When I was touring colleges as a high school senior, one of my chief concerns was "is the food good?" and whether or not there was a kitchen, as I love to cook. If you're in college now, you're definitely aware that no matter how good your dining hall's food is, they always put on a show for prospective students. You're also probably broke and not really up for spending money on food from outside of campus dining, no matter how bad it is or how much you love to cook. As someone who loves to cook and hates to spend unneeded money, i've become pretty good at using what I have to make delicious and different food, often for totally free.
Out of all the recipes made from smuggled dining hall ingredients however, making milk kefir is by far my favorite. not only is it practically effortless, its can be completely free for you to make and is actually good for you, too. If you haven't heard of kefir before, its a sort of fermented milk drink that resembles yoghurt and is loaded with probiotics and other vitamins.
Before you let the word "fermented" throw you off, let me assure you that kefir is not some by product of spoiled or rotten milk. You may not realize it, but a lot of the food you consumer is fermented! Kimchi, cheese, yoghurt, and even vinegar and alcohol are all the results of fermentation. If you've only ever heard of probiotics from Jamie Lee Curtis in Activia commercials, let me fill you in. Probiotics are basically "good bacterias" and yeasts thats super good for your gut. They don't just help to keep you regular, they also can help bolster your immune system, which is mostly housed in your gut. Another benefit to kefir is that its practically lactose free as the grains that make the kefir feed off of the lactose in the milk and break it down.
If your school's food is particularly bad or you have a pretty sensitive stomach, you may have encountered a few bouts of food poisoning. Loading up on probiotics can help you reduce the likelihood of getting food poisoning, which is especially great for people who may be studying abroad.
To make kefir you start off with kefir started grains, which you can either get from a friend or online from sites such as Cultures for Health (http://www.culturesforhealth.com) or Etsy. I got mine for free from my grandmother. Then, all you do is put the kefir grains in milk (which can be taken from the dining hall) and cover and let sit on the counter for about 12-24 hours. When the kefir resembles a smooth yoghurt, remove the grains (with a non-metal spoon, as metal damages the grains) and place in new milk! I like to make my kefir in recycled jars, as its super easy to store it afterwards. While I use dairy milk for my kefir, it is possible to make kefir with vegan plant based milks. You can also make water kefir, which is sort of like a probiotic soda drink. its made the same way, but you add sugar and fruit to water along with a different type of kefir grains.
Plain kefir normally tastes like a more taste version of plain yoghurt, so I like to blend mine with fruit and other additives to make smoothies. I take bananas and other fruits from the dining hall as well as things like beets and spinach from the salad bar. I got an immersion blender from the thrift store for $3.00, which is super easy to use right in my dorm room. If your dining hall doesn't always have a wide selection of fruit like mine (we almost never have berries) you can also add jam to your kefir.
Its not often that we come across food thats easy to prepare, totally free, and good for you, so I am so thankful for my kefir!
