Babystep #16 Homemade yogurt

I made yogurt! And it was very easy! I looked at many recipes. I used this process from Whole Foods Mom on a Budget. I used a half gallon cause that was all that would fit in my crockpot. My adjustment was to use only 2 T of greek yogurt as my starter instead of 1 cup since I had read another recipe that said that 2 T was all you needed and that was all I had. I also used my oven that was still a bit warm after baking a cake to put the entire crockpot inside.

Having a half gallon of yogurt is pretty thrilling. The uses are limitless with smoothies and baking. But I've never just eaten plain yogurt or flavored it myself so I had to learn a bit there. I'm going to get some more frozen fruit to make syrups but in the meantime, I'm using what I have.

My mom gave me a half a box of apples that were starting to turn. I took four apples; peeled, cored and diced. I put a dab of water in a saucepan with them and cooked til they softened. I added some honey and spices. I overdid the spice a bit for the little ones so next time, I'll take theirs out first and then spice it to my tastes.

James gave it a 10 right away and said, "We've had a week of 10's, good food!" How wonderful! We are eating healthier and he believes it's tastier. He can be one of my pickiest eaters so this is awesome!

We've also sliced bananas with it. David ate it that way unsweetened. The bananas added some sweetness but I think we should add a drizzle of honey next time. I broke up my bananas so I could get a bit of banana with each bite but I still had a bit left in my bowl. I had a sweet potato that I was eating with just a pat of butter.  I took a forkful of sweet potato and dipped it into the yogurt. Delicious! So I dumped the rest of the yogurt into my bowl of sweet potato. I think I could do without the butter if I added a couple tablespoons of yogurt.

I'm going to make a goal of a half gallon of yogurt every couple of weeks minimum. It may need to be weekly with the baking for the holidays. Here's a great article about the cost benefits. Here's an article about the health benefits of yogurt. I love that it helps kids grow. Not necessarily a problem that we are dealing with since David will be passing me in height in no time (and I'm taller than average) but it gives me a good feeling to know that this is something that will help make nutrients more available to their bodies.