Hello Southern Hemispherites!!

This topic contains 27,869 replies, has 831 voices, and was last updated by  thinatlast 1 day, 6 hours ago.

Viewing 50 posts - 11,851 through 11,900 (of 27,973 total)

  • LJoyce, if you like plain yogurt, you will probably like kefir. It tastes kind of like liquid yogurt, but usually a little thinner. It’s kind of similar to the store bought buttermilk they sell here, but closer to plain yogurt.

    I agree with thin tat the powdered kefir is not the same thing. It has fewer bacteria strains and no kefir grains. It will only make a couple batches if you use some to start a new one. I wish I lived closer to you because I could give you all you wanted. I can’t imagine what the customs people would think if I mailed them! And it would take too long anyway. They’re good for several days in the mail, but would likely starve after a week. I got mine a few years ago through an Amazon seller. It was only a teaspoon of the grains, but they multiplied each day with a new batch. I’ve given some away to neighbors, but not many of them like kefir. Thin’s Link looks like a good bet. You only have to buy them once if you keep making it.

    It takes about 18 hours, less when the kitchen is warm, sitting on the counter, to ferment. You can put them in the refrigerator to slow the process way down. I’ve left them in there, in the same milk for 3 weeks, more than once, and thought I’d killed them. But I just strained out the grains, dumped the milk, and put them in fresh milk. The bounced right back.

    I’ve thrown a lot of grains away because I had too many. The more you put in a jar of milk, the faster they ferment. I use 2% milk. I tried skim milk once, but didn’t like it, and the grains didn’t do as well. Goat milk is my favorite but it’s a lot more expensive here unless you know someone with goats. Pasteurized milk is fine, but not ultra pasteurized.

    Here’s a video showing how to stain the grains, etc. Mine often looks like the “very over cultured” picture. It tastes just fine. It just needs to be stirred or shaken to mix the curds, or thick milk, and whey. Also, don’t be afraid to press of the grains when straining and moving them around it the strainer with a wooden spoon or nylon/rubber spatula. They are hardy little buggers! I often rinse them with water which is ok if you don’t have Chlorine in your water.

    http://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/milk-kefir/how-to-make-milk-kefir/

    Hi all. Speaking of Kombucha I have read about it but have been hesitant to try as apparently it can have some bad side effects as well as the benefits. I saw some in the supermarket, a tea type drink in a very small plastic drink bottle selling for $8 so incredibly expensive. Would love to hear others thoughts on this product.

    CalifDream – very prone to bushfires where I live in regional South Australia. My property is at the base of the Flinders Ranges and a few years ago we had huge fires very close to me which destroyed so much land but thankfully no houses or lives. Was very scary standing on the front verandah looking at a sea of red all around. We regularly have temps in the 40 to 45 degree range over summer here too.

    Well the new additions have arrived – more than we anticipated actually – 9 hens and 2 ducks !! Have been thinking of getting ducks for awhile although I’ve never tried duck eggs but looking forward to it.

    Sun is nearly up time for another coffee and go check on the ‘girls’.

    Good morning everyone,
    Fast day over. But I think I have woken up with another cold setting in. Not my year.

    Good luck getting your kefir granules LJoyce.
    I made kombucha for a while during the 1990’s. It made a lovely refreshing drink. It didn’t help my health at all and I wouldn’t have it again because it is so sweet (and that same issue of having to look after it like it is a pet).

    Hi Penguin! Good point about Polish communities! They are here! Small and spread out, but there are Polish deli’s in Melbourne,

    I hope your moussaka was delicious LJoyce. And your soup Thin! Mine was just scrumptious.

    Thin, you write so well that a compliment from you about the way I have written something is SO lovely! Thankyou.
    Also, forgot to thank you Thin letting us know about the article, and Cali for providing the link. I read it (in a bit of a skimming way).

    Well, a new day! A female Doctor Who. What other wonders will it bring!
    Cheers everyone!

    Cinque, it’s already Monday there but just 2:30 Sunday afternoon here. I decided that this will be a FD and have only eaten soup so far. I spent the afternoon changing the socket and cords on an old (Very lovely) lamp that my sister keeps in her bedroom. Months ago, there were sparks from the end of the cord next to the plug when she turned it on one day and lots of smoke smell. So I ordered a repair kit with all the “innards” from Amazon, and it has been sitting and waiting for me to stop procrastinating and fix it.

    It was fairly simple, but lots of spacers and pieces. It should have taken half an hour or less and ended up taking me almost 3 hours! I attached and reattached two wires about 20 times. The pieces had to go in one direction and in a certain order and if one piece was out of place or upside down, about 5 other pieces had to come off, including those 2 wires by the socket. You know those IQ tests where you have to figure out geometric puzzles and how they go together? This was kind of like that. And I flunked the test! My husband helped me get a couple stuck pieces apart because he got so tired of listening to me going on about it. But it’s finally done, and it works! My fingers are going to be sore tomorrow from all the twisting and turning.

    I make Kombucha, but haven’t made any in a while. My last batch is vinegar now and I really need to do another batch. It tastes like tea with vinegar added. It takes about a week to ferment and the longer you let it go, the more sour it gets. It will eventually get to vinegar. You need a Scoby to start. I haven’t been drinking it so much because it’s hard to know how much sugar is left. It uses 1 cup of sugar to a gallon of tea. Here’s a link that tells about it: https://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/food/how-to-make-your-own-kombucha/slide/8 I do like it, but am not sure of the nutrition or probiotic value. It can vary by batch. I just drink it as a drink that tastes good. It’s expensive to buy it ready made, at least here it is, but it’s a good way to see if you like it. Get one without a lot of things added. If I flavor mine, it’s usually with a strawberry or some cinnamon or an apple slice. Sometimes I’ll add a little piece of ginger.

    Gday, I bought some duck eggs from a lady who has several ducks nearby, a few months ago. They are larger than chicken eggs and the shell is thicker. The ones I had were a slightly pink color shell, really pretty. They had bigger yolks. They’re higher in cholesterol. I thought they tasted about the same as chicken eggs.

    She had a duck named Betty and another named Beverly. 🙂 They were both quite friendly and came over to the fence where we were and talked to us. 🙂

    Thank you Cinque, so kind. Sorry to hear you’re under the weather again. Miso soup was delish thanks. A friend came over and stayed for hours and I was 2 hours late getting my second feeding! I survived but it’s dangerous having to prepare food when I’m hungry. Luckily, I’d already made the OFM’s dinner & soaked the mushrooms before he arrived and miso soup doesn’t take long to prepare.

    CalifD, I put my grains in the fridge as you describe to slow them down when I have too much kefir as I’m the only one drinking it. I know you said you couldn’t get away often due to cockatoo care but do you have a reliable method of storing them for long periods? We tend to go away for about 8 week periods (we’re so far from anywhere that we have to make it worthwhile!) My first batch survived our first trip when I dried them but someone on the Maintenance Chat thread later suggested freezing and they were never the same after I did that. They turned yellowish and didn’t smell good.

    Did you know that you can eat the grains when you get a surplus instead of throwing them out? Just add them to oats, etc. What is the other 98% of the 2% milk you mentioned? I’m a FF person and you’re right, you can make them with anything – but it should be consistent, they don’t like change I discovered.

    GDSA, enjoy the chickens and ducks, sounds fun.

    Second post-FD frothy coffee coming up. I’m looking forward to breakfast but don’t feel the slightest bit hungry so will go for a walk first. OH, of course, had already cooked his big breakfast before I got up this morning!

    Morning Thin, Cali, everyone else.
    Took a zyrtec and feeling much better. I don’t think this one is a bad one.
    Had my coffee!

    I meant to put in a plug for kimchi. I love it. Main taste is chili, with the sort of complex depths a bit of fermentation gives. It tastes fresher than a relish and it goes with almost everything! Going to add it to my stir fry for lunch. It isn’t expensive and it keeps well.
    I have several recipes waiting for me to try them, but haven’t managed to make my own yet!

    Heading off for grandma duty after lunch!

    I used to work with a Korean man who was born just after the end of WW2, so he grew up during some difficult times. He loved kimchi, he told me about how his family would make batches of kimchi at the end of the growing season and bury them around the backyard. Then through winter they would dig up the batches of kimchi one by one to have with rice.

    I thought it was going to be a rough day. I woke at 7am and by 10:30 I had eaten a small bowl of muesli with greek yoghurt, a banana and 4 cups of tea. (This is a lot for we as I usually don’t eat breakfast at all). I managed to distract myself for a while and it’s now 2 hours later and my appetite has settled down thankfully. I’m hoping it stays that way as I don’t want to undo the good work of yesterday’s FD (yes the moussaka was lovely, I’ll have to make that again).

    Thanks for all the advice on kefir Calif, Thin & Cinque. I am going to start by trying one or two of the products available at my nearest organic health food store. If I like them then I’ll decide which way to go with culturing my own.

    Cinque – I was a bit surprised with the Doctor Who announcement too, hope it’s a good next series. I love this series. When I was young, television reception was either not available at all or very limited for those of us living in rural areas (and I was only 300km from Adelaide). When I was 5 years old they put a relay station at Renmark to receive the ABC transmission for the Riverland, so we finally bought a TV so we could watch one channel. It was another 7 years before we got a local commercial channel in addition to the ABC. This meant that I grew up on a diet of ABC programming with nothing to compete with it. As a young teen the only program aimed at my age group was Doctor Who. I think that’s why I have such a soft spot for it – it was the best half hour of TV per week when I was 13.

    GDSA – hope the hens and ducks settle in quickly and start laying. Did you get laying hens or young pullets? You can use duck eggs instead of chicken eggs in recipies – just weigh them as they are bigger.
    I remember my Dad decided it would be a good idea to get a couple of ducks to eat the snails in the garden. He hadn’t realised just how far they wander and how much poo they’d leave on the paths around the house. He got so sick of cleaning up after them that the ducks got sent to another home (at least I hope that’s what happened). Our hens never seemed to come up to the house – they stayed in back yard where there was lots to eat.

    Thin, I’ve probably let the kefir sit in the frig for about 4 weeks when I was busy with other things or just distracted. Once it got a little yellow looking but after 1 day of revival the grains were fine. I’ve never tried freezing them. 2% milk is actually 2% butterfat, as opposed to 3.25% in whole milk.

    Cinque, my sister takes Zyrtec for allergies and says it works well. Maybe your cold is actually allergy related with all the rain and probably new stuff growing. We get a lot of pollen in the winter and spring here and I often have problems with allergies.

    I’ve only had kimchi once or twice and it was in a jar from the store. I wasn’t that crazy about it, but I understand there are a lot of different recipes for it. If you decide t make your own and find a recipe you like, let me know. I like all the ingredients that go into kimchi, but somehow don’t like them put together. So many people really enjoy it. I think maybe it was just the brand. I need to check out some Asian stores for different ones.

    It was really hot again today and is still around 27 and it’s almost 11 pm. I think I might melt! I added Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide Hills and Sydney to the weather app that I use. it seems strange to see the higher temperatures to the north and lower ones in the south of the country. It’s just the opposite of here. Above and below the equator. The winter temperatures in the south seem similar to where we live, maybe a little warmer. Perth seems warmer.

    CalfD, I think the US and Australia are part of a very small number of countries that are vast enough to spread across multiple climate zones (Canada and Russia do as well, but they are so far north that instead tropical-temperate zones they have all the colder zones). In summer virtually all of Australia is hot, it’s just a dry heat in the southern states and wet and humid in the north. The big difference really is in winter, when our southern states get some cold winter weather (by our standards at least) but the north stays mild and they get their dry season (best time to visit the far north of Australia I’m told).
    I have to confess I haven’t been any further north than Brisbane, but I may get there one day. My joints are actually more painful in humid weather (something to do with air pressure compressing the fluid around my joints my rheumatologist says), so it will probably need to be a short visit. I would like to see Kakadu and I’ve always wanted to ride on The Ghan (one of my cousins used to drive it). There’s actually a lot of Australia I haven’t seen. When I worked I had about 20 years of needing to travel interstate often. The last thing I wanted to do when on holiday was get on another plane and stay in another hotel room – I just wanted some quiet time at home for a change. I’ve been retired for 2 1/2 years now and the novelty of being able to stay home hasn’t worn off yet. But I will eventually get to my list of travel spots that I want to venture to.

    You are right about Perth temperatures, in winter they usually seem to be a little milder than I experience in South Australia. Although in recent summers Perth and Western Australia generally seems to have had by far the the worst of the heat waves. Given that I grew up in a very hot dry climate, you’d think I’d be used to it, but I actually don’t like hot weather. Spring and Autumn are definitely my favourite seasons, but I think it’s the contrast with the other extremes that makes them more desirable. OK, I’m hankering after an early Sping now!
    Goodnight CalfD

    On the subject of kefir. I have just read the small print on the side of the bought-in bottle. I seem to be drinking two servings, about one quarter of a pint or 200 grm. Does anyone know if there is a recommended minimum/maximum amount? The calorie content is within my limits.

    It’s funny how many of us tend to see so little of the country we grow up in. I’ve seen so much more of Australia than most Australians including my own daughter who was born here. I hitch-hiked from Far North Queensland down the entire coast to Melbourne, all over Tasmania, through the red centre and then gave in and took a bus across the Nullarbor to Perth because someone said you couldn’t hitch it, at least not alone. I could have though – if you can hitch through Three Ways, NT, you can hitch-hike anywhere. Before we were married, we spent six months driving a VW kombi across the top end from Brisbane to Perth. A couple of years later we did the same thing across the bottom end from Sydney to Perth. It’s a big continent and I’ve seen a lot of it – but not Canberra.

    By contrast, I’d barely been north of London before I left England! I hope to fix this over the next few years. Same story when I lived in the USA; I never went to Canada because I always thought when I was really old (i.e. 50), I would be travelling around up there in my RV. So many places, so little time…..

    Penguin, does it not give a ‘serving size’? I just take a small glassful, probably 6-8 tsps.

    I’ve just read on ‘kefir.net’ that it may be necessary to build a tolerance to kefir. It recommends, “Start with about four ounces in the morning on an empty stomach. Every second day increase the amount until you are able to drink a full eight ounce glass.” That would be too much for me.

    Yes, it says 100 grms. Two of us have been sharing a 400 grm bottle, so we have either been overdosing or getting full value. Just curious about whether it is possible to drink too much.

    thinatlast. I have just re-read your post. We seem to have skipped the build up stage. No side effects after 10 days so we must have a natural tolerance.,

    So many interesting things to reply to here today! I’ll start with kefir and address the others a little later. I normally don’t drink milk at all because an allergic reaction makes me short of breath. But yogurt and kefir, at least in moderate amounts, don’t seem to cause that problem. I started with store bought and had read about starting off slowly. I think I started with about 110 grams in the morning and then drank another 150 or more later in the day. It didn’t seem to have any bad effects so I drank at least a cup per day after that. When I started making it myself I drank about the same amount. I don’t drink it every day anymore. But I have no hesitation about drinking whatever I want except for the calories. I figure they’re the same as the milk I started with.

    The dog loves it! I limit him to about 4 ounces or less. He’s a picky eater, but seems to know the value of fermented foods. He will beg for home fermented sauerkraut! I limit the amount I give him. He’s ever had a problem with it but I have visions of having to clean up a big mess outdoors! My other dog who died in January loved both too.

    thinatlast. As you may have concluded from my two responses to your post, I was in a hurry to be elsewhere. Too much of a hurry – I forgot to say thank you!

    CalifDreamer. Sounds as though my 200 grm daily is Ok then. I have always had dogs, but have yet to encounter a picky eater. The first response of mine to anything new has always been “can I eat it?”.

    thinatlast’s post at the top of the page with the grain link really grabbed my interest, but for the motorbike add attached to it. Ex-bikers never really get it out of our system. My MG is a poor substitute.

    Penguin, I should mention that even at 68, I still have pretty much of a cast iron stomach. Not too many things bother me, although I’m a little more susceptible to the after effects of alcohol. But the kefir doesn’t seem to bother me at all.

    Just a child, I’m way ahead of you. Mine is pretty indestructable as well. Some of us were born lucky.

    LJoyce, I agree about not wanting to travel as much anymore. I’m still working and getting tired of the travel. It used to be a lot easier, less time consuming and more comfortable. Now with airplane seats so much more cramped, having to be at the airport earlier because of sometimes long security lines and flights almost always full, it gets to be a hassle. I remember when even a 2 hour trip involved a nice meal with salad. Now it’s 2 tiny bags of peanuts on a 5 hour trip across the country! I would still like to visit Australia though. The long flight would probably drive me crazy but I think it would be worth it once I got there. Seeing all those birds in natural surroundings would be like a dream.

    We have very big differences in weather across the country due to the mountain ranges and lots of lakes and such. I grew up in the northern part of the Midwest where there could be a meter of snow or more within a day or two and it could be -24 or colder. The summers there were short, hot and very humid. 90% humidity wasn’t unusual. Northern California is hot and dry in the summer. It rarely rains from about mid May to mid September. 40 C temperatures aren’t unusual. Fortunately it usually cools down to around 18 at night. We rarely get snow in the winter here, mostly just rain. But I can drive about 20 minutes East and see all kinds of snow piled up on the sides of the highway. We usually get several days below freezing in the winter.

    A quick good morning! I’m on grandma duty which means I’m tired. My hip hurts from toddler wriggling me to the very edge of the bed! But grandma win, I got a bath phobic girl into the bath and washed her hair with only a little screaming because there was a bit of fluff in the water!

    But had to share this:
    The brain and gut talk to each other: how fixing one could help the other

    http://www.sbs.com.au/topics/life/health/article/2017/07/17/brain-and-gut-talk-each-other-how-fixing-one-could-help-other

    Amazing

    Good morning all.

    Cinque & LJoyce yay a female Dr Who. I too grew up in regional SA with only the ABC and then eventually channel 7. Dr Who and The Goodies were my ‘must watch’ tv shows – oh and Countdown of course. Tom Baker is still my favourite Dr followed by Jon Pertwee. As a child I dreamed of being Sarah Jane Smith travelling the universe with the Dr and K9 – LOL !! I think lack of tv choice growing up is why I’m still an avid ABC fan today and am drawn towards British made shows.

    Well the girls are doing well and have settled in nicely. Ljoyce they are all point if lay and so far have laid 4 eggs this morning I say ‘so far’ as Miss D was itching to go check at 7.30am so fingers crossed they may lay more as the morning progresses.

    Feeling exhausted and achy today after spending the last week non stop building fences,chicken coop and related bits and pieces. So spending today inside tidying up the spare room, sorting through my wardrobe and perhaps some baking this afternoon.

    Major dilemma for the day – which way will I cook my first batch of eggs – poached or scrambled ??? Oh decisions decisions Ha Ha 😃 😃 🍳 🍳

    GDSA – glad your hens have settled in so well that they are already rewarding you with eggs. I feel exactly the same about my TV preferences, I still watch largely the ABC a lot and feel more comfortable with British made programs than I do with American (sorry CaliD) – all that childhood conditioning.

    Cinque – thanks for the link, looks like my joke about talking to my gut microbes wasn’t that far fetched after all.

    CalfD – I can’t imagine the -24 that you grew up with, the coldest I’ve experienced regularly is frosty mornings which are -3 to 0 C. It sounds like the Californian climate is fairly similar to the temperate areas of Australia.

    I was meant to have no power today – got advance warning about repairs to electricity system. However it’s still on, so I’m wondering if the stormy weather had made them delay their plans. Not complaining – at least I can cook lunch and still boil the kettle.

    Darn it just lost my post…. oh well

    Good morning everyone🙂

    Lots of posts and topics!

    Welcome Big Bill and penguin! Where are you from?

    Interesting discussion onnfermented foods. Re biome and new research – how amazing is the human body. Re the poo transfer, I’d do it to get rid of ME/ CfS too Cinque, but I’d be making sure they were normal weight and healthy as well. There have been some well publicised transfer of “traits” from the donor to the recipient. Don’t know how common it is though. Amazing research though and results. Who would have thought!

    OH and I did FD yesterday, with fish and prawn soup with vegies for dinner. The fish was frozen barramundi and frozen prawns from Aldi. Fish choice on FDs is always a lower calorie one.

    Celebration at weekend was a little different Food was mostly grain carbs and protein with small amount vegetable – rice and chicken for me, celebration cake and sweets, small amount of fruit. I don’t drink calories, so water and tea only helps keep cals down. Absent from the food was a lot of things usually seen on Aussie tables for parties – nuts, Shapes, chips, corn chips, lollies, chocolates, multiple cakes eg cheesecakes, icecream-all with loads of sugar, fats, excess salt etc. Interesting to me that celebrations that don’t overdo it, it’s easier to keep calories down and there isn’t a compulsive componant to the eating.

    Despite eating whatever I felt like at the party, after FD today I’m 63.7kgs, down from the 64s I’ve been in for the last 2 months.

    Onwards and downwards,
    And keep getting back on the horse
    merry

    Hi again!

    Congratulations Merry on being able to both enjoying the party and discover a favorable number on the scale afterwards! You got to have your piece of celebration cake and eat it too!

    Scanning I see chat about fermentation which is a favorite of mine! I constantly keep a batch of kombucha fermenting and used to consume daily milk kefir, before going on holiday one year, and finding my grains were no longer fermenting upon my return.

    I also keep batches of purple cabbage sauerkraut going, though it is so hot in summer, any batch I put up during January or February simply do not ferment and instead go ‘off’. …We don’t live with air/con. This spring I’ll make extra to last through summer. I love to add caraway seed into the mix and sometimes parsley and have even added zucchini shreds and other veges as well! As far as fermentation time, I’ve kept a batch on my kitchen bench for almost a whole year once and opened it and it tasted delicious, just sitting there looking beautiful in the jar, without any need for refrigeration.

    I haven’t read all the posts, though I’m guessing that it has been mentioned that there are more helpful bacteria in one serve of sauerkraut than there would be in a probiotic capsule! I once heard Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride (Dr. McBride devised the GAPS gut repair program)interviewed once about fermentation and she mentioned that the more variety of vegetables and/or herbs included in the fermentation, the wider variety of bacteria strains are produced. …This has probably all been mentioned above, just haven’t had time to read, so apologies if is redundant! I’m still super busy so haven’t quite caught up yet! TAFE starts again tomorrow, eek!

    I’m fasting today again (I’m back to my Tuesday and Saturday routine). Even though number on scale was good this morning, I felt like I needed an eating pattern re-set since if I kept eating how I ate yesterday, the number on scale certainly wouldn’t have been favorable for very much longer! Cheers!

    House to myself, but exhausted!!!

    Quick catch up before I have a lie down!

    Wo Merry! Nicely under your 64!

    Glad you have power LJoyce!

    Gday! At least 4 lovely freshlaid eggs already! Wow. Enjoy the egg cooking decision! I hope you are having a lovely resty afternoon.

    When I was a young teacher at a community school, Tom Baker was The Doctor, all the kids watched and most of the mums had a crush on him! Monkey Magic was the other favourite show at the time!

    Cali, such extreme weather. I remember reading Tim Flannery’s book about America: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/jul/21/historybooks.highereducation1 where he described how the country acts like a funnel pulling extreme weather north. Very different to Australia.

    Re the zyrtec, since I found out that hayfever meds and cold-and-flu meds are the same, except the cold and flu something added for pain, I always choose hayfever meds. I do have hayfever too!

    Thin, I also hitched down the east coast! From Cape Tribulation to Melbourne. Back in the days before they developed Port Douglas. (I think Tom Baker was still Doctor Who!).

    Well, off for a nap and then to plan good food for the next few days.

    Cinque! Cape Trib, that’s it! Which year? 1985 for me. I would never go back because I always want to remember Port Douglas as a sleepy little fishing village. Found my photos yesterday. The centre of Australia is RED and beautiful. Back then, you could climb Ayers Rock, as it was known. So many amazing memories and all the better for having no internet and being forced to appreciate the moment.

    Jon Pertwee was my fave Dr Who. It was on BBC1 on Saturday afternoons in England, never missed it.
    I … AM … A … DA-LEK!

    Great news Merry, well done! Hi Minka, LJ, GDSA, CalifD, Big Bill, Joffy and everyone else.

    Penguin, ha ha, so you’re a 70ish rev-head?

    Well done Minka and Merry for getting good report cards from your scales.

    It’s odd really how specific our tastes can sometimes be. I love sour flavours, I like pickled and brined veg like pickled onions and polski ogorkis, but I hate sauerkraut. You’d think the flavours would be similar enough that I’d like it – but unfortunately that’s a no.

    I do have high hopes for the kefir milk/yoghurts. I’ll get some at the end of the week when I go shopping. Does anyone know whether the microbes in kefir will survive cooking? I often use cultured buttermilk in preference to milk when baking and I was wondering whether I could use kefir instead.

    Apart from bananas I’ve been struggling to eat fresh fruit since the weather got really cold – the apples and oranges sitting in the fruit bowl just aren’t what I feel like as a snack at the moment. So I resorted to my mother’s way of getting fruit & dairy into us in winter – cooked fruit and custard. I cooked apples, blueberries and strawberries together with a few chopped prunes – it’s the most amazing crimson colour. I also made a litre of custard with vanilla & nutmeg. Now I have no excuse for not having eating my fruit every day.

    It’s late and I’ve been reading and watching a little TV, so just a few quick comments.

    Gday, it sounds like you got a great workout building fences and chicken coops and all. If you’ve already gotten 4 eggs from the new girls, it sounds like it was worth it.

    Cinque, sounds like grandmother duty is a workout in itself. But I bet your granddaughter really enjoys her time with you. Allergy meds are also good for sleeping. I realized long ago that Benedryl allergy meds have the exact same ingredients as Sominex sleeping pills, and in the same amounts. But there was some study several months (a year?) ago that said Benedryl could affect memory. I’m always suspicious of studies that find fault with cheap medications when there are expensive prescription meds that do similar things…

    LJoyce, I wonder if you’d like home fermented sauerkraut better than store bought? You can add your own spices and it stays crispy. You like so many other pickled foods. I bet you’ll like the kefir. Some store brands are better than others. I like the plain ones.

    Thin, it sounds like you’ve had some incredible adventures traveling around the country. The Outback seem so wild and kind of mysterious. The NY Times did a photo story about it last week but they usually require a subscription to look at their site. I’ll see if I can find the link tomorrow.

    Minka, red cabbage and beets are a great combination to ferment together. They taste good, the cabbage makes it easy to ferment and the color is just gorgeous! This is a good site for all kinds of info and recipes on fermenting: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fermenterskitchen/?fref=ts. Just ask to join.

    Cinque, you would probably enjoy this one on breads: https://www.facebook.com/groups/perfectsourdough/?fref=ts

    You don’t have to worry about carbs, most of the photos people post of their breads are way too pretty to eat! 🙂

    I’m doing my second FD tomorrow. Cinque, are you fasting tomorrow (today now for you) also?

    Well time to get some sleep. I’ll leave all of you to watch the world while I’m snoozing!

    @merryme, I’m from Sydney Australia.

    Merryme, I’m an intruder on this site. I live in the Forest of Dean in the south west of England. The nearest I have been to the Southern hemisphere is passing through Singapore on the way home from working in Hong Kong, in the olden days when people travelled that kind of distance by ship – a 33 day trip. My daughter worked in Australia for a couple of years and my wife visited her, seeing the east, southern and west coasts. I was then still in gainful employment and had to work.

    I have been at the 5:2 since pretty well when it started and have lost a lot of weight. I watch the “Recent posts” which got me onto “Related science” and then to the Southern hemisphere, attracted by your collective knowledge of things fermented.

    You’re welcome here Penguin. I’ve just read your profile. Are you willing to share how much weight you’ve shed since then? If you’re at your goal weight, how do you handle maintenance – by continuing 5:2? Singapore is the closest capital city to Perth where I live. That must have been a fabulous journey by ship.

    Hi LJ,

    Just a note to add to my fermentation post above… I hated sauerkraut as served by my mother as a child. It tasted revolting! It came from a can and had no live bacteria whatsoever! Lol! …My mother used to heat it on the stove and serve it with ‘wieners’ as she called them, which I were hot dogs or sausage.

    My live sauerkraut has a completely different taste to store bought sauerkraut that sits on a supermarket shelf in a sealed and at room temperature. The live sauerkraut I eat is so mild in comparison.

    I’ve also made a couple of other vegetable ferments, including beet kvass which is more sweet than sour and Gingered Carrots, which also didn’t really taste sour, but instead, sweet and tart. What is good about the beet and carrot ferments is that due to the sugar content of each, they only take a few days to reach peak fermentation so a quick way to generate an abundance of live probiotic bacteria!

    That said, I have a friend who finds all fermented vegetables unpalatable, so I understand! There are plenty of things I don’t like and no matter how good they might be for me, I’m of an age that I’m not going to eat them!

    Thanks Minka – I’m going to give the kefir a go and hope I like it – it’s defnitely my best bet. If I don’t like it, then I might need to revisit the other fermented options. You are right – it was a childhood dislike of sauerkraut, and I haven’t tried it since. It wasn’t out of a tin though. My dad had lots of friends & work colleagues of different nationalities and he used to bring all sorts of homemade things home that they’d given him – that’s where I came across polski ogorkis (which I loved)and also the sauerkraut (which I didn’t).

    Penguin – with a handle like that I was hoping we had our first Southern Hemisphereite from Antarctica. It doesn’t actually matter where you are from, we have a few other ring-ins as well – some who stay and others that pop in when a topic appeals to them – it just takes a few extra brain cells to work out time differences.

    thinatlast, I am a 73 year old male. I have always taken hard exercise, but managed to be overweight whilst doing it. As I got older I got fatter. I still walk the hills, paddle a canoe and go to the gym, but that isn’t enough. I don’t know how far back you can go on my profile, but over the last 4 -5 years I have lost 45 lbs., which leaves me 6 lbs above my target. It would have been faster but for two things:

    1. The early discovery that I can lose weight this way, so if I relax and put some on it doesn’t matter, it will go.

    2. A touch of colon cancer which left me with a shorter gut which has been thoroughly cleaned out three times in the last eighteen months, and will be cleaned out for a routine inspection every 12 months for the next few years- hence my interest in cultivating a fresh set of gut microbes. The post surgery recovery phase was a problem – the only foods I could take at first were all the wrong ones. I’m fine now, but have a new set of habits. My new gut for the first few months couldn’t handle beer but was fine with whiskey. Now it is back to where it was – it will accept anything without complaint.

    The sea trip was with the old P&O. I had been working for a year as an un-paid volunteer with a food allowance that wasn’t enough, so the last few days of the month I didn’t eat (early 27:3 diet?). Someone made a mistake and I came home on one of the “All first class” boats. I still didn’t have the money to drink, but I certainly ate! Which was the start of my weight problem.

    6 lbs to target. When I get there I intend to re-set it and aim for another 7 lbs. After that…?

    LJoyce, I was in the RAF most of my working life. A bird that doesn’t fly is a Penguin, I was in a ground branch.

    Hi everyone,
    Penguin, your user name surely makes you an honourary Southern Hemispherite! Wow you have had a lot to contend with. Hooray for those lovely gut friendly fermenty things. And 5:2!

    Sending good wishes for your TAFE semester Minka! Hope you enjoy being back. Your post wasn’t there when I finished mine, so I’m lucky others referred to it!

    Hope you get your kefir soon LJoyce

    Cali the breads on that facebook group look absolutely gorgeous!

    I do have such fun with my granddaughter and it is lovely to have such a good relationship with her. I didn’t with my grandmother (the one that was still alive when I was a child), and my mum was all childrened out by the time my daughter came along (7 children, 14 grandchildren) so they weren’t that close either, so it is very special to be basking in the pleasures of being grandma.

    Recovering still today though!

    Now, the beautiful Cape Tribulation… I think it must have been 1982. It was before the blockade to try and stop the road being built. We crossed the Daintree at a ford, I think, and then it was a little track up to where we stayed with friends living in the rainforest. We camped on the beach for a few nights, just so beautiful. I remember missing the cool of the south though (she says, shivering in Melbourne!).

    I am making Today a fast day. But I’ll have the harira soup instead of my usual miso. We’ll be cooking again on Sunday so it is Wednesday Saturday this week.

    So cheers Thin, Cali and sorry I can’t remember the other Wednesday fasters but I am calling out good wishes to you today too.
    And good wishes to everyone having a lovely nonfast day!

    That’s interesting Penguin and congratulations on the weight loss. You’re a true pioneer of 5:2. I consider the rate of loss irrelevant as most of us have realised that this is a commitment for life. I’ve been practicing IF for almost 3 years now. FD for me. And I’ve posted before Cinque today.

    I’m not a fussy eater but there’s just one food that I absolutely cannot eat – beetroot! Interestingly, in adulthood, I discovered that my brother was the same. Maybe it’s genetic! It’s a beautiful colour but makes me gag. Every decade or so, I try it again with horrible results. Restaurants love to add it to all sorts of things but the sight of that red juice contaminating everything makes the dish off limits for me. I once worked in a burger joint in Queenstown where they added a slice of beetroot to the burgers. Eeeew! I’ve even seen it added to Mexican food in Perth. Really?

    P.S. Cinque, you did beat me to it. Happy FD! People had chained themselves to the trees and there were huge banners everywhere when I was in Cape Trib. You describe it so well, I hope you have written your memoirs. I cherish the times spent with my two lovely grandmas and although they’ve been gone a long time, they’re never forgotten.

    I like a slice of canned beetroot on hamburgers.

    Apart from that I’m not a fan.

    My daughter takes after me, she will eat pretty much anything and everything.

    My son is a fussy eater. He is a teenager in about 8 months, I hope that his appetite picks up then.

    Thin, have you ever tried golden beetroots? They taste very similar to the red, but the look different. I once made poached Tilapia filets over a bed of arugula and mixed greens, with red and gold cubed beetroots piled on top of each filet. The red and gold were cooked separately so the colors didn’t get mixed too much. They were so pretty!

    My OH isn’t crazy about beetroots either but he’ll eat them if they’re roasted with butter. They’re good pickled, sweet & sour, in a salad.

    Penguin, I like the name penguin for a bird that doesn’t fly! My husband went through the same diagnosis, surgery and treatments 7-1/2 years ago. He’s been all clear since the surgery but there were a lot of anxious scans and tests for a few years. I think I aged 20 years during those first years after. He’s been taking 1,000 mg of Curcumin every day since. There have been a lot of studies on it, as a cancer preventive, but nothing conclusive. It certainly can’t hurt. It’s the active part of turmeric.

    He was a runner before and a low healthy weight. He’s still thin. Everything moves through a shortened intestine more quickly. He walks at least an hour every other day. We know so many people around our age that have had knee replacements, that he thinks walking is a better option now.

    Cinque – joining you in a FD again.
    I had a look at the sourdough facebook page too, wow some of them were works of art. I’ve started experimenting with recipies from the following site: https://www.breadexperience.com/ Something I like is that it give instructions for a Poolish or Pâte Fermentée which allows for some of the flavour and texture development that you get with sourdough, but without having to maintain a starter. (https://www.breadexperience.com/bba-french-baguettes_16/) Basically you make a small amount of dough and leave it in the fridge for 3 days. Then you make your bread dough and add this starter to it (all of it). A normal sourdough method is of little use to me because I don’t bake bread often enough – I tried, but quickly came to the conclusion that I needed to bake bread at least 3 times per week to make it worthwhile, otherwise I was throwing away far more starter than I was ever using.
    This site also has no knead recipies that allow for slow fermentation. I have a mixer with a dough hook so I don’t mind recipies that require kneading because I don’t have to do it by hand. When I first learned to bake bread I really enjoyed the hand kneading process but the joints in my hands and wrists complain if I try to do it these days.

    Penguin – love that name and I enjoyed the story of how it came about. Sorry to hear of your health issues I really hope you stay well now and your gut recovers.

    CalifD – I need to check my interpretation of “beets” – is this beetroot (root vegetable) or is it silverbeet & chard (leafy greens)?

    Thin & BBill – I hate pickled beetroot. I know it’s very Australian to put a slice on a burger but I hate it – ruins a perfectly good burger. Growing up, the only way beetroot was used was pickled – my mum used to make her own from fresh beetroot. It wasn’t until recent years that I realised it could be used in other ways. When I was vegetarian I used to drink vegetable juice for breakfast and I included a little beetroot in the mix as I liked the flavour when combined with other veg. Then I realised that I like it shredded raw in salads and I also like the young beetroot leaves as a salad green. I’m not so keen on it as a roasted veg – I find it too sweet.

    FD for me today. I’ve taken a container of Cauliflower Cheese soup out of the freezer for dinner. Tomorrow is shopping day so I’ll go to the organic store and get some kefir to try. They stock several brands and products so I might do some online research so see what people say about the flavours, hopefully it will help me choose one I’ll like.

    LJoyce, beetroots and beets are the same thing. We call beetroots just “beets”. Beet greens are called beet greens or just greens if you are referring to several different types. Mustard greens are good too – cooked. Raw they are very sharp and unpleasant tasting, at least to me. Collard greens are good too. Greens are popular in the southern states of the US, often sautéed with butter and garlic. When I make them I use olive oil instead of butter.

    I had never heard of putting pickled beetroots on a burger, but it sounds good.

    I’m almost to the end of my Tuesday FD and it’s been pretty easy. I’ll probably do a Tuesday and Thursday FD next week because of my trip. Then, after that, back to my Monday/Thursday schedule.

    CalifDreamer, I haven’t tried Curcumin, but I use turmeric in my cooking fairly regularly, even in my potato salad. There is currently a trial going on here of a daily small dose of aspirin and a fish oil capsule as a colon cancer preventative. Having had it, I’m not eligible for the trial and I’m not sure I would want to take even a small dose of aspirin daily.

    Well CaliD, I’ve just carried the tea tray into the lounge room – that means it must be nearly midnight for you. Sleep well.
    When I had a large vegetable garden I tried growing golden beetroot – I’d planned to harvest the leaves young for salads and give away the root veg if I didn’t like it. It didn’t do well as very little of the seed germinated. I’ve read since, that it germinates better if it’s put in a jar with hot water before sewing. These days I just grow herbs and have converted the veggie beds into ornamental garden.

    After many days of raining cats and dogs, not to mention gale force winds, there was finally a break in the weather today. Still no sun, but at least the rain and wind stopped long enough for me to shift and stack some wet firewood under the eaves to dry out and also go for a walk. I’d feel virtuous with all this activity if I hadn’t spent the last 4 days indoors out of the rain sitting on my tushy and getting no exercise except for a bit gentle yoga! The forecast is for a few dry days now so I have no excuse not to get out in the garden and make a bit more progress on the pruning. Everything’s a bit wet, which can be dangerous given the steep slopes in my garden, but if the weather stays dry it should be safe to tackle by Friday.

    Now, time for that cuppa.

    Lots of on-line company for today’s FD but I wasn’t here to appreciate it. Rewarded myself with a deep tissue massage at my local hole in the wall place. Those people are so strong and get properly stuck in. Later, spent a couple of cherished hours out with DD after a tough exam (hers). It was after 3pm when I got my first feeding. Two more hours and that would have qualified for a 24 hour fast.

    Bill Bill, be careful what you wish for wrt to the teenager’s appetite. My friends complain that their teen boys eat them out of house and home. But I know what you mean, fussy eaters are difficult to accommodate.

    CalifD, I haven’t heard of golden beetroot. It’s a smell, taste and texture thing so if they taste similar, I wouldn’t be able to get them down. I’ve tried them roasted too. Pity, because I can appreciate how their beautiful colour enhances the look of salads, etc.

    I too hope that Penguin & Mr. CalifD stay well. With your shortened colons, at least you should have no issues with diabetes according to that article in Scientific American that I mentioned above. Turmeric apparently has all kinds of healing powers. Isn’t there a hot, milky drink made with it that’s very popular? Golden Milk I believe.

    How was TAFE Minka? Joffy, are you coming out to play? There are two new guys here for you to meet! Intesha, how was Melbourne or are you still there?

    GDSA, any more eggs and how did you cook them? LJ, how do manage to incorporate cheese into a FD meal? What type of cheese and how large is the portion?

    Looking forward to three NFDs in a row and hoping to keep it healthy. ish.

    Thin, shortened colons are good for cholesterol too because that’s where it’s produced. He’s fully back to normal except for occasional acid reflux (which could be more age related) and having to watch fiber because scar tissue from the sugary can cause blockage. We ate a very high fiber diet for years but after a blockage last year that fortunately resolved itself within a week, he’s had to pace himself on the amount of fiber he eats. The scans last year when that happened confirmed that everything else is clear.

    I just read about that Golden Milk thing with turmeric. It sounds good and seems to be popular in India. I will have to try it. I have some turmeric tea here which is pretty good. Here’s an article on curcumin (turmeric) and cancer: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative-therapies/individual-therapies/turmeric
    You can do a Google search on studies to read a lot more.

    I received the 10% Human book on Monday. The little I’ve read so far looks excellent. I’ll take it along to read on the plane. Thank you all for the suggestion.

    63.9 again today after a FD yesterday. I’m pretty happy with that. NFD today.

Viewing 50 posts - 11,851 through 11,900 (of 27,973 total)

You must be logged in to reply.