I got a gut feeling

Do you often hear people say or ask?

“Go with your gut.”
"I don't know. I just feel it in my gut."

“What does your gut tell you?”

It’s because our guts have a brain too; it’s called the enteric nervous system.

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There is an enormous amount of scientific research showing that there are many chemicals, peptides and hormones in the brain that are also present in the gut, that we have two brains.  AND, during fetal development, the same type of tissue that makes up our central nervous system, also makes up our enteric nervous system!


Our digestive tract contains cells and neurons that allow transmission of signals from the enteric nervous system to the central nervous system (the head-brain).  The vagus nerve is largely responsible for this as it runs from the brain stem directly to the abdomen.   They work together and influence one another!


According to the textbook of gastroenterology (by Furness and Bornstein), scientists have found that our enteric nervous system contains over 100 million neurons, which is more than the amount present in our spinal cords. 

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I don’t know exactly how you count that many neurons, but we get the idea that this topic deserves more attention, right?   And that our digestive tract has far more going on then we have given it credit for, no?

This is how we can feel “butterflies in our stomachs,” feel satiety from a thoroughly enjoyed meal or have a stressful situation make us feel “sick to our stomachs.”  No doubt, our mind and body are beautifully and intricately connected.

The body, especially the digestive tract is pretty darn smart.  And if we listen and tune in, there is much to be learned.  It’s quite easy for us to be out of touch with our bodies… when we need to rest, what we need to eat, how much and when.  I love the way Marc David explains this: “For many of us, eating without awareness is a habit we learned from a culture that has a love affair with speed.”  

He calls this gut-brain a “built in sage.”  There is much wisdom within our bodies; this sage is our own personal, built-in physician that offers individualized care, specific to our body’s needs.  We would be crazy not to consult it.

If we could slow down and tune in, it could change everything.

Here is a great place to start tuning in with your body in regards to your nutritional and metabolic needs. 
  

You up for a challenge?

Go to the grocery store or farmer’s market, to the produce section.  Take a quiet moment first, in the car if you'd like.  Close your eyes.  Breathe, slowly and in control for a few moments, only thinking about your breath.  You should be able to feel your heart beat and respiratory rhythm.  That’s a good place to which you know you’ve calmed your mind enough and are present. 

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Ask your body (to yourself or out loud if you want), 
“What food do you need?  What would be the most nourishing?” 

You can do this in the store too.  Who cares if you look like a crazy lady with her eyes closed holding on to a pink lady apple in the middle of Safeway?  I might not recommend talking to yourself aloud, but do allow yourself time to pause long enough and be drawn to an item or two.  


You may instantly think “avocado” or be drawn to the curious colors of an heirloom tomato or be wooed in by the sweet smell of basil.  

Heirloom tomatoes from Quillisascut Farm

Scan the options and varieties. Touch and smell.  Trust where you are led.  Something may come right away. If it does, awesome. If not, that’s ok too.  You can choose something simply because it’s a pretty color.  The idea is to just start tuning in, to ask your body and then to listen.  This takes training since most of us have spent many years ignoring or being oblivious to our body’s queues.  It may seem like a foreign language at first, but soon you will be speaking in tune with your body.  It's going to feel awesome and empowering!  Soon, you will be in tune and learning to let your gut feeling guide you to better nourishment and enjoyment of your meals.

Take this produce home and eat it with your full attention and enjoyment; savor it.  Check in with your body and ask, “How was that?” And LISTEN. 

Could you do this next time you make a trip to the grocery store?  

Do you already do this?

Are you willing to share how it goes and what you are drawn to? 

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Sauerkrautin' - The Pickled, The Pink and The Skeptical

Pink Juniper Sauer Kraut

Well, it's about time for something "pickled" on Pickled, wouldn't ya say?  So let's go with something vibrant, beautiful and delicious!


Menu: 
Pink Juniper Sauerkraut.


And the chef is the skeptic. Well sort of. I say this because I'm conquering a fear I've had since I was 8 years old.

I’ve fermented tempeh, kefir, pickles, beer, salsa and kombucha but I’ve intentionally avoided sauerkraut for YEARS.  It goes like this: 2^nd grade, at a friend’s house, her mom made me eat a bowl of sauerkraut with hotdogs. I literally remember my gag reflex freaking out and some tears to follow = traumatized.  


Twenty years later, I’m making some baby steps to heal that old wound (now that I'm all grown up).  Plus, I was a super picky kid.  To my delight, I have found many of the foods I despised as a child, I now have come to love.  So, not only do I want to give sauerkraut a second chance, but making sauerkraut is totally fun.  I'm going to rebel a bit from proper recipe format if you don't mind.  Part of the adventure in sauerkrautin' is that you can't really screw it up and you get to break out your MacGuyver skills by resourcefully rigging together containers, jars, whatever you have on hand in your kitchen.  Below is a quick and dirty recipe along with some photos of the process.

But first, why won't I just let this go and throw it in the doghouse (along with my other blacklisted foods like red onions and celery)?  It's because sauerkraut is a living food.  Cultured, pickled, fermented foods are a part of almost every culture and have been a cherished method of preservation and nourishment for hundreds (perhaps thousands) of years.  Fermented foods are packed with flavor and remarkable medicinal qualities, specifically beneficial microorganisms essential for health.

Fermented foods have too much in their favor to be written off so easily.  Here's what I'm talking about:

·        not only are nutrients retained, but new ones are created, like: the B vitamins, essential amino acids and anti-oxidants

·        it’s a powerful raw, digestive aid that can help better digest proteins and fiber from your food

·        it enhances nutrient bioavailability

·        it's a PRObiotic (the Greek word meaning: "for life"), which balances out the damaging and depleting effects that our intestines may be exposed to throughout life, such as:

o       chronic stress

o       chlorine

o       caffeine

o       alcohol

o       tobacco

o       food additives

o       antibiotics/prescription drugs

o       chemotherapy

o       birth control pills

o       nutritional deficiencies

o       exposure to environmental toxins

·        an improper balance of the good bacteria has been linked to chronic disease

·        fermented foods contain anti-carcinogenic enzymes to help our bodies prevent and fight off cancers

·        they are detoxifying

·        this good bacteria helps stimulate the body's natural defenses and help protect us against infections from pathogenic bacteria, yeasts and fungi

The bottom line: One powerful way to build a foundation for a strong immune system, vibrant health and longevity, is to show some love to your intestinal tract and start incorporating fermented/cultured foods into your diet.


A little history: I love food history, don't you?
Typically, ferments are made in the fall when the idea is to preserve the harvest for the winter months (though fermenting can be done year round of course).  This particular method of preservation retains the vitamin C, which can be harder to come by in the winter time.  In the late 1700s, a British sailing crew ingeniously traveled with loads of barrels full of sauerkraut on board and successfully staved off scurvy during their 27-month voyage.


And a fun fact on your intestinal eco-system:
Each person has up to 3 lbs of bacteria living in their large intestines.

What's happening during fermentation?
Fermenting is quite a phenomena.  Food can be preserved for years without refrigeration.  Not only that, the nutrients are preserved, digestibility is enhanced and the flavor profile is amplified to ever increasing deliciousness.


When you ferment vegetables, you are making a lacto-ferrnent, meaning that the sugars and starches in these vegetables convert into lactic acid by the bacteria known as lactobacilli.  Lactic acid preserves the vegetables so they don't spoil AND it promotes the growth of healthy microogranisms in your large intestines.

Here's the quick and dirty way to make homemade sauerkraut:

Gather a mix of half red cabbage and half green cabbage

Slice chiffonade-style...

...until it looks like this...

Add juniper berries or other seasoning of your preference (such as pepper, caraway, fennel, garlic, ginger) 

Combine the crushed juniper berries, cabbage in a bowl with salt and toss (salt keeps it crunchy and from rotting until the lactobacillus bacteria has a couple days to develop; use about 3 tablespoons of salt per 5 lbs of cabbage)

Add it to a ceramic crock, glass jar or a food-grade plastic bucket

Mash, mash, mash... (you can use a potato masher, a wooden masher or your clean fist)

And keep mashing... you may want to recruit some help (meet Dale, my hubby, professional krauter)

Yep, keep on mashing - put some muscle and some love into it

Mash until the salt draws out the water (the brine) from the cabbage and is enough to cover the cabbage       by ~1 inch

Find a plate that fits in your jar and cover to protect the ferment from being exposed to the air, creating an anaerobic environment

Add a weight of sorts (I used a glass jar filled with water) to push the plate down firmly until the brine rises above the cabbage and onto the plate

Throw a towel over your ferment to keep dust and bugs out.  Tuck it away in a cool dark place. Check on it after 24 hours to make sure there is enough liquid.  If not, mix about a cup of water with 2 tablespoons of salt and add it in until the kraut is submerged in the brine.  Press the plate along with the weight down firmly again; cover and let it ferment for 1-3 weeks, more if you like.  Just be sure to peak at it every day or so to make sure the liquid hasn't evaporated out and add more if needed so the kraut is submerged in the liquid.  


The flavor will evolve over time, so it's a good idea to try it each week until you get it the way you like it. Mold and foam may form around the surface. This is completely normal since this part is exposed to air.  Just scoop it off and discard.  I like to make small batches at a time, so I've canned mine and refrigerated it. 

2 weeks later: There you go - pretty, pink juniper sauerkraut!

Sauerkraut is only one of many ways to enjoy living foods that offer this beneficial bacteria.  Make it your aim to have a probiotic food every day since this good intestinal bacteria needs to be replenished often.  Here are a couple ideas to help incorporate the sour, tangy goodness of sauerkraut into your meals.

·        make a smoked salmon reuben with havarti cheese on rye (num num num) 

·        enjoy a couple of tablespoons on the side of any meal (even once a day would make a difference)

·        eat it with a bowl of hotdogs.  I kid.  Unless, of course you're into that, then go for it!

·        actually, it's quite lovely with sausage and apples

What if I want to eat it but I don't want to make it myself?
That's cool too.  Look for it in the cold section of stores and look for live cultures on the label.  Not all sauerkraut or fermented foods still contain their live cultures.  They may have been pasteurized, which kills off that friendly bacteria we are aiming to obtain.  As always, read your labels!

Stay tuned for more adventures in home fermenting and digestive health.

In the meantime, if you get inspired to try some on your own, I recommend the book Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz (listed under Pickled's Picks at the bottom left of this page) or visit his website: www.wildfermentation.com.  He's well known and highly respected as a fermentation revivalist. 

Till then, happy fermenting and be kind to your guts.

Baby-Led Weaning

With this blog title, do you know how tempting it was to tell you I was pregnant for April Fool's Day?  Especially since someone totally got me with that today (I thought I was going to be an aunt of a little Mexican boy named Alberto -- gullible, I know).

I so wanted to pay it forward. But, yeah, we all know how rumors get started.

With that being said, I'm honored and thrilled to have Brittany write a guest post on my blog today.  She is a full-time working mom, the beautiful mother of an incredibly adorable little boy named Henry (how can he not be adorable with a name like that?!) and the writer of a blog called ALL TOGETHER NOW, Inspiration to help busy moms get it together.


She is charming, witty, insanely funny, smart, a gifted writer and above all else, REAL.  I follow several blogs and hers is one I never miss an entry for.

I believe the best knowledge especially with kiddos, comes from experience with your own.  And therefore have the highest respect for moms out there and all the hard work that goes into not only growing a kid, but a lifetime of nurturing and love.  So when mom's speak about their experience, especially FOOD, I'm all ears.  I value the insights and the real details of the day-to-day.

Brittany brings just that.

So thanks for following along and check out her post below on Baby-Led Weaning.
__________________________________________________________________________

Hey Everyone! I'm Brittany, and I write over at a little blog called All Together Now. I'm a new-ish mom to an 8-month old baby boy named Henry, here today to talk to you about - what else?! - food! Big thanks to Shelly for having me! I ♥ Pickled!

Henry had his first taste of food when he was 6 months old. I placed him in my lap at the dining table, and in front of him on the table, next to my plate of home-made Pad Thai, was his very own serving of plain rice noodles and tofu. He dug in with both hands and shoved everything toward, if not necessarily into, his mouth.

Once his own meal had dispersed down his clothes, in my lap, and onto the floor, he started in on my plate - which I quickly pulled out of his reach for safety purposes, due to the salty seasoning and peanut garnish.

I've had a few people look at me like I was nuts, upon sharing this story. No rice cereal? No baby food? What's your deal, crazy lady?

Well, it's called baby-led weaning. The idea is that babies don't need to be spoon-fed - they can feed themselves, and will do so in a relatively healthy and balanced way, when presented with a nutritious assortment of foods.

Vegetables and fruit can be steamed, boiled, and roasted, (or given raw, if soft enough) then cut into fry or baton shapes, for babies to pick up in their fists and enjoy. In later months, as babies' pincer grasps develop, they can pick up smaller pieces of food (such as beans, Cheerios, etc.) and feed themselves that as well. Babies can basically eat whatever Mommy and Daddy are eating - to an extent, as of course it's recommended that salty foods are avoided (no good for those brand-new kidneys,) as well as processed sugary foods, and other small foods such as nuts that can be considered choking hazards.

Speaking of choking hazards, they're discussed in-depth in the book Baby-led Weaning by Gill Rapley, which has been my go-to source. Choking is one of the most-asked after topics when discussing this method of feeding. Babies aren't ready to swallow whole foods - they could choke, couldn't they?

Well...no, not according to author Gill Rapley. She explains that, while it's important to always supervise baby's feedings in case anything goes awry, baby's tongue-thrust reflex - the one that causes him to spit out anything that makes its way into his mouth before he's ready to start swallowing - protects him from choking. Rapley concludes that, as long as baby has placed whatever he's eating into his own mouth, he won't be able to get it past the back of his tongue unless he's prepared to swallow it.

Gagging, on the other hand, is practically a guarantee. Almost all babies will gag as they begin eating new textures and learning how to swallow. Gagging isn't considered to be dangerous and shouldn't be interrupted by slapping baby on the back, or any other interventions. That didn't stop me from panicking while watching Henry experience his first few feedings - but he was always fine once it passed, and went right back to whatever he was eating every time.

Henry enjoys feeding himself some avocado

One way in which I find baby-led weaning to be limiting is that it recommends that parents not spoon-feed at all, citing it as a hassle and a constant "struggle." There were many foods which I suspected Henry would enjoy that he wasn't eating, because they couldn't be picked up by hand. So I tossed the book to the side one day, picked up a 3-pack of baby-sized spoons at the grocery store, and Henry ate (and ate, and ate, and ate) some hummus.

Henry loves hummus so much that he's afflicted with nearly permanent garlic breath. He loves hummus so much that, contrary to what the baby-led weaning book told me to expect (that my child would be offended by strange mush being put into his mouth for him,) he didn't mind spoon-feeding one bit.

So I tried spoon-feeding him a few other things that he was unable to eat by hand. Yogurt? He loves it. Applesauce? Loves. Enchilada casserole? Loves it, jalapeños and all.

So I took it even further. Since my husband and I don't always eat a low-sodium, balanced dinner that we can share with Henry (sometimes you just gotta order a pizza, am I right?), I picked up a box of rice cereal and a few jars of baby food when I was at the store next.

And what do you know...he loves that stuff too! He sits in his booster seat (I quickly learned that it wasn't terribly convenient to feed Henry in my lap) with his mouth wide open like a baby bird, eagerly awaiting every single bite. If we take too long between bites, the kid practically hyperventilates.

I would tell you that the baby-led weaning book is biased in regards to spoon-feeding, but you know what? I credit baby-led weaning for Henry's being so trusting when he is spoon-fed. I think that having fed himself from the start, he learned to trust what was going into his mouth, and knew that he didn't have to eat anything he didn't like. Anytime we offer anything to Henry on a spoon, we always let him look at it, smell it, even touch it if he wants to - before putting it in his mouth.

Recently when I dropped Henry off at his sitter's, she was giving the toddler she watches some dry Cheerios for a snack. Henry starting fussing - he doesn't like when other people eat and he isn't included! The sitter remarked that she wished she could give Henry a snack too, when I pointed out that actually, she could. She put a few Cheerios on the tray for Henry, and he stopped fussing and went to town, and our sitter, with her 14+ years of childcare experience, told me in shock that she had never seen a (then) 7-month-old able to handle feeding himself Cheerios.

I mean, duh - my kid is awesome.

But in all seriousness, I think that Gill Rapley is onto something. We can probably give babies a little more credit for their ability to feed themselves. And hey, if your baby enjoys being spoon-fed, like mine does, I say that's cool, too. After all, as long as he actively enjoys the feeding, it's technically still him leading it, right? Rapley might say no, but it's working quite well for this busy family!

Be sure to check out the book for more information if you're interested in baby-led weaning. You'll want to make sure you have read all the safety information, such as choking hazards and allergens, before starting.