Thank you for purchasing my latest cookbook, The Modern Pioneer Pantry. I hope this book and the videos on my Mary’s Nest YouTube channel will help you create a well-stocked pantry full of a wide variety of nutritious and delicious preserved food.
In this chapter’s QR code page, I’ll provide you with additional information and links to help you learn more about fermentation. I focus on how to make Sauerkraut, which is one of the easiest and one of the most popular ferments to make, and I give you links to my other fermentation recipes and videos.
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Table of Contents
How to Make Sauerkraut
Homemade sauerkraut is a wonderful nutrient-rich food that is slightly tangy and a touch effervescent. It makes the perfect accompaniment to any meal because sauerkraut is high in good bacteria called probiotics, as well as enzymes. Both aid the digestive tract by improving gut health and assisting with digestion, allowing our bodies to better absorb nutrients from the food we eat.
What is Sauerkraut?
Homemade sauerkraut is fresh cabbage that is naturally fermented with salt. Once the fermentation process is complete, the sauerkraut is rich in Vitamin C and gut-loving good bacteria known as probiotics. Sauerkraut was a staple of pioneer kitchens, providing much-needed nutrients during the winter months when fresh fruits and vegetables were unavailable.
Sauerkraut is generally considered a condiment or side dish and is served in small amounts alongside fatty meats to aid in digestion.
Vegetables are often fermented in the fall during the harvest season. As spring approaches and fermented foods are coming close to their prime and need to be used up, traditional cultures often added their remaining sauerkraut to a pot of soup.
If you want to explore another method for making sauerkraut, I highly recommend making Sauerkraut with Oranges for a Vitamin C Boost.
Why Make Your Own Sauerkraut?
Here are just a few reasons to consider if you’re just getting started with making homemade sauerkraut.
- Sauerkraut is a delicious probiotic-rich side dish, and even more important, it is an easy recipe for beginning ferments.
- It’s the perfect accompaniment to any meal for its probiotic qualities and for adding flavor to dishes!
- It’s cheap and easy to do!
If you find making your own sauerkraut easy, you’ll want to try making your own fermented pickles, fermented carrots, and fermented tomatoes and basil.
In addition to food, you can also make fermented drinks. First, start out with a ginger bug and then make a fermented ginger ale and a naturally fermented strawberry soda. This probiotic-rich homemade soda is excellent for good gut health.
How to Make Water Kefir
Water Kefir is another fermentation that’s easy to make once you have some water kefir grains. It makes a wonderful effervescent and probiotic-rich drink. It’s also an economical beverage to make because other than the grains, all you need is water and sugar.
Watch the How to Make Water Kefir video
What is Water Kefir?
Water kefir, or tibicos as it is also known, is a fermented carbonated beverage using a culture of yeasts and good bacteria referred to as “grains.”
As the kefir grains sit in the sugar water sit they begin to ferment, making a delightfully effervescent, slightly tangy fermented water!
Kefir water, a probiotic-rich fermented beverage, tastes delicious and offers you a perfect alternative drink to Kombucha. It’s easy to make and involves preparing a solution of sugar and water and pouring it into a jar over your grains.
Unlike a milk kefir, water kefir is dairy-free and gluten-free!
More Fermentation Recipes
Sharing the Joy of Fermentation at the Decatur Book Festival
From pink cauliflower to new friends, it was a beautiful day celebrating traditional foods and togetherness!
Homemade Strawberry Soda—A Sweet and Bubbly Probiotic Treat
Made with fresh fruit and a ginger bug—simple, healthy, and so refreshing!
Answering Your Top Traditional Foods Questions: Baking Tips and More!
I chat about baking, L. Reuteri yogurt, pantry essentials, avocado oil, and more!
Filling Your Four Corners Pantry with Traditional Foods
If you’re looking for a printed book full of my traditional foods recipes that shows you how to create a traditional foods kitchen, be sure to order your copy of my bestselling book, The Modern Pioneer Cookbook.
Order YOUR COPY Now!
The Modern Pioneer Cookbook
Seasonal ingredients, traditional techniques, and nourishing recipes. Over 85 traditional, from-scratch recipes! Discover for yourself how you can use simple ingredients and traditional techniques to cook the modern pioneer way.
And if you are teaching children in grades K through 12 how to make traditional foods, be sure to download my FREE Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum to use in conjunction with my cookbook.
FREE CHECKLISTS You Need Now!
As you learn how to Prep Like a Pro when stocking your Four Corners Pantry, be sure to download all the checklists that I have prepared for you. You can keep them on your computer or phone, but I highly recommend printing them out and putting them in your Kitchen Journal so that you always have a hard copy!
How to Make Meal Prep Fast with the Meal-in-a-Bag System
Make meal prep fast and easy with these seven free recipes you can download and print out to create your own Meals in Bags.
The FREE Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum – Teach Traditional Cooking Skills to Grades K-12
This cookbook curriculum gives students a love of traditional foods and kitchen skills that will last them a lifetime.
27 Best Survival Foods to Stock NOW in Your Prepper Pantry
Download the free Survival Pantry Checklist and make sure your Prepper Pantry is well-stocked for the long term.
Download Your Free 36-Page Pantry List
For an extensive list of the traditional foods you can make and purchase to stock your pantry, be sure to download my free 36-page Traditional Foods Pantry List. This comprehensive eBook is full of links to recipe videos, helpful articles, and more!
Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy
Are you looking for more traditional foods videos? If so, I invite you to join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy. Members of this optional paid YouTube community get access to exclusive videos and other members-only perks. Plus, your YouTube comments include a special members-only badge.
Kitchen Academy Videos
How to Make Oatmeal Higher in Protein (The Old-Fashioned Way)
Turn simple oats into a hearty, protein-rich porridge.
The Only Traditional Recipes You’ll Ever Need!
Focus on traditional recipes with real food. Don’t chase trends.
Let’s Talk Akkermansia: A Tiny Helper for Big Gut Health
Discover how Akkermansia muciniphila supports gut and immune health—and how traditional foods help this mighty microbe thrive.
In the following members-only video series, I talk about the Art of Fermentation.
Stay in Touch with Mary’s Nest
- Subscribe to My YouTube Channel for Traditional Foods Videos (Free) - When you subscribe, be sure to click on the notification bell that will let you know each time I upload a new video.
- Subscribe to Mary’s Traditional Foods Newsletter (Free) - Get a free 36-page eBook for signing up: How to Stock Your Essential Traditional Foods Four-Corners Pantry.
- Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy - For more detailed videos and exclusive members-only perks, join my YouTube membership community.
- Order The Modern Pioneer Cookbook - Get a hardcover book of Mary's nourishing recipes from a Traditional Foods Kitchen. This bestselling cookbook is published by Penguin Random House with their DK imprint.
- Order The Modern Pioneer Pantry - Get Mary's latest hardcover cookbook about preserving food and making delicious meals from your Four Corners Pantry. Mary's second cookbook is also published by Penguin Random House.
I look forward to having you join me in my Texas Hill Country Kitchen!
Disclaimer:I am not a medical doctor, a medical professional, a dietician, or a nutritionist. All content found on the MarysNest.com website, including text, images, videos, eBooks or eGuides, social media, or other formats, were created solely for informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or proper nutritional advice. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have watched in a video or read on this website. Use caution when following the recipe in this video. The creator and publisher of this video and website will not be held responsible for any adverse effects that may arise from the use of this recipe and method or any other recipe and method on this website or corresponding video channel.