Kombucha!

At some point during the last few years my brother-in-law Phillip introduced me to Kombucha. The first time I took a sip I was intrigued but also a little put off because the taste is different from anything I'd ever tried before. Since then, I've had it a few random times until recently when I've started to really discover my love for the booch.

What is it? Fermented sweet tea.
How do you ferment it? With a culture called a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast). Also known as the "mother" or "mushroom".
What does it taste like? It tastes sweet, vinegary, tangy and carbonated--all depending on how you flavor it!
Who drinks it? People all over the world. It's been consumed supposedly for thousands of years and originated in China.
Why drink it? Kombucha is thought to detox the body, boost the immune system, and supporter a healthy gut, among many other things.
How do you make it? Let me show you!

If you go into any health food store or Whole Foods you can find Kombucha for a crazy high price ranging from 3-5 dollars. That's a ton of money to spend on one drink so I wanted to find out how to brew my own. I'm a member of an awesome "natural mamas" group on Facebook and hearing about their home brews made me curious to try it myself.

The first thing I had to acquire was my SCOBY. You can buy them online from many different sites or use a baby SCOBY that you can get from a friend who brews their own Kombucha. I didn't know anyone who had a baby SCOBY ready and I wanted to make sure I got a high-quality one that was going to last for a long time, so I ordered mine online from Kombucha Kamp.

I anxiously awaited the arrival of my SCOBY and in the meantime gathered all the other tools and ingredients needed for the process:
A large glass container for the brewing vessel. I used 1 gallon.
Pure, filtered water.
Tea-loose or in bags, green or black.
SCOBY.
1 cup of started Kombucha.
Sugar
A cloth to place over your vessel.
A rubberband to hold the cloth in place and to keep fruit flies out.

I followed the recipe outlined on the Kombucha Kamp site and I watched this video as a guide as well.  The girl in that one is adorable!

First I boiled 4 cups of water. It says to use purified/bottled water, but from doing my own research and talking to others firsthand I decided to just use the filtered water from my fridge.

Then pour the boiling water and 5-6 teabags into the glass container. Or if you only have loose tea you would just need a muslin tea bag. Let it steep for 5-7 minutes.

Then remove the teas bags and dissolve 1 cup of sugar in the hot tea.

Once it's all dissolved fill the rest of your vessel with cold water. This will bring the tea down to a temperature that is acceptable for the SCOBY. If the water is too hot it could kill the culture! And you don't want to fill the vessel up the entire way because you have to leave space for the SCOBY and starter Kombucha.

Once it's full and at an acceptable temperature, you add in your SCOBY and starter tea. The SCOBY I ordered online came with the 1 cup of starter tea which was helpful because I didn't have to track some down on my own.

The tea looks lighter here because I moved it to get a better picture with more sunlight. 

At this point everything is done and you are ready to put on your cloth and rubber band to begin the fermentation process. The cloth should be breathable because the kombucha needs oxygen. Basically you let it sit in a dark (out of direct sunlight) but open (no cabinets) area for 7-21 days until you taste it and it's to your liking.  I put mine on my kitchen counter in a corner behind my blender and mixer.

I first tasted mine after 7 days but it was way too sweet, so I let it go until Day 14.  To taste it I just stuck a straw gently into the kombucha and then put it into a glass to try. Here at Day 7 you can see a new baby SCOBY forming on top. Each time you make a new batch of kombucha your mother will produce a baby. The baby can be composted, thrown away, or given to another person who can use it to start brewing their own.

This is what the baby looked like when I took the cloth off. 

Day 7. 

After another 7 days or so I tried it again and decided it was ready to be bottled. I used old Kombucha bottles for mine, but you can really use any bottle that you can seal tightly. And you can flavor it with anything that sounds good: fruit, fruit juice, herbs, ginger--really anything!  You have to remember to save 2 cups before bottling your tea. This will serve as your starter liquid for your next batch and for a batch if your baby is given to a friend. You can either immediately brew more tea and add your SCOBY to begin the process again or store it in an airtight container until ready.

This time I tried pineapple, blueberries, mint and lime, and plain. My favorite by far was blueberry! 

Where I stored my mother and baby before giving the baby to my mom. 

After they are bottled you being the second fermentation phase. Basically you let it sit on your counter (again out of direct sunlight) for 2-7 more days until it is nice and bubbly and carbonated. After a few days pass you can place them in the fridge to get cold before opening or just open them up and have a taste! Warning: because they are naturally carbonated, depending on what you use to flavor them they can really fizz when opened. I suggest opening over the kitchen sink. NEVER shake your kombucha, it CAN explode! I'm now on my third brewing process and I am loving my boocha or booch, as it's called in our house. My favorite flavorings have been strawberry and blueberry.

A few rules I've learned:
Never let metal come in contact with your SCOBY.
Never refrigerate your SCOBY.
Always use clean hands if you touch your SCOBY.
Clean your brewing vessel with only hot water and vinegar, no soap.
If you ever see mold throw your SCOBY away.

I'm having a fun time experimenting with flavors and I plan to continuously brew more kombucha until I either get sick of it or my SCOBY goes bad. It's really simple and I would love to pass along my babies to anyone interested! :) Happy Brewing! 

Lots and lots of food

As I'm sure many people already know, three out of the four people in our household are vegetarian. {Kyle being the non-vegetarian}  I've been a vegetarian since 7th grade.  Kyle has eaten meat his entire life.  He eats meat out, but never at home.  I ate fish for the first few years and then stopped eating it sometime in high school.  Over the years, I've gotten lots of questions and concerns about this lifestyle choice.  Is it the best way to feed yourself and your children? I can't say yes for everyone, but it works very well for us.  Is it healthy? Again, I can't say what's healthiest for everyone, but for us, our diet is *usually* healthy and nutritious.  But what do you EAT? Everything and anything!

In our house, we eat a variety of foods.  We have our staples, but I am always trying out new recipes and new ingredients.  At least two nights a week I find a recipe either online, in a magazine {Vegetarian Times or Whole Living}, Pinterest, or in one of my vegetarian cookbooks.  I can definitely understand how a person who consumes meat at every meal could have a hard time realizing our diet is anything but dull and boring.  My kids eat every type of vegetable both raw and cooked, tons and tons of fruit, whole grains, cheese, yogurt, eggs and so much more.  {We aren't vegan so we do eat eggs and dairy} And actually, recently, Kyle and I decided to start eating fish in our home for nutritional and convenience reasons. It is something I am still going back and forth on, so not sure if it will be a permanent change or not.  And to be honest, eating fleshy fish still really weirds me out.

Other than fish, neither of my children have ever eaten meat.  The few times we've offered Cambria fish she hasn't touched it or she's put it in her mouth and instantly spit it back out.  Ezra is too young to notice or care at this point, but he doesn't seem to mind the change.

Whenever something is really delicious, I take a picture of the dish to remember it and because I'm usually proud of the meal. :)Here are some of my favorites over the last few months.  {Seriously, we take lots of pictures of food!}

This was pasta with homemade pesto, spinach and then topped with ricotta cheese.  Roasted butternut squash as a side.  We add spinach to our pasta by throwing it in the bottom of the colander then pouring the boiling water and noodles over it to wilt the leaves.  Such an easy way to add some dark leafy greens to your meal!

This is brown rice, amazing homemade veggie stir-fry sauce {(neverhome)maker is an excellent resource for a vegetarian diet}, pan-fried tofu, and a side of roasted broccoli. One day I am going to do a post on cooking tofu the way it's pictured above.  It's seriously good!

This was some risotto that I cannot find, roasted asparagus, and butternut squash soup.  Can you tell that we like to roast our veggies around here... :)

This was a Saturday morning where I made the quiche recipe my sister first shared on her blog, but I added spinach and ate it with coffee and honeydew.

We love smoothies! Again, (neverhome)maker.com has some awesome smoothies recipes.  This one is the 20/20 shake. Some staple smoothie ingredients I use: almond milk, frozen fruit, oats, maple syrup, agave nectar, bananas, ice, peanut butter, coconut flakes, spinach.

This is the same stir-fry from above except with quinoa pasta.  Definitely recommend the pasta if you're looking for less wheat/gluten.

A typical snack for Cambria.  Strawberries, grapes, carrots and cucumbers.

A marinated then grilled portobella mushroom topped with lots and lots of cheese and roasted red peppers, roasted Brussels sprouts and red potatoes with cheese cooked in the crock pot.

Lunch of PB&J {one of the favorites in our household}

Apparently she liked it.

Broccoli and cheese soup with cheesy quinoa cakes.

Blueberries and falafel in a pita with tzatziki sauce.

Another typical lunch, Annie's Mac n' Cheese with added frozen peas and carrots + strawberries.

We LOVE Mellow Mushroom.  Our favorite pizza: BBQ base, BBQ tofu, and onions. Yuuuuuuuuum.

Egg salad sandwich recipe here.

Store-bought cheese tortellini and pesto, kale chips, and roasted carrots.

Blueberries, raspberries, scrambled egg and peanut butter toast for breakfast.

Caprese: shells, tomatoes, mozzarella, olive oil, basil, and a little kale {or whatever leafy green we have in the fridge}.  This recipe was passed down from my college roommate Kirsten and I believe all of us make it now with our own families. 

One of the meals I've made with fish: sauteed shrimp and onions and peppers, corn salsa, tomatoes, avocado, sour cream, broccoli...basically a burrito bowl.

Whole wheat English muffin topped with hummus, pesto, avocado and sprouts.  Side of sweet potato fries and extra pesto for dipping.  {I found recipe in Whole Living magazine, but can't find it online}

And of course I can't forget our most favorite yogurt, CHOBANI! I know I've talked about this yogurt many times before but we just really, really love it.

In the last few months, I've really become more conscious of what I am putting in my body and in my children's. We definitely aren't perfect and have our fair share of guilty pleasures: Seasons of Japan, Olive Garden, and coke, just to name a few. With every single meal I analyze the nutritional benefit or lack thereof {sometimes to an unhealthy extent}. I want to grow healthy children now and instill in them a love of good, wholesome food for the rest of their lives. 

  

I hope I've inspired someone to make one of these recipes. I'll try and post more as I make other delicious foodies!

Borscht!

Do you like beets? Do you hate them? Are you not sure? Either way, you HAVE to try this borscht recipe I made earlier this week.  After trying borscht that was actually made with beef broth {didn't know until after, oops!} I knew I wanted to try to make a vegetarian version that was just as tasty.  So I stumbled upon this recipe on theKitchn and decided to give it a try.  It was a HUGE success!!! I'm now seriously obsessed with the recipe and will probably be making it again very soon.  I don't want to post the ingredients or the directions because I'm not sure if I can do that so just follow the links. 

It went perfect with grilled cheese on some bakery bread.

The sour cream on top makes it creamy and delicious.

The kids both gobbled it up and had second and third helpings.  The color of the soup is a little deceiving because it actually has a very rich and hearty flavor despite the reddish color caused by the beets.  Please try this recipe if you are looking for a new delicious soup in your life! And let me know what you think if you do. 

On a side note: can you guess what we attempted to do yesterday but couldn't because I forgot cash?

I had just run 3+ miles while pushing 70+ lbs of baby and stroller, please excuse my looks :)

Yep, strawberry picking season is back! Can't wait to pick a ton to freeze them for the rest of the year. Spring is here and so is the pollen, gross.  But I'm wondering what the heck happened to "winter" because I never felt it...

Getting those Greens

Last week I made two new veggie sides for dinner and they were both so tasty that I had to share.  Both of these dishes are going to become regular staples in our diet,  for sure.  The first recipe is for Roasted Brussels Sprouts. 

 Wash the Brussels sprouts.

 Then cut off the brown parts on the ends.

 Toss them in a bowl with olive oil, salt, pepper.  You could also add garlic or any other type of seasoning.

 Bake them at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.

 Until they look like this! Yummmmm.  Just looking at this picture makes me want to make more right now.  They are so flavorful and delicious.

My favorite part were these little pieces that broke off and became really crispy.  Kyle commented that they taste like chips, they really do!! So the next day I was browsing one of my favorite food blogs Shutterbean, and found a recipe for KALE CHIPS!!! I made them for dinner that night.  They were amazing.   I didn't get any step-by-step pictures, but I just followed the recipe and it worked great. 

So crispy, salty and amazing!!!! Seriously, if you've never used kale before or are just looking to add some veggies, try both of these recipes.  I don't think you'll be disappointed. 

Happy Eating!