I've started this blog as a documentation for myself and to share my experiences on this journey to better health.
This past weekend, I'm not sure how it came about, probably via
Pinterest browsing, but I came across something in relation to chia seeds. I followed the link, which led me to a fantastic read on the benefits of
chia seeds. I will go into chia seeds at another time, but my conclusion was to add chia seeds to EVERYTHING I possibly can! I left a rabbit trail of blog reading behind me and stumbled onto the benefits of lacto-fermented food eating - the old fashioned preservation of food and it's benefits (elaboration in a posting at a later date). As a result of the reading, I've decided to start perseving my own food for use, something that is not only good for you, as they are rich in probiotic nutrients, but very frugal as well, particularly if growing your own veggies.
Well, today I went on the hunt for some canning jars, I ended up buying 6 x 500 ml jars for $20 AUD from Spotlight, a homemaker type store, which I thought seemed a bit on the expensive side, but didn't think I'd find them anywhere else in the area. So, I bought them, just to 'have a go'.
My first projects are going to be
garlic preservation - which is awesome, considering I like to buy the pre-minced jarred stuff from the grocery store, because we use so much of the stuff, it's just easier...or lazier, depending on your outlook! It seems simple enough to do. I've been and done my shopping and shall get onto making some tonight or tomorrow, as I must finish and submit an already late paper for my last class to finish my Masters degree.
One of the other projects I shall tackle tomorrow will be
lacto-fermented ketchup. This also seems quite simple and I'm pretty stoked to give it a taste! I carefully selected the yogurt I was going to use to
extract it's nutrient rich whey. I currently have the yogurt hanging from a convenient hook in my kitchen with a tupperware bowl beneath to catch the whey. I've used a cotton tea towel (not the fluffy kind) and tied the top with a rubberband. Before going to bed tonight, I'll jar the whey and the cheese curd separately and refrigerate. From what I've read, the whey keeps for 3 months in an airtight jar in the fridge, and the newly formed cream cheese for 3 weeks. My reading has told me that the cream cheese can be used as anyone would normally use the good old Philly cream cheese. I'm thinking of making a cheese cake with it, to see what that turns out like - using as natural, unprocessed ingredients as I can get.
More to come with the results that I have achieved!
While I certainly haven't been sitting on a tuffet, I have got myself some curds and whey! I made sure to label them, so as to know the expiration dates - I've heard 3-6 months on various sites (no book reading as of yet) for the whey, and 3-4 weeks for the 'curd' - aka yogurt cheese. I haven't as of yet attempted the yogurt cheese cake, to which it's been suggested that I make that a lemon cheese cake, as it's someone's favourite - plus we are coming into a 'bumper' crop of lemons! How lucky have we been! Renting a house with a rather large olive tree and a new - small lemon tree, which is fruiting! There is no rush to make the cheese cake, as the cheese has a few weeks before needing to use, I may add to the stash in that time period as well.