Kefir!!!!!

I am experimenting with Kefir grains... water & milk.  If you have never seen a kefir grain... the photo above is of milk kefir grains..................

I hear that it is best to use raw milk.... if I were a bit richer I would use raw milk, it goes for $7 a gallon.  I use regular 2% milk since I am a poor gal lol  I make a batch of milk kefir daily.  I just now have started increasing the amount I am making to almost 2 cups a day.  I drink a cup in the morning.  I make a delicious smoothie in the mornings! MMMMMMMMMM!

Recipe is as follows:

1 cup milk kefir
1/2 frozen banana
3 T. frozen strawberry puree ( I have begun to make this weekly I puree up a bunch of fresh strawberries & freeze them in a popsicle tray)
1 tsp. ground flax seed
squirt of flax seed oil
*sometimes I add a scoop of protein shake)

This is soooo refreshing & tasty! Mmmmmm! yummy!  It kinda has a hint of lemony taste (from the kefir)

Back to the Kefir grains... they eat the sugar from the milk & it ferments the milk.. I know sounds yucky but it is actually quite good.  Speaking of good, it puts the good bacteria back in your gut.  It is a natural probiotic & helps with the immune system.  If you like buttermilk you will definitely like kefir milk.  I don't like buttermilk but I find myself craving kefir.  I started out buying it from the store & at $3.99 for oh I say about 1/2 a quart that gets expensive if you are drinking it twice a day!!  So that is when I decided that I would start making it myself!  I am saving money!! yay!

So....

So as I began to get more control over the  "nicotine demon" I started feeling better, getting more energy & more confidence in myself.  I actually started losing weight instead of gain like I had in the past (oh about 5 or more times of trying to quit smoking)!  I searched the internet for different recipes & ideas for healthier lifestyle.
I have lost 11 lbs so far (since Jan 1 2010)!  One of the things I found is kefir grains... water & milk.  I bought some milk kefir at the store just to see what it tasted like.  LOL my first drink I thought it was horrid!  Reminded me of buttermilk.  I  had read on the internet that sometimes if you add a sweetener that it improves the taste.  I added a  squirt of agave nectar& wow that really changed the flavor.  I found myself craving it!  So I found a site where people offer their kefir grains for sale... I found someone local that had some milk kefir grains & found some water kefir grains on the internet, I got both the same day!  Sooo now what???? lol

How it started.................

Jan 1, 2010 was the last day that I smoked ciggies! wooohooo! Since I was quitting smoking I decided that I needed to eat healthier because I have quit several times before & each time I gained lots of weight... the last time I quit smoking I reached a weight of 161! The most I have EVER weighed (well with the exception of pregnancy lol)!!! So this time I had a plan!

I got on sparkpeople.com & tracked my food intake each day & began trying to drink 8 glasses of water daily. At first I could only get about 3 cups down a day but as time went on I did meet my goal of 8 - 8 oz glasses of water a day! What helped was I added a lemon wedge.... very simple! I love my water now!