Saturday Baking

Today I decided to try a recipe from GNOWFGLINS.com for Almond Meal Bread.  It does not make a whole lot...just an 8x8 pan; but, it sure does look good (smells good too).  I am also trying to alter my moms recipe for Chocolate No-bake Cookies to make them refined-sugar free (not sugar free; just refined sugar free).

  Here is a picture of the Almond Meal Bread fresh out of the oven.  I haven't tasted it yet; but, I have read that it resembles corn bread in taste and texture.  I'll let you know more about that when I sample it.

Here is a picture of the modified Chocolate No-Bake Cookies.  They taste pretty good; but, I have had another variation (with refined sugar) that had some things I liked that I will have to try next time around.

My mom's original recipe is as follows:

1/2 C     milk
2 C        sugar
1/2 stick    butter
2/3 C    chunky peanut putter

Mix together in large sauce pan and boil for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and add:

1 tsp     Vanilla
3 C    Oatmeal (Mom called for quick cook oats; but, I have used regular with great success)
5 Tbsp    cocoa

Stir all ingredients and drop by spoon fulls on wax paper to cool -- no need to refrigerate.


A variation I like had the following ingredient differences (all ingredients are the same save for the following):  1 stick of butter, 1 C of peanut butter, 1 Tbsp Vanilla, 4 Tbsp Cocoa and about 1-2 cups more of oats (I had to add a bit to keep it from being like soup).


My Refined Sugar Free Variation uses my Mom's original recipe but changes up the sugars...there is still 2 cups of sugar but it is broken up as 1 cup of Agave nectar and 1 cup Coconut Sugar.  After removed from the heat I also added 20 drops of Vanilla Liquid Stevia.

These are good; but, I liked the taste of the greater abundance of peanut butter and more vanilla in the variation listed above.  When I finish this batch I will use those variations along with the different sugars to see how that results.


If you have any suggestions please let me know!

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Down Sizing Update

Okay, I've been fairly good this week. I did make it to the gym about 4 times and started a weight routine in addition to my swimming. I am a bit sore. According to the scale at the gym today I was 176...but, this isn't the usual gym scale I use (I will see that one tomorrow so I will find out if I really did do good this week).

My niece graduated high school last weekend and her party was yesterday. I did good all but the 1 1/2 Cokes that I had. I know...there was water; but, I just couldn't say no. I don't recall any bread so that at least is a good thing.

Last night I also made some sugar free ice cream. It was sweetened with a bit of honey and liquid Stevia. It turned out quite good. I only ate about 1/4 of a cup. I did make it full fat because I had some cream I had to use up and I only use full fat raw milk (I do get the cream when I want to make butter; but, I've been a little tired lately). I do not feel bad about the fat content because it is from a good source, is loaded with B vitamins since it is from grass fed Jersey cows and carries needed vitamins in our bodies...most people don't realize that a lot of vitamins are fat soluble.

I have been good with my kefir this week; both water and milk. My water grains are not looking quite as well as they should. So, there is a little bit of doctoring going on for them. This leads me to believe that our city has added something else into our drinking water. I'm not happy about that.

I have been good with my sourdough as well. I made some fermented bread and it is taking a little to get used to; but, it is very filling...and dense. Tonight I made a sourdough pizza dough and though it wasn't fully fermented it did have a good little kick to it. Went very well with the breakfast pizza. It wasn't fully gluten free but, it did have a bit less white flour than would normally be used as I had a little bit of my white flour substitute mixture on hand (it can only replace about 1/4 of the flour and still get good "bread" results [I'll have to find my recipe and mix up some more]).

I am a bit tired and have to finish up some laundry. I will let you know at a later time if today's scale is in line with my normal gym scale. I hope so. After two months of only gaining and losing 5 pounds on a consistent basis I am ready for some improvement.

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Down Sizing

Okay, for a while I have been a bit above what the ideal weight is for my height...just a bit because 40 lbs really isn't a lot...is it??????? I know it is, especially since I have had some issues with my foot and now have a new foot that really shouldn't have to put up with that type of excess. So, I am going to commit to a change in diet that I have only used as a cleanse in the past.

A lot of my weight is due to the fact that my thyroid is functioning lower than it should.

(Just a bit of history, it wasn't always like this...I used to be SUPER skinny and unable to gain weight because my thyroid levels were too high. Then I got zapped with radioactive Iodine and they killed most of my gland. I was left with a little bit of functionality; but, I've had to be on medication ever since and getting the meds right is a whole other story. That was in late 1997 or early 1998--I can't remember for sure. All I remember was, Cool I'm radioactive...and NOT cool because my husband has chicken pox and can't hold or feed the baby. Trying to feed a 10 month old at arms length isn't the easiest thing to do.)

Okay, so the main thing that is causing the weight gain is my under active thyroid and probably my decreased mobility due to my foot issues. But, the thing that is next in line is...(sound effects...dom dom dom!!!) Candida. Candida is an ugly little bacterial yeast that can get into your system through your blood and travel all over the place in your body. It has many symptoms that are typically overlooked by doctors and misdiagnosed. Some of them are: digestive inconsistencies (you know, going back and forth from one extreme to another...it is usually diagnosed as IBS or Irritable Bowel Syndrome), brain fog (not being able to concentrate or think clearly), dry skin, visual changes, ear infections and/or ear pain, bloating of the gastric tract...and many other things. I believe that it even effects my thyroid; but, that is yet to be proven though we'll see after I get all of this crap out of my system.

So, the main change in diet for getting Candida out and keeping it out is that you have to eliminate Sugar. Tell this baker that it isn't so!!!! I love my sugar and I love baking and cooking. So, I am going to have to totally change the way I eat. This includes even the sugar in fruit. I am not going to do a hard core Candida cleanse diet at this time because I can't stand most veggies and totally thrive on beef. I can see a cow in the field and start to salivate. Just so you know, I know my body and it does function much better on a diet of lean red meat I have lost weight in the past from being on a nearly completely red meat diet (nearly 30 pounds).

In short, I am documenting this to hold myself accountable for sticking to this. I am not prescribing these methods to anybody else just keeping tabs on what I am doing, have done...what worked and what didn't.

I am also exercising quite a bit. I swim at least 4 times a week and am doing water weights until my stick of a leg regains all of its muscle and range of motion (I had reconstructive surgery in August of 2010). So, I have been doing the swimming for 2 months now without so much of a pound of lost weight. A little discouraging; but, at least the cottage cheese look on my legs is starting to diminish. I have taken measurements so that I can track the non weight loss improvements which are as follows: Weight 180 lbs, Thigh--24", Upper Arm--14 3/4", Chest--42", Bust--43 1/2", Waist 40 1/4", and Hips 43 1/2".

Just know, I know I am not obese...but, you have to realize that my whole life I always been skinny...stick skinny. I was made fun of as a child and called Bird Legs and Skinny Minny along with other "fun" names. I by no means want to be back to the skinny state; but, I do want to be at a healthy weight and size and for that 40 pounds needs to come off.

The FIRST things I am doing in my diet are incorporating more kefirs and cutting the sugar. I culture my own milk and water kefir from respective grains that propagate like rabbits when fed properly. This renders a pro biotic that is far better than any yogurt ever hoped to be. Having the grains also means less expense as I do not have to buy dried cultures. And all of my family benefits...even the dogs as they get the fermented fruit from the cultures and that totally helps their tummies as well. I have started my sourdough starter and am actually making one without any sugar at all...it is built on brown rice flour, water and water kefir. I love bread and have to get my fiber from more than just the 3 veggies I like. The bread will be a fermented loaf which will make it a lot more digestible as the good-yeast in it will have already pre-digested everything. I know, it sounds sick; but, it makes for much healthier eats! I will also not be using any wheat in this bread. (I am probably going to have to invest in a couple of cookbooks...one in particular is one by Abby Eagle "Learn to Cook the Way Grandma Did..." which is all cultured food...cultured mainly by kefir http://rejoiceinlife.com/...and "The Art of Gluten Free Sourdough Baking" by Sharon Kane http://glutenfreesourdough.blogspot.com/. I do not have a wheat allergy anymore thanks to N.A.E.T. http://naet.com/ (again, another story); but, I do not want any of that over refined grain in my system...at least not right now...might add whole wheat back at a later time. FYI, both the

So, after my friend from Bible college stops by today to have some of the beautiful marble cheesecake I made for her birthday I will start to commit to the elimination of yeast in my system. I will try to keep the two who read this updated on a regular basis :) Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me!

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Bring me my farm...or my garden...well, at least set up my indoor greenhouse

Well, I seem to be in all natural form today. No, I am not referring to my appearance; but, rather making all natural foods and stuff today. I began my morning by checking the progress of my granola in the dehydrator (it is all natural with an assortment of soaked nuts, almond meal flour, organic applesauce, spices, coconut, oats, liquid vanilla cream stevia and coconut sugar. It smells awesome. Since most of it was dry, I turned it over (off of it's little holding mat) and set to trying to dehydrate some raw-milk Kefir along with it...on a separate tray. I then started a new batch of milk Kefir (I only use raw milk in my house {just FYI}) and have revived my water Kefir grains. Gotta get another drink going on to help get me off of sodas. I'm not too much on the sugar/sweet of sodas, I just really love the bubbly. Gotta make sure I get all of the Candida cleared out of my system once and for all; so, I am really trying to be good.

In addition to the kefir and granola I am also soaking some unsweetened coconut (I would prefer raw and fresh; but, I would eat all of it if I had a fresh one...besides, I haven't had good luck with getting a good coconut here lately...beyond that, the dried is just so much easier) that I am going to use to make homemade coconut milk so that I can experiment with making coconut yogurt (with my kefir as the culture--so it will NOT be dairy free).

I have also gathered some redbud seeds (mainly for my hubby because he loves the way they flour; I have to say that I do too). I have tried to germinate them in the past with no success. This time I'm going to try to do it close to the same way you sprout grains with the exception that I poured boiling water over them...and that they will sit in this water for 7 days without refreshing or pouring off any...and then they will get a bit of cool/cold treatment. So, I guess the only way this process is close to sprouting grains is that they will sit in water for a period. Most seeds I sprout by putting them between sheets of moist paper towels and letting them sit in a zip top bag with small holes popped in it.

So, it would seem that I really need to get my little indoor greenhouse set up and placed so that I can begin work on seeding other seeds I've gathered. I was just telling my Love that it's that time of the year when I need to start keeping a little bag with me at all times so that I can gather seeds from trees/bushes that I like. I have quite a little store of seeds going on as it is; but, not all of them have been successful. I do have 2 Japanese Orchid Trees that seem to have survived our weird winter. I haven't read up much on these trees; but, I have noticed by observation that if the leaves die new ones will not sprout in that place...they only come out on new limbs...but, typically they do not drop their leaves if the temp. is right. I have a bundle of 2nd year lilies going in a pot out front (had to remove only one bulb that rotted over the winter) and a batch of sproutlings that I put out of house yesterday to get fresh air and direct sunlight (they've been in their own little greenhouse since sprouting before Christmas). I have a ton of seeds from my parent plants (amaryllis) and some seeds from a newcomer I obtained last year. I am going to try again to see if I can get any of the newcomer seeds to sprout as previous attempts ended in fluffy mold (apparently they don't sprout the same as my amaryllis...which would tend to make sense as the seeds are so vastly different). It shouldn't be long before my parent plants start to bloom...I have already gotten many new leaves shooting up. That means that it will not be long until my daughter rolls her eyes at me for force pollination (she screams at me to stop having sex with the flowers in the front yard). I could avoid all of that if........if, I was able to acquire some Blue Orchard bees. They can be rather expensive to start up; but, I would so totally love to give it a go! I'm sure all my flowers and bushes would love it too!

With that said, I need to eat some breakfast, that my Love has so lovingly prepared, and get to work thinning out my lilies and planting some new posies.

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