Fermenting

Making Sauerkraut from Scratch for Beginners

January 31, 2020 by Sylvia Rose 17 Comments

Making sauerkraut from scratch is not only a rewarding experience it is also fairly easy to do. If you’re new to the traditional art of fermentation, homemade sauerkraut is a great place to start. Let’s get started!

RECLAIMING A LOST SKILL

Before modern conveniences like refrigerators and freezers found a place in every home, folks needed a way to preserve their harvest.

While root cellars were excellent for storing potatoes, squash and other hardy produce, a lot would have gone to waste without a means of preservation.

Fermentation is an art that goes way back and is a means to preserve produce, dairy, and even fish.

Today it’s a skill that is slowly being reclaimed, although in some parts of the world it still lives strong (ex. Korea’s totally healthy obsession with kimchi).

Related: How to Make Milk Kefir

While you can ferment pretty much anything, today we’ll be looking at how to make sauerkraut from scratch.

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Maple Walnut Fermented Steel Cut Oats

June 11, 2019 by Sylvia Rose 2 Comments

This maple walnut fermented steel cut oats recipe tastes delicious hot or cold. Try making it in large batches for easy breakfasts throughout the week!

THE BENEFITS OF HOMEMADE OATMEAL

Growing up, a big pot of cinnamon raisin oatmeal frequently made an appearance on the breakfast table. I was a lucky kid.

Oatmeal is nutritious, it’s filling, it’s easy to make, and best of all, it’s cheap. It’s one of those slow burning fuels that keeps you going all morning and doesn’t make you come crashing down before noon.

Of course, not all oatmeals are made equal. Those sugar laden packages of artificially flavoured instant oatmeal aren’t anyone’s friend. I’m looking at you, smiling quaker!

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Making Milk Kefir (An Easy Beginner’s Guide)

May 14, 2019 by Sylvia Rose 15 Comments

Making milk kefir is one of the easiest things you can do in the kitchen. Learn how to make this tangy probiotic drink and never spend another dime on commercial kefir again!

MAKING YOUR OWN MILK KEFIR

You may have noticed kefir in the dairy section at the grocery store stashed beside the goat milk.

It’s a fermented, gut-healthy probiotic drink that is slowly gaining in popularity but still has a long way to go.

When bought at full price (compared to making your own at home) the cost can be slightly prohibitive for a non-essential grocery item.

Even if it was more affordable, commercial kefir tastes nothing like the homemade version.

The kefir that I make at home is akin to drinking yogurt in liquid form.

It’s a thicker, tangier version of buttermilk, but oh, so much better.

When it comes to probiotics, it kicks yogurt’s butt, making it a daily go-to beverage for optimal gut health.

I’m not going to focus on kefir’s many virtues in this post, but if you’re curious, you can find a good summary of its health benefits on Healthline.

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