Fermented foods have become quite the star in recent years – the rise of kombucha availability alone has proven that the fermented food movement is here to stay. Jill Ciciarelli, author of First Comes Health & certified life coach, is the fermented-food maven – just look at her baby, the go-to manual for all things fermented. With her book, Fermented: A Four Season Approach to Paleo Probiotic Foods, Jill gives us a season-by-season guide to everything you can ferment.
The benefits to eating fermented foods and beverages are incredible – and we’ve been doing this for CENTURIES. Eating probiotic foods is like sending a massive good-bacteria foot soldiers into your gut to fight the good fight & boost your immune system. From sauerkraut to kombucha to pickles and yogurt – Jill has recipes for all of these and everything in between.
Now, fermentation is a process – so if you’re looking for a quick mid-week homemade kombucha fix, think again. Plan ahead, be attentive and BE PATIENT. If you’ve ever tried to ferment anything, you know you have to be patient. Think of your kitchen as a mad-scientist food lab, and go to town experimenting. Be mindful to keep tabs on your creations & always be careful when opening your ‘booch. No one likes an explosion! See? How exciting! Fermenting your own foods can be like a Mission Impossible movie. And delicious :)
Jill has been nice enough to share one of her recipes from the book – Blueberry-Basil Fizz. Sounds tasty! You can choose to use water kefir or kombucha – which are recipes in the book – but if you’re in a hurry, store bought will do. Fermented will be released on August 6th – pre-order now!

Ingredients
Method
- Put blueberries and basil leaves in a blender or the bowl of a food processor and blend until liquified
- Put through a fine mesh sieve and reserve the liquid
- Divide the infusion between 2 flip-top bottles and add the kombucha
- Seal bottles and let sit at room temperature for 1 to 3 days or up to 5 days
- Refrigerate and use caution when opening bottles
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