I'm back with some Experiments - Water Kefir + GF Sourdough Starter + Bananas = Perfection

Hey Folks,
I'm finally back with a recipe. I've actually been cooking, baking and fermenting up a storm. But I'm kinda out of the habit of documenting my kitchen adventures so many of my experiments have been lost, never documented, so never to be repeated. In some cases that's not a bad thing - there have been some epic fails as I learn how to make and use GF Sourdough starter. But there have been some real winners...this one I HAD to share.

This recipe is going to call for my two new loves - gluten-free sourdough starter and water kefir. I'm sure I'll lose some of you there (no worries - I wasn't familiar with either a few months ago). Unfortunately I haven't documented how I've made either of these. Yet. Sorry - that will have to be a future post but there is LOTS of good information out there so just do a goggle search and start experimenting yourself. That's what I did.

For those of you that already have a batch of GF sour dough starter going (or regular flour if you don't much care about being gluten free) this is great recipe to use up some of that extra starter.

All three of my kids LOVED this bread. I can't have banana's - sigh - but I was quite giddy about how much this bread rose and the texture. Weird things make me happy. After almost 3 years of GF baking this is by far the fluffiest bread I have made.

I did have a cheat. To make sure it was edible. It was. So then I had another cheat. I'm going to pay for that.

Just for the record, I'm introducing fermented foods into our diets to try to increase my intake of food based probiotics (my IBS was on a rampage this winter even with a probiotic supplement) and improve the digestibility of some foods. I've even re-introduced some gluten free grains since the fermentation process helps pre-digest them and so far, so good.

I'm experimenting with all kinds of things these days - FODMAPS diet, water kefir, raw potato starch, L-Glutamine, sour dough, fermented vegetables - so watch for some new recipes and updates on how much better I feel.............or how I overdid it and really buggered up my system. LOL. Hopefully its the former not the latter! Happy baking!

Vegan GF Sourdough Banana Bread

by MamaChanty

Prep Time: Varies

Cook Time: 1 hour

Keywords: bake dessert bread breakfast snack vegan gluten-free gluten-free flour oats banana sour dough starter

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Ingredients (1 Loaf)

• 1 cup Gluten Free Sourdough starter
• 1/2 cup gluten free flour blend
• 1/2 cup gluten free quick oats
• 3 banana's mashed
• 1/3 cup full fat coconut milk
• 2 Tbsp grapeseed oil
• 1/3 cup water kefir
• 6 Tbsp organic coconut sugar or sweetener of choice
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• dash of fine sea salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 chia egg (4 Tbsp warm water with 1 Tbsp ground chia seeds)
• Vegan chocolate chips (optional, amount as per preference - I did about 1/4 cup)

Instructions

I just threw all the ingredients, with the exception of the chia egg and baking soda, into a mixing bowl. I used my hand mixer to mix until fully combined.

I then let it sit on the counter (covered with a tea towel) for about 6 - 8 hours. The batter rose significantly during that time.

I then preheated the oven to 350 degrees.

Immediately prior to putting it in the oven I made my chia egg and combined it with the baking soda.

I added the chia/baking soda mixture to the batter and folded it in taking care not to over-mix it.

I then put it in a greased loaf pan and baked it in the over for 1 hour.

Wait until completely cooled before attempting to slice. That's a hard wait but worth it. Enjoy!

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Getting into the Bubbly...............

Some of my "bubbly" experiments.
 Some water kefir and lacto-fermented vegetables.
Going to need more counter space.......

Nope. Not what you think. 

I still don't drink. Sorry Parkland ladies. Fun Bobby Chanty is still in hibernation.

But I have been making my own bubbly...........WATER KEFIR.

Completely addicted. In love. Enamored. 

Haven't had this much fun in the kitchen since I discovered Chia seeds.  Look it how it bubbles........I made that.........so fun!!!

Most of you don't know what the hell I'm talking about. Don't feel bad - my spell check doesn't even recognize the word. Well, here is the official definition:

1. Water Kefir (pronounced keh-FEER) is not as well known as milk kefir. But it is the same concept - symbiotic grains of bacteria and yeast that ferment a specific liquid - in this case, a sugar-water-fruit liquid. It produces a mild, light and refreshing, slightly carbonated beverage.

Basically, you feed sugar water to "water kefir grains" and it turns it into a slightly sweet, mildly carbonated beverage that is FULL OF PRO-BIOTICS. You drain off the fermented kefir water after 24 - 48 hours (drink it or use it for a second ferment), add more sugar water to the grains and you just keep going. You can flavor/feed it with different fruits, dried fruits, extracts, etc. Dozens of flavor combinations. 

I got me some water kefir grains from a trusted local source. Kijiji, of course. She is actually a legit business person with a pretty robust website so it's all good. Hubby was pretty skeptical. I was pretty desperate to get my hands on some.

Why the desperation you ask? 

Well, two things really:

1) I had been experiencing a pretty bad IBS-c flare up over the winter. Unfortunately, it escalated over the Easter weekend into a full fledged fibromyalgia attack/food flu/severe sickness. Call it what you like. It was bad enough that I had been dealing with severe digestive upset but then I got slammed with full body aches and pains, severe brain fog and extreme fatigue. No - it wasn't the flu. And it happened more than once this winter. Frankly it scared the shit out of me. I know digestive issues are just the first step down the slippery slope to auto-immune disease........and;

2) I got some blood work back for all three of my rug rats. All three have "nutritional deficiencies". Various states of low iron and B12, among some other unusual things. I know their guts aren't working properly. We also went through some dietary changes with our 2 year old over the winter after he started behaving like a raging lunatic most of the time. Plus he was having weird facial rashes. We stopped feeding him eggs and, go figure, he's really only a lunatic some of the time. But I suspect the fact that we were feeding him a diet of almost exclusively eggs (dumb in hindsight - I know) has done some serious damage to his system. 

Needless to say, I believe that we all need some gut healing to take place.  Things just aren't quite working properly for any of us - even on a gluten (grain for me) and dairy free diet. A low sugar diet made up primarily of whole foods. 

How can I be working this hard at it and still not seeing results? Grrrr. Frustrating.

Had a small pity party and then got serious about figuring this shit (no pun intended) out.  

I took out a small truckload of books from the library (only a couple shown - Thank you City of Winnipeg), spent many, many (many) hours scouring the internet and am in the process of coming up with a new game plan.  A plan that includes lots of cultured/fermented foods full of natural probiotics.  A game plan that requires me to learn how to make lots of cultured/fermented foods full of natural probiotics. 

It is so easy to order (hold) books from the library. They also have lots of digital version available if that's your thing. What a great way to do some research!

Bring. It. On. I'm jazzed. Pumped. Can't wait to tackle this next kitchen adventure. Fuck you IBS. You're not going to win. Sorry - I rarely swear but I'm fired up.

So expect to see some new recipes and experiments coming your way!

And for the record. I'm currently trying the FODMAP diet that is specifically for IBS sufferers. It calmed my stomach down pretty much immediately (about 2 days after starting it). Just throwing out there if someone else is confused on what to do next. I don't think it's a long-term solution but its giving me the relief I need to get feeling good enough to tackle this next chapter of my gut healing journey.

Stay tuned.