Lazy Lady Living 2013 Permaculture Design Certification Class

Krista Joy Arias, owner of Tierra Soul and teacher of the MamaMuse (un)Midwifery Mentorship program, has chosen a select few to be Village Builders and help spread the word about her new class, the 2013 Lazy Lady (and Lad) Living Permaculture Design Certification Program. I was one of the selected Village Builders and am posting here because I think some of my readers and followers may be interested. I took the last class and it’s wonderful! Lots of wonderful information and Krista and her husband are great people.

Come join the Lazy Lady Living community and be a part of something different. This course is about sustainable sustainability, and getting the most bang for your lazy buck. Interested in Permaculture, Traditional Nutrition, and Urban Farming? This is the class for you! It’s an 8-week 100% virtual course with the option to complete extra work (additional assignments and a Permaculture Design project) to receive a Permaculture Design Certificate.

The 16 Topics in Lazy-Lady Living:
1. Permaculture Philosophy & Ethics
2. Weston A. Price & Nutrient Density, Value added farming
3. Anthroposophy & Biodynamic Agriculture
4. Trauma, Initiation & Myth Mending
5. Patterns & Design Elements
6. Cultivated Ecology & Wildlife
7. Urban Ambrosia, Backyard Milk, Meat, Eggs and Honey
8. Urban Apothecary, Lazy-lady soap, salve, tincture and tonic
9. Sacred Slaughter & the Vegetarian Myth
10. Soil & Trees
11. Water & Aquaculture, ponds, dams & bridges, Water catchment, Grey water & composting toilets
12. Recycling, waste streams & DIY pitfalls, Diverse climate solutions
13. Earth Rhythms & Seasonal Celebrations, Advanced Simplicity
14. Undisturbed Birth & Home-Funerals, Sacred Union & Family Harmony
15. Ethical Business & Investing, Licensure vs. Free Marketplace, Personal Abundance & Giving Back
16. Energy, Climate & Catastrophe

Enrollment begins on May 15th and runs for 2 weeks only closing on May 31st. As a Village Builder, I get a commission for every person whom I get to enroll in the class.

**What will my commissions be going towards? My self-sustainability fund to get off-grid and have a place for people to come and do “farm stays”, learn about sustainability and permaculture, and also as a place for women and mothers to come experience with-women care and support throughout the childbearing cycles. I am also wanting to have a birthing hut built on the property for families to come have their children if they like, and also a Moon Lodge.

For those who sign up through me I will be helping and mentoring as I can if any questions or needs arise during the class and will be here as a collaboration partner. Follow the link below to sign up with your e-mail to receive information as Krista sends it out. She will also be making some videos that will be sent out to everyone on the mailing list as well between now and the start of class.

The cost of the course is $897 and there is a payment plan of $350/month for 3 months. Krista is also offering scholarships and the application will be announced on the 15th(ish) as well.

Here is my affiliate link so that I get the commission when you sign up, but remember enrollment doesn’t start until May 15! Be sure to sign up soon so that you don’t miss any information::

http://www.lazyladyliving.com/NaturoMomma/1

Haymaker’s Oat Water

I apologize for seemingly having dropped off the face of the planet. I assure you I’m still here, just been rather busy unfortunately. And to be honest, I haven’t been doing much of anything in regards to “good, traditional eating”. And I feel crappy for it. I’ve been eating way more refined grains (mostly cereal), barely any fruit, and almost no vegetables. Trying to turn back around, keep up with my daily fermented cod liver oil and butter oil (which is really hard for some reason to remember to take it), and I need to get exercising again. Oh, and I’ve also been on edge about my gallbladder health, so I may be sharing some information in regards to that as I find it. I also started my first ever batch of kombucha, which I’ll make a post on that when I get a chance.

What I wanted to share with you now is oat water. I soaked about 3 cups of oats last night for breakfast and granola, and had about a cup’s worth of soaking-water left over come today. Well, not liking to waste things that can be used, I wanted to see what I could find to do with it. I thought about an oat-drink of some kind, and checked my Nourishing Traditions book (by Sally Fallon). Sure enough under “Beverages” was a recipe for “Haymaker’s Oat Water”. since I already had my soaking-water (I used whey for the oats), I just kind of eyeballed it ingredients-wise which is what I normally do.

Why oat-water? I’m not positive as I haven’t researched it, but I’m pretty sure that some of the nutrients from the oats (plus some of the whey from soaking, unless you use something else) goes into the “water”, so you’re getting all the nutrients instead of just eating the oats as porridge or granola. Plus you’re not wasting anything 🙂

Haymaker’s Oat Water [Her recipe]
Makes 1 gallon
1 gallon filtered water
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup lemon juice or raw apple cider vinegar
1 cup molasses (optional)

~Mix all ingredients and keep at room temperature several hours or overnight, stirring occasionally.
**It doesn’t say to strain out the oats or not, or what to do with it afterwards.

My Version of Haymaker’s Oat Water
3-ish cups rolled oats
3-ish cups of water
4-6 Tbsp of whey (made from raw milk)
3/4 cup molasses

I soaked my oats-water-whey mixture overnight, scooped out a cup of oats for breakfast porridge, and then strained the rest of the oats. The leftover 2-ish cups of oats went into my dehydrator (I’ll be making granola). I had about 1 cup of liquid (a yellowish-grey color) left over. I put it on the stove and added the molasses, heating it just to dissolve the molasses. I noticed some particles had risen to the top so I strained the liquid. At this point it was a brownish-grey color. I then took a 3 qt filtered water jug with a screw-on lid and filled it about half-way with cold water, then poured in the molasses-oat water mix, then added a bit more water and shook it some. It tastes just like molasses, but watered-down. You could drink it like this, but I poured a bit in a jar and then added more water to it and drink it like that. This would make it last a bit longer. If you didn’t add the molasses, it would probably taste pretty bland, like watered down unflavored oatmeal. So it’s up to you on how much sweetener you want to use. You could probably use rapadura, honey, or any other natural sweetener, but I really like the molasses taste.

Happy drinking!

Oatmeal

Oatmeal has become my breakfast staple. I used to really like oatmeal, but then I found out I wasn’t eating it right. “What do you mean, not eating it right?” you might ask. Oats are a grain, and thus need to be prepared as such. Oats are an extremely nutritious food, but only if prepared properly. Well, how does one do that?

1. Soak your flat or steel cut rolled oats in a whey solution overnight (at least 8 hours).

2. Cook your oats with some more added water on the stove.

3. Serve with plenty of grassfed butter.

Why the butter? It was mentioned in my Folklore Foods class (see–> MamaMuse) that the nutrients in oats cannot be absorbed without being eaten with plenty of fat (this goes along with needing fats to break down carbohydrates I believe), even if the oats were pre-soaked before cooking.  

Here’s how I make my oatmeal (based off of the recipe from Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions cookbook):

1 cup of oats (regular or rolled)

1 cup of warm water with 2 Tbsp of whey (homemade from raw milk)

Some extra water for stove-top cooking

Butter

Maple syrup, honey, cinnamon to taste

Applesauce or raw milk

— Take the oats and add to a bowl. Add the whey to the water then pour over the oats stirring slightly to mke sure everything gets wet. Leave on the counter covered overnight (or at least 8 hours). Pour bowl contents into a pot, add a bit of water (1/2 C- 1 C), stir. Cook on low-medium heat being careful to keep stirring to prevent oats burning to the bottom. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, 5-10 minutes depending. Add in butter (a Tbsp or more, be generous!). Add any additional ingredients (maple syrup and/or honey, cinnamon, fruit pieces, applesauce, milk, yogurt, etc.). Enjoy!

This proper preparation of oatmeal makes it very filling!

http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/video-how-to-cook-oatmeal-the-right-way/

http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/video-how-to-quickly-adjust-to-the-taste-of-soaked-grains/

Proper Grain & Legume Preparation

I’ve gotten to the part now in my Folklore Foods salon (see–> MamaMuse) on proper preparation of grains and legumes, and have also seen a few things over at the HealthyHomeEconomist on it.

Grains and legumes (and seeds and nuts) contain anti-nutrients: gluten and phytates are some examples. These anti-nutrients adhere to the intestinal wall and prevent the body from absorbing vital nutrients/vitamins/minerals from food as it passes through the gut and is digested. Also, such as with gluten, these particles actually are absorbed into the body through the intestinal wall and are seen as a foreign object requiring the body’s immune system to fend off. Unfortunately, not only does this cause inflammation (which leads to disease) but it also causes the body to start attacking itself because these foreign particles look similar to the body’s own in certain parts of the body.

This is the part where Paleo Diet followers have it right, but this is where they stop. They claim that our ancestors went millions of years without eating grains and that our bodies are just not adapted yet to properly digesting them since we’ve ben eating them for a shorter time frame than we’ve been not-eating them. However, this view and approach to grains/legumes is arguable.

First argument: evolution/time-frames and digestability. This is both right and wrong. Anthropologists and archeologists are now hypothesizing and discovering that stone age man (prior to the onset of agriculture) utilized wild grains and legumes. So this makes the time frame of when “man ate grains” to longer than previously suspected.

Second Argument: branching from the first, man has been eating refined grains (and sugar) and not properly preparing grains/legumes/seeds/nuts for a much shorter time frame (roughly 200 years give or take) compared to thousands of years of properly preparing these food items, and even millions of years of “supposed” non-consumption of these food items by early man.

From pre-agricultural revolution up until the introduction of refined grains and sugar (over 10,000 years), people were properly preparing their grains and legumes and had no known digestion issues pertaining therein. It was when man began to not prepare their foods properly/traditionally, was when these issues arose (along with an increase in degenerative diseases, cancer, poor dental health, etc.).

Well, then how do you properly prepare them?

1. Soaking

2. Sprouting

3. Fermenting

4. Extended cooking

These pertain to seeds, nuts, legumes, and grains. Some require all three processes, some only require one or two (such as nuts). Some foods require an acidic environment, others require a basic one.

Grains: Over at the HealthyHomeEconomist she has a blog and a few videos on grain and legume preparation. Here is a general overview for grains:

1. Take your whole grain and sprout them in a jar (just until the first white flecks appear).

2. Spread the sprouted whole grains on a cookie sheet and dry in the oven, or use a dehydrator.

3. Run your dried grains through the grinder to make flour. *Immediately store in the freezer if you don’t plan on using it all immediately! This is to retain nutritional content which begins to deteriorate around 2 weeks post-grinding if left to the elements*.

If you don’t make your own flour, you can purchase whole grain flour. Try to find sprouted whole grain if you can. Whether you make your own flour or purchase it, you should soak/culture the flour before cooking. This ferments the flour some and further breaks down the anti-nutrients and releases absorbable nutrients. You can use yogurt, kefir, whey (from raw milk), or soured raw milk *never pasteurized! (Pasteurized milk won’t sour, it will only spoil. Soured raw milk= edible)*.  This process is similar to what happens during traditional sourdough preparation. This can be done for bread, pancakes, cake, crepes, etc.

Legumes: Legumes (ie. beans) need to be pre-soaked then cooked for an extended period of time. They should be soaked in an acidic solution (some require a basic solution) such as water+whey for a minimum of 8 hours. Then they need to be cooked on low for a minimum of 8 hours (give or take on both times), but some cook their beans for as long as 24 hours or as little as 3 hours. The benefits of soaking and cooking don’t really improve after 24 hours.

**I did my first bean preparation the other day, using black beans soaked in a whey solution. I soaked them for a little over 8 hours, then cooked them. I only cooked them for about an hour and a half, however, and found it difficult to keep them cooking and then they began to fall apart. I think I should have cooked them on a lower setting with more water and definitely for longer– I was wanting to take them to work hence the short cook time.**

They can also be soaked and sprouted, instead of cooked.

Seeds & Nuts: seeds really only need to be soaked. Some people may try sprouting them. Soak time depends on each nut or seed as some need longer or shorter soak times. Almonds can be soaked for 4-6 hours, others need 8 or longer, and some like cashews need shorter. Usually they are soaked in a slightly salty water solution then dried in the oven or in a dehydrator.

http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/video-proper-preparation-of-grains-and-legumes/

http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/why-you-should-be-eating-grains/

http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/video-grain-grinding-101/

http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/video-thursday-sprouting-flour/

Fermented Cucumbers & Salsa Update

I finally was brave enough to try my pickles and salsa the other day. After opening the jar of pickles, I gingerly removed one sliver of cucumber and gently bit into it. I was met by a fizzing that surprised me. The flavor was mild, they probably could have gone another day before being refrigerated to stop the fermenting process. I took some to work and had two of my coworkers try them, the reviews were positive with agreement on the mild flavor.

The salsa I was a bit more hesitant to try but I finally did the other day. I had some on store-bought tortillas since I lacked having made my own (but is on my lsit of things to try). It was a mild-medium heat (which I’m sure would have been more potent had I not picked out the red chili pepper bits before eating). I’m not big on hot so that was ok with me. It over-all had a pleasant flavor, and an even more pleasant aroma, however next go-round I will use a bit less onion and more cilantro and tomatoes.

Making Ghee

Ghee, or butter oil (also called “clarified butter”) is a pretty old method of consuming butter. What’s the difference? Butter still has all it’s milk solids/proteins (hence, why it’s solid and not an oil/liquid). Butter oil, or ghee, does not. Which means that many people who have issues with most dairy, including butter, can eat ghee. Butter oil is made by heating butter until the oil and solids separate, skimming off the foam that rises to the top, and pouring the resulting liquid through a cheescloth-lined sieve or a coffee filter. The oil that drips into the jar is what you want. And it will turn into a solid at room temperature, but will still be soft. You can take ghee/butter oil as a supplement with fermented cod liver oil as highly recommended by Weston A. Price for all around health but also for healing dental carries. Or, you can just use it to cook with (which is what I do until I get some capsules) like you would coconut oil or olive oil. You can even use it to make poultices using herbs for certain ailments (steep the herbs in the butter oil, then strain and apply the cooled paste). I made a small batch of comfrey ghee for my teeth, and found that it almost immediately melts in your mouth, so it ends up being more of a oil pulling than an actual paste that sits on your teeth (swish it around to perform the oil pulling).

Here is a video of the Healthy Home Economist showing how to make ghee:

How to Make Ghee (Recipe + Video)

Here is some information on healing dental carries with fermented cod liver oil and butter oil:
[This book actually covers a lot more, such as diet. Can get as an E-book from B&N as well] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1434810607/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=keeofthehom-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1434810607

And here is some information on oil pulling:
http://simplehomemade.net/my-attempt-at-this-crazy-thing-called-oil-pulling-does-it-really-make-a-difference/

Fermented Drinks: Hindu Lemonade

This one was actually made the other day, before my attempt at pickles and salsa. I found out how to do it through the Healthy Home Economist, she does videos on traditional foods and puts them on Youtube, and has a blog as well. It’s essentially fermented lemon/limeade (depending on your taste preference) but she called it “Hindu Lemonade”. Mine turned out very tart but yummy so I drink just a small glass of it a day, sipping on it and savoring the flavors. I used only lemons in my version, and the hint of nutmeg goes surprisingly well with it.

Hindu Lemonade
She called for 6-8 lemons, limes, or a mix [I used 5 lemons, freshly juiced]
1/2 C whey [I ended up using a tad bit less than this]
1/2 C sucanat, which I guess is an unrefined sugar from sugar cane- it still has its molasses and minerals intact. [I didn’t have this so I used 1/4 C of organic cane sugar and 1/4 C molasses]
1/2 Tsp ground nutmeg
2 Quarts water [I only had a jar big enough to hold 1.5 quarts, an applesauce jar, so I eye-balled it after adding the whey. I actually used too much because when I added the sugar, it filled too much and had to pour a bit out].

Juice the lemons/limes and add all the ingredients to the water. Put on the lid and shake it a bit, then leave on the counter at room temperature for 2-3 days. The Healthy Home Economist said you can drink it right away, which I’ve been doing, or leave it for 1-2 weeks before drinking as supposedly this improves the flavor. We’ll see how it tastes in a week and I’ll let you know.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheHealthyHomeEconom?feature=watch

Fermented Veggies: Pickles & Salsa

I started my first batch of fermented vegetables yesterday. I made one pint of what will hopefully become pickles and two pints of salsa. They sit on my counter fermenting until tomorrow night when I will put them in the fridge (since we don’t have a root cellar).

Pickles

I took one large cucumber and cut it in half, then cut the halves into sections. I stuck them in a pint jar with 2 Tbsp of whey and approximately 1/3-1/2 Tbsp freshly ground sea salt and enough water to just cover the slices. Screwed on the lids, shook it up a bit, and let sit for 2 days before refrigerating.

Salsa

I was roughly going off of the recipe from Nourishing Traditions, but made a smaller batch and forgot a couple ingredients (like dried oregano and juice of two lemons). While chopping of the cilantro the scent nocked me back into a memory from my childhood of my grandmother making fresh salsa.

2 medium-large tomatoes, diced.

1 small yellow onion, peeled and diced.

4-6 garlic cloves, diced finely.

Most of a bushel of cilantro, diced.

One dark red chile(?) pepper, diced finely. [I really have no idea what it was, the recipe called for chile pepper mild or hot. It didn’t have a label at the grocery store.]

Approximately 1/2 Tbsp freshly ground sea salt.

2 Tbsp of whey per pint (so 4 total for a quart of salsa).

Approximately 1/4 C of filtered water per pint (so 1/2 C total for a quart of salsa).

Dice it all, mix it all together in a bowl except for the water and whey, put into the jars, then add the whey and water. Screw on the lid, shake lightly, then let sit on the counter for 2 days before refrigerating.

Happy fermenting 🙂

Raw Milk and Cultured Milk Products

What is raw milk? Raw milk is milk straight from the animal (cow, goat, sheep, camel…) that has not been pasteurized or homogenized. Raw milk retains all of it’s beneficial bacteria (which naturally keeps bad bacteria in check), all of its original proteins/carbs/fat/vitamins/minerals that are damaged, diminished, or completely destroyed through pasteurization. Raw milk can then in turn be soured, cultured, etc. Raw milk before refrigeration was usually turned into some sort of other dairy product, such as cheese or butter, to store it. Most people who cannot drink cow’s milk often find that they can eat raw milk/raw milk products with no issue (this is because raw milk retains the enzymes that the body needs to break down milk sugars. These enzymes are destroyed in pasteurization).

My raw milk journey began with a research paper I did for college a year or two ago on the benefits of raw milk and the current legislative restrictions regarding its sale. I skimmed the RealMilk website and that was about it. I had no idea where to get raw milk or how. Until last year, I had mostly put it to the back of my mind. Then I heard through the grapevine of a place to get goat’s milk. I grew up on raw goat’s milk that I had helped milk myself (my aunt raised Saanan goats) so I gave it a try. It was a hassle to try and get a hold of, and kind of expensive ($6 a quart I believe). I got it twice and it was alright, not sure what breed it came from. After that I put it on the back burner again until I started my Folklore Foods class. It re-kindled my interest and my search for raw cow’s milk, which finally bore fruit.

1. Drinking raw milk.
– Raw milk is definitely different than milk you get from the store. For one, it changes flavors. It changes throughout the year, and depends on the breed of cow and their diet. It has a much stronger flavor, which can sometimes taste “off” because of something that was eaten or when the frost kills the grass and it tries to grow back the chemical makeup of the grass is slightly different and is reflected in the milk. It doesn’t mean it has gone bad, however.

2. Other than drinking it, what do you do with it?
– Culture it (i.e. kefir, sour cream, buttermilk, etc.)
– Turn it into yogurt, butter/cultured butter, buttermilk, curds and whey, cheese, etc.

* After just trying it straight, I attempted to make curds and whey. The curds are essentially cream cheese, and the whey is what you use to make fermented foods (another traditional food prep method we’ll go over in the future). Whey is also a bi-product of cheese making and from yogurt (ever open a package of yogurt and see a yellow-ish liquid floating separate from your yogurt? That’s whey). When trying to clabber milk/get curds and whey, the warmer it is the faster it separates. The Nourishing Traditions book says to leave out on the counter in a covered jar for 12-48 hours, I had to leave mine out for almost 5 days before it really separated. If you want clabber (Lazy Lady Yogurt) leave it out till just before it actually separates. I also noticed with mine that the cream would separate to the top, then the bottom would be all together, but when you pour it through a cloth-lined seive to get the whey out of the curds it is actually separated.

* The curds were very strong in flavor, and have an interesting texture (more grainy than creamcheese) and I usually eat it on toast with honey. The whey is a soft yellow color and can be used for all kinds of things. The first thing I used it in was as a soak for oats. This helps to make the oats easier to digest and breaks down antinutrients (an example is gluten, or phitates) that are found in grains, some seeds and nuts, and legumes. I take a cup of steel cut rolled oats or regular oats and a cup of warm water+2 Tbsp whey and set it in a bowl over night, covered loosely. In the morning I add another cup of water and cook it for 5-10 minutes on the stove, then add maple syrup, cinnamon and sometimes pieces of fruit and raw milk.

* Oh, almost forgot! My favorite way to drink raw milk: set it to simmer on the stove, add dried dates. Simmer for 5-10 minutes, or longer. Mash dates to release flavor, pour through seive and drink warm. I also tried it once with some Oregon Chai. Yum! A thermometer would probably be useful here as well, since you don’t want to heat raw milk any higher than 110 degrees (for cooking, drinking, or yogurt making) because if you go higher than that you begin to pasteurize it killing all the beneficial enzymes and such.

* Yogurt: I didn’t have a thermometer, which I will be getting before I make yogurt again. I also don’t have a yogurt maker. I followed the yogurt recipe in Nourishing Traditions, using a few tabespoons of organic vanilla-flavored (I should have used Plain probably but it turned out fine) yogurt from the store as my “culture”. I cultured my yogurt in the oven, which was very hard to keep at 110 degrees, but it turned out and I got 2 pints of yogurt in the end which, regardless of the very potent flavor, was very good.

My Middle Eastern Dinner
Main dish: browned goat meat with herbs and rice (my first time ever having goat meat, it was local and amazing!).
Drink: raw milk simmered in dates with a dash of local raw honey.
Side dish: homemade raw milk yogurt with the dates from the milk added with a bit of local raw honey as well.

Where it Began

Why Traditional Foods? Because of Weston A. Price, Sally Fallon, and the like. And because it feels right. I had done a school report on raw milk for college a year or two ago, but other than that hadn’t done anything else learning-wise as far as “traditional foods”. I knew a bit about Weston Price and a little bit about his foundation. I knew raw milk was illegal in a lot of places to sell, and that was about it. Fast forward to fall of last year when I started the MamaMuse (un)Midwifery Mentorship with Krista Arias. She teaches two other programs, Lazy Lady Living and Folklore Foods which we were given access to through the Mentorship program. After the first Folklore Foods class I was hooked. LLL includes some things on WAP and Ms. Fallon but is more focused on permaculture (it’s a Permaculture Design Certification program if anyone is interested) whereas the Folklore Foods class focuses solely on traditional foods and their preparation methods and is based on Sally Fallon’s book, Nourishing Traditions.

First thing I have to say, is this stuff is amazing. It feels so good to be able to make real, nourishing, traditional foods. And it feels even better to then be able to eat it, and really enjoy how it makes you feel– the feeling of success, of pride, of health, and of feeling connected to a line of people thousands of years in the making.

So what is all this hullabaloo about “traditional foods”? Is this another Paleo diet fad? No. And that’s the awesome part. It’s not about “vegetarian” or “paleo” or “gluten-free, soy-free, additives-free.” It’s not about trying to fit into the latest diet fad. As Sally Fallon puts it, traditional foods go against what the “Diet Dictocrats” would have us do otherwise. They are foods and a way of eating that traditional peoples from all over the world have shared in common for thousands of years that guaranteed their health, fertility, and longevity. This way of eating takes you one step further past “local/free range/organic whole foods” without additives, packaging, etc. Traditional cooking methods enhance the nutrients of the food, and increase the digestability (grains anyone?). I will share more on these in later posts. I would like to recommend looking up some Sally Fallon videos on Youtube, and getting her book Nourishing Traditions. Also checkout MamaMuse 🙂