New with questions about food prep (longish)

[Guest guest]

I'm struggling thru my first recipes in NT, and haven't had much

success. Here are my questions...

1. I cannot get raw dairy in my state (and haven't found any local

farmers that will sell it). So, I used pastuerized (not

homogenized) whole milk plain yogurt to make quick whey (think it

was Brown Cow brand). I've used this to try fremented veggies and

soaked several types of beans, oats, and am now attempting the

natural yeast bread recipe...so, the veggies were so salty and sour

that they were inedible. The bread started turned brown on the top

after the first 24 hours. Is this a problem with my whey? Or did I

do something else wrong? Temperature was 73 degrees during the

fermenting.

2. About those fermented veggies. I tried the ginger carrots and

the beets. I have always loved pickled stuff, so I figured I'd

really like fermented veggies, but they were just nasty. How much

of this stuff do I need to eat everyday?

3. About the beans. After fermenting/soaking them, how long do they

cook? Can I use a crockpot after skimming? Also, HOW do you skim?

I am using a spoon and just keep removing the foam as they boil till

no more foam appears. At that point there's very little water left,

and today I fried (literally) my green lentils.

4. What brands of food processors and grain mills (is this really

necessary if I don't use many grains?) are best? Other equipment

that is useful for traditional cooking? What about clay stoneware

and crockpots?

5. I'm going to attempt the protocol in the Maker's Diet, which

pulls heavily from Sally's book. Anyone else here doing this?

6. Has anyone found a good way to get their kids to eat this stuff

when they have never done so? I have 6, and when I spend so much

money on the 'good' food, so much time preparing it, it is SO

disheartening to have them gagging (literally) at the dinner table.

Granted I'm not a good cook, have eaten very little meat in my 18

years of marriage so it's usually overdone and dry, veggies were

always " snuck' into creamy casseroles, and cultured dairy was non-

existent except for yobaby brand for the little guys' lunch.

Personally, I abhor all cultured dairy except for hard cheeses. Oh

and goat's cheese was a big loser last week, lol.

7. Peanut butter. Is the natural stuff at the health food shop

okay? I was assuming from the book that as nuts needed to be either

sprouted or soaked before eating, those pb's still had the phytates.

Thanks for reading. Any advice from seasoned cooks would be very

appreciated. I'm rather overwhelmed. I'll surely have more

questions as I try new things. So glad to have found this group.

[Guest guest]

Salty vegies: a lot of people have said that. I do a lot of fermented

vegies, and I tend to add salt to taste. In my mind, they should

taste mildly salty, like a good steak. I add vinegar too though, and

kimchi juice (which works more or less like whey, except it's

easier for me) to nudge the bacteria in the right direction. I've had

little luck with carrots and beets though. Greens ferment a lot easier.

My latest batch is collards mixed with turnip greens, and it is wonderful.

Even better mixed with a little oil and balsamic vinegar.

>3. About the beans. After fermenting/soaking them, how long do they

>cook? Can I use a crockpot after skimming? Also, HOW do you skim?

>I am using a spoon and just keep removing the foam as they boil till

>no more foam appears. At that point there's very little water left,

>and today I fried (literally) my green lentils.

I soak them for a day or two ... when I went longer they got sour.

I skim maybe if I think about it. I cook them in lots of water though,

with Mexican oregano (which makes really GOOD beans!), onion,

smoked meat if I have it, lots of garlic.

The cooking time varies ... if the beans are old, they take forever

(and it may be better to toss them and get new ones). Lentils don't

take long at all though. If the skins shrivel when you soak them, for

beans, that is not a good sign, it means they are old or damaged.

As for skimming ... I tend to cook at a low temp and I don't get

much foam. They say the bitter tastes come out in the foam,

but I haven't found much difference between batches that

are skimmed and otherwise.

>4. What brands of food processors and grain mills (is this really

>necessary if I don't use many grains?) are best? Other equipment

>that is useful for traditional cooking? What about clay stoneware

>and crockpots?

Personally I gave up on grains ... to cook them " right " is too much

work, and, I don't use many of them. I use Tinkyada pasta for noodles,

when we eat them, which is enzymatically processed enough to disable

the bad stuff in brown rice, and it tastes good. And tortillas, which are

soaked in lime and therefore NT compliant. When I make bread, I've

been using the pure starch flours, which have zero nutrients but also

zero phytates, but they aren't a big part of our diet.

I did make the pelmenji that Katja mentioned, with buckwheat flour,

and THAT turned out nicely. Half buckwheat flour, half rice flour, egg

yolks, and kefir to ferment for a day or two.

>5. I'm going to attempt the protocol in the Maker's Diet, which

>pulls heavily from Sally's book. Anyone else here doing this?

Some folks were, I don't know enough about it to comment.

>6. Has anyone found a good way to get their kids to eat this stuff

>when they have never done so? I have 6, and when I spend so much

>money on the 'good' food, so much time preparing it, it is SO

>disheartening to have them gagging (literally) at the dinner table.

>Granted I'm not a good cook, have eaten very little meat in my 18

>years of marriage so it's usually overdone and dry, veggies were

>always " snuck' into creamy casseroles, and cultured dairy was non-

>existent except for yobaby brand for the little guys' lunch.

>Personally, I abhor all cultured dairy except for hard cheeses. Oh

>and goat's cheese was a big loser last week, lol.

Practice and pay attention to what they like ... it took me awhile

to come up with edible food. But what my family really likes is:

1. Tortillas with refries and melted cheese

2. Fried eggs in butter

3. Hash browns and steak

4. Ice cream (any type)

5. Kraut and sausage

6. Lettuce burgers

Kimchi has been a mixed bag ... they like the ones I make with dill,

which taste a lot like dill pickles. Kefiili they like in smoothies, or

mixed with sorbet. Everyone I've ever met (except me!) likes kefiili cream.

You don't have to do the " weird stuff " with your family, or you

can lead up to it. My family loves lox, which is basically raw salmon,

but don't mention the word " raw " ! They are getting to like steak

rarer. Soups are good no matter what, and it's an easy way to

add vegies. Add grated cheese to a soup and it is divine.

Mostly I like vegies in kimchi, or else raw. It's hard to make a good

cooked veggie, except in soups or grilled. Recently though, I

steamed some collard greens with chunks of bacon, and drizzled

them with oil and balsamic vinegar, and THAT was a surprising hit.

Most of your good Italian recipes are basically NT style. If you can

just toss the processed food, you will have made a big step forward ...

you don't have to jump into the more exotic stuff.

>

>Thanks for reading. Any advice from seasoned cooks would be very

>appreciated. I'm rather overwhelmed. I'll surely have more

>questions as I try new things. So glad to have found this group.

" Cooks " magazine is really wonderful for learning cooking basics!

Cooking " NT " wasn't so much of a stretch as learning to cook at all!