CHEESECAKES

I wish I had gotten pictures of the Cheesecake Giveaway at the Lake Eden arts festival.

People get really excited about a sign that says "FREE CHEESECAKE"
~All of a sudden I had a good 40-yard line. I had 5 cakes to slice up into small samples 15 minutes and 80 pieces later I had to turn people away.

So far all taste buds seem to be delighting. 

9 Surprising Benefits Of Goat Milk

from the website https://www.organicfacts.net


Some of the health benefits of goat milk include its ability to reduce inflammation, optimize digestion, improve bioavailability of nutrients, strengthen bones, boost heart health, increase immunity, increase your metabolism, prevent toxins from accumulating in the body, protect against weight loss, and benefit the overall environment.

Goat Milk

As the name likely implies for any reader, goat milk is milk derived from goat’s, rather than the more common source of milk in most countries, cows. While goat milk may be harder to acquire in terms of availability and access in some parts of the world, the impressive health benefits of goat milk and the recent research into its positive effects on the human body have made it a very popular choice in recent years. Although goats only produce about 2% of the global milk supply, it is cheaper to process, due to it not requiring homogenization (the small fat molecules do not separate and remain suspended in the cream).Certain studies have recommended that goat milk not be given to very young children, due to their unique nutritional needs in their developmental stages, but as we age, the chemical composition and impact of goat milk on our body is actually preferable to the effects of cow milk. For example, people who suffer from lactose intolerance can digest goat milk far better than cow milk due to its much higher levels of beneficial fatty acids (twice that of cow milk). Goat milk is commonly processed into cheeses, butter, ice cream, and yogurts, many of which are considered delicacies due to their high buttermilk content and rich consistency.
While the prevalence of cow milk is not likely to fade in the near future, it is important to understand that there are other options out there if you’re interested in increasing your overall health. This is not meant to say that cow milk is “bad” for you, but if you’re willing to put in a bit of extra effort to find goat milk, you might be surprised at the beneficial effects you experience. Now, let’s take a closer look at some of the health benefits of goat milk.

Health Benefits Of Goat Milk

Build Strong Bones: This is one of the most common characteristics of all forms of milk, and the main reason why we tell our children that milk is so important. Milk of all varieties is rich in calcium, and goat milk is no exception. In addition, goat milk gives you comparable amounts of calcium as cow milk without so many of the side effects, ensuring that our calcium deposits stay rich and stable, and our bones don’t experience bone mineral density loss as we age, thereby helping to prevent osteoporosis.

Anti-Inflammatory Properties: One reason why people tend to love goat milk is that they are able to enjoy it without the common inflammation and upset stomachs that cow milk so often causes. This is due to the unique enzymatic make-up of goat milk that soothes inflammation in the gut. Research is ongoing to see whether these anti-inflammatory properties extend to other areas of the body, but one thing is for certain, it’s definitely better for your stomach!

Nutrient Uptake Efficiency: One of the main benefits of goat milk is that the chemical composition is far closer to human milk than cow milk. Essentially, humans are designed to be breast-fed, just like goats and cows, but human milk is similar to goat milk, so our bodies are able to get more nutrients out of the milk as it moves through our system and it causes less stress on our digestive processes.

Metabolism Booster: Goat milk is far more nutrient-dense than cow milk, meaning that you don’t need as much of it to receive the same (or better) nutrient intake. A single cup provides nearly 40% of our daily calcium requirements, 20% of our vitamin B intake, as well as significant amounts of potassium and phosphorous. Furthermore, studies have shown that goat milk can help increase the uptake of iron and copper in our digestive tract, which is essential for people who struggle with anemia and other nutrient deficiencies.

Heart Health: There are nearly twice as many beneficial fatty acids in goat milk as can be found in cow milk, which means that our cholesterol balance can be helped significantly by goat milk. By balancing our essential fatty acids in the body, we can prevent atherosclerosis, strokes, heart attacks, and other coronary complications. The high potassium levels in goat milk also help to reduce blood pressure, as potassium is a vasodilator that relaxes blood vessels and relieves tension on the cardiovascular system.

Immunity Booster: Trace amounts of selenium are found in cow milk, but there are also significant amounts in goat milk. This somewhat rare mineral is a key component in immune system functionality, making us better able to protect ourselves from illness and fend off infections.

Growth and Development: Goat milk is a very rich source of protein, which is an essential part of growth and development, as proteins are the building blocks of cells, tissue, muscle, and bone. By ensuring a steady stream of protein, we protect our metabolic processes and stimulate growth and overall good health.

Weight Loss Efforts: Although goat milk has more fatty acids than cow milk, it actually has less “bad” fats, meaning that it can help people who want to lose weight, without compromising their nutritional needs.

Environmental Protection: Due to the digestive processes of cows, they tend to suffer from extreme flatulence, which comes out in the form of methane. This gas is highly corrosive to the atmosphere and the ozone layer; environmental scholars actually suggest that the millions of cows raised for beef and milk are a major player in ozone degradation and global warming. By supporting goat milk production, we can protect future generations and ourselves from the dangerous effects of climate change!

A Final Word of Warning: Due to the different nutrient composition of goat milk from cow milk, it is not recommended to immediately give your children goat milk once they stop breast or bottle-feeding. As they get older, the nutrient composition of goat milk becomes more appropriate, but for proper development, it is wise to begin with cow milk.

Goat Milk Kefir and it's Benefits

One of the products I am most interested in making with our supply of Goat Milk is Kefir 

(I keep seeing Maple syrup flavored Kefir)

Kefir is a super food, with many benefits to your health. 

The following Article comes from 
http://www.everything-goat-milk.com

Health Benefits of Kefir

The health benefits of kefir as a food are anything but trivial.

Food and nutrition, as well as medical, research abounds with scientific studies that have shown the effectiveness of kefir for various health and medical conditions.

While Eastern medical traditions have long promoted the "food as medicine" premise, Western societies are only now starting to embrace this philosophy.

Westerners, with easy, affordable access to taste-pleasing foods that are high in fat, sugar and refined carbohydrates, have been on an "eat now, pay later" merry-go-round that encourages unhealthy diets, followed by disease and expensive drug- or sugary-based medical treatment.

Thankfully, though, this trend is slowly, but surely changing, and kefir deserves nothing less than superstar status in this emerging emphasis on culturing health through diet. 

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Kefir as a Probiotic

First, we'll examine the benefits of kefir due to its standing as a probiotic. Probiotics are foods that contain beneficial microorganisms, primarily bacteria, that promote the health of the host animal.

The most popular probiotic currently, due to massive marketing campaigns, as well as taste appeal, is probably yogurt. However, other cultured products like buttermilk and cheeses also count as probiotics.

What's the significance of probiotics to health? Well, it all begins in the digestive system.


The digestive system plays a vital role in the health of every cell in the body. Nourishment and hydration, as well as toxins and disease-causing agents, can all enter our bodies through ingestion.

A healthy digestive system can efficiently extract and distribute nutrients from food, eliminate toxins and also prevent pathogens from multiplying and causing systemic illness.

An important part in this system is a plentiful supply of "good" bacteria in the intestinal tract. According to an article in Yoga Journal, the gut is the seat of the body's immune system.

An extensive colonization of beneficial bacteria here is credited with a multitude of benefits, including protection from infection, and prevention of gastrointestinal problems, such as constipation and bowel inflammation, as well as other conditions like asthma and allergies.

A low count of good bacteria, on the other hand, can open the door to a variety of health issues, including overactive immune system responses and a variety of digestive problems.

A deficiency in good bacteria can occur for several reasons. Diet plays a factor, in that "bad" bacteria feed readily on refined carbohydrates, in which the typical Western diet is high, while "good" bacteria need soluble fiber to thrive.

Antibiotics, of course, are commonly known to kill the good intestinal bacteria, along with the disease-causing bacteria.

However, low levels of antibiotics in meat and drinking water can be enough to damage the colonization efforts of good bacteria and keep them from thriving.

Without good bacteria to act as a defense, bad bacteria increase and begin to take their toll on health.

The addition of probiotics, either in supplement form, or in food products, can help restore the proper balance of good bacteria.

The article, Probiotics Could Help Stress-Induced Gut Problems, reports a study that indicates probiotics are effective in managing intestinal dysfunction that is induced by stress. The study reported that probiotics reduced the adherence of harmful bacteria to the gut wall, and also reduced migration of bacteria into the lymph system.

Regarding the health benefits of kefir, specifically, an article in Midwifery Today states:

Of all available sources of probiotics, kefir may be one of the most useful.

Kefir is cultured at room temperature, rather than with heat, like yogurt. This lower temperature allows more kinds of bacteria to survive, as heat is detrimental to microorganisms (that is why our bodies use fever to combat infections).

Kefir contains over a dozen different kinds of microbes--a greater variety than any other probiotic food. These include yeasts, lactobacilli, lactococci, and even vinegar bacteria. Each of the microbes contributes differently to the health of the host.

Kefir as a probiotic has been used effectively to treat and prevent urogenital infections in pregnant women, and Lactobacillus in kefir has been shown to actually kill disease-causing bacteria in the large intestine.

Furthermore, kefir has been shown to contain microorganisms that can colonize the intestines, providing ongoing benefits, unlike those of other probiotics, which only provide a one-time benefit, and must be replenished.

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More Health Benefits of Kefir

It seems, however, that the benefits of kefir extend beyond just the function of colonizing good bacteria to keep the bad bacteria in check.

In contrast to yogurt, kefir does not contain merely a handful of bacteria that ferment the milk or other culturing liquid. Kefir grains are complex colonies of many strains of bacteria and yeast.

Kefir: A Symbiotic Yeasts-Bacteria Community with Alleged Healthy Capabilities reports that up to 23 species of yeast can be found in kefir. The symbiotic relationship of the yeast and bacteria plays a very important role in generating the unique properties that result in the benefits of kefir.

The community of kefir organisms produces lactic acid, antibiotics and bactericide during the course of fermentation of the milk or other liquid.

The microorganisms in kefir grains are held together by a gelatinous substance known as kefiran. Kefiran is produced during the metabolism of milk lactose by a strain of the bacteria present. The presence of the yeast in kefir grains has been shown to increase both the rate of kefiran production and cell growth.

Kefiran is suggested as the primary causative agent in a study that showed kefir demonstrated the ability to inhibit tumor growth. The report, Antitumor Activity of Milk Kefir and Soy Milk Kefir in Tumor-Bearing Mice, concludes:

These results suggest that milk and soy milk kefirs may be considered among the more-promising food components in terms of cancer prevention and enhancement of mucosal resistance to gastrointestinal infections.
Note: Emphasis added.

On a less serious note, lactose intolerance is a condition that affects a large percentage of the adult population. Kefir has been shown to improve lactose digestion and tolerance in affected people.

Another study conducted on mice showed that milk and soymilk kefir supplementation reduced blood levels of components known as IgE and IgG1, which are associated with allergic responses. This indicates that another of the benefits of kefir is in the role of preventing or minimizing food allergies.

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But, Wait...There's More!

Ever heard that announcement on an infomercial? Everything sounds good, up to that point, but not good enough to make you leave that couch and grab your phone and credit card.

But, then, the announcer uses that famous catch phrase and doubles or triples the products you will get for the same price. Suddenly, it's worth the effort to get off that couch and make the call!

So, if you're not sold yet, here are a few more benefits of kefir that might convince you.

• Kefir has shown substantial antimutagenic and antioxidant properties.
• Kefir is believed to suppress UV damage in cells.
• Kefir demonstrated beneficial effects on cells that have been damaged by radiation.
• Kefir "significantly decreased" serum total cholesterol and phospholipid levels in a study on rats.
• Kefir has been shown to stimulate the immune system.
• Kefir is nutrient-rich, containing protein, vitamins and minerals.
• Kefir generally receives the credit for the renowned length of life spans of the people in its originating region of the Caucasus.

There's no question that kefir is an enormously beneficial food.

It's not speculation or subjective opinion--scientific studies have shown the direct correlation between kefir and a multitude of health benefits.

And, if you take the nutrition of goat milk and add in the benefits of kefir...you can't go wrong!

Still not convinced? Why not try a 30-day kefir challenge? Pick up a carton in your local dairy case, or order some starter culture or kefir grains and learn how to make kefir for the best benefits. Drink a glass daily for a month, and then decide if kefir is worth adding to your diet permanently.

Of course, you may like the taste so much, you'll forget you were drinking it for the health benefits!

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Sources of Information

Boerner, Heather, "Go with Your Gut," Yoga Journal, pp.49-52, September 2008.

Cronish, Nettie, "Tangy Tasting Kefir," Alive: Canadian Journal of Health and Nutrition, pp. 114-115, November 2007.

Daniells, Stephen, Probiotics Could Help Stress-Induced Gut Problems, NUTRAingredients-usa.com, April 25, 2006.

Davis, Jeanie Lerche, Kefir Helps Lactose Intolerance, WebMD, May 30, 2003.

Hertzler, Steven R. and Shannon M. Clancy, "Kefir Improves Lactose Digestion and Tolerance in Adults with Lactose Maldigestion,"Journal American Dietetic Association, 103(5):582-587, 2003.

Lewis, Genevieve, "Probiotics: A Better Way to Treat Infections During Pregnancy," Midwifery Today, pp. 30-31, Autumn 2006.

Liu, Je-Ruei, Sheng-Yao Wang, Yuh-Yih Lin, and Chin-Wen Lin, "Antitumor Activity of Milk Kefir and Soy Milk Kefir in Tumor-Bearing Mice," Nutrition and Cancer, 44(2), 182-187, 2002.

Lopitz-Otsoa, Fernando, Aitor Rementeria, Nataliz Elguezabal and Javier Garaizar, "Kefir: A Symbiotic Yeasts-Bacteria Community with Alleged Healthy Capabilities," Revista Iberoamericana de Micologia, 23:67-74, 2006.

Would you like to sponsor a goat ? ~ getting down to the nitty gritty

We have the land, the barn, the skills and the time... now we need the goats.

A good registered Goat from known healthy stalk and good milk production lines is 300$+
A good milker produces a gallon +/- a day. Goats are herd animals and are more healthy and happy with company. Looking at numbers, being a beginner and wanting to make a bit of income...it looks like starting a herd of 3 or 4 goats makes the most sense...plenty of room to expand once systems get in place and running smoothly.

Here's where you come in and how many a CSA ( Community Supported Agriculture) farm works.
Often a Larger fee is given to the farmer at the beginning of the season, and then throughout the growing season, the customer comes and gets a box/bag of whatever is available that week. It's a nice way to help farmers who are often running on "shoestrings" after the slow winter, get a good and healthy planting going in the spring and assures a good variety of vegetables for the supporter throughout the growing season.

With that said.... Would you like to sponsor a Goat? ~Half a goat?
~with your money coming back to in weekly Goat milk, and Goat milk products?
Including Soft cheeses, goat milk Keifers, Cheesecakes and other delights?


We are hoping to get a small Dairy up and running asap!

I will be sharing our CSA membership agreements in a post soon.

Again thanks for stopping by~ please feel free to leave comments,
Especially if you are wanting to be a Member and sponsor a goat!

Benton

Goats.

 There are roughly 7-8 main breeds of Dairy goats in the States. After studying for few months it seems I have decided which breed I would like to focus on, on our farm. ~the LaManches.
There are a few reasons behind this, first off would be the butterfat content of their milk, More butterfat = more cheese or butter. They aren't at the top for milk production but they are one of the best, their milk is known to taste sweeter than the biggest produceers, the Saanen goats. Another, they are known for having one of "kindest" disposition in the Dairy goat family.

Here is a little more about the LaMancha Goats

Resources and Skills

Out in the countryside in the area of Mars Hill NC, there is a small Homestead with 20+ acres.
This is where I live.
Before this land was purchased the last owner raised sheep. There is a four stall animal barn that was built for these animals.

Now, these stalls have sat empty except for storage for a good number of years.

Perhaps barns can have a voice, because I hear this one wanting to be filled with animals again.

A Good quality home is waiting to be filled with animals

There is a lot of awesome fenced in pasture for grazing, ready to make some goats happy and healthy.

And that's me. I love my Chicken girls!

I bring a bit of skill gathered over the last 50 years to the table. First off, I was raised in Southern Minnesota, Dairy Central! All my first jobs as a teen were are on dairy farms, doing all the things that make a dairy farm work. I'm a certified permaculturist and spent a number of years living at Earthaven Ecovillage outside of Black Mtn Nc. A good chunk of that time I was getting up early to milk Daisy by hand, another Earthaveners dairy cow...if I remember right she was a Jersey.

As far as making good food, that is a place I have a reputation. I've made most of my income in the food and beverage world since I was 18. Though I don't have formal schooling a lot of people have called me Chef. I've been in all aspects of restaurant work.. from cooking to serving to managing to running a catering company and developing menus. I enjoy making people go yumm. Nurturing people with good food is so important and I  get a joy from it. Creating my own sustainable foods on land I live on with animals I raise... well that's just a big YES,

And goats? Goats are pretty amazing beings~besides being occasionally stubborn (a good reflection for me). Goats are darn friendly creatures that I have always found a fondness for.

Why Cheesecakes ?

                          (These are the girls that make the 6 eggs which go in each cheesecake.)

For weeks now I've been having an itch, to be making cheesecakes. Currently, I am on my third round of baking.
So far the eggs from my Rhode Island Red chicken girls are the only ingredients that haven't come from the store, though the vision and goal are to be making Italian Style Cheesecakes, with freshly made goat cheese and the eggs from our own dairy herd and our chickens on the homestead.

I've been practicing with different recipes and have found one that I really like, though when it comes the time, I will have to "tweak" it for the home made cheeses.

The Vision is bigger than Cheesecakes. The vision and now research are now going towards both dairy goats and transforming our barn into a commercial kitchen and making all sorts of wonderful homemade yumm.

The first goal is to be starting a dairy goat CSA as soon as possible

I see Goat cheeses, Milk, Soaps and Kefirs ( one flavored with maple syrup is floating in mind), I see Sourdough bread, healthy ferments of Saurkraut and Kimchi and many other delicious and nutritious foods.

Another year down the road I see an aquaponics greenhouse and fresh basil made into pesto, the ideas and desires to create a sustainable living here on the land while making good food for the local community keep me full and busy, researching and experimenting with food, and that is why I invited you to stop by.



More to come... thanks for visiting.