Livingthedreamwithdiana.com

Maybe not all wrong, but definitely not all correctly.

In my research of late I learned that I needed to be making the water kefir with Spring water, or bottled water- with minerals.

Well damn. I’ve been using boiled water, which not only destroys harmful bacteria, and critters, it also destroys most of the minerals needed to feed not only the water kefir, but us.

So, I am making a very small batch, 500ml., of L. Reuteri cultured milk, frequently referred to as a yogurt. However, I am also making sauerkraut to which I’m going to add a sliced apple for flavor, and to feed the probiotics; a plain kombucha, but also a blueberry 2nd ferment, 6 bottles; and a milk kefir that I’m going to use to make something that I haven’t yet thought of but know where to find recipes, most likely cheese.

Tomorrow I have 40 bottles of Spring water, 500ml each, being delivered to return minerals to our microbiome, and, God willing, bring us back to a better way of life, and better health.

As I have said before, the guru that I acknowledge is Donna Schwenk, of YouTube fame. Her channel is called CulturedFoodLife, and she is amazing. She, on the other hand, has been highly influenced by Dr. William Davis, a cardiologist, and L. Reuteri expert.

She has hundreds of recipes on her website for many of the cultures able to preserve foods for better health, and future use. Many of the recipes state they can last in the fridge for up to a year, not all of them, of course, but many. So, when you want a bite, or 2 of something, you can be assured that it is still edible, and safely preserved.

You do realize, don’t you, that this is how food was preserved for hundreds, and thousands of years? Without refrigeration, preservation of meats, vegetables, milks, water, grains were all preserved via culture incubations! There are some cultures that are still alive today from before the birth of Jesus himself!

Back then simple was best. The need was to preserve food, safe for consumption during times of travel, or migration, drought, flooding, and famine. If foods were preserved using cultures, it was safe for very long periods of time.

Not only were these food stuffs safe, they were healthy. Our body requires billions of microbes be fed daily as to survive the rigors of our lives. However, our lives have changed exponentially from the days of Jesus.

One bacteria I’m learning about is Lactobacillus Reuteri, as you may know if you’ve been following my nonsensical musings. It is one of the most fragile bacteria our body needs, one we had at birth, (usually), but is completely destroyed if one is given an antibiotic. One dose of an antibiotic, and poof, it’s gone. It is such an important bacteria that, if you’re able, you need to replace it. It is a superhero of our gastrointestinal tract that it surprises me that God made it so fragile.

That said, I’m still having a devil of a time getting it to behave in my attempts to cultivate it. I’m going to keep trying until I get it right. It should come out from its 36 hours incubation bath to look, and act like a yogurt, though it’s really a cultured milk. Anyway, mine hasn’t yet.

So, what do I do with all of the “end results” that aren’t yogurt you might be asking yourself? I put the batch in the blender, add about 1/2 c. Maracuyá pulp, and 2T honey, blend it all up, and put that in my 6oz bottles, and into the fridge. The flavor is addicting, and our favorite. So nothing goes to waste except the time it took to make it.

Here’s a photo of the much awaited “end results”.

Until next time, stay happy, and healthy in the Lord.

I should have done this from the start.

But I didn’t think of it until yesterday. As I have been doing quite a bit of fermenting lately, I’ve needed to use most of my Ball mason jars, lids, and rings. The lids, and rings have been in a small black grocery bag that I had hanging in the pantry just next to the kombucha jar. They have been a jumbled mess since I put them all together in said bag.

Not anymore. I had a moment of complete clarity yesterday when I decided to divide them up. I put all of them in my dish washing tub with boiled water, and he new organic dish soap I use now, and cleaned them all really, really well. I put the clean pieces on a drying towel in the pantry on the washing machine lid to dry, then took 2 of my reusable produce bags, and divided them up into regular mouth lids/rings, and wide mouth lids/rings. Yay. That only took 40 years.

This morning, however, I saw a half dozen “miscellaneous” lids on the towel. Well, damn. Where am I going to put those? In another produce bag, duh!!

So, here’s what I ended up with, besides no orphaned lids lying around the kitchen, and pantry, looking for a home. They all have a home now. Let me know what you think.

I want to let you know that I will be taking at least the first 2 weeks of September off to get some things done around here, and to get some posts saved to post when I come back.

Until then, stay happy, and healthy in the Lord.

The fermentation station is going strong.

Almost too strong. I’m having a bit of a time trying to keep up with all of the results from the milk kefir production. The sauerkraut is now in the fridge; the sourdough is healthy, both of them, and in the fridge resting; the water kefir is producing some amazing flavors from the second fermentation. Thank you Jesus.

Here are 2 results of my newest endeavors- my latest loaf of sourdough bread that I have added a bit of whole wheat flour, and then my first ever attempt with Lactobacillus Reuteri. It’s a difficult culture to conquer, and, as you can see from the photo, I haven’t done it yet. The yellow stuff on the top is whey, which, when I’m more motivated, I’m going to use it to start fermenting vegetables like carrots, cauliflower, onions, and the like. At the moment, I’m, sadly, out of energy.

I rode my bike about 3.9 k today, and have seen the route I took. Good thing too, because when I got to a certain point on the ride I had no idea exactly where I was. Nothing looked familiar, none of the buildings anyway, but I did recognize a few of the street signs that were not all rusted. I had to sun on my face in a direction that I knew would lead me to the main street that would lead me back home. And it did. Thank you Jesus.

So, until next time, stay happy, and healthy in the Lord.

I have taken up the fermentation mantle recently.

Full force, and full speed ahead.

Which is not accurate as fermentation takes time, and patience. I now have 2 thriving sourdough starters, a new water kefir, a milk kefir, and cabbage fermenting into sauerkraut. I plan on fermenting a salsa, pickling some vegetables such as carrots, cauliflower, and serrano chiles.

I’ve been researching so many different types of fermentations that my head spins frequently. (Wow. Literally).The first batch of water kefir I want to 2nd ferment (flavor) with mango, maracuyá, (passion fruit), or mandarins. It takes only 24-48 hours to ferment the water kefir grains, once they get established, then another 24-48 hours for the 2nd fermentation. Much faster than kombucha, and, by the looks of it, much easier as well. I have the grains for both the milk, and the water kefirs, and have researched how to use them once they are ready, so here we go. Off to the races, (as the tortoise).

I’ll let you know, as I go along, how things are progressing. If I do this correctly I can have the grains for the rest of my ability to use them. In fact, if they are what I’m looking forward to, I’ll be putting my SCOBY, for the kombucha, in the freezer. It’s so sour, and the water kefir sounds just right.

Until next time, stay happy, and healthy in the Lord.

I had another full scale episode yesterday, again on the way home from the small market.

I decided to get my bike out, and start using it again. It’s a nice little Schwinn that’s foldable, but not quite big enough for this old body.

When it’s folded, it is about a 14”x12”x16”rectangle, and about 8-10 pounds. The biggest problem I have is the connection for the handlebars to the frame. Since it folds at the handlebars, the connection is at an angle, offset from frame. It drives me absolutely to distraction. While riding, I keep trying to make that connection go straight forward, in line with the front wheel. My mind will not permit me to ignore it.

So I stopped riding the bike after about 4 tries. I couldn’t get past the misalignment.

Several months ago I thought to myself “why can’t I just put a headscarf around the connection, and hide the connection from my eyesight.

So I did.

I rode the bike over to the market I‘ve been telling you about, called Tienda Alex, and was able to ride home without any dizzy spell. Mission accomplished. It took my about 1o minutes round trip.

This afternoon I got on Amazon.com.mx, and ordered a chain lock, a left sided rearview mirror, and a basket to go on the carrier on the back wheel. The first two items will be here tomorrow, but the basket will arrive sometime the end of July, beginning of August. I’ll show you what it looks like folded, unfolded, then dressed. I’m hoping to do some 20-30 minute bike rides like I used to on the bike trail in front of our home in Iowa. I could, and did, ride for hours. Loved it.

The only bike trail I’ve found to date is made with pea gravel, and I wasn’t able to navigate it. It was too loose for me. I need more solid foundation to ride in a relaxed atmosphere. I’m going to keep looking on Google, and will let you know what I find.

Here’s a quick peek at what she looks like after my ride this afternoon.

Until next time, stay happy, and healthy in the Lord.

A number of years ago, we decided to buy a bunch of Japanese dishes.

Ivan’s cousin, his wife, and their 2 kids, live in Japan, and have for several years, and we got into Japanese cooking because of them. I didn’t do a lot of it then, but have so much more time now that I’m getting back into it now.

I switched out our Amazon Basics white dishes for our beautiful, functional, heavy “Made in Japan” dishes. Here is what they look like.

The dishes are a much better size for us, and the weight of them is more secure as well. Using the white dishes, the dinner plates are huge so we never use them, and they barely fit in the cupboard. The salad plate just isn’t big enough but it was what we had to use. These dishes, the Japanese ones, just look at the size of the dinner plate on the left. Perfect. The bowls in the middle are perfect for a package of ramen. The soup bowls, next to the right, are perfect for most everything, and the small bowls are great for a side veg, a scoop of ice cream, or a side of cottage cheese.

On the top shelf are 3 different lengths of rectangular plates, perfect for a sandwich and a scoop of cottage cheese. Across to the other side, the small square dishes are for sauces, when I actually get around to making the Japanese meals. They’re just what I will need.

Probably the reason we bought them, huh?!

Until next time, stay happy, and healthy in the Lord.

I’ve become the old lady walking home from the market with shopping bags in hand.

I went to the bank this morning, thinking only to withdraw some money for the association fees here in the condo.

Little did I know that I really needed some fresh fruit and veg. I ended up buying a small jicama, a small papaya, a cucumber, a melon, and a handful of epazote, thinking it was cilantro. (In all fairness, it was in a small clear plastic bag that had quite a bit of condensation on the inside of the bag so I wasn’t able to see exactly what was inside.)

I mention this all because, as I wasn’t expecting to buy anything in particular, I wasn’t wearing my backpack. Therefore, I ended up with 2 small plastic bags, the ones with handles, to carry home, one in each hand.

Of course, whilst I was walking home, and with the weight of the above items distributed nicely between the bags, I was able to get in a few bicep curls, triceps crunches, lateral arm lifts, and am all the better for them.

Another day in the life of yours truly.

Until next time, stay happy, and healthy with the Lord.

(I’m writing this several hours after the ingestion of the aforementioned Ibuprofen 800 mg. I have also had a bit of “medicinal” spirits to help me with the fever I’ve been experiencing.)

I am at a stage, in whatever this is, where Ivan has come over to make sure I’m still alive, and going to be able to make breakfast in the morning. 😉

I jest, sort of.

Do any of you realize that we’ve known each other since I was 15 years old, and have grown up together, spending almost every hour of every day in each others company? We started out as friends, became lovers, and have been soulmates forever.

We often reminisce about things that happened in Junior High, and High School, things that one of us remembers more, and reminds the other one. I find it so joyful to have known someone my whole life who still loves me, and more importantly likes me, (sisters excluded) .

I’ve often said that we’ve always been in love, from the moment we met, but we’ve not always liked each other. I have no problem with that because we can get beyond whatever has caused the dislike, but I think trying to get past not loving your spouse would be impossible for us. I pray we never experience that type of torture, for that is what it would be.

I also pray that anyone that reads this can enjoy some of this special joy for themselves. It takes patience, it takes work, commitment, compromises, and at the heart of it all, love of God.

Until next time lovelies, stay happy, and healthy in the Lord.

Post script: a very happy birthday to my sister Martha who is celebrating her 70 something birthday tomorrow. Hippo bird day M.

Not something I give much thought, but I was looking through the plethora of pens I still have from the days when I actually used pens, and found the odd blue ink pen.

I immediately smiled. I really enjoy writing in blue ink, not always black ink. It gives me a bit of a spirit boost. It makes me happy.

I don’t know if you know this type of pen, and may not be able to use it at your work place, but it’s the Pilot Frixion erasable ink pen. I use it without exception because I need to be able to change my mind, erase that silly thing I just wrote, and add something sillier. So I got three blue ink pens, that are not only erasable, but they “click” instead of removing the cap, and hoping to find it when you’re done writing with it.

Not much else for today. I’m still a bit under the rainy weather, and should be resting but there it is.

Until next time, stay happy, and healthy in the Lord.

You want to laugh really, really hard?

Look up some of the Yeti comedy videos on YouTube. Some of them are over my head because they use words, or phrases that the current generation use, and I’m not familiar with them, but the gist of them is hilarious. This is what one of the Bigfoot, and Yeti’s look like.

Seriously, whomever is doing these videos needs some sort of major recognition. They are so funny.

Let me know if you’ve watched them, and what you think. There is some strong language in many of them so use caution around younger people. Enjoy.

Until next time, stay happy, and healthy in the Lord.