Lunch: Salmon Dill Cream Cheese Roll-ups, Crackers, Celery Sticks, Carrot Dilly Sticks, Kefir, Kvass

That's a really long title, but everything fit onto one small plate.
Coconut Oil: two tablespoons coconut oil taken in raspberry leaf tea
Lunch:

• Smoked Salmon Roll-Ups With Dill Cream Cheese
• Rich, Whole Grain Spelt Crackers (soaked)
• Lacto-fermented Carrot Dilly Sticks and celery sticks
• Strawberry Kefir Soda
• Beet Kvass

Smoked Salmon Roll-Ups with Dill Cream Cheese

serves two

6 tablespoons cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill, or 1 teaspoon dried

salt salt and pepper to taste

4 ounces sliced smoken salmon, preferably wild*

(*I found very reasonably priced wild smoked salmon at Trader Joe's, woohoo!)

1. In a small bowl, mix cream cheese with dill and season with salt and pepper.  Spread mixture over salmon slices and roll up.  Chill well.  Slice into 1/2-inch rounds.  Serve with toothpicks, or on crackers.

Rich, Whole Grain Spelt Crackers

1 cup plain, whole milk yogurt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3 1/2 cups freshly ground whole grain flour (I have used spelt and whole red winter wheat, both with good success)

2 teaspoons sea salt

1. Cream yogurt and butter together. Add flour and salt and stir to combine.

2. Cover with a towel and a plate, find a warm place to soak 12-24 hours (or overnight).

3. After the soaking period, preheat oven to 400 degrees.

4. At this point you can add any herbs, cheeses, or spices to your dough you might like to try. I have only attempted cracked pepper and parmesan cheese, but it was delicious! The possibilities are endless, but the crackers are truly delicious all on their own. Don't feel you need this step, it is optional.

5. Use white flour, sprouted flour, or arrowroot powder (because each of these options have no phytic acid) to roll your dough out very thin. Use a pastry or pizza cutter to cut dough into small squares or rectangles.

6. Place onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. You can put the crackers fairly close to each other, they do not spread. You can prick with a fork, but I have not seen much of a need for it.

7. Bake 8-12 minutes, checking every minute or so after 8 minutes have gone by to make sure they do not overbrown. You know the crackers are done when they are slightly brown on the edges and the middles of the crackers look drier.

8. Remove from baking sheet to cooling racks immediately, but be gentle so they do not break. Enjoy!

Lacto-fermented Dill Carrot Sticks

several carrots, peeled, cut into sticks (to fit into your glass jar)

1 tablespoon whey

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried dill

filtered water

1. Put carrots into a glass canning jar, packed tightly.  Add whey, salt, dill.  Then add water to fill the jar, screw on a lid tightly and leave at room temperature for several days.  It's normal for the water in the jar to get cloudy.  Taste after 5 days and see if you like the flavor, if not, wait a few more days and taste again.

Strawberry Kefir Soda

1 package hydrated kefir grains

1/2 cup organic sugar

1-2 tablespoons molasses

1 pastured egg shell, rinsed clean

1 cup diced fruit

Note: do not use tap water, it will kill your kefir grains; do not use Brita water, it doesn't remove flouride and other toxins that can kill your kefir grains

1. Fill a half gallon glass jar with filtered water.  Now pour a little of the water out into a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Turn off heat and add sugar to boiling water, stirring until sugar dissolves, and then pour sugar-water back into the jar to fill it up again.  

2. Add molasses to the jar of water and stir with a wooden spoon to mix in.  Gently add water kefir grains and egg shell.

3. Cover with a dish towel or cheesecloth to keep out dust and bugs and so the kefir can breathe.

4.  Let sit on the counter for 1-2 days.  Then, pour contents through a strainer into a new jar.  Discard egg shell.  Reuse kefir grains for your next batch.

5.  With the strained kefir in the new jar, you can now choose a fruit to flavor the kefir.  I like using strawberries.  Add diced fruit to kefir jar, cover again, and let sit at room temperature for 1 more day.

6.  Remove cover and replace with a screw top lid.  Leave at room temperature for a couple of hours to build up fizziness.  Place in refrigerator to stop the fermentation process.

Beet Kvass

2-4 beets, peeled, and cut in a large dice

1/4 cup whey

1 tablespoon sea salt

1. Place beets into a half gallon glass jar.  They should fill the jar about 1/3 of the way up.  Add whey and salt.  Add water to fill the jar.  

2.  Cover with a cloth to keep bugs and dust out, leave at room temperature for 2 days.  

3.  Using a strainer, remove diced beets from kvass.  Then using a screw top lid, transfer to the refrigerator to stop the fermentation process.