RawFoodBlog

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_27659.cfm

Instead of waiting for obvious signs of a problem, why not perform some regular “gut maintenance” that will lessen your chances of developing a problem in the first place?

Here’s the instructions:
First I dissolve 4 tablespoons of raw sugar in a cup of filtered hot boiled water and let that cool off. Then I add that cup of sugar water to 5 cups of filtered water and add the kefir grains- all in a 1/2 gallon glass mason jar. I toss in a dried fig or dried apricot. Cover with cloth napkin and rubberband and wait 24-48 hours or until piece of dried fruit rises to the top. Strain out the kefir water using a plastic or bamboo strainer into a new jar (no metal can ever touch the kefir grains and always make sure your water is filtered- no chlorine). Then add the juice of an orange, or a few slices of mango, pineapple, or a little strawberry puree, etc to the kefir water. (lots of options to flavor your water after it’s been strained) and let ferment 8-12 hours. You can use a special jar that with a tight sealing lid but watch out for too much pressure- it can explode. We use a jar with a rubber gasket but we don’t clamp the lid on tight- we just put some books and a rock on top of the lid. After the second ferment is complete, strain into a clean jar with snug lid and place in fridge. You can drink right away but it is better after several hours in the fridge.
Forgot to mention- you can make this daily! Just start up a new batch every time you do the process for the second (fruit) ferment for the first one. Or, you can store kefir grains in the fridge in a jar of sugar water for a couple of weeks. Or, you can freeze or dehydrate your grains. It may take a while to “wake them up” if they’re been in the fridge too long, and there is a process for reconstituting them if they’ve been dehydrated (there’s a website for that)

The Joy Of Eating Bacteria
via The Sweet Beet by Michelle on 4/13/11

http://www.thesweetbeet.com/fermented-food/

This is a great alternative to rejuvelac. Yum! It tastes so good!
Here’s our recipe, developed by my daughter and I, and taken from the book, “Asian Health Secrets,” by Letha Hadady

Soak 1 handful barley in 1 qt. water overnight. Add 2 slices of ginger and 2 pinches orange peel.
Let sit during the day, then refrigerate at night.
Drink 8 ou. twice daily, afternoon and right before bed.
Fill the same jar up with water as you decant off what you need to drink.

Contains all the nutrients you need to survive off of! If this is all you have on a desert island, it would keep you alive!
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http://curiousfoodie.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/barley-drink-recipe/

Ingredients
1 cup of uncooked barley
1 cup of preserved sugared winter melon (糖冬瓜)
2 tbsp rock sugar (also known as rock candy)
10 cups of water
3 strips of pandan leaves (tied into a knot to release the flavour)

Directions
1. Wash the barley and soak it for 5-10 minutes with some water if you prefer a less cloudy drink.
2. Mix the washed barley, pandan leaves and 10 cups of water into a medium-sized pot and bring to a boil.
3. After the barley has turned semi-soft (about 10 minutes later), add in the rock sugar and winter melon.
4. Boil for a further 10 minutes, cool and it is ready to drink.

It is sweet and even when I am not sick I love having this drink.

okraw | May 17, 2010

Freestone Fermentation Festival – Raw Zukay Natto and More!

John from http://www.okraw.com

visits the 2010 Freestone Fermentation Festival. He shares with you some of the booths and interesting products that were shown at the festival.

John from http://www.okraw.com visits the 2010 Freestone Fermentation Festival. He shares with you some of the booths and interesting products that were shown at the festival.

To see Dorothy make Rejuvelac, go to:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al1hDSAv6cQ

Rejuvelac, developed by Ann Wigmore (the founder of wheatgrass juice)  is a fermented
beverage that’s supremely good for you, made from wheatgrass sprouts! Only, you don’t have to
put the wheatgrass in a tray. You just soak the seeds (only 1/2 cup) in a big mason jar overnight,
lay it on its side and let the seeds sprout for 2 days. Fill the jar with water and let it sit on the
counter for a few days, ’til it gets sour. It smells, well, not grea, but tastes good! Like lemonade, seriously.
Here’s the recipe:
REJUVELAC
Anne Wigmores Hippocrates Health Drink

At the Hippocrates Health Centre on the Gold Coast of eastern Australia,  the guests drink a glass of rejuvelac each day to improve their bowel flora. Rejuvelac may also be used as a starter for sourdough bread, and nut and seed cheese.

INGREDIENTS
Makes 1 litre Rejuvelac.
INSTRUCTIONS
1/2 c. soft spring wheat berries
1 gallon water

1. Soak the grain over night. Rinse then lay the jar on its side to drain and leave the wheat to sprout for 1-3 days or until the roots are 1-3 mm long. Keep the jar covered with muslin and rinse periodically to prevent the grains from drying out, and to remove harmful organisms.  (You can buy a sprout jar at the health food store with a strainer lid on top – works wonderfully)

2. Fill the jar with water and ferment the culture for 1-2 days or until it has gone milky with a layer of froth on the surface. Stir gently twice a day with a wooden spoon or chopstick.

3. Decant the liquid and refrigerate. Pour water over the seeds in the jar and have another jar of rejuvelac in 2 days. Do it one more time, if you like, then compost the seeds, throw them to the birds, or dry them in the dehydrator for use as a salad topping or cracker.

NOTE:
1. It is possible for Rejuvelac to go bad (as it is for sprouts and probably any fermented culture). You can generally tell if the rejuvelac is okay by the smell and taste. It should be acidic with a pH less than pH 3.9. It is good practice to observe, smell and taste the rejuvelac periodically to become accustomed to the changes that occur (as it is for any fermented culture). Rejuvelac should keep in the fridge for a week or more, and will gradually sweeten with time.

2. All bacteria and yeasts have an optimum incubation temperature. Refrigeration will inhibit the growth of some organisms but may give an opportunity for others to flourish. Hot weather or high temperatures, may encourage the rapid growth of pathogenic organisms before the beneficial organisms get started, in which case the culture will smell putrid. If your Rejuvelac culture goes off then discard it, sterilize the jar and begin again. In hot weather, it is feasible that a slight acidulation of the water with a little lemon juice at the start of the fermentation, may provide an environment less suited to pathogenic organisms.

Start slowly with the drinking of rejuvelac – no more than 4 ounces the first few weeks ( 4 ou. each day). It REALLY cleansesyour system. Then you can work up to 8 ounces 3 times a day. Ann Wigmore believed it cured her.

To implant a healthy population of lactobacteria in the intestinal tract take rejuvelac for 1 to 3 months. The value of rejuvelac should not be confused with that of freeze-dried acidophilus. Rejuvelac contains live lactobacteria but freeze dried lactobacteria die in a few weeks’ time.
People who have candida are very sensitive to yeast so they should make a new batch every time, but they could start 3 jars 3 days in a row so they do not run out.

Ann Wigmore says,  if you’re traveling you can drink the rejuvelac after  the 1st 4 hours of fermentation if you need to. She had it tested and it’s still super good for you. She says if you put rejuvelac in your drinks – smoothies and soups, you can easily let them sit out as you carry them around all day. So what I do is make my smoothie and my green soup in the mornings, then I won’t have to make my soup at lunch and clean the blender again! She also says if you put rejuvelac in your recipes you’ve made a non-organic thing organic again, again because it’s fermenting.