If you want to prepare your immune system for fall, keep doing what you are doing: soak up the sun ( while avoiding burning times of the day ) to build up vitamin D of course, eat plenty of vitamin C loaded foods, i.e. mainly raw foods in salads, or fruit salads. To top it off, make your own high potency probiotic yogurt.

Fermenting to keep fall diseases away

Once upon the time in the fall, we would all get a stomach flu. 8 years ago I started taking regular probiotics in the fall and stomach flu stopped and became a rare occurence. However over the years with multiple children, regular probiotic purchase have become expensive and I’ve tried to make some myself to strengthen the whole family’s health.

My list keeps expanding: starting with baking things like sourdough einkorn bread, sandwich bread, crêpes, steamed fermented apple muffins, and more. I started making my own sauerkraut, fermented vegetables, store bought juice made into probiotic soda, wildflower probiotic sodas, probiotic mayo, fermented hummus and a complete probiotic yogurt. All these dishes also preserve a long time, sometimes longer than store bought items. My kids now love everything fermentation and I have to say, our health only got better.

Fermentation perfectly complements our steamed cuisine lifestyle. It brings together a cooking method meant to detoxify ingredients and preserve taste and nutrient density, and a age-old nutrient dense food preservation method. We benefit in both cases of nutrient dense, tasty foods, amazing energy.

It is also a perfect way to preserve nutrient dense foods for long periods of time.

I am slowly discovering new ways of combing both culinary techniques for always improving health and delish outcomes.

Home made Probiotics strengthen an already fiber rich diet

Healthy eating is a big deal in my family, not only because it is healthy but also because it simply tastes much better. And believe me if I tell you, cooking wholesome foods does not have to be complicated. The most simple meals I make for my kids are always the ones they love the most. Especially when I improvise. The capacity to improvise only takes a little bit of practicing mixing up ingredients you like on a regular basis.

I’m going to surprise you. As a French, if I have to say anything about the standard American diet, is not that it is too meat and carb oriented.

It does not include enough fibers. enough raw fruits and raw or nutrient dense i.e. gently cooked vegetables.

And when I mean fibers, I mean vegetables, either raw or very lightly cooked ! Adding more of them alone would improve many people’s health by a lot. Think about it! They are packed with all kind of vitamin Bs (including B9, the detox vitamin) , vitamin C, highly absorbable calcium. Add to that tons of trace minerals ( magnesium, which we all lack, zinc and phytohormones, for hormone balance). I believe cooking those with a food steamer would take your health to a new hight fairly fast.

And steaming is easy: all it takes is a 4 step process: Prep – Steam – Dress and Mix.

Your foods’ PREBIOTICS will feed your PROBIOTICS

Why are gently cooked vegetables so important ? Because they are PREBIOTICS. And in an article about HOMEMADE PROBIOTICS it would be short sighted not to mention how complementary both are. Probiotics will help all the more if the veggies you eat aren’t overcooked and therefore devoid of much fibers and vitamins. Basically, avoid cooking hours in the crockpot! If you have gut issues, the probiotics you consume will help healing you all the better if you focus on both items.

In our family, we eat a whole foods diet that excludes nothing except… as much conventional foods as we can. By this I include foods that has lots of ingredients adds on, badly fed animals ( chicken aren’t meant to be vegetarian). I cook everything from scratch and if it is work, it was so entrenched in my lifestyle as a kid I wouldn’t sacrifice my health and tastebuds for it. Lots of fruits and veggies, preferably raw or steamed ( because steaming is the healthiest cooking method!), wild caught fish and organic meat. We aren’t 100% organic because I wouldn’t afford that amount of produce organically, but we find our saving grace in steaming most cooked vegetables to detox them and preserve fiber and nutrients.

To learn more about all the foods you can cook with a food steamer look at tag “how do I steam” and how to chose a food steamer or baby food steamer. Learn about my all time favorite steamer.

This yogurt is easy to make but takes a bit of planning since it ferments 36 hours. I use it to strengthen our immune system especially in the fall.

Advantages of fermenting your own yogurt

Dr. William Davis in Super Gut is one of the people who introduced me to the many ways to ferment common foods and empower our health by eating them. Of course it takes some times to adapt to use such recipes to our daily lives but I liked the concept and adapted a few recipes to our own life.

The argument that convinced me to try : lowering the probiotics bill.

With 5 kids then, 6 now, it got expensive to buy good brands on a regular basis. I chose to purchase organic half and half and make my own yogurt with the Reuteri bacterium, and with my regular probiotic pill. Every other week, I make a batch of 2 qt probiotic yogurt we eat some of the days at breakfast, make yogurt sauce with, etc.

Health benefits

It turns out, a usually inflammatory item – cow’s dairy – no longer inflames my stomach, is easy to digest, and I we no longer get sick much in the fall. And the bills remain low. One box of each probiotic a year is all I need for a family of 8, plus the yogurt we would usually buy anyway!

Ingredients

The probiotics I use

• Upon the recommandation of Dr Davis, I use Biogaria Reuteri strands (200 million bacterium), which he claims really helps digestion. Since then Dr Davis developed another brand with his Reuteri strands which I haven’t tested , MyReuteri by Oxyceutics ( 10 billions LRDR Reuteri, i.e. more bacterium but also pricier brand).
• Klare Labs Synbiotic, recommended by my interative physician. it is very complete and includes a set of essential strands aimed at digestive health but that also impact skin health ( plantarum) and is well absorbed. Put family’s health ( including my healed eczema) is the only proof i have that it works well.
• I use one pill of each probiotic per batch, or two tablespoons of the former yogurt batch per quart, i.e. 4 tablespoons every time I make 2 qt yogurt. When my yogurt goes a bit too sour for my children, I refresh the batch with another set of pills. One set of pill typically keeps the yogurt good for 2 to 3 months.
• Note: Dr Davis explains that probiotics are heat sensitive especially Reuteri strains.. Upon ordering a probiotic, make sure to order with a cooler bag so it doesn’t sit in a hot mail box too long.

Other Ingredients

• Organic half and half :
  • At first I used basic organic half and half from my typical store. The yogurt I got was thick enough, but not quite the consistency of a greek yogurt.
  • I also making it with with A2 milk ( at Costco), which is milk from jersey cows. A2 milk yogurt is much thinner and runny, like goat yogurt, but tastes great too. I got no complain from my kids, quite the opposite.
  • NOTE: A2 milk is foundi smaller animals as well like goat and sheep milks. It is a different type of milk with proteins that are typically better digested than conventional cow’s milk. Conventional cow’ milk is highly inflammatory to many people not on account of lactose, but on account of A1 protein, which is very hard to break down, especially after pasteurization (natural built in bacteria in milk does facilitate digestibility).
  • Latest, I found A2 half and half and tried making yogurt with it.
• Organic Inulin Powder. Inulin is a calorie free sweetener and a fiber. It is a healthy sugar replacement in yogurt. In my experience it keeps the yogurt from spoiling as fast as with sugar. My kids have complainedthe yogurt was stingy when I made it with sugar instead of inulin. I typically purchase Inulin by 5 lbs at Azure Standard, but for my first attempts I tried with this brand off Amazon and it worked pretty well. I use 2 tbsp inulin per quart, i.e. 4 tbsp per batch I make with 2 qts half and half or milk. This is not the same amount as Dr Davis recipe, but that works for us.

Equipment

• Instant Pot Pro. TO make yogurt, you need a machine capable of keeping the temperature at 106F for 36 hours. The instant pot cookers do that. If you already own an Instant Pot or equivalent and use it a lot, I recommend to get a second one, it is easy to find on Facebook Marketplace. 36 hours is a long time not to be able to use your favorite cooker ! The Instant Pot Duo seems to heat yogurt at 106°F and my yogurt worked with it, but I quickly upgraded to the pro, and kept my settings in place for it. Ask friend and test the temperature.
• A pestle to crush the Reuteri pill.
• measuring cups and spoons, whisk.

Making the yogurt

Time it well:

Fermentation takes 36 hours. That means that if you push the start button at 6pm, it will be ready at 6 am two days later. Start warming up the milk to 180F an hour earlier si it has time to cool down to 106 or below, which is when you will add the probiotics and the inulin in.

I typically skip that step when I buy conventional organic half and half instead of A2 half and half since the pasteurization process is lighter for the A2 half and half I buy.

After the yorgurt has finished fermenting: You don’t need to transfer your yogurt immediately after it is done into a jar and refrigerate. Since it in the pot at 106°F, you can easily let it cool down 1-2 hours in the instant pot once it is ready before you refrigerate. But it is good to organize. If you work full time, make it Friday night and you will enjoy it Sunday morning!

Steps:

1- Sterilize your instruments: tablespoon, ladle, bowls, whip, instant pot bowl and lid.

2- Pour the two quarts half and half or milk in the Instant Pot’s tank and heat it up to 180°F ( using the yogurt setting temporarily set at 180°F),

3- Once hot, take out the bowl and cool down until it reaches 100 to 106°F. You may speed up the process by resting the instant pot bowl into an even bigger bowl filled with ice cubes. Heating up the half or half or the milk helps the thickening of the yogurt.

4- In a bowl, pour 4 tbsp of inulin powder and mix it with one crushed pill of Reuteri ( a pestle will do the job), and empty in a pill of Klare labs Synbiotic probiotic. Pour in some of the half and half you previously cooled down to 106°F or below, To make. a new batch of yogurt with an older batch, use 4 tbsp of yogurt and 4 tbsp of inulin together and pour them into the half and half.

5- Close the lid of the instant pot ( keep the vent open) and turn on the yogurt setting on at 106°F for 36 hours.

6- After 36 hours, transfer the yogurt into two sterilized 1 qt jars and refrigerate. It will keep for 3 weeks to a month. Use like you would use a normal yogurt.

What do I use my probiotic yogurt for?

I use it for all types of raw recipes so I can keep the benefits of raw bacteria:

• With granola or nuts and fruit in the morning,
• In my favorite breakfast shake (coming soon!)
• In a yogurt sauce with home made spicy burgers,
• as yogurt base on tortilla when we make fajita,
• In my homemade ranch dressing (coming soon!)
• Mixed with honey to make sassy tricolor popsicles in the summer…

In cakes I typically replace conventional yogurt with goat yogurt.

I hope you enjoy, and that your immune system strengthens and digestion improves.

Yield: 2 QUARTS

Homemade probiotic yogurt

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Making your own yogurt is an amazing way to do eat real probiotics foods while saving and multiplying the potency of your probiotic pills. You can make it with organic half and half, A2 milk or A2 half and half to multiply manyfold the bacteria you find in great brands of complete probiotics. I used Dr Davis recipe and made it my own to create my own complete synbiotic yogurt.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 day 12 hours

Additional Time 10 minutes

Total Time 1 day 12 hours 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 QUARTS ORGANIC HALF AND HALF
• 3 TBSP ORGANIC INULIN POWDER
• 1 pill Probiotic REUTERI , you can also use this pill but I haven't tested it https://amzn.to/4hVd2NJ
• 1 pill Klare labs synbiotic

Instructions

1. Fermentation takes 36 hours. That means that if you push the start button at 6pm, it will be ready at 6 am two days later. Start warming up the milk to 180F an hour earlier si it has time to cool down to 106 or below, which is when you will add the probiotics and the inulin in.
2. Sterilize your instruments: tablespoon, ladle, bowls, whip, instant pot bowl and lid.
3. Pour the two quarts half and half or milk in the Instant Pot's tank and heat it up to 180°F ( using the yogurt setting temporarily set at 180°F),
4. Once hot, take out the bowl and cool down until it reaches 100 to 106°F. If you add the bacteria when it is too hot, they will be destroyed. Better add it when it is a little cooler than 100-106. You may speed up the process by resting the instant pot bowl into an even bigger bowl filled with ice cubes. Heating up the half or half or the milk helps the thickening of the yogurt.
5. In a bowl, pour 4 tbsp of inulin powder and mix it with one crushed pill of Reuteri ( a pestle will do the job), and empty in a pill of Klare labs Synbiotic probiotic. Pour in some of the half and half you previously cooled down to 106°F or below, To make. a new batch of yogurt with an older batch, use 4 tbsp of yogurt and 4 tbsp of inulin together and pour them into the half and half.
6. Close the lid of the instant pot ( keep the vent open) and turn on the yogurt setting on at 106°F for 36 hours. You can create a memory for this setting for future uses!
7. After 36 hours, transfer the yogurt into two sterilized 1 qt jars and refrigerate. It will keep for 3 weeks to a month. Use like you would use a normal yogurt.
8. Use two tablespoon of this yogurt to make each new quart of yogurt next. When it starts turning a little red, I resume to using a pill of each probiotic.

Notes

What probiotic to use:

• Upon the recommandation of Dr Davis, I use Biogaria Reuteri strands (200 million bacterium), which he claims really helps digestion. Since then Dr Davis developed another brand with his Reuteri strands which I haven't tested , MyReuteri by Oxyceutics ( 10 billions LRDR Reuteri, i.e. more bacterium but also pricier brand).

• Klare Labs Klare Labs Synbiotic, recommended by my interative physician. it is very complete and includes a set of essential strands aimed at digestive health but that also impact skin health ( plantarum) and is well absorbed. Put family's health ( including my healed eczema) is the only proof i have that it works well.
• Use the Instant Pot Pro 6 or 8 qt, it is the best and most useful crockpot and it has many more uses than just yogurt making.

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• INSTANT POT PRO

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1 cup
Amount Per Serving Calories 5Total Fat 0gSaturated Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 1mgSodium 2mgCarbohydrates 0gSugar 0gProtein 0g

This nutritional information is computer generated which means highly APPROXIMATE. It does not reflect the quality of the ingredients and the length of the cooking time. Remember nutritional value is more important than mere calories, so long as the ingredients used are quality ingredients. Dr Davis recommend one cup per day for adults, my children get approximately 1/4 cup when they use it for granola.