Lately I've been pondering over and reading some seriously disturbing articles on the ever-rising price of oil, our dependency on fossil fuels, the shrinking quality of raw foods, and the changing display of available foodstuffs in the grocery store. Two things have especially caught my eye today: Breyers has ceased production of yogurt (gasp!) and there was only 1 flavor of Dannon Yogurt on the shelf - coffee. Now, I heart coffee like many people do, especially Kona coffee which as we all know IS the true nectar of humanity. But coffee yogurt? To me that's like turnip cake, or string bean jello. I'm sure there are some people who thrive on it, but for the rest of us, that's just NOT right.
Anyway, so I did a lil net surfin' and what do I find? Why, you can make yogurt at home in your very own crockpot! Who knew?? The first place I found this was on The Simple Dollar - a blog I follow where I get lots of "do it yourself" advice. This led me to the instructions on A Year of Slow Cooking where there was a bit more detail (to satisfy the overly-analytical side of me). Then I found this totally awesome video on YouTube!
I'm almost to the 2 and 1/2 hour mark in the instructions. I'm going to follow the original recipe using only whole milk and 1/2 cup of starter (plain) yogurt - I'll be leaving off the powdered milk for this batch. We'll see how it ends up later tonight!
Update at 8pm: Peeked at the crockpot - smells like yogurt!!
Update at 11pm: It worked! It isn't as thick as store-bought full-fat yogurt but the taste is MUCH smoother and it's most definitely yogurt! I didn't even cringe at the taste of warm yogurt. It's yummy! It made enough yogurt to fill 2 large yogurt cups and another container. In the morning I'll check to see if it thickened more in the fridge overnight. Best part: WAY cheaper than store bought and NO additives or preservatives. I'm psyched!
Next batch I think I will try adding the powdered milk.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
My Her Strange Addiction
I stumbled onto this television show tonight while channel surfing. Now, I have quirks just like most people do, but this? This is too much. I don't think these are quirks.
No, I take it back. THIS is too much!
It's the 26th day of the month. At least *I* am still pretty much happy and healthy. No toilet paper or laundry soap munching for me! Hope you're having a Happy New Year!
Monday, January 03, 2011
2011 - Day Three
I'm tempted to say, "Another wonderful holiday/vacation ruined by a return to work" but that would be negative, wouldn't it? So instead, I will say, "2011. Day Three. So far, so good!"
After being away from work for so many days (not that many, really. Just more than the normal 2 days per week) it's clear that if I didn't work, I'd be an inactive, crippled blob within a month! It is true that work keeps you active - so there is a positive view on the return to work, 2011.
In the "Trying To Be Happy and Healthy 2011" mode so far I've made a decent stab at it.
Can't ask much more than that on 2011 Day 3! At least the whole "mode" hasn't been chucked aside.
Saturday, January 01, 2011
Happy and Healthy 2011!
Yesterday, New Year's Eve, was my birthday, celebrated in fine style with my son who is home from college for break. Our original plan was to visit Myrtle Beach, SC, but since we didn't have any particular place to go, I decided instead to make it a quiet birthday and take in a movie locally. I picked the Coen Brothers remake of the movie "True Grit." Turned out to be a fine choice indeed. This movie should rightfully get Academy Award nominations for costumes, dialog, and screenplay, as well as an Oscar nod for Jeff Bridges (as Rooster Cogburn) and a nomination for newcomer Hailee Steinfeld (as Mattie Ross). The scenery was breathtaking, and the juxtaposition between the innocent resilience of Mattie Ross and the tarnished competence of US Marshal Rooster Cogburn was riveting. The final product was an enrapturing tale of violence and justice set in the Old West. Recommend this one!
Next we moseyed over to the Texas Roadhouse for a steak dinner. Wow! The place was packed but thanks to call-ahead seating we were at our table in about 20 minutes. We each selected our own Ft. Worth ribeye. They were phenomenal and cooked perfectly - the best steak either of us have had in recent memory. It was a grand dinner and a terrific birthday!
So now here we are in 2011. I didn't make a laundry list of resolutions - never have been one to do so - but I have given some thought to what I would like to achieve this year. I came up with two things: To be happy, and to be healthy. They are simple goals, but all the work is set in the journey to obtain the goals, not in grabbing the final result. So, there you have it. Here's to a 2011 that is both happy and healthy - time to get to work!! Happy New Year!
PS: Yes, I know I slacked in 2010. I was busy!
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