{"id":805,"date":"2020-11-19T11:35:12","date_gmt":"2020-11-19T10:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/?p=805"},"modified":"2021-05-10T19:44:52","modified_gmt":"2021-05-10T19:44:52","slug":"all-about-kefir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/all-about-kefir\/","title":{"rendered":"All about Kefir"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Until a few months ago kefir was a mystery to me. I&#8217;d heard of it but didn&#8217;t really know what it was until I was offered some kefir grains to make my own. Now I&#8217;m hooked and just wish I&#8217;d discovered it sooner because it is soooo easy, delicious, versatile and it&#8217;s&nbsp;good for you.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>What is Kefir<\/strong>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.files.wordpress.com\/2020\/11\/img_20201119_093752-e1605777911289.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.files.wordpress.com\/2020\/11\/img_20201119_093752-e1605777911289.jpg?w=900\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-807\"\/><\/a><figcaption>Kefir grains &#8211; look a bit like cauliflower&#8230;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Kefir is a fermented drink, similar to yoghurt made from a culture and milk. It&#8217;s full of nutrients and is&nbsp;a probiotic which means it is excellent for the digestion system and gut health.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The kefir starter\/culture is made up of soft&nbsp;grains that stick together and multiply with time. They are actually&nbsp;colonies of yeast and lactic acid bacteria. A friend gave me a small bundle in milk a couple of months ago and now I have a large mass that looks a bit like soggy cauliflower.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>How is Kefir&nbsp;good for you?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size\">Kefir contains protein, calcium, phosphorus,&nbsp;vitamins B12 and B2, magnesium and is a probiotic which is said to benefit digestion, weight control and mental health.&nbsp;It&nbsp;also has anti bacterial properties which is believed&nbsp;to&nbsp;help protect against infection. I have certainly never felt better since I&#8217;ve been using it on a daily basis.&nbsp;It has even stronger health benefits than it&#8217;s famous cousin yoghurt and it&#8217;s much easier to make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are lots of other health benefits, you can read more about them <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthline.com\/nutrition\/9-health-benefits-of-kefir#TOC_TITLE_HDR_6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here&nbsp;<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>How do you make kefir&nbsp;<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The process of making kefir couldn&#8217;t be simpler.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter\" data-effect=\"slide\"><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_container swiper-container\"><ul class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_swiper-wrapper swiper-wrapper\"><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-810\" data-id=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.files.wordpress.com\/2020\/11\/img_20201119_093855-e1605778047776.jpg?w=900\"><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-811\" data-id=\"811\" src=\"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.files.wordpress.com\/2020\/11\/img_20201119_093923-e1605778081847.jpg?w=900\"><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-812\" data-id=\"812\" src=\"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.files.wordpress.com\/2020\/11\/img_20201119_093941-e1605778118549.jpg?w=900\"><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-807\" data-id=\"807\" src=\"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.files.wordpress.com\/2020\/11\/img_20201119_093752-e1605777911289.jpg?w=900\"><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-prev swiper-button-prev swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-next swiper-button-next swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a aria-label=\"Pause Slideshow\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-pause\" role=\"button\"><\/a><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_pagination swiper-pagination swiper-pagination-white\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Place the drained grains in a clean&nbsp;jar, add milk, any milk &#8211; I use Bio semi-skimmed UHT milk, put the lid on,<\/li><li>leave at room temperature for about 24 hours. I leave mine on the kitchen side so I don&#8217;t forget about it&nbsp;.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Approximately 24 hours later the kefir will be ready to use. You know when it&#8217;s ready because it will be thick when you shake it, if it&#8217;s not thickened enough, leave for a few hours longer.&nbsp;<\/li><li>When it&#8217;s ready, fish out the grains with a plastic spoon&nbsp;(not metal) and place them&nbsp;into a new, clean jar.<\/li><li>The remaining thick&nbsp;liquid is kefir&nbsp;and it&#8217;s ready to use and will keep refrigerated for a couple of weeks. I keep a large jar of it in the fridge and add to it every day.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Repeat the process by adding milk to the strained&nbsp;kefir grains and you&#8217;ll have a fresh batch the next day.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You can get the grains from a friend if&nbsp;you know someone making kefir near you (like I did) or ask at a local health store, you can even&nbsp;order grains online.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You need to keep the culture going by changing it every day, but if you are going away or want a break, just keep the grains in milk in the fridge and it will apparently be fine for a couple of weeks.  You can also drain the grains, dry them and put them in the freezer for up to a year, but I haven&#8217;t tried that yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Kefir uses<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are so many easy ways you can use it.&nbsp;I use mine as I would yoghurt.&nbsp;You can drink it as it is for a nutritious probiotic drink (like those little bottles of actimel you buy in the supermarket). I&nbsp;add it to oats in the morning with dried and fresh fruits and nuts, yum. You can add fruit and honey, put it in a blender to make delicious smoothies. Use it in cooking &#8211; it&#8217;s particularly good in a curry&#8230; I make a mean pumpkin, chickpea and spinach Korma with it.&nbsp; I&#8217;ve made some really delicious and incredibly simple&nbsp;cheesecake cups and have also used it to make some very simple and quick naans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.files.wordpress.com\/2020\/11\/img_20201119_094432-e1605778174949.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.files.wordpress.com\/2020\/11\/img_20201119_094432-e1605778174949.jpg?w=900\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-813\"\/><\/a><figcaption>Oats with kefir, dried fruits, nuts and apple<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I will start sharing some of the recipes I use over the coming days and weeks and will put a link to them here, so please check back regularly, sign up to my newsletter or follow me on <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/amotherinfrance\/\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/aMotherInFrance\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter <\/a>and <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/amotherinfrance\/\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019ve found this blog useful, don\u2019t forget to like and share it, and if you have any other recommended recipes, please share them the comments, I&#8217;d love to hear from you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All about Kefir &#8211; What is Kefir? How is kefir good for you? How do you make kefir? Kefir uses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9],"tags":[34],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":810,"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805\/revisions\/810"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amotherinfrance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}