Rich flavor and pleasant sweetness with apple and banana together! This recipe works equally well as a delicious muffin or dressed with a frosting for a yummy cupcake. We made this recipe for both our little ones’ birthdays this year in cupcake form and found it incredibly scrumptious! I have adapted the recipe to be soaked as well (in incorporate the benefits of breaking down the phytates), if you desire. I have no doubts this could be easily be used as a soaked cake baked in a 13×9 inch pan, so that is the next experiment!
2 cups whole wheat flour (or 2 cups sprouted flour and skip the soaking!)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1 cup sucanat or rapadura
2 eggs (or flaxseed binder – this works perfectly well if you don’t have eggs! I would know since I didn’t have eggs the second time.)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup cultured buttermilk, kefir, yogurt, or acid medium of your choice
1 cup ripe bananas, mashed
2 apples – peeled, cored and shredded
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour muffin cups, or use paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the coconut oil and sucanat/rapadura. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and buttermilk/yogurt/kefir. Beat in the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated. Fold in the mashed bananas and shredded apples. Fill each muffin cup full.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool.
Soaking Adaption: Combine flour, coconut oil, acid medium (buttermilk, yogurt, etc), and an additional 1/4 cup warm filtered water. Mix thoroughly and then cover and leave at room temperature for 12-24 hours. After soaking, add the sucanat/rapadura, eggs, and vanilla. Mix thoroughly as there may be small clumps of soaked dough that needs to be broken down. Fold in the mashed bananas and apples. Gently and quickly incorporate the salt, baking soda and baking power. Fill each muffin cup full. Bake as described above.
Frosting: For a yummy but rather unhealthy frosting, I used 3/4 cup powdered sugar, 3/4 package cream cheese (softened), and 1 Tbsp milk. Fabulous!
If you have been around here for long, you know that I strive to soak my whole grains for the benefit of breaking down the phytates and making the nutrients more accessible to our bodies. Over the years, I have taken many of my favorite recipes and adapted them to allow for the soaking process to be completed. There is a never ending stream of emails that I receive asking the question, “how do you adapt recipes for soaking?” Today, I am going to make an effort to give two examples of how I have accomplished this process. I hope that is helpful to you. Over the next few weeks, I will be a compiling a video tutorial of what soaking looks like with a few of our favorite recipes.
First off, let me just encourage you that it takes time and experimentation to adapt your recipes. With each recipe that I successfully modified, it took at least two tries to get it right. So be patient and just have fun with it. For the most part, it is relatively easy.
So, let’s begin…I will start by going through one recipe with you and offering my steps towards conversion.
Biscuits – Original Recipe
7 cups spelt flour
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups butter
5 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 tsp salt
1. Evaluate the liquids.
I always start adapting every recipe by evaluating the liquids. This spelt biscuit recipe has 2 cups of milk as the liquid ingredients. To soak, I can simply replace this amount with an acid medium in its entirety or in whatever portion I desire. My acid medium choices: cultured buttermilk, kefir, yogurt, whey, or water and lemon juice.
I have had best success with soaking in kefir, as it imparts wonderful nutrients but also gives a moist light texture to my baked goods. So, I converted 2 cups of milk to 2 cups of kefir. In order for soaking to be effective, you really only have to use at least 1 Tablespoon of acid medium to 1 cup of liquids in your recipe, so I could also use 2 cups water with 2 Tablespoons acid medium. You could also use milk and just add 2 Tbsp acid medium. The choice is up to you!
If your recipe calls for yogurt or buttermilk anyway, that is sufficient to satisfy the acidic medium. You won’t have to add anything to the recipe; just mix the yogurt/buttermilk and flour or grains overnight, then proceed with the recipe as written.
2. Combine liquids with flour.
Secondly, I will combine my acid medium liquids with the flour. To keep a moist texture, I will often thin out the kefir or yogurt to the consistency of buttermilk so as to keep the mixture from getting too dry. Mix the flour and the acid medium together. If the mixture remains very dry, you have a third option.
3. Add the butter or oil to the soaked goods, if necessary.
If there are butter or oil called for in the recipe, you can add it to the mixture as well to help keep the moist consistency. In this spelt biscuit recipe, I wanted to use a combination of coconut oil and butter as it provides such a delicious flavor. So, I melted the coconut oil/butter and added it to the soaked flour/acid medium. I know have a moist consistency.
I will then cover this bowl with a towel and allow to sit on the counter at room temperature for 12-24 hours. Ideally, you want to keep it in a warm place. In the oven with the pilot light on, in a dehydrator, on top of a high shelf, or in a warm bedroom of your house.
After it has soaked, I would kneed in the baking powder and salt. And there you have it…delicious soaked biscuits that will not only rise better because of the soaking but will also be more easily digested by your body. Check out my adapted soaked biscuit recipe.
In other recipes, I also add the liquid sweeteners (such as honey) to the recipe to maintain the moist texture (as in my soaked whole grain bread). There are mixed opinions as to the safety of this practice, but Sue Gregg has used this practice in many of her soaked blender batter recipes, and thus I have not been too concerned about it.
What if there are no butter/oil ingredients?
If there are no oil ingredients in the recipe, add just enough more water to make it slightly moist but not dry. Start with 1/4 cup increments.
What about a recipe that has no liquids?
Here’s an example:
Raspberry Muffins – our family favorite muffin recipe!
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups raspberries, frozen
2 eggs, well beaten
2/3 cup oil, coconut oil preferred
As you can see, there are no liquids in this recipe besides the oil. So, this recipe will take a little more practice and experimentation to avoid drying it out. As you’ll see in my adapted soaked raspberry muffin recipe, I simply combined the flour with melted coconut oil and 2 Tablespoons acid medium (kefir in my case). I add just enough water (between 1/4-1/2 cup) to keep it moist and well combined. For effective soaking, you want to use at least 1 Tablespoon of acid medium to 1 cup of liquids in your recipe. Since this recipe has no liquids, I simply guessed it with the 2 Tablespoons. I really don’t think you can go wrong. The more the better.
As you can also see in this recipe, the original recipe called for sugar, which is easily replaced with a more natural alternative such as rapadura or sucanat. The original recipe also called for canola oil, which I simply replaced with coconut oil.
If through trial and error, you cannot seem to keep the dough from getting too dry and unworkable after soaking, I recommend using sprouted flour (see below).
What if I am dairy intolerant?
I have found best results from soaking with kefir, yogurt, or buttermilk, but it is possible to soak with other acid mediums (lemon juice, apple cider vinegar) if you are allergic to dairy. Read our discussion on Soaking Methods for the Dairy Intolerant.
What about a recipe with yeast?
Since the yeast cannot be added for the overnight soak, you’ll need to withhold 1/4-1/2 cup of water from your recipe with which to ‘proof’ the yeast. Note that I have had perfect success with reserving just 1/4 cup. When you’re ready to finish the dough, mix the yeast with 1/4-1/2 water and sweetener (I use 1 tsp of honey), proof for 5 minutes at room temperature, then add to the dough that has been soaking overnight. Knead and allow to rise as directed in your recipe. You can see this demonstrated in my soaked whole wheat bread recipe.
What happens when the final mixture is too wet?
This happens to me quite frequently. For example, my pizza crust recipe tends to be too wet if I use less than 10 cups of flour in the original soaking mix. It tends to get very elastic and need alot more flour to make it workable and able to be rolled out. In this case, I keep white flour or better yet, sprouted wheat flour on hand.
Sprouted wheat flour is just as beneficial as soaked flour, but is more time consuming to accomplish and more expensive to buy. Buying quantities of sprouted flour or making your own, can help supplement in the case that you need to add extra flour, flour a pan, flour a surface to roll out the dough, etc. When you just use sprouted flour for these supplemental purposes, it can stretch the cost out.
Sprouted flour has already been soaked and dried and therefore has accomplished the process of breaking down the phytates. Sprouted flour is also nice to have on hand if you forget to soak and are throwing something together at the last minute. Just use the sprouted flour and away you go. No soaking necessary! Read more about sprouted flour and my recommended source. I buy 10 lb bags of sprouted grain and they last me forever!
What about cakes, pie crusts and cookies?
You will often find that cakes, pie crusts, and cookies are difficult if not impossible to soak. Either there are absolutely no liquids or the final product is undesirable. I just have not had much success here. In this case, I use sprouted wheat flour. Cookies will not rise very well, so I still use a combination of white flour and sprouted wheat for a better appeal. Pie crusts are similar. The results usually will be crumbly and hard. White flour alone or in combination with sprouted flour again is more ideal. Since these are special occasion items at our home, I really don’t stress over it too much. White flour does make for a lighter texture that nothing else really can fully beat.
I hope this little tutorial was helpful for you and inspires you to work at adapting your favorite recipes to incorporate the benefits of soaking!
Check out my recipe index for many more yummy adapted recipes!
Meatloaf is one of those warm comforting meal for cold weather, and a delicious satisfying meal at our house. Combining grass-fed beef, homemade bread crumbs, pastured eggs, and raw milk, and you have a full nutritious protein meal. We like to side this dinner with mashed potatoes and a fresh salad.
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
2/3 cup bread crumbs (or make your own)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tsp salt
1 tsp rubbed sage
dash of pepper
1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup rapadura/sucanat, maple syrup (or 1/4 cup honey)
1 tsp vinegar
1. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add milk, breadcrumbs, onion, salt, sage, and pepper. Add beef and mix well.
2. Shape into an 8-1/2 in x 4-1/2 in. loaf in an ungreased shallow loaf pan.
3. Combine remaining ingredients (sweetener, ketchup and vinegar); spread the mixture over meat loaf.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-65 minutes or until no longer pink; drain.
5. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.
This was a traditional family breakfast meal during my childhood, and we loved it! I would love watching through the oven door window as these pancakes would puff up beautifully while baking. Served with a sprinkling of powdered sugar, butter, lemon juice and maple syrup is simply scrumptious. Now we have adapted our family favorite recipe for soaking to include the benefit of breaking down the phytates in the grain to make it more readily digestible for your body. Scrumptious! If desired, you can avoid soaking, and simply beat 1 cup milk (in replacement of the acid medium) with 1 cup sprouted flour after beating the eggs. Both methods work well.
1 cup acid medium – whole milk kefir, yogurt, or combination of water and lemon juice (for dairy intolerant) – I have not tried this with the water method, so you would have to experiment
1 cup whole wheat flour, spelt or kamut (as desired)
4-5 large eggs (free range/pastured is our preference), as desired
1/3 cup coconut oil and butter (any combination)
dash of vanilla extract
Combine acid medium and whole wheat flour. Cover and allow to sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours. When you are ready to serve, heat oven to 425 degrees. Place oil/butter in small chunks in a 15×11 inch glass baking pan. Place pan in oven to melt. Meanwhile, beat eggs in a blender for 1 minute. Add soaked flour mixture and beat again for 1 minute. Add dash of vanilla extract. Pull out the baking pan from oven and rotate around to spread the melted butter/oil around to cover the entire bottom of pan. Slowly pour the pancake batter into the pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly brown and fluffy. Enjoy!
Today, I welcome Amber Eisler to share a with us about the benefits and how-to’s of sourdough.
Sourdough is often thought of as a mysterious, temperamental, or outdated ingredient. However with a little information and experience anyone can bake using this traditional method of incorporating a live culture.
Sourdough is wild yeast and desirable bacteria living in a mixture of flour and water. It likely originated in ancient Egypt around 1500 BC. Sourdough will cause dough to leaven or rise, and can be used in place of commercial yeast. Sourdough is acidic, and contains various strains of lactobacilli that contribute to the development of flavor.
Baking with sourdough is a relatively slow process, as it does not leaven as fast as commercial yeast. During this slow rise the lactobacilli goes to work fermenting the dough. Through fermentation, the simple elements of flour, water, and salt are transformed into dough with wonderful, complex flavor. The slow fermentation also allows more time for the flour to hydrate, or soak up water. A higher hydration produces a moister, lighter crumb texture. The acidic nature of sourdough also improves the keeping quality of the bread.
Using a sourdough can improve the nutritional value when baking with whole grains. Whole wheat flour is more nutrient rich than white flour; however, bran (present in whole wheat flour) also contains phytic acid which binds minerals such as calcium, zinc, iron, and magnesium, making them difficult or impossible to assimilate by the body. Fermenting the flour with a sourdough culture neutralizes the effect of phytic acid, so the body is able to absorb the nutrients that the whole grain contains. Many people find sourdough breads more digestible whether or not they contain whole grains, a phenomenon usually attributed to the lactobacilli aiding the digestive process.
Keeping a sourdough culture lively and active is simple and easy once you establish a routine. There are many resources available to learn how to keep a sourdough culture, which requires a minimal amount of time and effort. For in-depth information on how to start and keep a sourdough culture check out informational videos on www.breadtopia.com, or refer to the sourdough primer on www.kingarthurflour.com (or check out the variety of sourdough starters available through Cultures for Health). Basically, the culture will need to be “fed” an equal portion (by weight) of flour and water. Stir it up and let it rest at room temperature until it is bubbly and fragrant. Use the amount needed for your recipe making sure to save some “seed” for your next batch. If the culture is left at room temperature it should be fed about twice a day. Otherwise, store it in refrigerator if you won’t be baking for a few days. If the culture is kept properly, the flavor in the final dough is mild, pleasant, and not bracingly acidic.
One of the easiest ways to get your feet wet using sourdough is to make sourdough waffles. Following is a simple, delicious, and nutritious recipe for whole wheat sourdough waffles:
Sourdough Waffles
2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup Sourdough culture (bubbly and active)
2 cups Milk or Buttermilk
1 tablespoon Maple Syrup
2 Eggs
¼ cup Butter, melted
½ teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
Combine the flour, sourdough, and milk. Allow to rest at room temperature for 8-12 hours. Whisk together the eggs and butter. Add all remaining ingredients to the flour mixture. Whisk until just combined.
Cook in a waffle iron. Serve with maple syrup, yogurt, and fresh fruit.
Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread
Here is a recipe for basic 100% Whole Wheat Sourdough bread (pictured at the top of this post). This recipe yields one large, hearty, versatile loaf. We use it for toast, sandwiches, or just slathered with butter:
1 cup Sourdough, bubbly & active (about 8 hours after feeding)
1 ¼ – 1 ½ cups water
3 ½ cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 ½ teaspoons Salt
Mix all of the ingredients with a wooden spoon, dough whisk, or by hand until the dough comes together. Add water as necessary to achieve a wet dough. Turn out of the bowl and knead by hand for about 5 minutes, or until the dough becomes elastic. It should be somewhat wet and tacky. Resist the urge to add more flour!
Place the dough back in the bowl and cover loosely with a towel. Let it rest for 3-4 hours, gently deflating and folding the dough every hour. If your kitchen is cool (as mine always is in Vermont!) you may extend this resting period up to 6 hours.
Shape the dough into a tight round ball and place seam side up in a bowl lined with a floured linen or cotton tea towel. Alternately you can shape it into a rectangle and place it in a greased loaf pan.
Let it rise in a warm place for about an hour. Or place in the refrigerator for a very slow (overnight) final rise.
Pre-heat the oven with a pizza stone on the middle rack to 450. When the oven is hot, place a square of parchment paper on a bakers peel or an inverted cookie sheet. Turn the dough out onto the paper so the seam is now down. Slash the top of the loaf with a serrated knife (to allow steam to escape and for further expansion in the oven). Slide the dough onto the pizza stone. Bake for 20 minutes at 450 then turn the oven down to 400 and bake an additional 30 minutes. If baking in a loaf pan the pizza stone is optional.
A few tips when making whole- grain sourdough bread:
The wetter the better! Remember that the flour will continue to absorb water during the fermentation (rising) process. When the initial mix is complete, the dough should be slack. Excess flour will yield a dry, crumbly, dense loaf.
Add steam. Steam in the oven allows the bread to get maximum volume and good texture. Place a small pan with a half cup of hot water in the bottom of the oven just after you load the bread in.
Practice often and have fun!
Amber Eisler is a Christian wife, mother, and part-time bread baker. She lives in Vermont with her husband Doug and daughter Abigail (2).
It may be on the end of soup season, but this creation was too good to not share with you all. If you like rich, creamy, warm, and comforting soups, this is definitely one you should try. It is similar in style and contents to my Zuppa Tuscana, but has it’s own unique flavor and speciality! It is one of our top favorites!
5 medium russet potatoes
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 medium leeks (white and green parts), or 1 large onion, sliced and rinsed well
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
4 cups homemade or canned chicken broth
1/2 lb sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled (save bacon grease for sauteing, if desired)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
4-5 kale leaves, chopped, more or less as desired
Directions:
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Scrub the potatoes, pat dry, and pierce several times with a fork. Set them directly on the oven rack and bake until tender, about 1 hours. Let cool completely on a cooling rack.
Combine butter or reserved bacon grease, leeks/onion, garlic, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened.
Add the chicken stock/broth to the leek/onion mixture.
Cut the cooled potatoes in small 1/2 inch cubes. Remove peel on one or two of that potatoes. Set aside one cup of diced potatoes. Throw the remaining potatoes into the pot with the leeks/onions.
Puree the contents of the pot in batches in a blender until very smooth. Return the soup to the pot and reheat over medium low.
Whisk together the milk and sour cream and then whisk this into the soup, along with the reserved 1 cup potatoes, and cheese. Add chopped kale and allow to simmer for 10 minutes or so. Season more with salt and pepper as desired.
Serve garnished with cheese, bacon bits, or green onions, as desired.
Lately I have been exploring in the world of coconut milk kefir! Our family has been consuming regular raw milk kefir for a few years now, but recently, we lost our frugal milk source, and I was forced to rethink and consider some other nutritious options. Enter…coconut milk kefir!
Kefir is typically made from cow’s milk that is fermented with kefir cultures. It is similar in taste and texture to a drinkable plain yogurt with a bit of a tangy flavor to it. It is known for many health benefits including boosting the immune system, stimulating digestion, protecting against the spread of harmful yeast overgrowth, lowering cholesterol, and guarding against cancer. It is a powerful probiotic that helps beneficial bacteria to thrive in the body.
Coconut milk is naturally rich in medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs). Two of the primary MCFAs found in coconut milk, lauric and capric acid, are known for supporting the body’s immune system. Coconut products contains monolaurin, a fatty acid found in human mother’s milk, which has proven antiviral, antibacterial, and fungal properties that support natural immunity. It has a creamy taste and texture that’s similar to cream (with half the fat and calories) or milk (when diluted). It tastes on the flavor of what you mix it with, making it ideal for both sweet and savory recipes. It is completely dairy, gluten, and soy free, making it the most nutritious option and alternative for the dairy intolerant.
When I searched online for information to make coconut milk kefir, I was surprised to see the serious lack of information on this topic. There appears to be two different options. Coconut water kefir and coconut milk kefir. I wanted to make coconut kefir with coconut milk because it is cheaper and easier. I am all for simplicity. Most of my searching and emailing different companies (Weston A Price & Body Ecology) came up with no responses, so I had to venture out on my own with some help from Julie at Cultures for Health.
Coconut milk kefir works beautifully with milk kefir grains yielding a thick and creamy coconut cream topping for your coffee, ice cream, smoothies, or curries with all the healthy bacterial benefits! Check out Healthy Cooking Coaches recipes for Strawberry & Vanilla ice cream using coconut kefir. You can use it as whipped cream substitute on top of pancakes or waffles (sweetening as desired) or use it in replacement of buttermilk or water in many baked goods recipes. There are no end to the ideas for its usage.
1 quart glass jar
2 Tbsp milk kefir grains (available through Cultures for Health)
2 cans unsweetened undiluted coconut milk or 1 quart So Delicious Coconut Milk (It has been confirmed that Native Forest Coconut Milk is canned in a BPA-free can)
Directions:
Place the milk kefir grains in the quart size glass jar and cover with coconut milk. Carefully mix together with a non-metal spoon (please forgive my forgetfulness on this point in the video!).
Cover loosely with a towel or cloth napkin and allow the coconut kefir to culture on the countertop for 12-36 hours.
After 12 hours, check the coconut kefir every few hours so you can remove the kefir grains as soon as it reaches the desired consistency. If you let it sit too long it will become more sour and very thick, making removal of the grains more difficult.
Remove grains and store them covered with a small amount of milk in refrigerator between batches or follow up immediately with another batch.
Place a lid over the remaining coconut milk kefir in the jar and store in the refrigerator. Note that it will get significantly thicker in the refrigerator as it cools, so it is a perfect consistency to use as whipping cream and such.
Cultures for Health suggests that it may take a batch or two for the milk kefir grains to adapt to coconut milk but if the milk doesn’t kefir properly during the adjustment period, it is still safe to cook with. They do recommend returning the grains to cow or goat milk periodically to refresh them (and they can adapt back to making raw cow/goat milk kefir).
Here’s my little video tutorial:
Can I use kefir packets to make coconut milk kefir? What if I am dairy intolerant?
I originally thought that kefir packets would be a better alternative than grains for those with dairy allergies. I asked Julie at Cultures for Health about her opinion and this is what she shared: Powdered packets should work with coconut milk but since they are in a dairy carrier, they’re not really going to be an improvement on the grains and it’s questionable how well they will re-culture (using a small amount from the previous batch to make the next batch) making them potentially a costly option. It might actually be less costly to occasionally buy more kefir grains than to buy lots of packets of kefir starter. We’ve taken to trying to steer the dairy intolerant to water kefir for their probiotics for this reason.Plus kefir packets aren’t really a natural culture and contain less than 10 probiotic strains compared to the 30 or so contained in kefir made with grains.
So there are options to try and experiment with, but the best option might be to stick with water kefir grains and the coconut juice method if you have dairy allergies. Packets can be used if you do not have allergies but the best results will come from using grains and rotating back and forth from culturing in coconut milk to cow/goat’s milk.
Can I dilute the coconut milk to make it stretch further?
Unfortunately you don’t want to dilute the coconut milk since that would leave less sugar for the kefir grains to eat and potentially damage the grains.
Can I make coconut milk kefir with water kefir grains?
Julie at Cultures for Health shares, “Dom’s kefir site claims you can acclimate water kefir grains to milk (but I don’t believe he mentions anything about coconut milk) but I personally haven’t tried it and never heard from anyone who has. If you happen to have a significant surplus of water kefir grains though, it might be worth trying. It certainly would be great for people with dairy allergies—normally if someone has an allergy we just steer them to water kefir.”
Is there any benefit of making coconut water/juice kefir over coconut milk kefir?
Julie again shares, “Both coconut water kefir and coconut milk kefir would contain basically the same probiotic benefits so at that point I think it would just be a matter of the nutritional differences in the original liquids. Coconut water is more of an electrolyte type beverage (I keep some around for when we get sick but beyond that we don’t drink very much) whereas coconut milk is a very concentrated source of healthy fats. Both are perfectly healthy but I think they just ultimately have different purposes.”
Can I used powdered coconut milk?
A few readers suggested below that powdered coconut milk is a cheaper alternative. I understand that powdered milk products are best to be avoided. “It is manufactured through a spray drying process of raw unsweetened coconut cream. This is very different from the more widely available and coarser desiccated coconut which is made by grating machines that shred the white coconut flesh.
When coconut milk powder is spray dried, this has the effect of mixing oxygen (from the air) into the powder, under very hot drying conditions. As a consequence, coconut milk powder is “oxidized” and will go rancid quite quickly if not refrigerated and consumed within one or two days. This process also has the effect of increasing nitrate levels in powdered milk, whether it be dairy or coconut powdered milk. High levels of nitrates can increase the risk of cancer.” (The Incredible Coconut Book)
Coconut kefir does exist on the market now thanks to the efforts of So Delicious, but it cannot be compared with the homemade variety! Read more about that here. Making it yourself can always save you money and produce the highest nutrient content!
I have had the privilege of reviewing the new release of Gnowfglins Fundamental eCourse, and I am excited to share it with you all today. This is an online healthy and traditional food cooking eCourse that is a basic introduction to whole and living foods, from soaking whole grains, soaking nuts and seeds, cooking beans, sprouting, sourdough bread, cultured products, and more. Wardeh at Gnwofglins has done an impressive job compiling weekly lessons that offer audio, video and text files for students. She will walk you through preparing soaked muffins, pancakes, and many more recipes through the visual step by step process. We all learn visually more effectively, and if you cannot get your head around the concept and benefits of soaking, then this is the course for you!
This eCourse will teach you how to turn quality raw ingredients – God’s, natural, organic, whole, foods, local, and in season – into nourishing food. Each lesson will be available on a weekly basis in an online community format for members, giving you a full week to review all the materials and begin putting it into practice before moving on to the next lesson (all lessons will remain for your review). Each concept is built upon the previous lesson.
What’s in the eCourse?
Overview: eCourse Overview
Lesson 1: The GNOWFGLINS Foundation
Lesson 2: How to Soak Whole Grains, Nuts and Seeds
Lesson 3: How to Make Soaked Whole-Grain Flour Baked Goods I
Lesson 4: How to Make Soaked Whole-Grain Flour Baked Goods II
Lesson 5: How to Soak and Cook Dry Beans
Lesson 6: How to Sprout Beans
Lesson 7: How to Cook a Chicken and Make Chicken Stock
Lesson 8: How to Make Skillet Dishes: A Dinner Formula
Lesson 9: How to Make Water Kefir
Lesson 10: How to Make Dairy Kefir
Lesson 11: How to Make Soft, Spreadable Cheese
Lesson 12: How to Make Sourdough Bread
Lesson 13: How to Sprout Whole Grains for Sprouted Grain Flour & How to Bake With Sprouted Grain Flour
Lesson 14: How to Make Natural Pickled Foods
This course is for the beginner. It is not gourmet, but rather simple. While Wardeh will not go into a lot of details or complicated soaking experiments, I did find the visual aspects very effective in increasing my own knowledge of these whole food practices. If Nourishing Traditions is overwhelming to you, check out this practical eCourse! You will learn how to save money in the kitchen while preparing wonderful whole foods for your family.
Looking for some other helpful visual resources? I recently stumbled upon THE LIVING SERIES: Eating Green – Organic Foods and Cooking video. at my local library. This video was very fun and helpful in learning how to prepare organic foods. She offered helpful tips for selecting produce, basic kitchen ingredients, eating organic on a budget, and walked you through several easy whole food recipes that looked amazingly simple and delicious! All the recipes are available in a PDF document on the disk as well. Yum! I cannot wait to try them! You can even rent this video on Amazon. The Living Series also offers a few other titles that sounded helpful for green living. Check them out here!
Please note: Passionate Homemaking is an affiliate of the Gnowfglins ecourse and receives a small commission with each registration received through my referral and links.
I was totally blessed to receive a Blendtec Home Total Blender for my birthday this past year from my wonderful hubby, as it’s been on my wishlist for some time. I must admit that the price tag turned me off for the longest time, but this purchase was made in response to three questions. Will this tool help simplify my cooking processes, saving me time in the kitchen? Will this tool accomplish multiple tasks? Is this tool durable and high quality? All these questions have been answered in the affirmative with the Blendtec Blender. After killing a standard Oster blender, and sending $70 down the drain, I knew it would be wise to invest in a machine that could handle the strain and stress I would put it under with all our fruit smoothies, grain grinding, etc. It is now the most useful kitchen tool in my home. I use it at least twice a day. It has helped simplify my food preparations 100 times over. I feel without it I might not have been able to continue making things from scratch with the responsibilies of a growing family and health issues.
It is easy to clean. Because of the wide square base of this blender, cleaning is a breeze. Throw it in the dishwasher or add a little soap and water and pulse a few times, rinse, and it will be clean.
Nothing goes to waste. With it’s wide square shape, you can be assured that nothing will get stuck around the base, as in a typical blender. All food ingredients come out easily with a spatula.
Food processor functionality.I can throw in some onions, carrots, etc. and pulse for a few moments and I have a nice chopped product. This makes soup making very simple.
Grinds grain. I was blown away by the excellent job this machine did with grinding whole grains. I had to admit that the quality was just as fine as my Nutrimill. You are limit to about 2 cups of grain at a time, so not ideal for huge bread baking projects, but for every day flour needs, this will do the job nicely.
Makes amazing smoothies. We love green kefir smoothies at our house, and this machine can handle it all. Frozen fruit and greens come out so smooth, you cannot tell any texture difference. I can throw in whole raw seeds (flax seeds, etc) and they are completely grinded without any problems.
Makes homemade raw sauces with ease. I love how I can throw in a few apples, cinnamon, and water and in a few moments I have raw applesauce, plus you get the nutritional benefits of the peel in there too. You only have to quarter the apple, de-coring if desired. I also have made spaghetti sauce/tomato sauce from whole tomatoes, pear sauce from whole pears, fresh salsa, and other sauces in a matter of minutes.
Turns off by itself. Push your desired setting and let the machine go to work. You don’t have to stand there and hold the lid down or wait to turn it off. The Blendtec has specific digital touchpad settings for every job and it will turn off automatically when the task is down. The ideal multi-task machine! I can start the smoothie and let it go while I clean up, make something else, etc.
Is compact and yet powerful. This machine has a 1560 watt with a 3 HP direct-drive motor and yet doesn’t require any additional counterspace for its powerful engine.
Functionality with the press of a button.The digital touchpad makes it simple to use and perfectly arranged to meet every task.
Durable and professional. This machine is used in the majority of professional businesses, such as coffee shops, juice shops, etc. It is known for its quality and durability.
Simplicity in action. As the description states: You can replace up to nine other kitchen appliances with this easy-to-use countertop blender–no need for a separate grain mill, juicer, bread machine, ice-cream maker, smoothie maker, blender, milkshake maker, coffee grinder, or ice crusher. The all-in-one appliance makes smoothies, fresh juice, ice cream, milkshakes, cappuccinos, margaritas, soups, sauces, breads, dressings, salsas, and more. It can even turn ice to snow and comes with an ice-crushing guarantee.
That is what I call simplicity in action! I hate kitchen gadgets that increase clutter.
In addition to this list, the Blendtec can make ice cream, fondues (wonderfully delicious), peanut butter, in addition to kneading bread dough and preparing and heating soups. It can knead one loaf of bread, a dozen muffins, or a loaf of sweet bread at a time. The machine also comes with a great cookbook with instructions and tons of recipes.
I just have a few simple complaints with this machine:
- It doesn’t have a adjustable timer. It runs for 90 seconds for most of the settings and then turns off. So in the case that I want to run the blender longer, I have to push the button again to run the cycle again. Not a big problem, just a bit annoying.
- It is loud. Yes, this is a high powered blender and can make some noise.
- I don’t like the ice cream. With the requirements of adding ice in order to make ice cream, the results are a very icy consistency. I received the same results with the Vitamix. I prefer my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker because it does not require ice and results in a very creamy consistency.
Why I choose a Blendtec over a Vitamix?
Vitamix is a similar machine to Blendtec and more commonly known because it has been marketed better to the public, but Blendtec is the choice among professionals. First, the Blendtec fits under your countertop. The jar that comes with the Vitamix is too tall to store under the average countertop. You have to store it separately or purchase the additional smaller jar that Vitamix offers. One jar with the Blendtec does it all. The Vitamix has two different jars to accomplish all these tasks. The Vitamix does not turn off by itself and has two different switches that have to be adjusted carefully during the preparation process. I know because my mom has one and it is definitely a pain.
The only disadvantage I found was that the Vitamix had a superior warranty to the Blendtec (7 years as compared to Blendtec’s 3 year warranty on motor base, 1 year on jar, and a lifetime on blade and coupling).
For a thorough visual comparison of the Blendtec vs. Vitamix, watch this video.
When you consider the cost of purchasing all nine of those kitchen items that this Blender can replace…you can save a significant amount of money with one simple machine! A grinder alone costs upwards of $250 dollars.
In conclusion, if you were to invest in one machine that would help you transition to a whole foods lifestyle, this would be the item I would recommend! If you cannot afford a separate grain mill, go with the simplicity of this blender. This is quality in action.
Recently a dear friend inspired me with the idea of creating a mock Zuppa Tuscana recipe from the classic soup at Olive Garden. This has definitely been my favorite item on their menu for the occasions when we visited this restaurant. After experimenting with making it at home, and experiencing such wonderful results, I just had to share the recipe with you. I am sure there are many variations on the web, but this was our adaption. It is my favorite soup of all time, and my husband was quite impressed. It is a new regular on the menu now! Even with bacon (which is special occasion item at our house) and sausage, this dish cost less than $1 per serving, making it very frugal. Deliciously creamy, rich, and full of flavor, I am sure every family member will love it! Top with shredded parmesan cheese and you will be in heaven!
1/2 lb bacon (preferably natural, nitrate free)
1/2 lb chicken Italian sausage or bulk sausage of your choice
4-6 potatoes, diced
1 onion, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, minsed
6 cups chicken stock (you can easily replace some with water as you have available – I used 4 cups stock, 2 cups water)
2 cups whole milk, half & half, or raw cream
1 head of kale (5-6 leaves, as desired), chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese
In a small pan, cook the bacon. Save bacon grease, if desired. Cool and finely chop. In a large pot, cook the sausage, onions, and garlic (in bacon grease, if desired) until the sausage has browned. Crumble sausage as you cook it. Add the potatoes and stock and bring to a boil. Once it has reached a boil, turn it down to low and simmer for 20 minutes or so, just until the potatoes are tender. Add the milk, kale, and bacon and allow to cook for 5-10 minutes. Season to taste. Top with parmesan cheese for extra flavor! Enjoy! Makes 6-8 servings. Freezes well.
Rich flavor and pleasant sweetness with apple and banana together! This recipe works equally well as a delicious muffin or dressed with a frosting for a yummy cupcake. We made this recipe for both our little ones’ birthdays this year in cupcake form and found it incredibly scrumptious! I have adapted the recipe to be soaked as well (in incorporate the benefits of breaking down the phytates), if you desire. I have no doubts this could be easily be used as a soaked cake baked in a 13×9 inch pan, so that is the next experiment!
This was a traditional family breakfast meal during my childhood, and we loved it! I would love watching through the oven door window as these pancakes would puff up beautifully while baking. Served with a sprinkling of powdered sugar, butter, lemon juice and maple syrup is simply scrumptious. Now we have adapted our family favorite recipe for soaking to include the benefit of breaking down the phytates in the grain to make it more readily digestible for your body. Scrumptious! If desired, you can avoid soaking, and simply beat 1 cup milk (in replacement of the acid medium) with 1 cup sprouted flour after beating the eggs. Both methods work well.
Looking for some other helpful visual resources? I recently stumbled upon 
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