Granola: Raw and Sprouted

In my efforts to learn to grow and use sprouts I wanted to make some granola with them.  I found a great video and website where they made raw granola, it looked pretty good but I wanted to adapt it some to my own tastes.  Around this time I also found a blog that talked about soaking oats (I have been unable to find oat groats nearby).  Soaking, just like sprouting, breaks down the Phytic acid in grains, making them easier to digest and increases the available nutrition of the grain.  Phytic acid is often called an anti-nutrient, it binds up vitamins and minerals as it passes through the body. 

Sprouted buckwheat, Soaked Oats, Swelled Almonds/sunflower

So I took the raw recipe, the soaked oats and a granola recipe from Alton Brown and combined them together into my version.  It is only slightly sweet, if you want it sweeter you could add some maple syrup or brown sugar or even a slight drizzle of honey in your cereal bowl with warm milk.

 Sprouted Granola

3 cups soaked rolled oats (soaked in yogurt overnight, drained see below)

Toasting Coconut in a hot Cast Iron Pan

1 cup sprouted (swelled) almonds
1 cup sprouted buckwheat
1/2 cup  swelled sunflower seeds (soak only for 30 min)
3/4 cup shredded sweet coconut (roasted)
1/4 - 1/3 cup of local honey
1/4 cup olive oil or coconut oil (warmed)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins
1 tsp Cinnamon (optional)

Mix all together and  layout on wax paper on your dehydrator trays.  Dry on 120 degrees or less till dry, crumbly and completely.  Remove from trays and enjoy.

Soaking oats in Yogurt and Lemon Juice

Soaked Oats
4 Cups of whole oats
4 Cups of water
8 Tbls. Yogurt or Whey or Lemon Juice
Soak for 12-24 hours, place in cheese cloth and drain.

30 Day Challenge: Week 2 Update

Week 2 Down, and an Oops.

Okay halfway through my experiment of cutting out the sugar, soda pop, fast food etc.  All has gone well except when I attended my local ETBA Bee Keepers meeting last night.  As always our members bring snacks and treats, many made with honey of course.  So I kinda slipped up and ate more sugar than I had intended.  The best thing I ate was these mini sourdough honey wheat cinnamon rolls.  Oh man were they great, good flavor, sweet enough and you would never guess they were wheat.  I will share the recipe here in a few months. 

So I fell short one night out of 14, I started out justifying that much of what I had put on my small plate was made with honey, (one sweetener I did no swear off).  But I kinda stretched a bit, I had good intentions though not good execution.  Could it be that it was diner time and I had not had dinner yet?  Better yet I just gave into the temptation and was sucked back for more of those sourdough cinnamon rolls... man they were good.

Heart Burn

So I noticed tonight that I had a bit of heart burn, enough to go eat a couple of Tums.  I realized that I have not had to take anything for heartburn this whole time, which is unusual for me.  Typically there is a couple of times a week or even the whole week were I fight heartburn.  Not these last two weeks, there were a couple of times when I could feel it coming on and it would settle down. 

I think this can largely be explained by not drinking any soda rather than the sugar issue.  Soda is very acidic and likely a cause of many of my flareups.  Though considering what I ate last night, maybe the sugar caught up with me, I've felt it all day in the back of my throat. 

Weight Loss

I have officially lost 5-6 lbs, and to top it off we have not been getting up to exercise, we've all been sick and working out is the last thing you want to do when your sick...  I feel confident in explaining the weight loss to cutting out the sugar.

I'll check back in next week to update you on how it is going.  In the meantime I will post my sprouted granola recipe, very good and very healthy.

My 30 Day Challenge: Cutting Out the Sugar, Soda...

Refined White Sugar

I have issued myself a challenge, for the next 30 days I will be skipping the following

1. Sugar, HF corn syrup, etc
2. Soda pop
3. Fast food
4. Store bought prepared foods

I am posting this here publicly, because I will have added incentive to complete it because I committed here.
 
 The last 3 weeks Shaun-ta' and I have been starting a new exercise and fitness routine, we are 3 weeks into a 9 week cycle of the Insanity workout program.  This is a part of my 13 Skills in 2013 plan.  Increasing my fitness is important to me for several reasons, firstly I am sadly out of shape, I do not feel healthy, I also do not want to develop any health issues like diabetes.  I expect to lose weight in the process but that is not the focus for me, it will come off in the process.  I just desire to be healthier and increase my fitness level. 

Soda made with Corn Syrup

This change in my diet will be helpful in supporting my new fitness efforts, by feeding my body with good wholesome food and not empty calories.  I have to admit, I do drink a lot of soda, more than a year ago I gave up drinking diet soda's due to my discomfort with aspartame.  I still drink a lot of soda, but the full sugar stuff (rather full hf corn syrup), this is a lot of calories that do nothing for me but add to my waist and spike my blood sugar levels.    

I will still eat honey and some of our own homemade jam, though I will keep the jam to a minimum.  We typically will use honey in our bread recipes in place of sugar anyway.

I am hoping for a couple of outcomes.  I hope to gain a better idea of what these foods are doing to my body and how I might feel by removing them from my diet.  It will expand our number of healthy recipes.  I will also be able to use more of our stored, canned and homemade foods.  I anticipate sleeping better, and having more energy through out the day.  I also expect to feel pretty crappy for a week or two.

I also expect to gain a better understanding and appreciation of the Word of Wisdom as I better align my diet with what it teaches. 

I will check in and post each week to report how it is working for me.  So check back and see how I am doing.

A New Year: 13 New Skills for 2013

As 2012 comes to a close, we look forward to the next year.  As most people we are looking forward with hope, while looking at some ways to better ourselves.  How many times do we make New Year's resolutions and they never make it past Jan 31st?

When setting any goal we need to keep a few things in mind:

• Our goals need to be both realistic and achievable.
• Goals should stretch you, and be a challenge.
• Setting a timetable is helpful, rather than just an open ended goal.
• Greater success can be found if we write down our goals and tell other about them. The individuals we share our goals with can offer their support and even work on similar goals at the same time. 

13 Skills

Jack Spirko over at TSP has a new website up called 13Skills.com.  This is a place where you can layout your goals for the next year (13of them to start).  It is a great way to not only write down your goals, but share them with others.  You can share your profile with family and friends or become friends with other on the site with the same goals (there is also a dedicated area in the TSP Forums for this.  There is also a place to link over to your efforts on your own blog.

Lets face it, the generation of today and even yesterday falls, well short of what our grandparents and great-grandparents had in the knowledge and skills department.  We need to reeducate ourselves and work towards a more self-reliant and provident life.  Adding just 13 skills in your life will help you regain some of those lost and forgotten skills and knowledge.  There are 158 Skill categories to choose from with an endless number of goals you could set under each category.  

Our Profiles

Jacob's 13 Skills Profile
Shaun-ta's 13 Skills Profile
 

Get the Most out of 13Skills

With 13Skills it is important to list skills you want to learn or expand.  For instance if you are a great gardener, don't just list gardening as completed and "I have gardened for years, I am awesome"  Instead pick an area of gardening that you would like to expand or learn more about, for example "Gardening: This year I will go all year with using ZERO pesticides or petrochemical fertilizer."  This is a great goal, it is a long term goal, simple and achievable.  Along the way there would be some learning and expansion of knowledge as you learn how to deal with squash bugs without pulling out the pesticides.  Or how to build up your soil naturally without running down to the store for some 16-16-16 or other fertilizer.

After you complete a goal in an area, you can then revisit that goal with a new one under that same category.  Like if you just completed a learning how to can pickles you then could have a new goal of canning several types of jams or fruit.

Some of My Goals

 Fitness One of my focus areas which I know is a little cliche, fitness.  In a nutshell I need to lose weight, improve my stamina and better my overall health.  I have slipped into a lifestyle where I typically eat very healthy but not every meal just when it is convenient. I drink too much soda and work too much to get to any exercise.  If I am going to be the best father, husband and person I can be (and be around for a long time), I need to be in far better shape.  

I have a long term plan, but I am starting with an achievable goal that supports my long term goal.  My short term goal is completing a 90 day cycle of Insanity a workout series of videos.  My brother loaned me the DVD's and I like the variety and gadget free method of working out.  I also plan to look to find more outdoor activities to do, like digging holes, digging post holes, digging and building swales etc.  This intermediate goal will help me start the year right while also helping me towards my larger goal for the year.  Shaun-ta' plans to join me in this effort and a lot of my other goals will help to support this goal.

 Food Preservation  A few of my goals have to deal with food preservation including Canning meat, curing/smoking meats, fermenting, and harvesting Grain.  This is all an effort to make better use of the food we either grown or find great deals on.  These are all skills which will save us money while providing more nutritious food for my family.

We have some canned meat as part of our 3 month food supply of regularly eaten foods.  We often will use canned turkey or chicken in place of tuna in sandwiches.  Or if we are short on time we will use the canned turkey in enchiladas or other dishes.  We bought an extra turkey around Thanksgiving with the plan of canning the whole thing.  We expect to do this in mid January together.  Shaun-ta's Dad speaks of how his mom would can up venison after their fall hunts, it would make great sandwiches.  We also would like to can some pork.

Curing meats, we use pepperoni quite often making pizza for Pizza and Movie Night.  I would love to make our own pepperoni, where I know exactly what is going into it, and have the enjoyment of eating something we made ourselves.  I also expect it will cost a fraction of the cost of what is found in the store and the quality will be far superior too.  This will be an interesting process, I also plan to learn and make one other "dry sausage", I am not sure what yet but I'll figure it out soon.

Fermenting, I want to learn the art and nuance of laco-fermentation.  This is a great method of preserving your garden vegetables without canning, with the added benefit of better digestive health with the pro-bioics it creates.  I plan to try several different types of veggies out, of course pickles and a veggie mix called chow chow.    

Harvesting Grain, I planted a couple types of grain last year (quinoa and amaranth).  I want to plant some small test plots of different grain and harvest them using different traditional methods.  I want to grow at least 6 different grains to experiment on what works best in this area.  I know you are probably asking why I would even bother, when grain is so cheap.  Well the reason is simply because I want to try it out, see what is involved and see if growing any percentage of our grain makes sense if land area was available.  I am also exploring sprouting grain, which unlocks some of its nutrition and increases digestibility.    
  

Male Blue Orchard Bee (Mason Bee)

Beekeeping; this year I plan to start and keep 3 honeybee colony's, a couple of which will be not the standard hive you typically see, but a Warre' hive.  I really am fascinated with bees in general.  I already work a lot with Mason Bees.  Last summer, I spent a day working with my Dad on his hives and really enjoyed it.  I of course would love more Honey in the house and we would replace a lot of the sugar we use with Honey.

I want to keep my bees in a chemical and natural method as possible in a  managed hive.  My yard though full of good pollen and nectar bearing trees, bushes and flowers is often missing that soft drone of honey bees working the blossoms all year.  Adding a hive and colony near by will help some, and will work well to enhance what my mason and leafcutter bees are already doing.

Final Thoughts

We would like to encourage you to sign up and create your own profile on 13 Skills, make some good achievable goals and get to work.  Share your profile with family and friends and lets work towards bettering ourselves one skill at a time.

Watch for future posts from us showing our progress in each of the areas on our profiles. 
 

Honey and Mayonnaise Sandwiches

When I was a kid, I made up a sandwich, I remember asking my mom to make this for me all the time.  It was a simple sandwich of Honey and Mayonnaise.  Now I can't say I've eaten that sandwich anytime in the last 25+ years but I remember it being really tasty.

Local raw honey (notice its dark amber color)

Just recently I realized that our family had consumed a quart of local honey in about 5 weeks.  I brought it to Shaun-ta's attention and she lovingly informed me that it was in fact me who consumed the lion's share.  I guess it's true, I probably did partake in at least 1/2 of it.  I love honey, I normally have to keep my urges in check.  A few months back we bought a gallon of honey from some folks at church who manage a lot of local hives.  We were able to buy a gallon for a great price, this honey was all local not pasteurized and or filtered (sometimes called raw or pure honey).  It was really good honey, darker than normal clover honey had bit's of pollen in it and has a little stronger flavor.

Honey is pretty amazing stuff, if properly stored it can have shelf life beyond our life.  There was honey found in the Egyptian tombs and was still edible. Honey has a great big list of benefits. One the reported benefits comes with consuming local honey to build ones resistance to pollen allergies. Some of the other  benefits and properties are:

• Anti-oxidant
• Anti-bacterial
• Anti-fungal
• Anti-biotic factors
• Anti-microbial
• Vitamins - C, D, E K, B6, thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and certain amino acids. 
• Minerals - calcium, chlorine, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, sodium and zinc 
• Protein
• Raw honey contains beneficial live enzymes that aid in digestion
• Raw honey also contains pollen which is high in protein and can aid with allergies.

To keep up with honey consumption we plan buy a few gallons the next time it comes available.  Ultimately we hope to start a couple honey-bee hives next year.  I already manage various species of solitary bees for pollinating, so It will be fun to work with honey bees too.  So I have 6 months or so to decide what type of hives to build and get them ready for the season.  I hope to be able to catch a feral swarm next year along with starting one from a nucleolus colony.

 

What is the verdict on the Honey and Mayo Sandwich?

Four of our mouths agree it is actually pretty good.