kefir - a morning kickstart

This is what kick starts my day - kefir it is a fermented milk drink and better for those who are less lactose intolerant.
It is a bit like yoghurt but not that thick and really simple to maintain and continue.
First you need a starter and it looks like this - cauliflower. I put mine in a glass jar top it up with milk and place a muslin cover over it, so that it can breath but keep the dust out. The following morning I strain it through a non metal strainer, then wash the glass jar out as this is a bacteria - hygiene is important. With a non metal spoon scoop the kefir back into the clean jar and top up with milk again - it is that simple. Then what you do with it, is endless. For my brekkie, I like to make a smoothie, adding bananas, sesame and sunflower seeds, a little cinnamon. Find the combo you like best.

On the subject of bananas our aim here is to be self sufficient, slowly things that we put in the ground when we first arrived are slowly starting to bear fruit. We have several banana plants and were so excited to see our first bunch this year, we now have 4 bunches on the trees which still need to ripen, so until then we are able to buy local bananas from the market. I am still amazed to see in the supermarket bananas from Costa Rica when we have excellent ones right on our doorstep - go figure.

If you are just starting with some kefir, it might take a while for your culture to grow so that you may have more to play with and make different things. I have made different cheeses and an easy one to try is after your culture has sat for 24 hrs you can strain it through a double muslin cloth if it is very thin, allowing the whey to drain off and this might take a day or two, what you will have left is a wonderfully thick creamy cheese. Add some salt, pepper and abit of garlic if you like, then take a teaspoonful and roll into balls and place into some olive oil. This can be stored in the fridge and be used when you chose to.

Now you might be asking where do I find a starter culture, well mine came from a friend and that is usually how it gets around, the more kefir you make the bigger your culture gets, the more you have to share with others. So you still do not have a culture!  guess a good place to start might be to ask at your wholefood or health store or you can try online. It is not something I have ever seen sold in the store. However when I was visiting in South Africa I made my sister buy some kefir at a market that sold fresh produce and this man was a dairy farmer.
Happy kefiring:)