I just throw him a side-eye because I know that his new healthy glow is a result of him usurping my kombucha. Among my knitting projects was of course a kombucha koozie--hey, I can't have the cold weather putting the Mother to sleep thus ruining my brew! Plus, our kombucha is our family pet--yeah, it's a living breathing organism(s)! The children have stopped asking when we're going to get that cat. Then there's been this traffic of kombucha pilgrims showing up at my door with a glass jar in one hand and a dollar in the other. I can't complain; kombucha has been good to my family. 

Because I'm a teacher:

SCOBY + Starter Tea + (Black/Green Tea+XTea+Sugar Syrup)= Kombucha

Not getting light-headed yet? Just look at the pictures! My girlfriend who is an avid kombucha drinker was like, "so you mean to tell me, we are drinking its (the Mother's) waste?!"  To which I respond in my Brittany Wilson (from White Chicks) voice, "Don't be a spaz, but, yes."

Why am I glorifying this fermented monstrosity?! Well, I haven't read any scientific studies or gathered any empirical evidence, but kombucha is healthy. Rumor has it that kombucha:

• detoxes & balances the body
  
• improves digestion (it's bad for digestion to drink while eating, but it's healthy to drink kombucha while eating)
  
• cleans your colon, makes you regular
  
• has vitamins (B Vitamins)
  
• makes the body alkaline
  
• prevents yeast overgrowth in the body
  
• anti-cancer
  
• removes heavy metals from the body
  
• can stop a toothache or stomach ache
  
• Part of the benefits of kombucha are the SCOBYs it produces, for uses click HERE
  

 Supplies:

• Get a Mother/SCOBY  and starter tea from a friend
  
• Do not use tap water! The Mother will DIE. Use filtered/distilled/spring water.
  
• Nylon mesh (metal mesh will interact with the tea)
  
• 2 Gallon glass container (if it has a spigot make sure the spigot is not metal) 
  
• Black and or Green Tea 
  
• Sugar (no substitutes, the sugar feeds the Mother, not much of it remains in the final beverage)
  
• Cheese cloth or towels cut into a circle to cover open mouth of 2 gallon glass container. Unlike a lid, this will allow the Mother to breath, so she won't DIE
  
• Elastic (cut, knot, use to keep cloth cover in place)
  
• Nylon ladle if your glass container doesn't have a spigot
  
• Vinegar for cleaning
  

Tips:

• Keep brew between 72-85 degree or it will DIE
  
• Prepare a SCOBY hotel
  
• Keep your brew out of the light, or the Mother will DIE
  
• The longer it ferments the more vinegary it will taste
  
• be able to identify a healthy SCOBY from a bad SCOBY

My children and I drink Kombucha, but please exercise caution and talk to your healthcare provider especially if you are dealing with liver issues, diabetes, stomach yeast, pregnancy, breastfeeding. I am a breastfeeding mother and I drink it, but I do not give it to my infant.  Till next time....

Love, Peace, & Kombucha!

"Yeah, why?"

"I just bit a stone or 2." More crunches.

"Those are not stones, they are your son!" He laughed.

"My son?" Although I recalled laughing at Hakim earlier as he crunched through the rice, nothing was funny now.

"Yes, he put his crystals in the rice. I had to pick all of them out before I washed it. Evidently, I didn't get all of them." 

Here's a good time to inform you that crystals are an integral part of our lives. Each of my children sleep with a glowing Himalayan salt crystal in his or her room. They have crystals charging in their window sills, sewn in their pillow cases, beaded into their necklaces and for every rite of passage they achieve, they receive a crystal as a totem. I wear them around my waist and we go crystal digging every year. More than pretty jewelry, for us, they are healing gateways. The Prophet Muhammad (saw) himself was fond of agate. I call my 4 year old son into the kitchen.


"Son, you put crystals in the rice?"

"Yes, Mom I was cleaning them." He smiles.

They'll really be clean once they come out the other end of my digestive tract (I can hear Dave Chappelle in his Mtv Cribs Parody yelling, "That's Baller!"). Anywho, it just so happens that leaving crystals submerged in a bowl of dry rice (not cooked) is a way to purify them. After agreeing not to use the rice we set out to cook, my son transforms into a car and rolls away. There are children who sprinkle sugar crystals on cupcakes, and then there are those who sprinkle crystals on rice. I gave birth to the latter. As for the rice...Yes, I finished it and had a second helping. After all, crystal digging is nothing new to me.