Yummy goodness

My latest new FAVORITE recipe is Grandma's Granola.  Now, that doesn't seem too impressive (or even a possibility in my friend, Ronda's, opinion..."Can't you buy granola at the store?" she said to me.)  But this is GOOD stuff, the kind of good stuff you CAN'T buy in the store.

This was my first attempt at anything granola and

it

is

good!!!!!

So good, in fact, that I made a batch of Grandma’s Granola (not my grandma by the way…I found the recipe here) and some ridiculously easy yogurt on Saturday and another batch last night.  Read:  my family has eaten 8 cups of granola & 10 cups of yogurt in less than 1 week!  Yeah, it’s THAT good.  And did I mention, easy!?  *If you don’t have all of the granola ingredients in your house…it’s a VERY forgiving recipe!  I used all purpose flour instead of soy, almonds (in my 2nd batch) instead of soy nuts because I was out of them, dates instead of dried cherries, and coconut oil instead of canola or olive.  I’d stick with the canola or olive oil listed though.*

 

“Crock pot” Yogurt

*I’m pretty sure the original recipe came from the book “The Backyard Homestead.”*  I wrote down the recipe on a piece of paper, but didn’t write down where it came from…but I’m pretty sure.  I ended up tweaking it a bit…this is what I came up with.*

2 quarts milk

2/3 c sweeter (sugar/syrup/honey/etc.)

2 T flavoring extract (we use vanilla)

2/3 c powered milk

6 rounded Tablespoons PLAIN yogurt (use organic like Stoneyfield, don’t go the cheap-stuff!!)

Kitchen thermometer, crockpot, jars & lids

Gather jars and place in crockpot (make sure they will all fit. We use 4 pint sized jars, 1 stage 3 baby food jar, and 1 bouillon cube jar in a 5 quart –i think- crockpot. You’ll have about 10 cups of yogurt. If your crockpot won’t hold that much, make only half the recipe or use 2 crockpots.)

1. Pour milk into thick bottomed pan. Scald milk (by heating to 185 degrees on med-high while stirring constantly.)
2. Remove from heat and stir in sweetener (we use 1/3 c sugar & 1/3 c honey.)
3. After dissolving sweetener, stir in extract/spices. *You can add spices like cinnamon (2 teaspoons) if desired.* Then, stir in powdered milk.
4. Let cool to 110 degrees. (If you don’t put this in the freezer, you will be waiting ALL DAY on this stuff to cool.)  When yogurt is almost cool, place jars (without lids on) in crockpot preheat crockpot for about 15 minutes on low.
5. Once yogurt is 110 degrees, stir in plain yogurt (or yogurt culture) and pour into warm jars and put the lids on.
6. Turn off crockpot and place covered containers inside. Cover & wrap in a large towel. Do NOT move the crockpot while yogurt is culturing. Let sit 5-7 hours.
7. Remove from crockpot and chill in fridge.  The yogurt will thicken a bit more after it has cooled.
8. You can add fruit, jam, granola upon serving.

*You may also use a dehydrator/oven to culture yogurt as well. Set the temperature to 100 degrees for 5-6 hours.

My mismatched jars of yogurt about to go in the fridge after “incubating” in the crockpot overnight.  Sadly, the mismatched jars drive me crazy because I like things uniform, but they’re what fits in my crockpot.

TROUBLESHOOTING

*Yogurt won’t thicken

• Starter inactive
• Not enough starter
• Incubating temp too hot/cold (usually too hot)
• Culture moved/stirred while incubating
• Utensils not clean

* Yogurt too thin

• Starter inactive or too old

*Whey separates from yogurt

• Incubated too long
• Moved/stirred while incubating

*Yogurt is too tart

• Yogurt incubated too long

This recipe was my fourth attempt at Crockpot yogurt.  The first (and second) involved using ONLY the Crockpot and it came out all runny and smoothie like (which is ok if you WANT a smoothie, but I wanted yogurt you could eat with a spoon, not a straw.)  I made the “other stuff” twice, just to be sure I hadn’t messed it up somehow, but it was just NOT a fit for us.  THIS recipe, however, IS a fit.  (I’ve made it twice too…just to be safe.)  Wow. 

This is my favorite way to eat it…stirred up with the fantastic granola.  Actually, I use it as “milk” on my granola “cereal.”  YUMMY!!!

Even if it wasn’t REALLY, REALLY good.  It’s incredibly WAY cheaper!!!  I can usually get a gallon of fat free (non—organic) milk on sale for around $3, usually for less.  Earth Fare has been selling their individual Stoneyfield yogurts for $0.80 each.  The other ingredients I keep in my cupboard, so their cost is minimal.  So, I can make 80 ounces of yogurt for less than $3.  OR, I can buy the store brand yogurt on sale 3 for $1 (6 oz containers.)  Equal amounts of yogurt:

$3 crockpot yogurt

$13  store brand yogurt

I might even splurge and go with organic milk (wish I could find raw milk that wasn’t a zillion dollars) next time and STILL come out ahead$$.  Let’s not EVEN begin to compare organic yogurt prices to this!!!!! 

I highly advice you to make some of your own.  :o)

overwhelmed

it’s ridiculous how ADD i am.  how i begin each day with an amazing (i think – doable) “to do” list and end each day with one (two, if i’m lucky) thing crossed off.  sometime i use the excuse that God is changing my priorities/to do list.  but, truthfully, i’m an artist of procrastination/wasting time/browsing-everything-on-the-internet.

today, i’m taking time for my kids in between the errands, baking bread, and gardening that HAS to be done.

i covet your prayers for focus, peace, and most of all to continually let Him transform my desires into His and give me peace.