A lesson in Kombacha...

I first heard of Kombucha from Paige of Running Around Normal. She drinks the stuff all the time and raves about it's deliciousness and healthfulness. I began researching Kombacha and where I could get some after seeing it spread like wild fire in blogland. Hence, this is why I asked "Zevia or Kombacha" in the This-or-That activity from a few days ago. Which, by the way, you all seemed to love! Thanks for humoring me and my nosiness!

So here are the Kombucha varieties I've located: Citrus, Original, and Multi-Green

The Original flavor tastes like a milder version of Welch's Sparking Cider, to a tee. Taste-wise it was fine. The fizzies gave me a bit of a tummy ache and I didn't enjoy the aesthetics of the floating organisms!! You could seeeeeeeeee them! Kinda cool, but not fun to look at in a beverage! All in all...

Taste: C-

Healthfulness: A-

The reason I don't think Kombucha is a can't-live-without-it health food is simply because all that it contains can be found in other foods. And I tend to stay away from beverages with a caloric content.

Kombucha (kom-BOO-cha) is a Chinese tea which is cultured for 30 days. Each bottle contains all B-vitamins, antioxidants, and probiotics -- 1 billion Lactobacillus Bacterium organisms and 1 billion S. Boulardii organisms.

Here's the label -- nothing shocking here.

I do find it funny that the bottle reads:

"Please note: Due to fermentation, this product may contain a trace amount of alcohol (less than 0.5%)."

I read this as I was drinking the Kombucha and driving. I put the lid on and put it in my purse...just in case!

This portion of the label is stating that Kombucha is a raw food and that cultures (bacteria organisms) can be seen with the nekked eye. And, it's true. There's definitely floaters in the tea.

Morgan (brave soul that she is) of Live, Love, Eat, and Play attempted making her own Kombucha! Read about it here.

I made a recipe tonight from Kalyn's Kitchen -- Roasted Brussel's Sprouts with Pecans and Gorgonzola. Yummmm!! Her recipes ALWAYS look gourmet and delicious. And yet, doable for the average kitchen talent ;)

I tossed the brussel's sprouts with EVOO, salt, pepper, chopped pecans, and fresh minced garlic. I organized them in a single-layer on a Pyrex dish sprayed with cooking spray. I baked at 375 F for 30 minutes.

 During the last 5 minutes of baking, I took the sprouts out and sprinkled gorgonzola over the top and placed them back into the oven for a final 5 minutes of cooking.

Result: DELICIOUS!

Husband was like, "Um, ew." (verbatim) when I told him I was making brussel's sprouts. Well, let's just say he went back for seconds of the sprouts before even finishing his dinner plate.

 

 Tonight's dinner was the brussel's sprouts with leftover spaghetti squash topped with a homemade marinara containing diced tomatoes, Chianti, mussels, EVOO, garlic, Italian seasoning, and fresh chopped basil.

Today we had our friends take a family shot of us for our Christmas card. We tried getting our snake, Pinky, in the picture, but Lily doesn't understand that her brother is not edible. Here was our best take...

 

Giveaway Alert!

Nutritious is Delicious is having a Pizzey Flax/Omega-3 bar giveaway! Go here to enter!
and
Iowa Girl Eats is having a Larabar giveaway! Go here to enter!

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful weekend! Yours truly scored a goal in my hockey game today. It was a pretty sweet shot...if I do say so myself! However, we lost 5-3. : (

Question: Do you sometimes feel over-whelmed with the number of blogs you follow each day? 

I LOVE to read, especially foodie blogs...but it's a lot of catching up to do every day! Does Google Reader help you stay organized? I want to stay up to speed with you all!