While we are learning new old things, it is getting late spring and that means we had to get on with it in the garden. We are busy inside and outside the house.
I have been spending a lot more time in the kitchen because I am trying to take the time to prepare our food in a more healthy manner. It is very confusing to know what is good to eat because it seems that each week or so there is some report such as dairy is bad for us, gluten is bad, sugar is bad, meat is bad, eggs are bad and on and on. How did anyone ever live in the past?
I feel that what is bad is how our food is grown and animals are raised, that is what is bad.
Charles and I both have growing issues with some of the food we eat. Some things that we have eaten for years bother us now, and so we keep adjusting our diet. We need to make sure we are absorbing enough natural vitamins in our diet. So we are trying to purchase whole food, and do the best we can with it.
I have started soaking our grains to make them more digestible, but this is not something that I remember my grandparents doing. I have researched from 1800s to 1940s and I cannot find soaking flour. I know of a health book in the 1990's that talked about soaking.
I am familiar with fermentation and that goes back for thousands of years. Soaking is a bit like fermentation so I am working this out for what is good for us. I do feel that our ancestors knew better how to prepare food because they were more involved with the growing and preserving of that food.
I am making decisions to prepare food in a way that it is best for us to consume. We need the nutrition, the vitamins and minerals for our body and that comes from the most of the food we have always eaten.
I soaked some whole wheat flour and made these delicious pancakes. We ate some that morning and froze the rest and had them throughout the week.
We have been eating much less sugar and food that converts to sugar such as these pancakes. Neither Charles or I are diabetic but we do understand that sugar should be eaten in moderation. We still want occasional desserts so we started using date sugar, honey, a bit of maple syrup when we need a sweetener. Our diet is not going to be perfect but we are trying, the pancakes were a treat and I feel we can have them since they were made with the best ingredients we could afford and prepared in the best way to make it more digestible.
They were strawberry pancakes with a slight bit of date sugar because they were tart.
Then I made soaked whole grain wheat bread. I used the recipe by Shaye Elliott. You can google that and find it easily. We do not eat bread or grains every day, but we need some of the nutrition from the wheat.
I am familiar with sourdough and make that occasionally.
Then I decided to make yogurt. I know many people that make their own but this is something that I never did but do now. We haven't been eating much dairy but we feel we need some of the nutrients from dairy as well.
I put the yogurt in a strainer with cheese cloth and let some of the whey drain off to make Greek yogurt. I did so much research on the yogurt that I honestly cannot remember where I got it from because I still ended up making it my own way using my own adjustments. I suggest just research as I did and keep trying.
It turned out delicious.
I decided to make a small bowl of watermelon and yogurt. I did not know if that would go together but to me it was delicious.
We are eating a lot of veggie meals. Squash and green beans.
Staying away from processed foods but we have been doing that anyway.
It will be a good while before our veggies are up but at least they are planted. These are sweet potato slips.
The other grow tanks are just starting to germinate and pop out of the ground.
But the zinnia's are all over the place and that makes me happy too.
I spend a lot of time learning the things that I wish I had learned years ago. I want to know so much more. Charles and I have journals of all kinds as we record our information. Having it written down in a journal book makes it much easier to document and look back for information as we need it. If no one wants the journals after we are gone, that is okay because we are each on our own journey.
Learn all you can about various subjects because it can make for a very interesting life. It is like being on an everyday adventure that makes us want to know more.
Love the life you live and show kindness and love to others along the way. Grandma Donna
(Also, remember there is a forum here on my blog, you can go up and comment on the posts and talk to others. I read all the comments.)
