So I stumbled into a posting about eating cultured veggies and thought I'd read a bit more about it.
Found here: 8 reasons why you should be eating cultured vegetables:
1. They aid digestion lessening the energy drain on your body (great for anyone that has a weak digestive tract and has a hard time digesting raw foods)
2. They help to eliminate toxins from the body
3. They help to restore a healthy balance of good and bad bacteria within the intestines
4. They help to reduce sugar cravings (this is reason ENOUGH!)
5. Eating animal protein creates toxic by-products in the intestines and by eating the veggies WITH the animal protein, it helps to turn these toxins back into healthy amino acids
6. They are extremely alkalizing and cleansing for the body. (They may make you a little gassy to begin with but once you get everything cleaned out then it will all start working nicely!) I had to go there…these things are important! A toxic colon is a toxic body people!
7. They increase your longevity. (As they allow you to reserve your body’s own enzymes for digestion, your body is better equipped to repair cells, eliminate toxins, strengthen your immune system etc)
8. They are perfect for pregnant and nursing women as they provide a healthy inner environment for good bacteria and can help alleviate morning sickness! Plus the liquid from the veggies can help relieve colic.
Here are some great links:
*Sandor Ellix Katz (calls himself Sandorkraut!) is fantastic, check him out: Wild Fermentation (I'll buy the cookbook when I can and try some recipes and review them here!)
*I followed along with Sandor's video here: http://earthmother-intheraw.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-make-raw-cultured-vegetables.html
*I also stumbled upon the Body Ecology Diet of which I will be purchasing, reading and reviewing on my blog!
Cultured Veggies Batch #1
Notes: Add more cilantro and more spices, consider adding a lot more apples to sweeten a bit and HUGE LESSON: you must release "pressure" build up 1-2 times daily. I didn't do this and bam! fuzzy vinegar smelling water all over my shirt and my kitchen. It's not as pretty as I would have liked but it's great; it's refreshing in an odd sort of way. It's fresher than sauerkraut and the flavors of the veggies were incredible. I might make a spicy version with some jalapenos or cherry peppers. I haven't gotten to the bottom of the jar to taste the carrots but I bet they're great. I didn't follow many rules and didn't "massage" my veggies, I just chopped them, left the baby carrots alone, put enough water in the jar to cover them, sealed them and let the magic cabbage probiotics do their thing. I did read somewhere that cabbage is the magic element if you don't want to have to buy a starter, and me being who I am (both impatient and wanting to do things the traditional and lesser expensive sort of way), just went for it to see if I could make it work. It's not picture worthy as it's sort of a milky cloudy whitish color that's sort of boring, but the orange of the sweet potatoes and carrots is nice in it.
Cultured Veggies Batch #2
Ingredients: red cabbage, white onions, radishes, cauliflower and parsley
Created: 9/8/11
Tasted: Not yet!
This batch is much prettier and I plan on tasting it tomorrow! Red cabbage is the key to gorgeous cultured veggies/fermented veggies/Kim Chi. You might not be able to tell from the photo but it's an absolutely beautiful bright magenta/fuchsia! I'll probably have to add salt and spices to this one as well but I'll keep that in mind when I make my next batch(es)! Also note, there is a sulfur type smell that comes along with the releasing of the pressure/fizz build up. I plan on making a couple batches at a time so that my fantastically supportive boyfriend will stop mentioning the old fart smell in our kitchen. HAH!
Another thing, all of this has led me to be reintroduced to the book Nourishing Traditions
which I've known about for years, but haven't bought it yet. I do want to buy, read and follow this book. I will in time! I'm sort of a researchaholic and found ANOTHER link to a fermenting process that I've also known about for a while: kefir, and as Matt and I ridded ourselves and our home of High Fructose Corn Syrup over a year ago, we stopped drinking soda and started drinking fizzy water/sparkly water and I add flavored stevia to it. I've researched how to make my own flavored stevia and NOW I know how to make my own fizzy water! What? That's crazy talk. Nope, no it's not.
WATER KEFIR! I can't WAIT. Check out the link here!
Also check out this ambitious blogger who is trying to cook/prepare all 773 recipes in Nourishing Traditions! The Nourishing Cook.
Over and out!
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