Saturday, May 29, 2010

Catching little fish

This morning Fabien prepared his delicious whole-wheat buttermilk waffles for breakfast.  He prepares the batter with whole grain flour and fresh buttermilk left over after making butter the night before and leaves the batter overnight.

Served  with bananas, fresh cream and agave or maple syrup. Recipe below post.



The children realized that their teddies that they fed Molasses to the night before were covered in Fire Ants.  They popped them in the washing machine for a good bath, whilst waiting for them we began preparing a gift for Papa's birthday next week.  We have made a few things already but I can't post them just yet.



Sania had a desire to go fishing.  The fish are so little and are an easy catch.  They like to observe them and then we set them free again.  Small pine cones as floaters.  The ducks are always curious.



We had many worms left so made a little worm box with soil like my dad did when I was little, (they were his pets).  Feed them vegetables every day, it makes amazing compost.



The children made a little fort around the sofa's with sarongs.



Late afternoon we admired the horses swimming back home to their night pasture.



Recipe for Waffles from the book "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon, my favorite recipe and nutritional information book.

  • 2 1/2 Cup Spelt, Kamut or whole wheat flour (I prefer Spelt)

  • 2 cups buttermilk, kefir or yoghurt

  • 2 Egg yolks, lightly beaten

  • 2-4 Tbs of maples syrup

  • 2 Tablespoons melted butter (preferably raw)

  • 1 tsp sea salt

  • 4 egg whites

  • pinch of sea salt


Soak flour in buttermilk, kefir or yoghurt in a warm place for 12 to 24 hours.  Those with milk allergies may use 2 cups water plus 2 tbs whey lemon juice or vinegar in place of undiluted buttermilk, kefir or yoghurt)  Stir in egg yolks, syrup, melted butter and salt.  In a clean bowl, beat egg whites with pinch of salt until stiff.
Fold into batter.  Cook in a hot, well oiled waffle iron.  Serve with melted butter, fruit, maple syrup, raw honey.

Note: these waffles are softer than those made with white flour.  however, they will become crisp if kept in a warm oven for several hours.

"Soaking whole grains and flour overnight in a medium like cultured milk or warm acidulated water activates the enzyme phytase, which then neutralizes phytic acid.  Studies show that salt added to the soaking medium inhibits this process, so the time to add salt to porridges and batters is just before cooking not during the soaking period.  Under the right conditions, phytase is also activated in the human intestine, which explains why some people do not develop mineral deficiencies on a high-phytate diet while others do.  However, extrusion - which is a high temperature, high pressure process used to transform whole grains into breakfast cereals like bran flakes and shredded wheat, totally destroys phytase but leaves phytic acid intact.  Therefore cold breakfast cereals deliver a double whammy of mineral blocking phytic acid without the phytase that can deactivate at least a portion of phytic acid in the intestinal tract. This renders certain proteins very toxic, essentiail oils rancid and many vitamins useless.  Cooked breakfast cereals are far more nutritions, even when not soaked beforehand.  Best of all soaked with quality fat of butter or cream.  The fact that phytic acid is a strong chelator has led to claims that phytic acid can be used to remove toxic metals." Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon

2 comments:

  1. thank you for the recipe:: i have not heard of the book, will see if our library carries it..
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello there
    You live in a paradise. What a beautiful life you are living and providing for your children. So close to nature. I have read all your posts and you have so much beauty, so much nature, and so much inspiring knowledge to share ! Thank you for starting your blog!

    Thank you for your comment over at my blog. My heart leapt with joy when I read that you too grew up in Zimbabwe. I would so love to learn about your time there! Baobabs are truly magnificent and fascinating trees. I keep that picture there as a constant reminder of the many things important to me, for instance the incredible diversity of baobabs and how I wish for our boys to grow to be strong, well rooted, be close to nature and be as diverse in their skills and knowledge. I so look forward to reading more about your days.
    Best wishes
    Kelly

    ReplyDelete