What is Water Kefir?

A whole lotta water kefir grains! 

They can be clear to beige in color, depending on how you"feed" them.

What is water kefir?

Water kefir is basically a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. Water kefir is also known as tibicos, tibi, sugar kefir grains, Japanese water crystals, and many other names as it is found around the world in many different cultures. They are beautiful, clear little granules that are firm yet gel-like to the touch and propagate indefinitely. And when I say "propagate indefinitely" I also mean "and quickly". These babies are insane. I recently gave Heidi a gallon baggie FULL of kefir grains. Because I was up to 6 gallons of kefir water fermenting on my counter. And my husband was calling me the "crazy kefir lady". Yeah.
Anyways, according to Wikipedia, these little babies come from

"the leaves of the Opuntia cactus (orig. Mexico) as hard granules that can be reconstituted in a sugar-water solution as propagating tibicos"

Water kefir feeds off sugars to produce lactic acid, alcohol, and carbon dioxide gas which carbonates the drink. You can bottle water kefir (which keeps the carbonation) or not, depending on your taste preference. Any number of flavorings can be added. Many people use fresh fruit, fruit juices and concentrates, extracts, and herbs of many different combinations. It has a fermented taste to it that you have to get used to if you don't normally eat/drink fermented foods. When I drink it, it reminds me of pop (or soda, for all of you who don't live in the midwest!) and many people find it to be a great substitute! You can even make root beer or cream soda flavored water kefir, though I much prefer the fruitier ones. You can check out my picture tutorial on how to make water kefir.

Nearly a gallon of kefir grains... I had to give them all to Heidi 

because I just can't seem to throw any away!

Why drink water kefir?

Water kefir is an excellent, dairy-free probiotic. Nourished Kitchen names it as one of it's top 10 dairy-free probiotic sources. They also talk about WHY probiotics are vital to our health. Personally, I can tell a huge difference in my body since drinking water kefir. In the name of full disclosure, I'm going to share exactly how water kefir has helped us.
I've become more regular. I don't feel as bloated as I used to. I have to admit, at first it was a bit tough. The kefir kind of... cleans you out. In a good way though. No diarrhea or anything.  It also makes you crave sugar like CRAZY at first. I think that's your bad yeast dying off. It can also cause what is called a "healing crisis". You can read more about what a healing crisis is here. Just be sure to drink lots of water along with your kefir, especially at first. Other testimonials:
My husband's IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) has not given him any problems since he started drinking the kefir. He would have almost daily attacks before.
My oldest daughter, who has had problems with constipation in the past, has not had any problems since drinking it either.
My mother-in-law usually takes Nexium (a medication for frequent heartburn) daily. Since drinking water kefir, she has cut way back. She told me today that she hasn't had to take it at all in four days! She has also been amazed that a stubborn toenail fungal infection that she has had awhile is clearing up since she started drinking the kefir.

This has been with only having our kefir for a couple of months now. My mother-in-law has only been drinking it for a couple of weeks. We are loving this stuff!

This website has a list of water kefir health benefits here and here, go check it out!

And for those of you who want to have a quick comparison of kefir vs kombucha, or to see exactly what kind of probiotics are in each, Common Sense Homesteading has a great post on it!

Flavors to try

I've been experimenting with many different flavors. My favorites right now are blueberry, blueberry pomegranate, and strawberry-lemon. My husband loves orange.. my sister-in-law loves grapefruit... my mom loves cranberry pomegranate... and my second mom loves pina colada. Here are a list of flavors we've tried or are going to try:

Orange- Love this one. Very tasty and refreshing.

Strawberry- Very good, though I prefer the lime and lemon combos better.

Strawberry-lime

Strawberry-lemon

Lemon-lime

Cream soda (add vanilla extract)- You only need a tiny amount to get the right flavor.

Root beer (add root beer extract)- Again, just a couple of tiny drops or it's overpowering

Pomagranate- love this too! But the pom-blueberry is probably my favorite

Pom-blueberry

Pom-cherry

Pom-raspberry

Blueberry- This one is also really, really yummy. My little Ever loves this one the most. The blueberries pop!

Cherry

Raspberry- Make sure you squish them a little bit to release their juices. I like a raspberry-lemonade a lot.

Raspberry lime
Raspberry lemonade

Triple-berry

Mango- Very interesting flavor. I like it!

Strawberry Mango

Pineapple- Don't use too many or it burns your nose! I had this one last night and it was strong, but good!

Pina Colada  (shredded coconut, pineapple, and coconut extract)- My mom and her best friend's favorite

Mojito (mint, lime... easy on the mint if you are using extract)

Rosehips

Hibiscus

Basil

Lemon Verbena

Grape

Watermelon

Apple

Apple Cinnamon

Ginger

Coconut

Cranberry

Cran-raspberry

Cran-apple

Peach- Doesn't taste like peach exactly, but it's still good

Mint

Orange-Pineapple

Raspberry Zinger (tea)

Ginger-mango

Mother's Milk tea
Acai berry- LOVE this too!
Plum- This was really good as well!

As you can see, the sky's the limit with what flavor combinations you can try. This is just a short list. What flavors have you tried and how did you like them?

Brought to you by Britt

Home/ Unschooling

I want to start out by saying that I, by no means, am a guru.  I've just been doing this for a while.

I was home/unschooled growing up, as was my husband and about 98% of our friends.  So it was natural for us to decided to do the same for our kids.  When my oldest was still very young I had great faith in complete child-led learning (allowing her to lead me in her education thinking this was unschooling) and swore to myself I would never push education on her.  But then she started getting older and as she approached school age I started to panic.
"What Was I Thinking!?!?  How on earth can anyone learn anything by themselves!?  And what if she doesn't want to learn something important!?  Like what 9 x 4 is or how to read!?"
Of course, she had already taught herself basic addition and subtraction and had been read more of the classics then I ever was exposed to at that point and would practice writing by copying bits out of her story books.  I knew she was no dummy.  But what if I was and I was going to screw her up by not teaching her the important things?

We did complete child led learning until she was 6.  Minnesota's mandatory age for schooling starts at 7 and I was terrified that if I didn't start teaching her at least the letters of the alphabet, then it would be the end of the world.  I bought Oak Meadows entire kindergarten curriculum.  It was the curriculum my husband used when they first started homeschooling and is sorta Waldorf-y/Montessori-y (or maybe it is actually one of the two I can't remember).  I was going to be a teacher, with curriculum and be cool.  Like Mrs. Jeffers, only not so scary.  The curriculum was good, and would have been fun, if she had been 4 instead of an advanced 6.  She hated doing the baby work and after about 3 weeks of desperately trying to teach her something, I gave up with the curriculum.  I wasn't to worried since we still had the whole year before we actually started reporting.  We talked a lot, sang songs, read stories and I printed lots of workpages for her.  We just went back to the child led learning and it was a lot better then trying to force the "baby stuff."

Last year my daughter turned 7 and we started school like we had before.  Only this time I gave up on the curriculum idea and just went to workbooks.  I got Brain Quest Workbooks (grades pre-k through 1st) and the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (which we both love!).  I got a new math workbook and just let her have at it.  I got the teachers guide to and tried (in vain) to teach her again.  That was pretty much a waste of time and money.  She devoured the mathbook mostly on her own and we worked together when she was learning something new and she started to read and write more.  She listened to stories about nature, we printed more work/coloring pages, watched documentaries and she was fascinated by the Ancient Egyptians.  In Minnesota there is mandatory testing and I was nervous about it.  But her scores were advanced in everything but reading and writing (we knew those would be lower) and we were all thrilled.  Apparently neither of us were dummys!  Hurray!

We have just started our second year.  We're working with a new mathbook that is entirely to easy so she's been bored a lot lately and I'm trying to skip ahead as much as I can without leaving something important behind.  We're working on learning reading still, but it's going fast and every time we do another lesson I feel so proud that my little girl is reading and I helped her learn that!  I found fabulous social studies and science curriculums that she is loving and it's been easy to tailor information so my 4 year old can learn with her.

Like I said, I'm no guru.  I've had experience being the home learner, and now as the "teacher".  We do fight, but it's mostly over the fact that her brother gets to watch Diego while she has to read or that the math is to easy or that I wont let her look at one of the world history books.  Such big problems, I know.

I just want all of you out there to know, that even having been home/unschooled, married an unschooler and known hundreds of amazing home/unschooled people, I still get insecure.  I'm the one that usually makes it hard for us.  I still push for somethings and I feel like I want to have some structure to her days.  I feel like we are working together a lot more and she is teaching me how she needs to be taught.  I remember my mom telling me once that she learned so much more when she homeschooled us then she ever did from her own school education, and now I see why.
It's kinda cool actually.

Killer Quiche

Mhhh... Quiche!

This is one of my families favorite meals!  About a year ago my chickens were producing so many eggs I had them coming out of my ears and I didn't know what to do with them all.  Now this is probably not the most practical recipe for families that don't have chickens laying a ton of eggs for them.  But it's the best. *grin*  Ok, maybe not "the best", but it's good and it was the turning point for my vegan husband to start eating animal products.  The original recipe that I altered this from called for 3 eggs, but I use 5, so if you want you can try it that way but I haven't.  And due to the dozens of eggs I have in my fridge at any given time I generally make a triple batch.  This is usually enough for two meals, sometimes three and it is just as good leftover and warmed up as it is right out of the oven.

For the batter you will need:

• 5 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups of water
• 2 TBSP of olive oil
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1 tsp salt
• herbs to taste (I never really measure these, I just pore in what looks good.  Some of my favorites being oregano, basil, all purpose seasoning and paprika)

You will also need:

• 4 ozs of cheese grated
  
• and either leftover rice or potatoes (enough to cover the bottom of your dish)

The only veggies that I find to be mandatory are onions and garlic chopped up nicely.  The quiche is different every time depending on what we have in the fridge so you get to be creative.  Some of our favorite things to add are mushrooms, dark leafy greens of any kind & broccoli but you can add anything.  Your imagination is the limit!

•  Start by pre-heating your oven to 350.
• Then get your veggies out and cut up everything as you would for a stirfry.
• If your going to be using potatoes you'll want to cut them up into bite size pieces and boil them with about 1 tsp salt just until they are barely tender.  Then drain and run cold water over them and set aside.  They don't have to be cooked all the way since they'll cook more in the oven.
•  Stir fry your veggies in some olive oil, start with your onions and garlic (and mushrooms if you have them) until the onions start looking translucent.  Then add your other veggies and cook until everything is done.  (Again if everything isn't totally cooked through it's ok since it'll be in the oven for a while and have plenty of time to cook more.  I just do this to make sure nothing is raw.)

For the batter:

• Beat the eggs
• Add water and olive oil and mix well
• Then add flour, salt and herbs and mix well

Ta Da!  You made the batter and the veggies! Almost ready for the oven!

• Oil your baking dish, make sure you get the sides! (for a triple batch I think mine is something like 24"x18"x3")
• If you have potatoes spread them on the bottom of the baking dish.  
• If you are using leftover rice mix your stir-fried veggies into the rice and pour this onto the bottom of the pan.  Don't pack it down.
• Sprinkle on your grated cheese (I find that doing it this way is WAY easier then trying to get the cheese spreed once the liquid has been added)
• Get your batter and mix it up a little just to make sure the flour hasn't all sunk to the bottom and pore evenly over the rest of your ingredients in the baking dish.
• Pop it into your pre-heated oven and cook for 40-45 minuets or until a toothpick or clean knife can be inserted and come out clean.

At this point we usually are starving and serve it out onto our dishes to cool.  My husband and I enjoy adding hot sauce to ours as it adds a different dimension to the flavors, but it is wonderful no matter what you do to it at this point.

Bon Appétit!!

How to Make Water Kefir - Picture Tutorial

How to make water kefir:

Start with your water kefir with the grains still in it. These should have sat for 24-48 hours before you change them over. If you are just starting out, chances are you just have grains.in a bit of sugar-water. 

You'll need boiled water (if you have city water. Well-water is fine), organic lemons, sugar, a fig or some other dry, unsulphered fruit, and molasses. You can also do Demerara sugar instead of the sugar/molasses combo.

 You'll also need some quart jars, some with lids, some with a cloth cover of sorts (my MIL made me these!!!) rubber bands, a plastic colander, a plastic Tbsp, and a plastic or glass pitcher. Metal + kefir grains = bad. I guess the metal reacts with them. So just be safe and use plastic or glass.
 

Then, you will strain your grains....

 If you are just starting out, the liquid you strain off is probably just sugar water and can be thrown out. After you follow these steps, you will have actual kefir water. Keep that! It's what you drink. 
Also, make sure that your kefir grains are never touched by metal. Only use plastic or glass.

Strained Kefir grains! Aren't they perdy? They are that beige color because of the molasses. 

You can feed your kefir grains with a clean eggshell (like off a hard boiled egg), or with a raw sugar instead of the molasses. There are other ways, too, but these are what I know work for sure.

Now measure out your strained kefir grains into a clean canning jar.
The ratio is 1 Tbsp grains : 1 Tbsp sugar : 1 cup water. And then I add just a Tbsp of molasses per quart. So for a quart jar you'll do 4 Tbsp grains, 4 Tbsp sugar, 4 cups of water, and 1 Tbsp molasses.

‎1 Tbsp molasses

4 Tbsp of sugar

You can also just use a raw sugar, like Demerara sugar instead of the white sugar/molasses combo.

Then add a slice or two of organic lemon (if not organic, just peel your lemon).

I add figs to mine. I'll do a whole one for the half-gallon jars or half for my quarts. I think it makes it fizzier. If you don't have figs, I've heard you can use any dried unsulphered fruit.
 

 Everything you need to make yummy water kefir!

Pour your water (boiled and cooled if you have city water) over everything.

I sometimes give it a little stir. Sometimes I don't. It does fine either way.

Cover with a piece of cloth or dishtowel and rubber band. Otherwise the fruit flies will do some nasty stuff to your kefir. Not cool to find tiny worms in your water kefir. Not cool at all.

This is now in it's first ferment. You let this sit for 24-48 hours and then repeat, this time keeping the fluid you strain out. That's your water kefir. You'll take that and follow the next directions:

Water Kefir ready to be bottled up for it's second ferment. Just need to add some flavors!

Now take the strained water kefir and put it into your jars with lids. Leave lots of room for your flavoring! 

My current favorite, pomegranate.
 

Then flavor it, using whatever you want. You can top off the jar (leave 1/2 inch space at the top) with more water kefir if needed.   

 Root beer extract for my husband. He begged.

Adding oranges to this batch. 

You can use whatever you want to flavor. Fruits, fresh or frozen, by themeselves or in combination, extracts, herbs, juices (fresh squeezed is best, frozen concentrate works well, too), etc.

Water kefir just starting it's second ferment. I have orange, root beer, pomagranate, apple cinnamon, and strawberry lemonade here.

After adding your fruit/flavors, put a lid on your jar tightly and let set on your counter for another 12-48 hours (the longer, the fizzier). Then, throw it (gently) into your refrigerator and you now have an awesomely yummy probiotic drink you can drink anytime! Enjoy!

Brought to you by Britt