Raw Milk Article in Harper's Magazine

Check the article on raw milk here.

Read some of my other posts on milk here and here.

At the present moment, I buy a quart of raw milk and a half gallon of non-homogenized milk a week. I would only buy raw milk but it is quite expensive. I try to save it for Mikey but sometimes I just can't resist a glass.

Soy

Two-thirds of America's soy is genetically engineered (scary!). Also, like dairy, soy contains a protein enzyme (trypsin) that prevents it and other nutrients from being properly digested. It is because of this enzyme that some people have a hard time with dairy products. I was shocked to learn that soy had the same enzyme. I thought people with lactose intolerance drank soy milk. Is that not true? Some types of soy are easier to digest like cooked tofu and soy sauce. Mikey has always showed signs of lactose intolerance, and so I was giving him soy milk for awhile, even soy formula. Without realizing it, I was just exchanging one problematic drink for another. Now, I give him rice milk instead of soy milk. He still drinks some nonhomogenized cow's milk and raw milk just not a ton. To learn more about homogenized milk versus nonhomogenized, visit the Straus Family Creamery Web site. Thank goodness, Mikey is adaptable and likes to try new things!

Frozen Bananas

When the bananas in the fruit bowl go past their prime, I don't compost them. I peel them, cut them, and stick them in the freezer on a piece of parchment paper. I usually use them that day or the next. If storing in the freezer for a longer period of time, I stick them in an air tight bag or container. Frozen bananas are fabulous in smoothies. With frozen bananas, smoothies turn out frothy and cold. Yum!

Non-Homogenized Milk

Every week I buy a half gallon of raw milk, rice milk, and a quart of non-homogenized milk. To me, non-homogenized means less processed.

From this site comparing homogenized milk with non-homogenized milk:
When milk is homogenized, it passes through a fine filter at pressures equal to 4,000 pounds per square inch, and in so doing, the fat globules (liposomes) are made smaller (micronized) by a factor of ten times or more. These fat molecules become evenly dispersed within the liquid milk.

Milk fat naturally comes to the top of a carton of milk. Homogenization breaks it up so we don't have the inconvenience of scooping out the milk fat. I like to buy products that have been tampered with the least. I don't buy nonfat milk, lowfat milk or milk with added vitamins. I just try to find milk that resembles the original product, cow's milk. Raw milk is the best, but I also drink non-homogenized milk. Non-homogenized milk is second best to raw milk because it's less processed than homogenized milk. I always buy whole milk because that's where I am going to get the benefits of drinking milk in the first place. I am not going to gain weight from drinking a couple cups of whole milk during the day; I am going to get fat from eating processed food.

Even though there isn't any harm in eating the fat in non-homogenized milk, I prefer to filter it using a colander. I pour out all of the milk through a colander and into a bowl. Then, I wash out the milk carton and pour the milk back into the container using the funnel that you see in the picture. Now, the fat pieces won't fall off into my granola.

Here's another post by me that focuses on milk.
Here's an article in Harper's magazine about raw milk.

Lemon and Honey Tea

Instead of refined white sugar in my tea, I use fresh lemon juice and honey instead. Lemon is high in Vitamin C and is full of phytochemicals, which help boost the immune system. Honey also helps the immune system. The sweet and sour taste of this combination sends my mind off to spring and blooming bulbs in the garden.

I add lemon and honey in my black and chamomile teas. I am sure that it would go well in any tea.

1 cup boiled water
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 tea bag or loose tea equivalent

We gave Mikey plain Chamomile tea when he was an infant. Kids could definitely drink this tea cold with the lemon and honey.

Raw Milk and Cheese: I switched

Last week I purchased my first raw cheese. Two weeks ago I bought my first quart of raw milk. Buying these two products was a huge jump for me. I have to admit I was skeptical and thought raw milk and cheese would taste weird. But, after trying it out I like the taste of raw dairy better.

From what I've read, us humans have been drinking raw milk for thousands of years and only pasteurized and homogenized milk since the 1920s. Milk production was getting dirty around that time and so instead of cleaning up the farms the campaign for pasteurized milk began. The raw milk farms now are small and clean farms and the risk of disease from raw milk is less than from "big farm" pasteurized milk. Mark McAfee, founder of Organic Pastures Dairy says, "The typical conventional milk tank had either salmonella or E. coli O157:H7 detected about 30 percent of the time. In comparison, Organic Pastures has never had one pathogen – ever." I realize this guy is the founder of a raw milk company so please read more about raw milk here and here.

I want those enzymes, Vitamins C, B12 and B6, milk proteins, beneficial bacteria that pasteurization strips away. And, who cares if there's a little butterfat at the top of the milk. Homogenization's only purpose is cosmetic. It breaks down butterfat so it doesn't come to the top.

It was only a few months ago that I made the switch to whole milk. After that I switched to pasteurized but not homogenized milk. Now Mikey and I are drinking raw milk. We still drink pasteurized but not homogenized milk as well. I also use a lot of buttermilk and we are still drinking rice milk. I like to mix things up! I have been reading a lot of not so good things about rice milk lately so it might be on the outs soon. I should also mention that Mikey's pediatrician and my mother do not approve of raw milk. Oh, well!

Read this article in Harper's Magazine about raw milk.