The Creature in the Pantry

I have decided that all my posts don’t have to center around my attempts to create a deep parenting vibe; some can just give you a peek into our quirky and crazy life. With that in mind I present today’s post. 

You should know I am bit freaky in the eating department. I am vegan, which means nothing is consumed that had a mother or a face - no milk, no cheese, no yogurt, no eggs. We won’t get into all the reasons why, but suffice it to say it I was having some health issues and found a study out of Germany in which said health condition was successfully treated with a vegan diet. So I went for it, felt incredible, and can’t imagine going back. I have been vegan for almost four years.

When you have a non-traditional diet, you do lots of web research, looking for recipes and cooking hints, searching phrases such as “What is a parsnip?” and “Sources of vitamin B-12” and “Are Oreo cookies really vegan? (they are in fact vegan, totally unhealthy for you, but horrifyingly and wonderfully vegan).” This much food google-ing inevitably leads to foods and food related concepts that you have never heard of before, and because I love adventures, I am game to try some crazy stuff every now and then.

My latest food foray is this: Kombucha. Basically, it’s a fermented tea beverage that contains bacteria that is beneficial for your tummy (aka pro-biotics). You can buy Kombucha in the store for $3.00-$4.00 a bottle, but you know what else you can do? MAKE YOUR OWN! For me, this began when my dear friend Kirstin brought over a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast) which looks like this big slimy mushroom-y thing. You put it in some black tea and sugar, and it eats the sugar, and grows, and makes a baby! That’s why SCOBYs are also called “mothers."

SCOBYs are pretty gnarly, and I've kinda fallen in love with mine. I am obsessed with my mother. My mother sits in the cupboard, because she doesn't like direct sunlight. She bubbles and smells a little funky from the fermentation, but I love her.

My family is for the most part freaked out. Izzy will drink the Kombucha and says she enjoys it, and Gabriel watches the bottles diminishing in the fridge commenting on how much we are consuming. Matthew however has read far too much science fiction. He says it reminds him of the “Alien” movie series. Non-human creatures called “mother” having “babies” in our cupboard conjure up Sigourney Weaver images for him. Last night while I was sipping a glass of my delectable concoction of bacterial goodness he remarked, “If your chest bursts open in the middle of the night and an alien comes screaming out I won’t be surprised.”

Living with me can’t be easy, but at least I keep it interesting and fun!