Sage Cream Cheese with Yogurt

Sage, an often undervalued herb, is native to the Mediterranean region. In ancient Rome, it was known to have healing properties, and was included as a part of the official Roman pharmacopeia.

This recipe makes a pleasantly flavored cheese that is delightful spread on baguette slices. It can also be used as a base for a pasta sauce or dip by adding a little milk. Bake the leftovers into sourdough biscuits.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup fresh sage, chopped roughly
• 1 large clove garlic
• 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3-4 tablespoons yogurt

Instructions:

1. Combine sage and garlic in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped.
2. Blend together cream cheese and lemon juice in a small bowl. Stir in garlic and sage.
3. Mix in yogurt to desired consistency.
4. Cover and refrigerate at least one day before serving, for best flavor. Remove 15-30 minutes before serving.

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Bubble Bath!

My kids love bubble baths! Do yours? Today my son and I decided to try this lovely bubble bath recipe: Warming Bubble Bath

Ingredients:

• 1 cup castile soap
• ¼ cup glycerin
• 1 tbsp honey
• 20 drops each of clove and sandalwood essential oils (alternately, try soothing heat blend essential oil)

Instructions:

1. Pour all ingredients into a jar and stir very gently to combine.

To Use:

1. Pour about ½ cup of mixture under running water.
2. Swish water to create larger bubbles.

Makes 1 ¼ cups

My kids love helping me make home made household products because they get to pour and mix, and what kid doesn’t like pouring and mixing!?.

This is a super easy recipe and you can choose to add whatever scents you like! The bubbles it created were like store bought bubble bath, but they dissipated a little quicker. It still got my kids clean and it smelled amazing!

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A Closer Look: Beer Making Ingredients

With so many new homebrewing supplies, and many in the beer making category, it is hard to highlight just one.  So instead we will take a broad look at the new list of beer making ingredients offered by Cultures for Health.  These varieties of Mangrove Jack’s Dried Yeast strains offer you some great options.

Mangrove Jack’s Dried Yeast – M10 Workhorse, 10g

Suitable for brewing a range of styles from light lager to Baltic porter.

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Mangrove Jack’s Dried Yeast – M27 Belgian Ale, 10g

Suitable for brewing other Belgian styles including quadruples to 14% ABV

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Mangrove Jack’s Dried Yeast – M84 Bohemian Lager,10g

Suitable for brewing German/Bohemian Pilsners, German Bocks, all lager styles and more!

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Mangrove Jack’s Dried Yeast – M20 Bavarian Wheat, 10g

Suitable for brewing Hefeweizen, Kristal Weizen, Dunkel Weizen and more!

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Mangrove Jack’s Dried Yeast – M44 US West Coast, 10g

Suitable for brewing American Style Pale Ale, American Double IPA, American Style Imperial Stout and more!

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Mangrove Jack’s Dried Yeast – M07 British Ale, 10g

Suitable for brewing India Pale Ale, Porter, Stouts, Barley Wine and more!

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Mangrove Jack’s Dried Yeast – M03 Newcastle Dark Ale, 10g

A top fermenting ale yeast suitable for a variety of hearty British ales, promoting exceptional body and flavour. Ferments with full, rich dark fruit flavours.

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Mangrove Jack’s Brewery Pouch – American Pale Ale with Dry Hops

Dry hopped with Mosaic and Chinook to give it a punchy tropical fruit, yet earthy and grapefruit character.

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Mangrove Jack’s Brewery Pouch – Pilsner

A traditional Czech pilsner, crisp and dry with a clean, lingering bitterness which refreshes the palate.

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Mangrove Jack’s Brewery Pouch – London Bitter

Sweet malt flavors with a mixture of fruit and caramel notes, balanced by a lingering crisp bitterness to finish.

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Mangrove Jack’s Brewery Pouch – Session Ale

Smooth, dark and malty with hints of sweet stone fruit, soft bitterness and a lingering sweetness with a subtle caramel aroma creates the perfect session ale.

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Mangrove Jack’s Brewery Pouch – Bavarian Wheat

Deliciously smooth, light golden in color. Full bodied with aromas of vanilla and banana and a lingering clove aftertaste.

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Mangrove Jack’s Brewery Pouch – India Pale Ale (IPA)

A traditional English style IPA. With a biscuit malt body and noticeable hop flavors, this beer has subtle notes of vanilla and grapefruit pith followed by a lingering bitterness.

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Mangrove Jack’s Brewery Pouch – Chocolate Brown Ale

Sweet and malty in taste with rich fruit and brown sugar aroma, this brewery pouch creates a chocolate brown ale with a delicious nutty aftertaste.

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Mangrove Jack’s Brewery Pouch – Roasted Stout

A black creamy stout, rich in dark chocolate and smooth fruitiness. Smooth and satisfying.

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Mangrove Jack’s Brewery Pouch – Golden Lager

A well bodied lager, golden and crisp. Light and malty with hints of vanilla bean and red fruits, and a cleansing, subtle bitterness to finish. Very true to style.

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Dextrose

A natural sweetener, derived from non-GMO corn!

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Cultures for Health Adds New Homebrewing Products!

We are excited to announce that Cultures for Health has launched a brand new line of homebrewing products and supplies.  For many, making things like yogurt, kefir, cheeses, sourdough, and cultured vegetables is a great DIY way to save money and increase the health benefits of food.  A natural extension of this is to make your own beer, wine, and cider!  Check out the great new product offerings below:

Beer Making Supplies	Wine Making Supplies	Cider Making Supplies
Get started brewing beer at home with our collection of beer equipment kits, ingredients, bottling supplies, books and more!	Shop our collection of winemaking equipment, ingredient kits, bottling supplies, books, and more to help you start making wine at home.	From equipment kits to bottling supplies to books and more brewing tools, we have everything you need to venture into the world of cider making!

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The Ingredient that Greatly Improved my Water Kefir: Giving Cultures What They Need

I continuously find that cultures are like so many things: what you get out of them is dependent upon what you put into them. I also find that there are often very different circumstances under which we culture. Where we live, our current temperature, the water we use, and the ingredients we choose all play a huge part in how well a culture will perform.

Which is why I’m forever experimenting and tweaking. Sometimes these experiments fall flat on their face – like the time I tried to make a water kefir eggnog. But sometimes I find that changing up the routine just a little results in a big improvement in the product my culture is giving me.

Over the years I’ve wrapped kombucha vessels in blankets, buried jars of sauerkraut, and meticulously divided my milk kefir grains all in order to adapt to my current culturing situation. Recently I found that a small amount of a single ingredient seemed to really improve my water kefir’s activity.

I have tried various things to boost the activity of my water kefir when it seemed to be in need of a boost. The water kefir was culturing the sugar water, it was just taking a bit longer than I thought it should or the grains didn’t seem to have the vigorous nature I have seen before.

After trying sea salt and trace mineral supplements to boost the mineral content I tried adding just about 1.5 teaspoons of molasses per quart of water kefir. The salt and mineral supplement did boost the water kefir’s activity a bit but not nearly as much as the molasses all on its own.

I am theorizing that it has to do with the minerals and the sugar and other constituents found in the molasses that make it what it is. And for some reason, my water kefir grains really respond to being fed just a small amount along with the organic, semi-refined sugar I’ve been using.

My grains seem to convert sugar water to water kefir at a better rate. There is more activity to the grains in that I see plenty of bubbles coming up from the grains in the bottom of the jar as well as on the surface of the water kefir. The finished water kefir tastes more cultured to my palate and has a very vigorous carbonation to it once bottled. And the grains seem to be more willing to multiply than ever – meaning more water kefir!

And just like using fewer milk kefir grains improved my milk kefir and less salt made my kraut better and an heirloom flour made my sourdough rise higher, I think I’ve finally figured out what my water kefir needs.

Are there any little tweaks that make your cultures happier?

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What’s New at CFH: DIY Warming Muscle Relief Balm

For sore, tired muscles, the warming oils in this balm provide soothing relief. A deodorant push up applicator is ideal for this recipe, as it will be much easier to apply on yourself, and you won’t need to get the balm on your hands. 

Ingredients:

• 1 tabelspoon beeswax
• 4 teaspoons sweet almond oil
• 5-10 drops essential oils

Choosing Essential Oils for Muscle Relief Balm:

More drops will create a stronger sensation. Use a few drops of each oil, or choose your favorites from the list below:

• Eucalyptus
• Roman Chamomile
• Clary Sage
• Clove Bud
• Lemongrass
• Fir Balsam
• Cypress
• Rosemary

Instructions for Making Muscle Relief Balm:

1. Melt beeswax in a double boiler.
2. Add sweet almond oil and stir.
3. Once mixture has cooled slightly but is still liquid, add essential oils.
4. Pour into desired container: push up applicator, jar or tin.
5. Store in a cool, dark place.

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How to Sprout Broccoli and Other Brassica Seeds

Broccoli sprouts have gained in popularity over the past few years. Instead of buying expensive sprouts at the grocery store, sprout your own at home with our Organic Broccoli Sprouting Seeds!

Other Brassica Sprouting Seeds

Follow the instructions below to sprout all our seeds in the brassica family:

• Organic Broccoli Sprouting Seeds
• Organic Radish Sprouting Seeds
• Chinese Cabbage Sprouting Seeds
• Organic Brown Mustard Sprouting Seeds

Instructions for Sprouting Broccoli and Other Brassica Seeds:

1. Rinse ¼ cup seeds, removing any debris or floating matter.
2. Place seeds in a quart jar or other sprouting container. Add ½-¾ cup cool water, cover with a sprouting screen or mesh sprouting lid and soak 8 hours or overnight.
3. Drain all water off the seeds.
4. Invert the jar over a bowl at an angle so that the seeds will drain and air will be able to circulate.
5. After 6-8 hours of draining, rinse and drain again.
6. Repeat rinsing and draining 2-3 times daily.
7. Tiny sprouts should begin to form in 3-4 days. Once sprout tails appear, move sprout container to indirect light for growing green leaves.
8. Once sprouts reach desired length, usually 1-2 inches, drain well and enjoy immediately or transfer to a covered container. Sprouts will keep in the refrigerator for several days.

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