“It feels like we’ve been sick most of the cold and flu season,” she sighed.
Forced to skip two of their favorite weekly activities, she stayed home with sick kiddos while being sick herself.
Personally, I vote that moms shouldn’t be allowed to take care of sick kids while being sick themselves, but colds don’t care to listen to me.
Seems like everyone needs mom even if mom feels like death.
Moms aren’t the only ones, though. A grandpa told me last week that he and his wife spent New Year’s Eve sick in bed.
“We didn’t even get dressed to go out to the living room,” he shared. “Our granddaughter visited us the weekend before and brought a contagious ‘present’ from daycare … she picks up everything at daycare.”
Petri dishes, er … daycares have a way of spreading the “love” no matter if you want to share or not. It’s not like we can bubble wrap our kids and tell them to sit in a corner all day.
Even if your kids don’t go to daycare, it can feel like they pick up one sickness right after another.
Sound familiar? Is there a better way? I’m here to tell you: There is!
“This tiny swap changed our life,” read an IG post by one of my milk-moms sharing how she started drinking raw milk one year ago.
I asked her to tell me more. “We just don’t get sick anymore. My nieces and nephews are sick all the time and we just aren’t. If we do get a little something, we bounce back immediately. It’s nothing like before.”
“People don’t realize that your gut needs healthy bacteria and nutritious food,” she explained. “Raw milk was created to be both! We’ll never go back to regular milk after seeing the difference raw milk makes for our family.”
I can’t get enough of stories like this one because I actually get to visualize how raw milk changes lives.
It’s not just about strengthening your immune system to avoid getting sick, though. When I hear, “We just don’t really get sick anymore,” I hear: “More sleep for mom, more time to spend together, more days you don’t have to stay home with a sick kid, more smiles, more feeling good more ease knowing your kid won’t pick up every bug at daycare, more family time because everyone is sleeping at night, and so much more!”
But guess what? Would you believe me if I told you it could get even better than that? It’s ok. You can say no. You can say no right to my face in the banner of this article.
Now that you said you don’t believe me to my smiling face, hold on to your hats because it’s about to get better. If raw milk alone changes people’s lives (I could write a book about all the ways people tell me it does!), then making kefir with raw milk is the Chuck Norris for bad bacteria that are trying to make you sick.
If you haven’t tried making kefir, set down this paper and Google, “Is kefir good for me?” You won’t believe what you find. I tell people they have to Google the health benefits, otherwise they will think I’m crazy if I start listing them all.
There is nothing like it – and it couldn’t be easier to make.
Have you Googled it yet? I was serious. If you haven’t yet, I’ll spill the beans a little. Here are just some of the benefits:
- Kefir contains three times more powerful probiotics than yogurt (happy guts means strong immune systems, which means healthy people!)
- Kefir has potent antibacterial properties that protect against infections!
- Kefir can improve bone health and lower the risk of osteoporosis.
- Kefir may be protective against cancer.
- Kefir helps with various digestive problems.
- Kefir is low in lactose, so people who are lactose intolerant can drink it!
- Kefir may improve allergy and asthma symptoms.
- Kefir benefits skin health, constipation relief, boosted mood, improved sleep and weight loss.
Can you imagine getting a cup of that for breakfast? Give it to me now!
Whatever happens in a day, I’m winning if my kids drink that. (My kids absolutely love it, by the way.)
So if you’re sick of being sick, it’s time for a change. Maybe that change is to raw milk, or maybe you’re ready for the Chuck Norris of kefir. Whatever the case, I’m here to cheer you on and hold your hand all the way through!
Questions? Visit gerdesfreshfarm.com and get my free body-healing raw milk recipe book (which includes my Maple-Berry Kefir recipe and my fool-proof Instant Pot Homemade Yogurt recipe!)
Meet your farmer – Liz Gerdes. She and her husband run a farm-to-table raw milk dairy and farm Airbnb in Caledonia. If you’re looking for raw milk fresh from the farm, visit gerdesfreshfarm.com or follow her on Facebook @gerdesfreshfarm or Instagram @gerdesliz for more info.
Gerdes Fresh Farm Kefir
What you’ll need:
1 quart of raw milk
2 Tbsp. – ¼ c. live kefir grains
1-3 Tbsp. natural sweetener, to taste. (Honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, monk fruit sugar)
2-4 tsp. vanilla, to taste
Frozen fruit! (Our favorites are raspberries, blueberries, strawberries or peach.)
What you’ll do:
1. Put kefir grains in a jar.
2. Fill jar with raw milk.
3. Put cover on jar and let sit in a warm place, around 72º-73º.
a. If you don’t keep your house that warm, the cupboard above the fridge is usually warmer or you can put it in your OFF oven with the light turned on.
4. Let sit for 24 hours (less if you’re working into the whole fermented taste thing)
5. After 24 hours, take the entire contents of the jar and dump them into a plastic colander to strain out the grains. You may have to shake or tap the colander a bit to strain.
6. Put the strained grains into a new jar and repeat process starting at step 2.
7. Take the strained kefir and put it in a jar with all the yummy mix-ins above.
8. Blend up the kefir. (I use a stick blender and it works great.)
9. It’s best if you refrigerate overnight to get it nice and chilled before drinking, but you might just have to drink the whole thing before it makes it to the fridge.
10. Usually keeps for 2-4 days blended in the fridge.
11. Visit gerdesfreshfarm.com/blog for a video explaining this whole process!
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