How to make yogurt UPDATED

I posted before about how to make yogurt. I have recently changed the way I do it though, so I wanted to share.

In the past I would heat the milk to 180 degrees before cooling to about 110/115 degrees, which is basically pasteurizing it. Pasteurization is a very harmful process (something I plan on sharing more in depth about at some point), and not necessary at all to make yogurt! Here are the few simple steps to make yogurt:

You'll need:

- Raw milk (Goats or cows milk would work, although I have only used cows)

- Glass quart jar (or bigger, if you have it, would work too!)

- Candy thermometer

- A pot

-2 Gallon insulated jug

- Yogurt starter or yogurt from previous batch (I have also used store bought organic plain yogurt as a starter if I ever forgot to save some from a previous batch)

-Towels

Here's how:

1. Pour your milk into whatever sized jar you are using, leaving some head space for expansion.

2. Pour milk into a pot, and on very low heat warm to about 110/115 degrees. Usually takes me about 6 min using 1 quart of milk.

3. Add your starter/yogurt (1 Tbsp yogurt or 1/8 tsp powdered yogurt starter per 1 quart of milk) and stir.

 4. Pour warmed milk into a warmed glass jar and lightly screw on the lid. (I usually just fill the jar with hot water while the milk is heating on the stove, and then empty and dry before adding the milk.)

(I don't have pictures of this last step)

5. Then wrap the jar with towels and place in the insulated jug, placing more towels on top to fill the jug.

6. Leave the jug on the counter or kitchen floor or wherever to culture for 24 hours.

That's it! You will then have super nutritious yummy yogurt. We sweeten ours with honey and add whatever toppings we'd like!

If you are having trouble here are a few tips:

If your yogurt separates into curds and whey

- To warm

-To long culturing

-To much starter

If this happenes DO NOT throw it away. It is still perfectly safe to consume. It won't have the creamy texture, but can still be used nicely to make smoothies or for baking.

If your yogurt is to thin

- To cool

- To little time culturing

- To little starter.

You can also try placing the jar in hot water for a bit at any point (after it has cultured for 24 hours and even if it has been in the fridge) to try and thicken it up. Although most homemade yogurt will tend to be a bit thinner than storebought, I have had some batches turn out super thick.

If you are a big yogurt eater I highly recommend trying to make your own. It is so much more nutritious for you without ANY additives or sugars and way cheaper. Let me know if you give it a try, and if you have any questions!

What to eat, what not to eat: Part 2

I grew up eating the Standard American Diet (SAD).  Like many people today, my mom just didn't realize how bad it was. I, of course, hold nothing against her for it. The food industry and USDA (to name a couple) are just plain devious. They've got everyone fooled. We live in a world where we are surrounded by fake and toxic foods that are advertised as "healthy". We've been duped, you guys.

Even into my married life I continued eating what I thought was perfectly fine "food". 5 years ago now I read a book titled, "Natural Cures They Don't Want You to Know About" by Kevin Trudeau. I actually started looking at the food I was eating, and realized...it wasn't real food at all. Even the meats, breads and dairy that once upon a time were considered real food, are now so processed with so many artificial ingredients/additives that to call it real would be a joke.

Taking the step to eating well is a journey, and really doesn't just happen over night. I may have read that book 5 years ago, but I am still learning new things everyday about what and how we should be eating.

So, I said I would share some steps that can help change your diet for the better, which I will do, but overall it really comes down to just one. I have said it before and will say it again...

EAT REAL FOOD.

Look at the ingredients of what you are buying! What you may think is just plain ol' wheat bread really isn't. Check out these ingredients in a whole grain, 100% wheat bread:

Unbromated Stone Ground 100% Whole Wheat Flour, Unbromated Unbleached Enriched Wheat Flour [Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic Acid], Water, Wheat Gluten, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Yeast, Soy Fiber, Contains 2 Percent or Less of Wheat Bran, Salt, Unsulphured Molasses, Honey, Monoglyceride, Datem (Dough Conditioner), Nonfat Milk (Adds a Trivial Amount of Cholesterol), Potato Flour, Calcium Propionate (to Retard Spoilage), Wheat Germ, Guar Gum, Soy Flour, Enzymes Brown Sugar, Sucralose and Soybean Oil.

Now, try to make that in your kitchen!

Like I said, changing over to eating real food will be a learning process. I'm still not completely where I'd like to be, but here are some of the first changes I personally made towards having a healthier diet.

(If I had the time I would write out my own thoughts on each of these "ingredients", but I just don't. I will instead link to some great articles, written by much more educated people than myself, about each subject.)

Here are 3 things I try my best to not eat:

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)/Corn Syrup/Corn Sugar: This stuff is in everything these days. It's super sweet, super cheap and super bad for you. Here are a couple articles explaining way better than I can about the dangers of HFCS. Here and here.

Hydrogenated Oils/Vegetable Oils (Canola, Soybean, Corn and more). These are toxic poisons! This is an easy to read and understand post about it, and here is a more in depth one.

Soy: This is a huge frustration of mine. That people think eating soy is healthy when in reality it is so terribly awful for you (Unless it is traditionally prepared (fermented). PLEASE read about the dangers of soy! Here and here.

I will leave you with this snippet from Michael Pollans book, In Defense of Food.

In 1960 Americans spent 17.5 percent of their income on food and 5.2 percent…on health care. Since then, those numbers have flipped: Spending on food has fallen to 9.9 percent, while spending on health care has climbed to 16 percent of national income.

I'm not the only weird one

Wow. I can't say enough good things about the Weston A. Price conference I attended over the weekend. It was so refreshing to be around people who didn't look at you funny for bringing your own glass jar of homemade yogurt to eat. In fact, there were even glass jars of yogurt to buy there!

I have known about the Weston A. Price foundation and what they support and believe in for a few years now after reading Sally Fallons book, Nourishing Traditions, and count myself very blessed for that. They have done so much research and have such a passion for sharing it with others, and that passion is contagious. It was just the kick in the pants I needed to get me on fire for providing good quality, nutrient dense food for my family.

And oh the food! The food was delicious! It was so nice being away from home and being able to eat GREAT quality food. Most of the food/ingredients were provided by an Amish farm in PA, who were there as a vendor as well selling all homemade yogurts, kefirs, raw milk butter, raw cheeses, kombucha, raw honey, mayonnaise, fermented pickles, beets, and salsa, muffins/breads and lots of other items. We were given just a lunch on both days, and man did we stuff ourselves! THE Sally Fallon even brought some of her own raw milk blue cheese that her farm in Maryland makes. So yummy!

Parts of it also made me a bit furious as well, to be quite honest. We watched a documentary called Farmageddon. It showed story after story of family farms being raided by the USDA and FBI and local police for the selling of raw milk. You NEED to watch this film. It is on You Tube and if you go to the Farmageddon site it will have a list of other viewing options.

I can't wait to share more of what was discussed! But for now, I need to head into the kitchen and get dinner going.