Make it Yourself Monday: Sauerkraut

Reuben anyone?

I did not grow up eating sauerkraut. I think I had graduated from college by the first time I tried it! Talk about an intimidating endeavor! I almost shirked the challenge, but stayed committed for you, dear readers! I also really needed to use up the leftover cabbage from the yummy egg rolls I made. :)

I must have spent 2 or 3 hours pouring over the how-tos on my favorite blogs. They were all equally scary, so I went with the one that looked the coolest - the "no pound" method over at The Nourishing Gourmet. I also stuck a sliced cucumber in the middle a la

I initially used a large glass vase of water as the weight, but after a few days there still wasn't any water rising above the plate (you should read the directions if this sounds foreign), so I replaced it with the stoneware from my crockpot and another big pot on top of that, both filled to the brim.

After a week of my strange towel-covered tower sitting on my countertop, we had sauerkraut and pickles! Voila!

My husband ran off with my camera, so I can't post any photos for you, but they would really be pretty anyway. My cabbage became a little bit discolored - either because of the few days without enough pressure or because of the pickles. Tastes great though! You really should head to The Nourishing Gourmet if you want to see genuinely pretty kraut. :)

Check out this post for an explanation of the different ways to ferment veggies, and this beautiful e-book for recipes.

What have you been making lately that you could easily buy at a store? Make it Yourself Monday is the place to share! Link up below and read the guidelines for more info and inspiration.