DIY Ginger Bug

What is a "Ginger Bug" and how is this healthy?  Two great questions!

What is a Ginger Bug?

From Nourished Kitchen, "A slurry of fermented yeast and sugar water, Ginger Bug captures beneficial microorganisms like wild yeasts and bacteria in the same way that sourdough starter does.  The wild microorganisms, eat away at the sugar in the Ginger Bug, and produce carbon dioxide as a result.  When mixed with a flavored sweet tea, fruit juice or other base, the microorganisms in the ginger bug begin to consume the sugar in the tea or juice, and, as they do, they reproduce and emit carbon dioxide. The result is a fizzy and effervescent, naturally fermented soda that is rich in beneficial bacteria – critical to gut health and immune system function."

Benefits of a Ginger Bug

In the words of Sandor Katz (who has written several books on fermentation): “Fermented foods are alive.  Industrially processed food is dead.”
Here are just a few benefits of fermented foods.

• Fermentation not only preserves nutrients, but breaks them down into more digestible forms.
• Fermentation creates new nutrients; microbial cultures create B vitamins (including folic acid, riboblavin, niacin, etc.).
• Fermentation removes toxins in food.
• Some ferments function as antioxidants, scavenging harmful free radicals from the body.
• Fermented foods are rich in lactobacilli (aka health enhancing probiotics like those found in yogurt); they promote the growth of healthy flora in the intestine which helps with digestion.

DIY Ginger Bug
To get started you'll need:
Fresh, Organic Ginger root
Organic raw sugar/unprocessed organic cane sugar
Glass Jars or large Glass container
Cheesecloth or coffee filter (to use as a lid)
De-clorinated, filtered Water  *Check out our affordable Walter Filter*

Directions:
Equal parts fresh ginger, organic cane sugar, and filtered water.
I used 2 Tablespoons fresh ginger, UNPEELED and grated
2 Tablespoons cane sugar
2 Tablespoons filtered water 
Mix these ingredients in a jar. I just tossed them into the jar, put the lid on, and swirled it around to combine.

Ginger Bug after 24 hours

Each day for 5-7 days, add the same equal parts of these three ingredients to the mixture:

2 Tablespoons fresh, grated ginger

2 Tablespoons cane sugar

2 Tablespoons water

I'll be sharing my daily fermentation updates at Mary's Kitchen.
Stop by and check out some of my recipes.

Equal parts fresh ginger, organic cane sugar, and filtered water
I used approximately 2 Tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 Tablespoons cane sugar
2 Tablespoons filtered water
Mix these ingredients in a jar. I just tossed them into the jar, put the lid on, and swirled it around to combine.
Each day for 5-7 days, add the same equal parts of these three ingredients to the mixture:
2 Tablespoons fresh, grated ginger
2 Tablespoons cane sugar
2 Tablespoons water
- See more at: http://mountainroseblog.com/diy-homemade-ginger-bug-fermented-sodas/#sthash.Lz9XDqRU.dpuf