There are just not enough kind things I can say about this sweet, beautiful mama. I truly admire Jennifer, she has a beautiful heart filled with compassion. She's the kind of person that makes you realize there is still kindness in this world.
Please make sure to visit Hybrid Rasta Mama. I suggest you start with her awesome post on coconut oil, 160 Uses for Coconut Oil and if you're like me and love pumpkin, you have to check out her post Pumpkin Recipes Gone Wild.
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Fermenting foods the way our ancestors did is a lost art but one that is making a comeback. Traditionally fermented foods like grass-fed cheese, kefir, miso, olives, pickles, sauerkraut, tempeh, and yogurt are some of the oldest and healthiest foods on the planet. The term “fermented” may sound unpalatable but this ancient preparation and preservation method, which involves breaking down carbohydrates and proteins using microorganisms such as bacteria, molds, and yeast, produces delicious food. More importantly, these foods contain probiotics that can be beneficial to your overall health.
Why should you incorporate traditionally fermented foods into your diet? Here is a short list outlining the benefits and the reasons of why you might want to keep a well-stocked refrigerator of various fermented foods and beverages.
· Fermented foods improve digestion. Fermenting our foods before we eat them is like partially digesting them before we consume them. According to Joanne Slavin, a professor in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota, “…sometimes people who cannot tolerate milk can eat yogurt. That’s because the lactose (which is usually the part people can’t tolerate) in milk is broken down as the milk is fermented and turns into yogurt.”
· Fermented foods restore the proper balance of bacteria in the gut. Do you suffer from lactose intolerance? Gluten intolerance? Constipation? Irritable bowel syndrome? Yeast infections? Allergies? Asthma? All of these conditions have been linked to a lack of good bacteria in the gut.
· Raw, fermented foods are rich in enzymes. Your body needs enzymes to properly digest, absorb, and make full use of your food. As you age, your body’s supply of enzymes decreases. This has caused many scientists to hypothesize that if you could guard against enzyme depletion, you could live a longer, healthier life.
· Fermenting food actually increases the vitamin content. Fermented dairy products consistently reveal an increased level of folic acid which is critical to producing healthy babies as well as pyroxidine, B vitamins, riboflavin and biotin depending on the strains of bacteria present.
· Eating fermented food helps us to absorb the nutrients we’re consuming. You can ingest huge amounts of nutrients, but unless you actually absorb them, they’re useless to you. When you improve digestion, you improve absorption.
· Fermenting food helps to preserve it for longer periods of time. Milk will go bad in the fridge but kefir and yogurt last a lot longer. Sauerkraut, pickles and salsa will keep for months. And if you’ve got a huge batch of produce in your garden that you don’t know how to use up — ferment it!
· Fermenting food is inexpensive. There’s nothing fancy required for this hobby. And many of the foods required to make these recipes are very cheap. You can use inexpensive cabbage to make sauerkraut, or get yourself a kombucha scoby and with just pennies’ worth of water, sugar and tea, you’ve got a health elixir slash soda pop.
· Fermenting food increases the flavor. There’s a reason humans enjoy drinking wine and eating stinky cheese. There’s a reason we like sauerkraut on our hot dogs and salsa on our tortilla chips. It tastes good!
Need a place to start? Looking for some creative ferments? Here are two recipes using produce that is currently in season.
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| Photo Credit Citrus Trees Online |
Spiced Fermented Lemons
Ingredients
Directions
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| Photo Courtesy of Jennifer @ Hybrid Rasta Mama |
Fermented Citrus Beets with Ginger
Ingredients
Directions
Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes Jennifer! xo
About Hybrid Rasta Mama Jennifer, author of Hybrid Rasta Mama, is a former government recruiter turned stay-at-home mama to a precious daughter (“Tiny”) brought earthside in early 2009. She is passionate about conscious parenting, natural living, holistic health/wellness, real foods, and a Waldorf inspired approach to education. Jennifer is committed to breastfeeding (especially extended breastfeeding), bed-sharing, cloth diapering, green living, babywearing, peaceful parenting, playful parenting, and getting children outside. She is a hybrid parent, taking a little of this, throwing in a little of that, and blending it all together to create a parenting style that is centered on what her daughter needs in order to flourish as a human being. Jennifer also lives and breathes reggae music, the Rastafarian culture and way of life. Reggae music and its message touches her soul. You can also find Jennifer on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Networked Blogs, StumbleUpon, and Google +.
Our next stop was at Wade's Mill.
From the website: "
Thanks to technology, you can try this historical mill's products in your home.
This gate is weighted with rocks to help it swing open.
Actual log home of a family with seven children.
The kitchen, living area, and parent's bedroom were on the first floor.Caleb has climbed the ladder in the picture to see where the children slept.
bee gums
root cellar and plunder storage room
This is the barn and rock fencing.
inside the barn
This is a hog pen. The farmers had razorback hogs that would run wild until the fall.
This is inside the spring house. They would keep their butter and other cold storage items on the rocks.
The tour made for a nice walk.
gorgeous tree
Chinese Beef and Broccoli Stir-fry 8,824
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