Kefir

I've had a beautiful weekend including a sunset at a local park, eating a sandwich at Paseo (Seattle) -- my one bit of bread for the next three months or so...I'm not perfect (this was a really, really good sandwich...people wait up to three-hours in line just to get one), exploring a foreign kitchen as a friend is dog-sitting for a family and they gave her free reign of the kitchen, I found my first side crow yoga pose, and my kefir grains came in the mail (so excited!). A couple pictures below and then onto the kefir journey.

That's me @ Gas Works Park in Seattle. What a beautiful day it was =).

Sunset at Gas Works Park, Seattle.

Yep, I break Paleo every now and then. I do sincerly try to avoid it, but I had heard some pretty rave reviews of this sandwich shop (Paseo). It was also *very* close to the house a friend was dog-sitting at. It happened and I don't regret it one bit! My special treat for the next couple of months.

Exploring a foreign kitchen was a blast! A friend is dog-sitting for this family as they are out-of-town. They gave her free reign of the kitchen/food. I had no idea where anything was. Their oven smoked at first; Freaked me out. In the end, I was able to find TONS of delicious things. I have to leave these kind folks a thank you card for allowing us free reign of their food. Pictured above is a medley of banana chips, bananas, pecans, dried peaches, pistachios, bound with sunflower seed butter. The eggs were cooked with butter, rainbow chard, avocado, salt and pepper. Delicious! And totally thrown together on a whim ;).

Back to kefir grains. Wait...did he just say grains? Grains aren't Paleo. Kefir "grains" aren't actually grains. They can't be made or manufactured. They come from a combination of yeasts and bacteria made up of a substrate of several dairy components. Kefir seems to be really amazing stuff. It's one of the most potent probiotic foods available. It's not Paleo as Paleo doesn't include any dairy. That said, I'm not 100% Paleo. Chris Kresser wrote a great article on kefir here.

In a nut-shell, kefir can/is:
-A strong natural remedy against any allergy.
-Help control acid reflex and heartburn.
-Reduce sugar cravings.
-Correct high blood pressure.
-Promote faster wound healing.
-Help sleep disorders, depression, and ADHD.
-Easily digestible.
-Rich in B12, B1, vitamin K, and Biotin.
(Source: Milk Kefir Unleashed | Fusion Teas)

I'm going to be including home-made kefir in my diet and my blog posts. Starting today, with my very first kefir experience, you can read my entire journey now and in the future.

My First Kefir Experience
My kefir grains came in the mail a couple days ago. I didn't have time to tend to them yet so I put them in the fridge. I got home this afternoon prepared with some store-bought homogenized whole milk to get the process started. I intend on using non-homogenized milk, raw milk, and maybe coconut milk with my kefir grains after they get going. The instructions recommended starting them with store bought whole milk, so I did.

Thus far all I've done is:
-Removed the kefir grains from their packaging. I ordered 2 tbsp's of grains from Fusion Teas and had them shipped from Amazon.
-Placed them in a clean glass mason jar.
-Covered them with one cup of homogenized store-bought whole milk.
-Placed (without tightening) a plastic lid on the jar. Apparently some people use a coffee filter and a rubber band. Ultimately, you just don't want the container exploding. That would be...bad ;).
-I've left the jar on my counter-top. My apartment is not cold, but it's also not extremely hot either. I'm keeping the grains out of direct sunlight.

My kefir grains at the bottom of a clean glass mason jar.

Adding one cup of whole milk and a plastic lid (not tightened on, just placed on top).

Setting my kefir and milk on the counter-top to ferment. The lid is not tightened on. Just placed on top.

In 12 hours or so I will strain the grains, discard the first cup of milk, and add a fresh cup of milk. I can't wait for my first kefir! I'm going to add some honey and try it more or less plain at first. Then I'll branch out ;).

Thanks for reading =). I want to hear from you! Comments? Questions? Suggestions? 
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