Kombucha and Coconut Kefir!

I briefly mention in my profile that I could not eat dairy (more specifically the milk protein, casein) for about 8 years. And with some changes in my diet including better food combining, and cultured foods, I was able to turn my digestive wellness around and can now eat dairy again. It was a sweet day when I figured that out.
The key to the whole thing I am convinced, were the cultured foods. I made cultured vegetables out of cabbages, kale, carrots. They are good, and I still make them occasionally, but they are not really convenient for bringing into work (and actually, don't do this if you make it - it can be mistaken for sewage or something totally rotten). And you may ask why eat these things that smell so bad - but I tell you, they taste great and when you eat anything that has been cultured you feel amazing. It takes away sweet cravings, aids digestion and just balances you out. Truly, truly amazing stuff.
The other thing I cultured was young coconut juice and the meat inside. I got this from The Body Ecology Diet www.bodyecology.com. This book changed my life (Thank you Donna Gates!). Now this stuff is amazing for you, and tastes fantastic. It does not have a strong coconut flavor, but has a light essence. And because it is fermented, it has a bubbly champagne like mouthfeel.
Culturing I think is a job best done with a group. First of all, it is a bit cumbersome so it is nice to split the duties. Second, food and health are about community and I have found a great group of friends to share in this culturing exercise with me about every 6-8 weeks.
This weekend was all about culturing. We always do coconuts, and then one new thing. And I finally found a kombucha mother to make our own kombucha (You read my posting about limiting the budget to no more than $120 - and $2.50 bottles of kombucha are not in the budget but I love it dearly and so does the hubby!).
So many people have asked me 'what is kombucha'. I looked it up and it is a 'SCOBY' - Symbiotic Colony of Bacterial Yeast. It is so, so simple to make. Really the hardest part is getting a mother from someone (the mother is the starter - kind of like what you do with sourdough bread). And I found someone in Alameda (thank you again Melissa).
Basically what you do is boil some water, dump some sugar in and brew tea (pure black tea or green tea - no herbal, oils, flavors, etc). Let it cool and then add the kombucha mother. This should be done in a glass container. Cover with a paper towel and let sit for a week in a dark, 70 degree-ish area. After a week, the mother will have split and created 'babies' and the babies can be made for a new batch, composted, or shared with a friend. You drain the liquid out, put it in the fridge and brew a new batch with the mother or babies.
So every week you can continue to make your own kombucha, and the mother just keeps regenerating. Makes for some interesting symbolism.
It seems odd. But let me tell you, it is only in the last 50-75 years that we as a society stopped culturing our food. We have lost this part of our relationship with food and it is sad because cultured foods are so amazing for you - vitamins, digestive aids, probiotics.......the list goes on. It takes a little bit of work, but this is your health and well being - take the time to invest a little extra in it.