Homemade Greek Style Yogurt

So a few months ago I discovered Greek yogurt. Oh my gosh, I was in heaven, so thick and yummy, low fat and a ton a protein to boot, but EEK, the price was ridiculous. I did find it at Trader Joe's for $2.79 for 16oz which was an okay deal. After about a month of buying it, I figure there has got to be a way to make this on my own, so where did I go...you bet, Youtube. Don't you just love youtube, it has everything! I watched a few videos and thought okay I can do this and so started my venture in make my own much cheaper greek style yogurt.

The first time I made yogurt I used a medium size cooler, you can also use a crock-pot.  Now I use a big electric turkey fryer, I replaced the oil with water and it works fabulous, keeps just the right temperature I need.

Items I use to make my yogurt; 1 gallon 1% milk (you could use whatever % you like), big pot,  electric fryer filled with water, thermometer,  and some already make plain yogurt (live cultures)

I first start my electric fryer heating my water to 120 degrees

 Then I pour my milk into big pot and heat over medium to medium/high heat stirring constantly so it doesn't burn  (then it would be wasted.) Heat it to approx. 180 degrees, you do not want it to boil.  Remove from stove.

After it reaches 180 degrees you want to remove it from the stove and cool it down to approx. 120 degrees. I do this by putting it in an ice bath. It take about 15 minutes this way.

After it has cooled to 120 degrees add already made plain yogurt. You can also use store bought plain yogurt if you don't already have some made. Mix this throughly. You want to make sure it is cooled down so that you don't kill the live cultures.

Pour into jars and place in water heated to 120 degrees. If using a cooler or crock-pot check out youtube for those directions.

I cover with lid and place a towel on it. I usually leave mine sit overnight at least 12 hours, depending how tart/sour you want your yogurt. The longer it sits the more sour it will be.

This is what it looks like in the morning. Some whey on top and it is gelatin like, pulls away from the side when tilted. Now you could just mix it well and there you have regular yogurt. But I like mine thick and creamy, so I drain the whey that is on top, mix it well and then pour it into this...

a colandar on top of a big pot with an old clean t-shirt placed on top like cheesecloth.

This is what it looks like poured straight from the jars. I then cover it and let it drain until it is the consistence that I like, for me about 2-3 hours. You could drain it longer and make yogurt cheese (similar to cream cheese)

This is what it looks like after 2-3 hours. Nice and thick! You are left with a lot of whey in the bottom of the pan, but that is another post in itself...what to do with the whey?

1 gallon of milk makes this....about 48oz. of thick yummy Greek style yogurt.  Cost me $1.99, much cheaper than $2.79 for 16oz.

I like eating mine with a little honey and walnuts. Sometimes I use vanilla stevia and it's just as good. Other options are: preserves, fresh fruit, granola the list is endless. 

Enjoy!

Baking Sugar Cookies with my boys

The snow started falling on Wednesday and so no school! I decided it was a good day for baking. The boys and I made up some sugar cookie dough with frosting sprinkles and all.

Grandma Katie's Povitica

While reading my monthly subscription to Family Fun I saw a picture of some bread, I was so excited because I knew that it was povitica. I quickly turn to the recipe and sure enough it was.
You see my Great Grandmother Katie use to make this for the holidays. My sister Deanna and I have made it a couple of time over the past few years, but it always seemed to be quite challenging. Grandma Katie’s way of making it was that you rolled the whole batch of dough (enough to make 4/5 regular loaves of bread) over the entire kitchen table and tried your best to spread it as thin as you possibly could without tearing it. Then you would spread the yummy nut filling across the whole kitchen table that had the dough on it and then do your best to roll it all up like you would cinnamon rolls, again without tearing it. As you can see this became an almost impossible task.
When my sister came to visit I showed her the recipe and she said yes, it seemed like the recipe, but Grandma Katie’s used ½ -n- ½ instead of milk. No this isn’t a lowfat kind of bread.
I decided to give it a try one day, and I was surprisingly amazed it wasn’t all that hard, when you don’t roll all the dough out at once. Now, why we didn’t try this earlier when attempting to make it with my sister I am not sure, maybe because we wanted to make it just like Grandma Katie? I ended up making 4 loaves and I must say they are quite tasty. I am going to make some more when a couple of days before Christmas so they will be fresh.