Learn how to make a sourdough starter recipe from scratch with just flour and water. This versatile ingredient can be used to make breads, cakes, cookies, and so much more. If you hang around the traditional foods community, chances are you have heard of making homemade sourdough starter from scratch. I have had my homemade starter for over six years now. It is vital in my traditional food kitchen. What Is A Sourdough Starter? A sourdough starter is a live active culture made of … [Read more...]
Homemade Lacto-Fermented Pickles
Homemade lacto-fermented pickles couldn’t be easier or more delicious. If you have time to slice them up and add them to salt water, you have time to make this recipe. This is seriously the simplest recipe ever and makes the best tasting, mildly sour, probiotic pickles. This easy fermented pickle recipe honestly seems like a pretty sorry excuse for a blog post. I mean, really. How could anything with so few steps and ingredients ever be considered revolutionary enough to be worthy of … [Read more...]
Maintaining and Feeding A Sourdough Starter
Join me as I teach you all about maintaining and feeding a sourdough starter. Every week I receive hundreds of questions about how to care for a sourdough starter, so I decided to add all the questions and answers into this post as a reference for those who are just starting out with sourdough. Sourdough is such an integral part of our diet, and I have been maintaining and feeding a sourdough starter for 11 years. Warm, crusty bread straight out of the oven, or decadent desserts made … [Read more...]
How To Make Fermented Fruit
Learn how to make fermented fruit two ways, for results that are not only delicious, but full of probiotics. Fermented blueberries are a sweet way to eat healthy bacteria. Find 2 ways to preserve fruit below. If you've been around here for more than two minutes, you know my deep passion for all things fermented. From sauerkraut to sour cream to sourdough, and all things in between. Bacteria - the good kind, of course - may just be my favorite type … [Read more...]
How to Make Water Kefir & Benefits
Learn how to make water kefir with this simple tutorial. Water kefir is a probiotic rich superfood that may sound intimidating to make, but it is actually a very simple process. The reward is growing healthy bacteria right in your own kitchen. I am sitting here drinking a bubbly bottle of fermented probiotic goodness as I type this blog post. In another post, I shared how to make milk kefir, but some people have dairy issues and can't tolerate it. The version I'm going to share with … [Read more...]
Lacto-Fermented Garlic
Learn how to make lacto fermented garlic that is an easy and delicious way to add probiotics to your diet. Follow me as I take you step-by-step to make this delicious and easy recipe. My love for garlic runs deep. You will frequently see me adding a whole head of roasted garlic to soup, or pan frying it with some pork chops. Here's the thing: fermented foods are also a passion of mine. See where I'm going with this? Fermented garlic almost tastes like the … [Read more...]
Lacto-fermentation: A Guide To Fermenting Vegetables
Lacto-fermentation is the process of taking beneficial bacteria that are naturally occurring on vegetables and converting them to lactic acid. Not only are lacto-fermented foods delicious, they are also rich in probiotics. Let's take a look at how to make these beneficial foods. You'll hear me talk about fermented foods quite frequently here, and for good reason. If there is ever such a "health food", it should be this. I really dislike the term "super food" because we should really be focusing … [Read more...]
Fermented Carrots Recipe
This fermented carrots recipe is a delicious way to eat probiotics. The classic carrot flavor and crunch you love, plus a little bit of sour tang that fermentation brings. The process couldn't be any easier, and the results are a gut healthy, probiotic rich superfood. Fermented Vegetables Fermented vegetables are the perfect addition to any simple meal. All the prep work is done ahead of time, so when the meal is ready they can go straight from the fridge to the table. That’s one less side … [Read more...]
Kefir Ranch Dressing Recipe
Probiotic-rich kefir ranch dressing is a delicious way to add beneficial bacteria to your favorite foods. Top fresh greens with this dressing to make a salad bursting with flavor, or use it as a dip. This is a great way to add probiotics into your family's diet. A few weeks back, I shared three of our family's favorite salad dressings, but I wanted to share this kefir ranch dressing in addition to those, since it has the addition of homemade milk kefir. It's a delicious way … [Read more...]
How To Make Fermented Jalapenos
A great way to add tons of flavor and probiotic rich foods to your meals, these fermented jalapenos are so simple and delicious. An easy way to preserve your summer harvest, learn how to make fermented jalapeños with just two ingredients. Ingredients you will need: jalapeños, salt, water, and a little time. This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here. Lacto-fermented veggies are one my most served easy side … [Read more...]
Why We Drink Raw Milk
Today, I am sharing why we drink raw milk. I will go into the health benefits, risks and our personal experience with drinking raw milk. For Nine Years We have been drinking raw milk in our family for over nine years now. When my first daughter, Ruthie, was 18 months old, it became clear to me that we needed to think through the whole milk thing. It's funny how having a child makes you ponder health things more than anything else. I really should have been researching into all of this, when I … [Read more...]
How to Make Yogurt in the Instant Pot
Learn how to make yogurt in the Instant Pot, to enjoy this awesome snack on the cheap. We are all about easy and healthy snacks in the farmhouse, Instant pot yogurt and granola are a staple. These are affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure HERE. Mastering Homemade Yogurt Yogurt making has been more of a saga over the last ten years, than something I could say I confidently mastered five years ago. First, I tried the … [Read more...]
Natural Immune System Boosters Supplements
Flu season is in full swing. Although it is impossible to completely safeguard yourself, these natural immune booster supplements can help to protect your family. my free essential oils class You can watch my entire essential oils class for free! Find it HERE. Grab my Kefir Smoothie ebook Winter is always a good time to take immune booster supplements and essential oils, but this flu season seems to be exceptionally terrible. Seems every time I get on Facebook, another person in … [Read more...]
My Top Ten Kitchen Essentials for a Traditional Foods Kitchen
To cook real food daily, you're going to need a few key items. Here are my top ten kitchen essentials for a traditional foods kitchen. Y'all know I am a lover of real food. Give me all the fresh herbs, grass-fed beef, fermented veggies and raw dairy. The quartz countertops in this old farmhouse kitchen never look complete without a bubbly bowl of sourdough, a day old mason jar of milk with the whey separating, and veggies fermenting in the corner. Some of the tasks of a traditional foods … [Read more...]
The Easiest Sourdough Discard Pizza Crust Recipe
Learn how to make this easy sourdough discard pizza crust. It only has four basic ingredients, no kneading or rising required. You really can't get much simpler than this. When I found out about this method for making sourdough pizza crust somewhere in internet land several years ago, you might say I felt a bit perturbed. You see, up until this point, my experience with homemade crust involved proofing, rising, kneading...Repeat. Repeat. Bake. I needed to plan the whole thing five … [Read more...]
Homemade Kimchi
Learn how to make this homemade kimchi recipe that is not only super delicious, but also packed with gut healthy probiotics. I don’t know if you guys know this about me or not, but I tend to be a bit of a foodie. As I confessed in a recent post, I almost always make simple meals, but I love experimenting in the kitchen. I truly appreciate local, quality ingredients, and will regularly go out of my way for such. A twenty minute drive every week to pick up raw milk from a local … [Read more...]
Homemade Sauerkraut Recipe
Homemade sauerkraut recipe is an easy and gut healthy way to get probiotics. The perfect side to a meal, this fermented raw sauerkraut will become a family staple. I already blogged a little about probiotics and why they are so important in my Raw Organic Milk Kefir post. Since they do so much to support a healthy immune system and regulate digestion, it makes sense to find a way to eat fermented foods daily. You could spend $50 a month on good quality probiotic … [Read more...]
How to Make Milk Kefir
Learn how to make milk kefir with this simple tutorial. Milk kefir is a thick, and tangy fermented milk that is rich in gut-healthy probiotics. Follow my tips below to make this healthy ferment. One thing I really like making in the farmhouse is fermented foods. You will always find something fermenting on the counter. From sauerkraut, water kefir, kimchi, to even jalapenos. We love it all. Milk kefir is a fantastic way to begin with fermented foods. The process is so simple to make that … [Read more...]