Spend a day and immerse yourself into the world of making and eating cultured foods. Donna combine an inspiring day of information with lessons on how to make our trio, The Trilogy: kefir, kombucha, cultured vegetables, and extra info on sourdough bread, and water kefir. You’ll receive a delicious lunch and you’ll be…(Read More)
People often ask me about water kefir and milk kefir and which type of kefir I think is more beneficial. Water kefir is a non-dairy kefir that is gaining in popularity. Many people start with this method of making kefir because it’s so easy and fun and they want a non-dairy option…(Read More)
It was 11 years ago when I first read Jon Gabriel’s Book, “The Gabriel Method: The Revolutionary DIET-FREE Way to Totally Transform Your Body.” Jon is a biochemical researcher who lost 220 pounds and wrote an international best-selling book about how he did it. I was so mesmerized by his book that…(Read More)
Bubbly, fizzy kombucha is one of my favorite things. Understanding the science behind how it works can help you create the carbonation that most people are looking for. #1 Probiotic Used in Hospitals Let me explain to you how it all works. When making kombucha, the fermenting tea will form a SCOBY on top. It…(Read More)
Your Body and Food. You can’t win together if you don’t work together. I learned a long time ago that if I wanted to feel good, I had to have kefir every day. It seems to work best for me to have kefir in the morning, but sometimes I have it other times…(Read More)
There is no better time to make cultured veggies than in the summertime! The fruits and veggies are abundant and when you ferment them they’ll last nine months in your fridge! Culturing, or what can also be called fermenting, is a no-sweat endeavor. It’s so much easier than canning and you’ll…(Read More)
When I walk into my kitchen each day, I see the bread knife and cutting board scattered with crumbs. It is a daily occurrence; and although I like a clean kitchen, this is one thing I tolerate with pleasure. My husband is constantly trying to even out the loaf of bread we eat each day…(Read More)
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…(Read More)
In 2001, I was battling hypertension and diabetes. It was then that I started drinking kefir and I noticed an interesting occurrence. It seemed that when I drank a glass of kefir every day my blood pressure would go down; and not just a little, but quite a bit. It would put me in the…(Read More)
A few years ago, I started hearing about the ancient species of wheat called einkorn. People who were gluten intolerant were writing me letters about it and saying it was allowing them to eat bread again without the problems regular wheat had caused them, and I wanted to know more. I learned a lot about…(Read More)
This is my daughter Holli’s favorite breakfast. I make extra servings of the crunch topping and store it in a jar for her to use whenever she makes her morning smoothie. This was the recipe that really changed her more than any other recipe. My family is like everybody else. I can preach to…(Read More)
This recipe is in my new book Cultured Food in a Jar. I only make recipes that are easily incorporated into my life because I’m crazy busy and I want recipes to care for my body and busy microbes. This recipe fits the bill. It has only two ingredients and it’s so easy…(Read More)
I have had seasonal allergies since I was twelve or thirteen years old. For months in the springtime, I locked myself inside the house and turned to drugs and steroids that harmed my immune system. This seemed to be what everybody did and I did the same because I had nowhere else to look. After…(Read More)
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. The good microbes in the cultures eat the sugars out of the culture, and…(Read More)
One of the first things I noticed when we started drinking kefir was the help my husband received with eliminating his acid reflux. It was quite surprising to me since he popped antacids like they were candy. But fast forward sixteen years and I’ve had so many, many people tell me they’ve gotten…(Read More)
We make a lot of kefir. We drink it every day along with making kefir cheese and kefir sodas, so we make it daily. As usual, my husband and kids were helping me make kefir on April 1st, 2014. As I poured out the jugs into the strainer, no kefir grains appeared. I got a…(Read More)
I love kombucha and not just because it tastes fantastic but because it has a special probiotic called Saccharomyces boulardii (S. boulardii). It is an incredible probiotic and when you make kombucha you can get lots of this powerful probiotic yeast. S. boulardii is one of the most researched probiotics and has been used worldwide…(Read More)
I make a lot of kefir cheese. I use kefir cheese in place of any recipe that calls for cream cheese, sour cream, or Greek yogurt. It’s very versatile, and the length of time you strain it will determine how thick it becomes. Making kefir cheese is one of my favorite things to do…(Read More)
I think fermentation is essential to bread making. If you don’t use the help of microbes to make the bread, you won’t get the nutrients out of the bread and gluten will become a problem. I’ve made a lot of sourdough bread and I have a new method that is working spectacularly…(Read More)
Spend your Saturday eating and learning to make cultured foods! We combine an inspiring afternoon of information with lessons on how to make kefir in multiple ways. You will get to take home your own jar of kefir. Then you’ll be making your own probiotics in a jar, saving you both money and…(Read More)
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. When I started sharing this remedy with my friends, I was overwhelmed with how much it was helping them…(Read More)
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. You will love them, your family won’t know they’re eating…(Read More)
I’ve received several emails from people who have been greatly helped by cultured foods in regards to kidney health. More and more medical research is showing great benefits to using probiotics for kidney health. New probiotic supplements have been developed to specifically treat the kidneys, and there have been remarkable results. Certain strains of…(Read More)
I’ve been eating cultured foods for almost sixteen years. I eat them most every day with very few exceptions. When I first started eating cultured foods, I had diabetes, high blood pressure, joint pain, and felt discouraged and depressed. These foods were the answer to my cries for help, but never did I think…(Read More)
I love kefir that is thick like yogurt. However, it can sometimes be difficult to strain out the kefir grains. There is a super easy remedy for this. Enjoy the benefits of kefir and find an easy and quick way to strain it. Check out the video for tips. To strain kefir that is really…(Read More)
Goat milk was a godsend for my tiny daughter, Holli. She was born eight weeks premature and this little one rocked my world. I became a woman on a mission to help her be well. Nursing this tiny infant was a challenge. She was born so early that she didn’t have the strength to…(Read More)
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. When acidifying bacteria ferment the vegetables, the good bacteria dominates and controls the environment. Botulism can only occur when…(Read More)
Winter Kefir
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I love winter kefir! It’s often creamier and thicker than summer kefir. Kefir acts differently in the winter than in the warmer months of the year, due to cooler temperatures that make it ferment more slowly. Kefir ferments in 24 hours at 69-73 degrees, but drop those temps and have a lot of…(Read More)
There’s nothing better than bubbly fruit flavored kombucha. For those of you who don’t want to spend the money to buy it, you can make it. Many years ago, a friend of mine was in a bad car wreck. He actually broke the steering wheel off with his chest. He was in the…(Read More)
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. Your body…(Read More)
I hope 2017 was a wonderful year for you. I hope you incorporated cultured foods into your life and saw the difference they can make. I’ve been making and eating these foods for over fifteen years and they never cease to amaze and teach me. I was talking with one of my good friends…(Read More)
Twas The Night They Made Kefir…(Read More)
One of my good friends told me her cholesterol had gone up since drinking kefir, and then she said, “That’s my good cholesterol! It went through the roof and my doctor is very pleased.” I got a few emails this week from people expressing to me that since they’ve been consuming kefir and…(Read More)
It was gloomy outside, and I was gloomy inside. I was having my own personal pity party, feeling overwhelmed, and discouraged. I decided I was going to take my daughter Christmas shopping and break the gloom that was following me around. I took Holli to one of our favorite places to get something to eat…(Read More)
When you and I find the courage and strength to be better in any regard we help everyone around us. This goes for every area of our lives and even what we eat – and it includes our bacteria. You have trillions of hitchhikers that live in and on you, and they play a huge…(Read More)
Her name was Mary and she changed my life the day I met her. It was the very beginning of my journey with cultured foods, and I was in hiding with my newfound knowledge. People didn’t understand what I was doing, and the thought of letting food ferment on your counter for days at…(Read More)
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. Jicama is often called a Mexican potato. Jicama is crunchy and slightly sweet, and you will love it. If you get a cold, flu, or feel crummy you need — Jicama…(Read More)
In 2010, I had just started my blog and Facebook page, and the second person to post on my page was a man named Chris asking me How to Make Kombucha. He was a friend of my older kids and what I didn’t know at the time was Chris had just been diagnosed with…(Read More)
Captain of your ship and the master of your destiny. We’re shaped by the light we let through us. I remember that day quite vividly. It was over fifteen years ago. It was February and bitter cold outside. I made myself a breakfast that I thought was healthy – high-fiber cereal and skim milk…(Read More)
Pain is the best teacher, but nobody wants to be the student. I have met hundreds of people who are now on gluten-free diets. My daughter used to be one of them. Gluten pain can make life difficult and become a heavy load to bear. How can this grain that has been around…(Read More)
Mayonnaise is a common condiment that so many of us use regularly. Mayo was said to be the invention of one of the great chefs of France. Marie-Antoine Carême was the personal chef of the Duke de Richelieu in 1756. While the Duke was defeating the British at Port Mahon, his chef was…(Read More)
We love pancakes at our house. I mostly make sourdough pancakes, but I made a new pancake recipe this week, and switched out my sourdough starter (which I love) and replaced it with kefir. Oh my, they were wonderful, fluffy pancakes. The kefir acts in a manner similar to sourdough and helps the pancakes rise…(Read More)
Here is how you make it: 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. The probiotic bacteria found in…(Read More)
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. They called him “Wrapper Man” because he ate a lot of meals from food in…(Read More)
My new book is available today for purchase! Cultured Food in a Jar is my third (and very favorite!) book and the one I use most often. My book is an easy step-by-step guide that will lead you through making basic kefir, kombucha, and cultured vegetables. It has more than 100 easy-to…(Read More)
Do you want to change your life and feel better? Here’s the truth. I have tons of resources to help you. You can find everything you need on my site to get started, and that information is free. I have other resources that I sell to expand and help you grow, but everything you…(Read More)
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…(Read More)
Emotions are my best friends. They help me not only understand my present state but also how my body is doing. Researchers are discovering that an imbalance in your gut can cause mental symptoms. They call the gut the second brain, and boy are they right. I have witnessed firsthand those with ADD, anxiety, depression…(Read More)
It was the summer of 2003. A friend came into my kitchen and asked what was on my counters. I excitedly told her about my beloved cultures and I watched her face change expressions. “These jars have been brewing for days on your counters?” she said. I got that sick feeling in my stomach that…(Read More)
Cookbooks — I have a lot of them, 229 to be exact, and as you can see from the picture of the bookcase in my living room, I have quite a collection. My daughter Maci said to me, “I have a lot of cookbooks too, but you know which one I use the most?” I…(Read More)
We went to a nut farm this weekend and found just about every kind of nut you could imagine. Nuts are prebiotic foods and your gut loves them. I love my kefir, but nut milks don’t always make thick and creamy kefir as much as cow’s milk — until now. I’ve had several…(Read More)
This one-day retreat takes you into the world of making and eating cultured foods. We combine an inspiring day of information with lessons on how to make our trio, The Trilogy: kefir, kombucha, and cultured vegetables. We’ll be serving a delicious cultured meal served with bubbly probiotic sodas and a view that can…(Read More)
You’re never too old to change your life. I was 41 when I first found cultured foods. I felt old, discouraged, and sick. I remember resting on the couch and watching documentaries about people who had changed their lives and done extraordinary things. At first, I got sad because I wanted to feel better…(Read More)
So, do you want to know why you have certain persistent problems with things like ringworm, toenail fungus, and athlete’s foot? All of these are caused by a fungus that can spread and grow like crazy and last for years and years. “Onychomycosis” is the medical name for the infection that causes the fungi…(Read More)
I get hundreds of emails about the subject of Candida, and a lot of them are asking me why so many health care practitioners don’t recommend the consumption of fermented foods if you have Candida. Most physicians and well-meaning practitioners only know of fermented foods made with vinegars rather than the cultured or…(Read More)
It was a warm summer day and I needed a salad, and a fruit salad was just the ticket. When I said I needed a salad this is not just because I think that it’s good for me, but rather because I needed certain nutrients that only these special foods could provide. One of…(Read More)
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. Then as the cultured foods began to take over my kitchen…(Read More)
I believe in miracles and I believe that they live inside you and me. Do you believe that healing requires a miracle, or do you believe that our trillions of cells govern themselves and create the bodies that we have? So how does the eye know how to focus or the muscle know how much…(Read More)
Be grateful, ferment your vegetables, love others. 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. You will get different bacteria and you…(Read More)
Watching tea turn into kombucha is quite a thing to behold. You give it the ingredients and let it work its magic. Billions of microbes and yeasts transform the tea into a bubbly probiotic tea that you will love. When you first start making kombucha you might be concerned and not know what to expect…(Read More)
Every day I receive many emails from people who are new to fermenting and want to do a good job. They are afraid they are going to do it wrong, mess it up, or make themselves sick. I know from their letters how hard they are trying. Fermenting foods feels so different from anything they…(Read More)
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. I encourage you to do this as well; because…(Read More)
This is a time-lapse video I did to show you how a SCOBY forms in your kombucha. It’s quite a beautiful thing to behold with all the bacteria and yeasts dancing around in the jar. I hope you enjoy it. This was a project done with love, and I was so surprised by…(Read More)
I have glass jars everywhere in my house, and I have lots of cultured foods in many of them. I have a new book coming out this year — Cultured Food Life in a Jar. Everything is made in a jar, and what fun it was creating this book (due out in September 2017). I’m…(Read More)
Kombucha is an amazing drink. Sales have grown to be over 600 million dollars, and this was all done strictly by word of mouth. I have watched it grow and I’ve also witnessed the major soda beverage companies start to lose their credibility and hit a 30 year low in sales as people wake…(Read More)
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. There’s a little science behind this, and since culturing your food is an artisanal…(Read More)
I love coffee, and I drink a cup every day. Some believe it’s not good for you, but I’ve gotten so many benefits from it that I just knew this couldn’t possibly be true. I have a philosophy about the foods I eat. If I eat or drink something that I know…(Read More)
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…(Read More)
Pain touches everyone in some way; and when this happens, all of us reach for something that we believe will help us. The older I get, the more I find that every ounce of pain is here to teach me something. When I learn the lesson, the pain will vanish and I will have gained…(Read More)
Probiotic [Pro= for, Biotic= life] = Life-promoting or For-life as opposed to Antibiotic [Anti= against, Biotic= life]= Against-life. I routinely talk about each member of The Trilogy (Kefir, Kombucha, and Cultured Vegetables) and how each member has specific things your body needs to help you change your life. But here is even more…(Read More)
Flashing back to 2001 and my first few months of making kefir, my husband was really leery of it. “Milk sitting on a counter for 24 hours . . . are you sure about this?” he said. He always tries my crazy creations, but it takes him a little bit to wrap his head around…(Read More)
Soup can not only comfort your mind and your gut, but soup also has secret healing modalities that perhaps you’re not aware of. I think combining soups with cultured foods can help cure what ails you in a myriad of ways, but soup can stand on its own as powerful kitchen medicine. We all…(Read More)
“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. What makes people change their lives while others stay stuck in old…(Read More)
Meet the new Super foods that can heal you when nothing else works. I am excited to be going back to New York to teach – The Trilogy, three foods that changed my life and can change yours too. This is the most extensive class I teach. This is a crucial time in history when…(Read More)
As we close out 2016, I hope you will look to this next year as a chance to find the you that you were always meant to be – healthy and happy. This is our top content of the year that you may have missed. Below you’ll find some of our most popular blogs of…(Read More)
We love traditions in our family. Every Christmas my mom always made a Christmas braid which was a giant concoction of cinnamon, nuts, and bread topped with a creamy frosting. I kind of changed the recipe with my family and made it from sprouted grains, and this year I decided to break with tradition and…(Read More)
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…(Read More)
“An I had but one penny in the world, thou shouldst have it to buy gingerbread.” ~ William Shakespeare Ginger Better Than Ibuprofen Food as medicine is the way that I live my life. Cultured foods are front and center, but there are many other things I turn to when we need extra help and…(Read More)
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. Don’t you think it’s a divine…(Read More)
I was taking my daughter to acting class this week, and I got a text from one of my team members. He told me to get a box of kleenex and to read the email. I stopped the car to read the email, and with tears streaming down my cheeks I was reminded once again…(Read More)
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. When it came in a health crisis in 2001 and I…(Read More)
Pumpkin smoothies are eggnog for morning people. I love, love pumpkin. It has many wonderfully healthy qualities and a creamy consistency that makes it a wonderful treat, especially around the holiday season. I use pumpkin in multiple ways, but some of my favorites recipes are ones I make with kefir. Fermenting pumpkin is a way…(Read More)
I love my microbes and all they do for me. Not a week goes by that I don’t discover something new that my 100 trillion microbes are doing just for me. I used to think that my liver was mostly responsible for filtering and removing compounds from within my body including hundreds of toxic…(Read More)
I love to eat and make kefir as well as yogurt. I’ve been having lots of fun making different types of yogurts made famous in different parts of the world. High number of centenarians I have discovered that in certain parts of the world, yogurt and kefir have been strongly linked with an unusually…(Read More)
I am pretty sure that owning a frozen ice cream machine has solved 90% of all my problems. I’m always looking for ways to enjoy my kefir, and kefir ice cream can be enjoyed anytime – even for breakfast! If you don’t have an ice cream maker that sits on the counter, you may…(Read More)
Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet, eating her kefir and whey. Along came a spider who ate alongside her, and happily digested all day…(Read More)
Several years ago I found myself with much to do. With my daughter getting married and a deadline for my new book looming, not to mention the fact that both my husband and I have our own businesses . . . it was intense at our house. I started feeling the pressure and found myself…(Read More)
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. She had been very sick when…(Read More)
Once a Villain, Coconut Oil Charms the Health Food World With Its Incredible Properties I love, love, coconut oil for a myriad of reasons that relate to many different aspects of my health and wellness. First of all, coconut oil is a medium-chain fatty acid. This is a saturated fat that’s found in…(Read More)
Trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. 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…(Read More)
65,000,000+ probiotics There is a cultured Green Tomato dish on the market, made by Bubbies pickles, that is fermented. They had it analyzed for probiotics and they sent the results (65,000,000+) to me when I asked. They don’t use added cultures like Cutting Edge Cultures as I do, which means…(Read More)
Most of you don’t know what processes are actually happening inside of you every day. There are microorganisms everywhere and you can’t see them, but they are inhabiting you and everything else. You are 100 trillion cells of bacteria. Do you know how much that is? To get a point of reference, you…(Read More)
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…(Read More)
When? Saturday July 16th and August 20th We have two new classes coming up this summer. I hope you can make one of them and learn all about the Trilogy! Have you heard about the Trilogy? Kefir, kombucha, and cultured veggies are three foods that can change you life and your body. These are three…(Read More)
Yesterday 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…(Read More)
Prebiotics + Probiotics = Probiotic Powerhouse 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…(Read More)
Lots of articles are popping up about reasons you should have kefir, but few of the people writing the articles have actually drunk kefir every day for 14 years. This post is specifically talking about milk kefir and not water kefir. My reasons for drinking kefir are very personal and specific to me. But here…(Read More)
First time I heard about the power of the cultured vegetable kimchi was during the bird flu epidemic. It was a scary epidemic that hit Asia in 2005 – about 60% of those infected with this virus died. Scientists were searching frantically for ways to protect humans and poultry from this deadly virus. Koreans have…(Read More)
It astonishes me that everybody doesn’t know about Cultured Veggies – they are such powerful little scrub brushes for the colon and deliver such powerful anti-virus abilities. Over and over again I have seen these veggies knock out colds and flu and even work magic on food poisoning. The thing that most surprised me…(Read More)
Coconut water is my favorite water kefir. I love how it tastes, how easy it is to make, and how it makes me feel. In the early days of making cultured foods, coconut kefir was a huge part of my daughter Maci’s recovery from food allergies and IBS. It was something she really liked…(Read More)
The legend goes . . . in China, 2727 BC, the Emperor Shen Nong, who was known as “the divine healer,” was boiling his water to clean out impurities. The pot was underneath a tea bush and several leaves fell into the pot. The pot had such a wonderful fragrance, color, and taste that the…(Read More)
YES, you can reuse the brine from cultured vegetables, but you’ll need to know a couple of things before you do…(Read More)
I make Kefir. What’s your superpower? Kefir can be made with many different kinds of milk, be it non-dairy or dairy milk. It differs in calories and nutritional differences depending on which type of milk you use. Kefir is far superior to regular milk. Fermentation is the alchemy of milk. It chemically breaks…(Read More)
“Is it just a coincidence that as the portion of our income spent on food has declined, spending on health care has soared? In 1960, Americans spent 17.5 percent of their income on food and 5.2 percent of national income on health care. Since then, those numbers have flipped: Spending on food has…(Read More)
Many people wonder if probiotic pills provide the same benefit as probiotic foods since they seem to be marketed in the same way—healthy bacteria for our guts. However, probiotic foods work significantly better because of their construction. To get into the small intestine and colon, where they do the work of breaking down and…(Read More)
Somebody asked me the other day how I come up with recipes for cultured foods. Many times they come suddenly into my brain. This will often make me miss my exits while driving on the highway because I am thinking about the specifics of how to make it. Another way they come is through a…(Read More)
Viruses, yuck . . . my family used to get them a lot. Colds, flus, you name it, we got it. But so did everybody else I knew. It’s normal, right? Well, it’s actually not. Every year at Christmas we would go to my mom’s in Virginia and somebody would inevitably get sick, and then…(Read More)
Did you ever stop to taste a carrot? Not just eat it but taste it? You can taste the beauty and energy of the earth in every bite. A Bright Orange Liquid I was young, nine years old, and sitting in a classroom staring at my teacher’s desk. She had a thermos; and from…(Read More)
I have seen many people benefit from kefir, and this includes non-dairy kefir. So many people need a dairy-free version, so we created just about every kind of non-dairy kefir we could think of. The only one we tried and didn’t like was hemp milk. It came out with a really…(Read More)
2015 has been a busy year at Cultured Food Life. We launched many new products in our store and shipped four tons of products last year. I started a weekly radio show on Hay House Radio. My new book came out: Cultured Food for Health and we expanded our Biotic Pro membership site with many…(Read More)
The holidays are coming to a close and a new year is starting. Do you want to set a new intention to eat better but always feel like you fall short? Why is it so hard to change? Neurons and microbes You’re redefining who you are through your choices every day, and the hardest…(Read More)
A sourdough starter has only two ingredients: flour and water. Combined with unseen organisms of bacteria and yeasts and its mysterious ability to transform food, you’ll have a universe of possibilities. It’s Tuesday night and I usually make bread on Wednesdays. I take my sourdough starter out of the fridge to feed…(Read More)
I love almonds and they make wonderful kefir. Some people call almonds the healthiest food in all the world and they have tons of health benefits. But I know a thing or two about almonds that perhaps you do not know. Almonds Provide Protection Against Insulin and Blood Sugar Issues Researchers fed fifteen healthy subjects…(Read More)
I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. I felt off, kind of loopy in the head and couldn’t think straight, and not myself. I was tired and wanting to rest a lot and didn’t want to exercise. This was not like me, and it scared me. Then I got a…(Read More)
I was struggling and I called my editor to say, “I’m having a really hard time writing this chapter in my book. I hate writing about sickness and disease. I so believe in wellness that writing about this is really hard for me and I’m having a hard time finishing it.” Laura, my…(Read More)
My grandparents knew. They knew the grandkids were eating badly. They fussed at our parents but nobody listened, because the foods we were eating were so addictive. We reasoned that they were the older generation and they were just being cranky. They didn’t like it when we ate sugar-laden cereals for breakfast or…(Read More)
Your own healing is a healthy contribution to the healing of everyone  …(Read More)
My daughter Maci moved to Mission Viejo, California, in April and I went to visit a few months later. I was blown away with all the healthy food choices and health food stores on every corner. We would get up at 6 a.m. and spend our days going to the beach, farmers markets, and…(Read More)
For years I’ve been trying to find something to naturally thicken kefir without heating it and adding gelatin. I wanted to make it thick like pudding, and adding chia seeds seemed to work well; but there was a better answer and it was a probiotic’s best friend. The prebiotic psyllium husk makes the…(Read More)
I get an overabundance of kombucha SCOBYs (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast). Every time you make a pot of kombucha you get another SCOBY. So what to do with them? I usually just put them in my garden. The plants love the B vitamins in the kombucha SCOBYs and they seem to nurture the…(Read More)
We have a cherry tree in our backyard. My husband is constantly telling me to get all the cherries before the birds do, but I seldom do. In the early hours of the mornings I hear the birds singing a sweeter song than normal as I watch them eat the cherries. People ask me all…(Read More)
Life changing events Each day, you’re headed down a certain path knowing for the most part how your day will unfold. Then suddenly an event takes place that rocks you to your core. A whole series of powerful events changes your trajectory and in the process can change the focus of your mind, your…(Read More)
Do you want to get started eating cultured foods? Then you need to try a smoothie. Do you think that cultured foods are hard to make? Then you need to make a smoothie. Do you want to change your health and start craving healthier foods? Then you need to drink a smoothie. Many years ago…(Read More)
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. To save the men from gangrene, the ship’s doctor…(Read More)
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…(Read More)
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…(Read More)
This is a guest blog by – Shelley Hanna. Shelley came to one of my classes and found tremendous help from cultured foods. She has become one of my dearest friends and greatest supporters. She strongly encouraged me to write my first book when I didn’t think I could, made the graphic pots you see…(Read More)
Here is one of the very first videos I ever made. The first half of the video explains why I started drinking kombucha and how much it helped my family and me. The second half shows the process of how to actually make kombucha. I hope you enjoy the video and you will learn not…(Read More)
Last year on my thirtieth wedding anniversary we took a cruise to the Caribbean and stopped in Cozumel, Mexico. We took a Salsa Salsa class where we made lots of salsa, guacamole, and Margaritas. We had so much fun and since I don’t really drink, but loved the taste of Margaritas, I wanted a…(Read More)
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. You…(Read More)
When we were healing my daughter’s Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) many years ago, I didn’t realize that, along with cultured foods, we were including a powerful addition that made a huge difference in her recovery. I actually just discovered this in the past year, and it has opened an entirely new world for…(Read More)
Kefir grains love to eat the sugars (lactose) in milk. These sugars are the primary food for this culture. Fresh milk kefir is only 1% sugar and live kefir grains contain over 50 different types of yeast and bacteria existing in a symbiotic relationship. (Click to see which types) The powerful microbes in the kefir…(Read More)
Ginger is powerful medicine! I have been consuming ginger every day and found it to be very effective in helping with any kind of inflammation – especially hay fever in the springtime. Ginger is anti-viral and anti-inflammatory as well as being a powerful antiseptic and antihistamine. They say it works powerfully on allergies to…(Read More)
True Confessions My childhood nickname was “Tiger.” I always hated that name and got teased about it quite often. Then this year on Valentine’s Day, my husband wrote me a sweet card and in it he told me that he tells everybody I am a force to be reckoned with. We had just come…(Read More)
I usually make sourdough bread once or twice a week. I make sourdough more than sprouted bread as my family likes it better and I enjoy making it so much. There is nothing as special as having a sourdough starter that has your own unique yeasts from your kitchen and hometown – that makes it…(Read More)
The greatest medicine of all is to teach people how not to need it. Have you heard of Dr. Max Gerson, the health pioneer ? His story is something straight out of a movie, but his treatment for disease is pretty impressive. Max Gerson (1881-1959) was a German physician who fled to the United…(Read More)
My husband was called for jury duty this week and found himself in jury selection for a case involving a very popular restaurant. The complainant was a woman who said she got carpal tunnel syndrome on the job, was treated, and then six months later was fired. My husband was picked as Juror Number Two…(Read More)
This is the bread I make at least two or three times a week. As my business has been growing and I found myself with less time, this bread recipe has become the bread I make most often. It only has four ingredients and takes about 5 minutes to throw together. Then I let it…(Read More)
A few weeks ago I had a dream about kefir. I was watching TV in my dream and heard a newscaster say that kefir had swept the world and there was now kefir in every kitchen. I woke up and carried that dream with me for weeks. If everybody drank kefir, the world would be…(Read More)
Your body’s ability to heal is greater than anyone has permitted you to believe. My husband is used to my crazy new ideas and has become accustomed to my enthusiasm for whatever happens to be my latest discovery. He goes along for the ride but never jumps in with both feet until coaxed. Kombucha…(Read More)
It’s January and it’s cold here in the Midwest. All I want is hot tea and soup. It’s hard for me to want a cold smoothie when I am craving warmth and comfort, but high heat kills the probiotics in my cultured foods. Well, not all is lost because I have found…(Read More)
It’s New Year’s Eve and I’m writing my blog and reflecting on 2014. I experienced so many changes in my life and business, blessings that I count every day, but mostly it was my own body that once again has taught me the most. I am always wanting to be better and…(Read More)
This has been a busy year at Cultured Food Life. I don’t do this alone and I have a wonderful team helping me. Many thanks to Ron, Chris, Jane, and Maci for all the support and strength they give me. I couldn’t do it without you nor would I want to. You’re…(Read More)
