Since we have been eating more grains I have been experimenting with alternative flours. You know, anything but white or whole wheat flours. These guys are a bit tricky since they often lack gluten, but if you are willing to experiment you can find some really awesome new flavors in baked goods.

This oat flour banana bread, for instance, gets its nutty flavor from 100% oat flour. The touch of sweetness comes from nothing but mashed ripe bananas, and the crunch comes from delicious, high protein nuts.

This recipe isn’t soaked, sprouted, or soured, though, so it could certainly be improved upon. Sprouting the oats before drying and grinding might do the trick. It does make for a nice quick bread that is gluten, dairy, and sugar-free, though. Check it out at the Plan to Eat Blog.

Speaking of Healthy Whole Grains…

Use the coupon code SPROUT20 by February 7th and receive a $20 discount on the Healthy Whole Grains e-course, where you’ll learn to soak, sprout, and sour whole grains.

One thing I have found since we moved off-grid is that we simply need to eat more filling, hearty, and dare I say starchy foods. When we first got here that was simply bread and butter, corn tortillas, or plain old oatmeal.

Now that my cooking situation is a bit more set up I have been getting back to soaking and fermenting grains. The problem is that our cabin can swing drastically from 70-some degrees during the day and 30-some degrees at night, which would be why my sourdough starter just wouldn’t cut it.

So I decided to give our oats a ferment and see what happened. The results have been great and dare I say low-maintenance, surviving even in our crazy climate and with my lack of daily feedings. The porridge is definitely sour in flavor, but we love it with plenty of butter, fruit, nuts, and raw milk.

Why Fermented Grains?

Over the years I have found that our bodies tend to digest and simply use grains better if they are soaked, but preferably fermented. This has been the case with a sourdough bread vs. a regular yeast bread and now with this porridge.

Fermentation breaks down the hard to digest components of grains and tends to maximize the nutrients of whatever food is being fermented. Win-win.

Here is How I Made the Starter:

1. Crack whole oat groats into something like a steel-cut oat. It will look like a combination of flour and pieces of whole oats. You can grind it as fine as you’d like, just make sure the oat groats have been broken up and the starchy insides exposed.
2. Combine a few cups of these (I just use two scoops from our grain bucket, the equivalent of about 2-3 cups) with enough water so that you can stir it easily but it is not too soupy. I use a half gallon jar for this.
3. You can, optionally, add some whey at this point to kick-start the fermenting process. I did just a couple of tablespoons off of our kefir and it seems to have worked well.
4. Cover with a cloth or a coffee filter and a rubber band or canning ring. Let sit in a warm place for a few days or until it starts to smell sour and have little bubbles.

Here is How I Feed It:

Every time we make and use up all but one cup of the porridge my five-year-old cracks two more scoops of oats and I stir them into the jar, being sure to incorporate a good amount of air.

I let this ferment for about two days before removing all but one cup and feeding the porridge once again. I’ve gone longer than those two days between eatings and feedings, but I find the sourness is tamed by using it up within a couple of days (assuming it has already soured).

Here is How I Use It:

Be sure to leave 1 cup of porridge in jar. Combine the desired amount of soured porridge with enough water to cover by 1-2". Cook slowly over low heat, stirring frequently, until thick and water is absorbed.

You can also bake with this, which is something I am excited to share with you soon as well.

Learn More About Soaking, Sprouting, and Fermenting Grains

As we have started down this path towards agrarianism we find ourselves having to keep our grocery budget as low as possible while nourishing our bodies in order to do the physical work involved in starting a homestead. Spending the last five years learning about properly preparing grains, beans, and other foods has been an invaluable tool in making this little equation work.

If you are interested in learning more about turning those hard-to-digest grains into something nourishing then you may want to check out the Healthy Whole Grains e-course. This self-paced online class includes 50 videos and over 100 printable recipes to get you going.

Use the coupon code SPROUT20 by February 7th and receive a $20 discount on the course. I am told this is the only coupon code that will be made available to the public, so don’t delay!

This is a re-run post on a topic I have been thinking on a lot lately. If you are interested in soaking, sprouting, and souring grains please check out this new e-course Healthy Whole Grains.

I’ve been experimenting with sourdough the past few weeks and am very excited with the results. All of this has me thinking of the other articles I have put together on the whys and hows of soaking things. I am finding sourdough to really be the answer for grains, so I’ll be sure to share more in the coming weeks.

• a bit of science ::  My Reasoning for Soaking Grains, Nuts, and Beans
• my anecdotal evidence ::  My Experience with Soaking Grains, Nuts, and Beans
• science and solutions :: Phytic Acid: Dealing with a Common Antinutrient

Why do you soak (or not)?

This post was originally published in February of 2011… but our love for tallow and lard beats on.

One of the most important changes to our family’s diet over the past few years has been to only use stable fats for cooking. Before this I used olive or canola oil to cook just about everything and because I was told it was healthy I never questioned the slightly rancid taste that is the result of heating an unsaturated fat.

Now I only cook with tallow, lard, coconut oil, and occasionally butter. I use olive oil for salad dressings, but I am developing more cultured dairy based salad dressings since it seems more likely that we will have our own milk before we have our own olive trees.

The Science is in Favor of Saturated Fats

What is most disturbing to me about the smear campaign that lard and saturated fats have gotten is that people don’t even question it. If anyone truly wanted to know the science behind which fats are healthy they might have found out that very basic chemistry teaches that saturation = stability = less inflamation and free radicals in the body. And that it is ignorant to say that simply because a fat is solid at room temperature it will clog your arteries.

Or perhaps they would tell you that both lard and tallow contain only 1/3-2/3 saturated fat, the rest being mostly monounsaturated. (source) But don’t bore them with the details, they’ve got subsidized crops to push and no one makes money when you butcher an animal and render your own fat.

So yes, lard and beef tallow are healthier cooking fats than vegetable oils, including olive oil. They were the main cooking fats used in this country BEFORE the onset of the now epidemic diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. But the USDA recommendations are more about pushing policy than they are about true science.

How to Render Tallow or Lard

There are many ways to do this, all involving a slow and low-heat cooking process. You can do it on a stove top, in the oven, or in a slow-cooker. This is how I do it:

1. Cut tallow (suet) or lard into small pieces, about 1/2 inch each. This increases the surface area so that it will melt more readily.
2. Place in a large pot (for the stove top), a large pan (for the oven) or your slow-cooker insert. Some people also add a tiny bit of water, though I never have.
3. Place your pot over very low heat, your pan in a low oven (250 degrees or so) or turn your slow-cooker to high until it begins to melt in earnest and then turn it down to low.
4. Cook down until a clear liquid fat has been rendered from the small pieces of fat. I don’t know that there is an exact science to this, your goal is to get as much liquid fat out of those solid pieces as possible, without burning the fat. So this takes me 6-8 hours in a slow-cooker or a few hours in the oven or stovetop.
5. While fat is still warm strain it into quart jars, being sure to strain off all solid pieces. Straining off the solid pieces will help keep the fat from spoiling for a much longer period of time.
6. I currently store mine in the refrigerator, though I am researching a few of the ways it was stored before refrigeration. It should keep for months in the refrigerator.

How Others Do It

• The Healthy Home Economist :: A Video on Rendering Lard
• Cheeseslave :: How to Render Tallow & Lard
• Sifford Sojournal :: How Susan Renders Lard (& uses it for fat lamps!)

Have you tried rendering lard or tallow?

I have been wanting to share our very basic, very unprofessional off-grid infrastructure with y’all for quite some time now. I am always fascinated when reading about how people do the basics of domestic life without modern conveniences. Problem is we’ve passed the three week mark on one or all being sick and, well, priorities have to be made.

Until then I’d like to share with you the top five items I have found to be necessities in our off-grid kitchen. They aren’t fancy gadgets, they aren’t anything extravagent or particularly "foodie", but their simplicity has gotten us through these past three months.

So, if you’re interested, go check out the article Five Things I Couldn’t Live Without In Our Off-Grid Kitchen. And I would love to hear your ideas for what could streamline those daily tasks in the kitchen.

I used to really think I had this real food and natural health thing figured out. I spent years researching the topics simply because I had been ill for so long and I didn’t want the same for my children.

So up until we made our move off-grid I was quite happy with our family’s fairly low track record of illness. I think I spent two years without so much as a sniffle once I really jumped on board with this traditional food stuff. I did everything they said (or tried to) with great results.

And boy was I full of myself. 

Our Two Weeks of Illness

For the past few weeks we have, one or all, been ill.

It started about two weeks ago with a nauseous three day flu for me. Our three year-old quickly jumped on the band wagon and right around the time I was feeling better the Papa fell hard to it for about five days.

Right around the five day mark our five year old started sniffling… and then coughing… and then sounding like he spent the past 20 years smoking. And then my midwive’s urine test found leukocytes confirming I wasn’t dreaming up that weird thing in the back of my throat. But then a couple days later it went away… right about the time our three year old got the hacking cough.

And just when I thought I had finally missed a round of illness I went to bed last night with a sore throat and woke up with a spasming cough. Just in time to join our still hacking sons and the Papa who just doesn’t feel so great himself.

Oh, and the concerned looks my husband gives me as I uncontrollably cough subtly let me know: I’m due to push a human being the size of a Thanksgiving turkey out of my body within the month.

Health Is Not A Formula

There is no formula for good health, though there are ways to be obedient in taking care of our bodies. God is the author of health – good and bad – and I am finding that in our physical weakness He is glorified and my wrong thinking shines through.

I have learned two things from this experience:

1. I need humbling in this area and should be thankful that though I physically feel unwell He is using these trials to spiritually mold me.
2. Many of the things I was doing to get and stay healthy actually were working, as evidenced by their absence and our subsequent illnesses.

Five Habits We Need To Get Back To

Since we’ve been here food, like everything else, has been at survival levels. Most meals have been simply about eating on the cheap, as well as we can, but with an emphasis on calories rather than nutrient density.

There are reasons for this, which I hope to get into in another post, but for now lets just say doing the best you can with what you have isn’t ideal. But there are five things we have definitely not done right.

1. TOO MUCH SUGAR. Boy howdy have I let this slide and absolutely positively can not be so non-chalant about this anymore.
2. Not taking our cod liver oil daily. This is one of the only supplements we have regularly taken over the past few years and since we’ve been (almost 3 months) I have not been diligent about it. (Find our favorite CLO here.)
3. Eating too many grains that have not been prepared properly. As we get used to living without temperature controls, an exponential increase in manual labor, and the generally more difficult life that agrarianism can be, we are eating a lot more grains. I am just starting to get back into the swing of making them easier to digest via fermentation or soaking and need to do this with all of them. (Find sprouted grains here.)
4. Not eating enough fermented foods. This might be at the top of the list, folks. I’ve just started getting back into this, but still it is a struggle due to our living situation. I don’t think one can emphasize these foods enough for immune and gut health. (Find sources of fermented foods and fermented food starters.)
5. Not emphasizing pastured meats & vegetables. Lets be frank, I don’t have the storage capacity or money for more than a couple of days of meals emphasizing these foods.

So, what do you think… What else should we be considering?

Originally published in January of 2011.

The view from our living room window right now is rather white and cold (and apparently damp). Don’t get me wrong, I actually enjoy the cold weather and the snow. But we’re not exactly spending hours outside every day and we’re starting to feel just a bit off.

Which is why right about now is when we tend to fall prey to the latest bug or feel the winter blues. We have probably worn down any vitamin stores since we aren’t replenishing them fast enough. One thing that I find works well for our family is making sure we’re taking in a lot of vitamin D.

Generally speaking we take fermented cod liver oil which has a good amount of both vitamins A & D. Now would be a good time to step up your dose. Unfortunately I am not as consistent in taking it as I ought to be and when that happens sometimes you have to take a high therapeutic dose.

Which is where supplements come in. Food-based supplements are the best choice, obviously, which is why cod liver oil is so great. But if you happen to be feeling a cold or flu coming on then taking high doses of vitamin D through a good quality vitamin D3 supplement is what we do.

My Real Food Journey

Speaking of real food… Nicole asked if me if I would share my real food journey over at Simple Organic. I am always interested in other people’s stories so I thought I would share my own:

I have a theory about real food: people are either born into it or they find it out of illness and desperation. I fall into the latter category.

My real food journey details my personal health struggles and the paradigm shift that has to occur in order to embrace God’s natural, sustainable design for food.

I’d love to hear your real food journey or thoughts on vitamin D right now.

It is time, once again, for some frugal talk.

In my first article you can find my thoughts on our move from a 900+ square foot home to a ~250 square foot home. Check out:

Our Move Off-Grid and Small Space Living

I share a recipe for a super easy, warm up the house with the oven meal in…

Oven-Baked Shredded Chicken (or turkey) Tacos

Finally, I share my favorite winter vegetables for seasonal eating in…

Eight Winter Vegetables You Should Be Eating Right Now

As usual I love to hear your thoughts in the comments of these articles.

It seemed like a good time to re-run this post which was originally published last year.

Spring is full of raw salads and greens. Summer brings unending tomato salads. Fall is full of lettuce and squash once again. And then there is winter.

If you eat seasonally (and live in a northern climate) then you’ve probably struggled with balancing the heavy foods that our bodies truly need in the cold with our body’s need for enzymes, good bacteria, and fat-soluble vitamins. After all, it’s easy to make a pot of soup, but to balance that with something crisp and light and good for your digestion is difficult when nothing is growing outside.

So when I started planning for our no groceries project and writing Simple Food {for winter} I sat down and made some lists. These lists contain the foods I try to feed my family daily and weekly to keep their digestion easy, their immune systems strong, and their body’s full of vitamins A, D, & K.

But really, it’s more common sense than scientific. When there are no raw vegetables available you eat the vegetables that grew in September and were preserved via fermentation. When you need more enzymes why would you pasteurize your dairy? When you want to keep your vitamin D levels up why not eat eggs, liver, and cod liver oil?

This is how our ancestors ate. It’s common sense, it’s not a fad, and it is the basis for the recipes I share in Simple Food {for winter}. These are the foods that invariably make us feel better. Liver may not be my favorite food, but when turned into a delicious wine and mushroom-studded gravy I’ll eat it. Especially since it contains more available nutrients than a bottle of synthetic vitamins. Oh, and it’s just another part of the animal so if I’m going to eat a steak or a thigh then I should probably be willing to eat the liver too.

Daily

• Cultured & Raw Dairy.We are loving kefir right now for smoothies (pumpkin since we’re out of berries).
• Pastured Eggs. Fried, scrambled, in a frittata, or raw yolks in smoothies – we usually eat at least two per day.
• Lacto-Fermented Vegetables. We eat these every night at dinner and a most of the time with lunch. Sauerkraut, salsa, kimchi, and cortido are like my version of convenience food.
• Lacto-Fermented Beverages. We drink a couple of glasses of either kombucha or water kefir a day. It is so delicious, refreshing, and just makes you feel light and energetic.
• Cod Liver Oil. It’s funny that I’ve talked to several people from my parents or grandparents generation who say "oh yeah, we always took cod liver oil." It’s nothing fancy, just the oil from the liver of a cod – high in vitamins A & D.
• Raw Vegetables & Fruits (if available). – Right now we have two apples. The last carrot was eaten yesterday with sprouted hummus. Sometimes I think "what I wouldn’t give for a big salad," but I know spring will come eventually.
• Butter, Coconut Oil, Lard, and Tallow. I am sad for the people who are afraid of fat. Sad because I was one of them and sad because not eating fat makes people sad. Say it with me "fat is necessary for health and happiness." By happiness I mean that saturated fats and cholesterol actually do things in your brain like make vitamin D prevent seasonal affective disorder and create serotonin that gives you the ability to feel anything but, well, sad.

Weekly

• Organ Meat. We still don’t eat this as often as I think we should, but I’m putting pate on the menu this week and I’ll be doing something with kidneys next week.
• Wild Seafood. Once a week I try to be sure we are eating wild salmon or wild cod (what I have on hand). This means that we actually eat 2 servings of wild seafood per week because of leftovers for lunch.
• Stock. Some weeks we actually eat this daily, but usually 4-5 times per week minimum. It’s easy when you are eating lots of soup and stew.

So, that is my list of foods that I aim to feed my family during winter. Of course the bulk of the actual food on our plate is squashes, potatoes, turnips, pastured meats, and lots and lots of soup. The recipes in Simple Food {for winter} were developed to incorporate these foods into our daily diets.

What do you eat in winter to keep you feeling well?

By the way, I am not a medical expert and don’t pretend to know what they know nor do I prevent or cure illnesses. I just like to share what works for us in the hopes that it may work for you too. 

Since we moved off-grid and began a slower way of doing everyday tasks, I have struggled in the kitchen. I have struggled to keep up with dishes. I have struggled with fitting enough vegetables into my cooking and my budget. I have struggled to find a balance between foods with enough calories to fill up hardworking boys and fermented foods that are too important to miss out on.

Needless to say, we haven’t felt our best. When I bought cabbages to make sauerkraut I quickly ran out of time and ended up cooking them in a soup instead. The prospect of extra dishes were a deterrent too, if we’re being honest.

So I have finally come back to three of the easiest ferments that I can introduce to our diet and my chaotic off-grid kitchen. All of these involve minimum muss and fuss and can be made quickly and easily.

They still make dishes, but I am making my peace with that aspect of things.

Creme Fraiche.

This is just a fancy word for sour cream. I make it by throwing 1-2 tablespoons of cultured buttermilk into a pint jar and filling the rest of the jar with cream. The quality of the cream may or may not be a factor, I am unclear on this. I have only made it with pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized) cream, so I can’t verify the claims out there one way or the other.

Shake your jar (with a tight lid on it!), loosen the lid or place a coffee filter/towel and rubber band around the lid to allow some air exposure. Let it sit out on the counter for 12-24 hours or until thick. And just like that you have truly cultured cream with probiotics and enzymes for happy bellies.

Water Kefir.

We were making this frequently about a year ago and absolutely loved it. It is similar to kombucha but ferments much faster so you get a better turnaround, I think. It also seems to have slightly different properties and I find it less dehydrating than kombucha.

You can find my detailed instructions here, but the basic premise is dissolve sugar in water, cool, add grains, ferment for a couple of days, pour into bottles, add juice or fruit, cap and carbonate. Enjoy. Feels so good in the tummy!

Find water kefir grains here.

Milk Kefir.

I’ll be honest and say I’m not a huge fan of the taste of kefir. I still have a hard time having it straight up and in the past have deferred to smoothies to mask the yeasty milk champagne flavor. It is, however, easier than yogurt to make regularly so I choose you, milk kefir, over yogurt.

The process couldn’t be easier, either. Add the grains to fresh milk every 24 hours or so, straining the grains out each time. Stir with a wooden spoon, cover with a coffee filter/towel and rubber band, and allow to ferment for about a day. You now have highly probiotic, enzymatic, yeasty flavored milk.

Find milk kefir grains here.

So here’s a question for you… how do you make milk kefir palatable?