healthy lifestyle – mrsannamaher.com

The Easiest Way to Make Kombucha (14 steps with pictures!)

One of the most common things I get asked is how to make Kombucha. At first it can seem overwhelming, but it’s really so easy once you get the hang of it. I am not going to go into the health benefits, you can research that for yourself. I will say that it has cured my addiction to dr. pepper, but really boasts of health benefits way beyond that. In short, it helps heal and balance gut health. There are a lot of super smart, science loving people that would love to explain it to you via the world wide web.

Therefore, I’ll stick to practical and share how easy it is to make. Here are pictures and my step by step process.

Enjoy!

STEP ONE- Make your sweet tea. Boil 8 cups of water, turn the burner off, add 8 tea bags (do not use flavored teas), and add one cup of sugar. The kombucha needs sugar to ferment, skipping or substituting other sweeteners won't work for brewing kombucha. — STEP ONE- Make your sweet tea. Boil 8 cups of water, turn the burner off, add 8 tea bags (do not use flavored teas), and add one cup of sugar. The kombucha needs sugar to ferment, skipping or substituting other sweeteners won’t work for brewing kombucha.

STEP TWO- Get ready for the flavoring stage. This will only apply if you have a brew that is ready to flavor. If you don't You can skip this part of the process. :) Add fresh fruit and/or herbs. I used frozen strawberries, fresh mint, and ginger for this batch. You can flavor however you want, our personal favorite is strawberry/mint. — STEP TWO- Get ready for the flavoring stage. This will only apply if you have a brew that is ready to flavor. If you don’t You can skip this part of the process. 🙂
Add fresh fruit and/or herbs and 1/4 t sugar to smaller bottles or mason jars. I like to save store kombucha bottles, but you can do whatever works best for you. I used frozen strawberries, fresh mint, and ginger for this batch. You can flavor however you want, our personal favorite is strawberry/mint.

STEP THREE- Wash your hands, and gently lift the scoby out of your brewed kombucha. You can do it I promise!!

STEP FOUR- Place your scoby in a bowl or separate container for later.

STEP SIX- Using a funnel distribute kombucha into your smaller bottles for the flavor ferment. Leave 1-2 cups of kombucha at the bottom of your jar for your next batch. This is called starter liquid. Side note: Do you see that fizz? I get slightly excited when I see that. Former soda addict confession OVER.

STEP SEVEN- Wipe down your bottles with a washcloth before securing the cap to prevent sticky buildup. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

STEP EIGHT- Store for 1-5 days. I usually put mine in my cabinet above the stove. You can leave it on the counter, too much stuff on my counters kinda drives me crazy, so I stick it in a cabinet. :) Once you have achieved desired taste place them in the refrigerator. We strain them before drinking, but that's up to you. We don't do chunky kombucha over here, but to each his/her own. — STEP EIGHT- Store for 1-5 days. I usually put mine in my cabinet above the stove. You can leave it on the counter, too much stuff on my counters kinda drives me crazy, so I stick it in a cabinet. 🙂
Once you have achieved desired taste place them in the refrigerator. We strain them before drinking, but that’s up to you. We don’t do chunky kombucha over here, but to each his/her own.

STEP NINE- Pour your cooled sweet tea in the jar. *make sure it has cooled. If it's too warm it can kill the scoby! — STEP NINE- Pour your cooled sweet tea in the jar.
*make sure it has cooled. If it’s too warm it can kill the scoby!

STEP TEN- Add filtered water to about one inch under where the jar starts to curve.

STEP TWELVE- Wash your hands again, and place your scoby on top.

STEP THIRTEEN- Place a thin cloth or cheese cloth over the top and secure with a rubber band. Don’t covet my colorful kombucha cover. 🙂

STEP Wipe the jar down. — STEP THIRTEEN- Wipe the jar down. We don’t want to tempt the ants now do we?

STEP THIRTEEN- Wrap a towel around the jar and secure (I use a clothespin.) — STEP FOURTEEN- Wrap a towel around the jar and secure (I use a clothespin.) Find a home for your new brew, and leave it alone for 10-14 days!

After day 10, you can place a straw in (under the scoby) and see if it’s reached your desired level of fermenting. If not, just let it sit until it has. We like ours at around 10-12 days. This can depend on the temperature in your house. If it’s warm the fermenting with go faster, so ours can vary based on the season.

AND THAT’S IT! You start back at step one to make your next brew. It’s really quite easy and we are totally addicted over here. We feel great when we have our daily kombucha. We usually have 1/2 to 1 bottle a day.

liquid GOLD: the easiest bone broth EVER (with pictures)

You know how mom’s tend to make chicken noodle soup when their kids are sick. Turns out mom really does know best. Okay, maybe not the canned soup with purplish chicken, BUT bone broth is really healing for the body. It coats our gut with healthy vitamins and minerals, helps heal it, and helps our bones absorb the nutrition they need.

It’s also delicious, and super easy to make!

Here’s how I do it. I usually buy a rotisserie chicken. After we have finished eating the meat, I set the remainder into the crockpot.

**step one: add bones and veggies, and filtered water to crockpot**

**step two: add two capfuls or 1 T of apple cider vinegar**

step two: set on low for 20 hours — **step three: Set on low for 20 hours.**

You might wake up in the morning to a house that smells like Thanksgiving. It’s kinda funny, but there are worse smells people.

**if you notice it boiling, turn it down to the warm option. allow the bone broth to simmer for 24 hours.**

My strainer has seen better days…

step four: strain the broth into a pourable pyrex. — **step four: After the broth has been simmering for 24 hours, allow it to cool enough to pour. Strain the broth into a pourable glass container.**

step five: use a funnel to pour into glass containers. — **step five: Use a funnel to pour into glass containers.**

money saving tip- I save glass jars from things like spaghetti sauce, pickles, etc. I just run them through the dishwasher, and remove the labels. Once the broth is in these, I place the lid on. Then, I often freeze what we don't drink to make soup or have another time. — money saving tip- I save glass jars from things like spaghetti sauce, pickles, etc. I just run them through the dishwasher, and remove the labels. Once the broth is in these, I place the lid on. Then, I often freeze what we don’t drink to make soup or have another time.

step six: enjoy the liquid gold. *you can wait until it cools and skim the fat off the top, or you can consume the fat. this just depends on your preference. some sources suggest the animal fat is helpful. — step six: Enjoy the liquid gold! *you can wait until it cools and skim the fat off the top, or you can consume the fat. this just depends on your preference. Some sources suggest the animal fat is good for us.

God and all things organic.

Healthy is trendy these days.

You don’t have to look far to validate this.

Our instagrams and facebook pages are clogged with juices, essential oils, gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, organic blah, blah, blah. (Mine too)

And for the most part I love it. We try to eat clean, exercise, and make good health choices. I clean with mostly homemade products. Some smelling better than others. My old roommates hated it when I cleaned with vinegar. My roommate these days is much less fussy/opinionated about these matters. 🙂

But there is a part of this whole trend that I think we really have to guard our hearts toward.

Much of this field is motivated by fear… That’s potentially the best marketing approach ever.

I read this scripture this morning and it sunk deep into me, bringing comfort and squashing fears.

“Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” 2 Peter 1:4 (NIV)

“For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of thedivine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” 2 Peter 1:4 (NASB)

NASB version says lust rather than evil desires. There is so much lust in our culture. That lust leads industries to genetically modify products, regardless of how that affects society. It also can lead “healthy” companies to lie about their products or market things to mothers of small children in a fear inducing you are a terrible mother if you don’t buy this product manipulative way.

I think we have to be discerning as people to make sure we are making our “health” decisions based on convictions rather than fears.

I love how this verse is basically saying we serve a God who is bigger than the evil and corrupt ways of this temporary world!

I am 100% for taking care of our earthly bodies, being in this for the long haul, and doing all that we Mahers can to release His kingdom on this earth. We like everyone else want to make great life giving choices.

I just want to make sure that He and His kingdom are my 1st priority. I want to make sure that I am more aware of His overcoming power than of the evils in this world. I want my decisions to be rooted in faith rather than fear.

I pray that we will be clothed with His wisdom in the choice that we make. I pray the His perfect love will cast out any fear. I pray that we will be motivated by a healthy perspective of stewardship rather than fear as we make choices regarding health. Above all, I pray that we will be so aware today of how good and big our God is!