Kale Chips with Coconut Oil

Kale chips are becoming very popular now. Why not? It's a fun way to get your leafy greens. There are a load of recipes out there for Kale chips but I think I found the best one and easiest. No recipe here cause it is so simple and so good.

 First, dry your fresh kale (spinach works too but it does have a bitterness that is unpleasant, and chard also works) in your dehydrator as per directions, then spread dried kale on plate and drizzle about 1 TBS melted VCO virgin coconut oil over the leaves and sprinkle with Real Salt or other sea salt. I use a regular plate and after I drizzle and salt the first layer of leaves, I lay another layer on top of first one and drizzle and salt again and maybe a third layer. When cooled and hardened, store in zip lock baggies and take one with lunch every day. The coconut oil can be scraped off the plate and used again. Between the spinach, chard and kale, I like the kale best.
 I have a screened dehydrator with five shelves which I love and use all the time. The picture is of this dehydrator. It's called the "Food Dryer" and it is made in China and distributed by Duer International Inc. I bought this one at a fair and do not have the contact for it.

Questions about Kefir Culturing

Greetings to those who made their way to my blogspot, especially those who visited my booth at the Super Prep Fair at the UVU Events Center April 6 and 7. I have been out of town visiting family this past week, but I'm back now and can answer questions you might have about the kefir or Kombucha processes. First, contact me through my email address which is at the top in my blog introduction. I really don't know how to answer through this blog. Sometimes I do it right sometimes I don't.
If you scroll through my "older entries" you can find my blogs about kefir and kombucha with pictures and if that doesn't answer your questions then please email me. I can give you a phone number through my email also. I will replace your starters if they won't work for you, just contact me. Thank you for your business.

Booth at Super Prep Fair At UVU Events Center

I have a booth for my business, "Mrs. Seal's Kitchen Cultures", at the Super Prep Fair April 6 & 7 in Utah County on the UVU campus Events Center. It is a fee event and I don't know what the fee is right now, but this is going to be big with at least 85 vendors and speakers on subjects like, last days events, how to survive "off grid", about solar power and other alternative powers, cooking with food storage, watching the signs of the times and other timely and exciting topics related to TOETWAWKI or The Eend Of The World As We Know It. I will have a booth there and would like to see many people come and get a taste of raw milk and pasteurized milk kefir. This fair is sponsored by Roger K. Young and he usually is the main speaker on Saturday evening. I went to this event last year and learned a whole bunch. See you there?!

Lemon, Ginger Ferment

This is a great ferment or pickle with lactic acid, that I got from a great Indian lady who happens to be the mother-in-law of my youngest sister. She is a great cook who knows Indian cooking very well. I love everything she makes and this has become a favorite with me and many of her grandsons.



It requires a lot of lemons, so a whole bag full from Costco or Sam's Club would be the starting point. A good chunk of fresh ginger about 5 inches is the next ingredient and them some sea salt and cayenne pepper.



Procedure for 1 quart;

12 lemons juiced and seeded ( keep the juice and pulp but throw out the seeds)
pull some of the tough fibers free and keep the rinds, cut into quarters
5-6 inch piece of fresh ginger scrapped and sliced thin. Rinse the peel off.

Stuff the lemon peels, a few slices of intact lemon slices or chunks, and slices of ginger in a clean quart jar. Pour in the lemon juice and add...
1 Tablespoon of sea salt.

Cayenne pepper, a few shakes or to your taste. Frieda, is Indian...she likes these hot.

The lactobacillus bacteria is on the lemon peels and the ginger unless the producer has sterilized the lemons and ginger, in that case look for organic lemons or...
add 1 Tablespoon of whey (the watery liquid from strained raw milk or yogurt).

Natural whey contains living lactobacillus bacteria.
Lactobacillus are very salt tolerant, and they will consume the sugars in the lemons and ginger and produce lactic acid which tastes so good and it preserves vegetables.

Loosely cover the quart and allow to sit on counter at room temperature for 4-5 days to ferment. It might leak some and if it does, just add a little more lemon juice or pure water to it. After fermenting a few days, put a tight, wide mouth lid on it and set in the fridge for another week. It can be eaten then or put in cold storage elsewhere.

LDS Holistic Living Conference

This is an exciting event. I participated last year and was very impressed with the organization and quality of classes/speakers there. I got to meet most of them the night before at a "speakers dinner". The only trouble was, I presented 3 classes and didn't have time to participate in the other classes. I also had a booth in the vendors area and that kept me very busy as well. If you just come for the vendors, it would be well worth your time.

This year I am happy to be one of the speakers again, but I'm only doing 2 classes and I'm also renting a booth. Go the website and check out the classes and speakers and see if this is something that you want to take advantage of. I will need an assistant to help me with the booth. If anyone out there would like to do this with me please email me at... joannesmithseal@gmail.com

www.ldsholisticliving.com

Look for this conference on facebook and twitter

Apple Cider Vinegar; Homemade

Wow! was this easy and fun! I have almost a half gallon of apple cider vinegar that I started fermenting last summer. You HAVE to start with fresh pressed apple cider. The Lactobacillus and other wild yeasts and bacteria are on and in the fresh orchard apples. The minute you boil or pasteurize juice, you kill the friendly bacteria. Now, I'm not saying that it is impossible to make your own apple cider vinegar from pasteurized apple juice....I guess you could if you introduce the right culture mix into that juice and keep it warm and covered for several months...maybe it could work. Maybe Kombucha culture?

The first weekend of November 2010, a group of neighbors in my ward, gathered at a property that had an apple press, a new one. Each of us brought several bushels of apples that we bought or collected and picked wherever we could. We brought gallon jugs and many containers. We were taught the procedure and then we started. The next 4 hours we worked very hard, rotating the work stations until all 160 bushels were juiced. I brought home 8 gallons of juice and immediately stored 5 in my freezer and cooked and bottled the other 3 gallons. Summer of 2011 I cleaned out my freezer and wanted to use the space that the juice was taking up. I decided to try fermenting the rest of the apple juice. I let all 5 gallons defrost which didn't take long being in July. I then divided up the juice between some 1/2 gallon jars and quart jars. I did an online search how to do this and came up with some processes and time lines.

The directions were to simply cover the jars with towels or paper filters so air could circulate and leave the jars in a dark, warm place free from overt interference and direct sunlight for 6 months. I covered the jars and put them in my back room our of the way. A few days later, I smelled mold, the bad smell of mold really strong. I checked the jars and sure enough 3 of them had developed white mold on the top. I scooped that mold off and read directions again to see what to do when bad mold developed. I couldn't find anything about it.

I decided to add kombucha starter to the cider. I figured that the good bacteria would quickly take over and then start to make a "scooby" as a covering to keep the "bad guys" out. That is what happens in Kombucha (see much older blog) so I thought it might work in cider. I was fortunate...it did work. Each jar developed a "scooby or mushroom cap" and over the months it grew thicker and thicker as liquid shrank. They never did develop mold again. The back room instead of smelling of mold, started to smell of vinegar...a much better smell.

Right after Christmas, I harvested the the remaining juice out of all the jars. The gelatinous "scoobys" were very thick and as I couldn't think of anything useful for
those, I threw them away. I filtered the vinegar that was left; and it sure did taste like vinegar, and then I put all the vinegar into a 1/2 gallon jar and stuck it in the back of my fridge. I have been using some of it, but I will tighten it's cap and put it downstairs with other storage items. Very satisfying!

Kefir Class; the Art of Culturing Milk.

I am giving another Kefir class at Real Foods Market in Orem, Saturday, Jan. 14 at 1 pm. Real Foods Market is where I buy raw milk, free range eggs, free range, grass beef, Real Salt and Redmond Clay and a whole bunch of other wonderful, healthy products and produce. It can be found on 800 N. and about 450 West on the north side of 800 N. in Orem. It's a great place to get "Real Food". The cost of the class is $10 but I give out so many tastes of everything and then I sell kefir starters for another $10. I will have starters for other fermented products as well. If you are close, and interested in starting some kind of culturing for your health, this class will be very beneficial for you. Joanne Seal "Mrs. Seal's Kitchen Cultures".