Homemade Yogurt

My FAVORITE thing to make right now is homemade yogurt. It's cheap. It's easy. It's rewarding making something so delicious!! And I can buy a gallon of milk and use half of it for yogurt and the other half for cereal or whatever else I need it for. As a biologist and scientist, I also love making it because I know exactly what is happening throughout each step of the process and how to prevent things from going wrong! Also, once you make your first batch you don't need to ever buy yogurt again!

Another thing that I'm sure will be very obvious is my love of the site Budget Bytes. Seriously! She has the best recipes. So easy, cheap, and most are quick to make!! Everything I need in my recipes. Almost half of what I make lately is one of her recipes or a similar variation. YUM!

This is her version of yogurt, and I will add my own touches.

Homemade Yogurt (My Way!)

Ingredients

• 6 cups milk (I use 1%. It has enough fat to make a thick enough yogurt, and not too much fat so I can use it in my cereal without being grossed out. I'm weird.)

• ½ cup plain yogurt (must be yogurt with live/active cultures!)

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a full boil and pour the boiling water in a crock pot. Allow it to warm the ceramic and eventually cool to around 115 degrees.
2. Meanwhile, bring 6 cups of milk up to 180 degrees over medium heat (I use the setting between halfway and fully on). Make sure to use a thermometer and stir occasionally to prevent scorching on the bottom of the pot. My milk sticks to the bottom of the pot, but I continue mixing and scraping the bottom, although it's impossible to get it all of. Once it reaches 180 degrees, turn the heat off and allow the milk to cool down to around 110-115 degrees.
3. Once the milk has cooled to below 120 degrees, stir in the plain yogurt. At this time I dump the "cooled" water from the crock pot (the ceramic is warm, but not too warm to kill the "bacteria" in the live yogurt). Once the yogurt is fully mixed in the milk, dump the mixture into the crock pot and put the lid on. Wrap the crock pot with a towel or two to prevent heat from leaving. NOTE: The slow cooker is never turned on during the entire process.
4. Allow the crock pot to incubate over night (8-12 hours). The longer it incubates the tangier and more gelled the yogurt will be. After incubating, dump the yogurt out of the crock pot into storage containers and put it in the refrigerator.
5. If the yogurt is too watery, or not thick enough for your liking there are a few options. The first is to use milk with a higher fat content. Whole milk would work great, I can imagine. The most I've used is 2%. Secondly, to make a more "greek yogurt" I line a colander with several coffee filters, put a large pot under the contraption, dump the yogurt in and let it "drain" in the fridge until it is the consistency you like.  
6. This yogurt should last about a month - but I only keep it in my fridge for two weeks. Therefore, every other Sunday I make more and toss the last batch (if there is anything left!)

Now, this yogurt is not flavored. It is plain yogurt and is SO versatile. I actually enjoy it this way because I use it in place of sour cream. I also enjoy adding my own flavors in day by day to individual servings - berries, honey, cinnamon, bananas, apples, almonds, splenda, a splash of vanilla extract - whatever! It's so delicious!!!!

Last comment: As an alternative to cream cheese (low fat and DELICIOUS!) you can strain the yogurt extra long (2-3 days). This makes a thick, cream cheese-texture substance that can be used on bagels as a low calorie option. Middle Eastern culture calls this "Lebneh" and eats it with olive oil drizzled on tops, olives, zaatar (google it - spice blend, delicious!), and bread.

Anyways! Good luck!!! And be sure to check out Budget Bytes for more amazing recipes like this one!

The Beginning (of the end..)

Well, I can't believe I'm already a month from finishing medical school. I originally started this blog thinking I would write experiences throughout medical school. That obviously did not happen. I had some amazing experiences in medical school, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. The number one thing I have NOT done over the past four year is how to balance life with work. Don't get me wrong, I've balanced my social life quite well. I've visited home, I've seen family, I've developed so many new friendships! However, I haven't learned the basics of being a grown up lady. Here are my top three "basics" I have not yet mastered.

1) How to cook with time and financial restrictions. I can cook... I would even go as far to say I cook pretty well, but you can bet it's going to take me four hours of prep and I'm going to have a huge mess I DO NOT want to clean up after the marathon that was cooking dinner.
2) Keeping up on my laundry. This gets out of control so fast! I have so many clothes, and they all fall into piles on my bedroom floor.
3) Working out and keeping my body healthy. I have always loved working out! However, doing it consistently is another story.

So. Join me on my journey to learn to manage these things in the four months before I start residency! Yikes!!