Bread, yogurt, ketchup, sauerkraut, hamburger buns, “Jiffy” corn muffin mix, dresses, pants, placemats, growth-charts, t-shirts, flyers, e-News letters. You name it. If it comes ready-made, then I’m probably trying to do it myself.
I have been baking my own bread for ages, but for over a month now I haven’t bought ANY store bought bread. (I’ll post my fave bread recipe next Tuesday.)
The food stuff is my real obsession right now though. I’ve been working really hard at reducing our grocery budget as well as getting our family to eat healthier. I’m trying to cut out as many processed foods as I can – especially those yucky things like hydrogenated oils and MSG. And I really find it fun to read cookbooks/blogs and anything I can get my hands on regarding cooking and nutrition. I’m loving the Heavenly Homemaker - she taught me how to strain my dairy products.
One of the things our family loves is yogurt and we just go through it like crazy… so I’ve been working with making my own. I still get the kids the occasional “go-gurt” type of thing for on-the-go snacks, but we’ve been really enjoying this crockpot version. And it’s really easy! Just takes a little planning, but almost NO work!
Now that I’m making my own yogurt I’m using it in everything too! We love it for smoothies, to add a creamy richness to salad dressings, and soups. I just discovered putting this plain yogurt into boxed mac ‘n cheese in place of the milk. Oh. My. Goodness. SO GOOD.
If you’re not a big fan of plain yogurt, you’ll find that this version is a little less tangy, and excellent with a little honey. Or google “plain yogurt mix-ins” and you’ll find lots of ideas – and so much less sugar than the store bought kinds!
Enough! Here’s the recipe, try for yourself:
Crockpot Yogurt
Ingredients:
½ gallon of milk (You can use whatever fat % you like. I’m not afraid of fat. I relish fat. I use WHOLE.)
½ cup of PLAIN yogurt with live active cultures
Directions:
Turn your crock pot to low and pour in 1/2 gallon of milk.
Heat on low for 2 hours and 45 minutes. (This is for a 4-5 gallon crockpot. If you have a 2 gallon crockpot then I’m jealous, ‘cuz I broke mine, but you should just cook it for 2 hours and 30 minutes.)
Turn your crock pot off and unplug it. Let the milk cool in the crockpot with the lid on for 3 hours.
After 3 hours, skim off the thin layer of film on top of the milk and discard. Then, remove 1-2 cups of the warmed milk and place in a bowl. To that add 1/2 cup of PLAIN yogurt with live active cultures and mix very well.
Pour the yogurt-milk mixture back into the milk and whisk thoroughly.
Place the cover back on the crock and wrap the entire crock pot in a thick bath towel or two.
Let it culture overnight, 8-12 hours.
In the morning stir yogurt and at this point you can store in glass quart jars or a container of your choice.
OR to make Greek Yogurt (which is just traditional yogurt with some of the whey strained out):
Strain yogurt through cheesecloth suspended at least two inches about a bowl for 3 hours (minimum) to desired thickness. The longer you strain, the thicker your yogurt will be. (You can also save the whey to make fermented vegetables, or other dairy products… but that’s a whole other post and something I’m only just experimenting with.)
(And don't forget to reserve about ½ cup yogurt when you're eating it, so that you can make your next batch of yogurt with it!)
A 1/2 gallon of milk gets me about 2.25 lbs of yogurt. This lasts us about a week.
3 comments:
Heather! I made the yogurt last night! I was so excited to see your post the other day because we probably go through atleast $10 in yogurt a week. I never thought I could so easily make my own. I am having a bowl right now...its good but i need to work on my consistancy. Is yours a bit runny? I'm not sure if I did something wrong or if that's just the way it is. And what kind of yogurt do you use to begin with? I used an all natural plain yogurt made by Dannon but I'm wondering if Stony Field would be better. I have heard it has the most live active cultures. And I am wondering do you make your breads in a bread machine or in the oven? Kreg is so excited about this yogurt idea. I saw dollar signs in his eyes when he was home for lunch! I would love to see you sometime. We need to plan a get together with you, Cari, and me! Stace
The texture does tend to be a bit runnier than the store bought kind, but if you strain it longer, then it will be thicker. It's all about how long you strain it.
Hope to see you soon!
I have always been super scared of making the whole homemade yogurt thing. Don't wanna poison my crew over here.
But the thing is, ALL my friends do it, and you've made it look easy. I might have to give it a whirl.
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