SLOW COOKER YOGURT RECIPE

For the past few years, we have made homemade yogurt (to go along with our homemade granola), each week. 

Up until last week, we followed a recipe that had vastly ranging results.  Some batches would turn out wonderfully and others would be more drinkable than spoon-able.  Other downfalls of that recipe: it worked best with whole milk (hello, fat!) and we also had better success when we added gelatin.  The problem with adding gelatin was that it would largely fall to the bottom of the batch and make the bottom inch or two less than appetizing.  We threw that part out. 

Still, we liked being able to control the ingredients in our yogurt (read: organic) and to do so for significantly less money than buying a gallon's worth of organic yogurt from the store. 

Last week, I decided it was time to try something new. And it worked beautifully!

We have followed this recipe twice now and the yogurt has been wonderful.  It is a good (normal yogurt) consistency.  We have used 2% milk with success.  And, we can eat the entire batch, since there is no added gelatin.  For $5-$6 we get an entire gallon of organic yogurt.  That's my kind of deal. 

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Here's the process that has been working for us:

Pour approximately half a gallon milk into your slow cooker. 

Turn the heat setting to "high." 

Set your starter yogurt (1/2 - 1 cup of yogurt with live and active culture) on the countertop to come to room temperature.

Monitor the temperature of the milk until it reaches 180 degrees.  (It takes my slow cooker between an hour and a half and two hours to bring the milk to this temperature.)

Turn the slow cooker off.  Remove the lid. 

Monitor the temperature of the milk until it gets down to 130 degrees.  (This seems to take about 30 minutes.)

Combine starter yogurt and approximately one cup of warmed milk in a separate bowl. 

Pour milk/yogurt into slow cooker and whisk until thoroughly combined.

Place the lid back on the slow cooker.  Turn the heat setting to "warm."  Wrap the entire slow cooker in a bath towel to help insulate the milk/yogurt. 

After 15 minutes, unplug the slow cooker.  Leave the towel in place. 

Let sit on the counter top for 8 hours. 

Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours. 

Enjoy! 

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So far, I have been using a traditional meat thermometer.  But, I just ordered a digital thermometer that will give an audible alarm when the milk reaches a set temperature.  This means I won't have to do quite as much babysitting as I do now.

Hooray for DIY success and for inexpensive, organic yogurt. 

PREGNANCY CRAVINGS

Greek salad = my biggest pregnancy craving

Thankfully, salads are easy to  make, a suitable addition to most every meal and easy to pack for lunches at work.

I am quite content with the very basic "recipe" of hearts of romaine lettuce, feta cheese, Kalamata olives and Greek salad dressing.  When I have them on hand, I add grilled chicken and cucumbers.  If it came down to it, I'd be quite content just eating the olives and lettuce with a little extra olive juice for dressing.  Those olives just make my day. 

I have always been a big fan of breakfast and this pregnancy is working well in the regard.  I have been particularly hungry in the mornings and easily full in the evenings.  After my typical breakfast at 6am, I generally have a second breakfast around nine or ten.  Recently, that second breakfast has been a Greek salad.  I realize this is not (at all) a typical breakfast food choice, but it has been totally hitting the spot. 

Other things that I have been craving:  buffalo chicken wings and anything sweet.  Since those things are less than ideal for my health, I've been trying to focus on the salads.  So far, so good...except for the times when we have chocolate ice cream in our freezer. 

And then there's macaroni and cheese.  Right now, I can (and will) blame that desire on pregnancy.  But, it pretty much exists at all points of my life - pregnant or not. 

OH, BREAKFAST

Mmm.  Breakfast. I'm a fan. In fact, I often eat two breakfasts (like a Hobbit).

I was thinking of writing about my favorite breakfast, but I couldn't narrow down the choices to a true favorite.  My most common breakfast consists of homemade yogurt (we use a crock pot recipe and make up a batch every five or six days), homemade granola, a sliced banana and a few semi-sweet chocolate chips.  Occasionally I will use berries or an apple instead of a banana. 

Other common "breakfasty" type breakfasts that I particularly enjoy:  pancakes with bananas and chocolate chips, eggs over easy, toast, hash browns, bagels, my mother-in-law's coffee cake. 

I've been eating everything bagels with veggie cream cheese a lot recently.  Yum. 

I have long been known to eat nontraditional breakfast foods for breakfast.  Chicken noodle soup, spaghetti, casserole, pizza, mashed potatoes.  I like leftovers and I'm not too picky.  My grandma used to make me mashed potatoes every time I visited her.  One time we got to her house late in the evening and were leaving before lunch the next day.  She whipped me up a special batch of breakfast mashed potatoes.  Is that grandma love or what? 

The concoction above is like a lovely little dessert that I occasionally call breakfast.  It consists of a tortilla, peanut butter, honey, chocolate chips and a banana.  I wrap it up like a burrito to eat it. 

And the ideal place to eat my breakfast?  On the front porch or the deck.  Sitting outside somehow makes it taste even better. 

EASY GRANOLA RECIPE

I make this granola recipe at least once a week.  Brian eats this with yogurt and a banana for breakfast, every day.  I eat this with yogurt, a banana and chocolate chips on the days that I don't work.  Sometimes we buy berries to add to the mix. 

It is quick, easy and yummy. 

This is a base recipe and could easily be added to with any number of ingredients.  Personally, I think adding some almond flavoring and sunflower seeds would be wonderful.

Please note:  I don't actually measure any of my ingredients.  (I kind of hate measuring things, which is why I don't bake.)  The measurements listed above represent my best guesses of the amounts that I usually use.