Wendy's Real Food Resolutions

This post is written by Wendy.  It is part of a series we started last year on New Year's Real Food Resolutions.  The first part of the post was written in 2011; in the second half Wendy reports on their progress as well as what they are looking forward to in 2012.


With 38 years of eating, 6 years of studying clinical nutrition, and 15 years of feeding a family behind me, I feel like I’m only beginning to get a grasp on a truly healthy view of food.

I’ve long been a healthy eater by most standards, especially those I studied and taught in my former life as a dietitian. Yet much of what I built our family eating patterns upon has been up-ended as I’ve looked more to the specific needs of my children.

My husband Chad and I have four growing girls. They’ve always loved helping me in the kitchen, for which I am very grateful. We’ve made many wonderful memories in our aprons!

I specifically recall a conversation with an acquaintance in Ohio roughly six years ago. My daughters were 7, 4 and newborn at the time, and as I chatted with this mother of teenage daughters, she shared about her girls’ premature “development” and their family’s recent decision to purchase organic milk based on her personal reading about the hormones and antibiotics in conventional milk. I had always walked right past the organic section in our local Kroger, focused solely on keeping my monthly grocery budget in check. However, we decided that with four girls, the extra expense of organic milk would be worth it if the concerns were even remotely legitimate.

Ultimately, that conversation was what moved feeding my family beyond a simple financial decision in the grocery aisles and opened my eyes to the need to (re)educate myself.

Fast-forward to mid-2009, when the frustration of one daughter who has struggled with learning challenges and one who is plagued by constant intestinal issues drove me to tears. I prayed even more earnestly for direction in helping them where medical professionals and medications could not. The One who created them and loves them best is also my Counselor, and so I began to pour out my heart to God more regularly on behalf of my children. I also began to read and ask a lot of questions, slowly coming to terms with the humbling realization that I hadn’t learned much of practical value in graduate school after all.

The new learning curve was and is steep. Reading The Maker’s Diet and watching Food, Inc. have been helpful. Our best decision thus far has been joining a local meat-share program, which has provided a freezer full of grass-fed meats which I get to experiment with each week (a big shout out to Falling Sky Farm). I have to say I pretty much feel like a newlywed again, since only about half of my attempts over the past six months or so have gotten the “thumbs-up!” I am so thankful for the challenge, though, and how it is stretching me.

In 2009, we began by tackling the snacks around here, trying our best to avoid the pre-packaged items, and going instead for apples and peanut butter or cheese or mixed nuts. This was a really big deal at first, since we eat six times a day every day – seriously! That’s 18 meals and 18 snacks per day – all making a mess on the island and counters in my kitchen. We do still grab peanut butter crackers and granola bars from Sam’s occasionally, but the girls turn their noses up at them unless they’re really hungry and we’re truly “on the go.” Even my 5 year-old readily prepares her own snack rather than looking for a boxed item now.

In 2010, I really wanted to make a major kitchen transition – you know, throw out everything you’ve ever purchased and never buy it again. My husband didn’t so much go for that, but in his wisdom offered to discuss what would be most beneficial for our particular family and our current stage of life.

These are the goals Chad and I laid out for 2010 in January, dubbing them “the four B’s”:

BREAD - We began making our own sandwich bread from freshly-ground wheat berries the first Saturday in January – one year under our belts now. Yeah! We’ve had some really “dry” weeks, where even the toast wasn’t so great, but overall it’s been a good experience and I think we’re moving toward
more consistently edible bread.

BUTTER instead of margarine – and more of it. While we were at it, we also got rid of all cooking spray and cooking oils, keeping only coconut and olive.

BREAKFAST - We became much more intentional about incorporating a protein source every morning. This has often been eggs, but we have counted whole milk yogurt, too. Mid-year we also did away with any and all breakfast cereals (read why here). I have to tell you, my kids (and husband) really fretted about this one for a few weeks. Now? Well, I made our traditional huge batch of sweet potatoes for a Christmas Eve dinner party, which needed a couple of cups of Corn Flakes on top. The remainder of it sat in the pantry untouched for two weeks without anyone even asking for it. They’ve really begun to enjoy baked oatmeal, yogurt with granola, homemade muffins, and such.

And, finally, BEDTIME - Believing adequate rest was probably the main thing lacking in our girls’ lives, we resolved to re-establish earlier bedtimes for all four of them. That lasted about a week. We’re not nearly as good at the whole bedtime thing as when we just had one child. Oh well!

kombucha

The things that were added in along the way in 2010 were learning to make dairy kefir (used primarily for soaking oats and wheat so far) and kombucha in early summer. We made 6 quart-sized jars of the soda-style kombucha every week for about 5 months, interrupted by a family trip in December. My girls started begging to make it again – they were very glad to get back to it this month!

As for 2011, my thoughts are to branch out beyond bread and pancakes with the freshly-ground wheat (and to try other grains as well). This should be a little easier with my new Bosch – I never thought I would be so excited about receiving kitchen appliances from my husband for Christmas!

Another goal is to return to our pattern of hosting other families for supper 2-3 times per month. Actually, it’s not so much that we haven’t had friends over, but more that when we do host, I still serve one of several tried and true recipes adopted over the past decade. I need to figure out how to prepare and serve “real food” recipes that would be crowd-pleasers.

Finally, I would love to build on our weekly farmers’ market purchases of last spring, summer, and fall. Oh, how I miss the farmers’ market! I’m thinking the goal might be to double the amount of produce I choose each week in order to put some aside for winter. (Help! I have no idea how to do that!)


Thanks for the invitation to share our baby steps, Julie. Thinking back over our recent journey has made me realize how far we’ve already come. Now even the larger steps that remain ahead don’t seem nearly so scary anymore!

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2012 Update

I am glad to report that we have enjoyed many opportunities to host in the past year and we have a deep freeze full of yummy vegetables from the surplus of our Kellogg Farms CSA (I highly recommend purchasing a half or full share for great produce all summer long)!

My teenage daughter has taken on full responsibility for keeping the kombucha going week in and week out, for which I am very grateful.  She also keeps herself busy in the kitchen making homemade applesauce, salsa, and more whenever her schedule allows.  What a blessing!

We are still failing miserably at the bedtime thing.  I seriously need ideas to have at least a few people in this house asleep before 10:00 p.m. each night.

In 2011, we did find great new ways of using the wheat berries to make hamburger buns, cinnamon rolls, and more, thanks in large part to friend Johanna Gelatt, who gave a bread-making demonstration in my crowded kitchen last winter.  If you're considering grinding your own wheat, get in touch with Johanna - she can share from a wealth of knowledge and experience!

Our food world was turned upside-down yet again when we took the plunge to begin the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) in November in order to address our 7 year-old's ongoing GI troubles (www.pecanbread.com and www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info).  No wheat, corn, oats, potatoes, rice, or sugars here for the forseeable future, but we are thrilled with her new outlook on life thus far!

The added work in the kitchen to make the SCD happen would have been truly impossible even two short years ago - I would have been in a heap of tears on the floor, I'm afraid.  Instead, by God's grace, we have taken baby steps which have led us to the place of being able to say "yes" to a radical change in eating that is proving to be very beneficial for our Caris.  I am grateful!

The words I am focused on for 2012 are "simplicity" and "authenticity" - in relationships, in parenting, in life.  They aren't specifically related to our eating, but I can certainly see how returning to preparing and eating whole, real foods is a simple way to live (not easy, mind you, but simple).  The relationships that grow as we work together in the kitchen, defer to one another's needs while on the go, and invite others into our home are the biggest joy of all. . . and they're authentic! Win-win!


-Wendy

Rattle's Garden: A Local Organic Farm

Guest post by Tara Stainton

Our farm's name is Rattle's Garden, located near Vilonia, Arkansas.  On paper it's run by myself, my husband and our 18-month old son.  Sustaining it however, requires the help of a lot of extended family, friends and college interns.  One of the aspects I love the most about a small farm is that it becomes a sort of community.

This is our fifth year selling vegetables and flowers but only our third year of it being my primary form of work.  My husband works in Little Rock for a small company that specializes in wetland mitigation which is cool because both of us have a passion for environmental issues.

I grew up in the middle of corn and soybean fields in Iowa.  My parents didn't farm but my extended family did and almost all of our friends and neighbors had ties to agriculture.  Despite being so close to it, I really had very little knowledge of commercial agriculture growing up.  Terms like "Round-Up Ready" and talk of commodities among the adults in my life as I was growing up went in one ear and out the other for me.  I was twenty-eight years old when I read Jane Goodall's "Harvest for Hope", merely by chance.  In it, she spoke of seeds being genetically modified to withstand Round Up being sprayed on them.  Round Up Ready.  Wait, corn and soybeans we are using as food being sprayed with Round Up?  Something clicked and my eyes were opened.  With my husband working out of town for about two months I spent endless hours on the internet researching industrial agriculture and our current food system.  I became determined to grow our own food.

My first garden was small.  A small garden still has appeal to my type A personality.  I could control almost everything in it.  I could raise the rows easily to allow my plants to stay above standing water in early spring.  Bad bugs could be hand-picked in a small garden.  Plants could be easily covered in the fall to provide frost protection.

All of that got a little more difficult as our garden grew to this.

And we've grown more this year.  I think we'll continue to do so as long as we can continue to maintain the standards we started with.  I am a firm believer in growing organically.

With that in mind, until last summer, I've never considered certifying organic.  My main reason for this was that I had standards set beyond certified organic standards.  Until last summer we never even used an organically approved compound on our garden.  When bugs or disease got bad we burned bugs and plants and replanted.  This was costly but really important to me.  The way I see it is we are not that much higher on the evolutionary scale than bugs and plants.  A neurotoxin is a neurotoxin whether it is naturally sourced or synthetically produced.

Enter blister beetles.  Last summer blister beetles threatened to wipe out our entire vegetable crop.

We had to make a decision.  We either needed to cut the garden back to a more manageable scale and only produce our own food or find alternative means to combat blister beetles.  As difficult as this was for me, we chose to use an organic compound called Pyganic to fight the blister beetles the rest of the summer.

The only thing that made me feel better about this decision was knowing that Robert and I would be in control of where the Pyganic was being used.  Most of the time we were able to knock the bugs off of the plant and then spray them on the ground as they ran for cover.  The few times we did have to spray directly on a plant, I marked the plant with twine and we didn't pick from it again.  That is how much it scares me to use a chemical of any kind.

This story is awfully long to tell over and over at the farmers market.  So the only way I see to honestly label our food is to certify organic.  I hope this is the right decision.

In the meantime, our spring is ramping up with our tiny greenhouse overflowing with early vegetables and flower seedlings.

I'm excited about the summer and can't wait to be back at the Argenta and Hillcrest farmers markets.  We hope to have a bigger presence at the ASN online market this year as well.   I started a blog a few months ago where I'm attempting to document most of what is happening here on the farm.  I don't know any way to be more transparent about how we are growing things.  If you want to follow us you can find it at www.rattlesgarden.com, otherwise come meet us at the market.  We love to make new friends!

VIDEO: Chicken and Rice Soup

HB shares her secrets for making a HUGEMONGUS batch of delicious, nutritious chicken and rice soup in no time flat.  It is four gallons worth to be exact.  Watch below or click here if reading in email.



And for the record, she added the chicken after the rice cooked (no matter what she said on the video).  There wasn't room in the pot for it.

-Julie

Cooking for an Army

When HB and I get together and cook a month's worth of food for two families, we have been cooking and chopping solo in our respective kitchens for several days prior.  I've attempted to document in pictures the vast proportions of food used in this herculean effort.

Cooking insane amounts of food causes one's mind to wander and I've wondered about the sanity of chopping 23 cups of onions!!  Yes, I used my food processor for some of the onions.  However, it is not alway consistent with chopping the onion.  I need to hide from my texture sensitive son so I chopped some of the onions in tiny pieces.  And it makes me cry.  You should smell my house.

Other odiferous offerings: this is what 24 chopped cloves of garlic looks like.  All of it went into the curry.

We used fresh and roasted garlic.  Food photographer I am not.  Let me reassure you, those 8 heads of roasted garlic were incredible. My husband, who eats girl food, said it looked so good he wanted to eat it for breakfast.

Not everything is stinky.  Some of it is kind of sweet - like 8 cups of coconut milk.

Here's what four pounds of garbanzo beans look like after they've been soaked and cooked.  That's almost two gallons of beans!

yummy hummus here we come!

The Cruise Director told me to roast 22 sweet potatoes but I think I roasted a few extra...and we used every single one.

I used a roaster for the first time this week.  It's really just a huge crock pot.

Long story short: last week I let the water boil out of my broth leaving a dry crock pot.  In an early morning stupor, I poured cold water into a very hot (and dry) crock pot.  Do not do that.  It will crack.  You will be sad.  And feel very stupid.

Every cloud has its lining.  I borrowed this roaster from my friend who has TWELVE children.  (Yes they are all biological!  I suppose she feels like she cooks for an army every night.)  This roaster is awesome.  I cooked 3 chickens at the same time.

The next day I cooked three more (total of six) because the Cruise Director told me we needed more chicken.

Another reason this roaster is incredible: BROTH!!  I'm talking GALLONS of broth at one time.  Those are chicken feet in there, people.  Go get you some.

This is just a small glimpse of what it is like to cook for an army.  To read the menu and recipes for our cooking day, go here.

Not pictured: 3 gallons of broth, 60 cups of cooked and chopped chicken, 4 quarts of heavy cream, 5 pounds of butter, 7 pounds of cheese and a lot of soap to wash all the dishes!

-Julie

Batch Cooking: Another Day in the Freezer

HB and I cooked a ton of food today - great proportions of nutritious and delicious goodness (menu and recipes here). My saintly mother arrived last night from Kentucky and not only provided childcare for us today but also washed a mountain of dishes.  She was a HUGE help.

L to R: Brenda (Julie's mom), Julie, Gramm (HB's son) and HB

I will admit to telling HB that I thought we were biting off more than we could chew.  Her response?  "I will not admit defeat until I walk out of that kitchen."  She was raising the bar whether I was ready or not.

The biggest difference maker of the day was the fact that the Cruise Director came with a schedule in hand.  She wrote out what and when dishes would be made and by whom.  In the end we agreed that the schedule helped tremendously with our time management.

It must also be said that we could not have cooked this much food on our first cooking day.  This is our fourth time to cook together.  Each time we get to know each other better - our strengths and weaknesses (I don't always measure - she likes to follow recipes exactly.)  I feel like we're kind of in a rhythm now.  The next cooking day will go even smoother.  But I don't think it would be possible to make more food.

HB started immediately with sauteing onions and peppers for the burritos while I went to work on the curry.  Below is a picture of her burrito making station.  She was making burritos at 9:00 this morning.

After the above picture, the Cruise Director had me so busy that I couldn't didn't take any more pictures until the end of the day.

Below you'll see our packaging station - a card table and an ironing board.  Instead of rolling up the area rug, I put the orange table cloth on it (because the rug is a bear to get to lay flat if it's moved.)  Please note that we were running out of table space so I started laying packaged food on the floor.  The Cuties boxes were the perfect size for storing our burritos for the freezer.

Recap -
8:45 - HB arrives
8:46 - we start cooking
8:47 - our boys start fighting arguing.  My mother runs interference.
11:00 - Mom takes 3 kids to Chick-fil-A
11:30 - HB & I eat lunch standing up while cooking/cleaning
2:00 - drink pina coladas for a little pick-me-up.  A special drink is always planned for the day.
2:45 - HB leaves to pick up the twins from preschool (I washed dishes)
It's starting to get blurry now.  I can't remember if we were packaging before or after the twins.  Because once the 4 year old twins were in the kitchen...well, production screeched to a crawl.  My mother took them to the park.  We worked like mad to clean the kitchen and package remaining food.
4:30 - HB's swagger wagon pulls out of my driveway.
4:31 - I put burritos in the oven to warm for dinner.
4:32 - I collapse on the couch.

-Julie

Real Food Bloggers Bite Off More Than They Can Chew

HB here.

'Tis the night before another cooking day with Julie. After our last cooking day, we ran out of food way too fast. So, this time, we've decided to up the ante. We are attempting to cook more than we've ever cooked! Doesn't that sound awesome? Don't you want to come wash our dishes?!

Here's what's on the docket:

Nourishing Traditions Curry (recipe improved and quadrupled by Julie)

My Chicken Alfredo Lasagna (enough for six-8x8 pans, recipe to come)
Hummus (roasted red pepper and the traditional varieties...Julie soaked and cooked four pounds of dry beans that cooked up to almost two gallons of garbanzos...)
Burritos (36 total, some beef, some chicken, some pork, some mostly bean for the man who eats girl food)
Cheesey Mexican Chicken (recipe quadrupled)
Chicken Pot Pie (recipe quadrupled)

I need onion goggles

Pizza Sauce (huge batch in crock pot)
Sweet Tater Casserole (recipe here, doubled, sans raisins)
Chicken and Rice Soup (HUGE batch)
Soaked Muffins (recipe quadrupled, adding zucchini that we froze from the summer)

In order to prepare for cooking day, Julie has been chopping up a storm (I tried to help, but she insisted on covering chopping duties. Isn't she the best?!)  We've cooked and deboned a total of 11 chickens, I've made lists, written instructions and gathered a few things to take to Julie's house for cooking and assembling the dishes.

Poor Julie had a hard time chopping the 23 cups of onions needed for our adventures. She sent me this picture in the middle of the day with the subject line "I'm okay" and she mentioned something about me being a "slave driver". That girl has a flare for drama.

flour FLOUR everywhere!

My last task of the day was to grind the wheat for the muffins and begin the soaking process. Long story short, I didn't install the bowl on my grain mill properly and several cups of freshly ground wheat flour shot out all over my pantry. My pantry is also my laundry room, which means that freshly folded and laundered items were baptized in flour. Props to my wonderful husband for cleaning up the HUGE mess. Did I mention that as soon as I discovered my grain mill spraying my pantry, I put myself in the line of fire to save my precious laundry?!

All in the name of nutritious meals for my fam,

-HB

Chicken Curry *tweaked* from Nourishing Traditions

This recipe was inspired from the Chicken Curry (page 287) in Nourishing Traditions.

My family liked it (thanks Rachael for the suggestion!) so it has been decided as a batch cooking recipe.  The original recipe does not call for rice (potatoes or beans).  However, I served it over rice the first time I made it.  The second time making it, I added rice while cooking to save a step.  I like the consistency much better.  It is now like a stew or thick soup.  The sweet potatoes, green and garbanzo beans were added for flavor, texture and bulk.

Following recipe is tweaked and quadrupled from the original recipe in Nourishing Traditions.  Of course you can alter the spices for your family's palate.

2 whole chickens, cooked and deboned
1.5 sticks butter or 12 T coconut oil
6 cups onions, chopped
8 T tumeric
4 t five spice (cinnamon, fennel, cloves, star anise, white pepper)
5 T cumin
1/2 t cayenne
4 t corriander
24 cloves garlic, diced
16 cups chicken broth (one gallon!)
4 lemons, juiced
4 c brown rice, soaked for better nutrient absorption
8 cups coconut milk - make your own for cheap
8 cups frozen green beans
4-6 c. diced sweet potato, cooked
4-8 c. (2-4 cans, rinsed/drained) garbanzo beans - optional
lots of Real Salt
fresh cracked pepper

Directions
Saute onions in butter until soft.  Add spices and stir for several minutes.  Add chicken broth and lemon juice and bring to a boil.  Stir in garlic, rice and coconut milk.  Simmer partially covered for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce is reduced and thickened.  Stir in chicken and season to taste.  Add sweet potato and green beans very last since they are already cooked.

Serve sprinkled with toasted coconut and chopped green onions.  On the side serve a fermented chutney, like this one with apples or this one with cranberries.

-Julie

Melissa's New Year's Real Food Resolutions

This post was written in 2011 by Melissa, mother of SIX boys.  At the end of the post she gives an update for 2012.

This girl is definitely more in the “drop the ball” camp when it comes to New Year’s Resolutions. Nonetheless, I face 2011 with great optimism that setting goals, whether they get fully met or not is a worthy practice! After all, how are you gonna measure your success without a gauge?

When it comes to eating real food this year, I am more optimistic than ever! Why? Because for one thing, I am already making significant baby steps (significant for me and my family anyway). And secondly, because the idea of eating real, whole, healthy foods moved from that part of my psyche that wants to be thin and pretty and acceptable in the world’s eyes to the part that says, “This matters for health and well-being and even for spiritual reasons.”

When things move from the superficial to the meaningful, the need to incorporate that becomes powerful and intentional. And even though I find myself occasionally (okay, more often than I’d like to admit…) reverting back to bad habits, especially in this past holiday season of feasting, I find that I am more convinced that my health is the thing taking the beating - not my waistline. It is for those reasons that I once again, set my face towards the goal and say…LET’S DO THIS!

My resolutions for this New Year are a short list but packed with lots of change for my family. Baby stepping we will go into this as we have already been doing!

1. Conquer my fear of the farmer’s market and buying locally.

Those of you who frequent the markets are wondering what it is I am so afraid of!? It is just the unknown. I feel unknowledgeable about things like what to look for in produce and local meat, what is a fair price, and if I can afford to pay the price. I tend to fall into extremes, either buy nothing…or buy everything…and either way live with regret. One way I am baby stepping towards this is to purchase organic produce a little at a time from Whole Foods and try new veggies and recipes with them. Then, once I know what my family will eat and how much is good and how much is a waste…I can make better decisions at the markets. I also plan to find a buddy who will go with my and hold my hand…so to speak!

2. Continue to experiment with new cooking techniques and recipes.

I have conquered kombucha and kefir and even tried Hindu fermented lemonade! Now, I’d like to try lacto-fermented mayonnaise, sauerkraut, more grain-soaking and maybe grain-sprouting. I also want to make my own vanilla extract, my own spice mixes (like taco seasoning, salad dressing spices, etc), and more of my own condiments.

3. Improve at managing my grocery and household budget so that making more expensive, but healthier choices will be doable.

I firmly believe that this can be done. I have already seen it. For example, if I make my own kefir I don’t have to buy yogurt at Whole Foods and that savings alone justifies my purchase of a cow share so that we can have access to raw milk! If I buy less sugar and snacks that are unhealthy, I can justify purchasing organic produce.  And, if I buy in bulk or from a co-op I have to spend more up front perhaps…but in the long run I am saving money…and my health! I want to get really savvy at this so I can show my husband that indeed, we are NOT spending more for this lifestyle or that if we are, it is minimal and worth it!

4. Begin weaning myself and my family away from chemicals in our home.

I confess….I love a clean home. I love clean laundry. And I have always equated those things with the SMELL of some chemical…be it bleach or detergent or perfumes. Slowly but surely I am becoming convinced that this is not good and not necessary. I have yet to begin this process so I am excited to see where it leads and if I am satisfied with the results.

So there you have it…that is a great accountability for me! Like I said, I feel confident these things can be done in 2011. It is exciting to see how I have already grown in the area of Real Food in the past few months. Blessings to you as you try new things this year too!

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2012 Update:

I was scared to revisit these goals, but pleasantly surprised I had worked on most of them to one degree or another.  I was glad I kept it simple. 

1.      I did not conquer my fear of the farmer’s market at all.  In fact, never even went to one.  I really am going to have to find a friend to go with…several friends go so I have no excuses.  One issue I run into all summer is my boys swim on Saturday mornings and that keeps me busy 8 weeks of the summer.  I still want to work on this resolution!

2.      I did try new cooking techniques!  I made wonderful vanilla extract and then vanilla sugar, have made my own mayonnaise with ease and tasty results,  and make homemade salad dressings.  I have yet to do grain sprouting, but I have soaked grains for things like breakfast oatmeal casserole.  I will continue doing these things this year.

3.      I can’t say I “found the answer “ for  lessening my grocery budget to adapt to real food purchases, but probably managed to maintain status quo with it. 

4.      I did make A LOT of homemade cleaning agents this year and wrote about it here.  I still make many of my own cleaners though if I get busy I revert back to store-bought.  I am getting ready to check into Norwex cloths next week as this will eliminate the need for a lot of cleaners homemade or not.   

I need to maintain these resolutions this year and add in more experience with things like fermenting.  I hope to follow some of Julie’s recipe for fermenting foods.  I am also working on making more healthy alternatives for my kids for snacks.  I enjoy baking so I think this one will be FUN!

-Melissa

How to Make Coconut Milk

Gearing up for another batch cooking day, I've decided to make coconut milk.  Making it is not a lot of work and is cheaper than buying cans*.  If you compare recipes available on the internet you will see that the ratios of water to coconut really depends on your preference.  I used 8 cups of water and 6 cups of shredded coconut.

How to make coconut milk:
1. Bring water to a boil.  Turn off the heat and stir in coconut.  Let cool for at least 10 minutes.  Your fingers will thank you.

2. Transfer in small batches to a blender or food processor.  Give it a whirl.

3. Pour into a strainer lined with a thin kitchen towel.  Let it drain then squeeze out remaining milk.

That's it.

As I mentioned on the video (click here if reading in email to view), you can use the remaining coconut.

1. Toast and use as a garnish for curries or other coconutty dishes.
2. Dehydrate and pulverize in blender or food processor for coconut flour (which is used in many gluten free recipes like this one for fudgy coconut flour brownies.)

See also:
Chesseslave makes coconut milk as does Nourished Kitchen who uses fresh coconut.

-Julie
*I buy shredded organic coconut in bulk from Azure Standard for about $2.89/lb.  I didn't weigh my 6 cups of coconut, but for kicks, let's just say it was a pound.  I made 8 cups of coconut milk (or 4 cans) for the price of one can.  And, I don't have to throw away or recycle anything.  Nor does my family have added chemicals in our food, as canned coconut milk often has thickeners and the cans are often lined with BPA, a known carcinogen.

Launching of a Local GAPS Group

It is exciting to announce that Pam Berndt, a certified GAPS Practitioner, is launching a GAPS support group.  If you have gut issues or want more answers regarding the GAPS diet, please join us.

When:       Saturday, February 25th
Time:        10am to noon
Where:      Terry Library community meeting room (on Napa Valley Road, west Little Rock)
What:        Free event introducing GAPS to the community.  These meetings will occur on a regular basis and provide a support network for those involved.

Structure:  Brief introduction and background
                 GAPS Lesson #1  Introduction to GAPS (powerpoint presentation)
                 News
                 New recipe demo (live or video)
                 Question/answer session  (group)
                 Closure of the meeting
                 Private question/answer session

Friends and family welcomed!