How To Make Raw Sauerkraut

Red & Green Sauerkraut

Red & Green Sauerkraut

Making your own sauerkraut is one of the easiest things to do and much more economical than buying Bubbie’s sauerkraut (my favorite) from the store.

Sauerkraut is an excellent source for probiotics and one of my go-to foods when I crave cheese.  It’s tangy like cheese, more probiotic than cheese, and tastes particularly excellent on salads and mixed with avocados.

Here’s the process I use to make my own which I got from this delightful video by Lauren Amerson (ShaktiGoddess1 on youtube):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gObQR5Vm4M

Raw Sauerkraut Recipe

1 head cabbage (green or red)

2 Tbsp SunFire Salt

1 Tbsp Caraway Seeds (optional – I prefer my sauerkraut without this rye flavor)

Leftover brine if you have it (from your last batch or from a store-bought Bubbie’s sauerkraut)

  1. Remove a few outer layer cabbage leaves (1-3) for later
  2. Cut the core out of the cabbage and then shred cabbage with food processor or knife (smaller pieces are better for fermenting faster and getting more water out for the brine)
  3. Put shredded cabbage in a large bowl and add salt (and optionally the caraway) and massage it in with your hands.  Let this sit for 30-60 min until the cabbage wilts.
  4. Massage the cabbage again, squeezing so that even more liquid is released.  Massage for probably 5-10 minutes until the cabbage is very wilted and there’s enough liquid to cover the top of the cabbage.
  5. Transfer the cabbage and then the resulting liquid (brine) into a quart size mason jar.  (depending on the size of the cabbage head you may require more than one quart size jar).  Press down on the cabbage so the brine rises to the top and there are no air bubbles.
  6. Add a piece of the outer layer cabbage leaf to the top and press down so that the brine is above it.  This keeps the shredded pieces below the brine level.  (optional: add a weight on top of the cabbage leaf to make sure it all stays below the liquid)
  7. Leave about 1 inch of air space at the top of the jar for the fermentation gases to escape and secure the lid tightly.
  8. Label the jar with the date the jar was closed.  Keep on the counter at room temperature for 3-4 days.
  9. Check the taste of the sauerkraut to make sure it tastes tangy and like sauerkraut, then store it in the fridge (indefinitely).

Enjoy!

Making A Rain Barrel For Your Garden

Some of the best tasting super foods are the ones you grow yourself.  Using organic soil with ORMUS-rich probiotics, harvesting rain water, and eating as soon as the food is picked makes for a densely nutritious and delicious feast in your own backyard.

If you’ve got room for a backyard garden, you may be interested in these simple steps for building your own rain barrel in order to catch the rain from your roof.  Rain water is the best water to use on your garden since it doesn’t contain any chemical residues (from city tap waters) or over-concentration of minerals (often the case with well water).  And it’s free! :)

I’ll talk more about raised garden beds, ORMUS probiotics and other backyard gardening ideas later.  For now, here are the steps I used to make my own rain barrel with photos of my process and thanks to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension program (and specifically Dottie Woodson) for the starter barrel and instructions.

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Sprouting Lentils

sprouting lentilsI used to be afraid of sprouting.  It’s supposed to be good for you – eating all those really alive, nutrient-rich sprouts.  But it always seemed like it would be hard work because you have to keep rinsing the sprouts as they grow.

My first foray into sprouting was with sunflower seeds and buckwheat because I could sprout those particular seeds like everything else I grow … in soil.  See my posting here about how to handle those seeds.

Well, I’ve played with sprouting lentils twice now, and I think I can safely say that it’s Super Easy and even if you “mess it up” those little sprouts will still find a way to grow. :)

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Here’s what you’ll need to do this:

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Growing Sunflower Seed Greens Indoors

Sunflower Seed SproutsIn the wintertime I start to get the gardening blues … I don’t get nearly the amount of time playing in the dirt that I crave.  That’s one more reason I love growing my own Sunflower Seed Greens in my kitchen window.  I get to play in the dirt and I have my own organically grown nutritious greens to add into salads and green smoothies at my whim. YAY!

If you want to grow your own, here’s the low-down on how to do it … (this also works great with Buckwheat greens which are a little thinner stem and equally as yummy … and wheat berries for wheat grass though I haven’t done that one just yet).

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1. Get some seeds.  I got my sunflower and buckwheat seeds from my favorite nut and seed place: Sun Organic Farm.  If you get them anywhere else, here’s what you need to look for:

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