Kombucha Brewer back in action...Part 1 and 2

Part 1 - My Kombucha Brewer has been in storage for a few years. I had a bottle of beautiful Kombucha at my neighbours last month, and I gave my head a shake. Why have I NOT been making this. He bottles up the Kombucha. He muddles fresh fruit and puts about a tablespoon in each bottle. He then does the secondary fermentation and gets a lot of fizz doing it that way, his blueberry was exemplary. I went over today and had a smell of his not quite ready blackberry kombucha. OMGosh. 

My old Scoby hotel was dead. I mean dead. So I had to throw that out. I went and bought a bottle of unflavoured Kombucha to start a Scoby from scratch. It is formed and liquid is fizzy. 

Part 2 - The SCOBY formed beautifully, and Kombucha was delicious, and then I broke my shoulder in August. I drank what was ready, but I was incapable of taking care of the brewer. So it has languished until now. Today I drained the now vinegary Kombucha, leaving about a cup of Kombucha and my now huge SCOBY. I made some lovely new organic green tea, added sugar and water and it is now ready to age for a week or so. I am so anxious to have some of my own lovely Kombucha. Life returning to normal. 

Look at how lovely this homemade SCOBY is. This time I didn’t get fancy. 

I used a bottle of this plain unflavoured GTS Kombucha, Green Tea and Cane Sugar. That’s it. 

My Kombucha continuous brewer has been set up!!

I set up the Continuous Brewer for my Kombucha. I put the two jars that I had on the go into the brewer. I worked out the ratio for the tea to water for the 2 1/2 gallon brewer. I'm good to go. I feel like an alchemist. 

DONE!!! My brewer set up. Isn't it wonderful. To the left is my plantain infusion and SCOBY hotel. That is a jar of SCOBY's and liquid so you have SCOBY's in reserve in case a batch molds etc. And of course to give to people starting out.

I am a research kinda girl. I have been reading about Kombucha and making batches for several months. I made my original SCOBY from a bottle of GT Kombucha unflavoured. I lost two batches to mold. Rather than getting totally disillusioned and quitting. I set about to figure it out. The only thing different from previous batches was a box of green tea I was using. I whipped up a batch with black tea and then a green/black combo. I got rid of the old box of green tea and substituted a new type. It worked just fine. I now wonder if the tea itself could have contained mold spores. My cleaning was impeccable, so I knew it wasn't that. So Kombucha back on track and I had two half gallon jars on the go at all times. I did the second fermentation and managed to get fizz. Then I started adding raw ginger and I was hooked. 

So back to research. I started reading about the continuous brewing system. The Kombucha goes into a large vessel with a spigot down low. You decant out your litre for the week and top up the brew. I bought a 2 1/2 gallon porcelain crock with green stripes. So when you take out the litre, there is so much Kombucha left when you top it up, it only takes a couple days for the Kombucha to be ready instead of ten+. I set my system up last night. 

Making Water Kefir for the first time.

I recently spent some time with a lovely couple at their farm. Nicole gave me my first taste of Kefir. It was yummy. It tasted a lot like Kombucha, but a softer taste. It only takes a few days to make instead of the week plus that Kombucha takes, I plan to keep both on the go. I like the stronger taste of Kombucha but I love the speed of Kefir. Nicole gave me the grains I need to start my own first batch. I added some organic dried blueberries. Batch on!! Isn't it lovely.

The bottled Kefir. I'm doing a second ferment. I added two oz of Pineapple Juice and sealed. I am hoping for fizz. I love fizz.

Oops, just read that Pineapple juice is too acidic for Kefir. It has white foam all over the top now and is bubbling, tiny little bubbles from the sludge at the bottom. We will see what happens!

It was perfect and a bit fizzy. Really nice.

The Kombucha is almost ready. And looking good this time!!

I tasted the Kombucha I made on about August 12. It is finally losing the sweetness. I don't like mine too sweet. I'm think about another week. Interesting that this batch is working again. I am wondering if the problem I had using green tea and both batches molding, may be that the green tea contained mold spores? This batch made with black tea is fine. Can't wait. I'm going to try ginger!! I love GT'S Organic Raw Kombucha Gingerade.

A healthy non molding Scoby.

Pumpkin Flax Muffins. God I just love them.

I just made yet another batch of Pumpkin Bran Flax Muffins {recipe at the right}. Last week, I was hankering for a flax muffin so I bought a four pack of the organic bran flax muffins that I used to buy at my fave supermarket. I like to have one for lunch at the store. They are good enough....but I hadn't had any since I started making my own. Well....it was quite disappointing.....yet affirming. Disappointing cuz they aren't as good as mine, not by a long shot, but affirming because it made me realize, I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!! Yummmm. 

I am completely addicted to these muffins with a topping of Earth Balance Organic Coconut Flavour Spread. OMG. It's like candy to me.

This is me. This is what I look like when I come in out of the garden. This is my teeny tiny kitchen. What you see here, is pretty much the whole kitchen. You can see my favorite kitchen tools in this picture. My Kitchenaid in the corner. I've had it for, I dunno, about 15 years? Beside it is my Nespresso machine. Not really a kitchen tool, rather more of an obsession. Beside it is my Vitamix. Truly the most incredible thing if you follow a pretty healthy diet. I even make my own almond milk!! 

Salad season is my favourite time of year.

Oh, how I love salad season.

I am so happy it is fresh salad time again. I'm quite lost when I have to eat greens from somewhere other than my own yard. I am so thankful I found the gardener hidden within.

Here is what I foraged for tonight. We had a lovely bed of greens, with warmed goat cheese and ahi. The greens were various lettuce, beet leaves, kale, snowpeas, borage and nasturtium flowers and lots of Sungold tomatoes. The tomatoes are the only hybrid I grow. They are like tomato candy!!

Food can be so beautiful.

Kombucha making...

My Kombucha Scoby (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria & Yeast) is mature and large enough to start my first batch of Kombucha. So here we go!!

The Scoby nursery

My ipad recipe book

Brewing tea and Raw organic cane Sugar

Everything added to the new Kombucha bottle

The Scoby sitting on the bottom, just as it should.

My Panasonic Lumix reflection.

Look at what I found in the cupboard above the fridge, or...Ode to a pack rat.

Look at what I found in the cupboard above the fridge. The three bowls on the right were nested in the cupboard. I needed to make room for a canning jar of Kombucha.

First the backstory. I used to have a set of Gripstand bowls. They were accidentally given away during a move, oh about 34 years ago. Gripstand bowls were made by a company called TG Green. I LOVED them. My mom had one and I just loved using it. I learned to cook using that bowl. I grew up, bought two for myself and you know what happened to them. See above.

I bought myself another one about the size of my mother's about 30 years ago. My husband accidentally dropped something into it and broke it. At that time I just couldn't afford another. So I bought a knockoff. It developed a lot of fine cracks so it needed replaced. So after last thanksgiving I went on the hunt. Turns out, sadly, they aren't made anymore. ARGGGGHHHHH. I went online and looked for TG Green Gripstand bowls. There are some on eBay, but OMG they're crazy. One in mint condition is about 100.00. I looked everywhere for a knockoff...there just aren't any. So I started researching. I read about Mason Cash bowls. Amazing bowls but they don't have my beloved gripstand feature. So I went to my favorite kitchen store in the world!! Muffet and Louisa in Sidney BC. I bought myself two Mason Cash bowls. One large, one smaller.

That brings us to today. I had to make room in the cupboard above the fridge for the Kombucha. I opened the door. I actually let out an OH MY GOD, so loud my husband asked if I was okay. There were three very neatly nested gripstand bowls. The smallest is an actual TG Green. The other two are Cloverleaf. I've done a bit of research and I think Cloverleaf is the same company as TG Green. I'm in nirvana.

So I have one TG Green, two Mason Cash and two Cloverleaf Pottery/TG Green. Okay, confession time. I also have two vintage Pyrex bowls. A yellow and a green from the 50's, and of course my 35 year old Tupperware mixing bowls. Can you say 'overkill'?

Well, as I said to my husband tonight. I definitely have enough bowls to last me the rest of my life.

As people who follow my blog know, I am suddenly on a decluttering and de-pack-ratting my house. I am spending hours a day doing it. I cannot believe what a gift these bowls are. I wonder how many other little treasures have been squirreled away that I have no memory of.

Kombucha scoby forming.

With all the glare coming off the glass, it is really hard to see the forming Scoby. I will try to get a better picture in the daylight. It is in the little cupboard above the fridge and hard to get at.
There is a layer of milky scobyness happening there on the top surface. I am beyond excited. Stay tuned.

Trying to make my own Kombucha 'Scoby'. First step in making Kombucha.

The purchased Kombucha.
Can you dig the 70s tiles we did....in the 70s. Kind of retro now.

I really like the taste of Kombucha and LOVE the health benefits. So, I went on the hunt for a bottle of raw organic Kombucha that had a trace of Scoby or Mother. I found one!! It had a small Scoby about two inches across in total. I rinsed a clean one litre canning jar with vinegar. Poured a fresh cup of black organic caffeinated tea and added about two TBSP of sugar. Stirred it in and let the tea cool. I poured it into the canning jar. I added the bottle of Kombucha. Then covered the jar with a clean cloth, secured it with a rubber band and put it where it will not be disturbed. The rubber band is to keep out any flies that may lay eggs. Apparently that's pretty gross.

Making the sweet black tea

When I have a full grown Scoby, I will move on to making Kombucha. Stay tuned.

Look closely, you can see the baby Scoby floating there.

*One can purchase a Scoby, but I really wanted to try to make one myself.

**I am also going to do a post about what I found in the upper cupboard when I went to make room for the Kombucha. I am so glad that I am cleaning and decluttering.

What to do with all the veggies I'll grow this year....how about fermenting?

My favorite local independent bookstore Tanners Books in Sidney is having its annual customer appreciation sale. All books are 25% off. I noticed a lot of bustle as I walked by so I went in to check it out. It was like the week before Christmas in Tanners. It was awesome...packed with people!! The recession has really impacted business in our lovely little seaside town.

I had a bit of time before I needed to be back in my own store, so I strolled around just enjoying the noise, people and books. I just had to check out the food and garden sections. I was getting ready to leave and on the lowest shelf, furthest right side, Wild Fermentation. That's right. Wild Fermentation. I am a healthy food nut as well as garden nut. I read a lot of food blogs in addition to the garden blogs that I love so much. Wild Fermentation is considered the bible of fermenting books. And it was on sale. So guess what I'll be reading this weekend? I am dying to try fermenting. I will blog my progress this year.

Can't wait to use this cookbook!!

I am a huge fan of Carolyn Herriot. We just got her new book The Zero-Mile Diet Cookbook in at the store. I just had to have a look through it and I cannot wait to get a copy of my own.

*I treated myself to a copy. I will report back soon.

Ocean Spray on the boycott list...can't find any others available.

I have discovered something interesting. In Sidney BC if you want cranberry 'berries' the only ones available are packaged and from Ocean Spray. Ocean Spray donated money to fight GMO labelling in California through Proposition 37. I boycott all companies on the list. I wanted to make my own cranberry sauce/relish this year. Next year I will start earlier and source outside of Sidney.

The end of an era...the microwave is leaving us.

I have heard too many horror stories about microwave ovens. I just think they are a bad idea. It took me a while to gently get my husband on board. He has discovered that food tastes better oven warmed. Almost killed myself getting it down off a highish shelf that sits at about six feet. I was at the house alone and no ladder. Wow. That was close. Got the job done though, no worries. That gave me another shelf in this very small kitchen. A place to put some of the glass containers I've been switching everything over to. Isn't that wonderful. I think it looks really cool.

Making my own vanilla. Guess why!



Close up of vanilla beans

 I am in the habit of reading the labels on everything. In my cupboard I have a small bottle of Pure Vanilla Extract. Why read the label? Until someone on a blog was talking about making her own because of the added sugar in her extract. I went to the kitchen, turned my bottle over. SUGAR!! What the hell! As we know, sugar is made of about 50% cane and 50% sugar beets. Sugar beets are a GMO crop. GMO vanilla. Wow. So I have started a couple of batches of my own. Including this bottle. So, 4-6 months from now, I should have enough vanilla extract for the rest of my life. Okay for a couple years anyway.

Apple peeler....tool of the week. Butternut Squash Soup

Best tool bar none for peeling, coring and slicing apples.
$28.50 at Lee Valley

I made an amazing Butternut Squash Soup. My neighbor gave me the recipe. I will get permission to post it. Look at how beautiful the peelings are too. Food is incredible.

A completely unexpected bonus. Weight loss.

When did this healthy eating and food obsession began? It started in 2011 with organic vegetable gardening. My body really appreciated the fresh salads and berries. It is now a complete passion. Doing gardening research I was thrust into the world of GMO's. I started reading everything I could find. I became so horrified by what I was reading and seeing, I decided to get the GMO's out of my diet.  The more I delved into my diet and what I needed to remove, the more I realized that the average person is hard pressed to figure it all out on your own, unless you have a LOT of free time. I probably averaged about five hours a day reading about it. Then came Monsanto and the politics, and the failure of Proposition 37 to pass due to Monsanto and big business buying the vote using lies and scare tactics to win. Then I got mad. Thus the boycott of all the companies who directly or through their parent companies donated money to defeat it. 'It' is a law that would require labeling of GMO's in our food.
So months have passed and I am all but GMO free* and chemical free and for the most part, processed food free.
My weight has been steady within five pounds for almost four years. I weigh myself every few weeks just to keep an eye on things. I got on the scale a couple weeks ago and was shocked to see I had lost five pounds. As of yesterday it was a 7.5 pound loss. I have been eating more food than ever before and if I get hungry...I just eat. And I'm losing weight. I have a heart defect that requires my blood pressure and cholesterol to be lower, so I won't need a valve replacement. I am now looking forward to seeing my cardiologist in the spring, to see how I'm doing.
I am now convinced that what 'they' are saying about High Fructose Corn Syrup could very likely be right on. It is being blamed for the obesity crisis in the US and especially in children because their diets are so high in HFCS. I also believe that GMO's are keeping us fat and sick.
So my weight loss secret. No GMO's and chemicals in my food. No antibiotics and growth hormones in my dairy. The end.

*I cannot say 100% GMO free, because GMO's are blowing everywhere, and the plants all look the same. An organic farmer would not know that GMO's have blown on to his land without DNA testing. At some point we are going to reach the point of no return. I am all for banning them entirely, but now GMO alfalfa has been approved and wheat is next. {It saddens me to be honest}

A basic guideline to start you on your way to healthy eating.

Why Cut Processed Food?

From the blog 100 Days of Real Food:

1. Processed foods are an illusion, often appearing to be healthy (with claims like low fat, low carb, vitamin fortified, no trans fat, contains omega-3s, etc.) when these foods are in fact the very thing making a lot of Americans unhealthy, sick, and fat.
2. Coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer – four of the top ten chronic diseases that kill most of us – “can be traced directly to the industrialization of our food” according to Michael Pollan.
3. Making smarter (and sometimes more expensive) food choices now may reduce your healthcare costs later in life.
4. Why would one want to eat a processed food-like substance that is scientifically designed to never rot?
5. The food industry has proven that it is not very good at seasoning our foods by adding way too much salt, sugar, and/or oil to almost everything.
6. When you eat white bread and other foods made with white flour (which is a highly processed version of wheat) you are basically consuming empty calories with far less nutrition than the whole-wheat or whole grain alternatives.
7. It is estimated that up to 90% of processed foods* in the supermarket contain either a corn or soy ingredient in the form of an additive under a variety of different names. Now how is that for eating variety?
8. Cutting out processed foods could lead you to experience a variety of personal health benefits such as having more energy, losing weight, improving regularity, or just feeling healthier overall.
9. Rather than counting calories, watching fat grams, or reducing carbs for “healthy eating,” simply eat whole foods that, as Michael Pollan puts it, are more the product of nature than “the product of industry.” It certainly is less complicated.
10. It just makes plain old sense to fully understand what you are eating, be able to pronounce everything on the list of ingredients (if there is a list), and know exactly where that food comes from…don’t you think?

For more from 100 days of Real Food

*Statistic courtesy of a food scientist interviewed on the documentary “Food, Inc”

Pumpkin Bran Flax Muffins

Pumpkin Bran Flax Muffins

Mix together:

1 1/2 cups Unbleached White Flour

3/4 cup Flaxseed Meal

3/4 cup oat bran

1 cup Brown Sugar

2 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

Stir in:

15 oz Canned Pumpkin

1/2 cup Applesauce

1/2 cup Currants or Dried Cranberries (I used my frozen organic blueberries and a small handful of organic chocolate chips)

1 cup Nuts (I used pecans)

Combine:

3/4 cup Milk

2 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla

Mix the wet ingredients into dry. Stir until moistened, do not over mix. Depending what ou add or change, you may need to add more milk. I use grated apple insted of apple sauce. I have to add 1/2 to 3/4 cup extra sometimes. Sometimes just a titch. you want a very think batter, sith no dry spots. Put mix in oiled muffin tin and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Makes 18 muffins.