Wow . . . sugar is BAD!

This clip was on 60 Minutes . . . sugar is worse than I realized. Watch here Now, I'm not eating any actual refined sugar, but this sounds like honey is almost as bad. I have chosen to consume stevia even though it is technically allowed on the GAPS diet, because it is proven to be safe (in its natural form) and does not feed gut pathogens like Candida. Go here to find out more about stevia. This site is affiliated with Donna Gates and the Body Ecology Diet, which is pretty similar to GAPS. So, what are your favorite natural sweeteners?

Fizzy, probiotic goodness

Recently I have started brewing a beverage called water kefir. It is basically sugar water, fermented with a culture known as "grains". Don't worry, these are not the kind of grains you are avoiding on the GAPS diet! They are actually a matrix of beneficial bacteria and beneficial yeasts.

This drink is low in sugar (because the probiotics EAT most of it) and so is allowed on the GAPS diet. I will tell you how to make it.

Step 1: Get your hands on some grains. Ours came from Cultures For Health, but there are lots of places on the internet that sell them, or, see if a friend has extra!

Step 2: Prepare the grains. If you have fresh grains, skip this step. If the grains you have are frozen or dehydrated, you will need to follow the instructions they come with for reactivating them.

Step 3: Mix up the solution. The grains don't like chlorine, so don't use tap water, but a water filter will remove minerals which the grains need. There are two ways around this: either add mineral drops to filtered water, or boil tap water to remove chlorine. I use mineral drops, so I can't vouch for the other method. You want one quart of water for every 1/4 cup of grains you have. Add between 1/4 cup and 1/3 cup sugar, and heat just a little so the sugar dissolves. Organic sugar is better for the grains, but it doesn't really matter how refined it is. Rapadura is fine. I use regular organic sugar plus a bit of molasses (the grains seem to like the molasses or unrefined sugar; it makes the kefir bubbly!) Cool to room temperature. (Note: I don't heat the water enough to the point where it needs cooling, but overly hot water will kill the kefir grains.)

Step 4: Transfer the solution into a quart mason jar and add 1/4 cup of grains. Cover with a piece of cheesecloth or coffee filter, and secure with a rubber band. You want to let air in, but keep dust and bugs out. Let this sit for between 24 hours and 72 hours. I culture for 48 hours.

Step 5: bottling time! You will need a strainer, a funnel, and a glass bottle with a lid. Arrange so the kefir can be strained and funneled into the bottle at the same time. (Put the funnel tip into the bottle, and put the strainer in the funnel.) The strainer is so you can strain out the grains - you wouldn't want to lose them! These can be used over and over again. Close the lid on the bottle and, for maximum fizziness, leave in the bottle for three days.

I haven't even told you the best part yet. The best part is . . . the grains multiply! So you can make even more yummy probiotic soda, and then when you are up to your ears in bottles, you can give extra grains to friends! Isn't that cool? Also, you can eat extra kefir grains like a probiotic supplement.

Here are some cool links about water kefir:
This link lists all the strains of microorganisms that are in water kefir. The Candida in water kefir is NOT Candida Albicans (the one that makes people sick.)
Instructions for making water kefir (with pictures!) plus an enthusiastic explanation of health benefits. This link also sells grains.
Information on milk kefir, with water kefir info as well. Note: milk kefir is completely different from water kefir. Water kefir is dairy-free.

Wool, wool, and more wool

A few months back, I did some spinning for a woman I know who raises sheep. The cool thing is, the sheep are completely grass-fed. Well, someone I know from church gives me this huge bag of wool, plus a spindle and some knitting needles. I must admit, I was a bit confused. Was I meant to spin this and send it back, or what? The next day I call her, and it turns out, the wool is for me to keep! Sort of like payment for the spinning. The wool is a Cotswold-Romney cross, and is remarkably soft for a longwool breed, in my opinion. Apparently, sheep that have not eaten grain have softer wool! Isn't that cool?
The pictures are, in order from top to bottom: spun yarn on my niddy-noddy; my new spindle with carded wool; and washed, uncarded wool.

Almond-Date Energy . . . thingies

It's been a long time since I've posted, but I am on the GAPS diet and would like to share a snack recipe.
This recipe sort of evolved from one for "coconut sweets" in the GAPS book, but we would add sunflower seeds or almonds, and then found out we preferred them without the coconut.
Ingredients:
2 cups almonds
2 cups dates
2-3 tablespoons coconut oil
1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional but yummy!)
shredded coconut (optional)
Instructions:
1. Blend the almonds in the food processor until finely chopped - they don't have to be like nut flour, but a bit like the crumble topping for a cake
2. Add the dates and blend - this will make a scary sound, but don't worry, your food processor is working fine.
3. Add coconut oil, salt, and cinnamon, and more dates if it isn't very sticky. You can add a bit of shredded coconut here if you have some on hand.
4. Remove lid and blade, and shape into balls. You can do large balls and shape these into bars, but we like them just as balls. You can also press the "dough" into a pan and cut into squares once it's chilled. Don't worry if they are hard to form: they will firm up in the fridge.
5. Refrigerate, and in a few hours you will have a yummy snack!

Win good books!

Go to Food Renegade to win a couple of nutrition books!

Book review: The Patron Saint of Butterflies

I read the book mentioned in the heading today. It featured two girls, Honey and Agnes, both raised in a cult/commune known as Mount Blessing. Honey hates the cult, but Agnes wants to be a saint. The two girls had been very close, but are drifting apart. Agnes' grandmother, Nana Pete makes an unexpected visit during a holy week, and discovers a sinister secret about the cult. She smuggles both girls and Agnes' brother Benny away after Emmanuel, the cult leader, does a botch job of reattaching Benny's severed finger, endangering his life. Honey is happy away from the cult, but Agnes wishes she were back in Mount Blessing, and is still trying to be a saint. But Agnes changes, and finally must confront Emmanuel.

I liked this book because it doesn't have ex-cult members becoming atheists upon leaving the evil cult. There was one other book like that but it wasn't as exciting. This book shows Agnes realizing she can be against the cult and still emulate her namesake Saint Agnes.

Random cuteness: Baby Dolphin!

Random cuteness: Kittens nursing!

Melt-and-Pour soap is easy and fun!

I purchased 32 oz of soap base, molds, lavender fragrance, and some dried lavender/orange peel to make soap. So far I have made three batches of soap, two of them lavender and one of them tea tree oil. What I found interesting is that even though the instructions say you can get burned, it is only likely to happen if you use the microwave. Heating the soap to melt in a double boiler is more like when you have a candle at church, and some of the wax drips on to you. It doesn't hurt, but it feels hot. Now the microwave, it will make the soap hot enough to burn you.
You might say that making soap from a melt-and-pour base is not really natural. Granted, there are some strange ingredients in the base, but really nothing that wouldn't be in ordinary soap. It is also possible to purchase all-organic melt-and-pour base at Bramble clBerry. Also you can choose to use only natural coloring and pure essential oils as fragrance. I'm not quite a purist yet with the fragrance, but I'll probably be m when I have more money to buy the essential oils. Someday I want to have a business selling handmade natural soap, hand-dipped aromatherapy beeswax candles, and undyed handspun natural fiber yarns. That would be so cool.

What is Disney REALLY telling your child?

I haven't really posted in a while - maybe because I've been busy spinning and just generally haven't had much to say. But this article really caught my eye and I would like other peoples' opinions on it.
This link tells of the messages in Disney films which are specific to young men. It seems as though in every Disney movie, the men are exalted for being physically strong and large, and are portrayed behaving in sexist ways toward women.
This link shows the messages Disney is showing to girls, which is basically that you have to be pretty, thin, white, etc. I would like anyone reading this post to comment on it about what they think.

Adventures in Crafts

Right now I am spinning grey angora (SOFT!!!!), getting ready to knit a Swirl Hat out of handspun garnetted yarn that looks like candy canes, and sewing some red polka-dot slippers. I have three green jalepenos on my plant, which I need to pick soon.

Batt giveaway!

There is this great website called Phat Fiber where you can win art batts! Today they are giving away a Lanitium ex Machina Eternal Love art batt. Go here to enter to win!

Wooly Days

I spun, dyed, knitted and felted these fingerless gloves that I hope to sell someday. I am also spinning some Cormo-Romeldale fleece that I got at a fiber festival - check out the pics. I plan to ply it and knit up some nice soft socks. The wool is so dreamy to spin - Cormo is so on my sheep wish list!
In other news, the peas are being eaten and the squash and melons suffer from powdery mildew. I plan to use enzymes to kill the bugs and spray the mildew with diluted milk - heard about the second tip in Grow Great Grub, by Gayla Trail. Great book, she also wrote You Grow Girl. Grow Great Grub is definitely more guy-friendly, and has great tips for growing organic edibles in small spaces. So, what's going on in YOUR gardens and fiber workshops?

Musings of a Teenage Spinner

I am carding and spinning my Suri alpaca outside where my allergies don't bother me. It is pleasant work, when the fiber doesn't get dirty. People come and ask what I am doing, and I try to explain: I am spinning, making yarn. One man remarked that you don't usually see kids my age doing that kind of thing. I know it must look odd, but I like how much more intimately involved you get to be with your fiber than just knitting. It does feel weird, however, that doing what people did to clothe themselves for thousands of years costs me most of my allowance.

Green Pastures GIVEAWAY!

Enter here to win $70 worth of Green Pasture products including fermented cod liver oil and coconut ghee.

A dream to spin

I went to the Indiana Fiber and Music festival last week, and got a pound of Cormo-Romeldale cross wool, and 12 ounces of Suri alpaca! I started spinning the Suri and it is tricky, but so soft and such a long staple length, it is just begging to be knitted into something lacy. I am also knitting a sweater from Ethnic Knitting Discovery (the Dutch Sampler Pullover, actually) out of some handspun a friend gave me. Fun stuff!

Milk can't make an optimist fat!

Here's my logic: The cream is low-carb, and the skim milk is fat-free. So it's all safe to drink, and won't make you fat. :)
That is, of course, if you are an optimist.
Her's another one: An optimist says every cloud has a silver lining, but a pessimist says every silver lining has a cloud behind it.
An optimist sees the glass as half full, and a pessimist sees the glass as half empty, but they're in fact both wrong if it is slightly more or slightly less than 50% full.

Sad

Yesterday we lost our gerbil, Pippin. He had been very sleepy for several days but we didn't think anything of it. Yesterday morning he was hunched over, had ruffled fur, and wouldn't eat even if we tried to hand-feed him. We did some internet research and fed him porridge, which he ate a bit of. We tried to give him some antibiotics for wet-tail but he wouldn't take them. He just got worse and worse and in the afternoon he stopped breathing. He is in the freezer and we will bury him in our garden plot at Blackacre Farm but he really is in pet heaven with our cat Debbie. They are friends because 'the lion shall lay down with the lamb' ought to also mean 'the cat shall lie down with the gerbil'!

Cultures for Health Water Kefir Starter GIVEAWAY!

Wellness Mama is having a giveaway from Cultures for Health of water kefir starter! I have never made this but really want to! It is like healthy soda pop.

Spring Foraging Fun - Chickweed!

I just learned how to identify chickweed - lobed leaves, starry white flowers(buds in my case!), fine hair on one side, and lack of sap when stem is broken. It is a bit tricky to pick it out among all the other weeds, but not too hard. I just gathered enough for a batch of sun/moon powered tea. Right now I am drinking sun/moon violet tea (from dried violets a friend got me from a middle-eastern store) and the taste is SO superior to the boiled water version. Chickweed contains natural saponins (you can use it as soap) which break down bacteria (and some people say fat cells too) and other nasties, a general nutritious detoxifying herb.
Today I also made cinnamon rolls - the recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, but with stevia/erythritol and I added raisins. They were delicious!