Borscht

Two new and tasty recipes in one week! We're on a roll. This one is adapted from The Frugal Gourmet On Our Immigrant Ancestors by Jeff Smith, the Frugal Gourmet. I have a couple of cookbooks by him - this one and one on American folk cooking. They are both really good; I have learned a lot from these books, and he makes use of lots of traditional foods. His books are the where I have gotten the most practice making things with new and different cuts of meat, and he uses a lot of stock. Even the non-traditional items in his recipes are easily edited to make them even healthier. Instead of cooking cabbage into the soup, I omitted cabbage and served the soup with lots of home-made sauerkraut. The original recipe also calls for lamb stew meat, but we bought 1/4 beef recently, so I used ground beef and heart.

Borscht
1 lb. ground beef
2 oz. ground beef heart (taste is not distinguishable in a soup and is good for you!)
1 onion, chopped
1 qt. stewed tomatoes (these were frozen from our garden this summer)
3 very large beets, peeled and chopped
3 quarts home-made beef stock
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
sauerkraut
sour cream

Brown meat and onion. Add tomatoes, beets, stock, vinegar, lemon juice, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until beets are tender.
Serve with plenty of sauerkraut and cream (if you are able to have cream.)

White Bean Chili

Ben and Tracy stopped by Sunday on their way home from Jake (Ben's brother) and Erin's wedding. We were glad to get to visit them, and for this occasion, I tried a new recipe. Navy beans and lentils are GAPS-friendly beans, so this is a GAPS-friendly recipe. We liked it and will definitely do it again. It was warm on a cool fall evening and filling. It was adapted from Paula Dean's White Bean Chili recipe.

White Bean Chili
1 lb dried navy beans
5 cups chicken stock
4 T. ghee (butter would work, but Owen and I are back off of dairy until he gets over his cold)
1 cup onion, chopped
1 ancho chile, chopped
plus enough red bell pepper to make 1.5 cups total
meat from 1 chicken, boiled, removed from bones, and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 T. (generous) cumin seeds
1 T. (generous) oregano
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
6 garlic cloves
fresh tomatoes and avocado
olive oil

Bring beans to boil in water, remove from heat, and soak overnight.
Boil chicken until done. Cool chicken and remove from bones. Cut into bite-sized pieces and refrigerate until needed. Put bones back into pot to continue making stock.
Drain water from beans, and cook in chicken stock, adding more if necessary. Cook about 1 1/2 hours.
Saute peppers and onions in ghee. Add to beans. Add chicken, cumin, oregano, red pepper, cilantro. Simmer 1/2 hour.
Crush garlic and stir into soup. Remove from heat.
Serve with chopped tomatoes and avocado drizzled with olive oil.

Trip to The South - Tn and AL

We really miss our families. Being so close to home last year was a real treat, and we certainly got spoiled. We've been living north of the Mason-Dixon line for about three months now, and we really needed a visit back in the South by the time Abram's fall break rolled around. We got a good deal on plane tickets, so we were off!
We arrived in Nashville Friday, and Billy and Caleb met us at the airport. Caleb and his family were in for his fall break, so that was lucky timing. Billy started his first batch of beer from grains that day. First all the men had to watch a training video while Billy took notes.

Then he toasted a some of the grains in the oven.

They extracted the malt (mashed it, actually) in a specially rigged cooler. The lautering cooler kept the hot water that they poured over the grains at the right temperature. After mashing, they lautered it - drained the extracted malt water into. The grains themselves acted as the sieve. Billy's planning to make a batch from all his own stuff - water from his farm, grains he has grown, and hops he grew and collected from the hops vines we gave them this summer. Maybe by then, I'll be able to try some.
While the men were doing the manly art of making beer, Tayla and Owen and I picked the last of the garden offerings - Tabasco peppers, sweet peppers, basil, and tomatoes. I made 3 small jars of hot pepper vinegar, a tomato-mozzarella-basil salad for Saturday, and had some tomatoes and peppers to give away.

We got to meet baby Carter that afternoon. He looks just like a little Steve! He looks huge in the picture, but he seemed so small (compared to my 30 pound chunky monkey). It's hard to remember Owen ever being that size, although he must have been.

Saturday we all went to Will and Alison's house for dinner and games. There were lots of folks there: Will, Alison, Roman, and Keiko (of course), Ma, Billy, Sharon, us, Lauren, Steve, Electra, and Carter, Caleb, Kirsten, and Tayla, Jesse, Rossitsa, Kristiyana, Kalina, and Beverly.
We all had a good time visiting and playing games, oohing over baby Carter, and the babies due in the spring. Kirsten and Rossitsa are both expecting little ones!

Unfortunately, the camera broke at this point, so there are no more pictures of our trip :-(.

Sunday, Sharon lent us her car, and we drove down to visit Anne, Granddaddy, and Micah. Owen started a chorus of, "Micah, Micah, Micah," as soon as we turned into the driveway. We had a fire that evening and had hot dogs roasted on it for dinner. Owen also enjoyed riding in the wagon.
Monday we got a tour of their new office space which seemed quite large, and had a picnic lunch at the hospital. Owen wanted another fire; he's a true pyro! Tuesday we headed back to Hillsboro.
Abram and Billy got to go on a short fishing excursion while Sharon, Owen, and I went to visit Lauren and Carter.
We went to bed early and got up even earlier. Owen wasn't feeling well, so we got up at 2:30 instead of 4 am. He did well on the flight home, but has been a little under the weather. He is feeling better now, thank goodness.
We were really glad to be able to visit with everyone even if it was a short trip. We are already counting the days until Christmas when we can see you all again.

AAP Increases Vitamin D Recommendation

We take Green Pastures' high vitamin cod liver oil (CLO) daily. We each get about 5750IU (115% adult RDA) of vitamin A and 575IU (140% adult RDA) of vitamin D in our morning's 1/2 teaspoon. Soon we will start taking a fermented CLO which will provide a similar amount of vitamins in about 1/4 teaspoon. This CLO is closer to traditional fish/fish liver "supplements."
Upon looking back at the Weston A. Price Associations recommendations, I think I will increase my dosage. Hmm...glad I looked at that just now.

You may have seen my fridge post with the rotting fish - I mean fermented fish sauce. I've still not filtered or tried it. This is what people from Rome to Thailand used as a salty condiment (and still do all over Asia). Norsemen had barrels of fermented cod livers to eat from.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has even realized the importance of plenty of vitamin D and increased the recommendation for babies and children to 400IU (from 200IU).

Vitamin D helps build strong bones through the regulation of calcium absorption and use. It works synergistically with vitamin A, and consuming the the two vitamins in a 1:10 (D:A) ratio seems to prevent the body from absorbing or storing too much of these fat-soluble vitamins.

It should also be noted that the FDA allows many substances to be labeled as the same vitamin that are not really the same: The form of vitamin A that our bodies uses is retinol; this is the form found in CLO and other animal foods including liver. Beta-carotene is often label as vitamin A in foods and supplements, but only about 25% of the beta-carotene we eat is converted to retinol which the body can use - and that's on a good day. You see, the body needs fats to convert beta-carotene to retinol, so it is important to consume things like carrots and greens with fat such as cream, butter, or lard. Too much beta-carotene can be toxic.
We make vitamin D when we are exposed to UVB rays from the sun, but most of us don't spend much time in the sun, and when we do, we often cover up and worse yet - slather ourselves with sunscreen (which is made of toxic chemicals) to block the sun's rays, and "synthetic D₂ has been linked to hyperactivity, coronary heart disease and other allergic reactions." -WAPF

So, it may taste a little fishy, but it's well worth the effort.

Why are you eating all that weird stuff, and when will you eat normal food again?

What's wrong with eating starches, and grains, and . . . ?

Owen and I have been on a special diet for more than 2 months now. To most people, I'm sure it just seems weird - another strange thing we've done in a whole line of odd things. I am posting some excerpts from emails I recently sent to Carolyn and Alison explaining why we embarked on this journey, why we took Owen to a dentist, and where we are headed:

The book Gut and Psychology Syndrome was really helpful, and I have also read bits and pieces from Breaking the Vicious Cycle (http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/). I have learned a lot from mothers on a couple of yahoo email lists including the Weston Price Baby list I own, the leakygut list and the GAPS help list.
We have been eating a mostly whole foods diet with grass fed meats and milk, mostly organic veggies, about 70% of our grains were soaked/sprouted/fermented, and mostly organic fruit for about 4 or 5 years now, and we were still having what appear to be nutritional issues. I am hungry all the time (even before pregnancy and nursing), Owen's teeth (we do brush, but I don't think that it has that much to do with tooth decay - the main issue is nutrition with tooth decay), Owen's crankiness as a young baby, his excess spitting up, his still difficult sleep. . . We also seem to have some food and environmental sensitivities. The dentist referred us to a doctor who works with a nutritionist and does mostly nutritional analysis and counseling, but we can see him until the 24th of Sept.; he is in high demand.
So, until then, we are doing a very strict GAPS diet introduction. Hopefully, he will have some helpful advise. I am also going to discuss celiac testing for Owen as I have a nagging worry over that - not exactly sure why except for the teeth. There is some newer stool testing that seems to be more accurate in younger children than the older blood tests. I'd like to know what the dr thinks.
GAPS is really just the latest iteration of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet which was developed for celiac patients (back when celiac disease was more loosely defined to encompass a broader scope of issues than small intestine degeneration due to gluten intolerance). The ideas set forth by Campbell-McBride are not really all that revolutionary. She is mostly in agreement with the developers of the SCD as well as with tradtional food advocates and researchers such as Weston Price. Her big push to use prepared probiotics is a bit different, but there are certainly people who have seen great results without capsules of probiotics and used lots of probiotic foods instead.
Long term I know it is not realistic to never eat modern/processed starches again, but I do think it is a reasonable goal to steer away from processed foods - especially nutrient poor starches and to eat mostly whole vegetables, meats, carefully prepared grains (if you can), as well as fermented foods. I think that eating these things for a lifetime would certainly be wise and healthful. It is also much less expensive to eat this way. Eating cheap cuts of meat with bones to make stock, fresh local, organic veggies, and pastured eggs is the cheapest we have eaten in years! That doesn't even take into account what we spent eating out occasionally, and food costs overall are rising here in the US. Wheat and corn are more than double what they used to be - almost triple at the store.
I certainly miss my milk - especially buying the most beautiful $5/gallon Jersey milk from the Amish farmers right at the farm, but we will be adding it in, in due time. And I do miss beer; we're still making home brew - just not for me. But mostly, I have realized over the past few weeks that a lot of the starches we were eating were just fluff in our diets; they really aren't necessary. We are getting plenty of simple sugars from the veggies and now limited local fruits that we can get.
I guess our long term goals will be more clear once we have talked with the new dr and had any necessary testing done. With GAPS, you start off with just meats, broth, and cooked and fermented veggies since most people tolerate those well and since these things are rather easily digested. From there you add in foods methodically - ghee, eggs, avacado, olive oil, raw veggies, fruits, fermented dairy (so all the lactose is gone), dairy, then some grains may be trialed starting with rice. Hopefully, we will be able to add back things to make our diet a bit more varied and "normal." I think it would certainly be wise to always keep a variety of fermented foods in our diets, but I am still undecided about the capsule probiotics after we have gone through a course and are back to maintenance.
Sorry for the novel. If you are interested, the GAPS book is really interesting and not too long for a mama to read during nap times. It was just reprinted, so I think copies should be available again.
Sent to Carolyn September 11, 2008

Owen has some serious tooth decay that I noticed just before we moved. I have recently been looking back at pictures to try to pin point when it started. (See pictures for a progression.) His lateral incisors are the worst, and they look fine in pictures from around 12 months, but they have significant enamel loss down to the dentin and are very short now. We pretty much went to letting him eat anything (that was "real" food) around a year, and I have some serious concerns about grains being a culprit.
I have done a lot of research on infant tooth decay since I noticed his problem, and there seem to be a lot of different ideas out there, none of which really make 100% sense to me. I believe the root of the problem is nutritional - probably partly my diet during pregnancy/nursing and partly his diet. Since we have been eating what I consider to be a good diet for some years now, I think we must not be properly absorbing the nutrients in our food - again, I think this relates back to grains.
We have started a diet based on the specific carbohydrate diet that excludes all grains and starches and for a time disaccharides such as lactose. We have now added back kefir and will also do yoghurt as they have all the lactose used up in the culturing process, so we are not dairy-free now. We stared right after we moved and I read a book called Gut and Psychology Syndrome which discusses the diet (which is from the 1950's) and other measures to heal the gut. All of the advice was very practical and jived with my current understanding of nutrition. Basically, polysaccharides (starches in grains, potatoes, etc.) and disaccharides (lactose, sucrose(table sugar)) are difficult to digest and therefore contribute to bad flora growing in the gut, so the only sugars used on the diet are simple sugars which do not need further digestion to be used by the body - honey and the sugars in ripe fruits and in vegetables (mostly glucose and fructose). We are also eating fermented foods at every meal and taking a probiotic to help colonize our guts with better flora and heal them. Owen, of course, is still getting lactose in breast milk.
We saw a holistic dentist in Philadelphia because I wanted confirmation that I hadn't missed something obvious and to make sure there wasn't anything that ought to be done to his poor crumbling teeth. The dentist mostly confirmed that we should beef up his diet and see a nutritional-minded doctor. He also confirmed that we have bad gut flora, so we were already on the right track. He said Owen wouldn't be experiencing any pain and there is nothing to do to the teeth themselves at this time. So, we are not going back for any check-ups - only if we see a change that needs to be addressed. The nutrition doctor had some supplements to suggest but overall thought Owen was eating really well.
We had started 1x a day brushing, and the dentist suggested 2x and no nursing between brushing and bed. We did add the second brushing to our routine, and I feel conflicted about it as Owen really hates brushing, so I have to hold him down twice a day and force his mouth open to do it; it seems so violating, and I'm just not sure it really helps. On the other hand the actual brushing (as opposed to the violation of his personal space by forcing something into his mouth) shouldn't hurt anything either. What's a mama to do?
We are slowly trying to transition Owen to going to sleep without nursing, but with the big changes that came with the move, his sleep has been worse, so this is really a work in very slow progress. Again I have conflicting feelings on this as I believe nursing is one of the best things I can do for his dental health as well as his physical and emotional well-being. The studies on night-nursing and dental carries are divided and there is no clear information that tells me that the best thing to do for him is to night-wean. He often nurses to sleep and usually nurses 2-4 or even 6 times throughout the night still. Before we moved, he was down to about 1 nursing during my normal sleeping hours.
Abram and I think that the decay seems to have stopped or at least slowed down so much that it is really hard to notice since we moved/started the new diet. So for now, I think the problem is being managed. We'll see how things go.
Sent to Alison September 30, 2008

Click to enlarge pictures.
12 months


14 months


17 months


So, we try to eat plenty of good fats and bone broth at least once a day from properly raised animals. We eat most vegetables and limited fruits. We try to eat as many local, in-season foods as we can because these are the least expensive (in overall cost - see Michael Pollon post) and the most nutritious. We are now eating lacotose-"free" dairy including kefir, aged cheeses, and butter. We take cod liver oil and butter oil daily because of the research of Weston Price.
Sometimes explaining our food idiosyncrasies to people feels overwhelming. Sometimes I feel like people are intimidated by our choices or figure we disapprove of theirs. Of course I think that most people in our country could really use some improvements in their diet. Of course I wish for the people I love and care about most to enjoy long and healthy lives, and I think eating well is a key factor in that. But, believe it or not, I know I don't have all the answers and know that there are multiple paths to wellness and health. That's not to say that I think all views are equally valid, but they are all certainly worth considering and holding up to the light of day to see what they have to offer. So, when you see us eating sauerkraut with almost every meal and drinking broth or soured milk or steering Owen away from bread or potatoes, I hope it'll make a little more sense why we do what we do. I welcome questions and am always looking to learn more, so by all means, speak up if you want to learn or share!

Micheal Pollan Open Letter To the President-Elect

I just finished reading this New York Times article from Micheal Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma. Certainly with my libertarian leanings, I do not agree with all of his policy proposals, but the crux of his argument is sound. It's a long article but certainly worth a read.
As you know, food is very important to us around here. We feel very fortunate to be living in an area with such wonderful and abundant local food. Even when we have been in "drier" climates, we have made substantial efforts to locate and support local food.
Along our journey to eating and living better - finding, building, and maintaining the best health we can there have been some really enlightening books from which I have learned a lot, some books that have helped give me courage to do what I already knew was best, and others that have sent succor to a soul weary of a world that is not ready to hear.
I will be starting a new series of posts that highlight some of these books. So, stay tuned.

Another Road Trip!

Why is Owen smiling? Well, Owen smiles a lot, and he especially likes to smile for the camera. Mama and Daddy are smiling because we bought gas in Delaware for $2.889/gallon!

He's also smiling because he made two new friends this weekend and went camping and to the beach. What's not to love about that?
We met Allen, his fiancee Karie, and her little girl Kailey near Cape Henlopen State Park for camping. The state park was all filled up, so Allen and Karie found a private campground with fishing ponds, a huge stack of free firewood, and no other tent campers. We cooked over the fire Saturday night and this morning. Owen and Kailey especially liked the fire. As soon as Owen woke for the day, he tried to get out of the tent, and repeated, "fi, fi, fi," ("fire, fire, fire"). It was a good think Allen had rebuilt the fire before his early morning run, as both the kids enjoyed keeping warm first thing in the morning, and we could get breakfast going.

Allen and Kailey brought along their fishing poles, so they did a bit of fishing in the pond this morning. I believe all the catch were bream and were released. Sunny tried to take a bite out of the first fish of the day, but seemed to get a bit of a rough touch on a sharp fin.
After we packed up out tents, we went to the beach at Cape Henlopen where Owen and Kailey enjoyed the COLD water, playing in the sand, and looking for shells. We had a tasty picnic on the beach, and said our good-byes.

Owen got a great nap on the way home, and we got gas for $2.779 in Maryland to boot!
Thanks for a great weekend guys!

Dried Tomatoes

My friend Dianne gave me some of the last of this year's tomatoes when we were down visiting in Virginia, and I decided to keep a few to eat sliced, but to dry the rest. Dried tomatoes are great as a snack or added to tomato sauces to give it a rich flavor. We like them chopped up and mixed into meatloaf, boiled with a little water and blended to make pizza sauce, and just plain. Most of the tomatoes were Romas which are great for drying since they are really meaty - not watery.

Dried Tomatoes Wash tomatoes. Cut away stem ends and any spots. Quarter Romas, or cut other tomatoes into ~1" wedges (or for crispier ones, 1/4 -3/8" slices). Place on dehydrator trays, leaving room for air to flow. Dry overnight at 135F. Cool. Pack into glass jars for later use.

Chistmas Goodies

We really like to make as many of our own Christmas gifts as we can. Here is a partial list of what we are doing right now:
coffee liqueur (both)
orange liqueur (both)
tarragon vinegar (both)
felted ornaments (Melinda)
chain mail jewelry and other items (Abram)
reusable shopping bags (Melinda)

Abram roasted the coffee himself for the liqueur. We are straining it after allowing the infusion three weeks.
Here's the recipe:



Coffee Liqueur
8 cups sugar
4 cups water
1 cup freshly ground coffee beans
2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise
brandy
vodka
Make a simple syrup by heating the sugar and water until the sugar dissolves completely. Add the coffee, vanilla beans, and the simple syrup to a 1 gallon jar and allow to cool to room temperature. After mixture has cooled, add 1/2 brandy and 1/2 vodka to fill the jar (about 5 cups each). Set aside for three weeks. Strain liqueur, and bottle.

Visiting Friends in VA

We were really glad to visit friends in Virginia Friday and Saturday. I didn't get many pictures.
Friday we visited friends Dianne, Christian, Jen, and Sterling (I'm not sure this is how you spell his name) at the newly restored Montpelier and got to see Dolley's kitchen that Christian and Dianne have put a lot of work into. It looks fabulous, y'all! I'd love to come work in it or to cook outside over the fire. Owen got to explore the Hands on History Tent's collection of tools too.
Then we headed to Charlottesville while Owen got in a nap. Abram attended the UVA classic department's Constantine lecture while Owen and I dropped by our favorite apple orchard to get some Albemarle Pipins - the best apples in the world. Alas, they will not be ready for a few more weeks, so we got a bushel of some really tasty half-brothers of theirs, the Virginia Gold apple. Raw cider production is not yet going so we will have to find a good cider maker right here at home. Then we dropped by our friend Kathryn's for a short visit before meeting Abram at the reception after the lecture. We know when to show up!
We stayed with Dianne and her husband Ted Friday night. Saturday morning, Owen enjoyed seeing Dianne feeding a calf and letting the chickens out of the coop. Seeing her lovely, happy birds pecking around the yard made me miss our chickens. Dianne took us for a tour of Montpelier (it was really amazing to see it finished) and we visited briefly with Don and Hugh who were working that day. Then we headed to the Fiber Festival where Dianne found a book with a sweater pattern and I picked out a charcoal grey and a misty grey alpaca wool. It is so wonderfully, buttery soft. Owen got to look at and pet sheep, goats, alpacas, llamas, rabbits, and border collies with Abram. Back at her house, Owen got a much needed nap which he couldn't seem to get on my back at the festival, and Abram got one too. After nap time, Owen, Dianne, and I picked tomatoes in the garden, threw the ball for the dogs until they were plum tuckered out, collected the eggs, and sat and visited in the grass.
We enjoyed a dinner of juicy hamburgers from their own cow, lima beans, and vintage 2007 and 2008 beets. While I preferred the vintage 2007 beets, Dianne was partial to the 2008 ones. Dianne sent us home with a jar of pink apple sauce (it'll be a great treat soon), eggs from her chickens, and the tomatoes we had picked that afternoon.
We were so glad to have a chance to visit.

Cooking

We have a really tiny kitchen, so the very spacious living room closet serves us well as extra storage for cooking supplies. Owen enjoys looking through cabinets (any cabinets - not just these), and Thursday he had a grand time working with the all the things in the living room closet.
I asked him what he was doing, and he replied, "cook."
Then I asked, "What are you cooking?"
"Soup." (Yup, we eat soup a lot around here, so that's what he's used to seeing me cook.)
"What are you going to put in your soup?"
"Stock. Water."
After he had stirred it a bit with the ice cream paddle and a big spoon, he announced "Bender," (blender) and put a hamburger patty squisher into the pot and sounded, "vvvvvvvvvvvv."
I was allowed to taste it, but only after we blew on it because it was hot!