… the girls will play. Or so my mom says. Growing up, my mom took advantage of my dad’s work trips to have girl fun nights with my sisters and I watching movies, eating casual dinners, and maybe not worrying too much about a messy house. I consider myself lucky to feel I can do whatever I want when hubby is home … like eating popcorn in front of the TV for dinner if I wish, but I miss him when he’s on business travel and get manic busying myself with house projects to avoid feeling lonely in a quiet house. Tonight my mom came over for a casual, quick dinner and a lesson on culturing veggies at home since she’s noticed $5 is a bit steep to pay for a small container of fresh sauerkraut at Whole Foods. Especially when you could have a jar 10 times the size for the cost of a head of cabbage and some carrots practically.
For a simple and fast dinner, I threw together Hemp Seed Alfredo sauce in the Vita-Mix.
While I lightly ghetto-steamed some fresh-chopped cauliflower and broccoli.
Then coated in the Alfredo sauce and topped with fresh green onions from the garden. Raw broccoli and cauliflower in larger chunks tends to be rough on my stomach, lightly steaming them for a couple of minutes in the microwave makes a huge difference.
And it was a great, fast dinner leaving plenty of time to make a mess of my kitchen chopping red cabbage, carrots and cucumbers for culturing.
I saved the fresh broccoli stalks to brace the veggies in the jar keeping them submerged in the liquid while fermenting.
It was a great lesson and this is the first time I’m culturing cucumbers, can’t wait to see how they come out. Since the weather is warmer, this batch should only take 2-3 days versus a week during the winter – can’t wait! But it makes a pretty kitchen centerpiece while bubbling and fermenting.
If you’re interested in culturing your own veggies, see this post for a how to. I’m hooked on it now, they add a great flavor to salads and a great way to get probiotics. This jar can last months in the fridge. It won’t with me around, but it can.
Since she brought her dog over too, we took them for a long walk and competition to see who can shove their nose in more.
Then go nuts at every wild rabbit on the trail.
And thank goodness this week is almost over! It seemed much longer with hubby away and me anxiously waiting for his return and a long weekend.
“and a lesson on culturing veggies at home since she’s noticed $5 is a bit steep to pay for a small container of fresh sauerkraut at Whole Foods.” —
AMEN and awesome!
And the jar, the vibrancy of the colors….so pretty, Christine!
Keep us posted how it goes and i still need to try your method. That and sprouting. I need to get on that! I have done ani’s method on the countertop but yours looks even better/easier with better results!
and yes, raw brock/cauli vs. a light nuking…world of difference on the GI system :)
Sure, you should try it – it’s fun to watch and you can use whatever spices you want. I used dried dill in this batch. Next I’m thinking of trying pickles.
What a fun evening! I need to get a big jar — have been meaning to do some culturing!
It’s a lot of fun and you can get creative with whatever seasoning combo you want, I used dill and a pinch of salt in this batch.
Haha…I love it that your dogs look so much alike :-) Family, right?!
how fun that you and your mom had a girls night together! love it…..and really like the pics of the pups on the walk. hope your friday goes by fast christine :)
Pretty veggie jar :)
I have never even thought about making my own sauerkraut etc, but on the other hand, I don’t actually eat sauerkraut that often!