Seriously.  I did. I made magic.

I felt like Harry Potter today, because I took some shredded cabbage, waited ten days while it freaking ROTTED on my counter and I turned it into MAGIC.  WITH the help of the Pickl-It container featured below.  Lord knows what kind of scary stuff I might have brought into my ferment without it.  And NO, I’m NOT being paid by them, and they have NO idea who I am, I just understand the chemistry/biology behind healthy fermentation and understand why it’s important to use actual food-safe “equipment” rather than Mason jars.  It’s your health, don’t risk it.

Hello, my name is Kim, and I am a fermenter.  (Stop eye-rolling people, I’m 41, I HAVE to become eccentric at some time right?  Why not now?)

Anyhoo, if you know me at all, you also know that I am an emetophobic, which means I am scared to death of puke of any kind.  Mine, yours, anyones.   On TV, or in real life.  But, here I am making rotten cabbage on my counter.  And, I going to EAT it.  LOTS of it.  I feel like it’s a step in the right direction, right?  ;)

If you’ve never had REAL sauerkraut, you are missing out.  I had NO idea what kind of flavor could come from cabbage.  And, if the taste was not enough, the benefits of the resulting probiotics are well researched and proven.

And, you are so welcome for this free public service announcement.  :)

 

Before…After…and then YUM.

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It’s May 1st.

That means I have consumed at least one “green drink” per day for the past 30 days.  AT LEAST.

And I feel REALLY good about it.  Like nearly awesome.

BACKGROUND:
On the weekend before April 1st, I sat around on my ass and watched Netflix documentaries.  Don’t ask me why, but I did.  Like, SEVERAL, or MANY.  I got totally sucked in.  And, I became hooked.  My favorite was this one - FAT, SICK & NEARLY DEAD  Now, let me just preface this whole post by saying I’ve ‘poo-poo’ed’ “juicing” forever.  I thought it was lame, stupid, a waste of time, and all kinds of other expletives that I can’t put on here now because Delaney can read.  I knew without a doubt, that juicing wasn’t for me because my blood sugar could never handle it.  I’ve been teetering on the precipice of diabetes since I was pregnant with Delaney, so I knew juicing would be the end of me.  Until…

I had an epiphany.  What about ONLY juicing veggies.  I LOVE me a V8.  I LOVE me a bloody mary only slightly more.  So, why not make my own?  I’m making my own sauerkraut, my own miso soup, my own EVERYTHING these days, so why not a freaking V8?

And so…on April 1st, we bought a juicer.  A sparkly, cheap, Jack LaLanne  juicer from Costco.  And, I made my first veggie juice.  And…

I.LOVED.IT.

And 30 days later, I am STILL loving it, and actually CRAVE my daily juice.  I have tested my blood sugar extensively for each concoction I’ve come up with this month, JUST to make sure I’m not doing more harm than good.  And, I don’t have a juice without some adequate protein and fat, just to make sure it’s not entering my bloodstream too quickly.

Of course, THAT led to a ton of research and I quickly upgraded to an Omega 8004 masticating juicer.  Sorry, Jack. And RIP.

So, at this milestone, I will post my most favorite recipe from the last 30 days.  Enjoy.  (or laugh, cuz I know *I* would have made fun of this post 31 days ago.)

 

 

 

 

 

I have to give a shout-out to a really great and local company. Every six weeks or so, Delaney’s school arranges a field trip to some really cool places.  Yesterday’s trip was no exception.  We went to visit Stehly Farms Organics out in Valley Center.  A beautiful drive despite some cold and damp weather.  So, this place is a 300 acre working farm that has been owned by the Stehly family for 45 years.  From what I understand, they nationally provide citrus, avocados and berries, and then also grow many assorted veggies for sale in Farmer’s Markets and local grocery stores.  I had just bought a big bag of organic oranges last week from Earthgrown Market, and was so surprised when I realized they were from Stehly Organics!  It was really cool to be able to show Delaney that the bag of oranges that we bought in the store actually came from trees on a farm not too far from her house.  I really want her to grow up knowing and, more importantly, CARING about the source of her food.  Holy crap, I’ve officially turned into a hippie.

 

When we arrived, we got to hear all about the farm and it’s organic practices and even how to deal with an earwig problem (which I currently suspect are eating my basil plants).  After that, we were treated to a “tractor tour” thru the fields and also a foot tour of the packaging plant.  Super cool to see how a product goes from tree to market.  One of the owners, Noel Stehly was our personal tour guide (that’s him on the right) and an all-around great guy.  He seems to truly love what he does, and I will go out of my way to give these folks my money in the future.

 

 

 

When we returned from our tour, they had set up a fruit/veggie stand where we were able to purchase freshly picked produce for really reasonable prices.  I bought stuff I’ve never even HEARD of, much less eaten.  I mean, seriously, have you ever seen golden beets?  Green garlic that looks like a regular old green onion if you didn’t know any better?  Yum.

 

 

 

 

And then, Delaney got to ride a horse, which was the perfect end to her day.

 

So, next time you’re at Jimbo’s, or Earthgrown, or Whole Foods, do keep an eye out for the produce from Stehly Farms.  They are good peeps, a good organization, and I’m sure they would appreciate your business.

 

 

 

 

 

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