Orange Cream Kefir

Inspired by Cultured Food Life’s post about second fermentation of milk kefir, I made this yummy breakfast.  I’m normally not a huge fan of kefir but a second fermentation was all it needed to push me into the fan category.
The second fermentation takes the edge off the kefir giving it a more pleasant taste and you can impart other flavors in it like we do with water kefir and kombucha. It also increases the B vitamins.  Yay for B vitamins!  My first experiment is with orange zest and vanilla extract.

Orange Cream Kefir

• 1 quart raw milk
• kefir grains
• zest from 1 orange
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Add kefir grains to your milk and let culture at room temp for about 24 hours.  Strain kefir grains.  

Add orange zest and vanilla, mix well and let set for about 8 hrs to a full day.  At this point the kefir may have separated. Just give it a good shake.  

I’m thinking this would be equally good in kombucha and water kefir.  I’ll let you know!

ETA: I made some orange cream water kefir this week and cracked open a bottle this afternoon.  Yum!

Part of Fat Tuesday, Traditional Tuesday…

Orange Ginger Beet Kvass

I know it’s not Ferment Friday yet, but this is too good to wait.


Beet kvass that actually tastes good?  Is it even possible?!  I’ve been determined to make a beet kvass that I not only can drink but actually like.  I think I found it thanks to Jenny from Nourished Kitchen’s Fermented Beets with Orange and Ginger.  I thought I would add orange zest and ginger slices to my normal beet kvass recipe.  That is exactly what was needed.  It tastes great as is but add a second fermentation with orange or apple juice for some extra yum!


What is beet kvass? It’s a lactofermented beverage, it can be fizzy but not necessarily. If you do a second ferment in an airtight container, you have a higher chance of it being fizzy.


Use this beet kvass to make some Lactofermented Purple Eggs. It also colors yogurt a beautiful pink and just a little doesn’t alter the taste.

Orange Ginger Beet Kvass

• 6 medium beets, scrubbed and very roughly chopped
• 2″ knob of ginger, sliced thin
• Zest and juice of 1 orange (since we’re using the skin, I recommend using organic oranges)
• 4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable culture, reserved kvass from a previous batch, whey or an extra 2 tbsp sea salt
• Filtered water

Place beets, ginger, orange (zest and juice), salt and culture in a 1 gallon jar.  Top with filtered water and cover loosely.  Let set at room temperature for 3 days.  Strain and bottle the rich red liquid.  Use strained beets again for another batch.

For a second fermentation, fill air tight bottles like these flip top bottles, about 3/4 full.  Fill the rest of the way with orange juice (apple juice is great too) cover tightly and set 12-24 hrs at room temp.  Move to fridge and enjoy!


Part of Fat Tuesday, Whole Food Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Fight Back Friday

Carrot Ginger Kvass

I’ve made beet kvass before and suffered through drinking it because it was good for me. This is coming from someone who normally likes beets.  I don’t know what got in to me to try making carrot kvass but maybe it’ll be friendlier to my taste buds.  Ginger of course just seems natural with carrots.  I made 3 different kinds in order to experiment. One with whey, one with no whey, and one with the carrot just scrubbed not peeled.  I actually forgot to peel it before I put it in the food processor, lol!  I figure it probably has extra good soil bacteria.
I gave it a try yesterday night and was pleasantly surprised. I actually liked it. I added a few drops of stevia to sweeten but even without the stevia it was palatable.  It’s not something I would drink for the sheer enjoyment of it but since it’s good for me, I can enjoy it.  I decided to try a second fermentation with added juice and now it’s very good.

Carrot Ginger Kvass (makes a little under 1 qt)

• 3 medium organic carrots, peeled and chopped finely
• 1″ piece of ginger, chopped
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp whey (substitute 1 more tsp of sea salt if not using whey)
• Water to cover
• Stevia to taste (added after fermenting)

Place carrots in a quart sized mason jar.  Add salt, whey and water.  Cover tightly and shake to dissolve salt.  Loosen cover and let set at room temperature 3-5 days.  Strain out carrot solids, squeezing out the juice.  Refrigerate.  Save solids for baking or soups.  Reserve some liquid and use in place of whey to inoculate future batches.

Optional Second Ferment
I found doing an optional second ferment makes it much tastier and effervescent. Once you’ve strained the kvass, pour into flip top bottles or a mason jar, about 2/3 full.  Add juice to top it off.  Seal tightly and leave at room temp for another 8-12 hours.  Remove to cold storage.  I made one with apple and one with carrot juice.  Both are great.

Part of Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday and Real Food Forager’s Probiotic Food Challenge and Fat Tuesday, and Friday Food Flicks.

Chocolate Eggnog

I wanted hot chocolate tonight but as I started gathering the ingredients to make some, I thought chocolate eggnog would be super tasty.  So I made that instead.  Good idea!  This is not only super tasty and easy to make but it’s good for you too!

Chocolate Eggnog

• 4 cups cold raw milk
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup hot water
• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp honey or maple syrup
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Mix cocoa powder, honey and hot water until smooth.  Let cool a bit.  Using an immersion blender, regular blender or mixer, add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.  Enjoy!

*Next time I think I’ll replace one cup of milk with one cup of fresh cream (I was out).

Post Run Egg Nog

Mmm, egg nog, mmm…
Did you know egg nog can actually be good for you? Not the sugar/artificial everything laden stuff in the supermarket but the yummy homemade goodness using fresh from the farm ingredients. The only thing I bought from the store on the ingredients list are the spices. Even the the vanilla extract is homemade!
Full of good proteins, good fats and good simple sugars, this is my new post-workout food of choice. It’s also full of raw milk and eggs so according to the FDA, I’ll die from this or at least get really sick. It’s a wonder mankind has survived all these years without their wise advice *hint of sarcasm*. I won’t go into the safety of raw milk and eggs, you can find it yourself easy enough. Just make sure you get your milk and eggs from a good farm. Raw milk from your local commercial dairy actually might kill you. There is a BIG difference between commercial dairies and organic/raw dairies. Big!
ETA: If you want to read a good articles about the safety of raw milk, here is one http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2008/03/23/got_raw_milk/?page=full

Good-for-you Egg Nog

• 1 cup fresh raw milk (yogurt or kefir taste yummy too and make it GAPS legal)
• 2 fresh eggs from pasture fed chickens (high in vitamin D and omega 3’s)
• 1/2 tsp honey
• dash of cinnamon and nutmeg
• few drops of vanilla extract

Whirl everything together in a blender (I use my submersion blender) and drink up!
*From Ramiel Nagel’s book “Cure Tooth Decay.”