost savings! I usually hang dry my herbs but wanted to try it out on the spiffy machine this time.
We also bought several pounds of local, organic apricots from a coop recently and ate a bunch right away but we wanted to preserve some, too so instead of just dehydrating them, Michael wanted to try to dip them in something to preserve the color, too. He mixed up some raw, local honey with some lemon juice that I had juiced that day (we go through lots of lemon juice here, I’m always juicing lemons!) and dipped the apricot halves into that mixture then dehydrated them at a low temp for a couple of days and they came out awesome! So tasty and with a bright color.
We’ve been drying berries, too. Organic strawberries are on sale in my town for $2.19/pound which is ridiculously cheap for here so I’ve been stocking up for the winter – we of course ate all the berries we grew in our garden already! I make smoothies with frozen organic berries a lot in winter but we also wanted to try dehydrating them and using them in recipes more that way. Oh man, so delicious! I will have to go back and get more because dehydrated strawberries are unbelievable. We plan on trying out dehydrating more produce, too over the next 2 or so months.
We’ve also been Freezing produce – ok, not low tech but we do have an energy star freezer and I like my frozen, organic fruits in the winter so this is a large and important step for us to do during the height of cheap produce season. I’ve been freezing mangos, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, etc. I will freeze some organic corn when it becomes less expensive and other veggies, too. We wash and vacuum seal pretty much everything we store in the freezer. We’ve experimented with juicing some fruits and greens and freezing them right away, too. It’s not as good as fresh juice but may be pretty good still – we’ll see in a few months.
We purchased 10 pounds of local, organic snap peas and 10 pounds of local, organic green beans and we 3 literally ate several pounds of each fresh already this week and have tried out different methods of preserving the rest. We have dehydrated a small amount, froze some (we soaked in hot water but did not blanch and will see if they will be ok in the winter. If not, we will blanch then). We also have lactofermented some of the beans.
Lactofermenting is how you make real sauerkraut and pickles and any other kind of pickled produce or Kimchi but without heat or vinegar. All you add is sea salt, good water and the vegetable then let nature do it’s thing. Once fermented, you then add in other seasonings if you like. We have glass bowls all over with plates fitted on top and a weight on that with either beans or assorted greens from the garden lactofermenting right now. The beans are at the fizzy and fermenting stage and we just transfered them into glass jars. They need a bit more time to sour.
This is a super cheap and easy method to do and very healthy for you. The good bacteria is in there, you are eating probiotics which help your digestion and immune system stay healthy and strong. Vitamins, minerals, fiber and live enzymes all are in there and it’s very tasty and a living food, too. Some Kimchi contains a natural antibiotic to e-coli so that would be good to consume with meat if you eat that. Sauerkraut is one of my favorites and once the cabbage harvest comes in, I will be lactofermenting like crazy! We have some beets to process and we are going to try out lactofermenting some of them, too. This could possibly become a new addiction for us!
There are lots of resources on the web and in books for more info but a really good blog to read for lots of detailed info on all things food preservation is Casaubon’s Book. Sharon is really very talented in explaining all that you would ever need to know on this subject whether you are a suburban gardener or have a small scale farm. She also talks about Peak Oil and all that entails, too.
We also have recently purchased bulk dry goods from the coop for our food storage. I always like to have dry goods on hand for some reason – it gives me a sense of security, I guess plus it’s the most economical way to buy it, really. This year, we purchased several items that can be either sprouted to eat in recipes for my way of eating or cooked for my husband and son to eat. At Leif’s camp, they have been preparing both quinoa and millet for snack time so he has gotten used to eating those two grains which he has been refusing to eat here at home. Now he will let me make them for him so we will buy more quinoa this fall and have already bought millet, buckwheat groats (my favorite for raw recipes), black oil sunflower seeds for sprouting & eating the greens, assorted beans, popcorn, some brown rice and some whole wheat & rye flours – we store both flour and brown rice in the freezer.
Quinoa is technically a seed and can be eaten sprouted or cooked. Buckwheat groats, too and millet can be sprouted or cooked as well. All are considered non-allergenic, too. All healthy, versatile foods and organic, mostly locally grown and pretty cheap! We vacuum sealed everything in smaller 1-2 pound packages and store all of it in bins in our root cellar closet. We do always rotate through what we store over time and many of these dry foods when properly taken care of can be stored for years without going bad.
We feel that with the rising cost of gas and food (and availability), it’s better for us to put in the effort and stock up now with replenishing our dried food stores. The glut of fresh produce takes effort to preserve but when winter rolls around, I am always happy to eat something preserved from our garden or the market at the peak of flavor and obtained at the cheapest possible price. And no, I don’t have to do it, I can live like most of America and not put up any food, ever. It just feels like the right thing to do since I live in a colder climate, there are weird climate changes happening affecting the food supply everywhere you look and gas is only going to keep increasing so less driving to the store for us. I think this is a knowledge that needs to be taught and passed down because everyone’s health and finances could improve by doing this every year. These type of vegan foods are healthy for most people to eat at least several times a week and they save you money and time if you do it right.
Michael and I have been doing this for as long as we’ve been married (except the lactofermenting – we failed at that sev’l years ago and haven’t bothered to try again til now). It only takes some focused effort in the summer and fall, you can even do little bits each night like what we have been doing all week that will supply us for months in the winter.
Next, we are on to conquering the cucumbers coming in!
As I have mentioned in other posts, we like to eat some of the wild greens (weeds) growing in our garden. Lamb’s Quarters is also known as wild spinach and very tasty and nutritious. We eat it in salad, sandwiches and it goes really well in pesto. We also eat young Dandelion leaves in our salad as well as Purslane leaves. Those have a lemony taste. There are other wild volunteers we don’t eat but they too have lots of nutrients and you can make medicinal teas out of them for different ailments. If they are growing in our rich, organic soil and are good for our bodies, why not eat them?
We were really excited to see garlic scapes last week at our farmer’s market. Scapes are the tops that grow from hard neck garlic. We love these and they are only available for a short time in June around here. They are like a delicacy. Since the scapes were available, we have been making batches of raw pesto using the scapes and putting it on raw spaghetti noodles or spreading it on some flax crackers and topping it with tomato.
I make so many different sauces for raw spaghetti, it’s so easy and quick for me when I don’t have much time. You can use zucchini, summer squash, jerusalem artichokes, etc. as the noodles. To make the spaghetti, you can use a knife to cut it down into thin strands but that is very time consuming and tedious! I have 2 different tools I purchased this past year to make different kinds of noodles. The first one is called a “saladacco” spiralizer and it makes angel-hair pasta and also there is another setting on it for making very thin circle cuts like for ravioli cases or potato chips. The other tool is called a “mandoline” and is another type of veggie slicer that has 3 different, changeable stainless steel blades for different sized noodles as well as the big slice opening (no blade inserts) to make big slices like for lasagna noodles. I like both and found the mandoline at my local Asian market and it’s pretty inexpensive – around $20. They are quite handy tools for the raw kitchen.
This has been one of my favorite raw recipes because you can make it in under 10 minutes for everything and I love pesto on so many things and you cannot even tell there is no cheese in here. Here is my version of of raw spaghetti with basil-wild spinach pesto:
Spaghetti:
Make noodles out of 2 zucchini (feeds 3-4 people)
Basil-Wild Spinach Pesto:
2 cups basil, packed
2 cups wild spinach, packed
6 garlic scapes (or 2 big cloves), diced
2 large handfuls raw walnuts (already soaked and dehydrated – about 2/3 cup)
large handful pine nuts (about 1/3-1/2 cup)
1/2 -1 tsp. Celtic sea salt or Himalayan crystal salt
1/4 cup e.v. olive oil
1T lemon juice
diced tomatoes
Process basil and wild spinach first then add everything else and process all ingredients until smooth. Mix pesto with the noodles and sprinkle with diced tomatoes on top. Enjoy!
(You can use your food processor or a high speed blender to make pesto).
Well you don’t have to twist my arm to get me to give my two cents to the USDA on what needs to change for the school lunch program! I am really hoping that many people will take action and give their comments to the USDA to help all of our children receive better nutrition and more whole, unprocessed foods in every school across America.
Zucchini Hummus
So here are a few simple but tasty treats for the kiddos:
The other snack my son Leif is loving is actually going into the garden and picking his own cucumber or greens, etc and we bring it inside and I wash and cut it up and he’s so happy to eat the food he’s watched grow. He will eat large amounts, too. He’s ecstatic that his little yellow pear tomatoes that he planted the seeds in a container himself in May and watered (a lot!) all summer are now bearing fruit and so are the cherry tomatoes growing right next to them. He goes and looks everyday and sees if they are yellow enough and when they are he picks it and pops it into his mouth. He does the same with the red ones, too. I think it’s the cutest thing ever, of course! He’s really into living foods and likes having them around him, just like his parents. The garden is one fascinating place to him.
I’ve been dehydrating herbs especially culinary ones like rosemary, mint, parsley, basil, dill, etc in it at a low temp and then crush and store it in little glass bottles for seasoning especially for this winter. I will continue to do this as the harvest progresses because it’s so damn easy and quick and I get a superior product to what I can get at the store – it’s still technically raw and organically grown, afterall – not to mention cost savings! I usually hang dry my herbs but wanted to try it out on the spiffy machine this time.
We’ve also been Freezing produce – ok, not low tech but we do have an energy star freezer and I like my frozen, organic fruits in the winter so this is a large and important step for us to do during the height of cheap produce season. I’ve been freezing mangos, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, etc. I will freeze some organic corn when it becomes less expensive and other veggies, too. We wash and vacuum seal pretty much everything we store in the freezer. We’ve experimented with juicing some fruits and greens and freezing them right away, too. It’s not as good as fresh juice but may be pretty good still – we’ll see in a few months.
Lactofermenting is how you make real sauerkraut and pickles and any other kind of pickled produce or Kimchi but without heat or vinegar. All you add is sea salt, good water and the vegetable then let nature do it’s thing. Once fermented, you then add in other seasonings if you like. We have glass bowls all over with plates fitted on top and a weight on that with either beans or assorted greens from the garden lactofermenting right now. The beans are at the fizzy and fermenting stage and we just transfered them into glass jars. They need a bit more time to sour.
We also have recently purchased bulk dry goods from the coop for our food storage. I always like to have dry goods on hand for some reason – it gives me a sense of security, I guess plus it’s the most economical way to buy it, really. This year, we purchased several items that can be either sprouted to eat in recipes for my way of eating or cooked for my husband and son to eat. At Leif’s camp, they have been preparing both quinoa and millet for snack time so he has gotten used to eating those two grains which he has been refusing to eat here at home. Now he will let me make them for him so we will buy more quinoa this fall and have already bought millet, buckwheat groats (my favorite for raw recipes), black oil sunflower seeds for sprouting & eating the greens, assorted beans, popcorn, some brown rice and some whole wheat & rye flours – we store both flour and brown rice in the freezer.
As I have mentioned in other posts, we like to eat some of the wild greens (weeds) growing in our garden. Lamb’s Quarters is also known as wild spinach and very tasty and nutritious. We eat it in salad, sandwiches and it goes really well in pesto. We also eat young Dandelion leaves in our salad as well as Purslane leaves. Those have a lemony taste. There are other wild volunteers we don’t eat but they too have lots of nutrients and you can make medicinal teas out of them for different ailments. If they are growing in our rich, organic soil and are good for our bodies, why not eat them?
from hard neck garlic. We love these and they are only available for a short time in June around here. They are like a delicacy. Since the scapes were available, we have been making batches of raw pesto using the scapes and putting it on raw spaghetti noodles or spreading it on some flax crackers and topping it with tomato.
