Blueberry Cream Cheese

Oh how I have ALWAYS loved blueberry cream cheese. I remember growing up, in Denver, going to local bagel shops. I would order a blueberry bagel with blueberry cream cheese! I try to limit (well, I have completely in fact) bagels (and other white flour – but maybe some healthy bagels are in my future) but have found no reason to eliminate or limit at all the blueberry cream cheese – this is healthy, 100% natural and full of amazing enzymes.

If you have not read my post about cream cheese and whey, start there. This is what you do with the finished cream cheese product:

The amounts below depend solely on your amount of cream cheese. If you are like me, you use what is left over (raw milk, yogurt, etc.) and the amount always changes.

1. Put cream cheese (freshly made or softened) in food processor. Add fresh blueberrys and mix until it is a beautiful blue color.
2. Using the attachment that lets you add while mixing, drizzle in a bit of maple syrup. Remember, you won’t need much if your blueberries are really sweet!

We love as a dip for crackers (plain of course) and on english muffins or toast.

This post is happily shared at Real Food Wednesday, Homemaking Link Up and Simple Lives Thursday and Pennywise Platter and Fight Back Friday and Monday Mania

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Mastering the Basics: Cream Cheese and Whey

My mom asked me a good question after reading my post about the grape drink, in regards to whey. It made me realize that I need to share how to make whey so you can make lacto-fermented drinks, veggies, etc. and also soak grains. It is so easy…here are the steps…

1. You need a living dairy product (raw soured milk (clabbered) or yogurt). Using a clean bowl lined with a tea towel (I use the potato sack cloths from Target) pour the yogurt or clabbered milk into the bowl. Gather the tea towel and secure with a rubber band. Hang on a kitchen knob over the bowl (the solid stays in the cloth and the liquid, aka the “whey” drips down into the bowl).

2. The amount of time varies based on your desired cream cheese consistency.

Yogurt:  I do a quart of yogurt and leave it for several hours (a good part of the day) and it yields about 2 cups whey and 2 cups cream cheese. The whey will last for about 6 months in the fridge (but I can’t actually vouch for that as I always run out of whey with all my drinks and veggies). The cheese will last for about 2 weeks but let your nose be your guide.

Raw Milk: If you are using clabbered milk – take raw milk, place on the counter on its side for about 24 hours to “clabber” it (it gets chunky). Then pour it into the towel lined bowl as mentioned above and let it sit for several hours to desired consistency.

3. Transfer the whey into a mason jar and secure tightly with a lid (any glass storage container will do). I divide the cream cheese and make one cup sweet (throw it in a food processor with maple syrup and walnuts; or fresh strawberries or other seasonal berry) and one cup zesty (season with salt, and fresh dill or chives to taste).

For recipes using whey visit the lacto-fermented recipes. The benefits for whey can be found (in the future once I get around to updating) in the “traditional lifestyle” section.

How do you make your whey? What do you use your cream cheese for?

This post is shared on Real Food Wednesday , Homemaking Link Up , Monday Mania , Pennywise Platter , Fight Back Friday

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Yummy grape drink!

This is a fantastic yummy grape drink. It is fermented (read the benefits of this type of beverage here) so it takes a few days to be able to enjoy it…but it is so worth it!

Day 1:  Start by buying 8 pounds of organic grapes (red, green or a mix of both. I did a mix of both and got a cute “pink” color!). Wash them, pull them off their stems and run them through a juicer.

This process took me 40 minutes total. Set the pulp aside for natural yeast bread (recipe coming soon!).

This makes about 2 quarts of liquid. Pour into a large glass bowl. Add 1/4 cup of whey (this is the liquid whey reserved from making cream cheese-not powdered whey!) and 1/2 tablespoon of salt. Mix well, cover with tea cloth and rubber band. Set on top of the fridge (or anywhere else out of harms way) for three days.

Day 2-3: Occasionally check on it and skim foam/scum rising to the surface. (I do this in the morning and again at the end of the day to make sure the foam doesn’t get a chance to grow mold).

Day 3: Run grape juice through a tea cloth lined strainer. Pour into clean jars that seal tightly and store in fridge! I fit this in a quart jar and a 16 ounce jar. Serve 50/50 juice and mineral water. REVISION: LET SIT IN FRIDGE FOR 2 WEEKS OR MORE FOR A FANTASTIC FLAVOR CHANGE – TRULY AGES TO A BEAUTIFUL FULL GRAPE FLAVOR!

This is a lacto-fermented beverage with tons of benefits! Read about those benefits here.

This recipe is taken from Nourishing Traditions.

This post is shared on Monday Mania, Traditional Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday, and Homemaking Link Up and Pennywise Platter and Simple Lives Thursday

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