Now that you’ve read all about milk kefir and how to make it, now you need some ideas on getting it into your meals. Here are some of my favorite ways to incorporate kefir into our lives.
1. Make a milk kefir smoothie.
Making a smoothie is as simple as throwing some milk kefir, fruit and honey or maple syrup into a blender and voila-smoothie! If you have a smoothie recipe that calls for yogurt or milk, just replace either one with kefir, keeping the measurements the same. Our favorite kefir smoothie is Orange Julius-YUMMY!!
2. Replace buttermilk with milk kefir in recipes.
One morning as we were making biscuits for breakfast, I decided to try using milk kefir instead of buttermilk (which I was out of) in my recipe. Those were the best biscuits I have made. They seemed so light and fluffy which shouldn’t have been a surprise. Because of the bacteria and yeast in kefir, it can be used in place of yeast to make breads rise. Now I always use kefir to make our biscuits. (Hint: Bake them in a cast iron skillet for even more yumminess!)
3. Soak your oats for Baked Oatmeal in milk kefir.
Because kefir is a fermented or cultured food, it helps break down phytic acids and enzymes in oats which act as anti-nutrients in our bodies. Soaking your oats in milk kefir makes them more digestible and frees up the vitamins and nutrients bound by those enzymes. This baked oatmeal recipe is perfect for a healthy breakfast or even as a dessert. And best of all, if you soak the oats, it becomes a powerhouse of nutrition.
4. Use milk kefir to make bread.
My friend Trina has an amazing recipe for bread in her book Real Fast Food-which I highly recommend. Her recipe is a soaked whole wheat bread which makes it very easy to digest and easy to make. Although this isn’t a sourdough bread, it does have soaked grains so it’s a great middle ground recipe. And it’s the first and only loaf bread I’ve been able to consistently make and eat.
5. Feed milk kefir grains to your dog.
Yes, you read that correctly. Just like plain, greek yogurt is good for your dog’s digestive system, so is milk kefir. Our dog really likes our extra kefir grains, so she usually helps out by eating them before they take over.
6. Milk kefir makes the fluffiest pancakes ever.
Remember how I mentioned it helps bread rise? Milk kefir will make those plain pancakes become fabulously, fluffy pancakes. Just replace the milk in the recipe for kefir-same measurements. Watch for our favorite recipe coming soon!
7. Cool off with milk kefir popsicles.
Use the Orange Julius recipe from #1 or any other smoothie recipe you like and freeze in popsicle trays or ice trays with toothpicks.
8. Make healthy, cultured Ranch Dressing with milk kefir.
Most ranch dressing is loaded with preservatives, MSG, and high fructose corn syrup. This recipe is on the other extreme-loaded with beneficial probiotics (from the milk kefir) and healthy herbs! And it taste great too. It is kid tested and approved. Need I say more?
For more ideas on how to use kefir and get it into your family’s diet check out this great post. They even have an ice cream recipe on there.
Maybe you were hesitant about making milk kefir. Maybe you weren’t sure your family would like or eat it. Or maybe you just didn’t know what all do with it. I hope this gives you the push you need to go ahead and get fermenting. You might be surprised at how much you and your family like kefir. Just don’t forget to come back and share your favorite ways to enjoy it!
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