Lada's Kitchen: HEALTH

The Benefits of Kefir

There are health benefits of kefir, which is high in nutrients and probiotics, and is beneficial for digestion and gut health.

I have been making this heathy drink for years and also using it for baking as well. Some recipes call for buttermilk but I always use my kefir instead of buttermilk, which helps keep this banana bread moist and delicious.

Here is yummy Nutty Banana Bread

How to make Kefir

Ingredients

a clean jar
a kefir starter culture
milk ( I use 2% reduced fat milk)

Directions

You can follow instruction from a kefir starter package.
Once you already have milk kefir and re-culture it by adding 3 tablespoons of kefir and pour the fresh milk into a clean jar and stir very well. Cover it with the lid in room temperature. I always keep the jar in the kitchen shelf about 24 hours or until the kefir has set and allow it to cool for a few hours in refrigerator.

This healthy drink can be served at any time and I like to add a teaspoon of honey or make a kefir smoothie. Enjoy ka!

Kefir starter culture or you can use other brands

Once kefir has set and allow to cool in refrigerator for few hours

ANCHOR RUN FARM

Anchor Run Farm in Bucks County, PA

These fresh veggies and beautiful flowers are from the farm

What is a CSA

A CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. There are a wide variety of very fresh vegetables and fruits, one can get the best health benefits. As a member I get the fresh organic vegetables all season long. I started to become a member in the farm during May until November this year. It's become one of my favorites so far and I enjoyed picking my own vegetables and signed up for a weekday and a weekend work. They are very nice and friendly workers.

There are many activities such as helping farmers to pick and collect vegetables. I also signed up to harvest garlic, winter squash, and weeding around the farm. It was fun activities to get involve with the community, but it can be really tired when working under the sun for a few hours. These fun works reminded me about my former job working with my team to survey the properties around the city and the average temperature in Bangkok was over 90 degrees. I really missed my job and my friends a lot.

Here are some pictures while I was helping in the farm this year.