Homemade Yogurt

R and I consume a lot of yogurt. So the next logical DIY project seemed to be "Make yogurt" especially after we went on a culinary shopping spree when my uncle was in town and I spotted a yogurt maker.

Here are the results:

Using the Salton YM9 1-Quart Yogurt Maker
manual directions yielded:

• Liquid
• Lumps
• That gross watery stuff on the top of yogurt that everyone pours out

Every yogurt-making read emphasizes that there are a billion different variations on how to perfect yogurt to your taste, so I guess it was good to know that 2% milk, mixed with yogurt starter packets, and incubated for 5 hours was basically what I would imagine drinking cancer would be like.
Using the 101 Cookbooks yogurt recipe yielded:

• Very thick
• Tart
• I mean so thick that it's a terrible combination if you're having problems with your mucus membranes
• Great yogurt

Leave it to my new favorite food blog, Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks...this stuff is good especially when you combine it with the homemade muesli recipe and drizzle it with agave nectar. The difference here? 2% milk, milk powder, and incubation for 9 hours. Now I need to figure out how to get the silky factor in...otherwise YU-UM.

Cooking Crazy

I went wild cooking this weekend, which, as R will tell you, doesn't happen too often.

This came about from:

• My uncle visiting last weekend and buying us a slew of cool, new kitchen tools (his favorite past-time is cooking so this is our key bonding point
• Feeling fat. I just went to the doc and I'm at the heavier end of my fluctuating 10 pound weight spectrum...sure, roll your eyes, but I have to have a limit to what weight I'll tolerate before I let myself get to the point of no return. So now I'm at my limit and it's time to kick things back into gear.
• Discovering SmittenKitchen and 101 Cookbooks: Both are websites with new food ideas (for me, anyway) that are healthy and have great photos of their creations.
  

Recipes we made this weekend included:

• Huevos rancheros (SK): Now i know what to do with all those leftover corn tortillas when we buy them for one night of enchiladas. It's amazing how much the tortilla and a little mild cheddar will take the taste factor up a notch.


• Honey-toasted Fruit Muesli (101): Breakfast is set for the next week or two. R and I got hooked on the muesli/yogurt combo when we lived in Germany and in a way, muesli is muesli, but when it's homemade? You just can't beat that freshness.
  


• Orange Pan-glazed Tempeh (101): This is similar to another recipe we do over shredded cabbage except for the orange part and it's outstanding. We had some wheatberry salad with dried cranberries and shallots to use up and the citrus flavor went nicely with it. I thought it was going to be a bust because I got navel oranges, but when they boiled down, the juice got a lot sweeter. Can't wait to have this one again.


• Amazing Black Bean Brownies (101): I suspect they put the "amazing" part into its name to convince you it's not going to be sick, because who really wants black beans in their brownie? Well now I do! They're way more fudge-like than cake-like, have a heavy coffee taste, and not a hint of bean. I'm thrilled I can get my chocolate fix and not feel guilty because sugar is replaced with agave nectar as well. And btw, agave nectar is going to change my life.


• Miso Soup (101): This was insanely easy. It literally took all of 5 minutes (without soba noodles) to make and was better than your restaurant miso soups. I suspect I'll probably get sick of this one soon because I'll wind up making it as my new easy meal when I don't feel like cooking (i.e., most of the time).