Saturday, February 23, 2013

How I made my own Greek Yogurt

Let's start out by saying that for a long time I had never tried Greek yogurt. I loved yogurt - ate it daily, but I didn't want to try Greek because it was so much more expensive!
Then one day I had some - and I learned what I was missing, and became obsessed. BUT Greek yogurt costs 3 times what I was paying for my store-brand regular yogurt! Also, if you want the good stuff (without added gelatin or "protein solids") that is just pure yogurt, you end up paying even more (Chobani or Fage, anyone?) And after a couple of weeks of going over with my grocery budget, I thought there had to be a better way to get my Greek yogurt fix.

So I started googling. I had heard of making homemade yogurt (Eric's dad does it all the time, apparently) but I had never tried it or actually paid attention to what needed to be done.

With the help of a couple of websites:
this one in particular, and this one
I made my very own Greek yogurt (at a fraction of the cost!)

You start out with milk. I used a half gallon, and I used skim. You can use however much you want to, and whatever kind you want to. If you really want rich yogurt, I've even seen people use part cream. Crazy stuff here, people!

The basic recipe is this:
  • 1/2 gallon milk
  • A "starter" = 2 to 3 tablespoons plain yogurt (make sure it contains live, active cultures. I used Greek.)
  • cooking thermometer
  • cheesecloth and a large strainer
First you pour almost all your milk into a large pot on the stovetop and set the temp to medium/high. (Save a couple tablespoons of milk to mix with your yogurt "starter" later.) It is best to use a heavy-bottomed pan or a double-boiler so your milk doesn't burn. If you don't have one of these, any old pot will do - just make sure to stir stir stir! I did not cover my pot because I was stirring. If using a double boiler, you can cover your pot to heat the milk faster. (Some blogs heated the milk in the microwave or in a crockpot if you want to look into that.)

Heat the milk to about 180 degrees F. It helps to have a candy thermometer so you can monitor the temperature exactly.
















 

Once it reaches 180 degrees F, remove the pot from the stove and pour the hot milk into an uncovered glass/ceramic bowl or casserole dish. Let the milk cool to around 110 degrees F (again, this is where having a candy thermometer comes in really handy!) This took about 45 minutes for me.

(I've heard of people speeding up the process by having an ice bath, but it was a snow day and I was in no hurry.)























While the milk is cooling, turn on your oven to as low as it will go. Mine only goes down to 170 degrees F, so I turned it on for a couple of minutes then turned it off. Basically, you are trying to create an atmosphere of around 110 degrees F for a couple of hours for your yogurt to incubate. I turned my oven light on at that point as well.

Then combine the bit of milk you saved with the "starter" yogurt in a small bowl. I used 2 tablespoons. According to many blogs, more is not always better, and too much yogurt starter can give a very sour taste. (blogs had ranges from 2 teaspoons to 1/4 cup, to give a general idea.)


















When your cooling milk reaches around 110 degrees F, add your yogurt starter/milk and stir it in well. At this point I put a lid on my glass bowl, wrapped it in a towel to insulate it, and set it in my *turned off* oven, leaving the light on to keep it at a slightly elevated temperature.


















This incubation part of the process has the most variation across blogs. There are actual yogurt incubaters you can buy that keep it at a very specific temperature. Some people use the oven method. If your oven can actually be set to around 100 degrees F or a "proof" setting, some people leave their ovens on. Some people put it under a heat lamp or use a heating pad. Others put it in a hot water bath in a cooler. Google around and see what works best for you.

I did not check the temperature once my milk was in the warmed oven, and left it to sit for about 8 hours.

When I checked on it after 8 hours, it had turned to yogurt! Success on my first try!
(the time it needs to incubate varies from blog to blog and I'm guessing it also depends on your incubation temperature. I saw everything from 4 hours to 14 hours and a lot of people just leave it overnight. If you check it and it hasn't thickened, try more time. If it got too hot, then you may ave to add more starter because the high temp killed your first active cultures. If the temp is too low, you may have to try again as well as it wasn't warm enough to let the cultures grow. It sounded like you could use the same milk to try again.)























At this point you have yogurt with a top layer of whey (what little miss muffet ate on her tuffet!) If you want normal yogurt, just stir the mixture and refrigerate it, or you can pour off a little of the whey.
For Greek yogurt, refrigerate the yogurt for a couple hours (or overnight) to allow it to fully cool and thicken. Then line a strainer with a couple layers of cheesecloth and place it over a bowl. Put the yogurt into the strainer and let it drain for a couple of hours, until most of the whey is strained off. You may have to stir it a couple of times to get it all strained.



















 Pour out the liquid that has accumulated in the bottom of the bowl underneath. The liquid is whey. It can be used for multiple different cooking purposes (like used as the liquid in making homemade bread) if you should so desire to keep it. You can re-strain at this point if you want even thicker yogurt.


















Put your yogurt into a covered/sealed container. Sources differ, but an average is that it will keep at least a week in the fridge (but mine won't last that long!)

I like to eat my greek yogurt with pureed or chopped berries/fruit and some honey (or my sugar-free torani flavored syrups) to sweeten! I also like to add a couple tablespoons of raw oats or granola.


















Here are some stats for anyone interested:

My 1/2 gallon of milk (8 cups) made 750grams/26 oz or a little over 3 cups of greek yogurt, and yielded almost 4 cups of whey.

I pay about $3.50 for a gallon of skim milk at the store (or even less at Aldis!), so for 1/2 gallon I paid $1.75. Throw in 25 cents to cover the cost of the 2 tablespoon starter and I figure I spent $2.00 total on my 3 cup batch of Greek yogurt (about $0.08 an oz)
Chobani or Fage at my grocery store are about 5 dollars for 16oz (2 cups) or 8 dollars for 32 oz (4 cups). That is almost 6-7 dollars for 3 cups of yogurt ($0.25 an oz)

So I'm saving about 4-5 dollars a batch (or $0.17 an oz). Worth it.
(that is assuming you buy Greek yogurt in the large tubs. If you are buying the individually packaged ones, it will most likely be more expensive and you will save even more money.)

It sounds like a lot of work, and the first time you try it will require more concentration. But the only part that requires actual attentive time is the heating of the milk (and if you did it in the crockpot or microwave it would reduce that even!). Everything else is a lot of less-than-5-minute steps. The actual hands-on time is very low. For me it is very worth it.


Calories and Nutrients:

---227g (1 cup) plain Greek store-bought yogurt: 130-140 calories (0g fat, 9g carbs, 23g protein)

I used 8 cups of skim milk (per cup 80 cal, 0g fat, 11g carbs, 8 g protein) = total 640 cal, 0g fat, 88 carbs, 64 g protein
but I took away 4 cups of whey (per cup 60 cal, 0g fat, 13g carbs, 13 g sugar, 2 g protein) = total 240 cal, 0g fat, 52 g carbs, 8 g protein

So my total batch turned out to be:
400 cal, 0g fat, 36 g carbs, 56 g protein.

If I use the same serving size as above, my Greek yogurt makes 3 servings:

---1 cup of my homemade Greek yogurt: 133 cal (0g fat, 12g carbs, 19 g protein)









Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Christmastime is Here!

I have been a terrible blogger. There are no excuses - I know med students with blogs posting far more often than I! I guess my excuse is that I am not allowed to post information online about my kids and work, so with that being the majority of my days - I have only a few noteworthy things to blog about when I do remember that this exists.

On to my topic - Christmas cookies! I learned from Eric that I have a new family tradition to carry on - make a lot of Christmas cookies! In my house growing up, we had peppernuts and candy canes sitting around always - but other than occasional other baking (normally for a specific event) no other cookies were kept around the house. Eric informed me that in his house and at his grandmas house -  a plentiful plateful of a variety of Christmas cookies was available at all times. Talk about high standards!

So I made a batch of peppernuts. And red and green frosted sugar cookies....and then came to a standstill. I had no other cookie ideas. So last night I perused the internet for ideas. Here is my list of cookies that I want to make in these upcoming weeks:

1. More pfefferneuse. That is, Peppernuts. The ultimate Mennonite Christmas cookie. To get the true experience, they must include anise. This is a point of contention, as the Funks have non-anise peppernuts (can it be a true peppernut without anise? I think not.) Opinions?



2. Fudge. Even though Eric doesn't eat chocolate. Because I LOVE chocolate. And therefore - I love fudge.



3. Decorated Sugar Cookies. Here, I have a lot of options. Check out my favorites:

Melted Snowman Cookies


Decorated snowflake cookies







6. Cherry Chocolate Kiss Cookies


and last but not least:


Do you have a favorite Christmas cookie to recommend?


Sunday, November 6, 2011

I'm a good Mennonite!


Problem #1: Eric does not eat the heels of the bread we buy, and I don't eat sandwich bread often enough to eat them for him.

Problem #2: Eric loves croutons on his salad (which I don't) and store-bought croutons are an expensive habit to keep up.

Solution: Make homemade croutons!


It was easy! I cut up the bread heels into little cubes, tossed them around with a little olive oil, doused them in garlic and onion powder and misc. Italian seasonings and spices, and baked them in the oven until they were slightly brown and crispy. It was super easy. I felt so resourceful.


I have also felt very arsty and resourceful this weekend as I knit one wool scarf (while catching up on my episodes of The Mentalist, The Office, and New Girl) and made a scarf (tutorial here) and fabric flower pins (tutorial here) out of an old t-shirt.

Let me say it again. An old t-shirt. I know, right? Super cheap and thrifty, and super cute! Plus - no sewing involved! (Although I sewed a little. The tutorials call for fabric glue....I found it easier to quickly sew it by hand...)

Pictures are below. They also highlight my new mustard yellow peacoat - a 6 dollar thrift store find! I love it so much. I love the color, love the warmth. I am beginning to realize - I love dressing for cold, and I hate the cold itself. I hate the need to dress in such clothes, but I love the boots, the scarves, the mittens, the hats...the boots....






Sunday, October 16, 2011

Tabor College Homecoming!



Alumni.

I've always connected that word to older people. Gray-haired grandparents coming back to visit their alma mater.

Well, this weekend was my first homecoming as part of the alumni crowd and no longer a student. The big 1. First year back.

It was a little strange to start off with, because it really hasn't been a year since graduation. It hasn't even been a half year. It has been a whole 4 months and 3 weeks since I walked across that stage, and so I just didn't feel very far removed. Especially because I still have friends there. And I've been back for weekend visits.

That being said - I had a blast! It was great to catch up with Tabor friends, from my class and others. And for some reason, Hillsboro still feels like home more than Fresno or Kansas City at this point in my life.

Here are some pictures of the football game and the young alumni reunion!








Saturday evening we went to see the musical Oliver. It was really good. I'll be honest and say it's not my favorite musical in the world (too depressing) but everyone did a really good job. The costuming and make-up was excellent, and a HUGE shout-out to the pit for doing a great job with the music. 

Maybe I'll retire in Hillsboro...

Friday, October 14, 2011

Fall is here! And so Are Pumpkin Spice Latte...Cupcakes!

So I KNOW I always post about cupcakes...so brace yourself for one more post on cupcakes. I had a staff meeting this past week, and I had signed up to bring a dessert. Being the October staff meeting, I wanted to bring something seasonally appropriate and homemade. I came across this blog post on made-from-scratch pumpkin spice latte cupcakes. They sounded so good, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make them. I did, and they turned out wonderful! They are chocolate-free, so Eric can eat them, and definitely very delicious.


For all of you interested, heres the recipe:

Saturday, October 8, 2011

My life is filled with cupcakes

So after the amazing twin gave me some neon food coloring, I couldn't wait to try it out. So I whipped up a batch of half chocolate (for me, of course) and half funfetti (for the husband) cupcakes to decorate. Eric had agreed to help, but he only decorated one and left to watch football. (That's what I get for trying this project on a weekend.)



Soon thereafter, Eric informed me that he had signed "us" up to make cupcakes for a bake sale for a KU kids program. So, with the previous cupcakes not even cold in their graves (or....should I say not yet digested) we set out to make even more cupcakes. This time, the wonderful husband helped out a lot. He helped bake AND decorate half of them. What a guy. And they turned out so well! I was almost late to work the morning we dropped them off because the ladies who were running it could not stop talking about how cute they looked. Mission: accomplished.




PS. These cool-looking flower cupcakes are super easy. You cut mini marshmallows in half diagonally and put them in colored sugar (easily made the night before by putting a drop or two of food coloring in a small plastic bag or container of sugar and mixing it up. Then let it sit out overnight to dry.) The sugar only sticks to the sticky cut ends of the marshmallows, and viola! - you place the marshmallow petals on a freshly-frosted cupcake. We mixed it up a bit by making big and small flowers and using sprinkles to decorate. This is a really impressive yet easy project to whip out to show you know your way around the kitchen. Trust me. And who doesn't like cupcakes!?!

Saturday, September 17, 2011

New Job :)

As some of you might already know, I got a job!! It all happened so quickly - Wednesday late afternoon I got a call, Thursday I was interviewing, Friday I was training, and this week I worked a full week!

I am working at a Preschool in Olathe with a class of 4 and 5 year olds (pre-K). 20 kids. It is not something I thought I would ever be doing, and who knew that teaching piano lessons qualifies as experience?

It is both fun and frustrating. My class has mostly boys, and we all know what that means. I am constantly telling them to keep their hands to themselves, and they are constantly doing just the opposite of that. I have had to deal with blood at least once per day thus far. Kinda crazy. On the other hand, the kids are great. I love seeing them connect things that they are learning.

I come home tired every day, but it's very worth it. And it's a job, which I had been searching for for over a month.

Besides work, some of my last two weeks activities consisted of: making freezer strawberry jam, baking my first loaf of homemade bread, hosting our first get-together for our (fairly) new kansas city friends (mostly med students and their wives), and going to a US women's soccer game at the LiveStrong stadium here in KC with some Tabor friends.





About Me

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Kansas City, KS
Newly married, newly moved, newly blogging...we'll see how this goes!