Kefir

Kefir is a wonderful, tasty cultured milk product, much like yogurt only more pourable, and has more probiotics than yogurt.  I've been making kefir for several years now and enjoying it.  I bought some very good hearty grains, (which are not really "grain", as in wheat, or rye, etc.) from someone online which I am still using, and they've never failed me.  Kefir is full of probiotics that are beneficial for a healthy gut, improve our immune systems, and protect us from the bad bacterias that can be harmful to our health.  I am not an expert on probiotics, or on kefir, but I'm thankful for those who are and have posted such great information for others on the internet.  Dom's site is especially helpful and he is the most knowledgeable person on kefir I know of on the internet.  You can get just about any question about kefir you have answered there. There's also a yahoo group on kefir if you want to join a discussion with others using it. You can buy kefir at many grocery stores or health food stores, but the best kefir is the stuff you make yourself with good healthy kefir grains.  It's worth finding a good source and buying them.  They'll keep forever if you take good care of them.  I've had them frozen for a year and then used them again.  They've worked great every time.

There are so many great ways to use kefir in recipes.  But if you want to get the probiotic goodness from it, you cannot cook it.  At the bottom of my video I'll post a few recipes I've used with kefir and kefir cheese.  Even if you do use it in cooking there are more nutrients in it than just milk, even if you are not getting the probiotic benefit.

There are so many great health benefits from kefir! I hope you do a search and read more about it.  If you are new to kefir, there's much to be discovered!  I'm currently looking into doing more lacto-fermentation with foods using kefir whey, and I hope I'll have some good ideas with that to share in the future.  I have made Sauerkraut with the whey before which turned out so much better than any I've ever had from a can!



Here are just a few ways I've used kefir:

Creamy shakes

1 cup of kefir
any frozen berries
sweetener of choice
flavorings of choice
blend until smooth

one of my favorites:

1/2 cup kefir
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tsp. vanilla flavoring (or coconut flavoring)
3 ice cubes
about 2 TBS. of sweetening power

blend until ice-creamy and smooth

Strawberry cheese dessert

For those of you who can handle a small amount of fresh strawberries

1/2 cup kefir cheese
1 TBS vanilla DaVinci sugar-free syrup
2 fresh strawberries, sliced
2 TBS. sugar-free strawberry glaze (usually in the produce section next to the strawberries)

With a hand blender mix the kefir cheese and vanilla syrup together (I add a TBS or two of flax oil to this sometimes also)
top with sliced strawberries and glaze.  

You can also make a crust out of flaxmeal and melted coconut oil with a little sweetner to press down in a bowl and then just add the kefir cheese mix and topping.  Sort of like a cheesecake.

Chocolate kefir pudding

mix 1/2 cup kefir cheese with 2 TBS Vanilla or chocolate DaVinci sugar-free syrup
and 1 or 2 packets of Truvia (to taste).  Mix in 2 tsp. cocoa.  Top with whipped topping, enjoy.   :)

Another good way I've used it is with a raspberry delight, which I will maybe do a video of soon, substituting the cream cheese in the recipe with kefir cheese.  


Use in place of creamed cheese in almost any dessert calling for it.  

Chive Dip

Mix the kefir cheese with minced garlic, chives, and seasoned salt to taste.  use it as a spread on wasa fiber rye cracker, or flax or nut bread or almond thins, whatever.  Or as a dip for veggies.  

Also makes a great sour cream topping for some dishes.  I made a taco salad yesterday and topped it with that.  Extremely yummy.  Even my skeptic son liked it who wrinkles his nose at the word kefir without even tasting it.  

For a great taco salad: 

shred lettuce and layer in bowl.  

Brown hamburger, adding a heaping TBS cummin, 2 TBS chili powder, lots of onion and garlic powder, tsp. salt, 1 tsp. cocoa (yes, cocoa--you'll be surprised), dash cayenne pepper, minced onions, stir into hamburger and add 3/4 cup water and simmer.  Then put it all in a food processor and just pulse a few times to get it like the consistency you get in a restaurant--if you like, optional. We like it that way.  Layer that on top of the lettuce.  Top with no sugar salsa, sprinkle with shredded cheese, top with kefir cheese dip and black olives.  


You can use kefir grains in different kinds of non-dairy milks, so if you are dairy intolerant that's good news. You can also convert them to water grains and make water kefirs.  Read more about that on Dom's site.