Fermenting Vegetables & Fruits with Water Kefir

Water kefir grains that have been dyed red from beets.

  I've been making water kefir for a few months now. It's a non-dairy and inexpensive way of getting some beneficial bacteria. I got my live "grains" from http://www.waterkefirgrains.com/, and they've been great. The grains double with every 48 hour ferment. They are alive and require a certain amount of care. They are effected by temperature, food, and water quality.

  At first I fed the grains sucanat but then switched over to maple syrup and used yacon syrup to supplement. They love yacon syrup and palm sugar. I have also fermented store bought coconut water. When I'm not making water kefir, I store the grains in chlorine-free, flouride-free water in glass jars in the fridge. I have started to ferment vegetables using water kefir grains and am pleased with the results.

Beets and muscadine grapes.

  I enjoy fermenting vegetables and fruits with water kefir grains. It allows me to cut the amount of salt usually associated with fermented and pickled foods. The fermented food is ready in 2 days. I've been fermenting beets, which I love! I start with raw beets and end up with tasty, crisp, slightly tangy beets and probiotic beet juice.

  My last fermentation consisted of 2 raw beets cut up, 1 cup muscadine grapes, halved and pitted, 6 tbsp. water kefir grains, 2 & 1/2 tbsp Sweet Tree Coconut Palm Sugar with a hint of Balinese sea salt, and enough chlorine-free, flouride-free water to fill my 64oz. Now Foods Sprouting Jar within an inch of the top. I use a closed lid from a 26oz. Mahatma Almond Butter jar which fits well. I let the jar sit in a warm(75F-98F), relatively dark area of the house for 2 days. 

  When it's done fermenting, the water kefir grains will have settled to the bottom, and the vegetables and fruit will be on top. I scoop the fermented food into separate smaller jars. Then I screw the mesh screen lid onto the Now Foods Sprouting jar and pour the fermented juice into the small jars along with the fermented food. I put the jars in the fridge. I usually eat all of it within a day or two, so I don't know how long it lasts in the fridge. Then I rinse and strain the grains a few times with chlorine-free, flouride-free water. I do food fermentation with excess grains, and always keep backup grains in the fridge.

... breakfast

  

Buckwheat Cake (grain-free, bean-free, sugar-free)

My whole family's concept of cake has changed. My 5 year old insisted that this is cake, although from the look of the ingredients, I'd call it a bread. Nevertheless, we now make it almost every day. I've used organic buckwheat flour from NutsOnline, Arrowhead Mills, and I've also used buckwheat ground at home. We've topped the cake with various nut-butter and also tried putting on chocolate while the cake was still hot and letting it melt, really good!
Will post a pic later

4 cups buckwheat flour or ground buckwheat (about 1 lb.)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp Frontier garam masala (cardamom, cinnamon, cloves cumin, black pepper, coriander blend)
1/2 tsp ginger root powder
3 & 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar

1) Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a 13"x9" pan or one of similar volume. Grease pan with prefered oil. I use a silicone baking sheet nestled inside a stainless steel pan, so I don't have to use oil.
2) Into a large bowl, place buckwheat flour, baking soda, garam masala, and ginger. Mix ingredients together with a fork.
3) Add water and stir until combined, making sure to scrape bottom of bowl with rubber or silicone spatula.
4) Last, add apple cider vinegar and gently fold into mixture with spatula. Be careful not to overmix.
5) Pour batter into prepared pan, place in oven, and bake for 35 minutes.

A Simple Grain-free, Bean-free Cake

A simple cake made from quinoa, amaranth, and flax.

I've been trying to cut the sugar in my family's diet. I avoid artificial sugars and sugar alcohols, since they are made from corn; Furthermore, my son with autism reacts poorly to them. In this recipe, I use sucanat but less than I have in the past. If you're looking for a grain-free cake that is not too sweet, then this is it.

This recipe requires a food processor or powerful, wide-based blender.

2 cups whole quinoa
2 & 1/2 cups water
1 cup ground flax seeds or flax meal
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup granulated sugar (sucanat, palm sugar, or maple sugar)
3 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

1) Preheat oven to 350F and grease 7x11x2", 9" round, or prefered pan.
2) Add quinoa and 2 cups water to food processor and process for 5 minutes or till well combined.
3) Add flax meal and 1/2 cup water to processor and process for 3 minutes.
4) In a separate, large bowl, add amaranth flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and sugar and combine with fork.
5) Pour wet mixture into dry mix and combine, making sure to scrape bottom of bowl.
6) Add apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice) and gently fold in with silicone or rubber spatula. This is when cake will begin to rise. Be careful not to over mix.
7) Quickly pour mixture into prepared pan and bake in oven for 40 minutes or until done.

This cake is grain-free, gluten-free, corn-free, rice-free, dairy-free, casein-free, bean-free, soy-free, egg-free, potato-free, nightshade-free, and xanthan gum-free.

It can be made yeast-free by using lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar.

Quinoa & Almond Sandwich Bread (w/ Almond-free Option)

Just Quinoa Bread (almond-free option)

This is a simple recipe for a grain-free and nutritious vegan bread. It slices well after two hours of cooling. A food processor or powerful wide-based blender is needed for this recipe. Additionally, a coffee grinder or similar device may be needed to finely grind almonds or almond meal. You can also use this recipe to make just quinoa bread, by using quinoa flour in place of almond flour.


 2 cups whole quinoa
1 cup ground flax seeds or flax seed meal
3 & 1/3 cup water
1 cup lightly packed, finely ground almonds or finely ground almond flour or ground quinoa/quinoa flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp powdered kelp (optional)
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice




Grain-free Quinoa & Almond Vegan Bread



1) Preheat oven to 350F and grease standard size loaf pan with coconut oil.

2) Place quinoa and 2 cups water into food processor and process for 5 minutes.

3) Add ground flax seed and 1& 1/3 cup water to food processor and process mixture until homogeneous.
4) In large bowl, place finely ground almonds (or quinoa flour), baking soda, and powdered kelp, and combine dry ingredients.
5) Add quinoa mixture from food processor to dry mix in bowl.
6) Stir ingredients well, making sure to scrape bottom of bowl
7) Lastly, add apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice) to bowl and gently fold into mixture with silicone or rubber spatula. At this point the bread will begin rising, so be careful not to over mix.  The mixture should a thick batter.
8) Quickly pour mixture into greased bread pan and place in oven. You should be able to slightly shape the top of the loaf after pouring it into the pan.
9) Bake for 1 hour.
10) Let loaf cool in pan for 5 minutes. Then loosen sides with knife and flip out of pan. Cool on rack or plate, if you don't have a rack.
11) After two hours, bread will be sliceable. Depending on how long you want your bread to stay fresh, keep it at room temperature for a couple of days, or for 4-5 days refrigerated, wrapped in a paper towel or brown paper bag, and kept in plastic.

This bread is grain-free, gluten-free, corn-free, rice-free, dairy-free, casein-free, bean-free, soy-free, egg-free, potato-free, nightshade-free, and xanthan gum-free.

This bread can be made almond-free and tree nut-free.

It can be made completely yeast-free by using lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar.

Grain-free, Bean-Free, Vegan Spice Cake

This cake is similar to Grain-free Gingerbread Cake but made with quinoa instead of besan and arrowroot. It's just as delicious, and the whole family loved it. This recipe requires a food processor or wide-based blender.

Wet ingredients:
1/3 cup flax seed meal or ground flax seeds
1 cup granulated sugar (sucanat, palm, or maple)
1 & 1/2 cup quinoa flour or ground quinoa or finely ground almonds
1 & 1/4 cup water (use just 1 cup water if using almonds)
1/3 cup organic coconut oil
1/4 vanilla bean pod or caviar

Dry ingredients:
1 cup buckwheat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg blend)

Last ingredient:
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

1) Preheat oven to 350F and grease 11x7x2", 8x8", or 9" round pan.
2) Place wet ingredients in food processor and process for 5 minutes.
3) Place dry ingredients in separate bowl and stir together.
4) Pour wet mixture into bowl containing dry mix and stir together, making sure to scrape bottom of bowl.
5) Make sure oven is preheated and pan is prepared.
6) Add last ingredient to bowl and gently fold in using rubber or silicone spatula. This is when the cake will begin to rise, so be careful not to over mix.
7) Pour cake batter into pan and gently smooth out or ease batter into sides of pan if needed.
8) Sprinkle with additional sucanat if desired.
9) Place cake into oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cake is done.

If you'd like to add a cup of raisins or other add-in,

• soak dehydrated-fruit for 10 minutes and then drain
• increase baking soda to 1 teaspoon
• add 1 cup of your choice fruit, nibs, nuts, etc., and stir in before adding vinegar or lemon juice
• increase vinegar or lemon juice to 1/4 cup

Enjoy!

This cake is grain-free, gluten-free, corn-free, rice-free, dairy-free, casein-free, bean-free, soy-free, egg-free, potato-free, nightshade-free, and xanthan gum-free.

It can be made yeast-free by using lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar.

Grain-free, Bean-free Quinoa Cookies

Grain-free, bean-free, vegan quinoa cookies

I made these cookies today for my kids. My youngest, who is sometimes picky about what he eats, enjoyed them. I'm happy he did because the amount of quinoa they contain. A food processor is needed for this recipe.


1 cup whole quinoa
1 cup water
1/2 cup flax seed meal or ground flax seed
one inch of vanilla bean pod or caviar
1 cup virgin coconut oil
1 cup granulated sugar (sucanat, palm, or maple)
1 cup quinoa flour or ground quinoa (I use a coffee grinder to grind quinoa, as well as flax seeds)
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

1) Preheat oven to 350F
2) Place whole quinoa, water, and vanilla into food processor and process for 5 minutes.
3) Add flax seed meal and coconut oil and process for another 5 minutes.
4) Add granulated sugar and process until homogeneous.
5) In separate bowl, add quinoa flour or ground quinoa and baking soda, and stir dry ingredients together.
6) Add mixture from food processor to dry ingredients in bowl and stir.
7)  Add vinegar (or lemon juice) to bowl and gently fold in with silicone or rubber spatula. Be careful not to over mix. This is when your cookies will begin to rise.
8) Drop cookies by 1/4 cupfuls onto silicone sheet or prepared pan. If you want to put this mix into muffin cups that would also work. These cookies retain the same shape through baking, so the way you put them in is the way they'll be when they come out. Shape the dough if necessary.
9) Bake cookies for 20 minutes or until done. Cookies or muffins will be golden and show some cracks when ready.

During step 6, you can add 1/2 cup organic raisins or 1/2 cup chocolate bits to this recipe if desired.

Enjoy

These cookies are grain-free, gluten-free, corn-free, rice-free, dairy-free, casein-free, bean-free, soy-free, almond-free, tree nut-free, egg-free, potato-free, nightshade-free, and xanthan gum-free.

They can be made yeast-free by using lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar.

Grain-free, Bean-free, Vegan Pizza Crust

This crust is soft, doughy, and holds together well.  It reminds me of personal pan pizza crust from my former favorite chain pizza place. It also makes a good mock New York style crust. A food processor or wide-based blender is needed for this recipe. I have made this recipe without flax seeds, although it requires reducing the water by approx. 1/2 cup.

1 cup whole quinoa
2 tbsp flax meal (ground flax seeds)
3 tbsp flax seeds
1 tsp powdered kelp
2 cups water
1 cup arrowroot starch
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

1) Preheat oven to 400F and grease your choice of pan, 13x9, 11x7, 9" round, etc. The pan you choose will determine the thickness of your crust. I bake my crust on a non-stick silicone sheet inside a 13x9 inch pan. This mixture pourable.
2) Place quinoa, flax seeds, powdered kelp, and 1 cup water into for processor and process for 5 minutes.
3) Add arrowroot, flax meal, and one cup water and process for 3 minutes.
4) Add baking soda and process for 30 seconds.
5) Make sure oven is preheated and pan is ready, then add apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice) to food processor. Process for 5 seconds. At this point the mixture will rise, so be careful not to over mix.
6) Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on what size pan you use. When the center of crust is firm and you can see some cracks or bubbles on the top of the crust that is when it is ready to take out of the oven and put on toppings.
7) Place desired sauce and toppings on pizza, and place back into oven to cook until done.

Some pizza toppings should be cooked a little before placing on pizza, such as broccoli.

I enjoy having pizza with a spinach sauce, made out of raw baby spinach, organic olive oil, powdered kelp, and garlic that has been pureed together in the food processor or blender.

Raw pumpkin seeds, pepitas, out of the shell, also make a great sauce, when combined with olive oil, sunflower seeds, powdered kelp, and garlic in the food processor or blender.

If using jarred tomato sauce, buy organic and read the label. Many tomato sauces contain citric acid. Citric acid in the U.S. is made from corn, which is a grain.

This pizza crust is grain-free, gluten-free, corn-free, rice-free, dairy-free, casein-free, bean-free, soy-free, almond-free, tree nut-free, egg-free, potato-free, nightshade-free, and xanthan gum-free.

It can be made completely yeast-free by using lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar.