Kefir is extremely easy to produce. Once you get your starter grains, you never have to purchase more. Here's how I make it: 1. Place your kefir grains in about half a glass of milk (use glass not plastic) 2. Leave them sit for 24 hours at room temperature. Stir a couple times but otherwise leave them alone. Secure a clean dishcloth over the top with a rubberband so air can get in but bugs can't. 3. After 24 hours, scoop the grains out with a stainless steel spoon. Don't worry if you don't get them all. Eating grains is great for you. 4. Place the grains in a new glass with fresh milk. Repeat from the beginning. As your grains grow, you can add more milk. I'd recommend mixing the kefir with some fruit juice or making a fruit smoothy with it in the beginning until you develo a taste for it. Kefir is very sour and only becomes more so the longer you let it sit. It's extremely good for you though.

Put the word out to your friends, check "Freecycle", or a local health food store or food co-op (check the bulletin boards) and see if anyone has some REAL kefir grains, or know someone who has some, they would share with you. There are also sources on-line - I just haven't ever used one to suggest it. Skip the Yogourmet kefir. It's entirely different from the kefir you make with REAL grains. I first started using Yogourmet until I found the grains, which I've used now for about 10-years. If you do use Yogourmet kefir, you can use a portion from your first batch (1/4-1/3-cup to 2-4 cups of milk) to use as a starter for another batch or two (kinda like you do with homemade yogurt), but the bacteria quickly die and you won't get a curd. Which proves it isn't REAL kefir, just a selection of a few bacteria. But you will get several quarts for the price of one that way (always looking at the economics ;-). The amount of kefir you make will depend on how many grains you have (grains to milk ratio). I normally use 1/3-1/2 cup grains to 2-1/2 cups milk and make it every few days, or will make 2 or 3 consecutive batches if I need more to use as a substitute for buttermilk, or drained and used in recipes for cream cheese, plain yogurt, or sour cream. We use it in a smoothie every morning as well. Once you get the grains, they will start growing pretty quickly with regular use. I rest my grains in the refrigerator in a cup of milk in a pint jar with a plastic lid on the jar. If the grains have been resting in that milk for several days (or up to a week or two - if you go on vacation), when I take the grains out to use for the next batch and I just let the jar with 1-cup of milk sit out to ferment as well. There will be enough bacteria from the grains sitting in it to ferment the milk and make curds/whey. So don't toss that milk out!!! If you haven't found Dom's Kefir In-site, the link below, will give you lots of information. Good luck with your search for grains. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Dom's Kefir Insite

Poor planning, more so than purchasing healthy ingredients, will put a strain on your food budget. I don't think you have a clear plan to follow yet, and you are making so many drastic changes all at once. A plan, and perhaps making fewer drastic changes, will help you out in the budget department. Simply prepared meat, fruits and vegetables, and gluten-free grain choices really shouldn't cost you more than you normally spent. Eventually you can start adding homemade "goodies". We don't eat cookies, cake and ice cream on a daily, or even weekly basis, and snacks are nuts, dehydrated apple slices, cheese, and occasionally cookies or cake are made for the weekend if we are expecting guests. But all those snack choices are PART of our daily food plan. Are you also cooking "regular" food for your family? Buy raw nuts (in bulk if possible - or look for some after-Christmas sales), soak them overnight in lightly salted water (which helps them sprout) and dehydrate them to increase the nutrition and make them easier to digest, and make your own nut butters. How much nut butter are you using? We typically use an 18-oz. jar each month, whether it's homemade nut butter/s or commercial brands. I was able to purchase Simple Truth organic peanut butter for the BIG bargain price of $1.99 (regularly $4.29) for 18-oz. At that stock-up price, I'm not going to make it. To deal with the oil - once jarred, store them up-side-down in the refrigerator. Take them out 20-30 minutes before you need to use them so they warm and are easier to spread. (I actually store it up-side down one time, then right-side up the next). I also use the nuts and unsweetened coconut to make nut milk and coconut milk. The pulp from nut milk and coconut milk gets used to make gluten-free "cereal", crackers, and an assortment of g-f baked goods. Stevia works well for many things, but unfortunately, not everything, just because of the science "sugar" contributes to baking. I grew stevia last summer and am using it and commercial stevia. Honey is used in moderation on the GAPS diet (which is a diet you may want to seriously research). I also use low-glycemic coconut palm sugar. BTW, do you have diabetes, pre-diabetes, Syndrome X, or other glucose issues, or are you just trying to cut back on added sugar and total carbohydrate intake? Once again, it's about your total carb intake from ALL food sources for the day, not just which kind of sugar you use. Are you following any particular dietary plan to help you with your menu planning? I follow the old Basic-4, and have since the 80's. The Food Pyramid and the new My Plate include too many carbohydrates and too much total food for us. We'd have diabetes and be enormous if we followed those dietary plans. You just need to fill-in-the-blank for your daily food intake including all meals and snacks. Bread/Cereal - 4 servings (all wholegrain for us - + g-f) Fruits & Vegetables - 4 servings (occasionally more than 4) Meat OR Meat Alternative - 2 servings Milk/Dairy - 2 servings (We also have a serving of nuts each day.) If you follow this plan while making your dietary changes, that may help you with the food budget. Stick to whole foods so you don't have to watch those labels as closely when choosing packaged processed foods. -Grainlady

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