Kefir Kommunity

Chocolate Mint Pie
(Serves 8)

• 1 pkg Nasoya Lite Firm Tofu, pressed & divided 
• Helios Organic Plain Nonfact Kefir (see directions for measurements)
• 2 Tsp. Saco Premium Cocoa Powder      
• 1 Cup Spinach 
• 5 1/2 Tbsp. Stevia In The Raw, or more to taste (divided)
• 2 Tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 Tsp. Pure Peppermint Extract
• 1/3 Cup Organic Cool Whip 
• Chocolate Topping: 1 Tbsp. Semi Sweet Chocolate Morsels + 2 Tsp. Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk 
• 1 - Chocolate Almond Pie Crust 

1. Make Chocolate Almond Pie Crust Crust, set aside.
2. Divide pressed tofu into 3 equal pieces. Pour 1/4 cup kefir into the blender, then take 1/3 of the tofu, spinach, 1 & 1/2 Tbsp. stevia, peppermint extract and blend until creamy.
3. Pour into the pie crust, then spread out evenly and refrigerate while you prepare the rest of the recipe.
4. Wash out your blender, then pour the other 1/3 Cup kefir, the other two pieces of tofu, vanilla, 4 Tbsp. stevia, cocoa and blend until creamy.
5. Remove pie from the refrigerator, add chocolate tofu mixture to the top and spread out evenly.
6. Place back into the refrigerator to set up all the way, 3-4 hours.
7. Once set, decorate with organic cool whip with a cake decorator or by just spreading over the top of the pie.
8. In a small pot over low heat melt chocolate morsels and almond milk.Drizzle over the pie and serve.

• 147 Calories
• 9g Fat
• 8g Carbs
• 9g Protein

Peppermint Chocolate Baked Donuts

• 3 Tbsp sprouted whole wheat flour
• 3 Tbsp almond flour
• 2 Tbsp chocolate protein powder (I used Isopure)
• 2 Tbsp Special Dark cocoa powder
• 1 Tbsp Inka or instant coffee granules
• 2 Tbsp xylitol
• 14 drops peppermint stevia (I used SweetLeaf)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 3 Tbsp liquid egg whites
• 1/4 cup Lifeway Nonfat Plain Kefir
• 2 tsp peppermint extract
• 1 tsp coconut oil, melted
• 2 Tbsp applesauce, unsweetened
   

Our delicious Coconut-Chia Kefir is up for Dairy Foods’ Best New dairy Products of 2012 and we need your help to win! Click here to vote, and tell your friends to do the same.


 

1. Chia seeds are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, plus they provide protein, fiber, calcium, antioxidants and a plethora of other health benefits when added to your diet.
2. Our Coconut-Chia Kefir contains ground chia seed husks for added fiber!
3. Like all Lifeway Kefir, Coconut-Chia Kefir is low-fat, 99% lactose-free and contains 12 live & active probiotic cultures.
4. Winter got you down? Our Coconut-Chia is like a tropical vacation in a bottle!
5. Ch-ch-ch-chia! Chia pets are hilarious.
    

The holidays are here. Yes, it’s a happy time. But for some, it can mean busyness, stress, and a lower immune system.

For me, I make sure to load up on EXTRA probiotics during this season, yes, more than one serving a day. Good thing Lifeway kefir is loaded with probiotics and extremely versatile.

Here’s one of my favorite dishes to added kefir too. Use it as a light lunch, side dish, and more.

 
Photo by Lindsay Cotter

Tangy Broccoli Slaw Salad

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Zest of one lemon
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
• 4 eggs
• ¾ cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup Plain Lifeway Lowfat Kefir

Happy 12/12/12! Not since, well, 11/11/11 have we celebrated such an excitingly repetitive date. But before you run out the door to make it your best friend’s 12/12/12 wedding on time (David's Bridal estimates more than 7500 brides will get hitched on 12/12/12 - a 1446% increase over last year, despite falling on a Wednesday), consider this: This is the last of the crazy date sequences to come around for the next 1,000 years (after all, 13/13/13, like a tasty fruitcake, is a logistical impossibility.)

12 things to do on 12/12/12:

1. Play a new drinking game: Grab a dozen friends and sit in a circle with a clock nearby. Take a shot of kefir every 60 seconds, on the 12s (at 8:01:12pm, 8:02:12pm, 8:03:12pm, etc)

2. Host a midnight double feature screening of Ocean’s Twelve and Cheaper By the Dozen; start 12 minutes late, at 12:12pm. Serve popcorn and Milk Duds.

3. Pick four items off of your weekly grocery shopping list and attempt to spend exactly $12.12. When the cashier rings up your purchases and the screen reads $12.03 or $12.75, dramatically hurl your bananas across the store, shrieking, “I can’t shop like this anymore!!”

4. Or if you’re boring, just bring a dozen bagels or donuts into work. Baker's dozens are for losers.

5. If you’re pregnant and nearing your due date, eat lots of spicy foods and have gobs of sex in an attempt to push that sucker out by 12/12/12.

6. Make Wednesday "Wear Your Joe Namath Jersey To Work" Day.

7. Set your laptop to default to 12-point font, then write a letter to a friend, being sure to date it 12/12/12 for posterity’s sake.

8. Pretend you are 12 and have a slumber party, go for a bike ride, play Nintendo DS and daydream about Justin Bieber.

9. Stop by a tattoo parlor and have the word duodecuple tatted across your knuckles. (It’s an adjective referring to any group consisting of twelve things.)

10. Go for a 12-mile hike then refuel with 12 apple slices smeared with peanut butter.

11. Hit Starbucks and order a Venti 12-pump mocha latte.

12. Enjoy the sugar high, then crash in bed for 12 hours.

As we asked around the office for holiday entrée inspirations we realized how unique each family’s own traditions are. Suggestions ranged from a Christmas goose to a vegetarian pizza, so we settled on a Greek dish that can easily be made veggie-friendly. We shared this one as our office lunch, and we hope your family enjoys it as much as we did!


 

• 3 large eggplants
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ lemon, sliced in thin circles
• 1 handful fresh oregano leaves, chopped
• 2 handfuls fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 2 lbs ground lamb*
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 Tbs tomato paste
• 1 (16 oz) can whole tomatoes, drained & hand-crushed
• 8 oz Lifeway Farmer Cheese
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
   

Sweet and savory come together beautifully in this healthy side dish. Just a sprinkle of crispy pancetta give the illusion of naughtiness but the generous helping of shitake mushrooms and broccoli rabe will keep you on the nice list.


 

• 4 sweet potatoes (about 8 oz each)
• 2 oz sliced pancetta (about 8 thin slices)*
• 1 bunch broccoli rabe, stems trimmed, roughly chopped
• Kosher salt
• 8 oz shitake mushrooms, stemmed & sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
• ½ cup Lifeway Farmer Cheese
• 1 Tbs finely grated Parmesan cheese
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
   

Not to brag or anything, but here at Lifeway, we have a few celebrity claims to fame. Tina Fey loves our pomegranate kefir. Our CEO Julie ran the New York Marathon with supermodel and Every Mother Counts founder Christy Turlington Burns. And our blogger, Leslie, once touched Beyonce’s elbow.

Now, we’re proud to brag about our most recent in-the-limelight Lifeway family member, Natalie. As our Community Manager, Natalie is in charge of recipe development, spending her day in the freshly renovated Lifeway kitchen, cranking out tasty kefir-infused treats like Chai-spiced Whoopie Pies and Superbowl Spinach Dip. Lately, Natalie can’t keep herself off TV: She was recently featured on the Cooking Channel, where she debuted her vegan Banana Bread French Toast Cupcakes and has also served as a frosting-fanatical judge on Cupcake Wars. Her bonkers baking (Crouching Corn Bread, Hidden Broccoli, anyone?) and badass body art have also been featured everywhere from the Chicago Tribune and TimeOut Chicago to Bust and Inked Life magazines.

In between batches of Friday the 13th Slasher Smores Cupcakes and writing her new book, Bake and Destroy: Good Food for Bad Vegans, our resident punk foodie bombshell took time to answers a few Qs for you:

Growing up, I was always in kitchen with my mom and grandma. My grandma is the kind of Italian lady who wakes up and starts making spaghetti sauce first thing in the morning, with her curlers still in her hair. I got an Easy Bake Oven for my fifth birthday, which is December 12, and that was it for me. The first thing I made was a chocolate birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas. I cooked it with a light bulb and left it outside for him.

When did you start to think you could pursue food as a profession?

In 2000, I moved to Chicago and worked at a natural bakery as a baker. But the hours were terrible – I’d work from 5 am to 2pm, up to my elbows in butter. It wasn’t very fun.  I went to school for newspaper journalism and my boyfriend at the time was in a band and I traveled with him. When I got pregnant with my son, Teno, I worked as a nanny and had lots of downtime with napping, so I’d watch the Food Network, Martha Stewart’s cooking shows, then try to recreate whatever I’d seen that morning. That’s when I started my blog, Bake and Destroy, in 2006. I started to think, “I might want to do this forever.”

What do you do at Lifeway?

All kinds of recipe development using our kefir and Farmer Cheese. We just built a kitchen here, nice and big with lots of room. Everyone comes in to try what I make. Today I made a Greek style dish with layers of eggplant, lamb and Farmer Cheese. I’m vegetarian so usually my stuff is, too, but one of our staff members has been begging me to make her meat, so I did. I also made sweet potatoes stuffed with shitake mushrooms, garlic, broccoli rabe and Farmer Cheese with crispy pancetta on top.

Is kefir versatile for cooking and baking?

It’s really fun to play with it. You can mix it into guacamole and spinach dip, and it actually makes the best waffles I’ve ever had in my life. It’s similar to buttermilk so you get the rich flavor, but there’s not as much milkfat so you get a really fluffy, flavorful waffle. We play a game: “Can we Kefir-ize this?” Savory always goes over well in this office, and if there’s anything trendy, like kale chips or ramps, we’ll try to kefirize it.

Changing subjects: You are covered in ink! How many tattoos do you have?

A year ago, my husband and I argued over who had more: We came out even at 46 each. That was a year ago; I probably have 50 now.

Are any of them of food?

Of course! I have a Chicago-style hot dog with the works - onions, green relish, mustard, no ketchup, poppyseed bun – on my shoulder with the initials “PMA” for Positive Mental Attitude. A food blogger friend and I each got a little rabbit wearing a chef’s hat. I have a cupcake with pink frosting and a dagger through it on my calf that says “Bake and Destroy.” And a heart with a banner that says “Pancakes” on my forearm. My mom was kind of bummed I got a pancakes tattoo before a “Mom” one.

Any kefir tattoos in the works?