Homemade Liver Powder

I struggle with anemia.  Between my Crohn's Disease and having been pregnant and/or nursing for over seven consecutive years, my iron levels can get pretty low.  While pregnant I always experience a dip in my hemoglobin levels in the beginning of the third trimester, where I test around 8.0 (normal range for women is between 12.0-15.5 and slightly lower at 11.0 during pregnancy).  I've also had flare-ups of Crohn's Disease in which my anemia is so bad that they were considering blood transfusions.

Because of this problem, I've had to find ways to deal with my anemia through diet.  Traditional iron supplementation is not a good solution, as most iron supplements can make constipation even worse during pregnancy and are typically made up on non-heme iron that does not absorb well at all.  And if you have a child who is suffering from anemia, supplements can be dangerous because children often overdose on iron.  It really is best to focus on getting your iron through your diet and also making sure you aren't eating foods that leach the iron from your system or inhibit its absorption.

There are two forms of dietary iron - heme and non-heme.  Heme iron comes from animal-based sources that are full of hemoglobin, such as meat and fish.  Non-heme iron comes from plant-based sources like beans and fortified grains and is not absorbed as well into the body.  In fact, the reason that grains are fortified with things like iron is because the food itself, when improperly prepared, can actually leach iron from your body.

Besides avoiding grains and improperly prepared beans and legumes, when I'm dealing with anemia I also avoid black tea, which is full of tannins that decrease iron absorption (lighter teas, like white and green do not seem to have the same effect).  I also make sure not to eat any dairy or other calcium-rich food with my iron-rich foods.  Just making those small changes to my diet has increased my hemoglobin score four points in one month during pregnancy, without having to take an iron supplement.

I obviously also try to increase my heme iron intake.  During pregnancy, I follow a form of the Brewer Diet and try to eat iron-rich organ meat at least once a week, usually in the form of pastured beef liver.  The problem with this is that there are times during pregnancy where nausea makes stomaching the very potent smell and taste of the liver nearly impossible.  Because of this, it helps to get creative with your liver consumption.  One way to do that is to freeze your liver in small chunks and swallow them whole like a pill throughout the day.  If you're like me and have a strong gag reflex during pregnancy, that may not be the best solution.

Making your own iron pills is easy and a great solution to this problem.  People often use this process after pregnancy to encapsulate their placenta - dehydrate the meat, grind it down into a powder, and fill your empty gelatin capsules.

Here is how I did it with pastured beef liver (remember to only use pastured beef liver that is from a reputable source).  First, I cut the liver into thin strips, placed it on a cookie sheet, and baked it in the oven on the lowest setting possible (170) for approximately ten hours.  You do NOT want to put the iron in your dehydrator inside of the house, because the smell will be horrible and will take a really long time to air out.  Having it in the oven is also pretty noxious, but not nearly as bad as it would be in the dehydrator.  Within 24 hours the smell was gone in my kitchen when I dried it out in the oven.

Once your liver is dry, put it in the food processor until it is ground into a fine powder:

Next, take empty gelatin capsules and fill them with the powder.  For mine, I used these:

I was making these for my six-year-old son, who has a hard time with swallowing bigger pills.  If you're making these for an adult, you may want to use a larger size capsule.  These #3 capsules only hold up to 360 mg of the powder, while the 00 size can hold up to 1092 mg.

To fill them you just dump all of your powder into a bowl, take apart the capsule, scoop the powder into both ends and then put the capsule back together.  So simple!

If you're like me and you battle anemia, you can feel it coming on.  Whenever you're feeling a little run-down and irritable, just pop a handful of the capsules and let the liver do its magic.  Remember to store your pills in the fridge.

You can also skip the encapsulation step and use your powder in other ways - put some in your meatloaf or burger patties for an extra iron punch, or in any other casserole that will hide the liver flavor well.

I add a tablespoon to my smoothies.  1 Tablespoon liver powder, 2 cups of homemade raw yogurt, 1 tablespoon of raw local honey, 1 tablespoon homemade nut butter, some raw spinach, and a cup of frozen fruit - talk about a superfood with all of the nutrients, probiotics, digestive healing, and allergy help!

My kids usually do well with eating cooked liver, but a smoothie is one way to get a picky child to consume it without a fight and to make it feel like a treat!

 
-Jessica

How To Make Homemade Cottage Cheese

Not only does making your own cottage cheese save you money, but look at the number of unnecessary ingredients you eliminate.

Ingredients in store-bought cottage cheese (I used Horizon Organic brand as an example): Organic Pasteurized and Cultured Skim Milk, Organic Milk, Organic Cream, Organic Nonfat Milk, Salt, Tri-Calcium Phosphate, Locust Bean Gum, Carrageenan, Microbial Enzyme (Non-Animal, Rennetless)Live and Active Cultures: L. Acidophilus and B. Bifidus.

Ingredients in homemade raw milk cottage cheese: Milk.

Additives like xanthan gum and locust bean gum have been linked to gastro-intestinal and respiratory problems, while carrageenan is thought to cause ulcers and inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis). If these studies are true, it's a good thing the store-bought cottage cheese contains active cultures (that are added to replace the natural ones killed during pasteurization) to help repair all of the damage it is doing.

How to make cottage cheese from raw milk

The process I use for making cottage cheese from raw milk is very similar to the process for making cream cheese, but instead of starting with yogurt, I simply leave the raw milk out on the counter for several days and allow the curds and whey to separate on their own. Remember, this will only work with raw milk, which contains the beneficial bacteria that is normally killed during the pasteurization process. Pasteurized milk spoils when it is not kept cool.

Here is what my milk looked like after 5 days on my kitchen counter:



Once you can see that your curds and whey have separated, simply strain it using cheesecloth or a dishtowel until you reach the desired consistency. If you strain it longer, you will get cream cheese.



Once you have reached the desired texture, simply salt to taste.



Save the whey to use for lacto-fermenting or to make some ricotta cheese.

How to make cottage cheese from pasteurized milk

I have never actually tried the following methods, but I was given the recipes by one of Adam's patients, who says she has the best luck with recipe 2. You would not want to try recipe 1 with raw milk, because the heat would kill all of the beneficial bacteria.

Recipe 1:
Boil one gallon of milk. Add 1/2 c. apple cider vinegar and stir. The milk will immediately curdle. After it cools, pour it through a colander and add cream until you reach your desired consistency. Salt to taste.


Recipe 2:
Heat 2 gallons of fresh milk until it is barely lukewarm (do not heat past 110 with raw milk). Add 1/4 tablet rennet (if using junket rennet add 1/2-whole) dissolved in 1/4 c. water. Let it stand until firm and then cut into small curds. Heat the curds until warm (100 - 106) for 5 minutes and be careful not to let them mat together. Drain. Rinse with cold water. Salt to taste and add a little fresh milk or cream.

-Jessica

How To Make Homemade Cream Cheese and Whey

Place a strainer over a bowl and lay a piece of cheesecloth or a clean dishtowel over the strainer. Take your homemade yogurt and pour it into the cheesecloth.



Cover the yogurt and after a few hours, tie the cloth to a spoon and hang over a glass container so you can see when it is done dripping.



When it is done dripping (it took mine 9-10 hours) you have cream cheese and whey. I strained approximately 2 cups of yogurt and got 1 1/4 cups of whey and about four ounces of cream cheese.





The cream cheese will last for one month in your fridge and the whey has a shelf life of six months refrigerated. I had my cream cheese with some jelly on toast for breakfast and it tasted different than store-bought cream cheese - slightly more sour - but it was still delicious.

Facts about whey:

Ever wonder what the gelatinous goo on the top of your yogurt is? Well, that is whey. Don't throw it down the sink - make sure to mix it back in with your yogurt, because it is really good for you.

Whey is a very high source of natural food sodium, which keeps your joints healthy and your ligaments elastic. It is also high in vitamin B12 and many minerals, such as magnesium, potassium, zinc, calcium and phosphorus.

Whey is also great for digestion because of the probiotics. Add one tablespoon to your water and drink three times per day.

If you add homemade whey to your jars of fruits and vegetables it provides lactobacilli, preventing the growth of harmful bacteria and increasing the shelf life.

Whey is a complete protein, containing all of your amino acids, which is why it has become increasingly popular among bodybuilders as a protein powder. To get one tablespoon of dried whey protein powder you would need 2 quarts of regular liquid whey.

Whey can be made into ricotta cheese by heating it, allowing it to ferment, and separating the curds.

-Jessica

Sources:

Fallon, Sally. Nourishing traditions the cookbook that challenges politically correct nutrition and the diet dictocrats. Washington, DC: NewTrends Pub., 1999.

Jensen, Bernard. Food healing for man. Escondido, CA: B. Jensen, 1983.

"How to Make Ricotta Cheese: 9 steps (with pictures) - wikiHow." WikiHow - The How-to Manual That You Can Edit. 07 July 2009 .

How To Make Homemade Yogurt

Heat one quart of milk on the stove top. For raw milk - do not heat past 110 degrees or you will kill the active cultures.



Once the milk is heated add 4 tablespoons of yogurt with live cultures or a yogurt starter package. We used plain yogurt that was pasteurized (do not use ultra-pasteurized). For future yogurt batches you can use the yogurt you have already made.



Mix the yogurt and milk well and pour into a glass container.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees and turn off as soon as it reaches the temperature. Wrap your yogurt container in a towel and place on a cookie sheet in the oven for at least 8 hours. You may need to preheat the oven a few times during that time to keep the oven warm.



Refrigerate overnight before eating. Add fruit, maple syrup or honey to sweeten and enjoy!



It can also be made in a thermos or crockpot:

• Fill the thermos with boiling water until it gets hot. Pour out the water and fill with milk/yogurt mixture and let it sit for 8 hours.
• Here is a crockpot recipe.