Kefir

Oh, how I hate cooking. Just being in a kitchen [mine in particular, cause it's so small] makes me irritable and crabby. Most of the time I only eat out of necessity, which makes cooking even more tedious. I don't really get hungry - I get low blood sugar, so I pretty much have to eat otherwise I get light-headed and shaky.

So, out of a desire to save money rather than a desire to spend more time in the kitchen, I made my own kefir. In the past I favoured yogurt because it had a more mild taste, but in recent months decided that the health benefits definitely seemed worth the effort of downing the sour substance. Actually, it really doesn't taste much different than plain yogurt and it is easier to make, since once the milk is heated and cooled and the culture is added you don't have to worry about keeping it at a certain temperature. You can read more about the health benefits here.

Basically, buy kefir culture at a health food store and follow the directions, which will go something like this:

• Heat up 32 0z of milk [I used raw, but really you can use any kind of milk] to 180 degress F
• Cool Milk to ap. 77 degrees F
• Mix culture into a small amount of cooled milk
• Stir mixture into the rest of the milk
• Pour into a clean container, cover, and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours and then refrigerate

There you have it! Because I used whole, raw milk it was really thick and has a strong flavour [not that sour, just a strong milk flavour]. I haven't drunk much cow milk in the past three years, and am not used to it anymore.

Kefir is great by itself, in smoothies, as a substitute for yogurt, or just let it sit in your fridge and go back because you were too afraid to drink it.