Yogurt!

I've been having another adventure in foods that are easier to make than one would think!

This round: yogurt.

Yogurt is great. It's fermented, so you know there are lots of good bacteria ready to help you digest your food; it's got lots of protein, which is great for vegetarians; it has lots of calcium to keep your legs from breaking when you fall through the deck.

One downside: It's expensive! Seriously, sustainable yogurt is not sustainable for my wallet. It was always a special treat.

No longer! Milk is way cheaper than yogurt! Turn milk into yogurt in a very simple way!

You will need: 1 quart of milk; 1 t yogurt (yeah, it seems silly to need yogurt to start yogurt, but you won't need to buy yogurt again!); 1 pot with a lid; thermometer so you cook the milk to the right temp; towel or oven.

1 - Heat the milk in the pot to 180 degrees. It takes a while but keep an eye on it.
2 - Once the milk is at 180, turn the heat off, or remove from heat until it reaches 120 degrees. While that's cooling, also bring your dollop of yogurt to room temperature. If you're using an oven, heat to the lowest setting for a couple minutes to take the cold out of it.
3 - Once your milk is 180, mix in the yogurt.
4 - Cover your mixture, and wrap it well in the towel and tuck in in a corner, or stick it in the barely warmed oven. Leave the light on in the oven to keep it a little warmer.
5 - Go to work/bed/do something for 8-12 hours. Let the bacteria have a party and ferment in the milk. This is good for you. Keep it in there longer for a tangier taste. I kept mine in there 9 hours and it didn't really have a taste at all.
6 - Stick it in the fridge for at least 4 hours to set it.
7 - You can eat it now. It'll be a little runny, so you have the option to strain it. Put a cheesecloth in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl, and drain it for half an hour, or up to 6 hours in the fridge for Greek yogurt. Or even longer for yogurt cheese.

Just save the whey for something. If I have whey, I use it for mixing in protein shakes or something. If you're into fermenting, apparently it's great stuff for other fermenting uses. It's good for chickens. Or cooking. I'm sure if you're trying to make your own yogurt, you will find a magical way to use the whey if you want, too.

See? Easy!