The Cultured Life
I have begun a new experiment… in cultured dairy products!
Yes, I have started to make my own yogurt and kefir. Wow. Health benefits aside, I have to say that this stuff can be made pretty tasty and for cheap! Then you get to the benefits… well, let’s just say that no matter your age or health level, consuming cultured dairy is a pretty good thing. Many people who have a lactose intolerance can easily consume kefir, and some even more so if it’s homemade from raw goat or cow’s milk.
Our kitchen that was already filled with lots of active yeast is now filled even more with yogurt cultures and kefir grains. My oven is the happening place to be these days!
Homemade yogurt = plain yogurt… to start with. But add a little bit of honey or agave nectar and some fruit, and it becomes something delectable. I even tried making it in a jelly jar the other day with fabulous results. It was one of those times that you just can’t get the last bits of jelly out of the SQUARE jelly jar’s corners, and you don’t want it to go to waste. What’s a girl to do? Toss in some yogurt cultures and fill it 3/4 of the way full with milk. Takes a couple of days, ad you have yummy homemade yogurt! The little people even like it… well mostly.
The Eldest was a bit put off by the idea that Mommy was making one of her favorite treats. She tried it plain and determined that this was NOT the thing for her. She wouldn’t even try it after I doctored it up a bit. So, enterprising Mommy that I am, I made a batch in the yogurt container that she is used to seeing me get her bowl from. Bwa ha ha ha ha *insert evil laugh*. She had two – yes TWO – bowls of it on Saturday, lightly flavored as honey vanilla chai, and LOVED it. Asking for more and everything. Then she found out that I made it and won’t eat anymore. Ugh. Kids, they just have to be difficult, don’t they!
As for the kefir, the hubby has been drinking a smoothie every morning, and loves them. Aside from the fact that he’s using about 4x the fruit he needs to be (yes, as of today I’m OUT!) he is hooked on them now. *another evil laugh* He has even gotten used to his smoothies having a bit of natural carbonation in them – that’s the kefir. The girls say that “it sparkles on your tongue!”
Yogurt, frozen fruit, kefir, honey, cinnamon and a small handful of salad greens… blend them until smooth, pour, drink and enjoy! Yes, salad greens. They are so good for you, and you will never taste them in with all of the fruit. Trust me on this one…
One thing I will warn against though… don’t add some kefir to moderately warm hot cocoa… the results can be a bit, er, surprising. Did I mention that kefir grains like to be warm? Ideally around 70F. Cocoa seems to be the equivalent of a spa for them, and they will multiply very quickly! A bit off-putting when you aren’t expecting them.
Add to this the savings you will have over buying them at the store, and it’s a win-win. Kefir seems to be averaging around $4.50 a quart, and yogurt is around $0.99 for a single-serve container – for the good stuff without HFCS. The starters cost around $10, and they will last indefinitely.
If this seems to be interesting to you at all, and it should, you can get your own yogurt cultures and kefir grains from culturesforhealth.com
Go on, try it! There are so many health benefits, and it’s tasty too!
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