Country School

This and That

The reason for the lack of entries is that Eric has been gone alot ,his dad passed away monday and he is in Wichita Kansas this weekend and we have had an explosion of babies. Some planned like the 13 3 weeks old turkeys and the ducks but a few unplanned like the goat babies and the mom hatched turkey babies. I have some pics of getting the planned turkeys and a few of the surprise goats which I'll post later. Today I'm going to show you my God given retreat. The place I go to refresh and renew and the most wonderful part is it is right here. My garden. Monday a two man construction crew is supposed to come and start building our new utility room(I'll post before and after pics) plus we had all the materials for our new 16x16 deck delivered.(everything is under the blue tarps you see in some of the pics) Here  are the pics of my wonderful garden.

Making Kefir From Powdered Cultures

Kefir is a cultured milk product similar to yogurt only thinner and much easier to make and reculture. If you would like to know more specific information on kefir I have an article written by a friend of mine on my site to give you more info. You can read that HERE. It has all the wonderful qualities of yogurt with the good probiotics your body needs to stay healthy.

Kefir can be made in two ways. One is to purchase kefir grains (you can read more about this in the above mentioned article). You soak milk in the grains, strain the grains and put the grains back into a clean jar and fill with milk, let it sit on your counter overnight and the next morning it is ready. I have made kefir with grains in the past. There were a few things I did not care for. One was it was a lot of maintenance. Unless you stop making kefir you have to strain it out daily and that adds up to a lot of kefir to use every day. Also the longer I made it the stronger the taste became and my family was not too thrilled with it. So I purchased some powdered kefir cultures and made it and was so much happier with the results. This is the method I will show you how to make.

I like making kefir because it is so easy! It is much easier to make than yogurt. You don’t need a lot of equipment other than a large stainless steel pot, a thermometer and a few canning jars. I use 2 2-quart jars but you can use 4 1-quart jars if that is what you have.

Besides that you will need one gallon of milk (I use whole milk) and a package of powdered kefir culture. You can purchase your cultures online at Leeners http://www.leeners.com/cheesesupply.html#buttermilk . I have purchased cheese cultures and rennet, kefir cultures, yogurt starter, buttermilk starter and more from them many times. They are a GREAT company with excellent prices and I highly recommend them.

After your cultures arrive in the mail you can gather your needed items together and get ready to make kefir!  This pictures shows the jars with their lids (I buy plastic lids from Walmart or Azure Standard, they are made by Ball), a thermometer, the packet of culture and one gallon of milk.

Pour your gallon of milk into the stainless steel pot and put it on the stove.

Set your oven at medium high IF you will be watching the pot. If not you can set it on low and stir occasionally as it heats up. In any case stir now and again and check the temperature of the milk

As soon as it reaches 86 degrees remove the pot from the stove.   Open the packet of kefir cultures, sprinkle over the milk and stir until dissolved

Now it is time for pour the mixture into your canning jars. I like to use a canning funnel for this job. It is not absolutely necessary but helps keep the mess at a minimum.

Fill both jars to the top

Put the lid on them and let them sit out on the counter for 12 to 18 hours. I try and make this in the later afternoon and then just let it sit on the counter till morning.

When the time is up you can open the lid and there is your kefir! As you can see it is nice and thick.. but not as thick as yogurt. The consistency is more like thick buttermilk.

When you start to run out of kefir it is even easier to make more.

Fill a clean canning jar ¼ full of kefir. Pour milk to the top of the jar. Cover and leave out at room temperature for 12 to 18 hours. And that is it!!
 

Kefir can be used in place of milk or yogurt in smoothies. That is how I like to use it most often. I have used it also in place of buttermilk for baking. But my favorite use is in smoothies.

Here is a delicious and simple strawberry kefir smoothie recipe that is perfect for these warm summer days.

Strawberry Kefir Smoothie
Crystal Miller


1 heaping cup fresh strawberries (frozen will also work)
1 cup kefir
Honey to taste, optional

Gather your ingredients together

Put kefir and strawberries into your blender.

Turn your blender on high and mix until all is smooth (taste to see if you want to add a little honey for sweetener at this point).

Pour into a glass

Serve to your eager and appreciative family!  :)

And enjoy!


 

Some pix and things....

ok, well below are 2 pix taken of Anna Joy today and yesterday. She is really growing and I can tell she has gotten heavier. We are pretty much over our nursing woes..........though this nursing is a full time job. Ain't she a cutie!!

Alright....our oven is broken and they can't fix it. Joys of living in a country where only the foreigners have ovens......well....married foreigners. DH is going to try again and see if we can't order a part from overseas. I will check with some missionaries in the capital where there are alot of American schools......surely this part is here in Taiwan.

Until then.....I am really stuck on how to cook. TECHINCALLY I shouldn't be cooking..........Chinese custom gives me the whole month off. But, though dh can cook, and very well at that, he seems to think it is tiring..........HELLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOO like ya think I love it? ok, really I don't like cooking......maybe cause it's I don't like my kitchen and lack of space to do anything or keep anything? i don't know....but without my oven I am seriously stuck on ideas of what to cook. I have a bread maker, but last loaf I made it turned out into a knot of somekind.....totally messed that one up and so sorta afraid to do that again. I am dying for banana bread though.........any muffin type breads for the bread maker? one loaf of bread is not going to cut it for my crew. I am looking though for something for a breakfast bread......

well......that's it for now.........here are two pix of our princess:

Banana Waffles

Banana Waffles

Creole Bean Soup

Creole Bean Soup

Apple Bundt Cake

Breakfast Souffle'

Breakfast Souffle'

Ingredients
1 1/2 lb. pork sausage
9 eggs, beaten
3 cups milk
1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. salt
3 slices bread, cut into 1/4 in. cubes
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Directions
Brown sausage over medium heat in skillet, stirring until crumbly. Drain well on paper towels. Combine with remaining ingredients in large bowl, mixing well. Pour into greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Chill, covered, in refrigerator overnight. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour. Makes 8 servings.

This Speaks for It's Self

Lemon Custard Pudding Cake

stovetop zucchini and chicken casserole