A love story.
It all started back in September at the Heritage Harvest Festival.
Tate and I attended a workshop on fermented foods.
Until this day my love of good bacteria, probiotics, and healthy enzymes was limited to kombucha and lots of yogurt.
And then Dawn introduced me to the world of spicy kimchi, tangy sauerkraut, and bubbly kefir water soda.
[well, she didn’t actually introduce me because my dad used to make all kinds of ferments when I was little and he was following a Macrobiotic diet. at the time I just thought it was all “weird” and slightly embarrassing when my friends came over. oh boy, I can’t wait to embarrass my own future children!]
As soon as I got home I dove into making my own fermented veggies.
I loved the idea that I could use that giant $2 head of cabbage that I bought at the farmer’s market to make some ‘kraut that would last me weeks. And fiery kimchi soon became a household favorite to add a little zing to any meal.
I ♥ bacteria.
🙂
I have seen improvements in my digestion, appetite (smaller), and a strengthening of my immune system since I added more fermented food into my life.
Back at the festival Dawn told us about making “soda” from water kefir grains and let us sample a few flavors from her cabinet. Many of you have probably heard of the milk/yogurt drink Kefir, water kefir is the same thing except it ferments in water instead of milk.
In order to make kefir soda you have to have grains, which you can buy or get from someone else because once you start the process the grains multiply and you end of having loads of them. Dawn was talking about websites to buy grains from when an audience member raised her hand and offered to give grains to anyone in the C’ville area.
I took her e-mail but soon got side tracked by a new love of fermenting vegetables and a cabinet full of kombucha.
The other day I saw the e-mail address tacked to the side of my fridge and decided I would give kefir grains a go. Stephanie promptly returned my inquiry and said that she would be happy to leave me some grains on her front porch (she’s not home much).
She conveniently lives just a half a mile or so from me so I trotted on over there on Tuesday morning and found this waiting
Directions and everything! Thanks Stephanie! I left a little jar of my homemade lavender salt and a thank you note in it’s place.
When I returned home I quickly got to work on my first batch. And just as quickly finished! Kefir soda is super easy to make, the grains do 95% of the work!
The hard part is the waiting while it ferments but at least it is much quicker than kombucha (1-2 days instead of 1-2 weeks!). After waiting 48 hours I eagerly got to work on the second step.
After the first 24 hour ferment
The grains from the bottom of the jar, they remind me of tapioca balls from “bubble tea”
I poured off the watery liquid into clean, empty kombucha bottles and added a splash of homemade grape juice to each
Now I wait. In a day or so these bottles will start to get all fizzy and be ready to drink!
The flavoring possibilities are endless with popular ones being vanilla and lemon, both of which I am excited to try next!
I am SO looking forward to a 4:30 Vinyasa yoga class this afternoon at the gym! My body with going to thank me from the inside out as soon as I hit the mat. 🙂
If you are missing COMMENT COMMIT from the holidays, no worries, let’s keep it going on Facebook! Every morning I will post my workout plan on Gracefulfitness’s page and if you want a little extra push/bragging rights add your workout plan (or accomplished workout) as a comment.
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