i didn't realise just how out of rythm i've been...only 1 blog post for this blog and it was nearly a year ago.
since then the water kefir grains that i had had died...i loved my water kefir while i had it and hope to order some more...i'm working at incorporating my consistancy in my daily and weekly rythms and will be updating the blog more regularly as a result.
right now i've been focussed on cleaning my home and decluttering my space and my life. i've also been cleaning my eating habbits and cleansing my body...it's spring...it's a natural time of year for such things.
i once wrote a poem about the rythm of life/the sacred heart beat of the earth, and something has occured to me...that in this day of technology and over stimulation and people just going through motions/not really connecting to the earth that we can easily loose that rythm and forget to honor how sacred it is.
rythm can be a tricky thing...once you fall out of it it can take awhile to realise that your rythm is a bit off, but if you just take a minute to pay attention to the beat it is easy to get back into that steady flow...i'll be back with a post soon (still working out a good posting schedual).
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Friday, July 29, 2011
for the love of kefir!
so rather than starting with a run of the mill introduction thing i figured i'd start by writing about one of my new loves...water kefir.
i'm a single mom on an extremely tight budget and sometimes with an extremely tight budget eating healthy is a bit tough, so i will be featuring more info about healthy food that is affordable on this blog, among other things such as meditation, self healing, reiki, raising children in a single family and pagan household, goddesses, drumming, music, dancing, yoga and art (possibly even crafts)...i really didn't want to write separate blogs about each of my major interests as i see things rather holistically health is a mind, body, spirit thing all aspects must be considered when considering health.
now ,on to the water kefir...i've read so much about water kefir from people i know in the raw foods community and in other health food circles lately that i decided that i had to give it a try...if it was anywhere near as good as kombucha it was worth checking out (i don't have a scoby and haven't brewed any kombucha, myself, yet, but i'm sure that when that finally happens i'll blog about the experience)...well, water kefir rawks! i ordered dehydrated water kefir grains from probioticsrus on ETSY (they cost $5 + $2 for S&H)and they arrived a couple of days later, about the same time i got an e-mail from amy at probioticsrus and she sent the instructions on re-hydrating the dehydrated grains and the recipe she uses for water kefir...i had just about 3T of dehydrated grains which re hydrated to about 2/3cup after just 2 batches i'm up to about 1 1/3 cups of grains and making four 1 quart jars full of water kefir. batch #3 will be done today and half of that will be left to chill out and get fizz as is while the other half will be combined with 100% fruit juice before allowing 24 hours to get the fizz on. so far my sons and i have been drinking them with no added flavoring and tit faintly reminds me of cream soda...it could be the creaminess from the figs (i use figs that i had dehydrated last year when my dad gave me a large bucket full from his fig tree).
here is what is going in to a 1 quart jar for water kefir-
3 cups spring water (i try to avoid tap water and filtered water for
this since filtering can leave the water with too few minerals
and the tap water here is treated with chlorine and fluoride)
1/4 cup of turbinado or demerara sugar (basically raw/natural sugars
are best)
1/4 cup or so of water kefir grains
1 dehydrated fig
1 small piece of ginger
1 slice of lemon
(the recipe i have calls for a small amount of baking soda DO NOT USE
BAKING POWDER! but i forgot to put baking soda in the last batch and it
came out great, so i don't know how necessary it is, but i may try
always making 2 quarts with and 2 without for a while and see what
difference it seems to make...a little experiment)
i also forgot the ginger on 1 batch and that didn't seem to make a huge difference...
i let it ferment for 48 hours and stir it after the first 24 hours...right now i have the jars covered with coffee filters that are rubber banded to stay in place, but once my grandmother moves out and i can set my sewing machine up i'm going to sew some simple cloth covers that can be held in place with either rubber bands or the metal caps that the ball jars come with. after 48 hours i scoop the fruit and ginger out with a wooden spoon and filter everything through a bamboo tea strainer into bottles that can be closed tightly (right now i'm using old GT's kombucha bottles and can get 1 1/2 bottles out of each quart jar)...i let these bottles sit in a cabinet tightly sealed for 24 hrs to get the fizz on...then chill and enjoy. there are tons of great recipes for different flavored brews and when i try some i'll blog about them.
once strained out the grains can be used immediately to make more or placed in the refrigerator in a container for a day or two.
water kefir is pro biotic and there are many sites listing benefits of drinking water kefir if you do a search...a few things that i've heard they are good for is aiding in healthy digestion, aiding in weight loss, improving mood...somewhere i believe i read about improving metabolism including blood sugar metabolism, but i'll have to double check on that since i can't remember where i read it, but google 'water kefir' and see what you find. good luck and enjoy! i'll be back soon.
i'm a single mom on an extremely tight budget and sometimes with an extremely tight budget eating healthy is a bit tough, so i will be featuring more info about healthy food that is affordable on this blog, among other things such as meditation, self healing, reiki, raising children in a single family and pagan household, goddesses, drumming, music, dancing, yoga and art (possibly even crafts)...i really didn't want to write separate blogs about each of my major interests as i see things rather holistically health is a mind, body, spirit thing all aspects must be considered when considering health.
now ,on to the water kefir...i've read so much about water kefir from people i know in the raw foods community and in other health food circles lately that i decided that i had to give it a try...if it was anywhere near as good as kombucha it was worth checking out (i don't have a scoby and haven't brewed any kombucha, myself, yet, but i'm sure that when that finally happens i'll blog about the experience)...well, water kefir rawks! i ordered dehydrated water kefir grains from probioticsrus on ETSY (they cost $5 + $2 for S&H)and they arrived a couple of days later, about the same time i got an e-mail from amy at probioticsrus and she sent the instructions on re-hydrating the dehydrated grains and the recipe she uses for water kefir...i had just about 3T of dehydrated grains which re hydrated to about 2/3cup after just 2 batches i'm up to about 1 1/3 cups of grains and making four 1 quart jars full of water kefir. batch #3 will be done today and half of that will be left to chill out and get fizz as is while the other half will be combined with 100% fruit juice before allowing 24 hours to get the fizz on. so far my sons and i have been drinking them with no added flavoring and tit faintly reminds me of cream soda...it could be the creaminess from the figs (i use figs that i had dehydrated last year when my dad gave me a large bucket full from his fig tree).
here is what is going in to a 1 quart jar for water kefir-
3 cups spring water (i try to avoid tap water and filtered water for
this since filtering can leave the water with too few minerals
and the tap water here is treated with chlorine and fluoride)
1/4 cup of turbinado or demerara sugar (basically raw/natural sugars
are best)
1/4 cup or so of water kefir grains
1 dehydrated fig
1 small piece of ginger
1 slice of lemon
(the recipe i have calls for a small amount of baking soda DO NOT USE
BAKING POWDER! but i forgot to put baking soda in the last batch and it
came out great, so i don't know how necessary it is, but i may try
always making 2 quarts with and 2 without for a while and see what
difference it seems to make...a little experiment)
i also forgot the ginger on 1 batch and that didn't seem to make a huge difference...
i let it ferment for 48 hours and stir it after the first 24 hours...right now i have the jars covered with coffee filters that are rubber banded to stay in place, but once my grandmother moves out and i can set my sewing machine up i'm going to sew some simple cloth covers that can be held in place with either rubber bands or the metal caps that the ball jars come with. after 48 hours i scoop the fruit and ginger out with a wooden spoon and filter everything through a bamboo tea strainer into bottles that can be closed tightly (right now i'm using old GT's kombucha bottles and can get 1 1/2 bottles out of each quart jar)...i let these bottles sit in a cabinet tightly sealed for 24 hrs to get the fizz on...then chill and enjoy. there are tons of great recipes for different flavored brews and when i try some i'll blog about them.
once strained out the grains can be used immediately to make more or placed in the refrigerator in a container for a day or two.
water kefir is pro biotic and there are many sites listing benefits of drinking water kefir if you do a search...a few things that i've heard they are good for is aiding in healthy digestion, aiding in weight loss, improving mood...somewhere i believe i read about improving metabolism including blood sugar metabolism, but i'll have to double check on that since i can't remember where i read it, but google 'water kefir' and see what you find. good luck and enjoy! i'll be back soon.
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