Do you gals like yogurt? I love yogurt! It's another one of those easy to make things that most people don't know about. Another thing they don't know is tat commercial yogurt has gelatin and corn starch and up to 6 teaspoons of suagr other things that just add extra calories that aren't needed!
Did you know you can make 21 6 oz cups of yogurt from 1 gallon of milk? You can also use 1%, 2%,l ow fat or skim but I think whole milk is creamier, but 2% with a bit of powdered milk is just as creamy and has a few less calories you can save for you fruit!
OKay I think most ladies like yogurt so I'm gonna post this so our butts will fit our scooters come spring!
Depending on how much you like yogurt and how many in you house eat will determine how much you'll want to make. It's the same no matter how much it just takes longer the more you make.
ingredients:
Milk
plain unflavored yogurt (I like Dannon)(this will be your starter - once you've made it save a spoonfull for the next batch)
Carnation Powdered milk
Turn on you oven for a few minutes to warm it we want to keep it at about 100 degrees after the prewarm the light bulb will be enough uness you have a really cold ktchen. You may need to remove your racks because this is where the yogurt will be for the next 8 to 24 hours.
Take you milk and set it out at room temperature for about an hour to prewarm it. It won't take as long to heat tha way.
Put the milk (a quart, 1/2 gallon or gallon it doesn't matter) in a pot and bring it to almost to a boil over medium heat. Stir it so it doesn't burn on the bottom. Once it starts bubbling around the edges it's done.
This is to kill any germs or bad bacteria that might have been in the milk. If you have a thermometer it should be about 170 degrees F. If you don't don't worry the bubbles tell all! Add about 1/3 cup of powdered milk and stir mix it in well. Sometimes milk will form a skin when it's boiled - it this happens just skim it off and throw it away.
Now let it cool to about 110 degrees. Still no thermometer? That okay wash your hands and stick your finger in the milk
if you can keep it there and count to ten it's less than 110 degrees.
Put a big heaping tablespoon of plain yogurt in a cup and mix in some of the warm milk to thin it out and mix it well. Now dump this into the warmed milk and mix it in well - that's it!
Now put a cover on the pot and place it in you oven to keep warm. As I said you want ot keep it at about 100 degrees. It will take somewhere between 4 and 8 hours to get creamy. Don't touch it, don't stir it, don't move it, don't do anything but keep it warm for at least 4 hours. Then you can stick a spoon in and see how it's doing but don't mes with it to much. I usually do this after work and I don't even look at it until the next day after work.
Once it's done you can put it in jars or any covered container. I use mason jars because they are clear and I can see what's left.
Okay now for flavors ...
Fruit is most common. You can peel some fresh fruit and throw it in a blender and add honey, sugar or sugar substitutes to add sweetness. You could use frozen fruit, canned fruit, pie filling just about anything as long as it chopped up so you can mix it in. You can add as much or as little as you want. You can add jams, jellies, preserves whaever!
If you like vanilla, add a few drops of vanilla extract. If you like coffee, add a spoonfull of instant coffee to the warm milk. I love mango so when they are in season I make mango jam and add that to my yogurt.
I like to take my vaccuum sealer and make strips of fruit flavors in one tablespoon packets and bring a quart to work with my packets. Whatever I feel like I add that.
I hope you ladies enjoy this as much as I do and by the way the calories are in the fruit not the yogurt!
Oh god, I've been poking around online too long.