antlife » Kitchen & Cellar

Creamy Coconut Milk Yogurt

Betz — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:10:35 +0000

I was recently surprised to find several easy recipes for making yogurt with coconut milk. “Ha! I thought, how smart and easy, why didn’t I think of that sooner.” Our fresh goat’s milk is minimal during the winter. I have only one doe I’m currently getting one quart from. I purposely left her fresh, so I can have milk available if my own breast milk is not enough for our growing 7 month old. I have been giving him a small amount of goats yogurt each day because he seems very interested in food and yogurt is easier to digest than just plain milk (it’s practically pre-digested by the good flora). As a family we enjoy making smoothies with any additional yogurt. And now we are happy to have smoothies made with coconut milk. Thankfully, most babies can handle coconut milk, so if the goats yogurt is not enough, Yosi can enjoy some of our coconut milk yogurt too. Yogurt and kefir is so easy to make. And if you use a cooler to “incubate” the milk, you don’t need electricity to make your own creamy probiotic! Simply put your yogurt in jars with lids screwed on after adding your culture. Put jars in a cooler leaving space between each jar. Pour near boiling water in the cooler around all the jars. Close lid and cover with a towel for about 12 hours.

Here is the website I got the recipe from: Small Footprint Family

I didn’t use a thermometer when heating the milk. I just watched for when the milk is near boiling and turned the heat off. I’ve made this recipe several times now and it has worked just fine. Sometimes, I even mix coconut milk and goats milk and it tastes great too. I must say the beef gelatin really helps give it a nice texture! Some folks may not care for the unique taste of fermented coconut, that said, this recipe tastes best in smoothies or with homemade Grain-Free Granola.

Weekly Tea Party

Betz — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:42:48 +0000

After reading Kim Brenneman’s Large Family Logistics, Ani, Yosi and I have recently adopted a new weekly routine, an afternoon tea party. Usually, we enjoy sitting together sipping tea and nibbling on whatever treat we made together with the ingredients we can find in the pantry for that week. I love how it slows us down and gives the kids quality time with mama. This week was a little different; we wanted to share our tea time with our neighbors.

Ani and I found a recipe in her new cookbook and had a blast dressing up our simple deviled eggs into little white mice with currant eyes and radish tails. Then we blended cream cheese, sour cream and a handful of butterscotch morsels (sent in my mom’s most recent care package) into a rich dip for our strawberry hearts and blueberries!

After our afternoon nap, we warmed up the tea kettle, and made some fancy Ceylon tea with honey and raw goat’s milk for cream. Ani made her friend’s their own place-mats with her artwork. And I used another item from my mom’s box for the table-cloth: a red Indian Sari. The only thing missing were fresh flowers.

Our guests arrived at 4 pm, dressed well and very mannerly and with a bouquet of flowers for Ani. She was tickled pink! We sat down after everyone had a good laugh over the kosher egg mice. Everyone was happy and smiling and enjoying the special treats. The boys left the table with Ani to dance to the classical music playing while I talked more with my friend, their mother.

Overall, it was a great success, and Ani and I look forward to more great tea parties. Some alone and some with guests. I really encourage mothers near and far to plan one with their children and take the time to let the children participate in preparation, party and clean-up. Sit back and enjoy life’s simple pleasures with your treasures from Yah! Cheers!

So easy! Homemade Beef Jerky

Betz — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 20:27:20 +0000

Ani and her jerky stick

Yesterday while buying groceries, I just couldn’t get myself to purchase the natural beef jerky. It was almost $8 for 6oz. So I purchased a 2lb hormone-free beef roast for $8 instead, with the hopes of making my own jerky when I got home.

While looking for recipes online, I noticed that most folks use steak to make jerky. But all types can be used as long as you trim off all noticeable fat. I used this recipe with photos for a guide.

Slice the meat thinly (1/4 inch). I didn’t pay much attention to cutting with or against the grain. I just cut it all different ways, as you can see in the photo.
Soak the meat in a marinade overnight. I used 1/2 cup natural soy sauce, 2 T. kosher Worcestershire sauce, 2 T. sea salt and 2 T. brown sugar (but maple syrup or honey would be better).
The next day, place several pieces of meat per wood skewer. Put one oven rack on the highest level and another at the lowest level. Place aluminum foil on the bottom rack to catch drips. Use the top rack to hold your skewers and allow you meat to hang.
Bake on your lowest setting in your oven for 2-6 hours. Check meat for desired consistency. It should be dark brown or burgundy in color.
Store in a plastic bag in freezer or refrigerator and eat within two weeks of making. It tasted soo delicious, I doubt it will even last a week!

Enjoy! I’m going to try making salmon jerky next and then goat jerky.

Food storage and efoods

Betz — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 00:02:56 +0000

Several days ago, my friend from Colorado sent me a recent article by Flylady.net. I thought it was such a great idea, I just had to share it with others. Here’s what she had to say about making pantry space for food storage:

Even if you have no pantry space, you can easily make pantry space out of almost anything–like the linen closet. What do you do with the linens? Here’s where you need to declutter. First, only two sets of sheets per bed. Why should we store several sets of sheets anyway? That’s crazy. They never get all used. You will have one set obviously on the beds, put the other set (folded very spare and flat) and store it in-between the mattress and box spring. The case of too many sheets solved!

After reading her idea, I quickly gathered up all my sheets, put the best between my mattres/box spring and saved the rest in my sewing box for making quilts. So now I can use my linen closet for the extra food that doesn’t fit in my kitchen cupboards.

We will be getting our first efoods order soon. At first I was a bit hesitant to join efoods because I wasn’t too trilled about their product line. The prepackaged meals are items we would never buy at the store. The only real reason we are investing in these packaged foods is because of their storage life. The meals last about 15 years. You just can’t find any foods that will provide nutrients after 15 yrs. at your local grocery store. We do have things like nutritional supplements, coconut oil (10 year shelf life), grains, lentils and beans in our reserves but if something actually happens someday, we may get pretty tired of only eating sprouts made from our grains. So by adding a few orders of efoods we will have a bit more variety and I don’t have to worry about shelf-life. If you are interested, check out efoods here: efoods global

Rich Moist Flourless Chocolate Cake

Betz — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:21:54 +0000

Here in the States, this time of year, chickens are producing well and you may have an abundance of eggs. Here is a great satisfying recipe to try when you have a chocolate sweet tooth and a excess of eggs to enjoy.

10 oz dark chocolate chips or bar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon peanut butter (optional)
12 free range eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 cup sucanat or rapadura or brown sugar
½ teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In saucepan, on very low heat, melt chocolate, cocoa powder, peanut butter and water together, stirring often. Allow melted chocolate to cool while blending the egg yokes, 1/2 of the sugar and salt for about 3 min. Combine chocolate mixture with creamy egg yokes. In a large bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks are formed. Then beat in the rest of the sugar until stiff peaks are formed again. Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolaty mixture, take note to not over mix.

Butter two 9 inch cake pans or like my case, since I have little kitchen ware, use one large cast iron skillet. After buttering, I placed a circle of parchment paper on the bottom of the pan for popping the cake out easily. Pour batter into pan.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the cake has puffed high and the surface is dry to the touch. Cool cake on a rack for several minutes and enjoy.

Instead of frosting, we ate our cake with sliced strawberries and a tad of maple syrup. The cake tastes great by itself too!

Dairy, Sugar, & Soy-Free Soothing Egg Milk

Betz — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:08:52 +0000

A few years back I followed the anti-Candida diet by Bee. Bee created a awesome milk-like drink with eggs, which is very soothing and satisfying. Infact, after eating an abundance of scrambled or boiled eggs during my pregnancy, now I find myself only wanting this drink. And my 3 year old loves this milk in the mornings when we first wake up. We drink it more often in the winter when our goats are pregnant and we are not getting any fresh milk. Try it, experiment and enjoy!!

Find the original recipe at: Bee’s Egg Milk

I’ve adapted Bee’s recipe to my own taste

2-3 cups filtered water
2 or 3 eggs, from pastured hens
1 T. extra virgin coconut oil
1-2 T. butter
pinch of salt
stevia or molasses to taste
nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves to taste

While heating water in tea kettle or pan to boil, place the rest of the ingredients in blender or food processor. If you do not have some type of blender, place ingredients in a jar and use a hand-held blender. Blend ingredients until well mixed. While blender is still on, pour boiling water over the egg mixture. Blend until nicely mixed and frothy. Sometimes I use 1 whole egg and 2 egg yokes because the whites really make the milk frothy. This milk also tastes fine with only one egg if you are short. Keep in mind if you have never had coconut oil before, to start out with very little because it may make you feel nauseous from its strong anti-bacterial properties.

Using Non-electric Tools and Appliances

Betz — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 03:53:05 +0000

If there was a power outage in your neighborhood for the length of a day, how much of your household appliances and gadgets would be useless?

After a few good outages the past few years, I’ve grown to dislike the electrically powered appliances and tools we own. These include both small and large items such as, a sewing machine, a hot water heater, a grain grinder, an oven, a washer and dryer etc. It’s not that I don’t appreciate electricity. I don’t doubt how wonderful the invention of electrical current is. However, I think that independent solar/wind/water generated power is the ideal situation.

But we do not live in an ideal world. Many are unable to attain independent homemade power because of cost and lack of knowledge and resources. But because of the days in which we live, I believe it is foolish to rely on our local power plants. One small step at a time we should move closer to owning and using non-electric tools and appliances around the house. I also must make mention that I do not just want to make do with the products we find at Wal-Mart. It is essential that we find items that will last a lifetime.

My own list of ideas include:

Learn to enjoy sewing by hand, become very proficient at stitching fast and very well. I’ve heard stories that our great-grandmothers sewed beautiful small perfect stitches that created durable clothing, quilts and crafts.
Invest in a well made iron grain grinder .
Use a clothesline during warmer months, and a indoor drying racks throughout the year.
Use dry land farming irrigation techniques for garden instead of relying on well water being pumped.
Make lots of homemade candles and invest in an Aladdin lamp or other non-electric lighting
Learn to work with leather, investing in a few essential leather tools.
Eventually invest in all the expensive items such as, a wood burning stove for heating and cooking, non-carpeted floors dismissing the need for a vacuum, a hand-pump for the water well and a gas fridge and a well designed root cellar.

More thoughts to come. Please share anything you have found or thought of.

Everyday Uses for Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

Betz — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:23:14 +0000

We use coconut oil for more than cooking at our house. With the naturally occuring anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-candida properties, coconut oil is a good friend in our home. Remember, coconut oil is not a bad fat, though for years it was given a bad rap. It is full of saturated fats and medium chain fatty acids which are very important for your brain, heart and digestion. See Mary Enig’s A New Look at Coconut Oil for more info on the health benefits of coconut oil. Also see Research on Coconut Oil for info on the negative campaign against coconut oil.

Here are several uses for extra virgin coconut oil:

Lotion Coconut oil not only moisturizes your skin, it heals and protects it. When applied topically, coconut oil absorbs into you skin and through your cells, protecting the skin from sun damage and free-radicals formation (which is what ages your skin). It leaves your skin soft, by moisturizing and removing dead skin cells. Many have found relief using it for skin diseases, sores and wounds when applied topically, because of its anti-bacterial nature.
Hair Care Use coconut oil to control dandruff as well as moisturizing your scalp and ends by rubbing through your hair before washing. Every few months I spread it though my hair, put my hair in a braid and allow it to moisturize as I sleep. The next morning wash and style your hair as usual. It works wonders!
Lubricant Coconut oil is an awesome lubricant both for squeaky doors and intercourse. Try it, it works great!
Yeast Infections The natural anti-bacterial/fungal properties make coconut oil perfect for applying on yeast infections. It is safe for both internal and external use as well as using while pregnant (when most women are prone to yest infections).
Candida When taken internally, beginning with a minimal amount and gradually increased, coconut oil helps kill candida. Candida thrive on carbs, so while using coconut oil for killing candida, limiting carbs is ideal. If you suspect you have candida, see a list of Candida Symptoms as well as Bee’s Healing Plan
Animals Recently, I just tried using coconut oil for my chickens. I noticed some very watery stools coming from several of our new chickens, I sprinkled a few teaspoons of coconut oil over their feed. That was several days ago, and since then I haven’t seen any fresh watery stools. Coincidence? Not likely with how well coconut oil kills bad bacteria!
Teet Rub Instead of dipping my goat’s teats in a store bought solution before milking, I rub coconut oil over her teets as well as my hands. I do make sure to wash her utters first with a rag that has been sterilized under boiling water. My method is: wash with rag, rub with oil, milk with hands. Coconut oil is the perfect thing to use for utters, and breasts for that matter, it moisturizes while it cleans.
Toothpaste See: Coconut oil toothpaste recipe
Diaper Rash Diaper rash is usually a sign of an allergy either from foods or from a certain diaper brand or soap. However the occasional rash can be treated with coconut oil and then allowing the bum as much access to air as possible.
Beard Moisturizer My hubby specifically wanted me to mention how well coconut oil works on softening his beard. It really is nice to touch his beard after using coconut oil…especially for kissing! He usually rubs coconut oil on his beard during his shower or before bed.
Weight Loss or Weight Gain See: Eat Fat Loose Fat
Hormone Balance See: Thyroid Health and Virgin Coconut Oil

Everyday Porridge – Gluten Free

Betz — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:59:53 +0000

In order to simplify meals in our house, for breakfasts and snacks we make up a warm bowl of gluten free porridge. Having the same thing for breakfasts may seem boring but in reality it is a comfort that never leaves me wondering “what will I make for breakfast today”? My dear husband prefers his Gluten-Free Coconut Granola but my little one and I eat this hot cereal instead. And have enjoyed it for almost a year now without getting tired of it.

In Africa, some tribes eat millet porridge every single day and sometimes at every meal. They are very healthy and thriving because they prepare their grains and seeds in a way that increases nutrient absorption and digestibility. Eating porridge with raw milk, butter or coconut oil, sea salt and a small amount of natural sweetener like raw honey or stevia and an added egg makes for a complete meal.

As a kid we ate grits all the time but with a high metabolism, I always got hungry after an hour. We ate our grits with sweetener but no butter. Unfortunately carbs do not hand on long but the attition of fat causes them to not only fulfill hunger longer but also assist in slowing down blood sugar levels. Growing children especially need good fats like eggs and coconut oil in order to be healthy.

Here is how we prepare our Everyday Porridge: First choose which grains or seeds you like to use. Quinoa, Brown Rice, Buckwheat, are just a few to choose from. For two people I grind about 3 cups of grain each week for our porridge. I store the flour in a jar in the fridge and take what I need each day. For brown rice and buckwheat it is not critical to soak your flour over night but amaranth, quinoa and millet must be soaked overnight (See: Why Soak Grains and Seeds).

For Unsoaked Grains: For 1 serving, Place about 1 cup of cold water in a saucepan. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup ground grains into the water and stir in one egg. Heat over medium heat until thick. Add desired raw milk, sea salt, sweetener and fat (butter or coconut oil). Do not skimp on the fat, that is your body’s longest burning fuel!!!

For Soaked Grains: Stir soaked mixture into about 1/3 cup of water and proceed with directions above.

Gluten-Free Coconut Granola

Betz — Mon, 04 May 2009 03:47:24 +0000

Normally, for breakfast and snacks I eat my Everyday Porridge recipe but occasionally I sneak a small bowl of my hubby’s gluten-free granola. Here is a recipe I perfected for him since he dose not care for porridge. He likes it warm out of the oven with milk. As always, feel free to adapt and experiment as you wish.

2 cups shredded coconut, unsweetened
1 cup gluten-free flour from ground brown rice, buckwheat, corn or quinoa
1/2 cup seeds (flax, sesame, hemp etc)
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil
1/2 cup organic peanut, cashew or almond butter
1/2 cup honey or sucanat
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Note: if you are using corn, millet or quinoa flours, it is important to soak the flour for several hours in an acidic environment (see Why Soak Grains). Soak 1 cup of flour in about 1/2 cup water with a T. of lemon juice or in a 1/2 cup of yogurt.

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. On low heat, warm the butter, coconut oil, peanut butter, vanilla and sweetener in a saucepan. Pour liquid over dry ingredients and mix well. The mixture should be wet enough to stick together but no more than that. Add more shredded coconut if the mixture is too wet. And more peanut butter or oil if too dry. Bake at 200 degrees for about an hour or until dry. Stir every half hour. Enjoy with raw milk!! Or try it with stewed apples for a treat.