Homemade Ginger Beer

I am a big fan of ginger ale and ginger beer and ginger tea...ginger biscuits.....  This version of ginger beer is a  bit fizzy because it is lacto-fermented using whey.  It is full of natural ingredients and probiotics.  It is very easy to make and lasts for a while in the fridge.  You can add some homemade natural sugar syrup or stevia if it is not sweet enough to your taste.

The recipe is from Nourishing Traditions, and I found it on one of my favourite websites, The Nourishing Cook. 

You will need:

3/4 cup fresh ginger, peeled and chopped/grated
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/4-1/2 cup Rapadura (I used demerara because Rapadura is hard to find here in the UK)
1/4 cup whey
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 quarts filtered water

Mix all of the ingredients together and place in a 2 quart jar, leaving an inch of room at the top.  Cover and allow to ferment on your countertop for 2-3 days.  Store in the fridge.  According to Nourishing Traditions you can add some fizzy water to serve.  It is meant to be used slightly warm and consumed in small quantities at a time.  It will keep in the fridge for several months.

There are loads of other, very similar recipes available online.  There is one on Instructables.com which makes one quart if you feel that you want to make a smaller batch for your first efforts.  It uses honey, but needs 3-7 days to ferment.  This could produce too much CO2, so might need to be opened every couple of days.  And there are several recipes out there which do not require whey, which would be handy if you don't have any on hand.

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

Next time you find a great deal on bananas you can slice them up and freeze them for this drink.

I tend to "wing it" with smoothies.  I pop some fruit in and then add enough yoghurt or other liquid to reach the consistency I like on the day.   So these amounts are approximate.

Two small bananas or one large one, sliced and frozen
Milk (cow, soy, whatever)--start with a cup and add as needed
One Tablespoon smooth peanut butter (preferably natural)

1. Pop all of these in a blender. 
2. Blend until smooth, adding more liquid if necessary
3. Drink

Cupcakes and Chai

We made some gorgeous cupcakes today which were flavoured with clementine juice.  I wasn't so sure how they would turn out, but they are some of the best we have made lately.  It is 10:45 and half of them are gone already. Again we used my son's new Christmas Baking Book from Usborne.  I am sure you could get similar results from adding grated clementine rind to your cupcake recipe.  When the cakes come out, spoon clementine juice over the cakes while they are still warm.  Ice when cool.

OH and I are having them with a cup of chai.

Our cheat's chai:

In your teapot, pop in a few regular English tea bags
8 cardamom pods
4 pieces of cinnamon bark (or one stick, broken)
a few cloves
optional: grated ginger, peppercorns, bay leaf

1-2 tablespoons of sugar, preferably demerara or similar

Boil the water, fill the teapot 1/2-3/4 full and let this steep for a good few minutes.
Heat a large mug of milk in the microwave for a minute.
Add to teapot and let steep until the tea tastes spicy and sweet
Adjust ingredients to suit your taste.

There are many variations on ingredients and methods, and we have tried many.  This is not as authentic, true, but is quick and easy and is great on a cold day.

I am still learning how to use the different tools on here, so I think I will try to post the photos from this morning's cooking session in a slide show. Wish me luck.