Making Yogurt

Before I even start, let me tell you – you don’t have to have a yogurt maker to make yogurt! Yogurt is VERY easy to make. No long list of ingredients or steps to follow. 2-3 ingredients and heat, stir, pour, incubate. That’s it.

I haven’t done it in a while – since we went off “real”/cow’s milk. (I haven’t tried it with the alternative milks yet. Soy milk* is said to work well. Update: I’ve now made raw goat’s milk yogurt. Click for instructions.) I had an individual yogurt maker in the past and for several years used the yogurt making kit that goes with my dehydrator. (It’s time to pull it out and try our own soy yogurt.)

If you don’t have a yogurt maker and want to make yogurt, here are some other sources you can use to hold the right temp. I’ve used them all in the past when I didn’t have a maker.

You need:

Milk (raw, store bought, powdered milk mixed to proper proportions, or soy) about 4 cups (but you can make as much or little as you want.) Heat, in a heavy saucepan over low heat, to a bit under a boil. (Be careful not to scorch it!) Then cool to 115°. My old candy thermometer didn’t go low enough, my new one does. I’ve used a fish aquarium floating thermometer for this and my sourdoughs.

Optional, for “thickening power”. Homemade yogurt is sometimes a little thinner than store bought, more like European yogurt. –

Powdered Milk. You can add extra powdered milk for a firmer yogurt – either regular powdered milk, or soy. I’ve heard that with the “other” starter, linked below, you don’t need to add this. If you do add it, add 1/2 – 1 c. per 1 qt. of milk before heating milk.

Or agar agar powder – dissolve 1 tsp in 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil (watch closely) add to milk.

Live Yogurt Cultures. Stir into the milk AFTER it has cooled to 115° or you’ll kill them! –

From either a Yogurt Starter – I’ve used Yogourmet, I’ve heard of another one that is good for a thicker yogurt. Use the amount listed on the package.

Or from Plain Yogurt with *live, active* cultures. Use 2-4 Tbl. plain yogurt for 1 qt. of milk.

Pour yogurt mixture into perfectly clean containers. (A good way is to pour boiling water into washed and rinsed containers, then empty them.) Small glass jelly jars make a good individual size, or pint or quart jars are fine. My yogurt maker came with small plastic containers with lids.

Incubate – You want a steady temp of 95-115°. Use your thermometer to check that it maintains this temp.

It will take anywhere from 3-9 or so hours for your yogurt to set up. Test it by tilting the jar a bit. Refrigerate as soon as it is set.

Here are some ways you can incubate your yogurt without a yogurt maker:

Pour milk/culture mixture that’s at 115° (or just slightly lower) into an insulated thermos and wrap with a thick towel.

Or place a folded towel on top of a heating pad turned onto low and place yogurt containers on top of it and cover with another towel. Or put containers in a covered box on top of the heating pad.

Or in a box (or styrofoam cooler) with a small light bulb in it. ( I built one of these – cooler with light bulb – for my sourdoughs.)

Or in a gas oven (turned off) with a pilot light.

Or in a ceramic crock, wrapped in a blanket, or placed in an insulated cooler.

Or place containers in a water bath in an electric skillet or slow cooker/crock pot on low. If you do this be sure to test it out with a thermometer in a jar of water (instead of yogurt) to make sure it holds the correct temperature over that length of time. I have not found newer crock pots to hold the proper temp. My newer one, on keep warm setting, still needed the lid off to maintain a temp of 115-120. Also water (of proper temp) needed to be added several times, since it evaporates with the lid off.

Or any other place you can keep a steady proper temp. This is the key thing, find a place that you can test out to make sure it holds the required temp steadily.

My fave place in my dehydrator that has a thermostat control. I can set it at 105-110° and know it is going to stay right there the whole time. But I’ve also had good results with a heating pad on low with a thick (double layer) towel between it and the jars and another towel thrown over it all.

What can you do with your yogurt? (Stir in any additions after the yogurt has incubated.)

You can eat it plain.

You can sweeten or flavor it – with fresh fruit, or fruit only spreads, or honey or agave nectar or vanilla or maple syrup, etc.

You can make awesome smoothies with it and fresh or frozen fruit.

You can make “ice cream” (frozen yogurt) with it.

You can use it in place of buttermilk in recipes. Just stir it to thin it a bit.

You can use it in breads – especially good in sourdough types.

You can use it in place of sour cream or even creme cheese. Put it in cheesecloth and pull up the corners of the cloth and hang over a bowl or the sink to drain/drip overnight. This will make a thicker yogurt, perfect as a substitute for either of these, depending on how thick you get it. Use this on baked potatoes, in dips and dressings, and other recipes.

*Note: Homemade soy milk will need a “sugar” of some type added to it for the culture to feed off of in order to set up. Honey and maple syrup won’t work. (Since I haven’t made this yet, I’m not sure yet what I will use.)

(See update on Making Soy Yogurt)

 

Want more help for yogurt making? Get our dirt-cheap Freedom & Simplicity™ Guide to Yogurt Making.

For Me and My House ~ At Jesus’ feet,
Lisa @ Me and My House ~ Discipleship for Life!
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Fill ‘er Up

This wasn’t the first time I’ve heard people say they or their children are always hungry when following a raw/ Good for You – Naturally!™ lifestyle of eating. I heard this comment again recently, so perhaps you too are wondering. How can you keep from being hungry all the time when eating this way?

1) Eat when you’re hungry! When eating G.O.D. (God’s Original Diet)™ foods, remember He said, “You may freely eat.” These foods digest easier and you may feel hungry sooner than when eating “other” (non-) foods. Also remember 3 meals a day is a cultural thing. Our bodies do better on 5-6 smaller meals per day. So, if you’re eating Good for You – Naturally!™ foods, eat when you’re hungry.

2) Drink more water. Are you drinking what your body needs? That’s drinking, every day, 1/2 oz. pure water for every pound you weigh. Many times we think we’re hungry when really we are just thirsty. Try drinking a glass of pure water and waiting a bit before eating, if you’re “continually” hungry. Those “hunger pangs” may have just been from thirst.

3) Eat more fiber rich foods. Fresh juices and fruits won’t stay with you as long as most fresh vegetables, (as well as the more concentrated foods below.)

4) Eat more higher concentrated foods. Nuts and whole grains are more concentrated, and will fill you up even longer. Increase your amount of nuts and seeds, (and even whole grains and starchy vegetables,  if you tolerate them well and don’t have health problems.) Avocado is higher in good fats than most plant foods and more filling also. Other good oils you can use are virgin, raw coconut oil and olive oil.

There are 4 easy ways to keep from being hungry. Eat more vegetables, and eat more concentrated foods if you need to. But most of all, eat when you are truly hungry. Let your children eat when they are truly hungry. Teach them how to recognize the difference between true  hunger, thirst, and just plain boredom, (the reason most people eat.)

Day 4

Day 4 of  30 Days to Wellness is on dietary fiber. You know, that "roughage" found in whole plant foods that helps sweep and mop your digestive system, ridding it of toxins and carcinogens.

You can subscribe to the Free 30 Days To Wellness Educational Program by clicking that link, and scrolling down the page there and clicking on the "Subscribe Now" link.  Each of the 30 days, you will receive a short email providing you with helpful health information. Each article contains a one-click unsubscribe link and your privacy is guaranteed.

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Deceptive Foods

This week I’ve been talking to the children about just how harmful deceptive foods are. Proverbs 23:2 tells us we are not to desire the "rich man’s" food; that it is deceptive.

This is a true picture of the standard diet of Americans and most other westernized (American patterned) societies. We truly desire the foods that look good, taste good but are harming our bodies, rather than the cheap, plain, staple foods. I call these harmful "foods" non-foods, as they don’t fit the definition of "food – something we consume that nourishes, maintains and promotes the growth of the body." These deceptive, non-foods do not nourish, do not promote maintenance or growth of the body, but rather harm and tear down the health of the body.

Anyhow, it’s hard for the small children – and most Americans, in our microwave mentally society – to see that something is harmful or killing people if the effects aren’t readily seen right away.

What we sow will be reaped, don’t be deceived. But as every farmer knows, planting time is not harvest time. Yet what you plant will surely, in the fullness of time, come to fruition. You will reap a harvest. If you plant non-foods that don’t promote health, you will not reap health at harvest time. You will, over time reap a harvest of bad health. If you "plant" real foods, that truly nourish the body,  it may take some time before you see the results of noticeably changed health. But it will be growing in you. "Planting" foods that nourish rather than non-foods that poison our bodies, makes a big difference in how our bodies operate and hold up. We do reap what we sow, don’t be deceived.

When thou sittest to eat with a ruler [a rich man, the affluent – like Americans – including yourself], consider diligently what is before thee: And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite [if you see it or think it, you want it, you’ll have it]. Be not desirous of his dainties [processed, refined, rich foods]: for they are deceitful food. Proverbs 23:1-3

For Me and My House ~ At Jesus’ feet,
Lisa @ Me and My House ~ Discipleship for Life!
1 Thessalonians 5:23
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Day 3

Short comment on 30 Days to Wellness, a series of 30 short informational emails. See info below to subscribe to them from Wholefood Farmacy.

I’m at Day 3. It tells of new research on whole grains, and why they are so important. So far, so good. 🙂

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30 Days to Wellness

Is it proper to begin a post with a disclaimer? Here’s mine. My readers – of anything I write or speak on – know that I rarely promote or even mention anything that I have not thoroughly checked out myself – or at least skimmed through it and also gotten a very high recommendation from some one I thoroughly trust who has completed used the information themselves.

If you’ve read this blog for even a short while you know that it is only recently that I have come across Whole Food Farmacy, because they are now producing a food product that we have used for years and love. Well, so far I’ve loved and agreed with what I have seen from them. But I don’t know ALL of their nutritional and health philosophy.

They are coming out with a new program, 30 Days to Wellness. It is a Free email educational program. You will receive a short (about 1 minute) email daily for 30 days, with health and wellness information. I don’t know what all will be included, and if my reading and research will concur with all of it. But here are some topics they plan to cover:

  • How to reduce your risk of heart attack by over 50% using plain water
  • How a woman can reduce her risk of heart attack by up to 92%
  • Which spices can reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s disease
  • Which spices can lower your blood sugar and cholesterol levels
  • Which foods fight cancer
  • About a simple activity that can boost your immune system every day
  • …… and much, much more!

So, don’t hold me liable if anything flakey comes through. If I strongly disagree with something, I will no doubt make a comment on it here.

I can comment on the first one – Yes, drinking more plain (I’d add pure!) water is extremely Good for You – Naturally!

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The Scales

I’ve probably been on the scale more times in the last 24 hours than in any one year of my life. I’m not a scale watcher. Never have been. I’ve never had a weight problem, and have always taken off my post baby weight, after all of my 11 full-term pregnancies, within the first year – except this last one.

After this last pregnancy, my "right-arm" in the kitchen, (our 4th daughter,) got married, leaving us 6 pre-teen children at home. I had become highly dependent on this daughter who loved to cook, shop, and plan our meals. Things slipped. Things were allowed in the house and into our bodies that had been gone for many years. But more so, I lost the care when ordering when we were out to eat.

Once more I was hooked on sugar, drinking an occasional pop, and eating meat when we went out to eat. And that last 7-10 pounds, and tummy roll, hung on tight. I knew as soon as it disgusted me bad enough I’d do what I needed to about it. I wasn’t too motivated, as everyone else still thought I "looked great for having had 13 children", and trim compared to everyone else.

But that isn’t the standard I’m to live by. I knew I wasn’t stewarding my body well, and that as I get older all those "little foxes" were going to "spoil the vineyard". I needed to get back to eating Good for You – Naturally! to preserve my health. I have many more years of child training and teaching to go, and I want to feel good and be in health to do it. God is in control, but I must also do what I know is right.

So about 3 weeks ago I decided. No more. I considered starting with a fast, but for whatever reason did not. I just cut out the junk and upped my amounts of rawGood for You – Naturally! foods.

I’m to the point where I am feeling better. The temptations are not very tempting. I passed by the birthday cake for our 16 yo dd with no regrets. I ordered water with lemon at the restaurant with no second thoughts. I took my own snack and a water bottle to the ladies’ cooking party. I know how addicting especially the sugar can be to me. I don’t want to go back.

So, yesterday as I was picking up the bathroom, I pulled out the scale. I wondered if there was any difference yet. I stepped on. I read. I got off, back on, and read. I got off again, readjusted the dial to make sure it was on 0 and read again. I moved it to another room, readjusted the dial, and read again. I have not only lost the 7 pounds I’d hoped for, but a full 10, putting me a few pounds below my target weight. And I haven’t even gone on the cleansing fast yet!

This morning I got up and thought, "I’ve got to check again. Surely the scale was off." But no, it is true. Just by cutting all junk and meat, and increasing my raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, I have lost every bit of that remaining post baby weight.

An added bonus to feeling good and cheerful – which are the most positive bonuses. This isn’t a weight loss "diet". It is a Freedom & Simplicity™ Lifestyle of Eating. A way of life for health.

All praise to Him who gives grace to do what is right – even for our bodies. As I told a friend a few weeks ago, for me to not eat the junk, is all grace. I (like probably most of you) have no will-power.  I need God’s grace to enable and sustain me. So Thank You God and may Your grace continue mightily in me day by day, as I steward this body You’ve given me, for Your Glory.

Stay tuned for a special announcement that may be of help to you – tomorrow. Perhaps you want to subscribe to this blog so it will come to your email box, in case you forget to check here.

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Breaking the Fast

You may have never thought of it in this way, but we fast everyday  – from the time we go to sleep each night until the time we wake up each morning. Some may fast longer, by not eating a "mid-night snack" or perhaps skipping break-fast. But everyone of us fasts for at least a few hours each day.

Our bodies use this time to "clean house". They expend the energy, that we aren’t having to devote to other activities, to clean as much junk and waste out as possible. While you are sleeping, your body is busy sweeping and de-junking the "house" you live in. In the morning it’ll be ready for all that "trash" to be taken out.

The best way you can do that is with pure water. If we don’t get the pure water in to flush the "trash" out, and we shift gears using our energies to go about our daily business, all that trash will just get scattered about the house again – I mean reabsorbed into our body’s cells. 

In this month’s Me and My House musings newsletter I expanded on this need for drinking plenty of pure water further, but here I want to talk about what we can do to break our fast, to help our body continue this process.

The best way we can continue to transport the "old piled up junk" out of our bodies, (after we’ve drank at least one big glass of water, preferably with fresh lemon juice in it,) while still providing nourishment and energy that we need for the day, is to eat (or drink!) fresh fruit. Fresh fruits are very cleansing, and will help that process of cleaning our bodies.

In Good for You – Naturally! we recommend fresh fruit all morning, and possibly even into lunch – nothing but fresh fruit. Your first fresh fruit of the day can ideally come in the form of fresh, raw fruit juice, that is juice that you have extracted from fresh, whole, raw fruits. This will provide many nutrients that your body needs in a concentrated form, and help your body continue to "clean house", as well as provide energy to get you going for the day, and not start using your energy for the day in digesting food.

This is the best break-fast you can have.

Try it! Your body will LOVE it!

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Lisa’s Homemade Tomato Soup

This recipe fits under the “comfort foods” category. It isn’t a living food, It isn’t a junk food. It’s just part of the 15-25% cooked, wholefoods category that can be included, if we are relatively healthy, for our “comfort” if we so desire. It’s a Soup again. We serve this with a large raw veggie tray, and usually a few homemade or whole wheat Good for You ingredients graham crackers.

Anyhow, here’s our recipe:

1 qt. tomato juice (if using canned, make sure there are no other ingredients.)

Heat 3 cups, reserve 1 cup in a shaker.

In the shaker add with the 1 cup tomato juice, and shake well:

1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. honey
1/2 t. salt

When tomato juice in the pan comes to a boil, whisk in the contents of the shaker. Cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring often.

Optional: Stir in 1 Tbl. real butter.

Serve.

If you have 48 oz. canned tomato juice, just increase the other ingredient by half. (3/8 c. flour and honey, 3/4 t. salt, 1.5 Tbl. butter)

Enjoy!

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