Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Kefir Madness!

Hello! 
I apologize beforehand if I'm a little scatter-brained. I am seriously sleep deprived and running on caffeine and adrenaline. Story of my life.

Anyway, with all my research on how to brew kombucha, the term "kefir" kept popping up. Kefir vs kombucha. Kefir this. Kombucha that. So I had to check it out. Turns out kefir is even easier than kombucha to make, all you need is some water or milk kefir grains (different types of scoby's). Where in the world could I find some of these? As it turns out, I just joined a Northern Colorado Crunchy Mama's Facebook group (after all, I'm getting crunchier by the day! Ha). I put a post up there asking if anyone had these grains. Bingo! A very sweet mama named Stacey offered to share her scoby's with me, and she just so happened to have both water and milk kefir grains. Score! 

So Landon and I went over to Stacey's house this afternoon to pick them up. It turns out her baby girl is just over a week older than Landon! They hit it off right away, and Landon enjoyed stealing her sippy cup while I got the down low on kombucha, water kefir, and milk kefir. 

Kefir is wayyyy easier than kombucha and just as healthy, so I am pretty stoked about it. 
Water kefir grains are also a type of scoby (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast). 
So to get this going, you add 1/4-1/3 cup of organic cane sugar and 1 teaspoon of molasses to water and shake it until it dissolves. 
I used an old peanut butter jar my mom gave me. 

Add the grains and then you put it in a warm, safe spot (for me, this is the top of our pantry) and you let it ferment for 24 hours. After 24 hours, you strain the kefir into another jar. Use the grains to create new kefir. With the kefir you just brewed, you can add fruit juice or fresh fruit, and go for a second ferment in order to get the fizzy, bubbly goodness. I can't wait for this second part which is just a few hours away for us! I bought a plethora of fruits from the Amish grocery store today, and I stopped by Goodwill and purchased a few more jars. 

I am going crazy for all things fermented! I am so happy that I finally made a friend who is into all this kefir madness! The fun is just beginning!! 

Coming soon: how to make milk kefir! :) 


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