Investment Cooking Newsletter Volume 2 Issue 3

This newsletter is for cooks who are interested in learning how to do investment cooking. Creating healthy home cooked meals in less time using whole foods. The newsletter is filled with articles, delicious recipes, product specials, and more.

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In This Issue:

 In the Kitchen

Invest in Your Health: Kombucha

Recommended Resources

Recipe: Ground Meat Mixture

In the Kitchen:

 What a month! I thought February flew by and now March is already over! We finally got some rain in March after 140 days with no rain. Even here in the desert that broke records. The air is clear and clean and the weather has been beautiful. We’ve enjoyed opening up the house and letting the scent of the orange blossoms fill the air. I just love this time of year.

We’ve been having fun making kombucha with the new SCOBYs we got last month. The kids even love to drink it! My husband really likes it too! We think it tastes kind of like bubbly apple cider. The article below will detail all the benefits of drinking kombucha. Maybe your family would like to start drinking it too!

I’ve also included our recipe for ground beef. One of the easiest ways I’ve found to do investment cooking is to prepare plenty of cooked meats for the freezer. If the meat is already cooked I can pull together a meal in 20 minutes even if the meat is still frozen. There are several suggestions for dishes containing ground beef in the recipe below.

Invest in Your Health: Kombucha

 Most Americans have never heard of kombucha (pronounced kom-BOO-cha) but this beverage has been around for hundreds of years.  Kombucha is a healthy, sparkling beverage that resembles apple cider and is created by adding a SCOBY to a sweetened tea mixture and then allowed to ferment for 5-10 days.  People all over the world report a wide variety of benefits from drinking kombucha from easing their arthritis to ending a round with cancer.

The origins of the culture are somewhat uncertain but it seems to have come from the east. It has been found in Russia, China, Japan, and India. The earliest mention of kombucha that I’ve seen is 220 B.C. from China. Some people refer to a kombucha mushroom but it really isn’t a mushroom at all it is a Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast (a.k.a. SCOBY).

Here is a partial list of benefits people have experienced from drinking kombucha on a regular basis:

• Acts as a gentle laxative, helping avoid constipation. 
• Aids in the relief of arthritis. 
• Cleanses the colon and gall bladder. 
• Rids in healthy digestion 
• Relieves colitis and stomach cramps. 
• Returns gray hair to it's natural color. 
• Helps stop non-infectious diarrhea. 
• Relieves bronchitis and asthma. 
• Clears up Candida yeast infections. 
• Regulates the appetite and reduces fat. 
• Aids with stress and insomnia. 
• Improves eyesight, cataracts and floaters. 
• Relieves headaches including migraines. 
• Put Lupus into remission. 
• Helps reduces the alcoholic's craving for alcohol. 
• Eliminates menopausal hot flashes. 
• Clears acne, psoriasis and other skin problems. 
• Thickens hair and strengthens fingernails. 
• Enhances the sense of smell.

• Reduces Cholesterol
• Aids weight loss
• Aids diabetics (enabling them to reduce their medication)
• Strengthens immune system

Although this list is impressive most articles I have read have stated that they believe that kombucha does not cure what ails you but instead helps your body to repair itself. It fuels your cells with important vitamins, minerals and enzymes that enable your body to fight off the bad stuff. Kombucha also helps your body to detoxify your system preventing toxins from staying in your body.

Making Kombucha is a rather simple task. You make a sugar infused tea. (We use a combination of black and green teas.) Then you add a SCOBY to the tea in a glass jar; cover it with cheese cloth secured with a rubber band. Let it sit for 5-10 days at room temperature without being disturbed. Bottle the kombucha for 5 days. Then enjoy!

(See below for websites with complete instructions.)

You can obtain a Kombucha SCOBY from many different sources. The best way is to find a friend who will share with you. The SCOBYs multiple rather quickly and a regular brewer of kombucha should have extras to share. The Kombucha group on yahoo has several people who will send you a SCOBY for the cost of shipping. There are also several sources from which you can buy a Kombucha SCOBY. See the FAQ website below for those sources.

Kombucha is a wonderful replacement for carbonated beverages. It is bubbly and yet it contains so many wonderful nutrients unlike pop which depletes your body of vital nutrients. I encourage you to look into making kombucha for your family. We certainly enjoy it.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

 How To Make Kombucha Manual: http://users.bestweb.net/~om/kmi/manual.html

 Yahoo Group about Kombucha (This group is also a good source to get your first SCOBY.):  http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/original_kombucha

 Kombucha FAQ: http://w3.trib.com/~kombu/FAQ/

Thank you for reading another issue of the Investment Cooking Newsletter. I hope it has provided you with some great food for thought.

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