Archive - November 2013

My first batch of kombucha was a wonderful success!  Today was day 7…the baby kombucha got a little bit thicker…and I gave it a try!  It was so good and kombucha-y!  On Friday I picked up some flip top bottles and a funnel.  I poured my kombucha into 2 bottles and added white grape juice to both (3 parts kombucha to 1 part juice).  I’m going to try it in 3 days…hoping it doesn’t explode all over my kitchen ceiling (my Mom would be so mad!)!!  Any tips to opening the bottle?  Noah?  Bueller?

Sadly, my first try at pickles was an epic fail.  I don’t know what happened, but they were mushy and smelled pretty bad.  Upon tasting them (bravely), all I can say is…they tasted bad.  :  It happens.  The sauerkraut looks and smells good so far!  I didn’t let the failure of my pickles get my down.  I disposed of the “pickles”, got another jar, and tried again!  We’ll see how this one goes, hopefully better than the first.  I suppose if this was easy enough to get on the first try, everyone would do it.  I’m glad my kombucha came out awesome.  I started another jar, too!  It doesn’t even really take that long to set up.

I used my slow cooker to make honey garlic chicken for dinner…SO good!  Thank goodness for that slow cooker.

“The ability to discipline yourself to delay gratification in the short term in order to enjoy greater rewards in the long term is the indispensable prerequisite for success.”

-Brian Tracy-

I checked in on my kombucha today…annnndddd we have a baby kombucha!  Yay!  I was so excited to see it.  Noah said to let it be so it can get thicker…and that’s what I intend to do.  I’m going to work on some FroYo this weekend with the ice cream maker I bought a few weeks ago.  There’s directions for it in the Fermented book I borrowed from Noah (which I will give back soon…I promise).

Okay, so tomorrow will be the first time I wear jeans in MONTHS!!  I overhauled my closet to see all the stuff that I kinda put away since it was too small, and most of it fits again.  I am currently wearing a size medium t-shirt that I haven’t worn in close to a year!  Amazing things I tell you, amazing things.  I can’t even believe it.  Oh, and I bought this awesome pencil skirt a LONG time ago…kind of fit the first day I got it, then it was too small.  I held onto it in hopes that one day it would fit…well, today was the day!

Noah gave me some Paleo Wraps to try, and I put some chicken in them…they are doable.  It wasn’t like the wraps I used to know, but it was better than Paleo Bread.  I’m going to slow cook some buffalo chicken tomorrow, and use the wraps!  I can’t wait.  Last time I made buffalo chicken it was SUPER SPICY, so this time I need to tweak the recipe a little bit (so my Mom can actually enjoy it).

I’m loving eating healthy and feeling good.  I can even tell how different it is when I go to the gym.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…make sure you take progress pictures!!  You’ll be shocked when you start to compare them.

“I think people forget that feeling good is as important as looking good, although a pretty dress never hurt anyone.”

Life with a CrockPot is so wonderful!  On Sunday, Dr. Noah mentioned a recipe for Bison & Butternut Cocoa Chili in the Practical Paleo book…needless to say, I tried it!  It came out really good, just a little too spicy (and I even cut out some of the hot stuff).  Next time I will use less chili powder for sure.  And for the bison, well I’m shocked at how good it was!  Did you know that bison is always grass fed?  Amazing.  Then yesterday I made a Paleo version of Chicken Cacciatore in my CrockPot…I took a few minutes to cut everything up and prepare it when I got home from work, turned it on, and took a nap.  When I woke up a few hours later…my dinner was ready!  Paleo made easy, for sure.  Now I’m scouring the internet for recipes.  Today, I’ll probably prepare a london broil to eat for tomorrow, and maybe the day after.   It makes life on my schedule, much easier.  I won’t be using the CrockPot for every meal, but I can always prepare a meal, and do a CrockPot one at the same time, as opposed to cooking 3 meals at once to have them prepared for a few days.  Get my drift?  :c)

Okay, so I enjoy researching random things (as you have noticed).  Came across the term “leptin”.  Leptin is that little trigger in our bodies that says “Hey, eat more!”, or “Hey, stop eating!”.  Unfortunately, we see many people who are leptin resistant.  When this happens, a reset needs to take place.  If you eat a Paleolithic type diet (low carb – high fat) and do high intensity interval training, you can achieve the reset.  It takes longer for some, but it balances out your body.

Have you tried butter in your coffee?  Me either, but it’s on my list of things to do (probably this weekend).  This guy David Asprey came up with it and called it “Bulletproof Coffee”; it actually originated in Tibet.  It apparently is like a meal replacement…since it provides a bunch of energy.  The ingredients you ask…well, grass fed butter, coconut oil, and coffee…of course!  I’ll let you know how that goes.

“Take care of your body.  It’s the only place you have to live in.”

Today was a great day!  Woke up, made an awesome breakfast…eggs, pineapple salsa, and bacon!  Then met up with Dr. Noah to pick up protein powder, and for a quick lesson in fermentation…and kombucha.  Noah is a veteran and master at this fermentation thing…for sure.  Happy he spent the time to talk to me, and lent me his fermentation book.  Needless to say, I went out, bought some mason jars, cabbage, organic tea, organic sugar, and started my fermentation journey…oh, and I also bought a crock pot!!!!!!

Noah told me this awesome story about how he started making kombucha, but I’ll let him tell you about it in another post.  :c)  He gave me a baby SCOBY to start…but this baby kombucha thing (super scientific name for it) is from a lineage of at least 10 years, could be longer.  I will now proudly (and hopefully) carry on the lineage!  Long live the baby kombucha!

Once I got home (after shopping for all this stuff), I started cutting up cucumbers and jalepenos.  I started the fermenting process of pickles, and pickled jalepenos…and I’m attempting to make sauerkraut.  I used the baby SCOBY I got, and my kombucha is now in the first step of fermentation.  I’m so excited!  Thanks to Noah for taking the time out to tell me about this…and trusting me enough to give me the starter for my kombucha.  I will update you in a week on the progress.

I also picked up a book called “Practical Paleo” that Noah recommended.  At quick glance, it looked informative.  After I finish “Grain Brain”, I’ll start reading that.   Ahhh…what a good day!  I have a feeling I’m going to be fermenting a lot of things now!  haha  Thanks, Noah!

“Paleo: It’s a no grainer.”