This week I leave you with my yogurt recipe. We use this for breakfast, for smoothies to make mango lassi. All those probiotics are good for you! You can get a fancy yogurt maker to take up space in your cabinet.... or you can just do it the old fashioned way.
You need a clean quart size jar with a lid. Make sure it's very clean, we are growing bacteria after all! Okay, so then you heat not quite a quart of whole milk to 180 degrees, stirring constantly. Let the milk cool to 100 degrees. This is crucial, if the milk is over 100 degrees, it can kill the bacteria that make the yogurt and you'll just have sour soup tomorrow morning! Mix in a half cup of plain yogurt to the jar. I use Stonyfield or Brown Cow myself. Nancy's would be the best, but I can't get it here in the south. Let it sit in a warm place for 8-24 hours. It's done when it looks set. Chill it in the fridge. Voila!
It's a little softer set and more mild than store bought yogurt, but it is very good. They don't recycle much here in the south (at least not in my town) and so I am trying to be very mindful about how much garbage we have to throw out. Those yogurt containers add up quick, so I've been trying to mostly make our own. So far, so good! Be sure to save a 1/2 cup of yogurt from each batch as your "starter" for the next one.
Enjoy :)
Have a lovely weekend!
**Update** I had a few questions about the yogurt, so I'd thought I answer them here just in case.... I use a plastic mason jar lid and screw it on almost all the way, so a little air flow can get in/out. And as far as general temp for the "warm" spot to let it sit, somewhere between 75-100 degrees is perfect (the cooler the temp, the softer the yogurt will be). Also, in the winter months you could use a (warm) hot water bottle and towel and wrap the yogurt up in it, or set it on a heating pad set on low. I know when we lived in Wisconsin, finding a spot that was above 65 degrees in December would have darn near impossible! And since homemade granola goes so well with homemade yogurt........ I'll be posting our favorite granola recipe Monday. ~~See you then :)
