I confess. I had an addiction to Dr. Pepper.

It seemed innocent enough at first. I was a college student in desperate need of caffeine. My husband — then boyfriend — had a case of Dr. Pepper made with real cane sugar (no HFCS!) in his closet.  He offered me one. I accepted. I was hooked.

Over the next ten years, I periodically tried to wean myself from the soda. I gave it up for Lent more than once. I told myself how evil it was, how bad for me, how disappointing it was to drink. I couldn’t knock the habit.

What finally cured me?

Kombucha — the fizzy, mildy sweet and tart, health drink that works wonders detoxing our bodies.

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Kombucha, the effervescent and tangy health drink made from fermenting sweetened tea, is my family’s favorite beverage. We drink about 2 gallons of the stuff per week.

To make kombucha (see my instructions for how to do that here), you only need two things:

1) Sweetened tea, and 2) a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast), AKA “mother,” or “mushroom.”

Coming by kombucha mothers is easy if you’ve got friends making this “immortal health elixir.” Kombucha mother colonies periodically reproduce, so people brewing it have a constant supply of scobies to give away.

But what if you’re a lone wolf, daring to make kombucha on your own?  Where are you supposed to get a good SCOBY?

The most reputable online stores can charge anywhere from $15-$35 per kombucha mother.

YIKES!

So, I thought I’d show you how to grow your own for about $3.50.

The Players

• 1 bottle of Organic, Raw Kombucha
• 1 glass jar
• 1 kitchen towel
• 1 cup of room temperature sweetened tea

NOTES:

1. You can buy the kombucha at just about any health food store. I get mine from the health food aisle of my local HEB — a large chain grocery store local to my area.  If you can’t find it near you, you can buy a bottle of the stuff online. Make sure it’s organic, raw, and unflavored with juice. You just want the plain, original beverage.
2. The sweetened tea can be as simple as a cup of black tea, sweetened with a tablespoon of sugar.

The How-To

Pour the bottle of kombucha and sweetened tea into a glass jar.  Cover it with a towel so it can breathe but be protected from insects and other contaminants. Let it sit.

THE END.

It’s really very easy, isn’t it?

With time, a new SCOBY will start to form on top of the liquid. It will appear first as a thin film, then slowly fill in and thicken up.

Once it’s about 1/4 inch thick, it’s ready to go. You can let it sit longer and get even thicker, but that’s really not necessary. This SCOBY is about 1/3 inch thick and took me about 3 weeks to grow. In the summer, I can grow it in half that time.

If you still hesitate to grow your own, or would like the assurance of starting with a proven culture, check out my Resources Page for kombucha starter culture listings.

Tasty Egg Drop Soup

It’s fast. It’s nutritious. It’s Egg Drop Soup.

My kids love it, and it’s a tasty way to get quality animal proteins into our diet without spending a fortune. We have it with lunch or dinner about once a week.

It also has the added benefit of being primal.  You know — the kind of thing our ancestors might have eaten 10,000 years ago.

And if you make it with a hearty bone broth, then it will be even more nutrient dense!

So, enough praises. Here’s the recipe.
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Come Join The Fun!

Today I’m joining a host of other bloggers writing about Real Food on a Budget. Most are sharing recipes, but I’m sharing tips.

I’ve listed these tips before, but they were buried in a post about Spam (of all things!) so I wanted to give them the attention they deserve.

I feed a family of 3 adults (assuming that the combined diets of my two sons equals what I eat) on $80/week.

Here’s how I do it.

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Keeping to strict food budgets doesn’t mean you have to forgo every foodie pleasure. In fact, it sweetens the indulgences that you do allow yourself in a way you never could have imagined.

Frugality isn’t asceticism. It’s sensualism. It recognizes that the truly great feasts — the ones worth having — come after fasts.

Confused? Here’s