I have recently been subjected to a battery of tests for my back/neck/shoulder pain and headaches that I find myself waking up with. So CT scans, Bone density, bone scans, xrays and blood tests all have been done, and a referral to the pain clinic has been made. Now I know it sounds horrible, and I have been struggling with painful conditions for many years, mostly arthritis and fibromyalgia. When I went vegetarian and then ultimately vegan, the fibromyalgia all but disappeared, I think I've had maybe 3 or 4 days in the past year where my body reminded me what it felt like. The progression of the arthritis is at bay now, and with my weight loss I am not incurring further weight related damage. In fact my doctor told me I am lucky that I lost the weight when I did or I'd be facing a life of major pain and impairment. Thankfully my doctor told me that the only thing that she recommends at this point in time is physiotherapy. :-) The thing that blew my doctor out of the water was my bone density and blood work results. Both were perfect, blood sugar of a healthy 20 year old (I'm 42), bone density that is incredible for my age, and B12, cholesterol, etc all great. I don't supplement my diet with vitamins either. All my intake comes from food and the occasional protein shake (when I feel like one).  

So one of the more radical steps I am taking to resolve my "pain" is to have a bilateral breast reduction in April. I am looking forward to it's benefits of reducing the upper back pain and headaches. I do have to admit though, I am now looking forward to having my boobs back so to speak. The surgeon and I both agree that a "C" cup is great, and natural for me. So a reduction and lift is being done April 19th.  That and I get a minimum of a 2 week break from all chores, cooking included... oh no, what will everyone do now?! Will we starve? LOL. 

So it's a relief that I know why I hurt, and have a plan of action, as I REALLY want to get back into heavier exercise. The other thing that I did is manage to break a rib in my back. Now how on earth did I manage that, esp as I broke it myself? I did something stupid. All those classes when I was providing in home care on how to move things, and pick things up, and put things down, you know, back safety... well I guess I forgot about all of that!! I did a twist lift and swing of my rather heavy reiki table into the trunk of my car, and put enough torsion on my 3rd posterior rib that I broke it... I thought I had just badly pulled a few muscles (which I had done anyway in the process), but here I had broken it. The bone scan picked that one up for me! DOH! Now that explains why it still hurts! Shaking my head! 

Ok so FOOD! That's why you came to this blog entry right? The dinner we had last night was simply amazing. Basic shell pasta with an Italiano Chickpea dish. Vegan sour creme (store bought), my heavy on the garlic hummus, and a store bought veggie dip and crackers. 

Julie's Ginger Beer... it's always dry and it's always hard. I found the method for making it on a youtube video on how to make a lacto ferment SODA! Bhahahahaha Soda???? This is the hard ginger beer of olden days my friends.  And takes so very little to make. 

The funky photo on the left here is the "starter" or "culture" that will ferment the batch. In a mason jar, oh, I didn't tell you, I am going to share how I make this.  

Right.. back to the mason jar, make sure it is clean, no need to sanitize (I think we sanitize too much of our world to be honest) and fill about half way with non-chlorinated or fluoridated water (spring, reverse osmosis, distilled all work well, I use RO personally).  Making the culture is a 5 or 6 day process to get a good active batch. 

Day one, you add 1 cup of water, room temp to the jar, dice up 1 tbsp of ginger, and add 1 tbsp Red Path sugar or other vegan sugar. Try to avoid darker sugars due to their antibacterial properties, you want to feed the bacteria, not kill them off. No No No to using honey for that very reason too (besides it's not vegan) and no I haven't tried maple syrup or agave yet. I will though. 

Day 2 to day 6 add 1 tsp diced ginger and 1 tsp sugar, still well. This concoction loves to get aggitated, so stir it up when you remember, at least twice a day.  I also use a mason jar as it's easy to keep covered but let it breath. Use the mason jar ring and a coffee filter. The ring holds the filter in place. Keeps out dust, and fruit flies which are attracted to anything that is fermenting. 

If you forget to stir it, you might get a very pretty pink mold growing on the ginger that sits at the surface, this is BAD, throw it all away, compost the ginger, and wash and restart. It is a pretty pink though, so if you want to do it just for seeing that as a science experiment, go for it.