from our table – everything He gives

fermenting for the good

September 12, 2016 MarthaKimballLeave a comment

In my early motherhood days I used to make Kefir since I had gallons of free milk through WIC and couldn’t seem to use it fast enough. I’d like to get back into making it, as it was so easy and a better type of yogurt (being that it was fermented) than regular yogurt. With all of Phoebe’s digestive problems and also dealing with some of my own, beginning to have ferments be a daily part of our diet has been of interest for some time. However, with all of the other things I have had to learn in switching to a completely gluten-free household, fermenting has been on the back burner. The reality is that we can only tackle so much at once, and have to focus on a few things, work at proficiency with them, then move onto the next project. The past year has been spent learning a new way of cooking, eating, shopping, meal planning, and correctly understanding food labels. We will always be learning those things, but I feel that we’ve established enough of a norm for me to be able to introduce something new. Enter: fermentation.

Now, I’m not going to spend time on the scientific reasons for fermentation, but if you’re interested there is a host of information about it online. Google away. On a very basic level, ferments have been around for centuries and provide unique blends of probiotics and healthy bacteria in the gut. We pay good money for powder probiotics for our kids, but there really isn’t a way to shortcut and reproduce the kind of probiotics found in homemade ferments, and each fermented item offers a different variety/blend, so it works well to have a few different ones as a part of your regular diet.

After reading this article about how easy it is to make your own sauerkraut, I attempted my first batch last month. Honestly, it is very very simple. I did invest in a Fido Jar after reading the article’s recommendation, but otherwise the cost was super minimal. This is not as hard as it seems: chop cabbage, add salt, put in container, leave on counter to ferment for 30 days. Cost effective and simple!

So, I tried my first bite today. I felt a bit brave because I don’t 100% trust my fermenting skills and don’t want to make myself sick, but I have to give it a go. It looked and smelled right. I took a bite: tart, sour, crunchy, and really pretty incredible! In the old days, people used sauerkraut as a condiment, and so I plan to eat about a tbsp a day. I do feel inspired to grill some german brautwurst suddenly. 😉

I sort of doubt Phoebe will eat or learn to enjoy sauerkraut or kombucha (she used to tolerate kefir if I made it into smoothies), but Brandon and I believe it is good for all of us to have in our diet, and hope to keep encouraging Phoebe to try it from time to time. Anything is better than nothing.

We’ve been making kombucha too, I ordered a starter scoby from Cultures for Health, but it isn’t ready yet to try. Brandon and I drink store-bought Kombucha regularly, but it’s about $3.50 a bottle. I can’t wait to have my own and save $$ on it!

settling back in

July 23, 2016 MarthaKimball1 Comment

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I love being home. Our family trip to upstate New York was fun and restful in some ways, chaotic and exhausting in others, but regardless, it is always so nice to come home. When we drove in from NY on a Monday afternoon, Brandon had about two hours to quickly unpack and then repack before his flight left for a week-long work trip in California. So, even though we had a week back at home, it didn’t quite fully feel like we were “back to normal” without Brandon around.

This past week it was good to get back into our usual rhythms. I’ve noticed that I don’t quite feel settled into a place until I’ve been cooking or baking in it. Making that first loaf of homemade (gluten-free) bread and filling the house with that smell feels like coming home. I was busy this past week making gelatin gummies for the kids, a big batch of granola for Brandon and I, bread and “snack bars” galore. Phoebe has stopped eating her usual Lara Bar snack in the mornings and so I scramble to find something she will eat in place of it. She is pretty limited with what she will snack on and we are trying so desperately to increase her caloric intake, so for her to drop a favored food always sends me back to the drawing board and results in lots of receipe testing.

Our days have been simple. The weather has been roasting hot and humid (ugh), and the kids have still been busy outside, coming in with cheeks flushed with heat. I don’t love summer, but I try to make the best of it. Picking blueberries and flowers from local farmstands, and savoring the daily afternoon thunderstorms helps me endure it. Our little porch garden hasn’t done very well, and I miss having the larger plot we had at our last rental. Sigh. Dreams for the future. Yesterday we had a really informal “half-birthday” party for Phoebe and Noah at my parent’s neighborhood pool with their favorite little pals. I didn’t snap any pictures (gasp!) but it was fun all the same. Their half-birthday was really back in June (20th and 23rd) so when you celebrate the half-birthday late, what on earth do you call it? It was such a treat for the kids, though, who often find it hard to have a party with their friends around their birthdays (which are the week of Christmas). It was fun for me, too, to see the children playing and swimming together and gather with some of my favorite friends.

I’ve been busy finishing up a few knitted projects. My brother and sister-in-law brought back some yarn from Iceland for my birthday and I knitted some slippers for myself with one ball of it. I’ve tucked them away for winter but I’m already longing for those first cool wisps of fall air. I also finished up the Antartkis shawl that I made for a lady I used to babysit for back in my high school days. It was what I solely worked on during our trip to NY so I was able to finish it fairly quickly (for me) and she picked it up this week. I loved knitting it, especially since there was no purling and it was a really simple/easy pattern and yet still interesting. When I’m knitting something I grow attached to it in some way, all that time spent fingering the yarn and bent over it with concentration and enjoyment. It’s hard to give it away or to attach value to it, but also such a sweet thing to be able to make something special with my hands for someone else!

Phoebe’s homeschool co-op begins in about a month (!!!!!) and so my mind is shifting to all the projects around the house and all my piles of clutter and unfinished business that I hope to have organized before our first year of school begins. A friend has offered to give us a couple of twin beds for the kids, and so I think we’ll be rearranging bedrooms for the children. I’m craving a major house purge. I’m hoping to organize my desk area and clear out a little space that can be for schooling. I’m also hoping to squeeze in a camping trip with some friends before school begins, too. It feels way too soon to be talking about our first child going to school, and the sentimental part of me is resisting this big change, even though I’m super excited to begin, too. So many books to read! Curriculum still to pick out! School supplies! House projects! And still, to fit in time to read long snuggled with children on the couch, to stay up late for fireflies and late evening walks. I want to hurry through summer because fall is my favorite, but also am so mindful that this is our last summer EVER before our lives begin to revolve around school, and so I want to enjoy each muggy, buggy day.

first gifts of summer

June 4, 2016June 4, 2016 MarthaKimballLeave a comment

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The days are heating up, thunder rumbles across our skies most afternoons. We bend and obey the weather, spending our time outside in the cool early mornings, hunkering down after lunch for naps and quiet and stormy weather. The city markets in Asheville are opening again, and Phoebe requested that we buy a big bucket of fresh strawberries at the last one we went to. They really were the best strawberries we’ve ever had, and she’s eaten handfuls every day. We made these grain-free strawberry shortcakes together for dessert with whipped coconut milk. All my kids love helping in the kitchen, and I’ve been trying to once again make more of an effort to let them help more, especially Phoebe as the oldest. Both she and Noah are learning to handle a knife and chop things with me assisting, of course. She’s been asking for a french braid every day pretty much, and she is asking often for me to “picture” this or that. She really likes to put on a super cheesy grin for the camera, while I prefer catching the more candid moments. Maybe the phase will pass.

We also made our first round of popsicles, just blending yogurt, honey, fresh strawberries, and a little bit of flaxseed. We dropped a few blueberries and chopped chocolate chips in, too, for fun. We bought these BPA-free molds last summer and used them almost weekly. We pulled out our little plastic pool from the garage and filled it up for the first time the same day my parent’s neighborhood pool opened. So, pool days are officially here and we are thankful! It’s not terribly relaxing for me to take them to the pool but it is maybe the best way to endure the muggy heat of the summer and still have the kids outside for part of the day.

I scribbled down a bunch of family plans and goals for the summer, things I want to make and do with the kids, parts of the yard and house I would like to organize and tidy and rearrange as we start to prepare for homeschooling this fall. I realized I don’t do very many crafts with the kids, and I’d like to have a space with craft supplies and maybe attempt a once-weekly craft time with them, at least. We play a lot outside, read a ton, and they are often imaginative and having unstructured play time, but children just love doing crafts, having mommy’s full attention and getting to make a mess and create something beautiful at the same time. I’m checking this book out from the library for some inspiration. And I’m taking them to story time for preschoolers at the library, which has music and craft time. I should probably have been doing it sooner, we went this past week and all had such a fun time. I made this incredible granola this past week (per Alicia’s recommendation), needing a cold summer breakfast option since Brandon and I both are a bit tired of eggs and pancakes, alternatively. I forgot how much I love having a good granola on hand, and this one is so simple and fast to make with a very small ingredient list. I think we’ll be living off of it this summer.

Last weekend we drove up to Balsam Mountain on the Parkway to visit one of my best friends from college and her family. They live in TN and whenever we come close by one another we do our best to sneak in a visit. They were camping for the weekend there, and we wanted to join them but just didn’t pull things together in time so we went for the day on Saturday instead. What a treat it is to see our kids play together, and just to be outside together by a campfire, snacking, catching up and laughing. When Brandon and I were first married and moved out to Colorado, they moved out also to a nearby town and some of our best memories were sharing times with them there. I told Mary in a text later how much these brief hang outs make me ache to live closer to them. When we left, we saw an elk on the roadside, and a few wild turkeys as well.

These are the early gifts of summer. The first fruit from the vine, the gathering with friends, campfires and pools and the hopes and dreams for these sunny warm days. Our last summer before school begins and we transition into a new season of family life.

spring at the farm

May 14, 2016May 14, 2016 MarthaKimball1 Comment

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A couple weekends ago, Brandon was working and I was feeling antsy to get the kiddos (and myself!) out of the house and doing something fun so that we didn’t mope around. We headed to one of our favorite local farms in nearby Fairview. There are a couple of farms on that stretch of road, and one of them has fields of u-pick wildflowers. I was hoping and itching to see some fresh blooms but not much was growing yet. We did, however, buy a couple pints of their fresh organic strawberries. The day was a bit overcast and chilly, so the Hickory Nut Gap farm was nearly empty, which made it especially fun. It kind of felt like it was ours for the day. We saw the new chicks in the coop, and Philippa LOVED seeing the goats. She calls any and every animal a “goggie” (doggie) and is the most animated when she sees a goggie. She was trying to go up to the goats at the fence and pet them, but when one bleated she was so startled and came running back to me terrified. They have big culvert slides for the kids, and a little picnic area by the creek. They played in the water and we had lunch, and headed home wet, tired and happy.

Later Phoebe helped me make gluten-free strawberry oat bars. I adapted this recipe from these applesauce oatmeal bars, but have changed it so much that basically it’s my own recipe now. Because Phoebe is not eating oats right now in addition to being gluten free, I substituted almond meal for the oats (i’ve heard you can sub quinoa flakes too, but haven’t tried that). For the flour I sub some kind of gluten-free flour mix. I use about 1/4 cup of maple syrup instead of brown sugar. And I use my own homemade strawberry jam instead of applesauce, which is from my favorite grain-free cookbook, the Grain-Free Family Table. I think you can see the recipe for the jam scribbled above. I l o v e these bars, they are not too sweet, the strawberries give them a hint of tartness, and they can serve as a snack or a dessert. They were a bit crumbly, I was thinking I may add a teaspoon of grass-fed unflavored beef gelatin next time just to help them hold together a bit. We’ll see. Anytime I can sneak beef gelatin into my kids, I feel very accomplished. 🙂

It was a really beautiful, serene day on the farm and I so love where we live and finding free fun nearby.

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