FERMENTED LEMONS WITH RINDS

FERMENTED LEMONS WITH THEIR RIND
AFTER 7 MONTHS THEY STILL
LOOK BEAUTIFUL

Seven months ago back in January my friend gave me about 25 pounds of ripe organic lemons.  I juiced and froze some.  I made lemon marmalade to preserve another portion of the lemons.  However, I wanted to find a way to preserve some besides canning it and killing anything that was alive in the heating process.  I found I could ferment it in a salted lemon juice brine.  Well after seven months let me share with you the results.   They are just as beautiful in color.  They came out in its own thick "syrup" full of natural pectin. They are now so delicate, and fall apart easy.  They looked so juicy I just had to try it.  Wow, it just melted in my mouth, rind and all.  I am very impressed.  I believe in food storage too besides eating healthy and this is how I did it...

Yes thats a thick salty lemon syrup full of natural
 pectin as well as probiotics and vitamins.

INGREDIENTS:

• Lemons 8-10 large (preferably organic) washed and sliced thin
• Jar sterile and large enough to fit the lemons leaving 2 inch headspace
• Juice of 3 large lemons
• 1/3 cup mineral salt (sea salt kosher salt, or pickling salt is fine just no iodized salt.)
• warm water enough to cover lemons at least 1 inch over the top

I mixed 1/4 cup warm water with the lemon juice and till the salt disolved in a separate bowel.  In a sterile jar I began packing  the sliced lemons in the sterile jar tightly.  I used a food pusher getting most of the air out every few layers. In doing this I added a little of the lemon juice brine solution each time. I did this till it was packed leaving a two inch headspace.  I then filled it with the lemon/water/salt solution leaving a one inch headspace.  I left it in a dark corner for a month.



I was not in a hurry to try it after a month because I don't like the rind or the white pith and I thought it would have that "pithy bitter taste".  So in February I put it in the back of the refrigerater for the past 6 months.   So after 7 months it's so ready.  I had to try it.   I am again a happy camper as I now have another probiotic ferment to share with you and my friends.

One note please.  This is a very lemony salty fermented tangy product. Similar to a salted plum. I would not suggested you eat it as is.  You might want to consider making a sauce and adding a couple of slices to a cooked product.  Or maybe a lemon vinaigrette.  Chopped fine and sprinkle it in a salad is another option right?  If you have any ideas let me know.  How about dried? Or any comments, please feel free to leave one.

Thanking you in advance and many blessings,

CAN YOU SEE THE TENDERNESS

Mary Helen

SO DELICATE, THEY JUST FALL APART

JUICY MOUTH WATERING FERMENTED LEMONS

KOMBUCHA SCOBY FACE MASK/TONER

So here's the situation.  I have loads of Kombucha SCOBY Cultures. SCOBY is the acronym for Symbiotic Culture for Bacteria and Yeast They have been my babies for a few months now constantly reproducing.  I have been searching for creative ways to prepare kombucha SCOBY, besides kombucha tea, and  to eat, in an appetizing way.  So if you have any ideas please feel free to let me know.  Meanwhile I found sites where folks not only bathe with kombucha vinegar.  I've read where they get the kombucha SCOBY's and put it directly on the face.

Well, here is my recipe for a great way to help rid acne, and close those open big pores, and heal from the outside as well as the inside.  I really like the way it tingles my face each time I apply it. It feels like something is going on.  It is because it's very much alive and a raw probiotic.  The SCOBY to Kombucha, is like the Mother to vinegar, healthy.  Mother knows best, right?. It also acts like a gentle chemical peel. softening, (tenderizing) the skin. Just like it cleanses and softens the inner organs.  It helps rid your body of any invading bacteria that can cause acne or just clogged pores.  It just doesn't sit on my face. I take the opportunity to lie down and rest while it is drying on my face for about 15 minutes.  Why?  Well, I'd rather have the gravity pulling my skin in my  favor right? Lol.  I like it because it does tend to pull similar to a mask when it is fully dried, and I get the soft and tender looking skin. It rinses off well with warm water too. Speaking of tender skin, tenderizing my skin comes to mind with this cream. Hey for a woman my age, my skin looks better every month for a year now.  Nice to know that I am not getting older, I am getting better.  Haha, I least I think so:)

Probiotic Face Mask/Toner with SCOBY.
 It looks sticky but it's not.

It blended in quite well.  Velvety

What gave me the idea to make this probiotic facial mask is that I read that they also use SCOBY'S as a natural bandaid for cuts, burns, even surgeries back in the old days.  It has been known to help heal the wound by acting like a layer of skin. It helps bind the skin  by regenerating new cellular construction when the SCOBY was applied to the wound.  Furthermore, it does not allow any other bad bacteria to enter the wound as well because it creates a  tight seal, and the live acetic cultures living in the SCOBY.   Anyway I figure if the SCOBY can regenerate new cellular construction, well, let it be on my face too,  Guess what?  I'm liking it.  I like the way it makes my skin  feel on the outside, which is by the way the largest organ in our body.  So now I feel I got it going on in the inside and outside as well. Not perfect, but hey who is? And to me, that's all that matters. If it works, i'll holler.  So, I'm hollering!  Lol. Now if it could only remove all this excess fat on my body.  Actually using probiotics this last year has helped me shed off 40 pounds, but it took a long time to get this big and unhealthy, so it's going to take a while longer of being consistant in my probiotic/gt kombucha/kifer/fermented foods regime.  One day at a time.

So back to this Probiotic Facial Mask/Toner.  I used...

I extracted the micro-nutrients from the green/mint herbs
 in healthy oils.
My SCOBY before it was rinsed.

• 8 oz scoby culture fresh
• 1/8 c kombucha vinegar (loaded with probiotics.)
• 1 tbsp of your favorite oil.  (I used my mixed green tea/mint coconut/ghee/grapeseed oils that I had previously extracted the micro nutrient rich antioxidants like phyto-chemicals that were in the herbs.
• one clean glass or plastic container, with lid to hold one cup of this toner
• very powerful mixer.  I am fortunate to own a Vita-mix and am so happy with the way it creams it so quickly.

Wash your scoby well with water making sure to remove anything stringy.  That "stringy" dark threads is spent yeast from the green tea, and sugar that the scoby used to make the probiotic gt kombucha.  Now make sure you wring it out well.  Add all the ingredients and blend on high speed for 3 minutes or until it comes out creamy and is quite spreadable.  I now put this in a 8 oz jar.  Any leftover's I add to my homemade edible body butters, and use that on my face as well as my body.  I don't wash that off,  my skin just sucks up all the available micro-nutrients. I find myself washing my face more often just for that tingly feeling.  Silly me, but, Isn't that great?  I think so.  So now you try it.  I do have extra creams, and cultures just in case anyone is interested.

I hope you like this one and can put those extra SCOBY'S to good use.  This is so easy and very inexpensive to make.  I used to pay $100's of dollars for expensive name brand creams.  Not anymore because, mine work better.  Try it for yourself.  Anyway, until the next time...see you real soon.

Enjoy and Many Blessings,

Mary Helen

GOAT MILK KIFER

Goat Milk Kifer

goat milk curds and whey, and milk kifer grain

Good day everyone,  Are you ready for another wonderful probiotic food?  It's healthy, tasty, easy, and affordable if made at home.  Besides by now we should know you get more probiotics if it is homemade, as opposed to store bought, right?,  At least I hope so.  Yes, you get so much more, that it would be to your benefit to make it at home if your aiming for optimum benefits of probiotics.  Again, we have control over this situation.  Especially if it is time you have on hand.  You just basically pour, shake, wait, strain and enjoy.  How hard is that?

Goat milk kifer curds and grain

Well, today I just opened up a bottle of overflowing goat's milk kifer that I fermented yesterday. It overflowed because I  left one inch headspace, and I should have left at least two inches for this narrow bottle.

I have eaten goat cheese, but have never tried the milk.  I like it, and if you like the flavor of  buttermilk, or goat cheese, chances are you will like goat milk kifer.

I started with...

• 1 quart goat milk
• 4 tbsp milk kifer grains
• 36 oz wide mouth glass container (squeaky clean)
• 12 hours time at 78 degrees (optional  as time varies depending of warmth)  

Okay, to be honest I was going for goat cheese,, but when you make the curds and whey, don't shake it to get the grains out.  What happened was, I put my grain to ferment in a small mouth jar.  Big mistake if you are going to make cheese.  So I shook the jar hard to get my grains out and ended up mixing my curds and whey, thus goat milk kifer.  haha.  It's all good though.  Now I know make sure I have a wide mouth jar to get my grains out easily and the whey would pour out, and the curds would have stayed in the strainer.  Oh well. Next time.  It's still deliciously refreshing and probiotic.  I think I will add some mint leaves to my next glass of goat milk kifer.  Yummy!!

Mint milk kifer using mint tea bags.

My Milk Kifer Grains are HUGE!! Time to Share again

Yes this is just ONE MILK KIFER GRAIN!

My Kifer grains grow so fast that one milk kifer grain alone is almost a tablespoon full in size!  Or almost the size of the palm of my hand. Beautiful to see such healthy milk kifer grains.  I have been growing milk kifer grains for one year now.  I followed the instructions exactly and only failed.  Last month to my dismay, my grains were so small, they had almost disintingrated to a fine grain.  Sad to say so were my water kifer grains.  To the point I had reordered more water kifer grains.  I was just about to reorder more milk kifer grains when my neighbor Nina, so graciously gave me about 1/2 cup of the most beautiful milk kifer grains I had ever seen. They multiplied so quick that within a week, I gave her back 1/2 cup so she too could ferment her milks.

Cauliflower looking, milk kifer grains

Today my grains have grown so much that one grain alone is almost a tablespoon full in size.  This picture reflects the white cauliflower looking grains  These are my new babies.  Aren't they beautiful grains?

What I did differently this time is to throw out a few old myths, like, do not wash your grain with tap water, or you will kill the grain.  False.  My grain are growing huge because I do wash them in tap water. So when you get your milk kifer grains please make sure you rinse them well. Hey they need to be washed so they can  breathe, feed and grow. Another myth is,  only use plastic or wood to touch your grain.  Metal touching your grain can kill your grain.  False.  I sometimes use my stainless steel metal strainer to strain and wash my grains.   I use a stainless steel spoon to scoop out my grains in transferring my grains as well.  Just don't let them sit in metal. Never mix kifer grains with another product like fruit or herbs because again the grains could die. False. Today, I mix my grains with  fruits, herbs, and and they love it and grow.

Because I can only drink so much milk kifer daily, I am now at the point of keeping my grains in the refrigerator of course with milk to slow the process of growth and fermentation.  Oh yeah, do not refrigerate your grains or the will die.   Really another myth, oh my.  hehe.  False.  Refrigerated, I still come out with a delicious kifer in two days instead of every 8 hours.  I had a lot of kifer for me to gulp down daily no matter what I made out of it. Right?  So again it is time to share.:)

Rinsing my milk kifer grains in tap water.   Oh yes you can:))

My idea is not to sell this product is it is to share with you the recipes I have found and experimented with in home fermented products like kifers and their probiotic benefits.  However, I have more than enough grain and will be more than happy to share this grain for a donation of $7.99, for caring and feeding, and $5.50 for shipping and handling in the United States.  Fair enough? This is a very cheap price but the need for me to share this wonderful probiotic grain, is nudging me to do so.  Thank God I can, since I have a abundant supply today.  I had to share these pics:) and these grains so you too can know what to look for. lol.  If you are interested please leave me a message.  First come, first serve.  Thank you and,  as always...

Many blessings,
Mary Helen

Milk kifer grains separated and washed and ready for more milk.

COCONUT MINT KIFER ICE CREAM

Today I was in the mood for ice cream. However, I still don't want to waste my money on something that is  going to be harmful with a lot of sugars, fats, and chemicals I can hardly pronounce.  I  make my own desserts and, ice cream is one I enjoy making.  It is so fast and easy. Again, I take control of how I want to live here.  Do I want to feel energetic, or do I want to take a nap after a few scoops of store bought ice cream.   Yes you heard right.  I said scoops, and  since it's mostly ice you can have more than one scoop. I have so much to do on my to do, and bucket list, I don't have time to take a nap.  I did enough napping when I was sick.  haha.  I will go for the homemade probiotic ice cream.  So i'm sharing my recipe. Ingredients are easy as I ferment milk kifer daily.  You will need...

• 2 cups ice 
• 1/2 cup fermented milk kifer
• 2 tbsp sweetener (I used brown sugar, and agave.  Any kind will do)  
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 tbsp dried coconut or powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 bag mint tea opened (fresh will work better)

I must say you will need a high speed blender that can handle the ice, like a Vita Mix, or a Ninja.  Add the milk kifer, vanilla, sweetener, mint tea, and coconut shreds and oil.  Blend till pulverized.  Add ice, blend on high and voila!!

Coconut Mint Milk Kifer Ice Cream.  Yummy.

I know that mint and chocolate is a good combination too.  But my Gheredelli's chocolate syrup just slid off the top. I know it's Gheredelli's but i'm not perfect.  But it's still oh so good.  Not too sweet either.  It made about 3 cups ice cream.  Note that this melts quite rapidly.  So you want to serve and eat right away.  Any leftovers can be put in a covered jar.  Before you use unused portion, you  shake in the jar and pour.  Now you have a mint chocolate kifer smoothie.  It's all probiotic, homemade and good.  So much cheaper and healtheir too.  

Get busy and try it for yourself.  Experiment in the kitchen with your milk kifer.  Have you tried green tea kifer ice cream?  It's so good and healthy, but so is blueberry.  Oh my goodness.  I could go on.  But another time.

Enjoy and many blessings:) 

Maryhelen

MILK KIFER FETA CHEESE

Milk Kifer can be dried as still keep it's probiotic nutrients as long as it is not heated in high temperatures. Milk Kifer Cheese has more active healthy bacteria than milk kifer, because of the longer time spent to ferment it.  REAL KIFER CONTINUES TO FERMENT UNLESS THE BACTERIA HAS BEEN KILLED BY HEAT OR CHEMICALS.  Folks drink kifer, yogurt, and kombucha for the healthy probiotics it has.  However, why is the shelved store bought product still sweet and holds the same flavor?  Why?  Because most of the bacteria has been pasteurized or heated to maintain its color, and flavor.  Sad because those people think they are doing their body good. I too can heat mine to stop the fermentation and not let it continue to sour.  However, probiotics does a body good. I choose to work with the tart flavor, hence feta cheese.  lol.  See, homemade is always, better, and a lot cheaper too.

I let my kifer milk ferment till the curds and whey separate. I have strained the milk kifer, and have separated the curds, whey and milk kifer grains. I left the curds out to lose it's whey for a few hours in a strainer.   Make sure you have something to catch the whey.(Ha ha, it lost it's whey:))  Very little milk solids is left in the strainer.  This will be your cheese. Salt lightly,  put this in a tofu press, (another strainer will work fine) and put this in the refrigerator for 24 hours to continue to expel its whey.

Curds

After a total of 48 hours. it is now like tart cheese, similar to Feta.  At this point the kifer cheese is still soft, but I was able to cube it so it could air dry better. It had grown  a slight fungus on the outside, which I was able to cut off before I cubed it.  The inside showed a nice white clean cheese.

curds, whey, and milk kifer grain

Curds in tofu press.  I see a few grains of Kifer.

Curds after straining in refrigerator for 24 hours.

I put the cheese  wrapped in parchmont paper with clean paper towels over a heating mat  for 12 hours more or less, while I was sleeping. I am still changing towels to keep the cheese dry at least twice.  Now my cheese is crumbly, and pretty hard.  Had I not cut it for it to dry faster, I probably could have grated it. I rolled my cheese in crushed herbs for flavor.  

Herbed Milk Kifer Feta Cheese

See how easy it was?  Yes, it took a few days, but it's not like you were standing over a hot stove.  Home made kifer is loaded with probiotics, and you have total control as too what you want to put in it.  Yes I love to choose what I want to put in my body.  Don't you?  It's probiotic and cheap.  Looks like cheese.  Tastes like cheese, but unlike dead cheese.  This one is still very much alive.

Enjoy and many blessings.
Mary Helen