Archive for the ‘Make It Yourself’ Category

29 Jan

How To Brew Your Own Kombucha

Posted by Crunchy Hot Mama in Crunchy, Kombucha, Make It Yourself. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , .

Alright, so riding on the coattails of how to Grow Your Own Scoby, I wanted to follow-up on how to actually brew Kombucha.

My friend sent me this informative video from Modern Alternative Mama, and this is how I’ve been making the ‘booch ever since:

I noticed that she forgot to say how much sugar to put in your tea.  The standard is 1 cup of sugar to 1 gallon of sweetened tea.  I also add Chia seeds (an Aztec superfood) to mine, since I happen to have them in my house, and they are high in Omega-3s.  Seriously people, this stuff is super easy to make!

homemade kombucha with chia seeds

This is what my typical ‘booch bottling session looks like.  I just use old GTs bottles or whatever glass bottles I have lying around.

bottling your homemade kombucha

As for flavoring, I usually get a bag of frozen, organic mixed berries, and do each berry by themselves or a combination of them.  I also do the lemonade with 1 tsp. of organic sucanat, and 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice.  You can add fruit to it if you like or leave it by itself.  Get creative with flavors and try fresh ginger or cinnamon, if you want to change it up.  Josh actually liked the pineapple-flavored bottle I made one time…it’s HUGE since he can’t stand the stuff!

Once again, if yours isn’t turning out like you hoped, you can buy a culture online from places like Kombucha Kamp, which is the #1 source for all things Kombucha!  For Q&As on if your Scoby is not growing, check out Food Renegade’s post to diagnose any problems.  Check out this post, if you’re pregnant or nursing, and read her suggestions on whether or not to drink it.  Personally, I would because I’m used to it, but wouldn’t advise it if you’re brand new.

When you start to become overloaded with too many Scobies, and can’t give them away fast enough, you can create a Scoby hotel, to house them and use as you need.

scoby hotel

Making my own Kombucha has been a lot of fun for me, and I love how much cheaper it is than paying $3.50 a bottle in some places.  Even if you’re not interested in making your own, go out and buy you a bottle (I got started on GT’s Raspberry Chia).  It couldn’t hurt to get some extra probiotics into your belly, especially if you take antibiotics.  For the benefits on drinking 4-8 oz. of Kombucha daily, check out this link.

booch bottling helper

Whatcha think?  Have you ever heard of this fermented drink or do you have any interest in trying it?  While my hubby may not be on board (yet), it can be fun for the whole family to make, especially if they want to pick their own flavors.  Go on and try it, I think you’ll really like it!

29 Jan

How To Grow A Scoby

Posted by Crunchy Hot Mama in Kombucha, Make It Yourself, Organic. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you’ve seen me post several pictures of my wild and crazy Kombucha bottling experiences.  I started on this wild ride in October and have been going strong ever since.

What in the world am I talking about?  Have you ever heard of this crazy fermented tea drink, called Kombucha (kom-boocha)?  No?  Well let me enlighten you.

“Kombucha is an effervescent fermentation of sweetened tea that is used as a functional food.” -Wikipedia

This stuff is amazing and can get costly if it turns into a habit.  I had heard about it a couple years ago when a big controversy broke out, and one kid got in trouble for bringing it in his lunch.  There was a big fuss about it containing a small amount of alcohol; so many manufacturers pulled it from the shelves.  Several companies even reformatted their recipe and even label some for ‘over 21.’

GTs Synergy Raw Organic Kombucha

I don’t know all about that, but I do know that I love it, and I give it to my 2-year-old every day. The kid practically asks for ‘booch just about every time I open the fridge.  Like I mentioned in this post, it cured Emma’s week-long bout of diarrhea, along with some coconut water, so this mama’s a fan.  It’s loaded with probiotics, fiber, omega-3s, and antioxidants!  What’s not to love?

When I came across Food Renegade’s post on How to Grow A Kombucha Scoby, I was intrigued.  You could grow your own Scoby (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast), ‘mushroom’ or ‘mother’ as it’s also called, with only four ingredients.  I started mine at the end of October and it grew within a week (thanks to the Texas heat)…I had no idea it could be that easy.  Basically, once you have a Scoby, you can keep reusing it to brew continuous batches of Kombucha (it’s the gift that keeps on giving).

What you will need:

  • a bottle of GTs Raw, Organic Original Kombucha (pictured above), brought to room temperature
  • a glass jar (a 32 oz. Mason jar will work)
  • 1 kitchen towel & rubber band
  • 1 cup of sweetened tea (made with filtered water or tap water that you boiled) & 1 Tbsp sugar

I found my Kombucha at Sprout’s, and I know Whole Foods, Market Street, Natural Grocers, and other natural health food stores will carry it.

*Make sure you keep all hands and utensils clean as this is a live, raw food.

What to do:

1. Brew one cup of black tea (I use Bigelow) and add 1 Tbsp of Organic Sugar.

2. Once the tea has cooled, mix tea and the bottle of Raw, Organic Kombucha into a glass jar.

3. Cover with a towel and secure with a rubber band, so it can breathe and keep bugs out.

4. Let it sit until the Scoby is about ¼” thick.  That’s it!

It should look like this after a week or several weeks, depending on the temperature of your house.  If it starts to get mold on it, throw it out and start over.

how to grow your own scoby

Also, if yours isn’t turning out like you hoped, you can buy a culture online from places like Kombucha Kamp, which is the #1 source for all things Kombucha!  For Q&As on if your Scoby is growing or not growing, check out Food Renegade’s post to diagnose any problems.

Go out there and get your Scoby on!

29 Nov

Make It Yourself: Homemade Almond Milk

Posted by Crunchy Hot Mama in Crunchy, Dairy-Free, Food, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Make It Yourself, Organic, Recipes. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Welcome to my newly created category, called Make It Yourself (MIY).  I’m pretty sure this acronym will catch on just like DIY did, right?  Yeah, I didn’t think so.

This time, though, I’m going to show you how to make delicious, dairy-free almond milk.  Since going Paleo a year ago, and knowing dairy sensitivity comes with Celiac Disease, our family doesn’t drink cow’s milk.  That’s not to say I can 100% give up on cheese though I do try; my nickname growing up was mouse and I’m trying REAL hard not to live up to it.

I found this recipe from Everyday Paleo‘s website and am in love…Sarah Fragoso has yet to let me down with her Paleo posts of inspiration and amazing cookbooks.

This recipe was really easy, though it requires some prep work, and is fun to have your 2-year-old help squeeze the bag (and make a total mess).

Almond Milk

Note: this is a two day process so you do have to plan ahead

  • 1 cup raw almonds
  • 2-3 cups of water
  • 3 dates (Medjool are best)
  • ½ tsp organic vanilla extract
  • 1 nut milk bag (you can use cheese cloth and a strainer if you can’t find a nut milk bag)

Day One

Soak one cup of raw almonds in a bowl of water for 12-24 hours in the fridge.

Day Two

Drain the almonds you had soaking for 12-24 hours, add them into your blender (Vitamix) along with 2-3 cups of water (the less water you add the more creamy the almond milk will be-I did 2 ½ cups), dates without pits, and vanilla extract. Blend for a minute or two. Once it is completely blended and mixed, pour your almond milk through the nut milk bag (or cheese cloth and strainer) into a bowl. Squeeze as much of the liquid from the nut milk bag as possible. Once all the milk has drained through the bag you can either toss the remaining almond pulp or lay it on a cookie sheet covered in foil and dry it out in the oven at 175°F until it is all dried out and you will have your own homemade almond meal.

This recipe makes about 2-3 cups of fresh almond milk that will keep in the refrigerator for about three to four days. Make sure to store it in an air tight container.

Tips: I bought my cheesecloth from Bed Bath and Beyond, but know you can find them at any cooking store or even most grocery stores.  Also, it can get a bit messy when squeezing, so don’t get discouraged if bits of the pulp make it in there–it’s just added texture.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with almond milk.  We use it just like you would with cow’s milk-you can put in your mashed potatoes/cauliflower, add them to smoothies, put them in your cereal, etc.  I have noticed my hubby’s migraines are less frequent since cutting out milk.  I found this delicious recipe from Little Dog Lost that inspired me to make my own ‘cereal,’ since grains are a no-no with Paleo.

Coconut “cereal & milk”

dairy free grain free cereal with homemade almond milk

  • 1 oz (about 1 cup) organic unsweetened coconut flakes
  • ¼-½ cup slivered almonds
  • ½ cup strawberries (or any kid of berry)
  • coconut milk, coconut cream, milk, half & half, cream, almond milk, etc.
  • stevia (optional)

1. In a dry pan, toast the coconut chips and slivered almonds over medium high heat. Keep shaking and stirring so the chips brown, but don’t burn. Transfer the chips to a bowl or bowls to cool a bit.

2. Wash, stem, and slice the strawberries.

3. If using stevia, stir it into the milk and stir. Stevia tends to leave little super sweet pockets of sweetness, so mix well.

4. Top your cereal with the strawberries, then pour in the “milk.”  If your “milk” is too thick, you can dilute it a bit.  (I added some homemade almond milk to mine.)

There you have it, two easy recipes and your own homemade almond milk that will spare you the added sweetener and carrageenan.  Enjoy!

4 Jul

Gettin’ Crafty With Pinterest

Posted by Crunchy Hot Mama in Crafts, Crunchy, DIY, Make It Yourself. Tagged: , , , , , .

Happy 4th of July everyone!

I am making a few ahem non-paleo goodies for the holiday that I plan to share tomorrow, so stay tuned.

This post, however, is all about my lack of craftiness.  One of my 30 Pinterest boards is called Gettin’ Crafty so I thought it fitting to title a post with it.  Let me start off by saying I am not crafty, at least in the sense of coming up with my own ideas.  Thanks to Pinterest, I can find inspiration and copy it or at least do my own rendition of it.  I really love to cook, and even though I have a theatre degree, I’m not very crafty.  Sad, I know.  Oh well that’s what Pinterest is for, right?

To date, I have quite a few crafts, recipes, and decorations that I’ve made from there so it hasn’t been all for naught.  If you remember I did a post a while back on homemade laundry soap, from Pinterest, that I am still in love with and using full-time now.  I recently threw a baby shower for my dear friend from high school, who was having a little girl, and found a cute idea from Martha Stewart.  These vases were for baby shower ideas so I thought it might be fun to incorporate them with the shower colors.

The description called for streamers (which shocked me for Martha) but I thought ribbon would look nicer.  I just wrapped the ribbon around the vase twice and attached it with some double stick tape.  I think it turned out pretty cute and could be adjusted for any holiday/theme.

I then found this cute bow holder that was being sold on Etsy but figured I could craft it myself.  I wanted to make it for the shower as well, so her baby girl could have a place for the oodles of bows to come.  I just used a leftover frame that I had and spray painted it ORB (oil-rubbed bronze).  Then I bought some cute ribbon, used a staple gun to attach it to the back and violà!  It was quick and easy and I’m thinking I may have to make one for Emma now, too…

My next inspiration came from a friend who had pinned a bunch of kid craft ideas.  I thought these sticks were cool and wanted to do my ‘crunchy’ spin on it and make my own homemade dyes-which happened to be a lot of fun especially with Emma’s help.

I ended up using blueberries (purple), espresso (brown), turmeric (yellow), and raspberries (pink).  To make the green, I combined the yellow and blue and will admit that I added a little help to the red and green, with the store-bought stuff, since they weren’t vivid enough.  Someone on the site suggested using tea bags for a quicker, easier method, which I will try next time.

Emma had fun making shapes and letters out of them so I know they were a hit.

Tip: use glass containers when soaking sticks in food dye…I dyed wooden Easter eggs in my plastic measuring cup and to this day is still yellow from the turmeric.

Well there you have it-probably my one and only post on crafting!  Ha. I hope you all have a wonderful fourth of July and get to celebrate with your loved ones!

Note: photo from here.

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