My mother has been medically advised to increase her intake of fermented foods.
The caveats:
She’s vegetarian
She needs really easy options - purchasing is fine as her days of canning, cooking, and remembering to check things seem to be slipping into the past; if it’s something she can throw together before a meal, that’s good - if it’s something that needs to be assembled and then tended to, I don’t know she’ll be able to do it.
She is dealing with some nasty, long term GI issues and so some foods are easier on her system than others … though what those foods are seem somewhat variable.
What I’ve figured out so far (that she is amenable to):
Kefir
Yogurt
Apple cider vinegar
Small amounts of sauerkraut
Pickled ginger (gari)
I’d like to suggest kimchi, but am uncertain of what brands and formulations are vegetarian and not very spicy.
She lives in a rural area of Northern California but regularly goes to Folsom and Sacramento, so has access to Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Sprouts, as well as the major grocery chains.
Please help me help her get healthier (or at least help her feel hopeful, which is much the same thing).
You noted she’s amenable to kefir but that she’s limited in what she can make. As someone with GI issues, homemade kefir is amazing and far superior to anything store bought. Store bought will also give your mom almost no benefit.
I’ve been making kefir for a couple of months and it’s super easy. You begin by purchasing kefir grains, which I did online. Then, put grains in a wide mouth mason jar. Fill with milk. Close lid and leave on counter. Wait 24 to 36 hours. Strain into a second empty mason jar, and for this I just use a mason jar lid that is a strainer as well (so all I did here was swap lids). Now you have homemade kefir .
To the grains you strained out - Add new milk to the grains and repeat.
If you think she’d be interested please message me and I can give you more details but it’s really that simple.
I assume she’s been advised this for the probiotics?
If she likes kefir and yogurt, can’t she just have some more of those? I’d go with that vs adding things she needs to acquire a taste for, or might create other issues. (If she doesn’t like them plain, they could be the base for a smoothie or parfait with some fruit and honey.)
(My mom has had a tough health year, and you are so right about making her feel hopeful, but also it’s helpful to not make these goals unnecessary hurdles. For example, we thought my mom needed more protein – doctor agreed, but instead of the many options we were offering, asked her if she’d just prefer another cup or two of milk or yogurt, which is what she chose.)
TJ’s kimchi is both vegetarian and not very spicy, and there’s a couple of brands at Whole Foods that fit the same bill (like Mother-in-law’s).
If she doesn’t mind the taste of kombucha, that’s an option. And miso, either in soup or other forms, but mind the salt.
Is there any instructions or background they gave that you can share? I’m curious about how one would measure a dose. I was thinking of hot sauce, but it might mean a lot of hot sauce!
P.S. Also trying to guess where she might live!
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ChristinaM
(Hungry in Asheville, NC (still plenty to offer tourists post Hurricane))
7
Maybe add sourdough bread and cultured butter to that list. Also Skyr.
I have made a lot of milk kefir at home and for me it was intolerable except buried in fruit smoothies. The commercial stuff is more consistent and pleasant. I don’t think home cultured kefir is necessarily a good project for a person with limited cooking/remembering abilities.
You might also check out Fast Tract Digestion by Norm Robillard and be cautious about dairy that might still contain lactose.
If she likes Indian food, a stop at an an Indian store in Sacramento or Folsom can yield ready fermented batter for savory crepes and pancakes, and the batter can be frozen. The same items (dosa, uttapam) are also available pre-made and frozen (as also idlis and dhokla, which are savory steamed cakes made from a similar fermented batter).
If she likes sauerkraut, curtido might be of interest (very easy if you start with a bag of slaw mix).
I am with you one hundred percent that store bought kefir is generally more palatable.
But for health reasons, or probiotic or health benefit, homemade and store bought are light years apart. If you are drinking for pre and probiotics, any store bought pales in comparison to homemade.
A lot of what I eat is for my health, to address my GI issues. A lot of it doesn’t taste good. I don’t know the specific GI issues at play here, but generally if you have GI issues, every choice you make of what to eat matters immensely. The less store bought or processed, even if it’s store bought kefir or yogurt, the better and worth the change. I say this with confidence from decades of living with GI illness since birth, and speaking with specialists both in and outside of my family who all are in consensus,
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CCE
(Keyrock the unfrozen caveman lawyer; your world frightens & confuses me)
10
My number 1 favorite is fermented cauliflower. All you do is add some salt to cut cauliflower buds and submerge in water. About 3-7 days later (just depending on your desire), you have lots of probiotics plus a low carb snack.
There is a type of kimchee, called “white” (this was my mom’s name for it) or “mul” (translates to water) kimchee that is not spicy at all. Lots of Korean kids start out eating this and work their way up to more spicy types. It’s refreshing and delicious in cold noodle dishes such as naeng myun. The store-bought ones should all be vegetarian/vegan.
3 Likes
CCE
(Keyrock the unfrozen caveman lawyer; your world frightens & confuses me)
16
I’d think it’d work but I’m not sure. I’ve done cauliflower with pearl onions and garlic cloves, and I’ve added carrot slivers to cabbage when making kraut. But I haven’t tried a whole bunch of different things together.
This guy’s got a fair general background; I’ve timestamped the first part after some intro stuff, and the second timestamp is “five easy recipes”. He generally recommends salt at 2.5% by weight of vegetable and water combined. I’ve seen others recommend anywhere from 2-4 percent.
Same guy with some stuff I haven’t tried (honey-garlic fermented sounds… gross?), kimchee, kefir. And kraut, which I’ve almost always got on hand.
A tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar in a cup of water is a very quick way of adding some probiotics. If she like the sourness, there’s a book called Fire Cider that has many recipes using the raw vinegar. Some of them are really quite nice. A family member has digestive issues and says the vinegar helps. I use it just because I like the taste.
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