Culturing for Health, For Life!

One of the many things that God has been working on me with lately is our nutrition. Before I got sick, we had fallen into the summer rut of unhealthy, fast, and easy foods. With the heat, it was easy to justify hotdogs, and chips for a meal...and while on occasion hot dogs aren't going to kill you, they aren't going to lead to health and vitality either :P

I'm even more determined than ever to get back to basics of whole, nourishing foods since getting sick!


My darling children love to help me take care of the living cultures in our kitchen. Kombucha, dairy kefir, water kefir, and sour dough starter can all usually be found on/in our counter tops or cupboards. Towards the beginning of the summer, one of my daughters asked to care for the cultures...needless to say, disaster struck and we are starting from scratch with a few of our cultures.

That's okay though. This is the perfect time to get them all going again. The warm weather is encouraging happy cultures (especially the sour dough!) and it feels great to have a "living kitchen" again.

We are going to be starting some pickles, sour kraut  and some lacto fermented salsa. I'm also going to dig the ole juicer out and start juicing up some fresh veggies and fruits!

If you haven't started any of these cultures, I think the easiest is the sour dough. I love starting mine with rye flour, but any flour will work. 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup un-chlorinated water, combine in a clean jar (that is big enough to allow for doubling once it gets big and happy..trust me it will grow!) Scrape down the sides, through a clean cloth over the top and secure with a rubber band. Leave it on the counter for 12 hours. In 12 hours give it a good stir and recover. From then on, twice a day, dump half of the starter into the compost and feed it the same measurements (1/3 cup flour, and 1/4 cup water) stir and scrape down the sides. Cover with cloth and rubber band.

In this weather, by day 5 you should have a happy, healthy new pet that will help to feed your family an easy, healthy, nutritious food!

Recipes to come.....