Homemade Yogurt with Berries and Granola

I have recently started making homemade yogurt and have LOVED IT! My kids are loving it too - my husband and I have yogurt, fresh fruit and granola most mornings, and the kids are enjoying lots of breakfast smoothies with hot oatmeal or fresh muffins. I make lots of yogurt pops too, so that when they ask for ice cream, I can offer a yogurt pop instead. My friend Tyler even posted a great real fruit pop recipe yesterday that I am going to try for the kids.

Making your own yogurt is very frugal and you can use the ingredients that YOU want to use. You control the milk, the starter, the sweetener (if you even want any), and you can add fresh fruit instead of having those little pieces of something that is suppose to be fruit (very questionable).

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Every week or two I make some more granola to add to my yogurt. I love that I can add whatever I want to to it, that I control the sweetener and fats, and that it saves me tons of money for very little work!

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Homemade Granola:

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4 cups Large oats

1 cup Coconut

2 cups Nuts (any nut or seed you like will do- I use almonds or pecans, which are our favorites)

2 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1/4 cup Coconut oil or Vegetable oil

1/2 cup Honey

2 cups Dried fruit (optional, sometimes I will add, but not always)

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine oil and honey and pour over dry ingredients. Mix well, making sure that the oil and honey is well distributed.

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Bake on a large baking tray at 350 F for 10 minutes, stir gently. Bake for an additional 10 - 15 minutes (cooking time will depend on your baking tray), checking every 5 minutes to stir, remove when I light brown. You will want to watch it closely for the last 10 - 15 as dark brown granola does not taste as good.

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Let it sit on the counter to cool for 20 minutes then put in an airtight container.

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Even if you are not totally health conscious all of the time (me), it is nice to have some options for food that is healthy, nourishing, easy and frugal. For more tips and recipe ideas see The Nourishing Gourmet and Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

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Related posts:

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50 Money Saving Tips!
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Healthy and Nutritious Eggs

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Blessings,

Christine

My Adapted Yogurt Recipe

2 L of Homogenized milk
½ cup Skim milk powder (optional, but will help add extra thickness)
½ cup Natural plain yogurt (you only want to see three ingredients: milk, skim milk powder and bacterial cultures – that is it!!)

First things first, you really do need to use homogenized milk, I have had no luck with anything else. We drink 1% so that is what I used at first, I even tried a combination of 1% and cream (as I almost always have both of those ingredients in the house), but alas, that did not turn out as I had hoped either. So now, I just bite the bullet and run out and buy 2L of Homogenized milk every Sunday for yogurt making on Monday (and yes, we go through 2L of yogurt a week). For those of you that cringe at the thought of using such a full fat milk, relax, milk fat is a healthy fat and good for you - a very low fat diet may help you loose weight at first, but will not help you maintain a healthy body weight (I will post more about healthy and unhealthy fats on a later post).

Heat milk in your slow cooker for approximately 3 – 4 hours, until it reaches a temperature of 185 F. How fast it heats will depend on how cold your milk was when you started, how much milk you are using (if you are doubling the recipe), how big your slow cooker is, etc. Mine takes approximately 4 hours as I have a super big slow cooker. The first time you make it, just time how long it takes and make a note, so you know for next time.

Once the milk has reached temperature, let it cool in the pot for approximately 2 hours, until it reaches a temperature of 90 – 120 F (shoot for 110 F). It is important to let it cool down because hot temperatures will kill the bacterial cultures, meaning your yogurt will not “culture”.

Once the milk has reached temperature, remove 1 – 2 cups of milk and add ½ cup of yogurt (do not just pour the yogurt into the entire milk mixture as you want to slowly bring the yogurt up to temperature – not shock it). Stir well and add the yogurt mixture back to the rest of the warm milk, again, stir well.

Pour into glass containers (not plastic) and seal with lids.

Heat water to 100 – 120 F and pour into a small cooler. Place your jars in the cooler, making sure that the warm water covers the majority of the jar, but not over the bottom of the lid. Let sit undisturbed (unopened) and in a warm place for no less than 4 hours, and up to 24 hours (if you let your yogurt incubate for several hours, you will need to remove some of the cool water and add some warm water).

When the time is up, remove jars, wipe down and put in the fridge. The yogurt will need 8 – 10 hours in the fridge to cool before it is ready to eat.

NOTE: To make a vannilla version to this add 2 tsp of vannila and sugar at the cooling milk stage.

So your yogurt did not turn out:

So you made the “yogurt” and it does not look like yogurt, but more like buttermilk. Do not despair and throw it away! I have made lots of batches that haven’t turned out, and although it is frustrating (especially for me!!) to not have things turn out in the kitchen, your runny yogurt still has lots of uses!

- Use your yogurt like buttermilk in any recipe; it is delicious and good for you! Don’t have many recipes? Just ask me, I have a ton!!
- Use your yogurt in smoothies, the nutritional content is still there, and it doesn’t matter how thick your yogurt is when you make a smoothie.
- Make yogurt pops (recipes below)

Most importantly – do not let a batch of runny yogurt stop you from trying again. My first batch turned out so-so, my second batch perfect, my third batch totally runny. Just remember to check your temperature - that seems to be the key!

Happy Yogurt making,
Christine



Recipes
(measurements are approximate – add as you see fit)

Brandon and Jesse’s Favorite Breakfast Smoothie Recipe:
(Note – this is Brandon’s recipe, not mine J )

2 cups Ice
2 cups Yogurt
1 Banana
½ cup Peanut Butter

Blend till smooth.


Tia’s Favorite After School Smoothie Recipe:

2 cups Ice
2 cups Yogurt
1 Banana
Big squirt of Strawberry Flavored Syrup

Blend till smooth.


Justin’s Favorite Yogurt Pops:

1 cup Ice
1 cup Yogurt
1 cup Blueberries (Fresh or Frozen)

Blend till smooth and pour into plastic popsicle containers and freeze.


Tia’s Favorite Yogurt Pops:

2 cups Yogurt
½ cup of Chocolate Flavored Syrup
2 tsp Espresso powder

Mix well and pour into plastic popsicle containers and freeze.

Homemade Yogurt - Not as Scary as I Thought!

I kept on find posts about making your own yogurt and since I LOVE to cook and I LOVE to save money – I thought hey, I could totally make my own yogurt too!

So Tuesday I took the plunge and did it. It was way easier than I thought it would be. It may take hours to be done, but I put in maybe 5 minutes of effort (honest)! I decided to make the recipe from Nourishing Days that I could make in my crock pot, recommended from Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking, who promised that she had made it and it was as easy as 1, 2, 3. I also found a good recipe at The Frugal Girl, which I think looks good as well.

Wednesday morning I uncovered the yogurt that had been culturing away all night and put it in containers. I added strawberries to one container, blueberries to the other container, left one container plain, and put chocolate in the last container (which I then poured into plastic popsicle containers and froze to make yogurt pops for the kids). In my excitement for waiting for the yogurt to get cold, I even decided to make some cinnamon almond granola to sprinkle over top.

So afternoon snack time came and I tried some blueberry yogurt with granola – and it was good! Okay, normally I am not surprised when what I make turns out well (I am actually sort of amazed and grouchy when things don’t turn out like expected – not that I am a gourmet cook or anything, I just have high expectations of things always going well in the kitchen). But this was one recipe that I was leery about, random thoughts kept entering my head…what if it has spoiled and I put in my mouth…what if nothing happens and it just looks like milk…what actually is “live active cultures” and if I don’t know what it is then how do I know I got the right stuff…

The yogurt is not as creamy and thick as I would normally like, but the fact that it costs way less and I know exactly what I put into it (which I deem healthier) makes it taste all the better (yes Tyler I am that FRUGAL, which is not the same thing as cheap!!!)! This morning my eldest son made everyone smoothies with the plain yogurt – peanut butter and banana, his favorite. I think it sounds yucky, but all the kids like it and it was a good and healthy way to start their day.

I am still planning on fooling around with the recipe, like trying whole milk next time to see if it ends up thicker, and maybe making a fruit sauce to add that will add a bit more sweetness on top of some fresh fruit, my rhubarb will be growing soon so I will make sauce for my son Justin who is waiting (not so patiently) so that will also make a nice addition. We will see what I come up with, but if you have any recipes and ideas for me that you already do I would love to hear them!

There are a lot of benefits to making your own yogurt. Some store bought yogurts are heat-treated to increase shelf life, which kills the bacteria and its healthful attributes. Often flavoured yogurts often contain additional ingredients; as well as sugar and fruit, they may contain everything from artificial dyes to preservatives and sweeteners (natural or artificial), to ingredients that enhance flavour. Thickeners or stabilizers such as gelatin are commonly added to create a thicker texture and increase shelf life. While not harmful, thickeners and stabilizers are used instead of more nutritious (and costly) dairy ingredients such as milk powder, which can also thicken yogurt and increase its shelf life.

The health benefit for eating yogurt are abundant. Yogurt is a rich source of calcium, causing strong teeth and gums, further, the calcium works with the live cultures found in yogurt to increase absorption by the bones, which reduces the risk of developing osteoporosis. Calcium also encourages weight loss and weight maintenance. It is the active live cultures that give us such a powerful nutritional punch. These "live cultures" are the good bacteria our bodies need to fight infections and disease. Good bacteria has a lot of health benefits:

- Helps to keep your colon clean and free of wastes, reducing the risk of colon cancer.

- Aids in total digestive health.

- Prevents imbalances in the body’s yeast levels, preventing yeast infections.

- Help you to absorb the nutrients in other foods, further boosting your immune system.

Regardless of whether you buy or make, yogurt should be a staple in your diet. So here is the recipe so if you are brave, frugal and are Passionate about cooking you can give it a try!

Homemade Yogurt

Pour 2 L of milk in your slow cooker and put it on low. Heat on low for 2 ½ hours.

Unplug your slow cooker and let cool in the pot for 3 hours.

Remove between 1 – 2 cups of the warm milk and sir in ½ cup of yogurt with live active cultures (I found one at my local grocery store that was all natural with pro-biotic cultures). Mix well.

Put the mixture in the slow cooker and mix well.

Wrap the entire pot in a blanket or thick towels and let culture over night for 8 – 12 hours.

Store in jars in the fridge. The yogurt will take 6 – 8 hours to become cold and good to eat.

Enjoy!
Christine