Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Homemade yogurt!!

I will be perfectly honest. I've had a yogurt maker for more than two years (according to my Amazon account) and have just this week started using it. I bought it, full of excitement, dreaming of all of the yummy yogurt I would make with it... and then life happened. I forgot about it with a new baby in the house. I moved, found it, and then had to leave it in storage.

Well, we're HOME! And I unpacked it, read the directions, and made yogurt successfully! Makes me wonder why in the world I waited so long to try it!


All clean and ready to roll!


I bought a yogurt maker with glass jars. I typically don't heat food in plastic- I hate the idea of the chemicals leaching into our food. Glass is a much healthier alternative!


I boiled 42 ounces of organic, 2% milk.


As the milk cooled, I measured out 6 ounces of organic, plain yogurt. I had been meaning to buy some yogurt starter, but this is a perfectly acceptable alternative until it arrives in the mail.


After I mixed the yogurt (starter) into the cooled, boiled milk, I poured it into the 7 glass 6 ounce jars and loaded them into the machine- which simply keeps the yogurt consistently heated!


I set the timer for ten hours, per the directions, and went to sleep :)


I woke up in the morning to fresh, perfect yogurt!

Why are there only 6 when I made 7?
Taste test, of course!


That just excites me!!


Perfect serving of homemade yogurt.
The kids are going to be so excited!


I popped a top on each jar and stuck them in the fridge to chill.


My kids are mildly disappointed at the store when I, still, won't buy cute individual serving sizes of yogurt, snacks, drinks, etc. I hope that this and other efforts I've been making here will excite them. I know little kids love single servings in cute containers. I don't buy them (preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, trash factor, etc.), so I will continue to try to make them- waste free!

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Yum! We make ours in the crockpot... and my kiddos love their homemade yogurt.

I completely agree with you, my kids always want to individual yogurts with all the characters on them and the crap in them. It drives me crazy!

karen said...

Ive been making yoghurt too, it works out to be half the price of bought yoghurt so I cant complain:) Your yoghurt maker sounds realy handy, Ive just been putting it in a glass jar in the esky adding a heatbag now and then If I think of it. Hope your kids enjoy it. I realy like it with some chia seeds and stewed apples or sugarless jam. Yum!

Samantha said...

I had to stop myself from buying a book on amazon for yogurt and cheese making. It is totally something I am interested in and can't wait to actually try!

Your yogurt looks delicious! :)

Beatrice said...

we make yogurt in our dehidrator and it tastes great!

we have it atleast twice a week for breakfast :)

Jaelou said...

Oh man... home made yogurt parfaits with home made granola... sounds amazing...

The store yogurt is AWFUL, bad. Especially ones marketed for kids. It's horrible how people are tricked into thinking they are making a healthy choice for their family by buying yogurt. I will buy plain yogurt low in sugar for EKM occasionally - but homemade yogurt would be a great option.

Dusti said...

Mama Lake, I've heard a lot of people make theirs in the crockpot! I got this contraption because of the cute jars, but I think I will definitely have to try making larger amounts in the crockpot!

Karen, it does end up being really cost efficient! I usually put some granola and preserves or fresh fruit on top of theirs and they eat it right up!

Samantha, I bet you'd be awesome at it! I'm not ready to delve into cheese making yet, but it's on my list of things to try! Let me know if you decide to do it!

Bea, I've never heard of anyone making it in the dehydrator, but that sounds like it would work really well!

Jess, I was just stunned by the ridiculous ingredients in yogurts marketed as healthy- HFCS, petroleum based dyes... it's gag worthy!

Melinda said...

Looks yummy! Thanks for hopping by and for following. I am now following you too. =0)

http://affordingcommoncents.blogspot.com

Amanda Kay said...

I'm a new follower! Thanks for stopping by Organic Homemaking. I just loved this post. I've been wanting to make yogurt for a while...but I'm chicken, haha.

Dusti said...

Melinda, thanks for taking the time to read! :) I'll be checking out your blog in the morning, for sure!

Amanda Kay, I was a big chicken and now I feel like I've wasted so much valuable yogurt making time!! :)

Dana said...

What a neat little machine!! I want to make some yogurt, but your little jars are so darn cute! Do you happen to know the brand of the machine? Or I guess I could do crock pot, but wondering where to get cute jars like that! :0) mmmmm!

Dusti said...

Dana, I was thinking about trying glass baby food jars in the crockpot!

Chelsea said...

I love this idea! My kids love yogurt and I'm starting to make all kinds of things homemade now. This will be on my list next! I also liked your idea of the baby food jars. Extra savings too! :)