by Suzanne Pasteurized? Homogenized? Grass-fed? How do you choose the best milk for making yogurt? What is Pasteurized Milk? Pasteurization is the process of heating milk to kill bacteria, making the milk stay fresh longer. While this process may have made milk easier to transport long distances, it may not be the best for milk you're going to use to make yogurt. There are different types of pasteurization, so be sure to check the carton before you buy! HTST or Flash Pasteurized milk is heated to 161ºF and held there for 15 seconds. If your bottle of milk is labeled simply Pasteurized, it has most likely been treated in this way. Pasteurized milk is a great choice for making your...
by Kim Sorry to get all serious with you, but we need to make a serious point. Modern food processing methods have shortchanged people of essential enzymes and probiotics. As food production has gotten faster, we've cut corners. We feed our growing population (somewhat) efficiently, but the food we're eating isn't giving us the best version of ourselves. Our diets leave most of us under-energized, gassy and emotionally turbulent (just a regular Wednesday for some). But even those who eat 'healthy' could use a bit of an edge. And if you're a busy person, you know how valuable that bit of boost can be. You know what's even worse? Approximately 70 million Americans suffer from digestive diseases, each year. Those...
by Suzanne Water kefir ginger ale is one of my favorite fizzy drinks. It brings back memories of staying home from school with a sore throat, lying on the couch watching old movies on TV, with Mom taking care of me and serving a cool glass of ginger ale with a straw! Thinking back to those good old days made me crave a tall glass of ginger ale. I just knew I could make it fermented, too. First I made ginger tea: Bring 8 cups water to a full boil. Add …“-½ cup of chopped fresh ginger, no need to peel it. Reduce heat, simmer for 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in 1½ cups sugar. I like to use rapadura for the rich flavor. Cool completely. Strain into a gallon jar. Next, I fermented the sweet ginger tea: Add 1 quart finished, unflavored water kefir and enough cool, filtered water to fill the jar about an inch from the top. Cover with a cloth, secured by a rubber band, just like making water kefir. Let that ginger water kefir ferment 2 days at room temperature. You should be able to see some bubbles or foam on top at this point. Then I bottled the fermented ginger ale: After 2 days, bottle the liquid in tightly sealed bottles. Ferment on the counter-top another 12-24 hours before refrigerating. I like to open one bottle as a test before refrigerating, just to make sure it's fizzy. If not, I let the sealeed bottles...
