Health Benefits of Natural Yeast
Guest blog by Caleb Warnock, author of The Art of Baking with Natural Yeast: Breads, Pancakes, Waffles, Cinnamon Rolls and Muffins and the national bestseller Forgotten Skills of Self-Sufficiency Used by the Mormon Pioneers.

© 2012 Caleb Warnock. The contents of this blog post are not in the public domain and may not be used without the express written permission of the author.                    

Few people realize that the yeast in grocery stores is not a naturally-occurring substance. Laboratory created in 1984, the yeast sold today is so foreign to our digestive systems that some people develop allergies to the yeast itself. This quick-rising yeast appears increasingly connected to the nutritional and digestive disorders that plague so many. Natural yeast flattens the glycemic index, takes away heartburn and acid reflux forever, helps prevent or reverse gluten intolerance and, in some cases, full-blown Celiac’s disease, turns natural phytic acid into an anti-oxidant, controls allergies, and turns flour into a yeast that is both pre-biotic and pro-biotic.

Beyond health benefits, natural yeast is simple to use, costs nothing, tastes wonderful, completely cuts out the need to buy commercial yeast, and drastically reduces the need for baking powder and baking soda. You can easily use it not only to make bread, but also waffles, pancakes, breadsticks, pizza dough, scones, rolls, and even old-fashioned root beer.



Yeast is a single-celled fungus, and the first domesticated living creature in history. Modern science has identified more than 1,000 different varieties of wild yeast. These organisms are so small that hundreds of millions, if not billions, fit into a single teaspoon.

Wild yeast is everywhere -- in the air you breathe, on the bark of trees, on leaves. Ever seen the white film on backyard grapes? That’s wild yeast. The same film can be found of juniper berries. For centuries, both berries have been used as natural “start” for bread yeast.

But not all yeast varieties are the same. For example, the kind of yeast used to make beer is not the same kind of yeast used to make bread. Different natural yeasts have different flavors -- some are strongly sour, some are mildly sour, and some are not sour at all. Natural yeast is sometimes mistakenly referred to as sourdough, but with the right strain of yeast, it doesn’t have to be sour unless that is the flavor you prefer. Some natural yeasts are better are raising bread than others. This is why the best strains of natural yeast has been passed down through generations and communities. Hundreds of people around the nation have gotten free, non-sour natural yeast starts from me.

Until the 19th century, homemade yeast was the only kind there was. In 1857 Louis Pasteur discovered that living organisms -- yeasts -- were responsible for fermentation. Yeast was already an important business, even though no one had understood how it worked. The production of commercial yeast began in France in the 1850s. In the U.S., compressed yeast cakes were introduced to the nation at Philadelphia’s Centennial Exposition in 1876 , which drew 10 million visitors. When America entered World War II, yeast companies developed dry yeast for the military which did not require refrigeration. And then in 1984, rapid-rising yeast was invented in U.S. laboratories.

Today that yeast has all but replaced natural yeast. But not everyone is convinced that the convenience of super-fast yeast outweighs the health benefits of the slow rising process of natural yeast.

A word of caution. If you type “sourdough starter” into Google, you will get hundreds of recipes for starting “sourdough” from commercial yeast. But very little grocery store yeast is now true natural yeast. The best way to get real natural yeast is from someone using a documented strain. The author, Caleb Warnock, mails flakes of natural “sweet” yeast to anyone who requests them at no charge, along with instructions for growing out the yeast. And once you have a start of natural yeast, you can have it for the rest of your life. You can dry it, freeze it, keep it in the fridge, or grow it on your kitchen counter. To get a start of the author’s documented 200-year-old strain of natural yeast, send an email to calebwarnock.yahoo.com.

Here is the link to my blog, and you can click on the cover of the new cookbook to look inside the book. Not to press my luck, but if you order two copies, the shipping is FREE!

CalebWarnock.blogspot.com 

Side note: Caleb is a great friend of the Jolleys. We are so pleased to share his new book with you and hope that you find MANY healthy recipes to enrich your life and make it yummier!

Zucchini Relish 

Finally! It’s time for another Healthy recipe! It’s been a busy summer. It is now time to enjoy the benefits of harvesting our garden. One of our favorite recipe finds for zucchini is this relish. We honestly prefer it above all others, and sometimes even replace pickles with it. This is a definite keeper!

Zucchini Relish

10 Cups ground zucchini

4 cups chopped white onion (use a yellow onion if you like it a bit more sweet

2 cups chopped green bell pepper

2 cups chopped red bell pepper

5 Tblsp salt

Optional: outer meat 1 jalepano pepper 

Syrup:

3 cups sugar

2 ½ cups cider vinegar

1 Tblsp turmeric

2 tsp celery seed

1 Tblsp dried mustard

1 Tblsp corn starch

1 Tblsp black pepper

Combine zucchini, onion and bell pepper in a large roaster pan and sprinkle with the salt. Cover with water and let sit in refrigerator for at least 3 hrs or overnight. Next rinse and drain well. Return mixture to roaster pan.

In a large bowl, combine all syrup ingredients.  Pour over zucchini mixture and stir.  Bring to boil; lower heat and simmer 30 minutes. Do not boil.  Transfer to pint jars, wipe rims of jars and then seal with screw-band and lid immediately.  I use a steam bath. Once water is boiling, steam for 10-15min @ full boil. Allow to cool 30 min. before lifting canner lid. Lift slowly. Place jars on towel and cover with another towel. Listen for the neat little pop which means the jar has sealed.  Store in a dark, cool pantry.  If the center of the lid is not indented when jars are cool, that means it did not seal Refrigerate those jars.  Makes approx. 10 jars.

Recipe in part by: 101 Things to do with Zucchini, altered a bit by Debie Jolley

  

Healthy Recipe Day! - Avocados in ways you've not experienced!

Dr. Jolley loves all of his food made from scratch as much as possible and is an amazing chef when it comes to making his own.

For Father’s Day I decide to make him homemade Fajitas. Lately I’ve been on a health kick myself. As I contemplated buying the guacamole from the store (to save time) I looked at the ingredient list. The prominent ingredient was ‘canola oil.’ Yuck! I knew I could do better, so I determined to buy the avocados fresh and make my own. Finding a good recipe was hard, so I ended up combining two and ad-libbing for this amazing result!

Guacamole to die for Recipe – and yes it is healthy!

2 medium very ripe avocados (soft to touch, but not blackened inside)

½ of a small onion, cut up

1 clove of garlic minced

¼ cup fresh cilantro

1 Tblsp Fresh lemon juice

¼ tsp salt

1 medium tomato diced

(optional) ½ cup sour cream 

Cut avocados in half and remove pits. Scoop out the flesh and place in blender. Place all ingredients into the container. Secure the lid select variable slow speed and then increase to medium. Run for 15-30 sec. Leave slightly chunky but mostly smooth.

Makes about 2 cups

Keeping reading to the end of this post for the Health Benefits!

Enjoy!

Avocado Shake Recipe

This is popular in Brazil and other warm climate countries.

As avocados are a fruit and not a vegetable, this combination makes perfect sense. The flavor is subtle and very addictive! The recipe is lightened up for less calories. It is so good! Give it a try and see what you think. (Definitely not a guacamole taste.)

Yields: 2 servings
Prep time: 5 min

Ingredients:

1 rip avocado, peeled and pitted*
2 cups ice (16 to 20 ice cubes)
1/2 cup< fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1/2 to 1 cup cold non-fat milk**

* The best avocados to use are those that gently yield to pressure and are free from dark blotches inside the fruit.

** Depending on how large the avocado is and how thick you want your shake.

Preparation:

Scoop the avocado flesh into a blender. Add the ice cubes, condensed milk, the least amount of non-fat milk; puree until completely smooth. Taste and add additional milk if a thinner consistency is desired. NOTE: I like to use the maximum amount of milk.

Pour into two (2) tall glasses and enjoy!

Makes 2 servings.

I  Love the ice cream version: 

1/2 large Avocado (take off outer shell and pit)

1 ½ Cups Low fat Ice Cream

1/2 cup of sugar

½ cup milk 

Blend together on high until smooth

Makes 2 servings

Recipe source: Whatscooking America.net

About Avocados

Many people dismiss the health benefits of avocado simply due to its high calorie count. With 322 calories per avocado it is quite high in calories, but that’s not the entire story. Avocados have 54% of your recommended daily value of fiber, which gives this fruit much of its fat burning abilities.

Sometimes called the alphabet fruit because just one avocado provides your body with vitamins A, C, E, K and B6 so you can be sure you’re getting plenty of body nourishments with each bite. Other vitamins found in relatively large quantities in an avocado include riboflavin, niacin, foliate and pantothenic acid.

When you’re looking for avocado nutrition facts, pay close attention to potassium because one avocado has 975 mg.

It’s important to note that the outer dark green skin of the avocado is inedible, as is the huge pit in the center. Halve an avocado and remove the seed prior to eating. Slice & scoop or simply scoop out the yummy green center!

Health Benefits of Avocados

The foliate contained in avocados is mostly responsible for reducing the risk of heart disease, especially compared to people who have a diet low in foliate. The vitamin E in an avocado has also been linked to a healthy heart, something needed to keep you successfully burning fat all day long.

Another health benefit of avocado is that it is extremely helpful in preventing both rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. The many different antioxidants found in avocados help reduce inflammation, a major concern for sufferers of either type of arthritis. Avocado nutrients responsible for this health benefit include vitamins C & E as well as manganese.

Perhaps the biggest health benefit of avocados is that by adding avocado to certain foods, you can improve your absorption of nutrients. This means that when you combine other fat burning foods with avocado, you can improve your nutrient absorption up to 400%!

Avocados provide many general health benefits, in addition to its fat burning benefits due to its vitamin E and glutathione, which protects you against tons of diseases including several forms of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and cholesterol.

Avocados also help reduce the signs of aging, regulate blood sugar and promote eye health.

Health Benefits Source: http://www.fatburningfurnace.com/blog/avocado-nutrition-facts

Just a reminder about all the fun we will be having next week! FREE Games, FREE Prizes, FREE Bounce House fun for kids, FREE Basketball shoot.

Come and enjoy the DBoys BBQ and Grill. Great food you won't to miss. Also get a chance to Dunk the Doc! Dunking tank with none other than Dr. Jolley himself waiting to be dunked! It's the place to be After the Parade and Before the Rodeo!

Have you wondered if your child is embarrassed by her smile?

Children with crooked teeth often get bullied or teased for their appearance.  They appear less intelligent, less confident.  Have you ever seen anyone smile with their hand over their mouth?



Does that show confidence? Crooked teeth do not just go away on their own.  How do you think an unattractive smile will affect his/her opportunities for employment or marriage?

As a member of the International Association for Orthodontics, Dr. Chris Jolley has studied hours and hours of orthodontic continuing education over the past 20 years.  He has treated numerous children and adults with crooked teeth just like your child’s. 

Dr. Jolley can help your child achieve the winning smile he/she deserves. He really cares that your child gets the beautiful, confident smile that he/she can enjoy for the rest of his/her life.

Call our office for a free consultation 801-796-0344