Making Greek Yogurt!

First off you'll need to make regular yogurt with your fresh raw milk, following the instructions on a previous post:  Homemade Yogurt Recipes and Instructions.   Then before refrigerating, follow the instructions below:

The next part is really quite simple, you just need to find something tight weaved to pour your yogurt through so it can drip and release any excess whey and moisture.  This is what gives the yogurt a nice greekish consistency.  See below:

This is a large flour sack towel, which is quite a bit thicker than cheesecloth, but not too thick for the liquid to pass through, and it also won't leave lint in your food.   You can usually find these at a cooking store, or anywhere you can get canning supplies.   Or you can order them on Amazon.com

This process usually doesn't take more than an hour to hour and a half, at which point I dump the thickened yogurt into a container, and scrape the excess off the towel with a spatula, then put it in the refrigerator to cool and solidify some more.  

You can add fruit, maple syrup, Agave, or any other mix ins you like and get that creamy, rich flavor you get from other store bought greek yogurts, while knowing that yours is much healthier.  Enjoy!

PS, if your'e looking for another great yogurt maker, I recently purchased the Dash Electric Yogurt Maker from Amazon, and it has a mesh strainer included for making greek yogurt!   Love it!

6 Grain Overnight Waffles

6 Grain+ Overnight Waffles by Shelley

This is my own recipe.   I have made some yogurt waffles before, they help to lighten and fluff the waffle.   But I wanted a very healthy recipe with Protein and whole grains.  So after some experimentation, this is what i have come up with.   They are are sweet, tasty, and lighter than a traditional whole grain waffle, while still very filling and hearty.  You could also substitute in a Cup of Regular Rolled Oats for 1 Cup of the cereal, adds yet another grain.

Plus I like that i can start them at night, and they are ready to cook as soon as we wake up in the morning.  This makes a HUGE batch.  Approximately 40+ waffles.   I like to make ahead and freeze. 

I buy the Honeyville 6 Grain Rolled Cereal, available here.  It contains:  Whole Red Wheat Flakes, Whole White Wheat Flakes, Barley Flakes, Oatmeal, Rye Flakes and Sunflower Seeds.

Ingredients:
6 cups uncooked  6 grain Rolled Cereal OR Rolled oats (Not Quick)
6-8 Cups Boiling water
3.5 cups Multi-grain flour or Whole Wheat flour
1/2 C. Coconut Flour 1.5 Cups of Plain or Vanilla Yogurt w/ Live active Cultures
2 T. Vanilla Extract 4 T. Cinnamon
3 t. Nutmeg
2 T. Ginger
5 t. baking powder
2 t. baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 
12 large fresh eggs 
3-5 cups goat milk (We have milking goats at home, you can use any milk you choose, even a non dairy version.)

I always grind my flour at home.   Click here for a tutorial on making your own Multi-grain flour.
Also, spices give such good flavor.  Don't skimp on them!

Directions:
Measure out the 6 grain cereal in LARGE mixing bowl, and add about 6 Cups boiling water.   Cover and let stand for 1-2 hours.  If it is really dry, add more water, just until moist.
Add remaining dry ingredients.

After it has cooled some, or if you need to cool it sooner, (after at least 1/2 hour) add the milk and mix well.  It must be under 100º before adding Yogurt.   Mix in Yogurt and let stand overnight.
In the morning, Add eggs, mix well and its ready to cook.
Preheat a waffle iron and wipe down w/ Coconut oil. Pour the correct portioins of the batter for your specific waffle press and cook until golden. Serve with butter and syrup, or fruit, if desired.

You can also just cook these as pancakes, if you prefer.  I would just thin out the batter first with more milk.

Homemade Yogurt Recipes and Instructions

I have made Homemade yogurt a couple times, and a couple different ways.  I also received a recipe from a FB friend on how she does it.  I will include everything I know and have found out and you can pick what seems like the best way for you to make it.

 First off this part is the same in all the recipes.  You have to heat milk on the stove until it is almost boiling, but not scorched.   You can use whole, 2%, 1% or skim milk, raw or pasteurized, but what you choose will affect the thickness of your final product.   I use fresh goat milk from our backyard farm.  It has a good amount of cream, but still produces a rather thin yogurt.  One thing I've read is that a lot of commercial yogurts have gelatin in them, which I personally don't want to ad, but another way to thicken is to ad Powdered Milk.   (2.5 Cups per gallon of milk)  You do this while its hot so it dissolves well.  Then you have to leave the milk to cool for a while until it reaches about 110-115º F.  Once it has cooled down you can mix in your starter.  There is freeze dried starter available from  Yogourmet at most health food stores, online at Amazon.com or you can just get a container of fresh natural yogurt.  It is best to get plain yogurt with as few ingredients as possible, and make sure it says that it CONTAINS live and active cultures, not just made from them.  Those cultures are what consume the milk and convert it into yogurt.   Also once you have made yogurt, or in my case got some from a friend.  You can save some and use it to culture the next batch.  I've heard this only works for about four or five times before it becomes to strong and sour.

Basic Recipe:
1 Gal. Milk
2.5 C. Powdered Milk (Optional)
4-6 oz. Yogurt, OR 2 packets freeze dried starter
Warmer of choice

   Once the milk is cooled some and the starter is mixed in, its time to "insulate" the yogurt so it can culture at the proper temperature.  There are about 100 different ways you can do this part.  The first time I made it, I used my Excaliber  Food Dehydrator.  It was tall enough once I removed all the trays, to stand up Quart size jars inside.  Then I just set the temperature for 110º and turned it on.  That kept the air around the jars at a steady temperature while the Yogurt was culturing.
     However, since then, I came accross a couple of yogurt machines I decided to try.  One is the "Yogourmet" Multi.  I really like this one because it is simple and straightforward.  It has one large 2 Qt. container that fits inside the main container which you fill with water.  The water bath method keeps the temperature nice and even around the yogurt.  I incubated mine about 7 hours and It worked great!   I also have the YoLife Yogurt maker by Yogourmet.  This one is basically a heated platform you can set several jars on, then it has a cover that goes over them, and it maintains the proper temp as well.  It also comes with a second taller cover for Quart size Jars.

  Also many people use a crockpot for the whole process, from start to finish.  it takes about 2.5 hours to heat the milk to the right temperature, depending on the crockpot. (approx 180º) Watch yours closely the first time and see how long it takes.  Then you have to let it cool several hours to the right temp. (110-115º)  Then simply mix in your starter, and wrap the crockpot in a large towel and let it sit 6-8 hours.  You could also use the water bath  method in the crockpot by pouring the milk into jars and then sitting them in the warm water inside the crockpot.
  The fourth and final way that I know of is using a small to medium cooler, and pouring hot water in the bottom.  After the milk has cooled and you ad the starter you would pour into quart jars or large plastic bowl and put into the hot water in the bottom of the cooler.  Then close the lid, wrap in a towel and let it do its thing for 6-8 hours.
    Once you have your finished Yogurt you can prepare and store it however you like.  Some people like to put sugared & chopped fruit in the bottom of small containers, and spoon the yogurt over the top.  Others will just keep a large container in the fridge plain.  Your plain yogurt also makes an excellent Sour Cream Replacement.