Cream Cheese, anyone? Kefir Cream Cheese!

Sarah Jackson says

Freezing milk or whey does reduce the probiotics. Tests have shown more loss in kefir made with powder starters than grains and, according to my research to date, there are still plenty left to be beneficial, if frozen for up to around 6 months Dawn.

With regards to whey, I don’t drink cow’s milk or use it in my recipes. My husband makes his own kefir from cow’s milk now, but we have no whey.

Here are a few ideas for you. The taste is very strong, so I guess it’s a personal choice when adding to foods!

*Add it to smoothies and protein shakes.
*Use it in bread making.
*Drink it straight or add water and drink it that way. It’s full of probiotics! (If you need to sweeten it, add a little fruit and blend.)
*Add it to baths. Apparently it’s good for the skin.
*Spray it on leaves that show white/grey mould. It alters the PH balance of the leaves and restores them.
*Use it to pour into soil for plants that need more acidity than others, if your soil is lacking inacidity.
*Some people add alcohol, also lime/lemon juice and make cocktails!
*Add it to mayonnaise.
*Use it in chutney.
*As in ingredient in making ginger ale.
*To make healing tonics.
*It’s quite common to use whey to ferment vegetables. I use salt and mineral water, but whey is acceptable, although expect a stronger taste.
Feed it to chickens for a protein boost. Apparently especially useful when they’re moulting.
*I read someone makes shrimp and corn chowder using whey.
*Use it in cakes/muffins/pancakes.
*Make more cheese with it – Mozzarella, Ricotta etc.
*Perhaps make a soda with it? Add some sugar, a date, some lemon. You’d have lemonade. A little like kefir water.
*Also a fruit soda. If you second ferment the soda above with berries or any fruit that appeals. Because you don’t have to worry about water kefir grains, I suspect you could add any fruit straight away and it should fizz up. Use very sturdy Grolsch style bottles (not craft ones!) and leave at least 1/4 – 1/3 empty, so they have room to breathe. Soda ferments can be fairly explosive!
*Culture apples, cinnammon and salt to create a fermented apple sauce.
*Soak grains, to make them more digestible.
*Maybe try soaking nuts, to sprout them?
*Because you can cook with it (yes, you’ll kill the probiotics but it’s still a pre-digested food, which is easier on the body) you could pop it into sauces, soups or hot drinks, porridge, as liquid to cook pasta/rice/potatoes/veg/stews/casseroles etc.
*Apparently it’s good for hair. Some say it’s been used as a shampoo, hair rinse and even a gel. I’m not sure the aroma would be very attractive though. Haha.
*Add it to your compost heap.
*Create a whey marinade.
*Culture horseradish root with salt and whey to make horseradish.

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