Fun With Food

Since we are staying home this summer (due to an adorable foster baby we have in our care!) I have a little extra time on my hands. Not that I'm not kept busy rocking, preparing and washing bottles, looking for pacifiers, and playing with Baby Abigail, but being at home for an extra 6 weeks does provide me with a bit of extra time!

So, my bucket list this summer (not large, I'll grant you) was to conquer gluten free sourdough starter and water kefir. Water WHAT?! you may ask? Well, it's a lightly fermented, slightly fizzy, infinitely adaptable beverage that is full of probiotics (you know, the good bugs like yogurt has).

Anyway, I've been having a lot of fun and can claim a moderate success with both so far! It's taken a bit of getting used to feeding both the sourdough starter and the kefir along with Abigail, but our warm (read: excruciatingly HOT) weather lately has been optimal for those little yeasty-beasties to do their stuff.

Part of the fun of the gluten free sourdough is getting to grind my own grains for the recipes! This is sorghum ready to grind.

Fresh sorghum flour

My gluten free sourdough starter, bubbling away

A freshly started batch of sugar water with kefir grains starting to ferment

The start of a second fermentation (lime and mint flavored) so it gets nice and fizzy

A finished batch of pineapple "soda" (Justin likes it!)

And last, but not least, my garden harvest for this evening: Not bad! (although I swear that zucchini popped up over night!!)

P.S. Abigail is doing great and I would LOVE to share pictures, but legally we are not allowed to (and it's a REALLY big deal, apparently...not worth the risk!). We all love her to pieces and she has fit so naturally into our lives. We appreciate all prayers that God continues to work all details according to His will and pleasure.