The Thrill!

I went grocery shopping yesterday and got really excited when I found a new item in Stop & Shop's "Nature's Promise" section of the store! As I was picking up my fertilized eggs, raw cheddar cheese, and GT's Kombucha, I found that they had added a new item there - "Nature's Promise" Organic Kombucha! OK, so perhaps I was a bit too thrilled by my discovery, but it's always great to find a new option for something that you really like. The primary benefits of Stop & Shop-brand items are that they are less expensive and as good or better than the brand name options.

Well, as it turned out, I was a bit too thrilled... There were 3 flavors of "Nature's Promise" kombucha available. I chose 2 of them - "Ginger" and "Raspberry Lemon Ginger" - to try. The results? I didn't like either of them.

The result? The thrill is gone... B.B. King, The Thrill Is Gone

A-Z Challenge - 'K'

The hardest choice for 'K' was whether to use kombucha or kefir as my topic. I have great reasons to talk about both of them - so I will! These have really become a major part of my journey to wellness.
Kombucha:
Now that the weather is getting warmer, I really want to start brewing my own kombucha. Getting the SCOBY isn't really my concern. I have found several, reasonably priced sources. I would rather find someone local that is already brewing it to get a baby SCOBY from, but so far no luck on that. The bigger part of the problem is having a suitable place to brew it - we just don't have that much room in our kitchen - and buying suitable equipment to brew it in. One website sells a 'continuous brewing system' that starts at about $170. While this isn't too expensive, it is a big chunk of cash up front. Somehow, an average of $4 per bottle seems a lot more affordable when spread over time rather than a big, one-time purchase. Of course, the brewing costs are minimal - a couple of tea bags and some sugar every once in a while will cost me considerably less per serving than the bottled kombucha.

Kefir:
Raw milk kefir has been an almost daily mainstay for me since I started making it in November of last year. While I intend to continue making and drinking milk kefir, I am now also making water kefir. I intend to replace some of my milk kefir consumption (average 20 oz. per day) with water kefir. Though it isn't always daily, I usually drink some milk kefir first thing in the morning - after I drink my VIDACELL -  to start the day with the probiotics and occasionally drink some more prior to eating the larger meal(s) of the day. My plan for water kefir is to use it in place of the pre-meal probiotic in addition to using it for regular hydration throughout the day. I may also alternate it with milk kefir for my morning probiotic drink.
For the last couple of days, I have added some additional whey that I got directly from Deerfield Farm - a by-product of their cheese-making - to my milk kefir. I only added about 2 oz.whey to the 20 oz. bottle of kefir. So as not to interfere with the culturing process, I waited until the kefir was done and strained (to recover the grains for the next batch) prior to adding the whey. The whey provides a nice boost to the protein content of the kefir.

So Excited!

Today's song is So Excited by Stevie Ray Vaughn. I am really excited because my water kefir grains arrived today! Moments after reading the really simple instructions, I started the process of brewing my own water kefir. It will take a minimum of 48 hours for the sugar water to fully ferment. If the kefir is still too sweet, I can choose to allow the grains to continue working for up to 6 days.
I went searching for other possible recipes to add some variety and it seems that just about anything will work. One kefir maker suggests straining out the grains, adding fresh squeezed/pressed juices to the 'brew,' and allowing it to ferment for another day before refrigerating. The longer it is allowed to ferment, the lower the sugar content and the higher the alcohol content. Every site that I checked noted that the alcohol content will not get to anything higher than 1% as there just isn't enough sugar to bring it higher. It is at this point that I really wish I had a juicer so that I could juice some grapes, apples, or other fruits to add to the recipe. Citrus fruits are easily squeezed, so I might just opt for lemonade kefir for the first attempt. While this isn't really a new step on my journey to wellness, it is certainly a modification.

Another reason for my excitement today is that I discovered a new flavor (for me) of kombucha! I stopped in to a not-so-local Whole Foods Market to see what they offered for kombucha and found that they had a really nice selection to choose from. They carry a wide variety of GT's kombucha and Synergy drinks. They are also almost $1.00 cheaper per bottle than It's Only Natural. I just wish that they were more local... Anyway, they only had a couple of bottles of the Gingerade flavor so I decided to try something different. My new favorite variety of kombucha is GT's Synergy Ginerberry! Instead of being pure kombucha, Synergy is 95% kombucha and 5% fruit juice so it is a bit higher in sugar. I had previously tried the Trilogy variety and while I liked it, I didn't find it to be all that different. As a result, I wasn't expecting much from the Gingerberry. The flavor blew me away! I will definitely be getting some more of it.

No Need to Implement Plan B

I purchased a new pack of pepper seeds just in case the ones I planted in the seed starter never ended up sprouting but never got around to planting them. As it turns out, plan B is not needed as the original seeds finally started sprouting. (Today's song reference is actually an album reference - Plan B by the Steve Dunn Band.) The only problem now is that the weather has not been consistently warm enough to move the tomato and cucumber seedlings outside and the pepper seedlings are far too new to take the lid off of the 'greenhouse' during the middle of the day when the sun is strongest. Hopefully, I will be able to plant the tomatoes and cucumbers soon and allow the peppers to fully develop.

Today was a pretty good day. Went to church in the morning, had lunch at Mortensen's with the family, gave myself a haircut (and it came out looking pretty good), and went for a walk (again, with the family but with the addition of Ginger).

I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the water kefir grains that I ordered the other day. I received confirmation that they have shipped, but there is no tracking information available. Hopefully my order will arrive soon and I will be able to start making and drinking water kefir! I know there is more than just water required to make water kefir, but it will still be considerably more affordable than milk kefir (though I will continue to make that - just less of it) and kombucha (until I start making that, too!). I am really excited about the potential of this next step on my journey to wellness!
I found a site comparing kombucha to water kefir. Check it out at: Common Sense Homesteading.

A-Z Challenge - 'F'

Fermentation is the topic of the day. When we hear the word fermented we tend to think of alcohol, but there are a couple of fermented beverages that have less to do with the alcohol and more to do with probiotics. Kefir, kombucha, and kvass are three that come immediately to mind (don't worry, I'll be covering at least two of these in more detail on 'K'-day). In addition to these beverages, many foods also gain some nutritional benefits when fermented. Cabbage, for instance, is pretty good as it is but when fermented - becoming sauerkraut - it can be quite a bit better. Personally, this is not a good example as I can't stand the smell or taste of sauerkraut - but most people don't even realize that it is just fermented cabbage.
I have fairly recently embraced fermented drinks as a part of my regular nutritional intake. I have definitely seen some benefits!

For more information on fermented foods - specifically lacto-fermented foods (using whey from milk as the catalyst) - check out the book Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats.

Take a Chance

Why didn't I think of this sooner? I have started keeping and washing out the glass bottles that I have been getting my kombucha in. Until now, I have been making and storing my kefir in one quart mason jars. This is great for making it and even though I consume a quart of kefir in a couple of days, I haven't been too pleased with using the jars to store it. I don't have any lids other than the two-piece canning lids and these are just not ideal for kefir. Canning normally creates a vacuum that makes the metal lids perfect for that purpose. Kefir, however, builds pressure in the jar. This hasn't been a real problem - it just tends to be a bit messy. For the last two batches of kefir, I have used the empty kombucha bottles. Two of them hold one quart nicely! Also, I find it easier to drink the kefir directly from these bottles rather than pouring it into a glass from the mason jar.

I decided to Take a Chance on water kefir (song reference courtesy of The Steve Dunn Band with Take a Chance). The other day, I got a $25.00 gift card for amazon.com as a reward for completing a survey. Today, I used part of it to order some water kefir grains to complement my milk kefir. I am looking forward to giving this a shot. It sounds really easy to 'brew' water kefir and also really versatile. Besides that, it will be a LOT more affordable to make water kefir than it is to make milk kefir! I do intend to continue making milk kefir - I will just be able to make less.

Changes

I admit it, I was having a really hard time coming up with a suitable song link for this post.  What I really want to talk about today is a trio of probiotic, fermented beverages and I just couldn't find a related song, band, or album to go along with them.  One possible link was The KKK Took My Baby Away by the Ramones, but only because all three of these drinks begin with the letter 'K.'  While I mention that song here, I decided against using it as the reference for this post.  Instead, I decided on Changes by David Bowie.  This is because adding these three drinks to my daily diet definitely (how's that alliteration?) represents a change for me.

So, what are these drinks?

First, I want to talk about kefir.  I am still not quite sure of the proper pronunciation of this word.  I have heard it pronounced as 'key-fur' as well as 'keh-fear.'  Either way, this is great stuff!  Kefir is primarily found as a cultured milk product.  I mentioned my then-new project of making my own kefir in a previous post - Wouldn't It Be Nice - so I won't go into too much detail about that here.  According to kefir.net, kefir is:

"a cultured, enzyme-rich food filled with friendly micro-organisms that help balance your “inner ecosystem.” More nutritious and therapeutic than yogurt, it supplies complete protein, essential minerals, and valuable B vitamins."

Since I began making my own kefir a couple of months ago, I have been drinking it almost daily - except for the duration of the master cleanse.  At first, I wasn't quite thrilled by the taste but neither did I hate it.  Now, I actually like it.  For that matter, I am also enjoying the taste of plain yogurt now though I really couldn't stand it when I first tried it.  My taste buds have definitely adjusted to a lot of foods that I never used to like.  While I haven't seen any major improvement in my health since I started drinking kefir, I know that I am better off because of it.  As with everything else, healing takes time.  While kefir is available at the grocery stores, I have yet to find any that is made from whole milk and doesn't contain undesirable additives.  Plus, all of the bottled kefir that I have found is pasteurized.

Next comes kombucha.  Kombucha is a fermented tea drink.  It is essentially made by using a kombucha 'mushroom' or 'mother' to ferment any variety of tea.  Because of the fact that it is made from tea, it can come in many flavors.  I have only been able to find one brand of kombucha locally, though I haven't exhausted all possibilities.  Neither Stop & Shop nor Trader Joe's carry it.  I am told that Whole Foods sells it, but I don't get out there very often.  As of now, the only place I have been able to get it is It's Only Natural so I am limited to what they carry.  Today, I picked up some Botanic No. 9 and Gingerade varieties.  I had previously tried the Multigreen flavor but I am not too thrilled with the taste.  It wasn't bad and I would drink it if the others weren't available, but it wouldn't be my first choice.
I am tempted to try to make my own kombucha.  The start-up cost is a bit higher than it was for kefir, but it seems like the ongoing costs would be less.  Rather than using raw milk that I pay $7.50 per gallon to make kefir, I would be using tea and sugar.  One gallon of sweetened tea costs a lot less than $7.50!  In addition to the mother, I would eventually need to buy some larger jars to make the kombucha in.  I currently use the one quart mason jars for kefir and I could start with them, but given the fact that kombucha takes longer to ferment than kefir, I would want to make larger batches.

Finally, kvass is another beverage that has been around for a long time.  There are a couple of different ways to make kvass.  One uses stale rye bread while another uses beets.  Kvass is really new to me.  I read about it in Nourishing Traditions, but have only recently tried it.  It was sitting in the cooler at It's Only Natural right next to the kombucha with a big sign: "If you like kombucha, you will LOVE KVASS!"  Well, I figured that I would give it a shot...  So much for truth in advertising!  While I do like kombucha, I certainly do not love kvass - at least, not the variety that I tried.  The flavor that I purchased was ginger-carrot kvass.  My guess is that instead of using beets to make the kvass, they used ginger and carrots.  It wasn't great but neither was it horrible.  Today on my trip to I.O.N., I decided to give it another shot.  This time I opted for the beet kvass (as I write this, the kvass is sitting in the fridge while I am drinking Gingerade kombucha).
Kvass seems to be a lot easier to make than kombucha - similar to kefir in complexity and time.  It does, however, require whey as the fermentation agent - at least, for the first batch.  Fortunately, whey is easy to acquire - I can separate some raw milk on my own or get some from Deerfield Farm when they make cheese.  While the jury hasn't reached a verdict on kvass - maybe it is just an acquired taste - I am thinking that the relative ease of making it and the ability to customize the taste by using different vegetables will make kvass a staple for me.  We'll see how that goes, though.


Without actually doing the math, it is obvious that making/brewing my own probiotic drinks is a lot more cost effective than buying them retail.  Of the three, kombucha is the most labor intensive having to first brew the tea, add sugar and the mother, and allow to ferment for 7-10 days.  Kefir simply requires the addition of the grains to fresh milk in a loosely covered jar (I use a coffee filter over the mouth of a mason jar secured with the mason jar ring) with an occasional stir during the 24-48 hours of fermentation.  Kvass seems to merely require cutting the vegetables into cubes, adding them to a jar with whey, sea salt, and water, and allowing the fermentation to occur at room temperature for 48 hours.

It will be interesting to see how it works!