Jello

INGREDIENTS

• 1¾ cups 100% fruit juice, divided
• ¼ cup boiled water
• 1 tablespoon grass-fed gelatin

INSTRUCTIONS

1. To begin, you'll want to "bloom" the gelatin in a bit of cool or room-temperature fruit juice, to ensure a smooth and even end result. In a medium mixing bowl, sprinkle the tablespoon of gelatin over ¼ cup of the fruit juice (I used 100% organic grape juice for this batch), and whisk well until the mixture starts to thicken.
2. Once the mixture is nice and thick, pour the ¼ cup of hot (just boiled) water over it, and whisk well to dissolve evenly. When the mixture is smooth, add in the remaining 1½ cups of fruit juice, and mix well to combine.
3. Pour the mixture into a standard loaf pan, greased or lined with parchment paper to prevent sticking, and place in the fridge to set for at least 2 hours. You'll know it's done when the top is firm to the touch!
4. Slice into squares and serve immediately, or store in the fridge in a sealed container until ready to serve.

The Difference in Us

I thought it would be worth posting where we are in this nutrition journey.
At our best in July 2015:

But we've messed up (I have baked too much) and now we've gained back some weight. Booo. Back to getting off sugar and grains.

This is at the piano recital in May. In April, I weighed about 143.	This morning I weighed 119. I haven't weighed that small of an amount since just before Lee happened in 1975. I guess I look a little thinner. Gary called me bony this morning. I do know that I put away several pairs of fat pants, my skirts are all too loose, and I was able to buy and wear size 6 pants. Of course, Size 6 today is probably close to what size 14 used to be (or size 12) when I was a teenager.
	Picture to the left was in August at the family reunion. I probably weighed 122 here. The big question - how do I feel? For a cancer survivor, and one who had radiation in the abdominal region, I feel pretty good - most days. Some days I have absolutely zero energy, but that also occurred before the Virgin Diet. I still have digestive issues, just like before the diet, but I need to be more vigilant about what goes into my mouth.
	Here in June when we were in Florida, I had already started losing weight. Eating out was (is) hard for me because there is so much out there that makes me sick.
Gary in June. He isn't at his highest weight in this photo, but as of today, 9/17/14, he's lost nearly 40 pounds. He is WAY more energetic, and has been walking a LOT - sometimes 7 miles a day. I am lazy - walking none.	Most recent picture of Gary, first part of August. He is down to 231 now, in September, and is at a plateau. I think his biggest problem now is that we are slipping into eating out more, and I am cooking less. More tired now that I'm back into working part-time. Got to get back in the groove.

Virgin Diet Adventure - Cycle 3

Oatmeal for breakfast, and we got KFC chicken for lunch, brought it home and fixed coleslaw and beans with it. Even with the skin off, it's too much salt, so I have to help us not eat out so much.

For supper I made a pasta salad from brown rice penne, lunchmeat ham, black olives, zucchini, onion, avocado. And for Gary I added in tomatoes and some mozzarella cheese. I made a dressing from rice wine vinegar, olive oil, basil, garlic powder, oregano, and some salt. It was pretty tasty and I have enough for lunch tomorrow.

Virgin Diet Adventure - supposed to be soy day

This morning still incredibly tired, but at Farmer's Market, my bean man, Chuck Davis (who also teaches math at Whitley County), had BEAUTIFUL blue lake green beans, so we bought 2 bushels. The Gibson Green Bean Factory worked feverishly to can these beauties. I had a splendid accomplice (see below). So now I am out of jars until some family people bring some back (hint, hint).

I stopped long enough to grill some portobello and make a ham sandwich out of that for lunch. But by 4:30 (beans all snapped) we were bushed (bush beans, ha, ha) and decided to break our diet to go to Pizza Spot for pizza. Kind of sad to get almost to the end and then chuck it. Although, to be fair, soy is not our cup of tea and we don't plan to eat it if we can help it. So I will push on to Cycle 3 and talk more about that in the next few days.  We really enjoyed our pizza, but in retrospect, it wasn't nearly as good as I imagined it being (after the fact).

So, late night getting the beans finished up, and here's the result.

My valiant accomplice!	Two bushels of beans looks like this before.
Our Pizza Spot pizza (Jellico, TN) - the break between canning 4 and 5 of beans.	Picture number 1 - Two pictures because there were so many jars I was afraid the table wouldn't hold them.

Picture number 2.

Grand total is 9 quarts and 59 pints. One broken jar. It is 1:29 a.m. I am falling-down-tired.

Virgin Diet Adventure - Soy Test

Friday: We had a shake for breakfast and miso soup with onions and rice ramen noodles for lunch, along with the leftover hamburger patty. Totally and completely zonked us out on the couch - so not sure if it's the soy or the incredibly salty soy sauce in the miso broth. I am going to try edamame beans tomorrow (with no salt) and see what that does. I am incredibly washed out and tired today, but was that way since I got up so can't blame it on soy.

I'm back! Virgin Diet Cycle 2 - last test

I hate that I haven't been journaling, but with two grandchildren and an adult child in the house, it's been madness. I don't remember how I managed everything when I had my own little ones!

Anyway, we did the dairy week and I have determined that I don't need to do any more of it. Sadness, because of ice cream. We did the gluten week and Gary has decided he doesn't want to go back to eating that - not that he felt so bad, but he is losing weight so well and feeling so much better. This week, starting today, we'll try soy in the form of miso soup. We wouldn't do tofu or soy milk or anything like that anyway and never have. But soy is in so many other things we have used, like mayonnaise. So we'll test this out and see. I can continue to make mayo but don't really want to.

I'm excited to go back and re-read the cycle 3, maintenance part of the Virgin Diet book now that we're so close. Beau even picked it up and read it and has decided to follow some of it as well. He's very close to his goal weight, but has been doing a scary (I think) diet of only meat and a few vegetables and yogurt. And I think he's been hungry, judging by the way he ate while here!!

I am foraying into homemade shampoo and want to chronicle that so I'll remember what I used and how it works. Used it today for the first time, with a vinegar rinse. Hair doesn't feel super clean, but not dirty either. This is a ph-balanced shampoo that shouldn't be harsh on the scalp. (9.17.14 - this recipe was a bust - don't waste your ingredients!!)

1 can coconut milk (I used a scant 1/2 cup)
1 3/4 cup pure aloe vera gel (I used 1/2 cup and it's just off the shelf)
4 or 5 drops of tea tree oil.

From this amount I was able to fill an ice-cube tray full and have some in a bottle for the next few days. This shampoo does not keep, but should last a week in the frig. This recipe is from http://www.thankyourbody.com/ph-balanced-shampoo-recipe/.

Below are some pictures of some of the food we've eaten over the last couple of weeks.

Non-gluten pizza for dairy week from Cook's Illustrated. I gave this high marks and I have another one in the freezer.	I call these non-gluten hockey puck biscuits. Will not be making them again!
Portobello pizzas with mozzarella and cottage cheese during our dairy week.	Rice paper spring rolls with chicken, onion, etc. filling. SO much easier than rice or coconut wraps and WAY cheaper.
Trying new things. Red pepper for Gary and Kohlrabi (although I haven't made it yet - Beau is going to show me what he does with it). Thank you, Farmer's Market.	Had an extra spot. Here's some of my sweet fun the last two weeks.
	This was supper. I made the Single Gluten Free Burger Bun from a recipe (Internet), substituting the egg with egg replacer. Gary thought it was gritty and didn't care much for it. File 13! Of course, it might be better with an egg, so I might try it one more time later. From http://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/index.cfm/2012/1/25/single-gluten-free-burger-bun

Virgin Diet Cycle 2

Breakfast: Oatmeal and/or shake as most days now
Lunch: Chicken noodle soup (rice noodles), peaches
Dinner: Fried onions and mushrooms with turkey kielbasa, fried potatoes, tomatoes, chili beans

Yes, the diet has progressed and regressed, but we are mostly eating what we are supposed to and staying away from other things. Gary has pretty much stopped eating green stuff, but in all honesty, I haven't had the energy to fix it either. Grandkids tend to zap energy bigtime. Hopefully, we'll get back to basics soon.

We got through our gluten week just fine. Gary gained some weight but we had two days with his mother's cooking, and he did the best he could. Tomorrow we start dairy, and I have purchased Greek yogurt (which neither of us like anyway), mozzarella cheese, and cottage cheese to try out. I hope it doesn't bother us.

Virgin Diet Cycle 2 - Week 2

Breakfast: Shake, Oatmeal
Lunch: Gary had beans and ham and I had a shake
Dinner: Chicken Salsa Crockpot with carrots, roasted broccoli, sweet potatoes, carrots, kale chips, tomatoes, hummus, zucchini chips

Went with Beau to pick up the kids, so had lunch at Ramseys with him in Lexington. I just took a shake with me and just had that and didn't eat much supper so right now I am STARVING.

Tomorrow we start our gluten try-out for four days. I am going to bake some whole grain bread in the morning to have for supper. Then one night I'm making whole wheat naan, and another day I have pita pockets that I bought at Whole Foods. So we will see.

Virgin Cycle 2 - Day 4

Breakfast: Shakes
Lunch: Coconut Thai Chicken, leftover hummus and zucchini chips, deviled eggs, fresh blueberry crumble
Dinner: Pot of soup, apple salad

Day four on eggs and the jury's still out for me. Gary doesn't feel any different, but either I've come down with a bug or the eggs are making me stuffy, achy, with headaches. I'll be interested to see if the next three days help me feel better as we go back to the original plan now until Wednesday. Haven't decided yet if I'll try dairy or gluten.

Today my brother Phil visited and brought honey, corn, cantaloup and some beautiful heirloom tomatoes, and joined us for lunch. The Coconut Chicken was pretty and I forgot to take a picture of it. So I borrowed the picture from Stir it up! as well as the recipe. I didn't have any curry and used cumin instead. We ate it in bowls, but I think it would be good over rice.

Thai Chicken and Broccoli 2 lbs chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces 1 tbsp coconut oil 4 cups broccoli florets, cut into bite size pieces 1 cup sliced mushrooms (optional) 1 cup canned coconut milk (we used TJ’s light) ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt 1 tsp garlic powder 2 tsp curry powder 1 tsp smoked paprika Cut up chicken into bite sized pieces. Heat up pan on medium, add coconut oil and brown chicken on all sides. Steam broccoli a little while the chicken is cooking. Add broccoli and the rest of the ingredient to the pan with chicken. Cook on low for about 15 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked and enjoy immediately!

Gary remembered liking the vegetable soup I made a couple of weeks ago, so I made some tonight with apple salad since this is the last day we can have mayonnaise for awhile. I put hamburger, a can of chili beans (drained), carrot, potato, onion, cabbage, green beans, basil, thyme, tomato juice, and chicken broth, with salt and pepper. Not too bad and Gary went back for seconds.

Virgin Cycle 2 - Day 3

Breakfast: Oatmeal for Gary, Shake for me
Lunch: Salad with egg for Gary, leftover quiche and cherries for me
Dinner: Garlic chicken, Sweet potato, green beans, grilled onion and zucchini, tomato

Better morning. Slept a little better last night, not as many leg cramps. Will be sure to take my fish oil, calcium, and magnesium every day. I had most of a banana in my shake this morning - wow did the shake taste good.

Worked in the yard this morning during the cool weather. This is one of the best Julys we've ever had. I'm trying to pare down the big hump of flowers in the front yard and give Gary more to mow.

Well, oops. I forgot to take a picture of dinner. I rolled the garlic chicken in mashed potato flakes with some sea salt and almond flour, and it turned out pretty good. Finished off the blueberry crumble. I have definitely eaten too much today!

Virgin Cycle 2 - Day 2

Breakfast: Shakes
Lunch: Broccoli, onion, ham quiche with brown rice crust, cherries, peaches, tomatoes
Dinner: David's Steakhouse: Steak, 1/2 baked potato, pinto beans, broccoli, mushrooms, grilled onions, chicken, green beans

Started out the day feeling really rotten with a headache. Not much sleep last night due to leg cramps, stuffy nose, sore throat, and dry mouth, and nightmares. I hope this wasn't caused by eggs! Researched the cramps and need to get more of either calcium, magnesium, sodium or potassium in my body, so will buy some bananas today and take a magnesium tonight. Gary said I also should chew a couple of Tums before bed. I will try eggs tomorrow and see how I do.

The quiche from the Vitamix cookbook was pretty good. I found some other recipes with a coconut crust, etc., and will try one of those sometime. I found that sometimes nuts can cause leg cramps and I have been eating quite a few of those, so will try to slack off a bit. (Too much selenium, it appears.)

Virgin Cycle 2 - Day 1

Breakfast - 3 egg omelet (shared) with onions, peppers, olives; peaches; Gary tomatoes
Lunch - Shake for me, leftover Mexican, pita bread, raspberries, refried beans, hummus and tomatoes for Gary.
Dinner - Stir-fried chicken over spaghetti squash. Blueberry crumble.

In Cycle two we try some of the verboten foods, one week at a time. This week is eggs and so we jumped on them for breakfast. No symptoms yet. I am using what I hope are grass-fed chicken eggs, though, from Farmer's Market in W'burg. Tomorrow I want to do some kind of quiche for supper, then Friday add boiled eggs to Gary's salad, and maybe Saturday have deviled eggs, or just FRIED EGGS and HAM.  Or BACON. We'll see. Then three days back to the regular Cycle one diet to see how the eggs do for us.

Gary is down 18 pounds this morning, and I am at my goal weight that I've been trying to get back to since the boys were little - an 8 pound loss in 21 days. Not too bad. Gary's ankles are so much better - not swelled at all this morning. Other than a couple of episodes with stomach for me, I am better. Just will still need to stay off raw green stuff. I may give cooked a try, but not overdo it.

I am going to try to make some mayonnaise (to avoid the soy that's in all the 'boughten' mayo) and some of Beth's biscotti today, now that I can use eggs.  Everything worked! Except the pita bread, but it tastes ok and is like cornbread. Gary had some for lunch.

My finished Mayo!!Recipe and adaptations below.	Finished almond-flour pita bread.
Biscotti going in for last baking.	Gary's lunch. He declared it the best ever. Of course, the meat was from the Mexican restaurant.
Our dinner - stir fry chicken over spaghetti squash. It was GOOD.	Spaghetti squash is one of the things we've learned to enjoy. I also like getting red onions, as well. Gary already liked garbanzo beans, but he is also liking green olives, which is new. We are both drinking almond and coconut milk (mostly almond) and not missing cow's milk at all. If I can stay the course with chopping and cooking, I think we can eat this way for life - or at least until we lose our teeth.

Mayo recipe from the Vitamix recipe book.

 My adaptation, since I didn't want to make so much at once. The Vitamix did an AWESOME job with this. I may tweak seasonings a bit the next time as it was good, but seemed to need something else.
In blender mix
1 egg
1/4 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 to 3/4 T lemon juice or apple cider vinegar

Open top of lid, insert funnel and slowly pour in while blending:
scant 2/3 cup oil (I use a combination of olive, grapeseed, pecan, etc.)

 Beautiful!

Our Virgin Adventure - Day 21

Breakfast: Oatmeal for Gary
Lunch: Shake for me, salad and hummus for Gary
Dinner: Brown rice wrap with ham, tomatoes, refried beans and rice

Last day and I'm afraid I've messed myself up. I wasn't hungry this morning so after making coffee, I scurried to make a crockpot of soup for supper before we went to Gary's doctor appointment. So I didn't eat any breakfast. I shopped at Kroger and drank a container of almond milk while there. Then for lunch I fixed a blueberry avocado spinach shake. Don't know if it was skipping breakfast or having spinach in my Shake two days in a row, but I had a huge bellyache.

Gary went walking and then worked in his office, so ate his jar salad late. I at a couple of zucchini chips with hummus. For supper, I tried some of the soup before my class and it was pretty bad. So I hurried up and made something else. Pretty awful set of menus for the last day of Cycle 1.

Tomorrow, Cycle 2. We'll add in eggs for one meal a day for four days and then go back to the regular Cycle one meals for three days and see if we have any reaction to eggs.

Our Virgin Adventure - Day 20

One more day!!
Breakfast: Three Bears for Gary, Shake for me
Lunch: Hummus and Zucchini Chips, tuna fish, avocado, cherries.
Dinner: Stewed chicken with carrots, Mexican Rice, Peaches

We have felt SO Full today. Gary is down 16 pounds in 19 days - not hardly a pound a day, but pretty close.

Getting ready to make Salad in a jar.	Voila'
Lunch. That's an almond milk latte with this morning's leftover coffee behind the plate.	Supper was pretty awful. Too much orange! Good thing we weren't really all that hungry.
Worked hard trying to put everything in the pantry into glass jars. I WILL foile that mousie who chewed open the rice flour bag!	Gary walked this morning, went to work for awhile, then came home and mowed. I can't help but think he has more energy nowadays. I cleaned the house and straightened the pantry while he was gone, and while I made a slow start this morning, I wasn't as tired today as I was yesterday.

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Salad in a jar

http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2012/06/vegan-salad-in-jar-make-ahead-bliss.html

Layering Salad Jars:
1) BOTTOM - dressing/liquid
2) Heavy ingredients that hold up well when submerged in dressing - beans, cucumbers, radishes, onion..
3) Heavy items that you may not want directly touching the dressing when stored.
4) Leafy greens/light ingredients that take up a lot of space - spinach, kale, chard, arugula..
5) A small amount of heavy accent items - nuts, seeds, dried fruit, croutons, accent spices
6) TOP - colorful ingredients to perk up your taste buds when you pop open the jar - fruit, edible flowers, herbs..

Other: grains and pasta are nice add ins. I like to put these on top of the plentiful salad so that it doesn't get soggy in the dressing but helps to weigh the greens down a bit so I can fit more yummy stuff in each jar.

#1 Green Garden
EVOO/Balsamic/Peppercorn spices dressing
diced persian cucumbers
diced tomato
arugula + baby spinach
raw pistachios
edible flowers
diced dried apricots

#2 Butter Bean Bliss
EVOO/Balsamic/Peppercorn spices dressing
sweet Maui onion, diced
butter beans
arugula + baby chard
raw walnuts
Cajun Spiced Quinoa
diced dried apricots

#3 Sunny Kale Kruncher
EVOO/Balsamic/Peppercorn spices dressing
radish, diced
sweet Maui onion, diced
walnuts
kale + shredded carrots + cabbage, chopped
seedless tangerine segments

#4 Quinoa Oasis
EVOO/Balsamic/Peppercorn spices dressing
red onion
Cajun Spiced Quinoa
kale + carrots
walnuts
edible flowers

Our Virgin Adventure - Day 19

Breakfast: Three bears
Lunch: El Dorado in Corbin
Dinner: Blueberry shake

Two more days! Although I am doing ok with what we eat, I am ready for some variety and I still miss my sweets (even though I know I should not have a great deal of them anymore, like I was having). Gary has been off coffee and tea for the most of three days now, and he says he feels less jittery. Still not sleeping great though.

The peppers didn't bother me at all! YAY!!!!!!

Our lunch at the Mexican was very good but probably because of the salt - we came home and died in the living room for several hours. After night church we just had a Virgin shake with blueberries.

Our Virgin Adventure - Day 18

Breakfast: Three bears for Gary, shake for me
Lunch: At Stephanie's birthday party, we had lunchmeat, chicken, olives, cauliflower, carrots (raw), and water/coffee
Dinner: My homemade sauerkraut with pork in the crockpot, cooked apples, brown rice, coleslaw. Kind of an all-white ugly meal, but tasted ok. Sorry, no pic!

We pressure-washed the porch rails, patio, etc., to get ready for painting soon.

Some things I just want to remember:

Our Virgin Adventure - Day 17

Breakfast: Three bear's oatmeal (Yeah, we never get tired of this!)
Lunch: Wrap for Gary (he wasn't very hungry); hummus, zucchini chips, avocado, coleslaw, and cherries for me.
Dinner: Thelma's Place: Gary had prime rib, sweet potatoes, salad, and green beans; I had fried chicken (I picked off the fried), sweet potatoes and cauliflower.

Gary finished weed eating the hill after breakfast and I supervised. Then laundry for me, nap for him. Here's Lunch:

And I forgot to take a picture of the meal at Thelma's Place. It was pretty good, but really salty because I'm sucking down the water like crazy.

After 16 days, Gary is down 14 pounds and I am down 7. Pretty good diet!

Our Virgin Adventure - Day 16

Breakfast: Three bear's oatmeal
Lunch: Shake
Dinner: Sloppy Joes, Green beans, sweet potato, leftover broccoli.

Started out today getting up late. Then we worked on weedeating the hill behind the house - got nearly 2/3 of it completed. But bushed!! So we weren't very hungry for lunch and had the Virgin Shake. Then Gary went to work for awhile and I swept out the garage and washed the car inside and out. Now I'm on the couch and don't know if I can move to make the supper I've planned.

Sitting in the woods taking a break. So beautiful!	One side of the hill all shorn.
Betsy all clean.	Dinner tonight.
Sauerkraut is DONE! Smells good. We'll have it for dinner soon.	The Sloppy Joe recipe didn't get real thick, so I added leftover black beans to it and we had chili! GOOD chili!!  Broke up some rice tortillas I made to use as crackers. Gary said they were chewy but edible.I got the recipe from You Won't Believe It's Gluten-Free! and share it below. I used some of my newly homemade tomato paste in it and some tomato juice so because I didn't follow the recipe exactly... No walk tonight. Gary and I are both beat to pieces. Watching the sad news about Malaysia Flight 17 on TV.
Sloppy Joes (p. 217) 1 lb ground beef 1 medium onion, chopped finely 1 small green pepper, chopped finely (I used about 1/6 of a pepper) 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste 2 (6 oz) cans water 1 T cornstarch or potato starch 1.5 tsps chili powder 1 tsp salt (I used less) 1/2 tsp black pepper (I did not use) 1/4 tsp cayenne (opt. - I did not use) 1 tsp sugar (I used stevia)	In large skillet over medium heat, brown beef, onions, and peppers. Once no pink remains in meat, add tomato paste and 1 can of water. In small bowl, mix the starch with remaining can of water. Stir well and add to pan. Add remaining ingredients and bring to boil. Simmer over low heat for 10-15 minutes.  Serves 6.

Raw Sauerkraut (I modified this recipe)

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NOTE: You’ll need to have a large pot or mixing bowl, 2 wide-mouthed 32oz sterilized glass jars, and two pinch bowls or shot glasses that fit inside the top of the glass jars on-hand for this recipe. If you have a sauerkraut crock or other fermentation containers you won’t need the glass jars.

Yield: 2, 32-oz jars.

• 1-2 jalapeño peppers
• 1 large head of green cabbage, sliced into thin strips (set large outer leaves aside)
• 1 Tbsp unrefined sea salt (I like Redmond Real Salt)
• 2 large carrots
• 2-4 cloves of garlic (2 if large, 4 if smaller)
• Black pepper to taste – a few grinds will work

Preparation:

1.   Place the jalapeño(s) over an open gas flame or on a grill, turning every minute or so until the skin is blackened and blistered. Remove the pepper from the heat and peel the skin off under cool running water.

2.   Slice the peeled pepper(s) and remove the seeds to your taste. The more seeds you leave, the spicier the recipe will turn out. Set the peppers aside.

3.   Place 1/3 of your sliced cabbage into your large bowl and sprinkle 1 Tsp of the salt over it. Using your hands squeeze and stir the cabbage until some of the water content begins to come out of it and the cabbage seems wet.

4.   Repeat this process adding the remaining cabbage and salt 1/3 at a time to the bowl. Squeeze and stir the mixture until you can see water running off of the cabbage. This will take time and elbow-grease, so be ready to get your hands involved.

5.   Peel and then grate the carrots on a box grater or in a food processor.

6.   Peel and then finely slice the garlic.

7.   Add the shredded carrots, garlic, jalapeños and black pepper to the mixture and combine with your hands.

8.   Fill the 2 jars evenly, pressing the mixture down so that water releases and raises above the line of the vegetables. Continue doing this until the jars are filled with about 2″ of space remaining at the top.

9.   Wedge the large outer leaves of the cabbage you had set aside into the top of the jars so that the mixture is underneath it and the water level raises above the flat cabbage leaf. You will want to use a small pinch bowl or a shot glass as additional weight to keep the mixture down.

10.  Set the filled jars aside on a cookie sheet or in any other large, flat container with an edge so that if there is any spillover you keep it contained. Set the jars/cookie sheet aside in a secure place at room temperature where they will not be disturbed.

11.  Check on your raw sauerkraut every day or two to make sure that the water level has remained above the vegetables and that no vegetables are touching the surface and coming into contact with air. The fermentation process happens under water, so if you do see anything touching the surface, use a clean spoon to remove it. You may also see some growth or mold form around the top of the liquid- this is normal but it’s best to remove it when you see it. If you need to add liquid to the jars, add some fresh water to make sure that everything is below a water line. The weights should a lot help with this.

12.  After about one week, remove the weight and top piece of cabbage from the kraut, remove a thin layer of the top of the kraut and give it a taste. It should be sour but probably not “there” yet. Allow the sauerkraut to sit for at least 2 weeks and taste it periodically as you wish to check on it.

13.  Once the sauerkraut tastes as you like it, place the lid on it and store it in the refrigerator. It will last for several months while refrigerated and will not continue to ferment further.

Variations:

• Plain raw sauerkraut: use just cabbage and salt. (This is what I did - I used my small white crock and filled it with one head of cabbage).