Kitchen adventures

There's been a lot of fermenting going on in the kitchen. What's fermenting, you ask? Basically it's putting some ingredients together and letting it sit around for a while. For grains, fermenting helps make them more easily digestible and makes more of the nutrients available. The fermented-ness keeps your gut flora happy and healthy. Same with the dairy and vegetables you'll see later in this post.*

Least ways, that's what I understand. Go do your own research and find our what I haven't mentioned. Feel free to reprimand any inconsistent information. I'm ready to learn! :)

Exhibit a): Sourdough Blueberry Muffins.

These are based off a Kitchen Stewardship recipe. I just added blueberries, sour cream, various spices, and sprinkled some almonds on top. They're very fall-y apart-y (as we like to say) and apparently eaten better in a bowl with milk, as a sort of cobbler.

Exhibit b): Sourdough Bread.

This is what's left of the loaf I made yesterday. A delicious recipe from the Cultures for Health blog. Mostly. I added two tablespoons of butter and decreased the water a little bit. Because butter.

Needless to say, I made more today. :)

Exhibit c): Yogurt. 

Simple (we make it in the crock pot like this), delicious, nutritious, and it saves money!

Exhibit d): I told you there was a lot of fermenting! This time it's milk kefir. 

Even simpler and nutritious than the yogurt, but, alas, not as delicious. That's why you hide it in a smoothie. Or ice cream, which I'm going to try this weekend. 

Exhibit e): Pickles. Two different kinds actually.

Number one is from The Food Journal of Lewis and Clark (classic homeschooling material), which we've made several times.

Number two is from The Nourishing Cook. This one uses whey (leftover from the yogurt) and doesn't use sugar. We'll see how it tastes.

What strange things have you been experimenting with?

*does this mean I'm an amateur zymologist? Now that would be something cool to put on an about page.