Flavoring Water Kefir (or Kombucha) {Tips-n-Tricks Tuesday}

   I told you in my last post about water kefir that I would do a post soon about how to flavor it. Well here it is! I found the concept originally on one of may favorite blogs Mexican Wildflower. See her post on flavoring Kombucha here.

   It's really easy to flavor the whole jar you made. You can:

A): Use a fruit concentrate (like cherry, cranberry, orange juice, etc) and follow the diluting instructions on the package minus the sugar it calls for

OR

B): Drop in about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of fruit and let sit for about 1-2 days (remove fruit or leave in jar when finished)

~Flavored kefir water on the left. An almost-empty cherry concentrate container on the right.~

What you need to know....

              1. Add your flavoring AFTER the kefir grains have been strained out.

2. DON'T add any sugar - it will be sweet enough!

                                          3. Remember to NOT use a METAL spoon in your kefir water.

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Pinterest: the Plunge....and Input From YOU

A recent addition to my jewelry page

   I've been avoiding Pinterest. I didn't want to become addicted because I know many people already have self-proclaimed addictions. Similar to Facebook in that way. But recently a relative pointed out to me that it would be a great way to get my guitar string jewelry "out there". People could pin my pictures all over. So I decided to start one with the purpose of helping promote my guitar string jewelry, while saving a couple neat things along the way. And I HAVE already found some other neat stuff....for home organizing, food stuffs, etc.

   That said I am now on Pinterest and I send you all a formal invitation: come follow me!

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   On a second note I want to ask you, my blog readers, your opinion on something. I currently have it set up on this blog that you can subscribe to it by email and/or follow with Google. So my question to you all is this: is there another people-connecting gadget that you wish was on this blog? If there is, let me know and I might consider it. I just want to make sure everyone is nice and comfy here during their stay! :)

???DiD yOu KnOw???

A "crisphead lettuce" has a hard, crispy, bland head.

A "butterhead lettuce" is a loose-leafed, tender, buttery head.

"Romaine lettuce (aka 'cos')" grows in upright, tight, bundles.

A "looseleaf lettuce" grows in leaves and doesn't form a head, often having a strong flavor and deeply colored.

There! Now you can't say you don't know the difference between the 4 common types of lettuce ;-)

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P.S. Yep. For all you observant ones out there I DID indeed post this on Wednesday. I apologize for the tardiness.

How To Make ~Water Kefir~

 

    Ever heard of kefir? Well you've probably heard of the milk version, but here is the water version. Depending on how much you pay for your milk, this may even be a cheaper way to consume kefir.

    What's kefir? It's a yummy, fermented drink. It's healthy for you when properly prepared. It fits in the same category of "fermented healthiness" as yoghurt, kombucha, milk kefir, and others. It's easy to make.

   It's also a probiotic. "A pro-bi-what?" you might be thinking. Well for those of you who don't know, a probiotic is pretty much good microorganisms that will kill the bad microorganisms inside you. Apparently in Greek the word "probiotic" translates literally "for life". Really it's known for many to simply "kill the junk" inside of us. If you're interested in more things it does, check out a website by clicking here that I stumbled on when we first got our water kefir grains a few months back. Sounds like great stuff, doesn't it?

 

   In the above picture you can see the water kefir grains on the bottom of the jar. Depending on factors like temperature and nutrient content in the water and sugar you use, they may multiply! If you get too much, use a bigger jar and double the batch, eat the extra grains straight, or give them away to a friend.

Water Kefir

- 1/3 cup water kefir grains

- 3 cups water

- 1/3 cup sugar (white sugar is not suggested, use a healthier sugar - see note below)

Stir sugar into water in a quart jar. Pour in kefir grains that are covered with liquid from the previous batch. WARNING: DON'T LET THE KEFIR GRAINS TOUCH METAL - IT IS VERY BAD FOR THEM. Cover with cotton cloth or cheese cloth to keep debris from falling in and set in a dark place for 8-24 hours, depending on desired strength. (The baggy says some things that conflicts with this recipe, but I researched it and that's how I got the one written here.)

Important Note: I did an experiment with them when it doubled in size. I had been using raw evaporated cane juice sugar at first, but then I split them in jars and used just white sugar in the second jar. Within a few days it started smelling a little funny and we stopped drinking it, but kept on with the experiment. In just over a week or so I gave up on it. It smelled bad and I was NOT going to taste it! It seems to me that I starved it (since white sugar has no nutrients in it) and then bad bacteria took over. So make SURE you don't use regular white sugar and make sure you use clean supplies, as these can both be attributing factors to bad bacteria taking over and in turn, of course, food poisoning.

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   Watch for Tips-n-Tricks Tuesday this week on how I like to flavor it. Personally kefir water tastes like sugar water until it's flavored. So check back on Tuesday to see how we love to drink it!

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Loaded With Vitamin C {Did You Know Tuesdays}

   Peppers have more vitamin C than citrus fruits! Green bell peppers have roughly twice as much, and red peppers have three times as much. Hot peppers? They contain 357% more vitamin C than citrus by weight. Isn't that crazy? Research also shows that peppers are anticoagulins (fancy way of saying that it retards blood from clotting), helping prevent heart attacks or strokes. "Google it" and you'll see.

   Isn't that nifty to know? You might want to plan on growing some peppers if you've got a garden coming this year!

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American Praries {Did You Know Tuesdays}

   Wait! What's all this? What happened to "Tips-n-Tricks Tuesday"? Well, I've decided to shake things up a bit. Sometimes we'll have a "Tips-n-Tricks" Tuesday and other times we'll have a "Did You Know" Tuesday. It'll give us a little more variety, don't you think? All you need to know is that the former is about anything in general and the latter is about gardening. I enjoy passing along things that I learn about gardening. So while I may not have accomplished or even attempted some of the things I may tell you here, they maybe be something I read about that sparked my interest, something I want others to know about gardening, or something I've learned.

   So.........here goes! (P.S. This first one is something I read in a book somewhere.)

    The American prairies were once one of the two most fertile places in the world (the other being the alps, if I remember correctly). But did you catch that word "was"? Think of everywhere in nature. The dirt is always naturally covered with SOMETHING. Leaves, grass, trees, water, etc. Do you ever think of vegetation on hills as helping prevent erosion? Well, that's exactly the point. There was once constant plowing of the prairies without adding compost and substance back into the land. By leaving so much of the ground uncovered (think of all the bare soil in corn fields), when a dry spell came, the soil had no way to hold itself together. It blew away - causing a historic event in American history known as the Dust Bowl. Now, because we didn't realize what we were doing, it's said to be one of the most nutrient-depleted areas....Yikes. Let's do better from now on, shall we?

That One Hour is the Best Time of Day....

   I can't recall how it all started, but somewhere in the last few weeks one of my little siblings convinced me to pull out some of my old toys. Playmobils. I used to love those things and would play with them almost every day. Personally I think the prices have gone up in the few years that it's been since I would get the for every Christmas and birthday, but I wouldn't know because I wasn't the one buying them. Then again I guess all toys are quite expensive for the hunks of plastic that they are, if you ask me. But that's a discussion for another day!

   Well regardless, we've now been playing them a couple days out of each week. And I tell you, it is the highlight of her day. I had to set a certain time of the day to play, and for a certain length of time - otherwise I would get badgered more than the already 3-10 times a day before the event about "is it time yet?"

   I also want to share how the story has progressed. It's cute. First of all it started out that my people were settlers in the west. There was a market where they went to buy things. Then another sibling came in (an older one who wanted more adventure). The new addition meant the sister who was originally playing now hired the newcomer's Spanish body-guard and stable-hand to protect her family's girl from kid-nappers who were lurking in the area. This part was inspired by the old shows of Zorro, if you're wondering.

   The Spaniards finally captured the kid-nappers whom the Spaniards had actually been following for a long time. They actually weren't a body-guard or stable-hand by trade, but were under cover to "get the bad guys." The wielder or the two Spaniards got tired of playing and the game continued with just two of us after the kid-nappers were captured. Next there was alot of birthday parties, the family got snowed in at their friends' house, and a couple baby animals and people born in this time too.

   Next she decided her family was actually royalty and the king just died. So her family went to take over the castle. After this, the Spaniard-wielder decided to return to the "game". Needless to say, last time we played there was a Spaniard hiding in a secret room in the castle because a person from the past who lived in the castle wanted to kill him and now he is afraid to come out of hiding.

   He's also the son of the new kings best childhood friend who just died in the same battle as the king. Talk about...um...cross-cultural adventure?

   So don't be afraid to pick up the toys and play with the kiddos. Yes, sometimes it's boring and there are other things I need to do - but if you make a set time, you can at least plan for it. And it just makes their day! Calling siblings and mommys! Play with the little kids! They might even get you laughing by their wacky stories like the one above.

   (I'm in no way affiliated with Playmobil.)

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