On a lighter note, one thing I missed after being compelled to find solace at a higher ground a.k.a. “The Neighbor’s,” during the havoc Typhoon Ondoy has brought our family, is preparing Kefir Smoothie. Probiotic is the best and as much as I would love to serve it au naturel, there is no way I could have my boys take them as is. And you cannot get more probiotic than kefir. I went back to “kefiring” the day after we came back home.  I figured, we all needed the immune system boosting it gives us.  

I just love how the World’s Healthiest Foods come up with such fine recipes. I could make use of them, incorporate with the everyday stuff I prepare for the family and even modify them to our taste. Life goes on and as we struggle to move on, sulking is just unacceptable and we press on to glorify God everyday of our lives and one way to do that is to be good stewards of the health He has given us. I’ve done a few articles about Kefir and you could just go back to those posts for its health benefits. Just so you guys know, despite our being exposed to extreme weather conditions lately and having to get soaked in mud water (Eew!) and to sort out all the muddy stuff (can you imagine all the bacteria therein!), my family and I are all fine! Strengthened immune system, by God’s grace, through the daily Kefir smoothie our family has been taking.

So, without further ado, here’s the Strawberries Smoothie Recipe from World’s Healthiest Foods.  I will replace the yogurt ingredient with, you guessed it right, kefir.

This health-promoting smoothie recipe provides a wonderful combination of flavors and nutrition to your Healthiest Way of Eating. The addition of tahini helps keep you satiated for a longer period than your usual smoothie.

Prep and Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

4 large strawberries
ź cup low-fat plain yogurt
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 TBS tahini*
1 medium size banana
˝ tsp vanilla
1 TBS honey
* Tahini is sesame seed butter and can be found in natural food stores or Middle Eastern groceries.

Directions:

Remove stems from strawberries and wash.

Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth.

Serve 2 (8 oz glass servings)

It has been more than 2 weeks since I first started making kefir smoothies for our family. The introduction was not hard, especially with my son. But after the first week, when I gradually thickened the concentration of the kefir milk, I got a sour face because of the little- too-sour-concoction, from my dear husband.  Although he would always finish the smoothies anyway, I solved the problem by adding a little more honey.  I stuck with the thick kefir milk concentrate, though.  It worked. There was one day I ran out of fruits, I experimented with this strawberry jam from Baguio and my son loved it. Apparently, it is only I who can drink it au naturale. And I wonder, really.  It tastes just like yoghurt.  If people can eat yoghurt without fuss, then drinking or eating kefir shouldn’t be a problem.

This is the second batch of kefir grains that I’m currently “taking care of.”  I accidentally lost my first batch that Tita Jane of Here’s to Life gave me.  A newbie’s boo-boo. I probably mashed it with the milk curds as I was straining during my third day of “kefiring”. Here’s when the old adage comes in, “If there’s a will, there’s a way.” And I did not waste time, buying kefir internationally was too pricey and I knew I cannot wait so long until I get my next batch, anyway.  I bought kefir milk from Bizu and got these tiny and lovely grains when I first strained it.  I got excited, I wasn’t able to take a decent shot.  I know it’s overexposed, but it’s the only photo I got of my first baby Caucasus kefir grains.

Needless to say, I fell in love with “kefiring” right from the first time I made my first kefir smoothie.  This is why I will forever be grateful to Tita Jane for introducing me to the health benefits of kefir.  Whoever would have thought that a lactose intolerant me would ever take in milk based stuff on a daily basis, and not just once. I drink atleast a couple of glasses per day.

Behold, my kefir grains, a couple of weeks later! The first time I fermented the kefir milk, I used the regular tetra packed fresh milk available in the supermarket.  Three days ago when I did my grocery shopping, I saw this fresh carabao’s milk (not the UHT processed type).  From what I’ve read, the UHT (Ultra High Temperature) processing of the milk is what makes the milk last for so long.  The regular tetra packed milk can last months, even a year.  The most recent that I bought is marked with a May 2010 expiry, while the “real fresh” carabao’s milk that I bought has a tag of Sept. 23, 2009.  Only a week after I bought it.  I tried looking for Milk Star goat’s milk, which I wrote about last year, but I can’t find one from the supermarket.

Here’s where I ferment my kefir milk.

I love that the kefir smoothie works hand in hand with my quest to keeping my weight stable. One thing I’m sure about is that this ups the immune system, what I’m not sure of is  if it has fat burners‘ properties. It works for me in a sense that whenever I drink the smoothie, I feel half full already come meal time.

Kefir is a probiotic. Probiotics are known to be the friendly micro-organisms that fight the bad bacteria in our bodies. Most good bacteria come from Lactobacillus (think Yakult) or Bididobacterium groups. Taking probiotics ups our immune system by its very nature that it defends our bodies from the bad guys a.k.a. bad bacteria. More on this at a later post. Meanwhile, allow me to go back to fermenting my next milk kefir batch.

Here’s how I make my kefir smoothie:
1. From the first grains that I have (check second photo from top),  I place it in a vacuum glass jar and add in a cup of fresh milk. (the non-UHT type brings about more stringy kefir grains and curds, and from experience they grow ever so rapidly with it too)

2. Wait 24 hours for the next straining.

3. Give it a quick stir just to make it easier to strain.

4. While waiting, I get the fruits ready and place them inside the blender, with honey to taste. (no citrus fruits)

5. Strain away with the use of a plastic strainer.  I often “help” by shaking the strainer and giving it a stir from time to time.

6. I plop the kefir grains into a clean vacuum glass jar. I read that others plop theirs right back to the original jar. (something I would have to look into later)

7.  Pour the kefir milk (from the straining) with the rest of the ingredients that are already in the blender and blend away.

Just when I got our family acquainted with the lemongrass concoction last year, I am again giddy over introducing kefir to our family. I have Tita Jane of HerestoLife.wordpress.com to thank for. Last Saturday, during the launch of Globe’s Tattoo sim and ImmortalTXT, she handed me the famous kefir grains. I really so appreciate her heart, even going out of her way to bring those containers with the kefir culture in it to give away to friends. The inconvenience of it all! You can’t find a whole lot of people like her nowadays and I’m really just so happy that I have met her through the bloggers network via Plurk. I have to admit that it has been months since I started lurking and reading through her “kefir posts”, curious and all, I never had the chutzpah to start culturing the probiotic myself.  And now that she handed me the culture with the kefir grains in it, I am left with no choice but to get down to it and get started on being a “kefirhead” myself.

So there, before I babble on and get into this kefir madness and proceed with kefir jargon, allow me to sink everything in as I catch my breath. Here is Tita Jane’s post on the kefir process. And just for those who do not know what kefir is. Here are more information straight from Wikipedia:

Kefir (alternately kefīrs, keefir, kephir, kewra, talai, mudu kekiya, milkkefir, búlgaros) is a fermented milk drink that originated in the Caucasus region. It is prepared by inoculating cow, goat, or sheep’s milk with kefir grains. Traditional kefir was made in skin bags that were hung near a doorway; the bag would be knocked by anyone passing through the doorway to help keep the milk and kefir grains well mixed.

OVERVIEW
Kefir grains are a combination of bacteria and yeasts in a matrix of proteins, lipids, and sugars. This symbiotic matrix forms grains that resemble cauliflower. Today, kefir is becoming increasingly popular due to new research into its health benefits. Many different bacteria and yeasts are found in the kefir grains, which are a complex and highly variable community of micro-organisms.[1]

Traditional kefir is fermented at ambient temperatures, generally overnight. Fermentation of the lactose yields a sour, carbonated, slightly alcoholic beverage, with a consistency similar to thin yoghurt.[2] Kefir fermented by small-scale dairies early in the 20th century achieved alcohol levels between 1 and 2 percent, but kefir made commercially with modern methods of production has less than 1% alcohol, possibly due to reduced fermentation time.[3] Variations that thrive in various other liquids exist. They may vary markedly from kefir in both appearance and microbial composition. Water kefir (or kefir d’acqua) is grown in water with sugar (sometimes with added dry fruit such as figs, and lemon juice) for a day or more at room temperature.

For my regular readers, you probably know me too well to expect that I would stop at this post. More articles about kefir coming up. Meanwhile, allow me to finish my yummy and refreshing Banana-Mango kefir smoothie.