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Last week was a pretty good food week. We enjoyed delicious Spinach Crepes Bernoise. I can not say enough about these. If you would like to add organ meats to your diet these are a wonderfully flavorful way to do it.
We are still eating soups. The weather continues to be on the chilly side so soup is definitely welcome. This is a Beef-Barley soup that was made from leftover roast. I used this recipe as a guide. The original recipe calls for lamb and I’ve made it a couple of time with excellent results. The beef was quite good in it.
This is my current obsession. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I struggle with making water kefir. Sometimes it turns out pretty good and sometimes not so good but it was never something that we just loved. Until now. Using Wardeh’s suggestion to flavor the water kefir with vanilla did the trick. To make it completely irresistible we are topping it with a generous dollop of raw cream. It reminds me of the Italian Soda’s I used to make when I worked at a coffee shop 20+ years ago. Only without the sugar and other questionable ingredients. Plus it is another great way to add cream, a healthy fat, into our diet.
This is another picture of the Cream Soda but I mixed this one up. This is my preferred way to drink it instead of leaving it in the layers.
>wow- that creamy water kefir sounds sooo yummy! I have not delved into making water kefir yet, but it is one of those things simmering on the back burner of my mind, so I may be there soon! thanks!
>The soda sounds so good! I'm definitely going to try it.
Have you tried flavoring the water kefir with juice? I love it with organic grape juice. I follow the directions exactly that Cheeseslave gives on her blog, except I use 1/4 cup juice instead of fresh fruit. It's basically a second ferment, so no need to worry about the sugar from the juice.
http://www.cheeseslave.com/2009/06/05/how-to-make-homemade-soda-pop-with-kefir-grains/
>Lisa,
It is very good. WK really has been a challenge for me, I am very glad that I stuck with it. It might be something nice to have in Rwanda. I actually don't know how primitive or not it might be there. Can you get some sort of natural sugar there? I should explore one of your non food blogs and see if I can learn something about your Rwanda. 🙂
Jen,
I haven't ever put juice in (maybe that is why I never liked it?) mainly because we do not buy juice and I never think about buying it for the WK. I do have a juicer that I got for Christmas and I thought about juicing something to add to the kefir. I have added fresh fruit before. That was pretty good. Peaches and blueberries especially. Apples didn't taste 'fresh' enough. Fresh lemon juice and ginger is okay one time and not okay the next. Can't explain that one. I might have to get some grape juice just to see what I'm missing.
>We never drink juice, or bought it before either. I specifically buy it now for WK, and it's worth it! A bottle lasts quite a while too, since you only use 1/4 cup per quart. I'm pretty boring I guess, because once I find something I like I don't usually change it up.
I hope you will give the grape juice a try. 🙂
>Homemade cream soda! That sounds fantastic! I know it would be a big hit around here. I want to try water kefir, but I'm traveling so much over the next year that I'm hesitant to order new grains (I killed my last batch of kefir grains when I was out of town for a month).
>Jen,
I think I will try it. Do you have a favorite brand of grape juice?
Melissa,
I'm surprised I haven't killed mine. I have put them in the fridge for weeks on end without doing anything with them. They are a little slow to get going when I try to use them again though. Have you considered dehydrating some to keep 'just in case'?
I'm sipping a glass of 'cream soda' now. I love the raw cream in it- I'm sure that is part of what makes it so good. Is raw cream good for reducing cellulite? (please say yes 🙂
>We just tried some with cinnamon sticks & vanilla- so good! We also tried Raspberry tea & when I first started doing it, I added thew final product to sweetened yoghurt. I need to start the yoghurt mix again.
>Michaela,
You mix water kefir and yogurt? Like a smoothie? More info please 🙂
>Yup, just like a smoothie, albeit a thin smoothie. I typically do half of each, stir gently. The yoghurt is typically flavoured with vanilla & honey. Maple is good too.
>PS, that was the only way I *could* drink WK at first.
>Sounds good Michaela. And a good way to get yogurt into a couple of teen girls I know…