Healthier food from a foodie's point of view

*I want to preface this post by stating that I am not a healthcare professional. I am not advising you on how you should eat. I am posting based on personal experience and research. Please do your own research and use your melon to decide what is right for you.*

Paleo, low-carb, Mediterranean, Whole 30, Gluten-free, Vegan, Shred, Weight Watchers, and a host of other diets show up in my Facebook feed everyday. My friends are posting diet changes, menus, and results almost daily. I am all for healthy eating. I know my body feels better when I eat better. I also know a host of ailments that can be treated through diet alone. However, I am generally not a fan of diet recipes. I find them flavorless, full of artificial ingredients, or have hard to find ingredients.

It is my opinion that if you cook with natural, unprocessed ingredients, you can't go wrong that often. Using minimally processed ingredients sparingly is ok too. Having a good quality, whole-wheat pasta on occasion isn't going to kill most people. On the other hand, it has been shown that white sugar and flour raise your cholesterol. Stop blaming eggs people and look in your pantry. Anyway, it's true, look it up.

For my dear followers, I want to post a series of recipes that will help your body in some way and taste good too. You don't have to be on a diet to eat healthier. Our bodies were designed to use food as fuel and not just eat for the sake of eating. Although sometimes, the second bowl of ice cream is good too. Don't ever beat yourself up for your food choices because they are yours to make.

My first post is dedicated to fermented foods that you can make at home for pennies. Fermented foods include natural probiotics which aid in digestion, balance your gut bacteria, improve your immune system, and help you absorb nutrients from other foods more effectively. So here's to fermenting cabbage and milk.

Homemade yogurt

• 1/2 gallon milk, whole milk will make the yogurt thicker, but any milk will work
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt, any kind with live active cultures will work, you'll have to buy it the first time, but just save a 1/2 cup from each batch to start the next
  

Pour the milk into a crock pot and set it on low. Cook it for 2-3 hours, or until the milk reaches 180 degrees.This helps to kill off all bacteria because you only want the lactobacillus bulgaricus and streptococcus thermophyllus to survive. Turn off and unplug your crock pot. Then let the milk cool to 110 degrees, this may take an hour or more, depending on how warm your kitchen is.

Next, spoon a 1 cup of the milk into a small bowl and add the half cup of yogurt to it, mixing thoroughly. Then, dump this mixture back into the milk in the crock pot and mix it around well.

Put the lid back on your crock pot and wrap the crock pot with a towel or blanket. Then place the whole package in the oven for 8-12 hours or overnight. This will help insulate the yogurt so that is cools at the appropriate rate and for the cultures to inoculate the whole batch.

At this point you have yogurt. There will be a watery substance know as whey floating on top. I like to to strain my yogurt by dumping into a cheesecloth lined colander over a pot for a few hours. Then I transfer it into glass jars and refrigerate. I also save my whey. You can use it for baking, lacto-fermentation, or in your garden. 

Sauerkraut

This isn't a real recipe so much as an idea. Take a head of green cabbage and shred it. In a large glass bowl, metal will cause an interaction with the fermentation, mix the cabbage with about 2 tablespoons of sea or kosher salt. If you still use iodized table salt, stop. It has a high sodium content and most people don't need the extra iodide.

Anyway, use a wooden or plastic spoon (the whole metal thing) or just your hands. Swish, squash, and mash until you start to release the juices. Now keep going and if there isn't enough liquid to cover the cabbage, then add a bit of water. 

Place a small plate on top to weigh everything down and keep the kraut submerged. Then place a clean towel over top of the bowl to minimize fruit flies and place on the counter for 3-10 days. It just depends on how sour you like it. Give it a taste after day 3. Once it is ready and to your liking, you can put it in jars and refrigerate.

 If you prefer kimchi, it is the same idea,just use napa cabbage instead of green cabbage and add 1/3 cup Korean red pepper powder, 1/4 cup fish sauce, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, and 1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar

Please stay tuned for some healthy and tasty recipes.