My first batch of kombucha

Well, so far, so good. I have a spicket container so it was easy to taste test. Baby girl loved it. Small boy even liked it. I bottled 2 small bottles with a vanilla bean in it (can you say "cream soda"?), one small bottle plain, a large bottle plain, and then a large bottle with some lemon juice in it in the hopes of replicating the citrus stuff I bought in the store. Ought to be interesting. It had some fizz already but I bottled it and stuck it in the pantry (dark and not cold) so it would continue to ferment and possibly get fizzier.

I then promptly made a batch of tea (a macha & regular green tea mix), cleaned out the container, separated the SCOBYs (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast) and put it in the old one in the "brewing" container with some of the leftover kombucha from the last batch. I separated it from the new SCOBY (which is currently in a REALLY big, glass measuring cup with some of the leftover kombucha--it should keep for 2 weeks like that). This morning, when the tea was cooled, I put it in the brewing container with the old SCOBY.

I feel like my kitchen needs to be more functional. *sigh* I feel like I don't have enough room for all the stuff I need room for. I really need to buy an island for in there. That would do it. Or maybe I'll bring that table up out of the basement and use that in the middle of my kitchen. Hmmm... wondering if that's possible...

Stay tuned...

I'm seriously considering 4 CSA shares next year

I know what you're thinking. I thought the same thing. Hear me out...

So this year, we had 2 shares--one from each of two different farms/CSAs. It was enough. We managed okay.

But I'm thinking that if we managed with 2 shares, how 'bout we double it and try to PRESERVE the other two shares. Riiiiiiiiiight? Riiiiiiight? I know, right?!?!

The reality is that we live within the confines of a homeowner's association that restricts the amount square footage I can use to grow food and I back to a woman who called us in easily 3 times before we moved in. (of things we CLEARED with the association, tyvm)

That being the case, I know I can't grow enough food for us next year. And finding enough organic stuff to preserve is difficult.

*sigh*

Of course, it is currently about 70* outside and I'm going to send hubby out to till some beds for growing with cold frames that I'm going to overpay for because stupid me didn't get to making our own early enough.

*sigh again*

Raw and fermented... take 1

So, we decided to alter the amount of raw food in our diet such that we are ingesting more raw and less cooked. So far, so good! It's been weird, but not bad. We had raw beets and red cabbage (hubby's idea) with some cooked beef one night and I thought it was going to completely suck--but it was really good! He sliced the beets really thin and shredded the red cabbage. It was pretty good! And I remembered to keep in mind that dressings and condiments were good additions, too. I added raw cacao powder to boy-child's vanilla flavored coconut milk yogurt. He complained it wasn't sweet enough, but a tiny bit of raw honey fixed that! So it's going good! I just have to think REALLY differently.

I did buy 3 raw "cookbooks" (yes, a friend pointed out the irony!) but haven't completely gotten through them yet. Still looking. One thing I found is that they are furthering the case for a dehydrator! :) That being said, they have recipes for stuff I seriously never thought of. Including a mock sour cream (made from nuts--no dairy!).

As for fermenting, I have one word: KOMBUCHA!!! It's fermented tea. In fact, I had a citrus flavored one that tasted a little like wine--it was wonderful. So hubby and small child can have their kefir... I'll take the kombucha. Not sure what camp boy will land in.

Dreading the winter

I seriously am dreading it. The cost of food is going to kill me. The availability of organics is abysmal.

And really, we need to get into eating more locally-and with that, what grows local in the winter. It's not much. We will switch over to meats, stews, squashes, parsnips, carrots, turnips... root vegetables.

I need to find a place to buy rice in bulk other than Whole Foods.

I need to get my cold frames installed. Those are little boxes that trap the sun's heat and heat the ground underneath to make winter growing somewhat possible--at least for a few things! Nothing horribly tall, of course. :/

I need to learn how to make cheese and start thinking about some raw dairy.

I need to look into fermented foods. I hate kefir. There must be something else.

Really, I just need to get my food act together.