Lacto-Fermented Ginger Drink!

I hesitate to call this ginger ale, because although it is bubbly and gingery (and sometimes sweet), it doesn’t taste like store-bought ginger ale.  This drink was part of the lacto-fermenting frenzy we were on not too long ago.  I just realized that I never posted about it!  

The hardest part of this drink, other than waiting for it to be ready, was getting the ginger ready.  First, I peeled it (I need to do some research to see if this is actually necessary), and then I sliced it into teeny tiny pieces.  

Then, I mixed it together with the juice of a lemon, 1/4 cup whey, 2 t sea salt, and a squirt of honey.  

I poured the mixture into jars…

 and filled them with water.  

 We let it sit for a few days.  It didn’t get bubbly like some of our other ferments, but that’s okay, I guess.  We serve it mixed with seltzer.  Typically, we do 1/3 ginger, 2/3 seltzer.  

We served this to John’s dad (sweetened with sucanat)!  He liked it, and he is a big, BIG fan of store-bought ginger ale.  Win!

This post was featured on Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade!

Lacto-Fermented Lemonade

I am on a fermenting roll!!

Last week I set up a whole slew of things to ferment, and many of them are ready!  Yay!  The Ginger Carrots were ready first, and this Lemonade was ready second.  Here’s how I made it!

I gathered up 6 lemons, some local honey, whey, and filtered water.  I used 4 Meyer lemons and 2 regular organic lemons.

I juiced the lemons first.

Then, I added in about a half cup of whey and 1/4 cup of honey.  I didn’t add too much honey because the Meyer Lemons were already pretty sweet.  

Into the jars they went!

The jars were then filled up with the filtered water, closed, and left to ferment!

A week later…

Bubbles galore!

I strained it out before I drank it. 

It was delicious!! Subtly bubbly, tangy yet sweet.  When John tried it, his eyes opened wide and he said, “AWEsome!”

WIN!

This post was featured on Real Food Wednesday with Kelly the Kitchen Kop, Seasonal Sunday at Real Sustenance, and Pennywise Platter with The Nourishing Gourmet!

Beet Kvass

As I delve deeper into eating in a more traditional way, I am constantly exposed to new (to me) things.  It seems as if the universe reveals to me exactly what I am ready to learn just when I am ready to try it.  The newest thing I am ready to try?  

Fermenting.  Fermenting Beets, to be exact.  

I washed them, chopped them, and stuffed them into mason jars.  The jars had 1/8 cup of whey in each, along with a T of salt.  

I filled the jars up with water and waited. 

And waited.  So far?  Tastes like salty beet water.  There was a mold-looking thing on top, but I skimmed it off.  It has been about…. 3 weeks?  Our house is pretty cold (63 when we are home and awake, 53 at night and while we are at work) and it apparently takes a longer time to ferment at lower temperatures.  

I’ll keep you posted.

::UPDATE HERE::

This post was featured at Fight Back Friday hosted by Food Renegade and Meatless Monday at Midnight Maniac, and Monday Mania at the Healthy Home Economist!

Trimming the Tree with Eggnog

This past weekend we trimmed the tree!  

Trimming the tree for the first time in our new house calls for a special holiday drink… EGGNOG-Nourished style!

I saw the recipe here, and was SO EXCITED to try it.   I had to make some tweaks, though, because:

1)John thought he didn’t like eggnog

2)We didn’t have cream

3)We didn’t have nutmeg

4)I didn’t want to use all of our eggs/milk

I started our recipe with 2.5 egg yolks.  I am saving the whites and 1/2 yolk to be used in fried rice later this week.  

Check out that yolk color.  You just can’t get that from grocery store eggs.  Anyway, they were blended until they were a little frothy. 

The other ingredients were mixed together separately from the eggs:

1/4 cup maple syrup

Pinch of sea salt

1 T of whey leftover from yogurt making

A few squeezes of a Meyer lemon

1 T of vanilla

A few sprinkles of Cinnamon

When the eggs were frothy, this was mixed in.  Then, 2 cups of raw milk were added.  I didn’t shake the milk first, so some of the cream that had risen to the top went in, too.

When the whole concoction was frothy, I poured it out into mugs. 

The verdict?  YUM!  I think the cinnamon and vanilla won John over.  It would definitely be better the cream, but it was a great addition to the holiday season, anyway!

This post was featured at the Healthy Home Economist’s Monday Mania!