Our new favorite food is Kimchee. Kimchee (or Kimchi) is a probiotically fermented blend of mostly cabbage with peppers and other vegetables (almost any kind) that is easy and inexpensive to make and quite expensive to purchase. Kimchee is quite similar to sauerkraut. Use your imagination as recipes for Kimchee seem to vary greatly....have fun!

My least favorite comment about our raw food lifestyle is "it's expensive". I'm sure you've heard me say "it's NOT!". It does take forethought but it's much less expensive than purchasing packaged processed products for each meal you make.

I keep an ample variety of fruits and vegetables in our kitchen and we are able to make almost ANY recipe we find. The following pictorial of Kimchee is an example of stuff we keep in the kitchen on any given day. A Kimchee recipe takes around 45 minutes to make, plus another 4 to 6 days to ferment.  The ingredients cost approximately $10.00 to $12.00, (for about 1 gallon of finished product) it will be eaten for approx. 20 - 30 meals, and the finished product lasts months in the refrigerator! Or you could purchase a quart of organic Kimchee for $25.00. You tell me. Is that more expensive? I know where my ingredients came from (beets and peppers from the garden!), I know exactly what went into my recipe, I put my love and hard work into making the recipe and I get rewarded!

Here's a photo of the ingredients for this particular Kimchee. We've made it several times since these photos and used different ingredients in each recipe. Be creative!


This photo was taken after  shredding everything and then messaging the vegetables. That's where the love comes in. I suggest adding any chili peppers after massaging to protect your hands from the spicy capsaicin oils or your hands could burn for several hours. Learn from our mistake! The only item not pictured is the few tablespoons of Young Coconut Kefir....


It isn't easy to take photos of the finished product in the jar......

I do admit Kimchee does smell pretty funky when you open it after fermentation.....get over it because it tastes wonderful! I never did like sauerkraut before, something must of switched in my taste buds because now, I love it.

Research this wonderful food and you'll find that it is very rich in health benefits.

Here are some links that will give you the history of Kimchee, the health benefits and recipes that we have found and enjoy. Note, Kimchee recipes are never exact, that's why I didn't list one. We have found that you can ferment any vegetable in whatever order you like. The most important part is the amount of salt (not to much, not too little) is used, message the vegetables until they have created a good amount of their own brine, put in warm place to ferment, burp jar and press vegetables so liquid is on top of jar daily (removes air spaces from the fermenting vegetables). That's love!

History of Kimchee - Check out the history of this stuff! It was introduced to Korea in the 1500's!

Health benefits of Kimchee - The article is about the Coconut Kefir we use to start and ferment the Kimchee faster as well as infuse it with further beneficial bacteria. While the Kimchee ferments the probiotics in the kefir will multiply by the millions. Kefir is wonderful to take a shot of with a little lime or lemon squirt first thing in the morning too (Nathan loves it!). Here's the quick list of kefir's benefits.

It completely stops your cravings for sugar. Imagine the benefits of that!

It aids digestion of all foods.

It has a tonifying affect on the intestines, even flattening the abdomen!

It appears to cleanse the liver. In Chinese medicine the liver rules the skin, eyes, and joints. 

Coconut water kefir eases aches and joint pains.

Many people report having a prettier complexion. They experience the brown liver spots on the skin fading away and skin tags, moles, or warts drying up and disappearing. Vision also improves. (Nathan really insists on this!)

It contains high levels of valuable minerals, including potassium, natural sodium, and chloride, which explains why the hair, skin and nails become stronger and have a prettier shine.

It appears to have a beneficial, cleansing effect on the endocrine system (adrenals, thyroid, pituitary, ovaries). Women find that their periods are cleaner and healthier; some who had experienced early menopause have found this important monthly cleansing returning again.

It increases energy and gives you an overall feeling of good health.

Who doesn't need and want each one of those benefits?

More recipes for Kimchee - We love this whole site. The idea of going back to our ancestors and the way they lived and ate is our ideal lifestyle. The pictured Kimchee was loosely based on his. We're waiting for a copy of Abby's book....review soon!

Have you tried making your own Kimchee or cultured vegetables? What's stopping you?