Kefir for Kids
Kefir has always been a mainstay in my family; but up until now, the kids usually only had it in smoothies once or twice a week. Since I always have plenty of kefir on hand, I figured I needed to step it up and serve it more often. Again, reading _The Body Ecology Diet_ reminded me of the immense benefits of kefir for healing and restoring the microflora of the gut.
For the past two weeks or so, our bedtime routine has included a glass of kefir. Rich in protein, minerals, and probiotics (not to mention many other things: go here for more info), kefir is the perfect bedtime snack. Its high calcium and magnesium content calms the nervous system and the profuse amount of probiotics helps to digest dinner!
I’ve noticed that both of my sweet kiddos (Jonathan dodged the camera in the picture above, but you can see his orange straw representing for him!) LOVE their nighttime kefir. It couldn’t be simpler to make. Here’s what I do:
I use 3 simple ingredients: stevia, alcohol-free vanialla, and raw goat’s milk kefir (for info on how to make it and get starters,check out my resources page). Cinnamon is also a good addition. Basically, any sugar free “spice” you like can be added, but my kids are into vanilla and/or cinnamon right now. Trader Joe’s sells an alcohol-free glycerine-based vanilla extract for a little over $3.00.
Night-night Kefir
1 cup of goat kefir
8 drops stevia
1/8 tsp alcohol-free vanilla flavor
1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)
Serve it with a straw (doesn’t every kid love a straw?!?!) and know that your kids will have incredible nourishment throughout the night.
Since giving her the kefir nightly, my daughter has slept soundly through the night (whereas before she was waking up once or twice screaming for something to eat or drink).
Incidentally, this is an awesome “good morning” drink as well! I sometimes just have a glass of kefir in the morning and find that often it’s all I need for several hours.
If you haven’t already, I highly recommend investing in a milk-kefir grain. Read the links I posted above; this drink is amazing.
