Kefir Kommunity

1. Try fruit! Don’t look at us that way, we know you aren’t going to replace your beloved chocolate cake with an apple. Get creative and grill some pineapple or banana slices. The caramelized sugar elevates lowly, healthy fruit to a sweet, warm dessert you’ll love.
2. Let them eat cake! Top low-fat angel food cake slices with fresh berries, drizzle on some chocolate sauce for a special treat.
3. Two words: frozen kefir. With all the probiotic benefits of our drinkable Kefir, Lifeway Frozen Kefir is a tasty, low-calorie treat. Plus it's gluten-free and 99% lactose-free, so just about anyone can enjoy it!
4. Cheat! (Sometimes.) Rather than doing dessert every day, pick one or two days a week to indulge. You’ll look forward to “ice cream Friday” or “chocolate cake” Sunday all week, and you won’t feel like you’re denying yourself.
5. Pull a switch-a-roo. Replace up to ½ the fat (butter or oil) in your baking recipes with mashed bananas, apple sauce or other pureed fruits.

Still in the mood for something sweet? Check out our dessert recipes, and this Honey Nut Panna Cotta (made with kefir!) from Sweet Sandy B.

• 1 ¼ cups almond milk
• pinch of sea salt
• ¾ cup plain Lifeway Kefir
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 ½ tsp brown sugar
• 1 scraped vanilla bean or 5 grams vanilla paste
• 2 gelatin sheets

• ½ cup salted almond slivers
• ¼ cup honey

1. In a medium saucepan, over low-to-medium heat, combine 1 cup of almond milk with sea salt, honey, brown sugar and vanilla. Be careful not to boil the mixture, just heat it until small bubbles form at the sides of the pot.
2. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ¼ cup almond milk with kefir and set aside.
3. Soak gelatin sheets in cold water for 5-10 minutes until they are soft.
4. Once the almond milk and honey mixture is heated, remove it from heat and add the softened gelatin. Stir until the gelatin has dissolved.Add the Kefir mix to the warm almond milk mix, stir to combine.
5. Place the pot in ice bath for about 10 minutes, stirring often until the mixture starts to thicken.
6. Pour into 4 ramekins- or any small dishes you like and place in refrigerator to set up for at least 3 hours.

Looking for a more civilized way to get your Kefir kick? Check out these Game Day recipes – we upgraded your favorite football foods so you can enjoy the game in good health.


 

• 1 package (8 oz) Neufchatel cheese, softened
• 6 oz Lifeway Plain Lowfat Kefir
• 2 oz hot wing sauce

• 2 oz blue cheese crumbles
• 6 oz of cooked chicken breast, diced

2.       Pour into baking dish and bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes until hot and bubbly.  It won't brown too much on the top.  Serve with a platter of fresh, crisp and colorful vegetable dippers.


 

• 4 ripe avocados
• ½ red onion, minced (about ½ cup)
• 1/2 cup Lifeway Plain Lowfat Kefir
• 1-2 Tbs fresh lime juice (to taste)
• ½ tsp coarse salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ - 1 tsp chili powder (to taste)
• ½ ripe tomato, seeds and pulp removed, chopped

3.       Keep tomatoes separate until you’re ready to serve. Store in the refrigerator with plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent browning. Just before serving, mix in the chopped tomato.


 

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 & 1/2 cups Lifeway Plain Lowfat Kefir (or Lifeway Greek Style Kefir)
• 1 package dry onion soup mix
• 1 (4oz) can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
• ½ (10oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 loaf round sourdough bread

We went on a little bit of a Sweet Kiss bender here in the office yesterday - sampling each of our cheesecake-like, light farmer cheese spreads and oohing and ahhing over how creamy and yummy they are! With less fat and fewer calories than cream cheese, not to mention probiotics, why not indulge a little? 

Sweet Kiss cheeses are tasty all on their own, but we figured why stop at dessert? So we whipped up some Apple Cheesecake Muffins for breakfast this morning, we hope you enjoy them!



Ingredients:

• 1 & ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup white whole wheat flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¾ cup plain Lifeway Kefir
• ½ cup butter, melted & cooled or canola oil*
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup apple Sweet Kiss Cheese Spread
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 Tbs brown sugar

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and spray one muffin pan with non-stick baking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a smaller bowl, combine Kefir, butter (or substitute) and 1 egg.
3. Stir together Kefir mixture with flour mixture, mixing only until combined. The batter will be lumpy and that's OK - don't over mix!
4. In another small bowl, beat together the Sweet Kiss cheese, 1 egg, vanilla and brown sugar until it's smooth and spoonable.
5. Fill each muffin cup half way with the muffin batter, then top each with 1 Tbs of the cheese mixture. It will combine when the muffins bake, giving you a cheesecake-like center or topping on each muffin.
6. Bake for 22 minutes, until topping is set up and muffins are golden. Cool in the pan on a wire rack 10 minutes before serving warm.

• 1 & 1/4 cups all-purpose flour1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp root beer flavoring
• 3/4 cup plain Lifeway Kefir

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pan with paper liners. Mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, egg and root beer flavoring until smooth. Alternately whisk in flour mixture and kefir until smooth. Scoop batter into pan and bake 22-27 minutes until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely on wire rack.

According to international health expert Dr. Dean Ornish, the average American will pack on 1 to 1½ pounds during the holiday season. Multiply that by the next 20 or so years and that’s a massive muffin top staring you down from underneath the mistletoe.

Arm yourself to fight holiday weight gain with our hunger-busting, buffet-surviving tips:

Wear fitted clothing It’s easy to gorge when you’re wearing elastic pants. As you peruse your closet and choose an outfit for your upcoming holiday dinner party, slip into something a little less comfortable. You’ll be far less likely to overdo it if you’re self-conscious that your button-down shirt might explode open all over Aunt Syndey.

Drink up But not the egg nog! Before you hit the holiday cocktail party, down a glass or two of water. A study out of Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University found that dieters who drank two 8-ounce glasses of water before meals over the course of 12 weeks lost five pounds more than dieters who skipped the H20.

BYO If you’re nervous your family’s holiday food fest will be full of nothing but creamed green beans topped with French-fried onions and buttery mashed potatoes, bring your own healthy dish. It doesn’t have to be boring: Try a creative salad, shrimp cocktail, some creamy tomato bisque (made with kefir, of course) or maybe some kefir guacamole.

A few more excellent tips from Dr. Ornish himself:

• Put 20 percent fewer high-calorie foods and 20 percent more fruits and vegetables on your plate. Studies show that you probably won’t notice the difference.
  
• Eat the healthier foods first – they will fill you up somewhat, so you’ll be less likely to overeat the more indulgent foods.
  
• Choose foods that leave evidence – ie, keep the shrimp tails and chicken wing bones on your plate after you’ve eaten them. Studies show that if you have cues to see how much you’ve eaten, you’ll eat less.
• Arrive a little late and make a grand entrance. More of the indulgent foods will be gone by then.
  
• Substitute cranberry sauce for gravy, which is usually high in fat and calories. Cranberry sauce is nutritious and loaded with antioxidants.
  
• Close your eyes and savor the food periodically during the meal. You’ll consume fewer calories and experience more pleasure.
  
• Take a walk after dinner. You don’t have to hike five miles. A stroll around the block is a good start. Walking not only burns calories, it also helps relieve bloating and prevent heartburn.
  

• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 Tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground clove
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
• 2 organic oranges, zested and juiced (reserve juice for glaze)
• 2 & 1/4 cups Lifeway Plain or Greek-Style Kefir

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• ½ cup orange juice
• 2 Tablespoons Lifeway Plain or Greek-Style Kefir

About eight years ago at Chicago's annual Festa Pasta Vino in Little Italy, we stumbled apon a handmade cookbook called Recipes my Nonna Taught Me by Francena. Inside was a recipe for lasagna that has since become a family favorite. We've made a few tweaks over the years, including swapping out the ricotta for some delicious Lifeway Farmer Cheese and adding a ton of fresh basil.

Similar to cream cheese, but with a slightly dryer consistancy, Farmer Cheese has a smooth, slightly tangy flavor. As with all Lifeway Products, our Farmer Cheese is made with milk from grass fed cows that is free of rBGH (Bovine Growth Hormones) and antibiotics. A 1/4 cup serving contains about 80 calories and 3 grams of fat compared to the same size serving of ricotta that contains 120 calories and 9 grams of fat. A great source of protien and calcium, our Farmer Cheese is available in regular, low fat, fat-free, pressed, and organic.





To make our favorite Farmer Cheese lasagna you'll need:

• 1 pkg lasagna noodles
• 2 jars of your favorite pasta sauce (or a big batch of homemade – we like ours with garlic and olives)
• 1 lb Lifeway Farmer Cheese
• 12 oz shredded mozzarella
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbs grated parmesan
• A bunch of fresh basil, roughly chopped
• Salt & pepper (to taste)
• 1 clove of fresh garlic, chopped (or a dash of garlic powder, depending on how much garlic you like)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 and grab a 9" x 11” glass dish. In a small bowl, mix the Farmer Cheese, egg, parmesan, garlic, basil and salt and pepper together.

Pour a layer of sauce in the bottom of the pan and lay 4 lasagna noodles down, overlapping them slightly. There’s no need to boil them first, they’ll soften up when you bake them.

On top of that, layer more sauce, some mozzarella and the Farmer Cheese mixture. Make it easy on yourself by loading up a zip-top plastic bag with the cheese mixture and cutting off one corner – then squeeze it on without spreading it and making a mess.

Continue layering the pasta, sauce, mozzarella and Farmer Cheese until the pan is full. Don’t add any cheese to the top layer, just top it off with a good amount of sauce. The liquid from the sauce will help soften the noodles, so be generous. You’ll probably end up using 1.5 jars.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for 15 more minutes. You can top it with more parmesan or basil, or leave it as is. You can also add a layer or two of browned ground beef if you like, or Italian-style seitan crumbles if you're a vegetarian.  

What's your favorite way to eat our Farmer Cheese?