Homemade Yogurt and other random stuff

On Monday, my husband was home for Memorial Day. It was so nice to have him home. After almost a year of being unemployed and being able to work at home before that, he now has two part-time jobs. We are very thankful for the employment, but I sure miss having him home.

May 31 is also our anniversary. We have been married 13 years. I'm so thankful that God gave a man to me that I still love after 13 years. We've been through a lot, especially this last year, and we have only grown closer and more in love as a result. I'm truly blessed with a great man.

Lately I've been on a homemade yogurt kick. It is so easy and yummy plus tons cheaper than buying yogurt for 6 people. I had forgotten how easy it was so I hadn't made yogurt for a really long time. The weather in Kansas has been so hot and humid lately having a cold smoothie for breakfast sounded perfect to me. I make yogurt a half gallon at a time. The recipe I have been using can be found here. If you need a smaller recipe, you can find it here. I haven't tried this one, but it looks like it is similar to the one I used.

Measure out 2 quarts (8 cups) of milk. Heat the milk to almost boiling. Then allow the milk to cool to 120º.

Once the milk has cooled to 120º, whisk in a 1/2 c. of yogurt culture. That sounds really fancy, but it's just plain yogurt that has "active cultures". I'm pretty sure almost any plain yogurt you buy at the store would qualify and work fine. After you have made yogurt, you can save a half cup of your own homemade yogurt to work as a starter for the next time you make it.

After whisking in the yogurt, I pour it back into my huge measuring bowl that I measured the milk in, and cover with plastic wrap. Then I put it into my oven with only the light bulb on until it is set. You could also insulate it with towels like the recipe suggests. I think my mom used to put it on top of an electric heating pad. My kitchen has been really hot lately so it doesn't take 4 hours for me (which is what the recipe recommends) so check it occasionally. When it is set, pop it into the refrigerator to chill.

This morning, I took a couple of over-ripe bananas, frozen blueberries, lemon juice, a couple packets of stevia, my homemade yogurt, and a cupful of ice cubes and blended it up for a smoothie. Delish. You can use whatever combination of fruit and juice that you happen to have and that sound good to you. I had hoped we would have some leftovers to freeze into Popsicles, but we didn't.

I might have to make more.