Saturday, March 12, 2011

Tibicos aka Water Kefir

Last Saturday the Tibicos or water kefir grains came from Marilyn at kefirlady
At the time it was -0.4 degrees in my little town. I was impressed first with the amount of grains sent. I may have mentioned that in the previous post, but now I may add they are quite lively! By Friday I had to switch up to a gallon jug with 2 quarts water. The top photo is of a quart jar with 2 cups of water, 1/3rd cup sucanat, two dried dates unsulphered all covered with a piece of paper towel. Six days later ... I wish I had taken a photo of the 2 cups of grains in the quart jar!
I guess showing you the gallon jar with more grains in proportion to water than the quart will have to do. I added a well scrubbed orange cut in half. I don't have a lemon or lime handy so this will have to do. The family is impressed with the growth of the grains although I am the only one drinking it. This jug is filled with nicely percolating bubbles. The husband, JD, say the whole thing is like a lava lamp with the bubbles and the grains rising to the top and sinking back down. The granddaughter doesn't mind it too much. I haven't wanted to give her any probiotics with yeast since she is going through thrush treatment. She is done with those meds today, so tomorrow she will enjoy the kefir!

By Tuesday night I had my first drink of tibi. I squeezed oranges into it and added sucanat, set remainder in the fridge and drank more on Wednesday. It was okay. I will have to get accustomed to the taste. I set out one water jug with 20 oz of straight tibi on Wednesday night and let it go through a second fermentation. It went in the fridge on Thursday night and I drank it after lunch yesterday. I didn't get my typical end of day lag so that was a plus! It may have a little alcohol, but it wasn't a noticeable amount. Today I mixed orange juice into the tibi after I strained it. It filled two 2o oz bottles which will sit on the shelf for the day and into the fridge tomorrow. I am going to have to find someone to share with!

The milk kefir is doing wonderfully. I have been having smoothies morning and evening. My gut feels much better. The filtered water rinse on the grains is doing the trick as far as a nice thick, not separated or wrong smelling product. I like to have 4 - 6 ozs just plain out of the culture jar when I strain it. The smoothies are divine. I am going to have blueberry with sucanat tonight. The blueberries are thawing on the counter. They will be great with coconut oil added in. Pretty too! The Golden Blend from Schwann's is a nice bright color for morning. Tomorrow we are "sprung back," so it's going to be dark again when I wake up. Blue is kind of what I feel about the morning effect of DST. I was smiling on my way to work every day. It will be light at least, if I don't have to drive to the main office.

The addition of tibi seems to be having a positive effect in the energy area. It hasn't had a negative impact on me that's for sure! I sure need to come up with some flavors for it. It's got a strange fermented flavor that has a weak beer start, so maybe tomato juice or V8. It's going to be interesting to see how it goes. People recommend ginger and lemon, so will give that a try next week. I can drink it as it is, and maybe the 2nd ferment on the orange juice laced tibi will be better.

My new batch of brassica blend sprouts is in the fridge all green and luscious looking! I used the tray method this time. It likes more water than most sprouts I think. I am excited to try them on a sandwich or salad tomorrow. I have Kabuli cooking on the stove and am going to add a cup of the it to a bean salad I have on the counter. It will go in the fridge overnight. Tomorrow night hamburger steaks with fried onions, bean salad, baked red potatoes. Yum!!! My mouth is watering!

I love the life growing in my kitchen!

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