Share

Pin It

This time of year, many are looking for treats made from real, whole foods. Thus, I give you our homemade hot chocolate.

This winter, Haniya’s been making this just about every day. There’s no turning down the steaming cups she hands out!

She uses the scant amount of honey because our Jersey milk is already sweet. I have her add the coffee sub to make the chocolate pop. (You’ve probably seen it in my chocolate sourdough cake and the chocolate mousse cake.)

Real Food Hot Cocoa

• 6 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• scant 1/3 cup honey or maple syrup
• 1 tablespoons vanilla extract
• pinch of sea salt
• *1/4 cup instant coffee substitute (Dandy Blend, Caffix, Pero, Roma, etc.) — optional

*Not grain-free.

Whisk all together over medium heat. Stir continuously until warmed to desired temperature. Top with whipped cream or a dusting of cocoa powder. Enjoy!

I hope you’re having a blessed week.

Share

Pin It

Nourishing Traditions reports that beet kvass is an “excellent blood tonic, promotes regularity, aids digestion, alkalizes the blood, cleanses the liver and is a good treatment for kidney stones and other ailments.” Good stuff! And I can vouch for some of those health benefits being practically instant.

Does it taste good, though? That depends on who you ask. My children aren’t thrilled. Yet. But I am loving it! Each morning, my husband and I have a little shot of it.

I am sharing my kvass recipe today for the person who asked me about it at a past webinar. Hopefully you’ll see this! I’ll demonstrate this on video in lesson 11 of the Lacto-Fermentation eCourse, along with Kombucha.

How To Make Beet Kvass

This beverage/health tonic is lacto-fermented. Beneficial bacteria called lactobacilli consume the beet sugars, producing beneficial lactic acid, increasing vitamins and enzymes, and multiplying throughout the beverage for probiotic benefits.

The main differences between my recipe and the recipe in Nourishing Traditions are: 1) I use less salt in the first batch; 2) I add salt in the second batch; and 3) I get a second batch going immediately instead of waiting for the first to get consumed.

• 3 medium (about 3″ to 4″ diameter) beets, peeled and chopped into 3/4″ to 1″ wide pieces*
• 1-1/2 tablespoons sea salt (first batch), plus scant 1 tablespoon (second batch)
• 1/4 cup whey (what this is and how to get it — also includes dairy-free substitutes)
• filtered or good water (not city water)

Makes 1 quart+.

*It is important not to cut or shred the beets too small, points out Nourishing Traditions. Otherwise, the released beet juice is likely to create alcohol rather than lactic acid.

1st batch. Put beets, 1-1/2 tablespoons sea salt and whey in 1/2 gallon mason jar or fermenting vessel (here and here). Add water to fill to within 1″ of the top of the container. Cover tightly. Let ferment at room temperature for 2 days. Leaving the beets behind, pour all but about 10% (just eyeball it) of the finished kvass into a glass jar and transfer to the refrigerator. That is what you’ll drink, a few ounces at a time, daily or twice daily.

2nd batch. The remaining 10% of kvass is the “starter” to get the next batch going. (So you don’t need whey this time around.) To the same 1/2 gallon fermenting container, add 1 tablespoon sea salt and fill with water to within 1″ of the top of the container. Cover tightly. Let ferment at room temperature for 2 days. Pour all the fnished kvass into a glass jar and transfer to the refrigerator. Send the beets off to the compost…

3rd batch? It is possible to get a third batch of kvass out of the same beets, though it will be weaker. If you want to do this, don’t compost the beets yet, while saving back 10% of the kvass from batch #2. Start a third batch in the same way as the second.

So… who else is a kvass fan? If not yet, are you willing to give this a try? If you make kvass already, do you have any tips for kicking it up? Not interested in lacto-fermenting beets? Try roasting them — click here for a video tutorial.

Don’t forget! Monday at 1pm Pacific is the Sourdough: Common Problems Solved! webinar. Registration is still open. This webinar is first-come, first-served. If it is full when you arrive, don’t worry — you’ll get a replay link via email. To ensure yourself a seat, come a little early. If you know you can’t attend live, register anyway so you can watch the replay. I’m looking forward to it — I’ll see you then.

This post is shared in Simple Lives Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday and Fight Back Friday.

Yesterday began the beverages course of the Whole Foods for the Holidays Real Food Progressive Dinner, hosted by Michele at Frugal Granola. Michele’s contribution is a lovely Russian tea!

(I got a little busy and didn’t participate in the desserts or side dishes courses — be sure to check those out, too!)

Here are our favorite holiday beverages. Okay, anytime beverages.

What holiday gathering or evening isn’t complete with eggnog? This is best with more cream, not less. Now that our Jersey is in milk (she gave birth last week) and our ducks began laying eggs, you can bet that we will be enjoying eggnog more than a few times in the coming weeks!

Chai tea. Nothing better! Lately, I’ve been making it with vanilla rooibos tea (from Mountain Rose Herbs) for a decaf beverage. Did you see these chai tea gift mixes we made last year? Not too late if you’re still looking for gift ideas!

And finally, here’s a dairy-free, honey sweetened hot cocoa (which doesn’t have to be dairy-free if you use raw milk). We love it with a little mint extract… mmmm.

What are your favorite holiday beverages? Be sure to visit the beverages course at Frugal Granola to see more real food beverages, or link up your own recipes. Have a blessed day, everyone!

And one more thing: please vote for Real Food! Take about 30 seconds to vote for Diana @ A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa, in FoodBuzz’ Project Food Blog. After 9 rounds of incredible posts, she’s one of 12 bloggers left, and only 3 will advance to the final round. With her sweet spirit, advocacy for small and local food, and traditional and healthy cooking, she deserves to win! You can use your Facebook account to vote if you don’t have a FoodBuzz account. Vote here or read more about her place in the challenge. Thanks!

Share

Pin It

Iced teeccinos… something we’ve been having alot lately. I can’t figure out if the cold teeccino is the perfect vehicle for the raw milk or the other way around. In any case, we love them both, and they’re really great together.

Teeccino is a coffee alternative made from roasted grains, roots, nuts and seeds. My favorite flavors are hazelnut and chocolate mint. Chocolate mint is fantastic iced with creamy milk.

There are two ways to make an iced teeccino — the foamy way (pictured) and the not-so-foamy way. Take your pick; they’re both delicious.

Both ways start out with cold teeccino. I make a double strength pot of teeccino in my 12-cup Bodum French Press. After the teeccino is done steeping, I pour it out into a glass pitcher full of ice. The ice cools the coffee significantly, and then I pop the whole pitcher into the fridge for a few hours to chill all the way. It is still a little strong, which is good.

This drink is sweetened with the lactose in the milk. I also add green leaf stevia for a bit more sweet. I am finding that I like stevia when it is in the presence of milk or cinnamon; no after-taste.

The Foamy Iced Teeccino

Combine 3 cups cold teeccino with 3 cups of cold raw milk in a large blender container. Add a tray of ice cubes and 1/4 teaspoon of green leaf stevia. Cover and blend on high until ice is all chopped up. Pour into glasses and sprinkle with cocoa powder.

I use the VitaMix; if your blender is smaller, halve the quantities. I use equal quantities of teeccino and milk. Shift the amounts either way to suit your tastes.

The Not-So-Foamy Iced Teeccino

Combine equal parts cold raw milk and cold teeccino in a glass, along with ice cubes (if desired). Sprinkle some green leaf stevia and cocoa powder on top. Stir as best you can; it won’t stir in all the way.

The nice thing about this method is that even though the stevia doesn’t mix in, you get a little bit with every sip. Once again, I used equal parts teeccino and milk. Shift the amounts to suit yourself.

I’m sharing this post in Tuesday Twister (here gnowfglins!) and Two for Tuesdays. I’ll also be sharing it in tomorrow’s round up of probiotic rich snack ideas. Raw milk is a great source of beneficial organisms. Please be thinking about what probiotic snack ideas you can share tomorrow! See you then.

Share

Pin It

Next week in the Fundamentals eCourse, we turn to making dairy kefir. This is one of my favorite real foods, hands down. You probably know that because I talk about it all the time.

I have a plethora of grains; I’ve been raising them up to share with eCourse members. However, I couldn’t raise enough because the eCourse is quite full.

But back to those dairy kefir grains. I asked Julie at Cultures for Health how to dehydrate them, because I figured they’d ship much more easily if they weren’t wet. She gave me very simple instructions, and that’s the point of my post today.

Why Dehydrate Kefir Grains?

You might wonder why’d you want to dehydrate water kefir grains. For one, if you want to ship them. But two, and much more personally practical, you should dehydrate grains as backup cultures for the future. Perhaps your raw milk source dries up and you need to save grains for when milk is in season again.

I’ve read that grains don’t all revive (one source said 40% viability), so it is a good idea to put back several kefir grains. Dehydrating is not the only way to put back grains, though. You can keep grains in the refrigerator in a small amount of milk that you change weekly, or you can freeze grains as-is (wet). Finally, and the topic of this post, you can dehydrate them.

How To Dehydrate Kefir Grains

Rinse the grains thoroughly with good water: well water or mineral-rich spring water. Don’t use chlorinated city water. Water from a filter is okay, even though it strips out minerals; as minerals are not so much of a concern for making the grains dormant. Lay out to drip off on a clean towel or paper towel.

Lay the grains on a piece of unbleached parchment paper, cover with a loose paper towel (to keep dust off), and dry at room temperature until they are hard and yellowish. Or use an Excalibur dehydrator at the lowest temperature. The ParaFlexx sheets will work, too. I chose to use parchment paper because I knew it was sterile. Turn the dial to where it barely turns on. According to Julie, this is the perfect temperature.

Drying time will be 3 to 5 days for the largest grains; smaller grains will be done sooner. Store in cool storage, the refrigerator, or freezer when dry.

They look much smaller now, don’t they? Yellowish — no, quite yellow! — and all shriveled up. Tomorrow, many of them will be off to eCourse members.

Wondering if kefir is for you? Have you seen my 7 Yummy Ways to Eat Kefir? I can almost guarantee you’d like some or at least one of those uses!

How do you save your cultures for the future, whether dairy kefir, water kefir, Kombucha, sourdough, whey, or other?

I’m sharing this post in Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

We love water kefir! I can see why people call it a natural soda. But it is better than soda! Not only does it give you all sorts of probiotic goodness, it is not as sweet and doesn’t leave you with a sickly sweet upset stomach. With proper care, the water kefir grains can probably last longer than you, making this a frugal – not to mention healthy – way to break a soda habit!

See also: What’s So Great About Water Kefir?

I have done a little experimenting with flavors, but I could use some more ideas. My family likes the plain water kefir best, with just a bit of vanilla added. I enjoy the lemon/ginger best.

Rehydrating the Grains

Unless someone shares grains with you, you’ll have to purchase water kefir grains. They arrive dehydrated (see Resources for sources). Rehydrate according to the package directions. It takes 3 to 5 days in sweet water to rehydrate them and get them going again. The package from my source gives enough grains to make around 3/4 gallon of water kefir at a time.

First Fermentation

After the grains are rehydrated, mix 3/4 gallon of water with 3/4 cups of sweetener in a gallon jar. The less refined the sweetener, the better – the water kefir grains love minerals!

For more information on water, sweeteners, and minerals, see also: What’s So Great About Water Kefir?

If using a dry sweetener (such as Rapadura – raw, unrefined sugar), it must be dissolved in hot water first. Bring the 3/4 cup Rapadura and 2 cups of water to a boil to dissolve the Rapadura. Let it cool a bit, then add 10 more cups of cold water to lower its temp. It should be comfortable to the touch, not hot at all, when using it with the water kefir grains. Add it to the jar.

Add a half (rinsed) pastured egg shell to the jar. Thank you Cheeseslave for this tip; my grains love those egg shells! Put the grains in the jar – either loose or in a little muslin fabric bag (see Resources for sources). Swirl it all around gently. Cover the jar with a paper towel or cloth napkin and secure it to the jar lip with a rubber band. Let it sit for 3 to 5 days until desired sweetness is left – the longer you go, the less sweet. It may or may not be bubbly.

Pour off the water kefir liquid into another gallon size jar or two half gallon jars. If not following the forthcoming directions for adding flavor during a second fermentation, add 1-1/2 tablespoons of vanilla per 3/4 gallon of water kefir to make a simple cream soda. Refrigerate and drink as is. Use the grains to start a new batch of water kefir.

Second Fermentation

(The grains should be removed by this time.) Add fresh or dried fruit, or fruit juices to the jar. (See next for flavor ideas.) This second ferment should be done without air. Add a new half of a rinsed (pastured) egg shell. Cover the jar opening with plastic wrap and then the jar lid. Leave out at room temperature for 1 to 3 days. When you’re happy with the flavor, strain the liquid free from any bits of fruit and the egg shell. Refrigerate the soda or bottle it. I’ve never bottled it. I just put it in the fridge in a lidded pitcher and we drink it up quickly! The water kefir tends to get more bubbly during this stage. But, as I said before, it may or may not get bubbly.

Flavor Ideas

• 1/2 cup raisins plus 1-1/2 tablespoons of vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped, pitted dates plus 1-1/2 tablespoons of vanilla
• 1/2 cup dried fig pieces plus 1-1/2 tablespoons of vanilla
• 1 cup organic grape juice
• 2 to 4 tablespoons grated fresh ginger, plus 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, plus a splash of vanilla
• dried peach slices (a friend’s idea and I can’t remember how many she used – maybe 6?), plus splash of vanilla

So that’s my simple process for making water kefir, and some ideas for flavors. Now it is your turn. How do you flavor your water kefir? Do you make it differently? Is there some flavor combination you’d like to see?

See also: What’s So Great About Water Kefir?

This post is part of the Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet.

Using small treasures from thrift stores as containers, ribbons, whole spices, and loose tea, my children and I created Chai Tea gift mixes for our Christmas gifts. Last week my friend Cheryl inspired me to start making Chai tea, and that’s when I figured out what we’d give as gifts this year. Praise the Lord for friends and their ideas!

Besides gathering the loose tea and spices (which I ordered from Mountain Rose Herbs), I needed containers. My kids and I hit a few thrift stores looking for them. It was really fun to shop with them and see what containers caught their eye. They quickly learned that I was not looking for any typical Christmas cutesy containers. In fact, I think we picked only one “Christmas” container – it was a square glass votive holder with an embossed Christmas tree on each side.  Other than that we picked eclectic tins, boxes, small tea cups, and votive holders. I paid $1.75 for one of them – because it was an antique tea cup from England, but most of them were around 50 cents each. Anyway, that was fun. There are many options for containers for these gift mixes; don’t be afraid to think out of the box!

I’ll list the ingredients and their amounts – enough to make one batch of Chai Tea. You’ll have to double it, triple it, quadruple it, etc. depending on the size of your container. Most of my containers required triple or quadruple batches to fill them up. A triple batch makes a little over 1/2 cup of mix; a quadruple batch makes about 3/4 cup of mix. I advise that you create the gift mixes one at a time to ensure that each gift gets its true share of all the whole spices. Also note that the liquids (water, milk and honey), vanilla, fresh ginger, and nutmeg have been omitted from this gift mix; the recipient will add those when s/he is making the tea.

Please choose organic spices and tea. This is a great task to share with children – they love to count and measure out all the ingredients. Over. And over. And over. What’s tedious to us is fun for them!

• 2 tablespoons loose black tea (Assam Breakfast, Ceylon, or English Breakfast)
• 6 cardamom pods
• 6 peppercorns (white or black or combination)
• 12 whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon anise seeds (can substitute fennel)
• 1 rounded teaspoon cinnamon bark (or 1 cinnamon stick)

Crush the cardamom pods and peppercorns. Then mix all the spices and tea leaves together and place in a plastic bag. Place that in the gift container and twist-tie it closed. Roll the twist-tie up on itself. Cover the twist-tie with a ribbon. Tie it with a bow or square knot (right over left, left over right…).

Print or hand-write a label (see below). Hole punch the corner. Use thread or a tiny ribbon to attach it to the bag of Chai Tea mix. Deliver!

Another gift mix to create is to make this Homemade Herb Seasoning Salt and put it in a salt shaker with a ribbon around it. Do you have any handmade gift plans this year? What have you made in the past? Please share!

I’m sharing this in the special Handmade Gift Carnival @ The Nourishing Gourmet – visit to see more handmade gift ideas!

Today, I’m hosting the Gallery of Thanksgiving Sides, where I and gnowfglins readers share real food Thanksgiving side dishes. If you want to add a real food Thanksgiving side dish, let me know in the comments of the Gallery post. But no matter what, be sure to hop over there to see what else has been submitted!

Homemade chai tea… friends served it to us once and ever since, I’ve wanted to make it myself. Then my friend Cheryl mentioned last week that she’d been making it in the evenings. That was enough inspiration to get me going. I looked around the internet last week and collected recipes that I thought looked traditional in their use of whole spices and quality black tea. I asked on Facebook and twitter for ideas and friends (like Shila) shared their favorite recipes.

I don’t claim to be an expert on chai – well, only on enjoying it! What I did to make this recipe was take what I thought was best about each recipe and put it together. That translates as: using almost every spice I saw mentioned, besides the “usual” cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. I ordered all my whole spices and black tea from Mountain Rose Herbs. The order arrived in record time and every item is wonderful – high quality, organic, and fragrant.

My friend Cheryl uses Assam Breakfast tea as the black tea base. I made some Chai with that, but I also tried a few batches with Ceylon. They’re both wonderfully tasty!

Makes 6 1-cup servings

Please choose organic ingredients. Also, see how I created Chai Tea Gift Mixes for Christmas!

• 2 rounded tablespoons black tea (such as Assam Breakfast, Ceylon, or English Breakfast)*
• 2 cups clean water
• 4 cups raw whole milk
• 6 cardamom pods
• 6 peppercorns (I used 3 white and 3 black)
• 12 whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon anise seeds (can substitute fennel)
• 1 rounded teaspoon cinnamon bark (or 1 cinnamon stick)
• 1″ piece of vanilla bean, sliced open
• 1/2″ to 3/4″ chunk of ginger, peeled and cut into smaller pieces
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup raw honey (I use 1/3 cup)
• dash of nutmeg (optional)

If you desire it, decaffeinate the black tea leaves.* Set aside.

Put water in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat.

Meanwhile, combine cardamom, peppercorns, cloves, anise seeds, and cinnamon bark in mortar and pestle and crush until peppercorns are cracked and cardamom pods are opened to reveal the seeds.

Add tea leaves, crushed spices, ginger, and vanilla bean to the pot. (It doesn’t have to be simmering when you add these.)

Maintain a simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, or longer, to your desired strength. Strain. Add the milk and honey to the tea water and stir well. Bring to desired drinking temperature, then take off the heat.

Pour tea into each tea cup, then sprinkle with nutmeg (if desired).

*You may be concerned, as I am, about children drinking this tea due to the caffeine. Well, I have the answer! It is really easy to decaffeinate your own tea leaves. I found this information in the Fall 2009 issue of the Weston A Price Foundation’s quarterly journal, Wise Traditions. John Moody shared how to accomplish this in an article about continuous brew Kombucha. You simply steep your tea leaves in water just off the boil for three minutes. Then discard the water and use the tea leaves in your tea. At this point, they’ll be 40% to 70% less caffeinated but still flavorful.

See how I created Chai Tea Gift Mixes for Christmas! Also, tomorrow I’m hosting the Gallery of Thanksgiving Sides, where I and gnowfglins readers share real food Thanksgiving side dishes. Please consider sharing in it – otherwise, look forward to being inspired!

There are a million and one recipes on the internet for eggnog, so believe me when I say that I’m under no illusions that what I share here is going to revolutionize the eggnog industry. It has, however, revolutionized my family! After one little taste, they are hooked.

I let the kids taste the leftovers in the Vita-Mix while I was taking pictures, but they had to wait for the rest. I know they’re going to ask for this every day. I suppose that will be possible when we have our own chickens and therefore, more eggs to go round.

(Speaking of pictures, Haniya helped me taking them – and the one that made it to this post is hers. I’m so thankful for her eye!)

I first got the idea to make eggnog from Annette at Sustainable Eats, who said to follow the Nourishing Traditions recipe for vanilla ice cream, but omit the arrowroot. Then I looked on the internet for raw eggnog recipes. Except for the recipes that call for beating egg whites and incorporating their fluff (too much trouble and raw egg whites are not good for you), or the recipes that call for liquor, I think most recipes are variations on a theme. Meaning: flexible to your tastes! Here’s what I put in our first eggnog, which I chilled until it was time to drink it alongside pumpkin pie.

See all Basic Recipes.

• 4 cups raw, whole milk (or combination of raw milk and raw cream to yield a thicker, creamier eggnog)
• 8 egg pastured egg yolks (must be pastured from someone whose growing methods are known to you and trustworthy, otherwise don’t make this recipe)
• 1/4 cup raw honey (mild-flavored, such as Spring Nectar) – or other desired sweetener such as maple syrup or Rapadura
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• dash of nutmeg for each glass

Blend milk, eggs, honey and vanilla in blender until smooth. Let the foam settle or not, depending on your preference. Chill or not, depending on your preference. Sprinkle nutmeg atop each glass. Enjoy!

The Gallery of Thanksgiving Sides is coming up this Thursday, the 19th of November. The contributions are coming in – do you have a real food Thanksgiving Side Dish to contribute? Please do!

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, this week hosted by Cheeseslave.

My sweet Naomi is the author of this recipe for chocolate milk. She taught it to Mikah and they make it every day. It doesn’t require sweetening – our raw goat milk is plenty sweet. But adjust to your little ones’ preferences, perhaps by adding a bit of raw honey.

In a pint size jar (2 cups), fill three-quarters full with raw cow or goat milk. Add one tablespoon cocoa powder (or carob powder, which happens to be Naomi’s and Mikah’s preference). Secure with tight-fitting lid.

Shake it up! Perhaps for 30 seconds to a minute.

Drink up!

(Kids: Be sure to rinse your own jar and load it in the dishwasher yourself.)