Fermented Vegetables are Pediatrician Approved

I'm still trying to convince my husband to try my homemade fermented vegetables. He asked me not to feed them to our 2 year old son until I cleared it with his pediatrician. The doctor said that it was perfectly safe--safer than unfiltered raw honey (which is only a concern for babies under 1 year old).   My son isn't a fan of sour things yet.  My husband eats a pickle every day with lunch, so I think I'll convert him eventually.

Today, I learned that fermented vegetables have less sugar than pickled vegetables because the yeast converts the sugars to lactic acid. This is another selling point to use on my diabetic husband. 

My sister-in-law drinks pickle juice since her gall bladder surgery, and she seems open to trying my fermentation liquids.  I don't clearly understand the medicinal use here, but she swears by it.  The probiotic aspect of this product no doubt plays a role in digestion.  I just don't know what losing a gall bladder does to your system or how probiotics help relieve symptoms.

I got a yogurt maker at my neighbor's yard sale--$2.00 and it had never been used.  I was really pleased with the yogurt I was able to make with it--creamy and I can control the tartness by lengthening or shortening the processing time!  I love fruit/yogurt smoothies, so this will be great.  But it only makes 4 little jars at once, which doesn't keep up with my consumption yet.  I need 4 more jars to rotate so I can have 4 in the refrigerator and 4 in the yogurt maker.