@Terry Page ,Thank you, I have been try to help care for my brother since his knee was replaced, and I've had to stay over night a few times. So I was worried about the maintenance of the kefir. Also, I have noticed how quickly the grains grow. What do you do with the excess growth? Can you put it in other food? Can it be fed to older dogs for health reason? Can you bake with it?
Yes Ina you can eat them and feed them to animals, some other ideas here and here just be a careful how much you eat as you could upset your stomach if too much is taken at once. You can make cheese and I find using them as a spread works well and tastes good.
If @Chrissy Page is still buying her kefir, maybe she is also ready to try making it, and you could send her a start, @Ina I. Wonder . You are much closer to her than I am, so it would get there faster than if either Terry or I sent them to her. I ended up leaving my last batch in the refrigerator when I had to rush off to Washington and they were fine when I returned home; so if you are only going to be gone a few days, just put the batch in the fridge and strain it when you get back. As I understand it, it will still culture in the refrigerator; just slower because of the colder temperature.
I haven't been doing the kefir, Yvonne. Figured store bought wasnt worth it and I just travel too much to make my own. My pattern is 2-3 weeks home, 2 weeks away.
@Chrissy Page , I understand your limitations, but with you change your mind, just let me know. Travel on. Do you get to take Pickles with you? Is he a good traveler as well?
Thanks, Ina. If I ever settle down and change my mind, I'll let you know. Yes, I take Pickles with me and he is a terrible traveler. He's done this trip with me every 2-3 weeks for 7 years and he still hides when he sees me taking things out to the car. Once there he's happy because he just loves Michael the 16 yr old. When it's time to leave and come home the same thing happens, he runs and hides. I don't get it. He kind of goes Into shock in the car.
Does he get to ride with you? Or does he end up with other animal? Izzy just curls up in my lap and goes to sleep. But you can tell if he had a say in the matter, neither of us would get anywhere. Now he is ok in the car, but I do have to pay attention to his messages. We are getting to where we understand each other pretty well.
What other animal? He rides up front in the passenger seat, I have it all comfy for him. I used to have a dog car seat but he outgrew that.
The starter kits are very easy to use, and also make delicious kefir. I think that it might work for you, @Chrissy Page , even with your travels. You just add a packet of starter to your quart of milk and leave it overnight. After that, you can save about 1/2 cup to use as the starter for the next batch, just like you would do with a sourdough starter. It does not spoil; but if you drink all of it before you leave, then you can just use another packet of starter when you return home . I think that this might also be an easy way for @Krissttina Isobe to learn about kefir as well. It sure worked good for me, and I really didn't notice any difference in the taste or quality of the kefir that I made with the starter packets than with the kefir that I now make with the kefir grains. Today, we went shopping and came home with fresh fruit and I made a fruit salad. It had papaya, apple, blueberries, pineapple, grapes, banana, and strawberries . Then I took some of that and put it in the blender with the almost quart of kefir and blended it. It made the most delicious fruit-flavored kefir ever, and I am going to do that more often. I drank part of a cup, and put the rest back in the fridge to blend in the flavor so for later. It is much better tasting (and healthier) than any of the sweetened flavored kefir from the grocery store.
Yvonne, I'm very anal or ocd about my food. When I leave I make sure I have nothing much in my fridge or freezer because I worry that my power might have gone out for an extended time and things would spoil and I wouldn't know it for some things, especially in the freezer where they would just freeze again. The power went out once recently because my oven clock was flashing when I returned home. Another worry is that I'm not doing it right and my batch is spoiled.
I just finished reading a very interesting article about the relationship between kefir, hypothyroidism, and auto-immune diseases such as lupus or MS. Basically, it suggests that problems with the digestive system can cause the necessary nutrients not to be processed correctly, thus causing hypothyroidism, which in turn can lead to the auto-immune diseases. Drinking kefir can help a lot in preventing this by keeping the digestive system working properly. This is a long-ish article; but well worth the time it takes to read it if you have any of these issues going on. http://rense.com/general66/thy.htm
I do have hypothyroid but it's controlled with my meds. I've never had any issues with my digestive system though. It's the one thing that I would have to say is perfect on me. I don't think I've ever even threw up....maybe once in my life. I can eat anything with no problems whatsoever. Knock on wood.
I am also on Armour Thyroid, @Chrissy Page ; but my goal is to not have to treat an illness the rest of my life, and instead , to change my life and make the illness go away completely. Since a dietary deficiency is the likeliest cause of an underproducing thyroid, I want to do everything that I can to get that thyroid healthy again, so it can start making enough of the necessary hormone. I have been taking an iodine supplement, a thyroid supplement, and now am using the kefir to get my digestive system in balance so that the supplements will be processed by my body, and then (hopefully) the thyroid can start doing its work properly again. Each time that my doctor checks it, it is getting better; so I am encouraged to keep working at it. Now, I have been reading about making water kefir, and I ordered some water kefir grains, and am going to try making that when the grains arrive. Water kefir is totally different from milk kefir, and is supposed to be more like a naturally carbonated soda; but still full of the healthy probiotics. Even though it is made with sugar (or other sweetener), the sugar is used by the yeast during the fermentation/culturing process. I really like carbonated drinks; but stopped drinking regular soda pop years ago, and no longer drink even the artificially sweetened ones except occasionally. I have a soda stream and make my own carbonated filtered water; but I think that if the water kefir turns out okay, then it will be an interesting addition to my eating plan.
I'm not willing to mess with my thyroid, the meds aren't a big deal to me, Yvonne. It's just easier for me to take a pill than to be constantly worrying about how I'm eating. I eat healthy but only because it's the foods I like anyway.
Nothing wrong with that, @Chrissy Page . We all have different goals in life, and our own ways of taking care of our body. The things that work for me are not necessarily going to be the things that work for other people, and vice-versa. I was raised by a mother who treated everything at home, and I don't ever remember even going to see a doctor at any time when I was growing up. In fact, the first doctor that I remember ever seeing was when I was married and expecting my first child. So, I learned reliance on myself and on what we would probably consider "home remedies" nowadays when there seems to be a drug for every ailment. I still do not go to a doctor unless it is something seriously wrong, and I can't fix it myself. Doctors are a great thing, and there are many things that they do that helps people to live better lives and longer lives, and I am all in favor of both doctors and medications when we need them. I think this is just a personal decision that each person has to make, and decide what is right for them.