Just Another Day In Paradise

My cultured kitchen

Here is a tour of my kitchen. I have most of these bowls and jars in the cabinets and on whatever free counter space I can find. 

In the blue bowl I'm soaking flour with kefir to make pancakes for tomorrow's breakfast and in the yellow bowl I'm soaking red beans for tomorrow night's dinner. The small green bowl on top of the yellow bowl has a few rinsed egg shells which I put in the kefir water to give minerals to the grains. 

Next to our refrigerator I'm brewing espresso coffee grounds in a half gallon Ball mason jar in cold water to make the Perfect Iced Coffee. On the right I'm doing a second fermentation with blackberry syrup to make probiotic blackberry juice.

In this cabinet I'm making water kefir in the half gallon mason jar on the left, fermented kimchi in the middle mason jar and milk kefir in the quart size mason jar on the right.

Right next to my coffee maker I'm fermenting some kombucha tea. The SCOBY keeps growing more every week. I usually peel off the SCOBY baby and feed it to the chickens. They love it! ;-)

Here is my Yogourmet yogurt maker sitting n the counter next to my Kitchenaid.

Pink...

Some of my favorite health and nutritional products

Nutritional supplements

Probiotic capsules

Fermented Cod liver/Butter oil

Coconut oil

Transfer Factor (colostrum based daily immune support) 

Elderberry extract

Himalayan Crystal Salt Inhaler

Celtic Sea Salt

Kitchen tools and gadgets

Fruit Infusion Pitcher

Nylon mesh strainer for straining kefir grains

Cheese cloth 

Kombucha dispenser

Yogurt maker

1/2 gallon mason jars for water kefir

hand blender for making mayonnaise  

Ball Mouth Plastic Storage Caps

Cookbooks

Nourishing Traditions

GAPS: Natural Treatment for Autism, Dyspraxia, A.D.D., Dyslexia, A.D.H.D., Depression, Schizophrenia

Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods

Green Smoothie Recipes & other Healthy Smoothie Recipes

Cultured Food Life: Learn to Make Probiotic Foods in Your Home

The Home Creamery: Make Your Own Fresh Dairy Products

Wordless Wednesday

Before...

After

Yellow...

My sweet little girl and her Daddy picked these flowers for me from our back yard Sunday afternoon. This was right after she painted her arms and face with blackberries. :) Isn't she darling?

Peaches

Homemade blackberry jello

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons Unflavored gelatin

1 cup fresh blackberry juice

1/2 cup cool water

1/2 cup hot water

Directions:

1. Pour the cool water in a glass bowl and add the gelatin powder.
2. Stir until dissolved.
3. Add the 1/2 cup of hot water and stir to mix.
4. Combine this with the juice and mix well.
5. Pour the jello mixture in glass jars.
6. Put in the fridge, covered, for at least 2-3 hours or overnight and serve.

Our garden in mid-July

We started out with 4 apples, but one fell off and we ate one last night. :-)

I can't tell if this is one of our honeybees or a mason bee. 

I think I might make some stuffed peppers with these.

These little purple tomatoes are very sweet. I usually have a few for breakfast during our morning walk.

Almost ready...

Sweet white corn

Basil, my favorite herb.

We have been getting abvout 3 cups of blackberries every evening.

Sweet potatoes

Sunflowers!!!

Homemade blackberry probiotic juice

Kefir water

Fresh blackberries

Press the blackberries through a foood mill.

Strain through a plastic mesh strainer.

Enjoy! :-)

I never imagined...

I could love him so much!

Lacto-Fermented Kimchi recipe

Ingredients*

• 1 head Napa cabbage, cored and chopped
• 1 cup of juliened carrots
• 1 tablespoon fresh, chopped ginger
• 2 small sweet peppers, juliened
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1-1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/4 cup whey

Chop cabbage, carrots, ginger, peppers and garlic by hand. Combine all ingredients in a medium size mixing bowl. Cover with a tea towel and leave to sit at room temperature for 1/2 hour while the salt helps pull the juices out of the veggies. Pound a few times with a potato masher to make sure it is getting juicy. Leave for another 1/2 hour if desired, or proceed.

Transfer ingredients to a clean quart-size, wide mouth jar. Press down firmly as you continue to fill the jas so that liquid comes to the top of the mixture.

Leave 1” space at the top of the jar. Put on lid and band and screw tightly.

Allow to ferment at room temperature for three to seven days. In the first 24 hours, open the jar and press down firmly on the ingredients a few times to make sure the brine is fully covering the mixture. It will continue to be released over time.

*This recipe was adapted from many different sources.

Puerto Rican style codfish stew

Ingredients:

• 1 pound salted cod fish
• 4 potatoes, sliced thick
• 2 onions, sliced
• 4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
• 2 large cloves garlic minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 (8 ounce) can chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Boil the salted cod and potatoes in about 2 quarts of water. Drain and cut the fish into bite-size pieces.
2. Layer the half of each ingredient in the following order: potatoes, cod fish, onions, hard-boiled eggs and garlic. Place the bay leaf on top, then pour chopped tomatoes and half the olive oil. Repeat with the remaining ingredients in the same order. Do not stir.
3. Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Serve over rice.