sundays and sour milk

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cup of tea, food, health, healthy option, healthy-living, hormones, milk, milk in tea, oestrogen, progesteron, psychology, tea

I love a  good strong cup of tea in the mornings, black tea with a drop of milk. But since I don’t really drink any milk otherwise, from time to time the milk turns on me and I am left with cheesy milk floating in a ruined cup of tea.

This particularly annoys me when it happens on a Sunday morning, just when I want to sit down for a leisurely breakfast. Today was one of those days and instead of a perfect cup of brew I was left to trow out my tea and make a new, milkless cup, which I’ll drink – but it’s not a perfect start to the day.

So as I sipped my tea I was reminded about a study I read a while ago. It was research done on the hormones present in milk and the effects this potentially have on the drinkers health.

Cows are pregnant, like humans, for about nine months and during this pregnancy the levels of the steroid hormones oestrogen and progesteron rise considerably. Research shows that the levels particularity of oestrogens in a late pregnant cow can be 30 times higher than normal.

Now this may in itself not really be an issue, but since modern day farmers milk their cows up to seven months during pregnancy the levels of oestrogens and progesterons can soar in the milk we drink.

The problem with this is, that this could potentially lead to reproductive problems in men and even cause both prostate and breast cancer. Now this doesn’t mean that drinking milk in itself is bad, just that the levels of hormones can influence the way our body works.

This may lead people to eliminate milk and other dairy products from their daily diet which really isn’t desirable as milk does contain high levels of calcium and vitamin D, important  to us all. However the studies have shown that the hormone levels in skimmed or reduced fat milk are much lower and even the levels in goat’s milk are significantly smaller, so maybe they could be an alternative choice.

But as I sipped my milkless tea I couldn’t help but feel a  little bit cheated, a drop of milk, skimmed or not, would have made it a perfect start to the day.

 

Article in Psychology Today: Got Milk, Got unwanted hormones

attempting almond milk

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almond milk, breakfast, cooking, food, ground almonds, health, healthy-living, milk products, miscellaneous, random

A friend of mine recently went of gluten and most milk products. And when I saw her eyes sparkle and face light up when she talked about how good she felt I decided to give at least the almond milk a go. I had tried the gluten thing in the past and it made no difference what so ever, but almond milk sounded delicious.

Like all good housewives of today I ‘googled’ almond milk and how to make it. So I soaked my ground almonds in water for two days and because the recipe told me I could flavor it I added some vanilla. After about 48 hours I blended the whole lot and then it was done.

Now I have to admit that I wasn’t impress, my porridge didn’t taste great, quite watery and the milk didn’t work in my tea at all. So after a few days of attempting almond milk I switched back to the mundane ones from cows.

However now I am stunned at why so many rave about almond milk, and I was even more perplex when I saw that a liter of almond milk costs  €2.30.  Maybe I didn’t do it right, maybe I got it wrong somehow. So puzzled and willing to give it a second chance I am asking can someone tell me how to do it better?

soup weather

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cooking, food, healthy-living, mental-health, miscellaneous, quotes, random, soup, thoughts, weather

After yesterdays downpour and wet-knicker experience I made myself a pot of hot vegetable soup. As I sat and spooned the steaming hot combo of vegetables and mushrooms into my mouth I watched the rain beat against the window.

As the wind made a plastic bag dance down the street I felt content, the hot soup in my belly making me feel safe and warm while the stormy, wet weather played havoc with the world outside. And even though my soup is not pretty to look at, the mixture of beans, broccoli, carrots and mushrooms all mashed together became an unsightly greeny-brown, it tastes wonderful, the perfect food for a wet and windy day.

The weather has gone from bad to worse today and because I have to brave the blustery storm in a little while I am thankful that my pot of soup is heating up on the stove. A little bowl of comfort food will help to keep me warm and brighten my spirits for the afternoon of teaching.

So while it may not be the perfect weather for a walk, it definitely is the perfect weather for soup, comfort food and healthy all in one. And if a spoon full of sugar is the perfect antidote to anything bitter, a spoonful of soup is the best cure for the wet-weather blues.

And as Ludwig van Beethoven said so kindly:

Only the pure of heart can make a good soup

holiday hibernation

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healthy-living, home, miscellaneous, random, thoughts

With the 2nd of January just begun it is inevitable that I have to come out of my holiday hibernation and face the mundaness of every day life. And while the year may have changed, much still stays the same, like my pile of end of year corrections I need to tackle.

Sadly Santa’s little helpers didn’t come and dip there upturned shoes into red ink and tap dance their way across the pages for me, which means I now need to spend the day with a red pen in hand. But I still have a few days left before my hectic lecturing hours take over my life again, so I will make sure to enjoy some time everyday reading, writing, knitting and just being.

Another thing my holiday hibernation has left behind is that little sluggish feeling of too many German Christmas cookies and not enough exercise. So with my gym bag packed and runners tied I think I will start the day with a little run, maybe swim but definitely steam. Hopefully I will get back into a routine quickly so that when college starts up again I won’t find it to hard to keep going.

And while my eyes are firmly fixed on the days ahead and my mind is filled with all that needs to be done, my heart yearns a little for the days between Christmas Eve and New Years day. A time where I didn’t need to be anywhere, could do what I pleased and while away the hours in front of the fire. But the lure of the holiday hibernation lies in its unique timing and that it only happens once a year.

So with the next holiday hibernation 358 days away I will keep that wonderfully relaxed feeling tucked away inside of me to be remembered when life gets a little mad and time seems to be running out. And maybe, just maybe, if I’m really good this year Santa’s little helpers will do all my corrections for me next Christmas.