Picture courtesy of fibrocfs.wordpress.com

There is new help for those suffering with fibromyalgia, and auto-immune disorders! I was very excited to hear about this medication as I myself suffer with a compromised immune system. Please work with a doctor specializing in this treatment to help you with your individual needs. The following information explains what LDN is and how it works. LDN is available through a compounding pharmacy.

Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) may well be the most important therapeutic breakthrough in over fifty years. It provides a new, safe and inexpensive method of medical treatment by mobilizing the natural defenses of one’s own immune system.LDN substantially reduces health care costs and improves treatment of a wide array of diseases. Unfortunately, because naltrexone has been without patent protection for many years, no pharmaceutical company will bear the expense of the large clinical trials necessary for FDA approval of LDN’s new special uses. It is now up to public institutions to seize the opportunity that LDN offers.”  — David Gluck,

Researchers at The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania have discovered the mechanism by which a low dose of the opioid antagonist naltrexone (LDN), an agent used clinically (off-label) to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases, exerts a profound inhibitory effect on cell proliferation. It has been postulated that opioid receptor blockade by LDN provokes a compensatory elevation in endogenous opioids and opioid receptors that can function after LDN is no longer available. Using a novel tissue culture model of LDN action, the mechanism of LDN has been found to target the opioid growth factor (OGF, [Met5]-enkephalin) and OGF receptor (OGFr) axis. This discovery, reported in the September 2011 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, provides new insights into the molecular pathway utilized by an increasingly important clinically prescribed agent that serves as a basic biological regulator of cell proliferative events related to pathobiological states such as cancer and autoimmune diseasesRead more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-low-dose-naltrexone-ldn-body.html#jCp

What is low-dose naltrexone and why is it important?

> Low-dose naltrexone holds great promise for the millions of people worldwide with autoimmune diseases or central nervous system disorders or who face a deadly cancer.

> In the developing world, LDN could provide the first low-cost, easy to administer, and side-effect-free therapy for HIV/AIDS.

Naltrexone itself was approved by the FDA in 1984 in a 50mg dose for the purpose of helping heroin or opium addicts, by blocking the effect of such drugs. By blocking opioid receptors, naltrexone also blocks the reception of the opioid hormones that our brain and adrenal glands produce: beta-endorphin and metenkephalin. Many body tissues have receptors for these endorphins and enkephalins, including virtually every cell of the body’s immune system.

In 1985, Bernard Bihari, MD, a physician with a clinical practice in New York City, discovered the effects of a much smaller dose of naltrexone (approximately 3mg once a day) on the body’s immune system. He found that this low dose, taken at bedtime, was able to enhance a patient’s response to infection by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. [Note: Subsequently, the optimal adult dosage of LDN has been found to be 4.5mg.]

In the mid-1990′s, Dr. Bihari found that patients in his practice with cancer (such as lymphoma or pancreatic cancer) could benefit, in some cases dramatically, from LDN. In addition, people who had an autoimmune disease (such as lupus) often showed prompt control of disease activity while taking LDN.

How does LDN work?

> LDN boosts the immune system, activating the body’s own natural defenses.

Up to the present time, the question of “What controls the immune system?” has not been present in the curricula of medical colleges and the issue has not formed a part of the received wisdom of practicing physicians. Nonetheless, a body of research over the past two decades has pointed repeatedly to one’s own endorphin secretions (our internal opioids) as playing the central role in the beneficial orchestration of the immune system, and recognition of the facts is growing.

Witness these statements from a review article of medical progress in the November 13, 2003 issue of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine: “Opioid-Induced Immune Modulation: …. Preclinical evidence indicates overwhelmingly that opioids alter the development, differentiation, and function of immune cells, and that both innate and adaptive systems are affected.^1,2 Bone marrow progenitor cells, macrophages, natural killer cells, immature thymocytes and T cells, and B cells are all involved. The relatively recent identification of opioid-related receptors on immune cells makes it even more likely that opioids have direct effects on the immune system.³”

The brief blockade of opioid receptors between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. that is caused by taking LDN at bedtime each night is believed to produce a prolonged up-regulation of vital elements of the immune system by causing an increase in endorphin and enkephalin production. Normal volunteers who have taken LDN in this fashion have been found to have much higher levels of beta-endorphins circulating in their blood in the following days. Animal research by I. Zagon, PhD, and his colleagues has shown a marked increase in metenkephalin levels as well. [Note: Additional information for Dr. Zagon can be found at the end of this page.]

Bihari says that his patients with HIV/AIDS who regularly took LDN before the availability of HAART were generally spared any deterioration of their important helper T cells (CD4+).

In human cancer, research by Zagon over many years has demonstrated inhibition of a number of different human tumors in laboratory studies by using endorphins and low dose naltrexone. It is suggested that the increased endorphin and enkephalin levels, induced by LDN, work directly on the tumors’ opioid receptors — and, perhaps, induce cancer cell death (apoptosis). In addition, it is believed that they act to increase natural killer cells and other healthy immune defenses against cancer.

In general, in people with diseases that are partially or largely triggered by a deficiency of endorphins (including cancer and autoimmune diseases), or are accelerated by a deficiency of endorphins (such as HIV/AIDS), restoration of the body’s normal production of endorphins is the major therapeutic action of LDN.

What diseases has it been useful for and how effective is it?

> Bernard Bihari, MD, as well as other physicians and researchers, have described beneficial effects of LDN on a variety of diseases:

I have a confession. I have not always loved sourdough bread. Actually, to be honest, when I lived in the San Francisco bay area, I used to complain that every restaurant served horrible smelly bread and when ordering clam chowder on Pier 39, I’d say, “hold the bread bowl.”

I guess it would be like living in North Carolina, and hating Nascar. Not that I hate Nascar. I just “nothing” Nascar. That’s alright isn’t it?

Or it’s like living in New York and snubbing their bagels, or living in California and disliking avocados. Or visiting Chicago and ordering pizza and asking to “hold the crust.” What about being from London and preferring coffee or being from Kona and preferring tea. It just doesn’t make sense!

But what is really ironic, now that I am 2,670 miles away from Pier 39, I can’t get enough sourdough bread. And thanks to a dear friend of mine, who not only brilliantly made her own sourdough starter, nurtured it with TLC and then shared that starter with me, she also provided me with an amazing recipe and detailed instructions on how to make the real deal sourdough bread. And as if that wasn’t awesome enough of her, she gave me permission to share that recipe here.

Speaking about sourdough starter, did you know that keeping a starter alive is just like owning fish.

1. Glass or clear plastic container – check!
2. Living creatures inside glass or clear plastic container blowing bubbles – check!
3. Weekly feedings – check!

Yes owning a sourdough starter is a commitment. You must be willing to maintain this stinky, fermented creature otherwise, you may end up having to flush it down the toilet. Now I’ve killed every fish I’ve ever owned, but one month into owning my sourdough starter and it is still alive and breathing. For now. Woohoo!

Hey now that I think about it, I really should have first posted about out how to make the sourdough starter, and then  moved on with this recipe on how to make the bread. But we are going to do things in backward order here, so check back to the website in a few weeks and hopefully I’ll have the starter recipe posted for you too. Thanks for your patience people! Or person. I don’t want to be presumptuous of the number of people who are actually reading this. But if you are in fact a reader and you have stayed with me for this whole spiel and you are still reading, you deserve a great big thank you. So here it is.

GREAT BIG THANK YOU!

If you are excited to give this a try and don’t want to wait for me to post the starter recipe, then you can actually buy sourdough starter online at KingArthurFlour.com.

Oh and one last thing. I can’t post this recipe without mentioning that not only is sourdough bread tangy and delicious, but it is healthier than other breads because it doesn’t contain any processed yeasts. Instead, the starter contains naturally fermented and airborne yeasts and acids. Also, sometimes sourdough is more tolerated by those who are allergic to gluten because the enzymes in the natural yeast actually predigest parts of the grain that are tough on your stomach.  Isn’t that nice to know.

Sourdough after first kneading. It doesn’t look like much, but just wait, it will grow.

The sour dough after being left overnight. It has more than doubled in size!

After a brief second kneading, cut the dough in half and shape into two loaves.

Sourdough makeover. This is the before.

Sourdough makeover, this is the after. That is, after 40 minutes in the oven. Delicious!

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Sourdough bread made with a starter.

Keep in mind that the amount of flour/water may vary depending on your elevation, the humidity in the air, and other local environmental factors. You may need to adjust this recipe depending on where you are located. Additionally, for the natural yeast in the bread to thrive, the house temperature should be between 73 and 75 degrees while the breading is proofing.

Yield: 2 loaves.

Ingredients

• 2 cups starter dough
• 3 tablespoons evaporated cane juice (or sugar)
• 1/2 tablespoon pink Himalayan salt (or any salt)
• 1 tablespoon raw honey
• 6 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons olive oil plus greasing the bowl
• 2 cups warm water
• 1 large pizza stone
• cornmeal for sprinkling
• water for misting
• 1 pan filled with water

Cooking Directions

1. Combine starter dough, sugar, salt and honey into a large glass or ceramic bowl and mix.
2. Add 5 cups unbleached flour (reserve the 6th cup for kneading), the oil and the warm water.
3. Stir in the bowl until well combined and the dough follows the spoon around the bowl.
4. Pour out some of the flour from the 6th cup on to a clean counter.
5. Pour dough out on the counter and knead it hard for 5-10 minutes, adding additional flour as needed.
6. Clean and dry the glass bowl you used to mix the dough. Grease it with oil so the dough doesn\\\'t stick to the bowl.
7. Add the kneaded dough to the bowl and turn it over so that both sides of the dough is greased with the oil. This will be helpful later when you need to remove the dough from the bowl.
8. Let the dough rise (proof) for 8 hours or longer. I like to do this process at night before bed and bake my bread in the morning, or you can do this in the morning and let it rise during the day and bake it in the evening.
9. After the long 8 hour rising time, the dough should have expanded by more than doubling in size. Punch the dough down and remove from the bowl.
10. Gently knead the dough for a few minutes and then cut the dough in half and shape each half into loaves.
11. Let the dough sit on the counter while you heat the oven to 425 degrees.
12. Sprinkle corn meal on the pizza stone and place the dough on the pizza stone.
13. Cut slashes in to the dough.
14. Mist the dough with water - this makes for a nice and crunchy crust.
15. Place the pizza stone with the bread dough on the middle rack and place the pan filled with water in the bottom rack of the oven.
16. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown.

I love hearty comforting soups on a cold day.  This one has just about everything in it!  Rich in many layers of flavor and texture its got something in it for everyone.

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Meat Lovers Soup

Ingredients

• 1 Quart Chicken Stock
• 1 Quart Beef Stock
• 1 Quart Vegetable Stock
• 1 Quart Water
• 5 Medium Sweet Potatoes Cubed
• 1 Large Onion Diced
• 2 Carrots Diced
• 1 Cup Button Mushrooms Cubed
• 1 Large Beef Sausage (I used Kielbasa) sliced
• 1 Cup Gnocchi
• 1 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Sage
• 1 Tbsp Sea Salt (or to taste)
• 2 tsp South African Smoke Seasoning (from Trader Joe\'s)
• 2 Cups Kale
• 1/2 Head Cabbage chopped roughly
• 1/2 lb Ground Chicken
• 3-4 Strips Bacon
• 3 Tbsp Rice, rinsed (Brown and sprouted if available)
• 1 Tbsp Fresh Sage
• 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 Egg
• 1 Bay Leaf

Cooking Directions

1. Make the Meatballs first: Grind the bacon (I used a NutriBullet for this) and add the ground chicken, rinsed rice, sage, salt, and garlic powder until mixed. Blend in the egg.
2. Make the Soup: Add all the liquid to a large pot (4 quarts total with chicken, beef, vegetable stock and water. Drop in sweet potatoes, salt and bay leaf and turn the heat to high.
3. Once the water starts to boil drop in the meatballs, stirring gently. Once water reaches a boil again, turn down heat to low.
4. Peel and dice carrots, mushrooms and onion. Sautee in 1 Tbsp. butter. Add sage and South African Smoke Seasoning.
5. Cook until veggies are tender. Set aside
6. Slice kielbasa or beef sausage of choice into discs and cook in separate pan until edges are browned.
7. Add Gnocchi to soup along with cooked sausage and veggies. Add kale and cabbage.
8. Let simmer for 20 mins.
9. Remove bay leaf and serve

I have been making my own dog food for quite some time now. We have two small dogs. Sprinkles a Yorkie/Shih Tzu mix and Daisy a Shih Tzu. Since Daisy has severe allergy problems we have had to put her on a limited ingredient diet. I incorporate my own dog food in amongst their dry kibble, 1/2 dry, 1/2 cooked. Each batch I make will usually last me about 4 to 5 days. They eat twice daily and have a total of about 1 cup of food each per day. Because of Daisy’s allergies I only cook fish or lamb. Poor girl licks herself to death but I hope that someday she will improve. Since it is a cooked food, I like to add some raw enzyme rich items such as some fresh veggie juice, kefir or fermented veggie juice (great probiotics!) to their bowls. I usually add in about 1/4 tsp or so at each feeding. In addition, I like to add some ground flax seeds or fish oil for the beneficial fatty acids. I have yet to try adding some ground egg shells which is supposed to be great for calcium intake. I do believe in feeding them raw fresh meats as well when it is available. Even adding some bone broth rich in minerals to their food as well as raw marrow bones to chew on is great for their health and teeth. Try do your own experimenting, but I hope you find this information helpful!

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Gluten Free Homemade Dog Food

Ingredients

• 1 pound choice of meat, chicken or fish etc...(ground works best)
• 3/4 cup gluten free grain (rice, quinoa, oats etc...)
• 2 cups chopped veggies (sweet potato, carrots, broccoli, beets)
• 1 tsp rosemary (optional)
• 1 garlic clove (optional)
• 1/2 to 1 cup bone broth or water

Cooking Directions

1. Place choice of meat, grain, rosemary, garlic and broth or water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Once boiling reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 20-25 minutes.
3. Add the chopped up veggies and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until soft.
4. Remove from heat and cool.
5. Once cooled smash up and pound with a metal spatula to an even consistency.
6. Store in the refrigerator.

Craving chocolate but don’t want any of the sugar that it’s loaded with? Then, this recipe is for you… I have found my new happy place. Mesquite powder is an amazing naturally sweet superfood that I have my eye on at the moment. I love the Navitas brand and this is what they have to say about it… “A traditional food among native South and North American tribes, mesquite powder has been treasured for centuries for its many delicious and healthy uses. Navitas Naturals Mesquite Powder is a sweet, caramely, malty, low-sugar superfood loaded with healthy goodness including fiber, protein, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and zinc. Made from the edible, large bean-like pods of the mesquite tree (of the genus Prosopis), mesquite powder (also known as “algarrobo,”) has an array of uses and benefits including fuel, timber, animal fodder and food. In the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico, there is evidence that mesquite was eaten as far back as 6500 BC. Desert-dwelling tribes relied on the sweet pods as a staple food, and would even use them to barter with neighboring tribes.”

Enjoy…

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Raw Homemade Chocolate

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup cacao butter
• 5 tbs raw cacao powder
• 2 tsp coconut oil, nut oil or oil of your choice
• 1 tbs mesquite powder
• 1 tsp raw honey (optional)
• choice of cacao nibs, dried fruit or nuts to add

Cooking Directions

1. Using a grater, shave the cacao butter into small pieces. This makes it easy to melt.
2. Combine all ingredients except honey over a double boiler to gently melt the mixture on a low heat.
3. Stir constantly, whisking to make sure there are no lumps or bumps.
4. Once mixture has melted remove from heat and add the honey.
5. Spoon mixture into molds and place in the freezer for at least 15 minutes to set.
6. Pop out and keep in fridge to grab when your cravings call...

Note:

I prefer to place my choice of nuts, nibs or dried fruit into the molds before I melt the chocolate. This way it is easy to just pour the mixture over it.

Thank you Vanessa for this smoothie recipe filled with a powerhouse of superfoods!  I’m sure this will get you energized in the morning!

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Vanessa\'s Superfood Breakfast Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Coconut Milk
• 1 Handful Organic Baby Lettuce or Spinach
• 1/2 Cup Ice
• 1 Tbsp Bee Pollen
• 3/4 Cup Frozen Blueberries
• 1 Small Banana
• 1 Tbsp Organic Raw Almond Butter
• 1 Tbsp Raw Organic Honey
• 1 Tbsp Raw Organic Cacao Powder
• 1 Tbsp Raw Organic Hemp Powder
• 1 Tbsp Raw Organic Maca Powder
• 1 Tbsp Raw Organic Chia Seed Powder
• 1 Tbsp Raw Organic Maitake Mushroom Powder

Cooking Directions

1. Blend all ingredients in a Vitamix or high powered blender
2. Enjoy!

One of my all-time favorite Coldplay songs, and I’m so excited to share this since I was able to play it along with my amazingly talented violinist boyfriend.
Check out our video and leave a comment.
Thanks!

Come up to meet you, tell you I’m sorry
You don’t know how lovely you are
I had to find you, tell you I need you
Tell you I set you apart
Tell me your secrets, and ask me your questions
Oh let’s go back to the start
Running in circles, coming up tails
Heads on a science apart

Nobody said it was easy
It’s such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
Oh, take me back to the start.

I was just guessing at numbers and figures
Pulling the puzzles apart
Questions of science, science and progress
Don’t speak as loud as my heart
And tell me you love me, come back and haunt me
Oh and I rush to the start
Running in circles, chasing our tails
Coming back as we are

Nobody said it was easy
Oh it’s such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be so hard
I’m going back to the start

Ooooohhhhhhh

For once and for all, I want to know – does it really make a difference what size pumpkin you use to make pumpkin puree? I decided to find out for myself, so I bought these beautiful pumpkins you see above.  The tiny orange “pie” pumpkin cost me $2 bought from the grocery store, the same price as a can of pumpkin puree.

I found the large pumpkin for sale on the side of the road at a produce stand, also for $2. I couldn’t believe it when I saw the price for this big guy.  So right from the start, the two pumpkins are the same price and competing neck and neck.  The competition is on!

Oh did I mention that when I bought the large pumpkin, it was from a produce stand with a TRUST BOX!  There was no man, or woman, or child, or anyone or anything else there to make sure that we paid for our purchases.  I didn’t even know such a thing as a trust box even still existed. We bought sweet potatoes, apples and pumpkin.  Insert money here.

Now let’s get back to the experiment and competition between the two pumpkins.  I suppose at this point it would have been smart and very scientific of me to weigh and measure each competitor. But all I could think was pumpkin pie, cookies, soup, muffins, pancakes and all the other goodies, so I forgot all that scientific stuff that would have made me sound smart.  Oops.

First of all, cut the pumpkins in half.

Notice that the small, orange-skinned pumpkin has a lighter flesh and ironically larger seeds.  The large, light-skinned pumpkin has a darker flesh and smaller seeds.  Interesting.

Don’t forget to remove the seeds.  Rinse them and soak them in salty water for 8-10 hours.  Change the water out from time to time. Apparently this process helps you digest the seed better when you eat it, but I don’t know much about this.  If you want to know – ask Nicole or Cara.  They know a lot more about it than I do.

Notice how much moisture there is on the surface of the pumpkin? Some recipes say to roast the pumpkin and add a small amount of water to the roasting pan, but this is not necessary.  For crying out loud, these guys are in the same family as watermelon! They produce plenty of their own water to keep them moist during the roasting process.

Roast them skin side down on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan in a 300 degree oven for about 2 hours or until fork tender.

The smaller pumpkin finished first, so I removed the little guy until the big guy was ready to call it quits.  Look how lovely they look!

I waited awhile for the pumpkins to cool, and then scooped out the pumpkin flesh and placed it in a blender.  I took pictures.  Then I pureed the pumpkin until it became gorgeous pumpkin goop and took more pictures.  My pictures were terrible so I decided not to share them.  So please feel free to use your imagination or even better, give it a try yourself so you can see how it looks at this point in the process.

Altogether, the little pumpkin made about 11 ounces of pumpkin goop.  This is not even enough for a pumpkin pie recipe!  You would have needed two $2 pumpkins in order to get the amount of a 15.5 ounce can of pumpkin puree.  And it was a lot more work than buying a can!  The large pumpkin, on the other hand, made over 96 ounces of pumpkin puree.  Take a look at my freezer-safe containers each filled with 16 ounces of goop:

What about taste? The darker color flesh of the large pumpkin suggested to me that it would have a richer taste, and sure enough it did.  It was sweeter too.

Big pumpkin won, congratulations!

Since then I have had pumpkin on my brain.  My first order of business-  pumpkin muffins for breakfast.

After that, I made pumpkin soup ala Rachel Ray. I also made the Pioneer Woman’s pumpkin cream pie.  We also added pumpkin to our favorite buttermilk pancake recipe.  Yummy! The only problem is that my freezer stash is starting to run low so it is time to make some more.

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Home made pumpkin puree

Ingredients

• 1 pumpkin

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Cut pumpkin in half.
3. Scoop out seeds and reserve them to make dehydrated or roasted pumpkin seeds.
4. Place pumpkin skin side down in the oven and bake for about 2 hours or until tender.
5. Remove pumpkin and wait for it to cool down. Scoop out the pumpkin flesh and puree in blender until smooth.
6. Place pumpkin puree in freezer safe containers or freezer safe zip-lock bags.

I love these brownies… They satisfy my chocolate cravings without any blood sugar spikes. Even my daughter thinks they are yummy and trust me her vote is hard to achieve sometimes. This is an easy recipe, using fairly basic ingredients. These would also taste great with Cara’s coconut topping recipe. It feels like we’ve had an extension of Summer with this warm weather we are having. I enjoyed taking these pictures outside as it was such a pretty day…

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Grain-Free Brownies

Ingredients

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa or cacao powder
• 1 ripe banana
• 2 tbs honey
• 1/2 cup coconut oil or melted butter
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 tbs vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2 tbs coconut flour
• 1 tbs flax meal

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease baking dish.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl; almond flour, coconut flour, flax meal, cocoa powder, sea salt and baking soda.
3. Blend eggs, vanilla, banana, honey, and oil or butter and add to the dry ingredients.
4. Blend or mix until well combined.
5. Pour batter into greased dish and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

Note: If you prefer not to use a banana just use 1/2 cup of total honey for the recipe.

]]> http://eatdrawlive.com/grain-free-brownies/feed/ 2 http://eatdrawlive.com/kefir-made-with-live-kefir-grains/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=kefir-made-with-live-kefir-grains http://eatdrawlive.com/kefir-made-with-live-kefir-grains/#comments Wed, 31 Oct 2012 01:57:06 +0000 Nicole http://eatdrawlive.com/?p=2411

What is kefir? It is a cultured and microbial rich food that helps restore the inner ecology. It contains strains of beneficial yeast  and bacteria (in a symbiotic relationship) that give kefir antibiotic properties. A natural antibiotic –  and it is made from milk! It has a tart refreshing taste that I have come to crave everyday now. Kefir does not feed yeast and usually does not bother people who are lactose intolerant because the beneficial bacteria and yeast growing in it consumes most of the lactose and provides the enzyme lactase for consuming whatever lactose is still left after the culturing process. Kefir is mucous forming but this quality is exactly what makes the kefir work for us. The mucus has a ‘clean’ quality  to it that coats the lining of the digestive tract, creating a sort of nest where beneficial bacteria can settle and colonize…

Kefir is made from gelatinous white or yellow particles called ‘grains.’ The grains contain the bacteria/yeast mixture clumped together with casein (milk proteins) and polysaccharides (complex sugars). They look like small clumps of cauliflower and range from the size of a grain of wheat to that of a hazelnut. No other milk culture forms grains making kefir truly unique. Once the grains ferment the milk they can be removed by using a strainer. The grains are then added to a new batch of milk, and the process continues indefinitely… Donna Gates The Body Ecology Diet and Sally Fallon Nourishing  Traditions.

I always like to use raw milk for added benefits and nutrition. I usually use raw cow or goat milk. The grains may be stored in the refrigerator when you are not using them. Just be sure to feed them with fresh milk about 1 to 2 times per week to keep their culturing power. As they grow you will start to have extra grains. These can be passed on to friends and family.

Healthy drinking!

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Kefir - Made with Live Grains

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh whole milk
• 1/2 cup good quality cream (optional)
• 1 tbs kefir grains

Cooking Directions

1. Place milk and optional cream (use 1/2 cup of milk instead if you don\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'t have cream) in a clean wide-mouth, quart size mason jar.
2. If milk is cold, place jar in a pan of simmering water until milk reaches room temperature.
3. Add kefir grains, stir well and cover loosely with a cloth. I like to use coffee filters and attach them with a rubber band.
4. Place in a warm place (around 76 degrees) for 12 hours to 2 days.
5. Stir vigorously occasionally to redistribute the grains.
6. The kefir may become thick and effervescent, depending on the temperature, incubation time and the amount of curds you use. You may notice the separation between the curds and whey. This is a good sign. It will become more tart and effervescent this way.
7. After fermentation is complete, stir the kefir vigorously right before pouring through a strainer and into another jar to make it easier to pour out.
8. Cover with a lid and keep the kefir in the refrigerator.
9. The grains may be used to make another kefir or place in the refrigerator for later use.