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Strawberry Banana Sourdough Muffins

It’s strawberry season, and we have a bunch in the fridge. And my sourdough starter is getting big. So I figured I’d use them up together. While searching for sourdough muffin recipes I mostly found recipe for blueberry muffins. And most of them are very similar. So I just picked one as my base. Then I used strawberries and bananas (I have some bananas to use up too) instead of blueberries. Any berry would work. I bet diced apples would even be good. I made these yesterday morning for breakfast. Yum!!! Very good. All 3 of us really like them. They taste great warm with a healthy spread of butter 🙂  Butter and sourdough are such a great match. These are mildly sweet and still have a hint of the sourdough flavor. I used the recipe from Sourdough Home. I’ll post the original recipe and add my adjustments. This said it made 6 muffins, so I doubled the recipe…and got 21 muffins! I filled the muffin cups to the top too. Maybe it makes 6 jumbo muffins. I fed my sourdough starter the night before and let it sit on the counter so it was ready in the morning. I don’t know if this step is necessary, but most recipes suggest it (although this one didn’t). Some chopped crispy walnuts would be really good in these.

*Edited 8/5/10 – I made another batch of these today with a little mashed banana and some blueberries. So good!!! And more moist than with the strawberries. I used about 1 cup of berries instead of 1/2 cup. I got 12 muffins out of it.

Strawberry Banana Sourdough Muffins
make 10-12 muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup sugar or fructose (You can double this if you want them sweeter. For a double batch I used 3/4 cups…worked well.)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup oil (I used coconut)
1 cup sourdough starter
1/2 cup blueberries (I added diced strawberries. I also added some mashed banana and some small banana chunks.) (I think they’re better with 1 cup of berries…blueberries work very well.)

Preheat oven to 425F.

Combine dry ingredients in small bowl. Stir in blueberries (strawberries and banana chunks). Combine wet ingredients (and mashed banana) in medium bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet ones.

Mix quickly and spoon into muffin cups (I used silicon muffin cups…the muffins popped right out.).

Bake at 425 for 18-20 minutes.

Strawberry Shortcake

I’ve never really been a fan of strawberry shortcake. I don’t like biscuit-type things or the sponge cake kind either. And I don’t like whipped cream. So that leaves the strawberries 😛  And that is what I would eat growing up when my mom made it…just the sweetened strawberries (sometimes on ice cream) while everyone else ate the shortcake. It’s strawberry season right now. And I decided I’d try making shortcake…never have before. Laura on Heavenly Homemakers posted a simple, healthy recipe the other day…that looked good to me…because it’s not a biscuit or a sponge 😛  Rebecca and I made it yesterday. So easy! And really good. It is very mildly sweet. And goes really well with strawberries. I still have mine with ice cream instead of whipped cream, but at least this time I actually ate the shortcake 🙂  All 3 of us love it. Of course Rebecca is a girl after my own heart…I got her a little dish…but she wouldn’t eat it until I added ice cream and chocolate 😛

Whole Wheat Strawberry Shortcake

1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour (I use some freshly ground sprouted whole wheat and some freshly ground whole wheat flour)
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup oil (I use coconut oil)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk (I used my mild kefir)

4-5 cups of fresh, sliced strawberries (I gave it to Rebecca with fresh strawberries. I mashed some strawberries with cane sugar for ours 🙂  It’s good both ways.)

Whipped cream (fresh cream whipped to form soft peaks, with a bit of stevia added for sweetness) (Justin had readi-whip on his…have some on hand to use up from a dessert I made for church last week. I had ice cream on mine.)
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Mix together flour and baking powder. Add in eggs, honey, oil, vanilla and milk. Stir well (or mix well with hand mixer). Pour into a well buttered 8×8 inch baking pan. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes (Mine took about 30 minutes).

Allow cake to cool completely. Top with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. (9 servings)

Kefir

As I continue on my journey towards better health, I’m trying to find foods that will help heal my gut. One that I’ve read a lot about is kefir. It’s kind of like yogurt (not as thick), but has a lot more good bacteria. Although I’ve done a fair amount of research kefir is still somewhat of a mystery to me. What it’s supposed to taste like, how you use it, etc. But I’m working on experimenting and finding the answers.

You can make kefir from grains or a powder. Based on what I read the powder is pretty easy. You just mix it with milk, let it set a bit, and it’s done. But then you have to buy more. And it’s not cheap!! On the other hand, if you use grains to make kefir you only have to buy them once. They can last forever! Guess which one I chose? Grains of course. But they are a bit trickier (I think). I got my grains last week and followed the instructions that came with them. The grains themselves are definitely growing. So I know I’m doing something right. But the kefir itself…I’m still working on that. It was really hot when I started the process, so I think the process was going faster than usaul. After a few days of adding milk, letting it sit, dumping the  milk and repeating I got what I thought was my first actual batch of kefir. It smelled and tasted like spoiled milk to me. Maybe it was bad. Or maybe it was just really strong kefir (some people compare it to buttermilk). Either way I couldn’t drink it. Just to be safe I dumped it and rinsed the grains. And started over. I know I have healthy, growing grains, so I started fresh. And I didn’t let it ferment nearly as long. So yesterday I made my first new batch. I only let it go about 12 hours. And it actually tasted good. Similar to milk, but you could tell there was more to it than that…a little tangy and a little sweet at the same time. I’ve got another batch going now (the tough part about kefir…you have to keep making it/keep feeding the grains). We’ll see how that one goes. The down side is that it uses up a lot of milk. But if I use the kefir in place of milk and buttermilk than I guess it evens out.

So I’m in the experimentation phase. But hoping that even my mild kefir will have some health benefits. And maybe over time I’ll develop a taste for stronger kefir and can let it ferment longer. I’m also figuring out how to use my kefir. Last night I mixed some in with my yogurt. That worked well (maybe a 1:3 ration, kefir to yogurt). I’m planning to make kefir smoothies. And I want to use it in some baking. Plus just drink it plain sometimes (if I can 🙂  And maybe even use it on my granola. Mmm. That sounds good.

For now I’m not going to post a “recipe”/method of how to make keifr. If you buy the grains you should get directions with them. And I’m still figuring it out. When I get more comfortable with it maybe I’ll update this post and give some directions/tips.

If you’re looking for grains, I ordered mine here (but from a different seller that isn’t listed right now). And if mine keep growing well, maybe I’ll have some to give away 🙂

Note – the pictures are from various stages in the process. You can see the grains growing. I’ll have to take a picture some other time when I have the grains clean.

Mayonnaise

We are almost out of mayonnaise. So I thought I’d try making some. I found a recipe in Nourishing Traditions. It’s very simple to make. But I’m not sure I like it. I think the flavor of the whey is way too strong. Or maybe it’s that combined with the EVOO. I don’t know. I’ll have to try it on/in something before deciding for sure. I’ll post the recipe and update later with a final verdict. This may be one that gets scrapped. It’s all about experimentation. Anyone else have a good mayo recipe?

Oops…as I’m typing up the recipe I realize I was in such a rush making this I didn’t read carefully and forgot to leave it on the counter. I just put it right in the fridge. I’ll set it out now and see what happens.

I took the pictures right after I made it…before it had time to firm up.

Mayonnaise

1 whole egg, at room temp
1 egg yolk, at room temp
1 tsp. Dijon-type mustard
1 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. whey (optional)
3/4 – 1 cup EVOO or sunflower oil (or a combo)
generous pinch of unrefined sea salt

In a food processor, place egg, egg yolk, mustard, salt and lemon juice and optional whey. Process until well blended, about 30 seconds. With the motor running add the oil. Taste and check seasoning. You may need to add more salt or lemon juice. If you added whey, let the mayo sit at room temp, well covered, for 7 hours before refrigerating. With whey added mayo will keep several months and will become firmer with time. Without whey, mayo will keep for about 2 weeks.

Chicken Broth (Bone Broth)

I’ve been reading so much about bone broth since I started reading Nourishing Traditions. It is packed with nutrients and is so good for digestion. I finally got around to making some on Sunday. I didn’t follow any one recipe/method exactly (based mine on both Nourishing Traditions and Naturally Knoced Up). But I did end up with awesome tasting, healthy broth! I got about 4 pints. It is quite concentrated. I could have easily added more water while cooking it. But I’ll just add the water as I use it…takes up less storage space that way 🙂  I froze 3 pints and kept one out for meals this week.

I started the process by roasting a whole chicken in the crockpot on Sunday morning. We had it for lunch. I kept all of the liquid in the crockpot after removing the chicken. After lunch I deboned the chicken and put all of the skin/bones/fat back into the crockpot (with the liquid and some other bones I had saved from last week). I added some onion and water and let it cook. Part way through cooking I added unrefined sea salt, pepper, garlic powder and some carrot chunks. Including the time the chicken was roasting I had my broth going for about 24 hours. After cooking I drained everything through a collander lined with cheesecloth. Then I ran the liquid through my gravy separator to remove some of the really fatty stuff. It was really quite simple. Messy, but simple. I will try to do it more often now so I always have some on hand. I would like to get to a point where I eat/drink at least a little broth every day to help in the process of healing my gut and just becoming healthier over all. And I’m anxious to try making bone broth from beef bones (when we get our Voogt beef). I’ll try to write out the process in a recipe fashion below. You can make this in a stock pot, but I though the crockpot was way easier than having something simmering on my stove all day. Plus I don’t feel comfortable leaving the stove on over night. You can do this in the opposite order…make the stock (simmering the whole chicken for the full time) and then eat the chicken. Some recipes say to add vinegar to help with the gelatinizing process. But I didn’t…I didn’t remember that part when I was making it 🙂  Mine is still plenty gelatinous. So, this is what I did. I’m no expert…this was my first attempt. But it seemd to work. And I had some for dinner last night. YUM!! Tastes like the best chicken soup you’ve ever had. I warmed it up with some of the leftover chicken (together) and had a pile of veggies on the side. Mmm.

Chicken Bone Broth

1 whole chicken (or whatever chicken parts you have)
Water
Seasoning (unrefined sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, herbs, bay leaf)
Veggies, very roughly choppped (whatever you like…onions, celery, carrots)
1-2 Tbsp. vinegar (optional)

Cook chicken or chicken parts. Place all of the bones, skin, fat in the crockpot (and any meat you want to add). At this point you can add 1-2 Tbsp. of vinegar and let it sit for an hour. This helps draw out the nutrietns from the bones. After the hour is up (or right away if you’re not adding the vinegar) you can add your veggies and seasoning. Or you can wait until half way through cooking. Add enough water to cover everything. Turn on the crockpot and bring to a boil. Skim off any nasty stuff that comes to the top (I didn’t do this…just waited until the end and strained everything well). Let simmer in crockpot 6-24 hours. The longer you cook it the more nutrients you draw out of the bones. When the cooking is finished drain everything through a colander lined with cheesecloth. As the broth cools the fat will rise to the top and you can skim off as much or as little as you want. Or if you have a gravy separator you can run the broth through it right away (before it cools). You can store it in the refrigerator or freezer. It works well to freeze it in ice cube trays so you can take out as much or as little as you want at a time.

Sourdough Pancakes

Now that I have a sourdough starter I’m trying to find ways to use it. This morning I made sourdough pancakes for breakfast. YUM!!! They were so good. And so easy. I served them with real butter and local maple syrup and a sprinkling of crispy walnuts. What a great way to start the day. I’ll be making these again for sure. And I’ve got a few in the freezer now. I got 10 pancakes out of 1 batch. In addition to tasting good it is fun to make these pancakes…to watch them come alive as you mix the batter and add the baking soda. Very cool. I got the recipe from Naturally Knocked Up.

Sourdough Pancakes
makes ~ 10 pancakes

2 cups sourdough starter
1 Tbsp. maple syrup (or equivalent sweetener) (I used honey because it was convenient)
1 beaten egg
3 Tbsp. coconut oil (or melted butter)
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. water

The night before:
Start by feeding and setting your starter out the night before (make sure you have at least 3 cups starter). You want it at room temp in the morning.

In the morning:
Preheat pan to a medium heat. Mix the baking soda in the water and set aside. Mix starter, egg, oil, and salt until well combined. Add water mixture right before your ready to place on pan and stir gently.

Pour about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake (I did about 1/3 cup). Cook until the bottom is a nice golden brown and the bubbles have popped on top (watch for the popping and the holes staying open).

Flip, cook a bit more, top with butter and syrup (or nuts, fresh fruit, or fruit topping), and enjoy!

Fermented Punch

Keeping with my June goals I’m trying some fermented drinks. These can be more beneficial to your digestive system and overall health than only drinking water. And some of them are so easy to make. So I’m giving it a shot. I’m starting with punch. It’s a Nourishing Traditions recipe. It’s kind of like lemonade (basically lemon juice, water and sugar). Not sure how the fermenting will impact the taste. It’s still in the fermenting process. I’ll have to update once I’ve tried it (tonight or tomorrow). I hope it turns out well. It was simple to make. And a perfect way to use up some of the organic lemons I have. I only made a half recipe to try it. If it’s good it’ll be a very cheap, healthy and easy drink to have on hand in place of things like juice.

**Edited 6/2/10 – This is very good! Tastes like lemonade. Now I have a great replacement for my grape juice. I was wondering how I was going to be able to cut out juice. This is it! Cheap, easy and good for my tummy.

Fermented Punch
Makes 2 quarts

juice of 6-8 lemons
1/2 cup Rapadura (I used organic cane sugar)
1/2 cup whey
1/2 tsp. grated nutmeg
2 quarts filtered water

Place all ingredients in a 2 quart glass container (I used a 1 quart mason jar to make a half batch). Cover tightly and leave at room temperature for 2-3 days (I shook it up a bit when I first put it in the jar). Skim off any foam that may have risen to the top. Cover tightly and refrigerate. The punch will develop more flavor over time.

Sprouted Wheat Berries and Sprouted Wheat Flour (Bulgur Flour)

Over the weekend I made my first attempt at sprouting grains. I used hard white wheat (some winter, some spring). It turned out to be super easy! And went so quickly. I started soaking the berries Saturday night. By Monday mid-morning I had freshly ground sprouted wheat flour and some homemade sprouted whole wheat graham crackers 🙂  I’m so glad I tried this. I’ll be sprouting more of my wheat berries for sure. By sprouting the berries before grinding the flour I eliminate the step of soaking the flour. This is so handy for recipes that aren’t conducive to soaking, like many bread products. I’m planning to make sprouted whole wheat bagels later this week with the remainder of my fresh flour. I’ll post the method I used for both the sprouting and the drying. You don’t have to dry the berries. You can use them as soon as they are done sprouting in certain recipes, but not to make flour. They have to be dry to make flour. I followed the method I found on Kelly the Kitchen Cop. She also talks more in deatil about why you should sprout, in case you’re interested.

Sprouted Wheat Berries (or any other grain)

You start with whole grains (or seeds), like spelt or wheat berries.

Fill your jar about 1/3 full of grains, then add filtered water to the top, cover and soak overnight. (I used 3 1-qt jars.)

Next, drain them well. I drained them with a small strainer over the top of the jar. Then I put cheesecloth over the top, secured with a rubber band. And place them upside down in a large bowl.

Rinse them 1-3 times per day…however often it takes to keep them damp. But after rinsing, they need to be draining again, so that they aren’t wet for long.

The sprouting can take anywhere from 1 to 4 days I think. But in this heat mine went quickly. I started draining Sunday morning. By Sunday night they were sprouted and ready for drying. At this point you can dry the berries or use them in casseroles and salads.

Sprouted wheat flour

After the sprouting dry the berries on a cookie sheet in the oven at 150. It took about 10 hours for mine to completely dry. Make sure they are totally dry, or they can ruin your grain mill.

Then grind finely in your grain mill. And you have sprouted flour (also known as bulgur flour*)!! Store in the refrigerator or freezer.

*If you do a course grind instead of a fine grind you will have bulgur.

Kishk Granola

This morning I made a new batch of granola. Last week I made a batch of soaked granola. I made it the same way I always make granola. But it got a bit overdone. Today I decided to try a “raw” granola…meaning unbaked. I got this recipe from Nourishing Traditions. The main ingredient is kishk (a fermented dish made with cracked wheat that is soaked and dried). I substituted my soaked and dried oats. I also added some flax seed and a few sunflower seeds. It’s kind of strange to just have it all mixed together unbaked, kind of loose. We’ll see how it works. I’ll try some later today. I only made a small batch to try it out. I think my next experiment will be somwhere inbetween…only bake it for 5 or 10 minutes. Maybe that will be the perfect balance. It will hold together, but not be overdone.

 

Kishk Granola
Makes 6 cups

4 cups kishk (I used soaked oats) (this can be gluten free if you use gf oats)
1 cup crispy pecans, almonds or cashews, chopped (I used pecans and walnuts…if using walnuts be sure to store the granola in the refrigerator since walnuts can easily get rancid)
1 cup dried sweetened coconut meat (I just used some organic, unsweetened coconut flakes and added a little extra sugar to compensate)
1 cup dried fruit (I used raisins)
1/2 cup Rapadura (I used organic cane sugar)

Mix all ingredients together. Store in zip-lock bags or airtight containers in refrigerator. Eat like granola with milk or cream.

This cereal will actually keep well for several weeks at room temp and is a good provision to take when one is traveling and wants to avoid hotel breakfasts.

Nut Butter

I made crispy peanuts this week and used them to make peanut butter. This recipe is from Nourishing Traditions. This is a very healthy treat! Soaked nuts, coconut oil, unrefined sea salt and raw honey…what could be better? I had some on my toasted sourdough bread this morning…YUM!!!! It’s actually quite sweet…you could cut back on the honey. Either way it is so delicious. I can’t wait to try this recipe using other types of nuts.

Nut Butter
Makes 2 cups

2 cups crispy nuts, such as peanuts, almonds or cashews
3/4 cup coconut oil
2 Tbsp. raw honey
1 tsp. sea salt

Place nuts and sea salt in food processor and grind to a fine powder. Add honey and coconut oil and process until “butter” becomes smooth. It will be somewhat liquid but will harden when chilled. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Serve at room temp.

almond butter
Edited 6/26/10 – I made cashew butter and almond butter using this recipe yesterday. Both so delicious!! Rebecca kept asking for more 🙂  She had toast with cashew butter and a tortilla with almond butter yesterday. I only put a drizzle of honey in this time. Still plenty sweet.
cashew butter (left), almond butter (right)