Homemade Sauerkraut & Bikram High

Morning all!

I am working on a cool new post/new page but it’s quite huge and it’s gonna take me little longer than I’d anticipated. So in the meantime I thought I’d share some random musings & food porn!

Bikram High

Yesterday friend B and I went to an evening Bikram class. It was probably because of the humidity and damp weather outside, but the room was STEAMING hot. Usually a Bikram room (the ‘torture chamber’) feels more like a tepid sauna, and a little moist. Yesterday the room felt more like a steam room. Class was also crowded and the teacher was fully aware of this and told us to prepare for a tough class. And oi, it was.

Normally during a Bikram class you sweat out every ounce of bodily fluid you have in you. Last night, make that times two. From the get-go I felt slightly ligh-headed, though not dizzy. I soon noticed I was able to handle the light-headedness very well though so I could let go and not let it bother me. But man was this a tough class. Everyone was struggling a bit, grunting and sighing (the man next to couldn’t stop gagging, another tried to leave the room :p). It was a relief moving over to the floor series. In the first savasana, I found my Yogi smile. Also known as having a goofy smile on your face even though you feel you might just drop dead any minute. Because even as you’re struggling through the heat, the poses feel great, the atmosphere feels great, being there feels great. Plus, I’ve come to notice that the classes that whoop your ass most, are the ones that keep you coming back for more.

In final savasana, dead body pose, my whole body started to tingle. My face, my feet, my legs, my hands… it was an amazing experience. I could hardly relax because of it. Honestly, it felt like a full-body orgasm ! I stayed on my mat for longer than ever, not ever wanting to get up again. I finally made my way back to the lobby where friend B was also still recovering. I couldn’t stop smiling. It felt like such a rush, such a high! What a great reward for such a tough class. I’ve experienced runner’s high before, but nothing like this.

Food Porn

First off I want to share this amazing meal I served myself yesterday. I’d been wanting to make raw & semi-raw meals other than just salads for a while and yesterdays meal was a keeper. I really liked having some different components to my meal, you know, cooked food style!

The three components: sweet potato fries, homemade sauerkraut & a simple side salad consisting of spinach, olives, sundried tomatoes, sprouts & half an avocado.

Sweet Potato Fries
Serves one
* 2 small or one medium-large sweet potato
* coconut oil
* Himalayan sea salt
* pepper

Preheat the oven to 220 C / 400 F. Wash and pat dry the potatoes . Cut in fry shape. With your hands, rub them with coconut oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Line an oven dish with tinfoil and spread the fries out in a single layer. Bake for ~25 minutes or until brown and crispy, turning the fries once or twice for even browning.

This next recipe is amazing. For some time now I have been reading about ‘homemade sauerkraut’ or ‘raw sauerkraut’ or ‘fermented veggies’ from various sources (mostly raw food blogs, holistic nutritionists, the beauty detox solution, etc). I was intrigued and eager to make it myself, but also a little scared. It kinds sounds like a difficult thing to do no, fermenting your own vegetables? Well as it turns out, it isn’t!

What’s so great about fermented vegetables (and most other fermented foods, tempeh anyone?) is that it contains a lot of natural probiotics, and enzymes. The probiotics, or friendly bacteria, are the ones that actually ferment the food. In the time you let your food ferment, the probiotic and enzyme content shoots through the roof! As you can understand, fermented vegetables thus make a wonderful addiction to a healthy diet. They aid in digestion, making digestion and absorption of nutrients much more efficient. In her book The Beauty Detox Solution Kimberly Snyder calls it the ‘Probiotic and Enzyme Salad’ and her program entails eating a small amount of it (1/2 a cup) before dinner. I take probiotic supplements daily, but I suspect this ‘salad’ to be much more powerful, as is usually the case with all whole foods. Without further ado, I present to you my own ‘homemade sauerkraut’!

Homemade Sauerkraut
Many servings
* big chunk of red cabbage
* 4 medium sided carrots
* 1 probiotic supplement
* 4 T himalayan sea salt
* 3-4 cups water (750 ml – 1 L)
* 1-2 celery stalks
* airtight glass jar

First, sterilize your jar by giving it a bath in boiling water. Grate or julliene your cabbage and carrots very finely (I used a mandolin slicer but it’s also doable by hand). Transfer your veggies to your jar. The jar should be filled almost to the top. If not, prepare more veggies.

Now, add water, salt and propbiotic supplement to your blender and blend on high speed for about a minute (use as much water as needed to fill your jar to the top). Pour your mixture (called a ‘brine’) over the veggies and make sure all the veggies are fully emerged in the brine. Close the jar tightly and give it few shakes. Cut your celery stalk into 4 pieces and cover the top of the veggies, so they will be pushed down. Close the lid tightly and place the jar in a bowl or dish (in case water starts overflowing a bit).

Place your jar in a warm spot. Depending on the temperature, your sauerkraut should be ready in 4-6 days. If it starts to stink, great. If little bubbles start to form on the top, awesome. You’re doing it right. After 4-6 days, transfer the jar to the fridge. After opening, your sauerkraut will stay edible for about a month.

Instead of a probiotic supplement, you can sub a tablespoon of unpasteurized miso (personally I think a probiotic supplement is more convenient and easier to locate, though) or more salt (only use a good quality salt like Himalayan or Celtic sea salt, though).

I think it’s so cool to make your own ‘functional food’!

I’ve always gone through juice or smoothie phases, but recently I’ve started drinking both, most days. I think my body is finally able to handle so much greens :p. I’m slowly transitioning to having juice and a green smoothie (and herbal tea, water) in the morning until noon, to extend the detox/elimination window for my body. I’m amazed at how ok I feel doing this, as I’ve always been prettyyyy attached to my heavy breakfasts. But truly, I feel very energized doing this and it takes me ages to drink both a smoothie and a juice leaving me with little time to think about solid food before noon.

However, when I’m in the mood for a piping hot, ‘stick-to-your-ribs’ breakfast, I don’t shy away from making this:

Mushy Best Oat Bran with raw cacao nibs for extra crunch and zzzing.

Snackage:

ChocoCado mousse!

And again!

Still a house staple…

Fruit salad

Banana avec coconut butter & raw cacao nibs. Foodgasm!

More fruit…

Chocolate Recovery Pudding made a comeback! I made it with tahin instead of almonds/almond butter this time and it tasted amazing.

Fancy crudité platter of carrots, olives & hummus.

Leftover Coconut Risotto. Omg, this is a keeper!

Some salads:

And a heavier, cooked meal. Made by me & friend B (the male version) :

Tempeh & Chili Bean Stirfry
Serves two
* 1 head broccoli
* 1 sweet paprika
* 1 recipe tempeh steaks (cubed)
* 1 can chili beans or pinto beans (in sauce)
* optional: a little soy sauce, pepper

Cut all veggies in bite-sized pieces. Heat a wok over high heat and add a little oil. Add veggies and tempeh and stirfry until they start to get tender and browned (tempeh). Reduce heat, add the beans and sauce and stir some more. Done!

Hearty, heavy, spicy, perfect for rainy days!

And now for some cutesy pictures:

Yogi Isa….

Downward facing… cat?

My cute bull showeing my grandma with kisses

That’s it for today loves! See ya tomorrow(ish). Or the day after, considering I should be studying for exams…

Are you going to make your own sauerkraut/probiotic&enzyme salad/fermented vegetables?

Love,

Sabine