Category Archives: food

food

The tragedy of healthy eating! (Funny)

20130324-181756.jpg

http://www.nwedible.com/2012/08/tragedy-healthy-eater.html

Soon you learn that even vegetables are trying to kill you. Many are completely out unless they are pre-fermented with live cultures in a specialized $79 imported pickling crock. Legumes and nightshades absolutely cause problems. Even fermentation can’t make those healthy.
Goodbye, tomatoes. Goodbye green beans. Goodbye all that makes summer food good. Hey, it’s hard but you have to eliminate these toxins and anti-nutrients. You probably have a sensitivity. Actually, you almost positively have a sensitivity. Restaurants and friends who want to grab lunch with you will just have to deal.

Kombacha experiment failure

Ok, so it was a failure… Or rather I got tired and bored with the experiment and stopped.
I’m treating the fermented sweet tea as wine and I racked it (poured it into a new container leaving the yeast at the bottom) and put it in the fridge so that any residual yeast would cool and go to the bottom of the new jar…..
I’ve now brewed some new sweat tea to sweeten the new wine…
Taste test tmw…..

20130224-192004.jpg

The ugly truth about vegetable oils

http://thankyourbody.com/vegetable-oils/
👆Click above link to read entire post

Excerpt:

When it comes to any food, keep in mind that where it comes from and how you store it can matter greatly. Traditional oils should be cold-pressed. Organic when possible (especially when dealing with animal fats as the fat is where toxins/pesticides are stored). Do the best you can, and don’t get overwhelmed by all the choices.

Coconut Oil (Use expeller-pressed to avoid a coconut flavor)
Tallow
Lard
Butter
Palm Oil (Although, please find from a sustainable source as so much palm oil today is being harvested in horrific ways. When in doubt just stick with coconut oil.)
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil (Great for non-heat dishes like salad dressings, humus, mayo, etc. Can be used in cooking at lower temperatures or when combined with another saturated fat like butter or coconut oil.)
Avocado Oil (Great for non-heat dishes)
Other fats (not necessarily for cooking, but essential to good health) include meats, eggs, dairy, and fish (nuts are also good in moderation as they have a high level of polyunsaturated fats).
Looking for quality fats and oils? You can find them here.

The following oils are okay in moderations. Most contain high levels of Omega-6 fatty acids, so they shouldn’t be consumed freely. But they are considered natural fats, and do have health benefits. They are not great for high heat cooking, but acceptable in dressings, mayos, and other non-heat foods.

Walnut Oil
Flaxseed Oil
Macadamia Nut Oil

Here’s the big list I avoid as much as possible:

Canola Oil
Corn Oil
Soybean Oil
“Vegetable” oil
Peanut Oil
Sunflower Oil
Safflower Oil
Cottonseed Oil
Grapeseed Oil
Margarine
Shortening
Any fake butter substitutes
Simply skipping these oils in the grocery story isn’t too hard. But keep in mind that most processed foods contain these oils, too. Salad dressing, condiments, crackers, chips… check your ingredients. Don’t buy them. In fact, just skip processed foods and you’ll save yourself a lot of trouble.

——-
http://www.realfoodwholehealth.com/2011/01/why-vegetable-oils-are-dangerous-to-your-health/

http://www.truthaboutabs.com/unhealthy-vs-healthy-cooking-oils.html

http://www.tudiabetes.org/m/discussion?id=583967%3ATopic%3A422274

Experiment kombacha 1/2 day

Ok so using raw honey, Pasteur red wine yeast and tea…
1/2 day of fermentation
Film on top

20130212-195844.jpg……

I read that using raw honey or yeast with a scoby could ruin the scoby because it would throw off the balance between the bacteria/yeast symbiosis… However, I have a hypothesis… I wondered if I could make my own scoby, using raw honey for the good bacteria supply and wine yeast for the yeast supply…… Hmmmmm

However, if you want to know the proper way here is a good website
http://www.holisticsquid.com/how-to-make-kombucha-a-visual-guide/

Oh and I’ve never even tried kumbacha…

Experiment kombucha part 1

Kombucha

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombucha

Kombucha is an effervescent fermentation of sweetened tea that is used as a functional food.

Sometimes referred to as a “mushroom” or “mother”, the kombucha culture is actually a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY).

…….

Ok, I don’t have a scoby but I do have tea, raw honey and wine yeast….
Since a scoby is a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast I figure I can experiment using raw honey (source of bacteria) and wine yeast (source of yeast) (I will be using Pasteur red active dry wine yeast)

Do I think this will work? No! But experiments are fun

20130212-113144.jpg

20130212-113201.jpg

20130212-113224.jpg

2 individual tea bags
3 tablespoons raw honey
3 cups of hot tap water (run through keurig)

Let cool to warm

Added 1/4 tsp yeast

(Separated out some liquid to mix with the yeast… Too hot kills yeast)
(Crap- I forgot to let the main mixture cool more before adding my yeast mixture- double crap!!!) (I may have killed my yeast…. Won’t know until later)

Wait and see…….

20130212-115132.jpg

20130212-115136.jpg

My improvised airlock that I use when making wine/hard cider
Basically a baggie over the mouth of the jar tied loosely to prevent dust, bugs and other yuckies from getting in but allowing for fermentation.

…..
Again I don’t think this will work but hey it’s worth a try…..

I think at best it with make sweet tea wine
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f6/possible-advisable-make-wine-sweet-tea-6712/
——

Fermenting 1/2 day

20130212-195655.jpg

Monteagle winery

20130118-092306.jpg

Yum! After being in the vicinity for a yr and a half I finally made it out to Monteagle Winery in TN. It’s off the highway. It’s a good sized nice looking building but looks “empty”
However, if a car is parked outside it is “open” and should usually be open until 5pm
The proprietress does offer wine tastings.

I tried the
Chobel (spelling) a little dry but clean and crisp
The Strawberry wine- tastes like fresh picked strawberries. Slightly dry, clean finish
The Peach- yummy- sweet and clean
The Blackberry wine- literally tastes like blackberries. Tart and not very sweet

I tried the magnolia muscadine wine- smooth, sort of vanilla-like

I tried the mistletoe cranberry wine- very nice. Tastes strongly of cranberries and spices.

Also tried sunset blush and Midnight lace. I don’t remember what they tasted like but I bought them do they were probably not dry, slightly sweet, and clean tasting.

I was really impressed with Monteagle Winery Wines and I kick myself for buying liquor store wines when such great wines were right next door.

Prices per bottle ranged from $14-$21

I have no affiliation or even friendships with this winery.

http://www.monteaglewinery.com/

20130118-085301.jpg

20130118-085304.jpg

20130118-085307.jpg

I bought the peach, the cranberry, sunset blush and midnight lace.

oh this looks delicious. carrot soup with crisped garbanzo beans/chickpeas

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2013/01/carrot-soup-with-tahini-and-crisped-chickpeas/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+smittenkitchen+%28smitten+kitchen%29

 

just click on the link. it look “oh my goodness tasty”

too bad my hubby is a picky eater so I can’t make things like this for dinner and my kids don’t do soups…. although they do like garbanzo beans….

Attempting undistilled “brandy”

Remember, earlier this week I posted a link http://thehipflask.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/homemade-peach-brandy/ about how to make peach/apple brandy…
So I’m trying it out.
One jar is apples, mandarin oranges and sugar
Another is mandarin oranges, peeled lemon and sugar

(Not brandy)And finally the last one is canned fruit “tropical medley with papyua, pineapple and mango” and a “tin of peaches” mixed with sugar and vodka…. (Update: when mixed with vodka already- only takes about 2 weeks)

Should be fun….6 months from now….

2 months in:

20130205-080825.jpg

20130205-080829.jpg

20130205-080833.jpg

20130205-080837.jpg

The brown dots are vanilla bean particles from my homemade vanilla

Rivata casa rossa wine and then rum chata

Rivata casa rossa is very sweet fruity red wine heavy with cherry and other berry flavors.
I liked it but then I like fruity wines.

Seems like I can only get it from Total Wines and they don’t ship to my state… 😖

20121117-201401.jpg

And then I’ve also had rum chata.
Yum
Basically, it is Horchata (a Mexican rice drink) with rum… It is creamy and has a warm smooth sweet flavor
Love it!

20121117-201542.jpg

Sangria pineapple, rum, amaretto

I have not tried this but it sounds delicious!! And deliciously intoxicating!!!

http://corkscrewsandcurls.com/2011/06/24/red-wine-pineapple-sangria/

——……..
🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍹🍹🍹🍹🍹🍹
On a side note I’ve been experimenting making hard cider aka wine….
Using about a 1/4 tsp of champagne yeast and a bottle of juicy juice cherry, add a little bit of sugar, mix well, leave room at top for fermentation put saran-wrap and a loose tie around the top of bottle, put in dark area until all test falls to bottom about a week or so.
Rebottle (rack) the cider into a clean wine bottle or several bottles, (don’t pour the yeasty remains) I add more juice or a sweet wine to sweeten, loosely cover place in fridge, after a day or two tighten lid. Leave in fridge.