so many carrots...

I finally made it out to the garden a few days ago and found a million carrots ready to pull up...time to culture some veggies!  Why?...

Our bodies need raw foods to help with cleansing and detoxification, but we also need to add a variety of cultured and fermented foods to help replenish our gut flora.  Our health or lack of health originates in the gut and if we heal the gut we have the ability to heal our ailments...from chronic disease to the most seemingly inconsequential complaints we may have-even nagging problems that we may take as a normal part of life or of aging such as headaches and migraines, pms, weight gain, skin problems (eczema, psoriasis, acne), allergies and asthma, lowered immunity, candidiasis, digestive problems and constipation, insomnia, learning disabilities, and on and on.  Our intestinal bacteria influence every other aspect of our bodies: brain development, mental health, memory, immunity, weight, genetic expression and our risk of chronic and acute diseases.

What causes an imbalance in the gut flora?  Drugs such as antibiotics (those we take in pill form and those we acquire from our foods), pain killers, steroid drugs, contraceptive pills, sleeping pills, heartburn pills (drug-induced gut dysbiosis is usually the most severe and the most resistant to treatment), a diet high in sugar, processed foods or high in grain fiber, infectious diseases or chronic illnesses such as diabetes, autoimmune diseases, endocrine disease and obesity, surgery, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, radiation, stress, physical exertion, age, alcoholism, pollution, exposure to toxins...A newborn child is born with a sterile gut and gets it's gut flora from the mother (through the birth canal and from breastmilk), so damage gets passed on from generation to generation.   (Gut And Psychology Syndrome provides an in depth explanation and the GAPS diet is a great place to start for those wanting to heal.)  An imbalance in gut flora is inevitable in our lifetimes which is why it is so important for us to constantly replenish the good microbes in our digestive systems.

Dr. Mercola lists some of the benefits of eating fermented and cultured foods: greater immunity (80% of our immune system is located in the digestive system), detoxification (able to draw out a wide range of impurities), and the simple fact that fermented foods contain 100 times more probiotics than a supplement. 

The optimum fermented foods to eat are fermented vegetables, but also important are yogurt, kefir, kombucha and other cultured foods in order to get a wide variety of beneficial bacteria.  It's important to note that commercial versions of yogurt or kefir do not typically contain live cultures and are full of sugars that feed bad bacteria.  Start slowly with fermented foods...they are powerful detoxifiers and you will feel the affect!   
 

 

Cultured Veggies

Chop and shred mixed veggies.  This mix includes 2 heads green cabbage, 4 carrots, 2 beets, 1 yellow onion, 4-5 small jalapenos, 4 cloves garlic.  

Sprinkle 2 Tbsp himalayan salt over veggies.

Mix and tamp until juices start to release.  I use my vitamix tamper or you can use a meat pounder or a kraut pounder.

Add brine if more liquid is needed...you should be able to pick up a handful of veggies and squeeze the juice out.  For the liquid you may use a saltwater brine made with filtered water or fresh juiced celery.  I used about 1 cup of celery juice in this mix with a little cucumber juice added.  I also added 8 Tbsp whey and a few Biokult probiotic capsules (optional) to get things started.  Another option is to purchase a veggie culture. 

Fill quart size mason jars, packing veggies down with your fist until the juice rises above.  Place a cabbage leaf on top and tuck the sides down around the veggies on the edge of the jar, making sure to leave a good 1 1/2-2 inches for expansion.  Hand tighten the canning lid and let sit in a warm place in your kitchen or cupboard, with something to catch juices if they leak.

Let sit for 3 days and then refrigerate.  Veggies can be eaten right away or if set in refrigerator for up to 6 months will continue to mellow.  

 Putting the boys to work!

There are many good books available on fermented vegetables.  Also good video tutorials can be found at the Healthy Home Economist website, which I recommend subscribing to!  Here's to your health and immunity!

how to make kombucha...

"kon, kon, kombucha"...my 5 yr old started singing in the car one day his ode to kombucha.  Friends refer to it as 'booch', 'kombuchi', it seems everyone who loves it comes up with their own term of endearment.  So here's my recipe for humble kitchen kombucha...

 

Kombucha: 

a probiotic drink made by fermenting tea and sugar with a SCOBY culture (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast).  

Kombucha is basically sweet tea transformed into a living drink full of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and health-giving organic acids with antibiotic, antiviral and anti fungal properties. It's been shown to improve energy levels and protect against stress as well as benefit digestive problems, allergies, candidiasis, hypertension, cancer, HIV, arthritis, metabolic disorders, liver function and chronic fatigue.  And it's yummy!  If you're trying it for the first time I recommend the Synergy brand (guava is our favorite) and don't get it on tap at a restaurant unless you like the taste of warm beer-disgusting!  If you follow this recipe it will be delicious...

SUPPLIES:

2.5 Gallon Glass Container (Target or Bed, Bath & Beyond have one with a metal lid for $20)

Clean Dish/Tea Towel

Large Rubberband (the one that comes on broccoli is the perfect size)

Funnel

Mesh Sieve and Cheesecloth 

8 Quarts Filtered Water

2 3/4 Cups Organic Cane Sugar

12-14 Bags Plain Organic Tea (Black, Green or White.  Green is mild and a good one to start with)

2-3 Cups Kombucha from a previous batch or 2 Bottles Original Synergy Kombucha (no flavors!)

SCOBY (from a friend, make one, or buy from Cultures For Health)

METHOD:

Set out your 2-3 cups of kombucha (previous batch or store bought) to allow to come to room temperature. Bring about 8 quarts (32 cups) filtered water to boil. Turn off water, add 2 3/4 cups of sugar and stir to dissolve. Next, add 12-14 tea bags. Let steep until you have a good and strong, dark sweet tea (around 30 minutes or so). Remove tea bags. Let the tea mixture COMPLETELY cool. I let mine sit all day or overnight. Do not get tempted to jump the gun on this-you could damage the scoby if the water is too warm.

Once cooled completely, put 2-3 cups PLAIN kombucha (or about 2 bottles if store bought) into your brew container. Add your cooled tea/sugar mixture and the SCOBY. The SCOBY will float on top or may sink to the bottom. Cover the jar with a clean towel (not cheesecloth as this is too loose a weave) and put a rubber band around it to secure. Pull the overhanging ends of the towel taut to be sure it is not sagging into your kombucha brew. 

You want to let it sit, preferably in the dark, but definitely NOT in direct light. Ideally, it should be in a warm-ish place (I have a growing mat that I sit mine on in the bottom of my pantry but you don’t have to do this). The temp needs to be between 75-85. The time it takes depends on a number of factors. Usually about 3 weeks-sometimes more or less. In cooler weather it will take longer. I usually wait 3-4 weeks to decrease the sugar content but it will sometimes have more of a vinegary taste, especially if you're using black tea.  Green tea doesn't taste right until at least 3 weeks.  You can start taste-testing after 8-9 days.

To check kombucha, dip a NON-METAL spoon or cup in, gently push down the SCOBY and fill your spoon with the liquid. You are looking for a balance between sweet and vinegary. When it is ready, the SCOBY will have consumed the sugar and the tea. If it tastes like sweet tea it’s not ready. When ready, bottle and refrigerate. This is where you would strain it if desired, using a sieve.  Depending on how clear you'd like it to end up you can line your sieve with cheesecloth.  As it sits your kombucha will produce string regardless-even in the refrigerator, but this is just a sign that it is a good, live drink.   I leave some of mine in a pitcher in the frig and bottle the rest in cleaned, store-bought kombucha bottles or the big glass apple juice bottles-sometimes mason jars (goes nicely with the moonshine theme!)

Never let your scoby come in contact with metal. It's ok to brew your tea in a metal pot and to strain your final brew through a metal strainer, but do not put metal spoons/cups into your brewing container and make sure everything is rinsed completely free of soaps. 

 

During brewing your SCOBY will either thicken or a completely new SCOBY will form on the top of your jar. I usually leave the second and start the process in the same jar again.  The next batch I tend to take 2 out, leave the newest baby in and give away/save/compost the others.  Then I clean my jar and start over with just one SCOBY. It's ok to tear them apart and I keep my extras in a glass jar with a non-metal lid in the frig in case something goes wrong with my first.  

Soap residue left in your brewing container,  contact with metal,  pesticides from using non-organic tea/sugar and unfiltered water can all damage your SCOBY.  If your SCOBY ever gets orange or black or greenish, toss it and start over with a new one. Darker brown spots are ok. 

Here's to your HEALTH!

Resources:
Cultures For Health
Seeds of Health