The Beautiful Truth

I came across a documentary on Netflix the other day, The Beautiful Truth. What intrigued me at first was that this documentary was created by a 15 year old boy who lived in Alaska! Anything Alaska, I'm all over it. I was very impressed with this boys studies and learned much more about food and health in general. There are some parts that make you wonder but overall I felt it was a very well made movie. He is a smart individual and I am grateful for the knowledge this film gave me. Go check it out! Watch some of the other films too, they are all amazing.

Homemade yogurt

I have been intimidated to try making my own yogurt even though everyone says it is so easy. My MIL bought me a nice yogurt maker for my birthday last month and now I am really excited about the prospect of having a good supply of my own homemade yogurt sans HFCS and preservatives. I made a batch and then ate some sweetened with real maple syrup topped frozen blueberries and it was delicious! I'll take homemade over store bought any day. If you want to give it a go, here is what you do: (this recipe comes from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon which my MIL also gave me. It is a very good book)

Yogurt

Makes 1 quart

1/2 cup good quality commercial plain yogurt or 1/2 yogurt from previous batch
1 quart pasteurized whole milk
a thermometer

Gently heat the milk to 180 degrees and allow to cool to about 110 degrees. Stir in yogurt and place in a shallow glass, enamel or stainless steel container. Cover the container and place in a warm oven overnight. In the morning transfer to the refrigerator. (Throughout the day, use paper towels to mop up any whey that exudes from the yogurt) I have a yogurt maker now and after I heat and cool the milk, add the yogurt I set it in the yogurt maker and it is done 4 hours later. I've heard it is good to have a maker so that the temperature is constant. I now our house fluxuates so much in temperature it is probably a good thing to have one.

There are also recipes to make butter, kefir and cream cheese in this book which I will be making this next week as my raw milk comes TOMORROW (sing songy voice). I am so excited.

Favorite Rolls

Here is my favorite roll recipe. I have modified the ingredients to make it a little more healthy, but will leave the original recipe and put my modifications next to the ingredients.

Perfect Dinner Rolls

1 T active dry yeast
2-1/4 C warm water (110-115 degrees)
1/3 C sugar (I replace with organic cane sugar)
1/3 C shortening (I replace this with coconut oil)
1/4 C powdered nondairy creamer (I use gluten flour)
2-1/4 t salt (sea salt)
6-7 C bread flour (I've only needed around 5 cups of flour for some reason and I sometimes use wheat flour or 1/2 wheat 1/2 white)

In a large bow, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the sugar, shortening, creamer, salt and 5 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky).

Turn onto floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a bowl coated with cooking spray, turning once to coat the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into 24 pieces. Shape each into a roll. Place 2 in. apart on baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pans to wire racks. Enjoy!

What are you eating?

Recently I have been thinking a lot about our food and where it comes from. With the ramping up of The Produce Box again for this next season, it has been on my mind a lot lately. There are a couple of movies/shows I have watched which really makes you think about what we are doing to our earth. One of them is Food, Inc. which if you haven't watched, it's a must see. The other shorter shows are called Eco Trip, both of which I have been watching on Netflix. Check them out, watch them and let me know what you think.

In other news, I have been in search of raw milk for a while now. My mother-in-law swears by it and I have enjoyed drinking her precious supply whenever we visit her home in Ohio. I think I may have finally found a place to get me some! I am really excited. Oh, and I am also getting a yogurt maker for my birthday. Goodbye high fructose corn syrup!