Probiotic Lemonade Recipe

Do you remember that whey I told you not to throw away after making homemade yogurt? Here is one of the many uses for it: Probiotic Lemonade. It's a great way to get additional good bacteria in your and your family's tummies and an excellent alternative to things like fruit juice, because it has a lot less sugar.

A few notes: It will seem like a lot of sugar is called for in this recipe at first, but the good bacteria in the whey will eat most of the sugar during the fermenting process. Also, if you do not have enough or any whey, simply grab a carton of yogurt and strain it through a cheese cloth like I describe here.

What you need:

1 cup fresh lemon juice (3-6 lemons)

1/2 cup living whey 

1/4-1/2 cup sugar (organic cane sugar is healthiest, but not essential)

1/2 gallon of filtered water

1/2 gallon sized glass container or jar with lid

Citrus juicer

Knife

Cut and juice lemons. When I bought mine, I picked out the largest lemons I could find since they were priced per lemon and not per pound. I bought 5, but 3 ended up producing just over a cup of juice. It helps if you roll the lemons between your palm and the counter first to loosen them up. I also added a bit of the pulp back into the juice because I'm a fan of citrus pulp in my juices.

I then dissolved a 1/2 cup of sugar into the lemon juice, mixing very well.

Pour the juice and sugar mixture, whey and some filtered water into the glass container. Put lid on and give it a good shake.

Fill the container the rest of the way with water, leaving 1-2 inches head-space at the top. Put the lid on and shake well again.

Set the container in a warm place in your kitchen with a towel covering the bottle. I chose the top of my refrigerator.

Let it sit for 2-5 days. The longer it sits, the tarter it will become. If it's too tart, you can add a little of your preferred sweetener to each glass. If you leave it for 4-5 days, it will most likely become bubbly.

I tasted ours on day 2 and it was tart, but refreshing. I decided to leave it out longer to see if it would get bubbly.

On the evening of day 4, I stuck the bottle in the fridge to chill over night. I could definitely smell the fermentation at that point. In the morning, I poured myself a glass and took a reluctant sip (mind you, this was my first attempt with this recipe too). I was pleasantly surprised! It had a slight fizz and tasted similar to kombucha! I really like it and immediately poured myself a glass to go with my breakfast. Our WAPF diet recommends having something fermented with every meal to help aid in digestions, so this is an easy, tasty way to accomplish that. I will definitely be adding it to my list of regulars!