LEMON DESSERT & KEFIR

CLEAN EATING & PROBIOTICS!
It’s amazing what good healthy foods & probiotics
can do for our health!
The March issue of prevention magazine arrived yesterday. I enjoy these magazines, but I like to read them & then pass them on to others to read. So last night I eagerly settled down to reading this copy. Usually these types of magazines will affirm what I am already doing and encourage me to keep me on the right track. But this one was actually packed with very beneficial information!

When I got to page 92 and started to read through to page 123, I really got interested in the six stories shared by ladies about extreme healing through clean eating and probiotics.

Actually this is exactly where I am now in working through our health issues. Through research & articles, I have seen the need for good bacteria in our stomach and have been introducing fermented foods to our family. Not long ago in my post I shared how to make kefir and I have been making yogurt for years. We also started taking probiotics a few months ago.

But until now I never realized that Melvin’s gut problems that he has had for years could have something to do with his Parkinson’s’ disease now. We had been told that the lack of dopamine in the brain can be partly to blame for Parkinson’s’. In this article it is mentioned that certain bad bacteria interferes with the way dopamine gets processed in the colon.

One lady also mentioned that there is a huge connection between helpful gut bacteria and our mental health. As well that helpful bacteria in the gut is a necessary building block in producing neurochemicals like serotonin & dopamine. Interesting!

The testimonies of these six people have given me hope that eating fermented foods and taking probiotics can make a big difference to our health and I will continue to create more recipes using fermented foods. That way we can serve & enjoy these kinds of foods more often.

Last night I turned 3 cups of kefir into a dessert that we had for lunch today. I have to say it tasted great and I will use kefir to make other kinds of desserts.

Hope you enjoy this dessert too!

LEMON DESSERT – one 9 by 12 inch pan

3 cups kefir ( or plain yogurt)
2 tablespoons plain gelatin (or 2 envelopes plain gelatin)
½ cup water
1 lemon
½ cup sugar (I used ¼ cup sugar and 4 teaspoon stevia crystal)
½ cup nutriwhip (makes 2 cups whipped)

Dissolve the gelatin in cold water. Microwave until it starts to boil, mix and set aside.
Squeeze the lemon. I got 1/3 cup lemon juice. Blend the kefir, gelatin, lemon & sugar until smooth.
Put this mixture into the fridge until it becomes like egg whites or that is isn’t yet stiff but beginning to gel. Fold in the whipped topping. Pour into a pan lined with a graham wafer or chocolate wafer crust. Sprinkle some crumbs or a little shredded lemon rind over the top. Refrigerate until stiff.

STRAWBERRY TOPPING
Instead of putting crumbs in top of the above dessert, thicken 1 ½ cups of thawed strawberries & juice as follows:

2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons water
1 ½ cups thawed strawberries & juice
1 teaspoon stevia (or 3 teaspoons sugar or 1 tablespoon honey))
Mix cornstarch, water and juice from the strawberries and microwave until thickened. Probably 50 – 60 seconds.
Mix this and then mix with the strawberries & sweetener. When cool, pour over the thickened lemon filling. Refrigerate. This can be topped with whipped cream!