Kefir Flight and Snack Pairing.

Kefir goes with everything, savory or sweet. You can make most things using kefir: meat marinade, cake, crepes, sauce, add it to a soup or enjoy it straight from a glass.

Kefir is often referred to as the champagne of dairy; it has a slight sweet tang and effervescence. Kefir is a dairy drink made of milk that has been introduced to live and active cultures, which transforms it into something very special. It’s great to keep your gut healthy and happy. Our go to is Lifeway Kefir, which stocks our family and childhood classic flavors along with seasonal favorites.

I was pleasantly surprised by Lifeway with a great selection of new flavors to try. A lactose free line of great flavor combinations that were too delicious to not share with a tray of snacks and the opinion of my eldest gremlin.

The flavors we ran with were:

Pink Dragonfruit

Pistachio Rose Vanilla

Guava Jackfruit.

Although I love cooking with kefir, we enjoy it as a daily drink, usually part of breakfast, after school snack or when you want something tasty that won’t slow you down!As we’re headed toward the holiday break, having snacks on hand is extra important in keeping everyone happy.

To keep things fun and interactive, we sat down and tried several flavors from Lifeway’s new line of lactose free kefir line with adjoining snacks I rustled up in under 15 minutes.

The results: kefir and snacks were all very much appreciated!

Organic Lactose Free Lifeway Kefir:

Pink Dragonfruit

Color: Dreamy Sherbet Pink

Flavor: floral, fruity with a slight tang

Snack pairing:White chocolate dipped persimmon rounds with a sprinkling of pink salt.

How:Select firm fuyu persimmon that have a gentle give and are a nice uniform orange color. Wash and slice into thin rounds.

Melt white chocolate in a double boiler or in 15 second increments in the microwave.

Remove and stir after each round until chocolate is smooth and ready to dip fruit.

Skip adding additional sugar by shaving curls over the rounds and add a sprinkling of pink salt. Together these make for a great snack that satisfies a wandering sweet tooth and curb cravings between meals.

Guava Jackfruit

Color: a creamy light apricot

Flavor: Jackfruit forward with guava finish. What does jackfruit taste like? Something like a mango, pear and banana. What does a guava taste like? A tart overripe floral strawberry and apricot.

Snack pairing:Spicy Maple sweet potato fries with spicy mayo and furikake.

Much easier than it sounds!

My short cut is giving the fresh cut sweet potato fries a round in the microwaves before baking or pan frying. Opt for store bought frozen sweet potato fries as well.

How to:

Peel 2 large sweet potatoes and slice into 3 inch wedges.

Place into microwave safe dish and toss with salt. Microwave for 5 minutes before pan frying for 10 minutes on medium low.

Flip halfway through and add 1 tbsp maple syrup during the final 2 minutes of cooking.

Remove and top with spicy mayonnaise and a sprinkling of furikake.

Pistachio Rose Vanilla

Color: Traditional silky vanilla

Flavor: Unexpected rose infused vanilla with a nutty sweet pistachio finish.

If you are a fan of indian sweets, this one is for you!

Snack Pairing: White chocolate bark with walnuts, crispy beets and apricots.

This one couldn’t be easier!

Melt 16oz of a good quality white chocolate and spread it over parchment or silicone mat.

Toast walnuts, chop dried apricots.

Sprinkle both over the soft chocolate and sprinkle a handful of dried crispy beet crisps.

What are crispy beet strips? They’re beets that have been dried to a crisp and are usually found in the salad selection of your grocery store.

That easy!

They add a crunchy salty earthy bite to everything.The white chocolate is the perfect sweet base for chewy apricots alongside the classic combination of walnuts and beets.