Fermented Foods...The New Super Foods!

Fermented foods are the new super foods! They are also super easy to brew in your own home. More than that, you will love their crunchy, sweet and sour taste. Fermented foods are especially helpful for children and grown-ups that are struggling with mental health. We now know how connected our gut brain is to our head brain. Anyone with autoimmune issues, IBS, and food allergies will also benefit from adding those beautiful bacteria to their bio-dome at breakfast, lunch or dinner.

“When we have a thriving, robust micro-biodome we have lots of energy, our brain chemicals are stable, and our hormones are in tune."

Fermenting is super fun once you get over the first bacterial mishaps. Just think of it as brewing beer or wine! I like the Youtube ‘show and tell’ from Kultured Kitchen.

My Ginger Crinkle-Cut Fermented Beets received thumbs up from the whole family. I used whey (scooped off home-made yogurt) and Kombucha as starters. The kombucha starter batch was done in four days. I just left the jars in a dark corner in the kitchen. The whey starter needed a week. I put a large sanitized pebble on the top of the veggies to keep them properly submerged in the culture (or brine) and placed a plastic screw cap on that fit a Mason jar. My failure with a few jars of naturally fermented cukes was the result of bubbling brine leaving the cukes exposed. Just keep an eye on things and add more brine to cover the veggies. Start tasting your ferments after three/five days.

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CULTURED BEETS

For those who struggle with the sugar in beetroot, fermenting is the perfect way to get all the amazing nutrients from this wonder food without the extra sugar. Your starter culture has 27 million little gut bugs running around that are happy to munch up the sugar and magically transform it into a wonder food. Heads up also for athletes! Beets have been shown to increase oxygen flow in the body and boost your liver to take care of lactic acid build up in your muscles. 1. Fill one mason jar with cut up beets.

2. Add ¼ cup of kefir culture or kombucha.

3. Fill the jar with filtered water. (ginger or cloves opt.)

4. Place a stone on top or press down a couple of folded cabbage leaves to keep the beets fully submerged.

5. Ferment until you are happy with the taste. Usually 4 to 10 days depending on the temperature.

#okanaganrawsome #happygut #fermentingfun #fermentedbeets