Queen B

Posts Tagged ‘Kombucha’

, , , , ,

Dry days

In Healthy shmealthy, Stick a fork in it! on March 21, 2012 at 3:01 pm

I’m on day three of the ginger bug and it’s looking good!  By day three I mean that I have added 2 tsp each organic sugar and chopped ginger per day for two days after starting the bug on day 1.  Capishe?  (yes, I totally did look up the spelling… there are like 20 different ways that you can spell that word)

The little bug is foamy at the top, fizzy and fresh smelling. It tasted good, too (although I was a little scared to taste it, thinking it would be hot); a little sweet, mildly ginger flavored. Very nice.  I will admit that I was hyper-focused on my stomach for about an hour after tasting it, just in case .  I’m fairly new to consuming known bacteria ON PURPOSE, and I tend to prefer my drinks to be on the clear side when considered safe to drink.  It was a leap of faith I had to take today with this here bug.

My kombucha, on the other hand….

I filled my jar up higher on this batch, being greedy and trying to get more from a batch than I have been in the past. Well, between that and the hot weather here for March (80′s in Chicagoland?!), the scoby is climbing up the walls of the jar and literally being suspended over the tea by a big bubble of carbon dioxide. I keep opening the jar and pushing it down in the brew because I’m afraid it’s going to dry out or get mold on it. I guarantee that I will not over fill the jar again… but I’ll be sure to enjoy that extra bottle I’m gonna get out of this batch when it’s done. I just hope it’s done soon.

However, I was reading online that due to the detoxifying properties of kombucha, it is actually good to take a day or two off once in a while to ensure that the body isn’t being over detoxified. (that doesn’t sound right, does it? well, you knew what I meant!) So I’m going to stop whining that I can only make 5 bottles from a batch and it takes a week to brew. Do you see the problem here? Two dry days. Lame. It’s getting even lamer, actually, because each new batch tastes better than the last and I fear I may be addicted.

I’m pretty sure I’m addicted. But it’s all good, because dry days = not excessively detoxed. Perfect… or something like that.

You realize I will just fill my dry days with this new soda I’m concocting, don’t you? I just need to decide on a flavor. Maybe just ginger beer, or strawberry to start? Pineapple sounds refreshing and yum for the hot summer my future-vision tells me is coming.

It’s scary how similar to a sangria recipe this is all starting to sound.

Ummmmmm….. is it wrong that I’m probably going to research whether or not the alcohol in sangria would kill the bacteria in the fermented soda for future reference? Because I totally am. For hypothetical research purposes only, of course. You see, I have this friend who really likes sangria…

, , , , ,

The gross one

In Healthy shmealthy, Punishment for what?, Random nonsense, Self-deprecating humor, Stick a fork in it! on March 8, 2012 at 10:04 pm

I was able to bottle my second batch of kombucha after work today and start the third batch brewing!  I got a great suggestion from a friend and moved my jug to the top of the refrigerator for a little warmth, which reduced my fermentation time by half on the second batch.  Woot woot!  My mother yeast is fully developed now, and it makes for some tasty ass tea.  The process is much more streamlined as well, so it’s actually very quick work getting the scoby transferred to a new tea and the fermented brew bottled up.  It took me maybe fifteen minutes.  Two days of rest seem to create the perfect amount of carbonation and flavor before the bottles go into the fridge and we’re good to go.  Easy peasy.

This past week I have been drinking mostly GT’s Enlightened.  I was trying to conserve.  I had a bottle of home brew on Monday when I was at home sick, and one today.  On Tuesday morning I felt so good that I thought I had acquired the only four day cold known to man.  Of course, when I went to work Tuesday and sat in the recycled air for a few hours I changed my tune.  Tuesday and Wednesday I had GT’s Enlightened at work and felt pretty unwell.  Today I woke up feeling crappy and off.  When I left for work I forgot my ginger water with lemon, forgot most of the food I normally bring to eat for breakfast, and forgot my kombucha.  When I got home I drank a bottle of my own tea.  I feel better this evening than I have all week since Tuesday morning.  I think this stuff is powerful.  Tomorrow I am taking a bottle with me to work.  We shall see the effect of the canned air on my well being while on the juice!

What else am I doing?  Taking elderberry religiously.  Sniffing a Vicks stick, taking my vitamins, drinking plenty of water.  Snorting and gargling salted water and blowing my nose every three minutes.  Eating well.  I know it’s gross, but I also spit stuff out that comes out of my throat.  I know it’s TMI, but my grandma always always insisted that I never ever swallow sick.  So I don’t.

Did I ever tell the most disgusting story that I’ve got?

I was driving my Jeep in the summer with the top down and the doors off back in the day.  Someone in a car in front of me spit out of their window, and the aerodynamics of the cars and the wind carried it around my windshield.  I had sunglasses on and it went inside my glasses In. My. Eye.  Semi solid.  I almost caused an accident with my complete and total freak out.  I’m pretty sure that I had Suicidal Tendencies playing in the cassette player (it was stuck in the player on constant replay for a year or so) and I may have actually had suicidal tendencies at that moment.  Or rather, murderous.  I almost hurled.

So now you can rest easy that any other story I tell you will be tolerable, because you made it through that one.  Good on you!

Oh crap, I just realized that the kombucha/illness experiment results will be skewed tomorrow because it’s jeans day.  On account that jeans make everything better.

I hope you’re all wearing jeans.

Sorry for the loogie story.

Thanking God there are no pictures, aren’t you?

, , ,

Sick day

In Healthy shmealthy, Stick a fork in it! on March 5, 2012 at 3:44 pm

I am sick. After making it through the entire Chicago winter (admittedly mild), I have finally caught a cold. I am going to take this opportunity to be grateful for just a moment now that it isn’t the flu.

Moment over.

Staying home is for the birds. I’m fussy, and bored, and lonely, and I can’t even do anything fun. What a waste of a day off of work, huh?

The upside is, I’m using this opportunity to drink my lovely kombucha brew for the first time. I had to let it ferment in the bottle for a couple of days before I refrigerated it, to get enough fizz again after my bottling process. I may have been too careless or aggressive in my funneling and it lost a lot (all?) of the carbonation. Regardless, I’m pretty sure it will still make me all better by the end of the day no matter how carbonated it is.  Just kidding, it’s not a wonder drug.  I realize… no need to chastise me publicly, people.

(like my glasses?  i found them hiding in a box in the basement… no idea where they came from.  sorta a giveaway to our organizational level around here)

It turned out perfectly tart with just a hint of sweetness, it’s even a pretty amber color (sometimes people say it looks like I’m drinking a urine sample, so this is better). It tastes slightly fruity, maybe like cider. My daughter thinks it tastes a like the sparkling grape juice she loves to drink from fancy glasses when we have a celebration.  Highest praise.

Here’s to sparkly drinks that make me feel like I might live forever, even when I can’t muster enough psychological wherewithal to make it through a five-hour work day.

**hangs head in shame**

, , , ,

Bottling day!

In Healthy shmealthy, Stick a fork in it! on March 1, 2012 at 2:04 pm

And now it starts all over again.  My one and only complaint is that my measly one gallon system only produces five bottles per batch.  I feel like my midwestern location and subsequent winter temperatures slow the process down considerably and I’ll be out of kombucha before the next batch is even close to being done.  I know… more of my first world problems popping up again.  Life is just SO HARD.

By far the most delicious kombucha ever made, probably.

, ,

In a nutshell

In Serious Fun, The little roomies, Who comes up with this stuff? on February 18, 2012 at 1:31 pm

Welp…. the mother yeast was transferred last night after we went to see HUGO in 3D (more on that later). Surprisingly, although it was thin, it was one solid culture all the way across the top of the container. Yes, I did a happy dance when I pulled it out and it didn’t fall apart. I’m unsure if I should be dancing so much, though, because it sank in the new tea rather than floating as I’d hoped. In my extensive reading this morning I have found that the batch will now form a new scoby on the top of the jar again. Oh the pain of waiting. I hope this takes less time now that there is a thin but more substantial starter scoby in this batch.

I did not even taste test the first batch to see how it tasted, because I was scared. It was only started with a dime sized blob from a commercial bottle of GT’s, for crying out loud.

Also, I’ve now scared myself in all my reading that I shouldn’t use the glass bottles I had planned for bottling, lest I blow off a hand or put my eye out. Great. I’m not sure how I am going to resolve that one, because there is no way I’m going to be reusing BPA loaded plastic soda bottles as suggested. Besides which, we don’t drink soda so I wouldn’t even have a source! Ugh. First world problems are the WORST!

So we went to see Hugo in 3D last night as a special treat for the family to celebrate that both my husband and I got paid this week. Personally I get more excited about the prospect of buying fruit at the grocery (because we were literally down to 1/2 of an orange on Friday and I was the lucky one chosen to take it to work for breakfast – since I get off at 11 I don’t eat lunch at work, yo), but whatever!! A movie it is! I drove. Swiftly, I might add. My kids make awesome DJs in the back seat with their iPod plugged into the AUX through the radio.

*have I mentioned how much I love my little zippy Volkswagen? I do, I do.*

Anyhow, I have beef with somebody. I’m not sure who, maybe it’s the movie theatre, maybe the industry itself, maybe the advertisers (probably the advertisers). In a clip prior to the film, there was a little something (like a cartoon-y ad of some sort) about having a good night being in the theatre with friends and a friend says the boy two seats down thinks she’s HOT which turns a good night into a great night. Really? Why o’ why do all girls now have to be HOT? It’s my newest obsessive pet peeve. That expression, to me, implies something sexual in nature (if I must be honest), rather than someone’s appearance. Am I wrong? I don’t like it, is what I’m saying. I want my girl to be beautiful, pretty, exotic looking, cute, adorable or lovely. But HOT? I swear I’ll tell her to kick that boy between the legs. Just sayin’. And yes, I’ve taught my son better than to say that about a gal.

So, that movie. Visually stunning. That boy playing Hugo had some of the bluest eyes if ever there were. Were they digitally enhanced? I don’t know, maybe. They certainly popped, though. For the record I have to say that 3D gives me a headache, but the 3D in this movie really worked to its advantage. I know it’s been out for quite a while now, but I recommend the movie to anyone who hasn’t yet seen it. My family liked it, even though I found it to be sad. I don’t want to give anything away, but I could relate to the boy in a way that my husband and children couldn’t and it did bring tears to my eyes during and after the movie. But I think too much, so there’s that.

Future weekend plans include watching the neighbor throw yard debris over the property line onto my property (can already check that one off the list ~ thank you asshole), laundry, doing my nails (because I paint them now and they are getting too long for fast typing at work… does anyone else have one hand that grows faster than the other?), cleaning, basement work including moving in a bunch of drywall, and a nephew birthday party this evening. More basement work to follow on Sunday.

Please tell me someone has more interesting plans than that?

, , , , , ,

Kombucha again

In Healthy shmealthy, Stick a fork in it! on February 17, 2012 at 4:21 pm

Well, the Kombucha experiment is still underway. For those unaware, I started my first batch of Kombucha at home on January 15, 2012, when I realized how much cheaper it would be to brew my own. I used a recipe I found on tribe.net (which still won’t let me join any flipping tribes, btw…) and a store bought bottle of GT’s Enlightened unflavored Kombucha Raw Tea.

The instructions said to be patient, that it could take up to 6 weeks for a good usable scoby to form. Admittedly that is a struggle for me, so I concentrated on only checking it every other day. Most days I failed at that, even. Whatever, it’s my nature.

Since I live in the midwest, and my house FEELS cold, I was prepared to wait a long time for the development of a good scoby to use as a mother to brew my tea. The last week or so I was feeling really good about what I was seeing. It was starting to become solid across the entire surface, and thickening up nicely in some parts. I thought maybe this weekend I would have a solid scoby that I could handle well enough to transfer to another batch. When I checked it this afternoon, it looked as if it was getting there but could probably use another week to really firm up. Unfortunately, the tea is starting to smell more vinegar-y, which leads me to believe that I have no choice but to start my next batch this weekend as originally planned. I don’t want to end up growing a mother of vinegar by accident.

I have my next tea/sugar mixture cooling on the counter at this very moment for the next batch!

Even though it isn’t exactly where I want it to be before I try to transfer the scoby, I’m hoping this won’t mess it up too much. If necessary, I will treat this second batch of tea as another throw away culture, just to get that mother ready for brewing. (I hope you know I’m not using the word mother as you would expect outta me… as in mother f**er. Hee hee.)

Here’s what the scoby looks like today prior to being transferred to the new brew.

20120217-144519.jpg

Ha ha ha, I know… I’m a riot.  I made it a little blanket to protect it from the brightness in my dining room.  Sorry, I just had to put that one in here.  Here is a top view of the scoby, for reals this time…

20120217-160337.jpg

So the big dark area in the middle is an air bubble.  You can see around that where the scoby is starting to turn white as it thickens up. Eventually it should be solid white across the entire top as the white spots come together.  I guess we don’t have time to wait for that right now.  Insert sad face.

My son just thinks it looks gross.  Maybe you do, too.  I think it looks like progress.

, , ,

Well then

In Healthy shmealthy on January 30, 2012 at 6:42 pm

So we haven’t eaten the ox tail yet. That is tonight’s dinner after running the kids hither and dither.

It still smells divine, but let me say this now; Ox tail is by far the most disgusting meat I have ever prepared. I think I would rather clean raw chicken with my teeth than have to separate ox tail meat from ox tail bone and fat again in my entire lifetime.

Dis.Gus.Ting.

That being said, I’m sure it will probably be the most delicious meal ever to pass my lips or something. You know, on account that I want to hate it to justify never making it again.

We shall see.

And since we’re on the subject of disgusting, I wanted to update on my Kombucha scoby. The update is that there is no update. It has totally stalled out. My little jellyfish got all white and there were new little jellyfish starting and it was getting foamy bubbles across the top…. and then nothing. I mean everything is still there: the white scoby start, the jelly fish things, the foamy bubbles. But the bubbles don’t seem to be increasing or spreading or connecting, the scoby isn’t getting bigger, and the new little jellies aren’t pulling their weight.

20120130-182729.jpg

Proof positive that nothing is happening.  Sorry for the very glare-y and grainy iPhone photo, but you get the gist, don’t you? Adding insult to injury, Tribe.net won’t let me on the Kombucha thread (the last time I checked) to try to get some answers from people who might know something.  It’s obvious that I know nothing, and I am at a loss as to what has gone wrong, or more importantly, what hasn’t gone right.

Curses!

, , , ,

Kombucha

In Healthy shmealthy, Nothing to it but to do it on January 21, 2012 at 1:07 pm

Well, there hasn’t been much posting lately, mostly because we’re up to our eyeballs.

It’s high time we started again on the basement, and I wasn’t exactly taking no for an answer. To date, DH has built a new laundry room wall. He decided that it was wasted space having an extra wide walkway/hall. He was so right. It only adds a foot or less, but it will make a huge difference in the laundry room setup. The industrial laundry bin will turn sideways and the ironing board will gain its own space. Laundry is so exciting, I’m not going to waste your time by mapping it out any further.  Also, the laundry room is still ugly with a capital U.G.L.Y., so no pictures.

The biggest part is the door. We opted for a 36 inch white six-panel door to the laundry that will open out into the hall rather than into the room as it was previously set up. No more hitting hubby in the back with the door as he irons in the morning. No need to turn the laundry basket sideways to squeeze through the doorway!! That’s going to be the best. Even better than that?  This will mean the removal of the last black door in the basement.  White doors will reign supreme in the basement!  Woot!!

**For the record, there are still two black stained doors in the house – the door leading to the basement and the door leading to the garage.  All other interior doors upstairs are dark brown… for now.**

We also purchased cabinets from our local ReStore that we will be painting and repurposing as the base for our office space. The idea is to have a counter that wraps the entire room using cabinets above and below for storage and support and supplementing with open shelving as well. Between the major purging we’re doing to gear up for this portion of the remodel, and the increased amount of organized storage this should create, I’m hoping everything will finally have a place when we’re done.

Aside from all of that, I’ve also got my own personal side project going on.  I’m attempting to brew some of my own Kombucha for the first time!  If you follow me on Facebook you already know that of which I speak, because of the gross-to-you photos I post regularly showing the progress.  I don’t know why, but some people don’t have the same level of enthusiasm for slimy scoby as I do.  You know I love a good science project.

20120121-130847.jpg

If you really study the above photo you can see that in addition to the fact that what was once just a clear jelly fish looking blob has started to become a solid white colored mass (which is good, I swear), there are small clear (for now) blobs beginning to form on other parts of the surface of the tea.  Right now is one of those moments where I wish I could work photoshop well enough to very quickly and easily add arrows to the photo to point out the beginnings of scoby in that photo.  But I know it would be neither quick, nor easy, so you’ll just have to really look and figure it out.  There are white spots on the glass from dried drips (which I would totally scrub off, but this needs to be left undisturbed and not jostled, so it’s a no-go.  ie. deal with the damned drip marks in the photo), and then there are white-ish tan-ish looking blobs in the liquid.  THOSE are the new growths.  You should be able to find three in the photo.  And YES… it IS exciting stuff to me.  Just tea and sugar and some yeast create sunshine in a bottle?  Why not?!  And yes, I know I’m a complete dork.  Some people have normal hobbies.  I grow various types of edible yeast every winter.  Sue me.

Finally, I just wanted to let you know that I do use other types of the internets for those interested (as well as YOU, stupid loser stalker who thinks I don’t know you’re watching… news flash, I KNOW and I don’t give a shit what secrets you think you’ve unearthed by reading my blog because it’s PUBLIC, dummy).  Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.  Yep, I’m there.  Find and/or follow me at thetinytyrant.  That is all.

Love you (non-stupid loser stalkers)!

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 81 other followers