Tuesday Trimmings

I'm starting to like this catch-all post I started doing on Tuesdays. It's a nice way to write about all the random crap I've been up to without have to try and be organized about it. haha.

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My jars came yesterday! So last night I started my first batch of kombucha. I'm so excited I can hardly wait. Once we started drinking it a while ago, we realized it was too expensive to keep buying, but because of the health benefits (and because it's downright tasty!), we decided it was worthwhile to invest in making our own. My SCOBY is doing really well (yay) so I'm optimistic that this will be a success.

So far, I've spent
$2 on generic green tea
$3.50 on a bottle of starter kombucha
and $25.98 on two 1-gallon glass jars.

I'm starting off with making just one gallon to see how it goes and to see how fast we drink it.

1 gallon filtered water -- $15 / 100 = $0.15 ($15 is how much each filter costs)
4 tea bags -- $2 / 40 * 10 = $0.50
1 cup of sugar -- $2 / 12 = $0.18 (aprox)

So total cost for one gallon of kombucha, will be less than $1.00. Compared to a 16oz bottle for $3.50, I'd say that's quite a deal. Especially since it takes eight 16oz bottle to equal one gallon. 8 * $3.50 = $28.

Which means with my first gallon, I will just about break even with my start up costs.

After that, it's all gravy (erm, kombucha!).

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In other news, my fermented orange marmalade is done! It's pretty good, but not at all like what normal marmalade is like. It's kind of watery and not syrupy. It's vaguely sweet and orange-y at first, and then it's slightly salty, and then it's pretty bitter. But for some reason I think I really like it, even though it's definitely really bitter. The rinds have softened up so they're much more chew-able now, which is good.

I'm thinking about adding either maple syrup or more sugar to sweeten it up so my DH will also eat it. I think if I can balance the bitter / slightly salty flavor with a bit more sweetness, it will help him enjoy it. I want him to eat it because it's good for him, but let's be honest, if he doesn't eat it, I won't be that sad--more for me!

And, contrary to my belief, adding whey did not ruin it. I thought for sure, once I added the whey, that it would be awful and just taste like whey and nastiness, but I can't taste the whey at all! How cool is that? (you saw this coming) Whey cool.

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Oh, and I had another dinner success last night. Wild-caught salmon fried in a skillet with butter, topped with homemade BBQ sauce and served with green beans covered with butter. Yum! DH really enjoyed it and so did I.

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Other than adding more fermented foods to our diet, I'm sucking at my goals. I still have 6 days to get them done, so I might eek by, but... yeah, not holding my breath at this point. Aand, school is kicking my butt. And I don't really like work that much... And I don't even want to think about my grocery bill lately.

...But I made kombucha! and I guess for now, that's enough.

What about you? How are you doing with your New Year's goals?

Sauerkraut!

Last night (and this morning!) I enjoyed the first taste of my second batch of sauerkraut. It was delicious!

It's not quite what my last batch was, but I figure that's partially my own fault, since I am woefully lacking in my patience for measuring things when I cook. Keeps it interesting, right? Right? ...Ok, maybe not.

Anyway, I left this batch out on the counter for longer and I think I like it more than I liked my last batch when I first tried it, so I call this a win. Which is good because I have nearly six pounds of it!

It's actually a really frugal food, too. And I know we are all looking for ways to save a few bucks, right? The cabbage (all six pounds) cost a whopping $2.50. I used several tablespoons of caraway seeds which I don't have a price for because it was part of a "starter" spice kit from three years ago. We'll say $0.25. The filtered water... negligible. And the kosher salt (iodized salt messes it up apparently) which I used probably 1/4 1/3 a cup probably came to $0.50 or less. So I got almost six pounds of sauerkraut for $3.25. Good luck beating that price buying pre-made sauerkraut.

The other nice thing about homemade v. store bought in this case is that my sauerkraut hasn't been heated at all, so it still has all the beneficial bacteria to help digestion. Trust me, most days, I need all the digestive help I can get, lol. (Sorry if that was tmi).

I know it's not as easy as buying a jar of it, but all told it doesn't really take that long to do, especially if you have any kind of food processor, I imagine. I chopped all of mine and got it set up on the counter in probably about one hour. After that it takes very little maintenance while it "sauers" for a week or 10 days. You really just have to keep an eye on the water level. Plus, an hour of my time equals sauerkraut for probably 4 months.

Tonight I am planning on starting some fermented orange marmalade type shtuff and I am soo excited.

I love fermented foods!