18 March, 2009

I need me some yogurt and...............McDonalds

My appetite does strange things to me in the first trimester of pregnancy. You always hear health guru's say how your body will tell you what it needs if you listen. I hate to disagree, but if that's true, well then, my body needs cheap hotdogs with white hotdog buns, McDonald's cheapest horse meat hamburgers with a side of vegetable oil soaked french fries, (it's been a VERY long time since i ate there, my kids recoil in horror at the thought)and coke. I'm thinking my body signs are messed up or else my babies have a mind of their own. I also become weak in my self denial. Somehow, while walking through the grocery store, it seems right and holy to pick up a container of Ben and Jerry's ice-cream and it seems absolutely sinful to think of eating salad. And it seems even more right and just to hide this food in the fridge or freezer and eat it while the children are in a deep sleep. Maybe i actually have a spiritual problem disguised as food. Hmmmm, sneaky.

There is one healthy food however, that i absolutely love and haven't got tired of. Yet. Small chunks of apples slathered with homemade vanilla yogurt. Last night i casually placed our last apple on a top shelf of the fridge and this morning while the crew was still upstairs, i enjoyed my small piece of heaven. I felt no guilt, for i was making them pancakes and besides, the baby needs it more than they do. My homemade yogurt, which i made yesterday, turned out fabulous. Thick, smooth, rich and creamy. I had sweetened it with a touch of NuNaturals stevia, the best stevia there is, but just a very little. Sadly, between me and the kids, we ate at least a quart of yogurt, leaving only 2 quarts left. It will never last the weekend, i may have to move it to the downstairs fridge, or perhaps in ice under my bed. To redeem myself, i am going to share my ever so simple recipe for yogurt.

I spend $5.25 for a gallon of raw, organic, grassfed jersey milk and if i use yogurt from a previous batch, that is my total cost for a gallon of delish yogurt. Far cheaper than the cheapest fake stuff from the store and about a million times better for you. Here's the recipe.

HOMEMADE YOGURT:

1 GALLON MILK
3/4 CUP SUGAR (I SKIP OR USE STEVIA)
HEAT MILK TO 180 DEGREES. (I KNOW, YOU'RE BASICALLY PASTEURIZING IT, BUT IT'S WHAT MAKES YOUR YOGURT THICK AND I LIKE THICK YOGURT. )
COOL MILK DOWN TO 110-120 DEGREES
ADD 1 1/2 CUPS YOGURT, WITH LIVE CULTURES, AND STIR WELL. PLACE LID ON AND LET SIT FOR 6-8 HOURS. I SOMETIMES LIKE TO PUT IT IN THE OVEN WITH THE LIGHT ON BUT IT'S NOT NECESSARY. I THEN PLACE IN FRIDGE OVERNIGHT SO IT CAN GET GOOD AND COLD BEFORE DISTURBING IT.
IF YOU WISH, YOU CAN TAKE 1 1/2 CUPS OUT FOR YOUR NEXT BATCH.

That's it. Like all homemade products, it can turn out differently each time, but i've had great success with this recipe. I've tried just heating my milk up to 120 degrees but it simply didn't get thick like we wanted. There's something about the heating process......I guess you could use some gelatin if you wanted so that you're milk would still be raw. I may have to try that. But for now, i think i'm going to go lick my yogurt container out. Would hate to have any probiotics go to waste.

1 comment:

  1. with the last two I gave into all my whims. (I also gained a billion lbs) but this time I can't give into eating taco bell and Mcdonald's cheap cheeseburgers b/c they are not GF... and as you know I would get pretty sick!

    so I guess that's good and bad. I'm sick of not eating wheat (I miss it!!) but I'm glad to not be a billion extra lbs heh...

    but I gave in this week and ate a HUGE bowl of breyers vanilla ice cream. YUM! (of course I was queasy and sick for the net 4 hrs... but you know. a girl has ot give in sometimes!)

    ReplyDelete

Please leave your name (if it is not in your Google ID) so we know who you are. Thanks.