Cultured Vegetables
Tips That Nobody Else Talks About
Years ago when I was young and raising my kids, I was often influenced by well-meaning friends and family. They scared me to death with the latest news they had heard and would say, “Don’t eat this and don’t let your kids do this and did you read that story about how bad this is for you?” […]
Read MoreAre Fermented Vegetables Safer Than Raw Vegetables?
Cultured foods have become an exciting frontier in health and wellness. We take so much for granted, and just as this earth spins on its axis and hurls us through space so does our body contain billions upon trillions of microbes that compose our bodies and were designed to help us live a fulfilling and healthy life. […]
Read MoreAsthma and Fermented Foods
One of the first friends I ever told about cultured foods had a little boy with asthma. Making and drinking a kefir smoothie every day allowed him to get off his asthma inhaler and live a normal life. I was quite surprised and thrilled that it worked so rapidly. He had been taking kefir quite regularly and stopped needing his inhaler. […]
Read MoreWhy You Need Christmas Pickles
The Christmas pickle is not really a pickle at all. It is a pickle-shaped ornament that is the last one hung on the tree on Christmas Eve. The story goes something like this. […]
Read MoreCranberries Have Many Healing Powers
Cranberries are usually eaten only around the holidays. It’s really a shame we don’t eat them all year long as they are powerful foods that can work like preventative medicine. I got all emotional when I discovered all the things cranberries can do for us. […]
Read MoreVitamin C-abbage
Captain Cook was one of the first people to make cultured sauerkraut a healing modality. When he took his first vessel and crew on a long voyage in 1768, a violent storm arose. The waves tossed the ship about violently, and many crewmen were injured. […]
Read MoreMake Your Condiments – Probiotic!
We all eat condiments. They are easy to make, but most people just buy them. Why don’t you let me help you make them in as little as five minutes? They will have billions of probiotics and are perfectly preserved for months. . .
Read MoreNeed Crunchy Pickles?
Pickles are a huge part of my life. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used them to help someone in need. If someone feels a bug coming on, I give them a pickle or a spoonful of pickle juice. […]
Read MoreLow-Carb Cultured Foods
Low carb and keto diets are very popular right now. I think we’re all different and what works for one doesn’t always work for another which is why I love cultured foods. They fit into any diet be it keto, vegan, low carb, vegetarian, paleo, or raw food diet. These foods can be mostly condiments; or some of these foods, such as a kefir smoothie, can be a whole meal. You can always find a way to add cultured foods to your diet and sometimes you only need a spoonful to flood your body with billions of probiotics that change your microbiome in a powerful way.
Read MoreWhat to Do With Your Cultures While You’re on Vacation
Your cultures (kefir, kombucha, sourdough, and water kefir) are all living organisms and need to be cared for just like a pet. I love them like family, and have found ways to take care of them when I go on vacation. . .
Read MoreBenefits of Each Cultured Food
The many things cultures Can Do Nothing has influenced and changed my body and life more than cultured foods. I’ve done many studies on myself and my family and, hands down, fermented foods are here to stay in my life. They create such wellness for me and mine that there is no way I’m going…
Read MoreCarrot Cake in a Jar – Culture Your Carrots! 🥕
I have glass jars everywhere in my house, and I have lots of cultured foods in many of them. I’m always looking for new recipes and jars to make my cultured foods in. This is an unusual recipe as it combines fruit and veggies in my favorite jar that looks like a pot. […]
Read MoreFermented Vegetables Are Safer Than Raw Vegetables
Cultured foods have become an exciting frontier in health and wellness. We take so much for granted and just as this earth spins on its axis and hurls us through space, so does our body contain billions upon trillions of microbes that compose our bodies and were put there to help us live a fulfilling and healthy life. […]
Read MoreHow Many Cultured Foods Do I Eat In a Day?
People have the mistaken idea that I only eat cultured foods all day long. Although there are a lot of days that I do eat only cultured foods, this is not the norm. I mostly eat them because they’re easy for me to prepare and are what I call healthy fast food. […]
Read MoreHow to Make Cultured Vegetables
Having a jar of cultured vegetables in your fridge is a must. They can last for over nine months in the fridge and can be very helpful if you have stomach distress of any kind be it food poisoning or stomach cramps. Just a spoonful of the juice works mightily and will calm your stomach…
Read MoreJicama if You’re Sicka-ma! 📹 Video
If you are looking for an easy cultured veggie that your family will love, then you have to try Jicama if You’re Sicka-ma. […]
Read MoreFermented Probiotic Salsa Recipes
Fermented Salsa Salsa is one of the easiest ways to get in your fermented vegetables. It is super easy to make, everybody will enjoy it, and most will never know it is filled with billions of probiotics. I basically throw all the veggies in a blender, pour them into a jar, add a culture, let…
Read MoreCultured Veggies ~ Saving Lives
Forget everything you think you know about vegetables and let me tell you what happens when you culture them. Grow your own probiotics in a jar of vegetables, and you’ll be shocked and amazed at all they can do. I feel like I’ve been standing on the top of a mountain singing the praises of…
Read MoreProbiotic Foods for Food Poisoning and Stomach Virus
Of all the health ailments cultured foods can help with, the one I hear the most about is either food poisoning or stomach virus (Gastroenteritis). I’ve seen it work personally on my family many times […]
Read MoreBeet Kvass: Original, Orange, & Golden Lemon
Beet kvass is a fermented probiotic drink with many health benefits. I first made this drink back in 2012 to help my daughter heal her IBS and food allergies. One of the things we did was give her a cultured food with every meal, but she also had a probiotic drink with her meals too.…
Read MoreFermented Sauerkraut and Breast Cancer
Sauerkraut is an incredible food. I teach people to make it at all my classes. It can be life changing along with kefir and kombucha and I’m pretty intense about it. It changed my life and I have watched it change thousands of other people too. . .
Read MoreEarl Grey Probiotic Pickles 📹
Fermented pickles are the best pickles. Cultured pickles are super powerful, but so is the brine they are made in. The powerful bacteria in cultured veggies is called Lactobacillus plantarum. It is a powerful weapon against pathogens that try to invade the body. It will steal nutrients from pathogens and they will die unable to survive while Lactobacillus plantarum is around. . .
Read More7 Reasons I Eat Cultured Vegetables
Cultured vegetables have special powers that go far beyond regular vegetables. I love them and reach for them day after day and in times of special need. They can be powerful food – like medicine – and so I always have several jars in my refrigerator. […]
Read MoreWhat are Cultured Vegetables?
Forget everything you think you know about vegetables and let me tell you what happens when you culture them. Grow your own probiotics in a jar of vegetables, and you’ll be shocked and amazed at all they can do. […]
Read More20 Ways To Use Fermented Garlic!
There are certainly many ways to enjoy garlic, but having a jar of fermented garlic in your fridge is easy and convenient to use. You can use this in so many ways, and it is even great to hand on hand for heated recipes. […]
Read MoreFermented Sweet Pickle Relish
Every year I plant my garden, anxious for my fruits and veggies. But each year I don’t plant cucumbers because each year they come back anyway. They will sprout in different places in my garden, always in a place where they can have lots of room. […]
Read MoreCooling Down With Cultured Foods
I live in a desert climate – hot during the day and cool at night. When it gets hot, it’s really hot. Today it’s 100°F and I’m looking for foods that cool me down. […]
Read More10 Ways and Reasons to Use Your Cultured Veggie Brine!
Cultured vegetables are super powerful, but so is the brine they are made in. The powerful bacteria in cultured vegetables called Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) is a powerful weapon against pathogens that can invade your body and try to make you their host. […]
Read MoreThe Probiotic Superstar in Cultured Veggies
I have been getting a lot of letters asking if you can ferment vegetables with water kefir or kombucha. You can ferment vegetables with these two different cultures, but the vegetables tend to get mushy and don’t last very long. […]
Read MoreWhy You Should Be Growing and Eating Sprouts In a Jar
Fermenting, sprouting, and soaking are all ways I enhance my food. These are the heroes that help me stay healthy in spite of all that seems to tell me I need to fear aging and all the disease that could come my way. I believe so firmly in wellness that nobody can convince me otherwise. […]
Read MoreCultured Vegetables FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions About Cultured Vegetables It’s my favorite time of the year – when I have an abundance of fresh vegetables that I can ferment. Fermented vegetables can last nine months stored in the refrigerator. They can provide you with months of your own probiotics that are much stronger than supplements. When you eat…
Read MoreProbiotic Salads and Dressings and Why Your Microbes Need Them
There are many reasons you should eat salads. They are one of nature’s perfect foods – they work like medicine. The benefits are many and they’re delicious too! Having fermented dressings is a mainstay in my house and is one of the many ways I add cultured foods to my family’s diet. . .
Read MoreThe Most Probiotic Kefir Dip
This recipe has only two cultured ingredients (cultured veggies and kefir cheese) and has more probiotics than any other dip recipe and it’s crazy delicious. […]
Read More19 Healing Cultured Carrot Recipes
I was young, nine years old, and sitting in a classroom staring at my teacher’s desk. She had a thermos; and from it she poured a bright orange liquid and I would stare in wonder. I found myself obsessing about what she was drinking. I should have been working in my workbook, but I would watch her every time she went to take a drink. […]
Read MoreMy Favorite Cultured Foods
Almost two decades ago I had a revelation. No longer could I rely on any individual to solve all my health problems even if it was a medical professional. […]
Read MoreDo Cultured Veggies Need a Starter?
You do not need a starter culture to make cultured veggies. However, by using a starter you will receive more probiotics and a lot of other benefits. Let me explain your options and you can better choose which is the best method for you. […]
Read MoreGain Wisdom From Your Kraut
Many of you write to me and ask how you can encourage friends and family to eat these foods. Like you, I notice how sick our loved ones are and want to help them but they don’t always want to listen. […]
Read MoreYou Are The One Thing In Life You Can Control
This is the week of the 2020 presidential election. Needless to say, whatever side you’re on, it’s been an intense week and a lot of people are struggling with strong emotions. I’m surprised to say that I’ve lived a long time (60 years) and now have some life experience that really serves me in times of uncertainty and fear. […]
Read MoreThree Foods That Can Change Your Life ~ The Trilogy and More
Fermentation is an art form and each individual cultured food is, in and of itself, unique. The three foods of The Trilogy each provide different good bacteria and yeasts that enhance the trillions of bacteria in the body and allow them to thrive, grow, and multiply. […]
Read MoreYour Gut Needs Some Cultured Veggie Juice
One morning I woke up hearing voices in the hall. It was my husband and daughter Holli, and I could hear Holli crying. She was throwing up and having diarrhea and was very upset about it. In our family, we are so accustomed to wellness that when someone gets sick, it feels like the world is coming to an end. Holli was pale and holding her stomach and saying it was cramping and begging me to fix it. […]
Read MoreI Was Lost, Until I Did This. . .
“How do I apply all this cultured food stuff to my life? Where and how do I get started?” This is something that I hear quite often. People want to change their life and feel better but don’t know where to start. […]
Read MoreSix Reasons (and Recipes) to Eat Fermented Pickles
My 23-year-old son, DJ, called me from his home. He was very sick with a stomach flu and was in a considerable amount of pain with stomach cramps throughout the night. With a half cup of pickle juice in hand, I went over to his home. I went into his room which was dark with no lights. […]
Read MoreThe Must-Have Food Medicine – in Your Fridge
One day my daughter Holli came running into the room and burst into tears. She cried and said, “Help me! My stomach hurts so bad.” And then she ran to the bathroom and started throwing up. She had spent the night with a friend who had just had the same thing, so I’m pretty sure she picked it up from her. […]
Read MoreMy Favorite Cultured Vegetable Recipe
A few years back, a woman named Shelley came to my cultured food class. I couldn’t stop staring at her while I spoke, and I told my daughter that I thought I saw a light over her and was trying to figure out where it was coming from. […]
Read MoreTwo Ways to Make Fermented Red Onions
I love red onions and we eat a ton of onions on everything. Making a jar of fermented red onions allows us to eat them often because they taste so good and are stored in my fridge – already chopped and ready to eat. […]
Read MorePrebiotics – As Important as Probiotics
In the last few years, I have been researching and ingesting a lot of prebiotics; and what I have discovered is that prebiotics are just as important as probiotics. What is a prebiotic and why is this so important? Prebiotics are certain indigestible fibers that nourish the good bacteria in the large bowel or colon. […]
Read MoreThe Most Powerful Cultured Veggies
I had no idea just exactly what I was making when I created this recipe several years ago. I just thought the combination tasted good and seemed to give me spectacular results during cold and flu season, so I kept making them and giving them to my family. […]
Read MoreAnti-Viral Cultured Foods
There is a lot of fear flying around about the flu and especially the coronavirus. If I can help you understand what happens in your body and how it works when you get the flu, or what it can do to protect yourself, then perhaps it will […]
Read MoreFermented Jalapenos and Sourdough Bread
It’s summertime and this is my sourdough starters favorite time of year. I love making bread in the summertime as my bread and sourdough starter will always rise higher due to the warmer temperatures. Even though many don’t like heating up their homes with the oven in the summertime, I have ways to do this that has minimal effects. […]
Read More12 Reasons to Eat Cucumber Kimchi
I love cultured veggies, but mostly I love the bacteria that make these cultured veggies Super Veggies. Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) has been found in experiments to help you feel less anxiety and depression. It does this by working on the hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor. . .
Read MoreHistory of Kefir, Kombucha, and Fermented Vegetables
We all have trials and struggles throughout our lives and often these struggles have brought me to my knees. But without fail, each and every one of them has been a blessing in disguise. The pain turned to wisdom and I found myself so grateful for the struggle that brought me so much pain. . .
Read MoreFermenting Tip: Put a Lid on It?
When making milk kefir, many people have been taught to use a cloth and rubber band over the jar. This is one of the most common things that cause problems. When a cloth is used to cover a vessel for kefir, there is a risk of cross-contamination with wild yeasts in the air or even from other cultures, or foods nearby. . .
Read MoreFermented Asian Salad Video! 📹
This salad is one of my very favorite cultured meals. It’s perfect for summertime and a wonderful way to change your microbiome from the inside out. I try to eat fruits and veggies at every meal. It is one of the best ways to stay balanced and it’s fantastic for lowering inflammation, balancing your hormones, and keeping those little microbes in your gut fed and happy. . .
Read MoreWhat’s This On My Cultured Vegetables?
Cultured vegetables are so easy to make with just a few exceptions. First of all, this is one of the safest ways to preserve your vegetables. It is scientifically impossible to get botulism from cultured vegetables. […]
Read MoreBuffalo Kraut ~ You Simply Must Try
I’m always trying to find ways to help you eat more cultured foods. Taste is important as well as ease, and this recipe captures both. You will love this Buffalo Kraut created by my daughter Maci. It’s crazy good and just a spoonful is going to give you billions of probiotics. […]
Read MoreSpanish Kimchi
You really must eat kimchi. Kimchi has a special probiotic that can keep a virus at bay. It can also help with any kind of stomach distress. Just ask the thousands of people in Korea how kimchi protected them from the bird flu epidemic. […]
Read MoreMr. Picky and Cultured Foods
Do you have picky eaters at your house? Do your friends and family scoff at eating cultured foods? Well, let me tell you about Mister Picky Eater, my husband. When I married him (30 years ago) he ate nothing green. […]
Read MoreThe Real Reason Men Need Cultured Foods
My husband was the last one in my family to try cultured foods. I experimented on my children first. My kids were sick and I wanted them to be well, so we all ate cultured food; and much to my surprise, everybody got better. […]
Read MoreWhat Are Cultured Foods? Restorative Foods for the Body
Cultured Foods and LACTO-Fermented Foods are the same thing. The “lacto” in “lacto-fermentation” comes from the bacteria “lactobacillus.” Many strains of lacto-bacteria and yeasts are involved in culturing or fermenting foods. […]
Read MoreSix Easy Ways To Store Your Cultured Foods
Having lots of fermented foods in your fridge is the same as having a medicine cabinet stocked with natural remedies. We reach for these foods not only to keep us healthy and disease free but also when we find ourselves struggling with a virus, stomach ache, or any other kind of ailment that requires extra body support. […]
Read MoreWhen Are My Kefir, Kombucha, and Veggies Done Culturing?
Do you wonder when your kefir, kombucha, and cultured vegetables are done fermenting? I have a few tips to help you understand how and when they’re at the perfect place with lots of probiotics and will taste the best. […]
Read MoreThe Foods That Made Me Change My Life
A lot of suffering in this world comes from the fear of discomfort. In my own personal life, pain has come to teach me things and get me to change. I resisted it, fought it, and finally changed when I could do nothing else. […]
Read MoreStarter Cultures ~ The Science Experiment
So, let’s talk about starter cultures! I would like to clear up some confusion involving starter cultures and ratios. In my first book, Cultured Food For Life, the recipe for kefir called for 1 cup of milk to 1 tablespoon of kefir grains. […]
Read MoreCan You Reuse the Brine From Cultured Vegetables?
If you add a starter culture to your cultured vegetables, like Cutting Edge Cultures or another starter culture, then you’re going to have extra bacteria in your culture that are stronger than just using salt and no culture. […]
Read MoreFoolproof Kefir
I love kefir grains, but I didn’t start my journey making kefir using kefir grains. I started with the powder kefir and was very glad I did. I was pretty much a wreck at that time in my life and I needed something easy and foolproof or it wasn’t going to happen. […]
Read MoreCulture Your Broccoli – It’s Better
When I was growing up, my mom had a huge garden. She grew lots of broccoli and we would pick it for her. Even though broccoli is one of the plants least affected by pests, it is not uncommon to find worms on broccoli heads. Without a doubt, I was always the one to find those worms on my broccoli and often it was right before I put it in my mouth so I declared broccoli my least favorite vegetable. […]
Read MoreVideo – How To Make Cultured Vegetables
I am very excited about the new veggie starter culture, Cutting Edge Cultures. I decided to make a video about it and share a fun recipe. Making cultured vegetables is easy and fun. People can be intimidated by making cultured veggies and are afraid they will do it wrong and get sick. This is the wonderful thing about cultured vegetables – they preserve the foods and make them safe with billions of good bacteria that dominate and keep the pathogens out. […]
Read MoreCultured Vegetables Made Stronger – Cutting Edge Culture
I am very excited to introduce you to Cutting Edge Cultures – Vegetable Starter. Several collaborators knowledgeable on fermentation and probiotics joined together to make the strongest vegetable starter on the market today. […]
Read MoreSummer Cultured Squash
One of my favorite things about summertime is the farmer’s markets and fresh veggies. Turing fresh produce into perfectly preserved cultured veggies makes me so happy, but it wasn’t always that way. […]
Read MoreFermentize This Salad!
This is a favorite summertime salad made with cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onions that are abundant in the summertime. The taste is so light and fresh that I can eat gallons of this salad. I have had this salad many, many times made with vinegar but it was never fermented. […]
Read MoreMake Cultured Veggies – But in What Kind of Jar?
I often make fermented vegetables using a canning jar with a lid, but there are many methods and vessels you can use to make cultured vegetables. Some say you should only use an airlock jar to culture vegetables. They claim that the canning jar method doesn’t seal well enough to remove the oxygen […]
Read MoreScary Delicious Seaweed Dip
As a kid, I spent many summer vacations in Nova Scotia on a small island (Cape Sable) where my grandparents lived. Their home was right on the water and it was over 100 years old (see pictures). My great grandpa, Captain Horatio Brannen, was a sea captain and built the home there. […]
Read MoreThe Fairest Salad in the Land
I have been making this salad a lot lately. A while back I had my nephew, his girlfriend, and my older kids spend a few days with me due to a snow storm. I watched these five young people devour this salad and ask for more and tell me how good it was. […]
Read MoreThe End of My Culturing Career
Making Cultured Vegetables Many years ago, I had a great plan to sell cultured veggies at a health food store and they were so good they sold out again and again. This all started when I was handing out samples at my cultured food class and people were raving about them. I thought,” I’m gonna…
Read MoreSalad in a Fermenting Jar
Travel Food with Culture I spend almost all of my weekends in the spring and summer out of town at the lake. Because of this, I have to pack coolers and take food with us. I am always looking for things that are easy and ready to eat. Salad in a Fermenting Jar is my…
Read MoreSauerkraut Without a Culture
This is something special to know about sauerkraut. You don’t actually need a culture to make it. The cabbage combined with salt will make its own good bacteria. These bacteria dominate and crowd out the harmful ones and preserve the food in a safe way. You can make sauerkraut with just salt. […]
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