SUCCESS! Homemade Greek-style yogurt recipe

homemade greek-style yogurt with granola and blackberries

I have no idea why, but for the longest time I’ve avoided making yogurt at home, just something about it *really* intimidated me.  Plus, regular yogurt is pretty affordable, so I just didn’t see the need to rush into try it out.  Lately though, hubby and I have been eating the greek-style yogurt and LOVE it.  It’s so thick and creamy (even the fat-free version), and you can add fruits, jams, flavored syrups, etc…without it getting “runny”.

Sadly, the cost of it is 2-3 times more expensive then normal yogurt, so I decided to buck-up and look for some homemade recipes and stumbled upon this one.  It seemed simple enough, so I decided to try it out a couple nights ago. It turned out thick and creamy, simply FABULOUS and not overly tart!  It’s not difficult to make at all, it just needs time to sit and develop, sort of like waiting for bread to rise, but longer.

I pretty much followed the recipe exactly and suggest starting this about 2 hours before you go to bed, as it needs to sit in the oven for 7-8 hours. Here are some photos and supplemental notes of my first attempt.

double-boiler method

I used the double-boiler method, as burnt milk is horrific!  I took a large metal mixing bowl and placed it on top of a stock pot that had about 2 inches of water in it.  I set the burner temp to med-high and clipped my candy thermometer to the side of the metal bowl.  If you don’t have a candy/digital thermometer, a normal food-grade one will work too.

Once it reached the temp of 180 degrees, I poured it into a large Corningware casserole dish and let it cool down to 110 degrees, just as stated in the original recipe.

I used 2 1/2 TBLS of plain yogurt + 2 TBLS cold milk as my starter.  But before adding it to the 110 degree milk I did ladle in about a 1/2 cup of the hot milk into my starter mix.  My thinking was, if the starter mix is more liquidy it would blend in easier with the rest of the hot milk.

the yogurt after being in the oven for 7.5 hours

I set my oven to 170 degrees, as that’s the lowest it will go.  I used a small bath towel, folded in half (so a double layer), and tucked it tightly around the casserole dish once it was in the oven.  After the yogurt had been in the oven for over an hour, hubby says to me “did you read all of the post comments? The last one was about 3 failed attempts due to the oven temperature not staying warm enough.”  Uuumm…no?!? So I panicked and turned the oven on again to 170, but just for 1 minute!  That probably wasn’t the smartest move, but the yogurt still turned out awesome!

After sitting in the oven overnight it has the consistency of normal plain yogurt.  If this is what you want then the yogurt is done and you just need to drain some of the liquid.  I however wanted the really thick and creamy yogurt, so onto the nest step – cooling & straining.

getting ready to strain the yogurt

I used a large colander placed on top of a large/deep mixing bowl.  After straining for an hour, 2 cups of liquid came out of the yogurt.  I scraped the thicker yogurt off of the cheesecloth and mixed the yogurt up well, then strained for another 1.5 hours, where another 1.5 cups of liquid came out.

This made about 27oz. of greek-style yogurt, so about 5-6 servings and tastes just as good as the store bought version.  As for the cost, 27oz. of store-bought is roughly $5, whereas making it at home will cost roughly $1.60 + 1 yard of cheesecloth (about $1.50/yard).  If you get a nice quality cheesecloth you can rinse and re-use it again!

The AMAZING Cucumber

If you’re a first time gardener, like me, you *might* have made the mistake of planting too many cucumber plants in all of your excitement and anticipation, heh.  Seriously, I’m not one to waste food, but my kids are getting a bit tired of “go eat a salad!” exiting my mouth.  So I looked online for a NON-CANNING version of making pickles, soon to be posted, but I also remember a very interested email my hubby forwarded to me a long time ago, that I just happened to keep!  So if your garden overfloweth with cumbers, try putting a few of these ideas to use…

This information was in The New York Times several weeks ago part of their “Spotlight on the Home” series that highlighted creative and fanciful ways to solve common problems.

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1,Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber.. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and  provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or  to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don’t have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don’t have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don’t have gum or mints?  Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with you> tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a ‘green’ way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won’t leave streaks and won’t harm your fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

Apple Spice Loaf with Coconut and Pecans

I’m not usually a big fan of baked goods with apples in them, but I just HAD to do something with the ones we had in the fridge! We usually love snacking on apples, but somehow we picked up the wrong kind last time we were at the market….the mealy ones. We are definitely a sweet & snappy kind of family, and mealy apples will rot before anyone will eat them. So as I was perusing a blog that I stumbled upon, I saw a post titled Cake for Breakfast? and just had to take a quick peek. My recipe below is adapted from the one in this post.

The recipe is basically for a carrot spice cake baked up in a loaf pan, so I decided to give it a try, only with apples instead. The result? The family likes it a lot, and my daughters softball team keeps asking for more! This was quite surprisingly to me, as I did make it a bit healthier, so it’s not really a “junk food” item. Yes, yes…it’s baked and shaped like a sweet bread, but you can feel good about giving this a snack option to your kids. It is fairly low in sugar, contains fruit and/or veggies (if you are using carrots), whole wheat flour, apple sauce, nuts (good source of fat and protein) and yogurt.  I think this would make a great hostess or house warming gift!

Oh, and don’t let the long list of ingredients scare you, half of them are spices.

Quick tip: to make this more portable and to control portion sizes, try making this in a muffin tin. If you do this, make sure to lessen the baking time! Also, those little snack size apple sauce cups is the perfect amount, so if you have those handy no need to measure it out.

Apple Spice Loaf with Coconut and Pecans:

• 1 cup white flour
• 1 cup wheat flour
• 1 T baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ¼ tsp ground cardamom
• pinch ground nutmeg
• ¼ t baking soda
• ¼ t salt
• ½ c sugar
• 1/3 c brown sugar
• 1/3 c canola oil
• 1/2 cup natural (unsweetened) apple sauce
• 2 large eggs
• ¾ cup plain yogurt
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 cup shredded carrots or diced apples, or a combination of both
• ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)
• 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions:

• Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly spray a 5 x 9 bread pan and set aside.
• Combine the first 9 ingredients into a large mixing bowl and blend well.
• In another bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and blend well.
• Pour the wet mix into the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients, then stir until just blended and nothing is dry anymore.
• Pour the batter into the bread pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the highest part of the read comes out clean (or pretty darn close).
• Take the bread out of the oven and allow it to cool for at least 20-30 minutes before cutting into it.

All Natural Lemonade Drink Syrup

There is just something about spring and summer that has me craving lemonade! My whole family loves fresh lemonade, but sometimes I just feel like taking the effort to make it. So this weekend I hunted for a lemonade syrup that I could make ahead of time, and then just add water to it when the mood strikes. I love the idea of homemade drink syrups, as they are easy to make and I know EXACTLY what’s in it, unlike the powder drink mixes you get at the store.

The homemade version is all natural and you can adjust the recipe easily to your liking, just keep in mind that it won’t keep for more then a week or 2 as there are no preservatives.  The recipe below is for a fairly balanced tasting lemonade, not too sweet and not too tart.  I actually am not sure how much lemonade this will make once you add water too it, and even if I did it would not be accurate for most as we like a bit diluted.

Quick tip: If you make a huge batch or don’t think you can use it all up within a week or 2, freeze it! A great way to do this is to pour the syrup into an ice cube tray, then once they are frozen pop them out and store in a freezer safe plastic bag.  If you don’t have enough lemons on hand, try adding lime juice to the mix!

Lemonade Syrup Recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2/3 cups water
• 2 to 2-1/4 cups fresh lemon juice
• zest from 2 lemons (optional)

Directions:

• In a small pot heat the water until it is simmering.
• Add in the sugar and stir until it is fully dissolved.  Turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool.
• Once the mix is cool add in the lemon juice and zest and stir well.
• Pour mixture into an air-tight container and keep refrigerated.
• To make lemonade: I suggest roughly 2 TBLS of syrup for every 6-8 ounces of water, but again, adjust to your personal preference.

p.s. the picture above is not one that I took personally, but from google’s image files.

Low-Fat Double Chocolate Banana Griddle Cakes (no syrup needed pancakes!)

Sorry it has been so long since my last post life has just been crazy and hectic over here! Plus it’s the dreaded “tax season” and I always leave thing until the last minute *sigh*.

Anyways…I’m a big fan of the chocolate-and-bananas combo and this time around I wanted something that could be whipped up really quick…and by that I mean I want it in my mouth in less then 10 minutes (or pretty darn close to that). Now that’s a pretty tall order for any baked good, as baking time alone is almost always longer then that, unless you are talking about something really tiny or a cookie, neither of which appealed to me at that moment.

So then I got to thinking about the pancakes I make only twice a year, the Stardust Chocolate Pancakes (best chocolate pancakes!), and how the addition of bananas in them would be great! I altered the recipe slightly so that they would be thicker and sturdier then a tradition pancake, as I wanted a HAND HELD snack! This re-invented version is plenty sweet enough on it’s own, so even though it looks like a pancake NO syrup is needed. They come out thick, tender and dense with a *slight* sponge-like texture.  And yes, these will do quite well for when you need a quick “chocolate fix”.

These are fast to whip up, practically “crumb-free”, travel well in lunch bags, and are great hot or cold. Oh, and did I mention these are lowfat?? These will store well in the fridge or freezer, though I promise you they won’t be around for long! My daughter has already asked for more and my husband enjoys them a lot too, even though he’s not a big “baked goods” or chocolate fan, imagine that!

Low-Fat Double Chocolate Banana Griddle Cakes(makes 8-10):

• 2 VERY ripe bananas-mashed
• 1 TBLS cooking oil or melted butter
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 cup flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:

• Turn your burner onto med-low and heat the pan you usually use for making pancakes.
• Meanwhile, combine the mashed bananas, cooking oil and milk in a large bowl.  Mix well and set aside.
• In a different bowl combine the remaining ingredients, making sure to blend well.  Pour the dry mix into the bowl of mashed bananas and stir until entire mix is wet.
• Spray your pan with non-stick spray or melt a small amount of butter onto it.  Spoon out 2 heaping Tablespoons of batter onto the pan, you should be able to make 2-4 at a time depending on the size and shape of your pan.
• Allow them to cook for a few minutes, until the edges start looking a little dry.  Be careful that the heat is not on too high though, as these tend to burn.  **If the edges do burn a little don’t worry, they soften up a bit once they are taken off the heat, so they may still be ok!
• Once the edges start looking a little dry, flip them over.  These will need to be flipped SOONER then you would most pancakes.  So they will still look wet and raw on the top,  but flip them anyways.  Allow them to cook for another 2 minutes or so and then move it to a plate to cool.
• These can be eaten after they have cooled for a few minutes and any leftovers will keep well in the fridge.

Ultra Low-Fat Double Chocolate Banana Muffins that my kids LOVE

I hesitated to put this recipe up, as it’s not the standard fat laden chocolate bomb that most Double Chocolate muffins happen to be. But then again, maybe you’re looking for something a little off the beaten path, and quite honestly this recipe tugs at my heart for 3 reasons.

The first muffins I remember truly loving were the banana chocolate chip ones from the local grocery store. You know, the kind you buy individually for about a buck a piece. My dad used to always get me those, so I have fond memories of that particular flavor, which these totally remind me of.  Then there’s the fact that the ONLY fat in these happen to be the chocolate chips, which obviously you can control how much you put in. Lastly…my kids loved them, even knowing that they were “healthy”.

Now I have to say, the texture of these muffins take on a dramatic change from hot to cold. Fresh from the oven the texture is more reminiscent of traditional muffins, fluffy and soft. When they are cooled they tend to be more spongy and dense, perfect with a glass of milk if you ask me. This is the type of “treat” that is perfect as an after school snack and they are not overly sweet, so you don’t even have to feel guilty about it!

I adapted this recipe from Kittencal’s Extreme 1-Gram Lowfat Banana-Blueberry Muffins found of recipezaar.com. I’m sure the original tastes great, but we’ve never really been fans of fruit muffins or piees, so I changed it up a little suit our tastes.

Ultra Low-Fat Double Chocolate Banana Muffins-makes 7-8 large muffins:

• 1 tsp vinegar+1/4 cup skim milk (or 1/4 fat free plain yogurt or 1/4 cup low fat sour cream)
• 3/4 cups flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 TBLS baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• 3 small ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

• Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line a muffin tin and set aside.
• If you are using the milk and vinegar-combine then in a small bowl, stir, and set aside.
• In a mixing bowl combine all of the dry ingredients (flour thru chocolate chips) and mix well.
• In a separate bowl combine the mashed bananas, sugar, egg and vanilla. Mix well and then add in the milk and stir carefully.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the the mixing bowl with they dry ingredients and mix until everything is just moistened.
• Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 of the way full, this will yield 7-8 large muffins.
• Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick cones out clean.

Hello…can you hear me now?!?

Ugh…the only thing worse then someone not being able to hear me (I swear my family suffers from selective hearing) is me not being able to hear AT ALL!  Last week I was unfortunate enough to get some water lodge in my ear canal and all of of a sudden everything sounded muffled….uh-oh.  So in a slight panic I ran for the bag of q-tips to try and dislodge whatever was causing my lack of hearing, no luck.  I was like this for days…half hearing, talking softly (so my hubby says) which made it hard for others to hear ME, and desperately trying the ear drops to get things cleared up.  Still no luck and I sweatr, but day 3 I was one crabby woman.  You just don’t know how bad a slight impairment can really affect your life until you’re living through it!

Ok…so on day 4 my husband decides to look remedies up on the internet, as it was obvious the ear drops were not helping one bit.  What he learned was this:

• Q-tips are the enemy
• blocked ear passages can take days to clear
• warm water works best (or olive oil, but I didn’t try that)

It is so ironic to me that q-tips of all things make things worse, as most people purchase them specifically to make their hearing *better*.   But thinking about it, it does make sense.  I mean, if your ears are plugged, especially with water, shoving a q-tip in there would only make things worse and jam it in further!  so, what do you do??

Well, for some the over the counter ear drops, like Murine, will work decent, however many people feel it is a bit caustic to your ear canal and make it more sensitive.  I can attest to that, as it did make my inner ear more sensitive and tender, though I wouldn’t say to the point of *hurting* or anything.  Others online have said that using olive oil instead of Murine works well to soften up ear wax, though I haven’t tried that personally.  What i did try though was warm water, which actually worked!  Of course it took a few attempts over a period of a day or so, but the nice thing about water is that it won’t harm your ear and it’s FREE.  Simply use a rubber bulb (the ones for flushing out your ears) to suck up some warm water, then fill the plugged ear with it, making sure to lie still for a few minutes to allow it to work.  Drain the ear and repeat a few more times during the day.  After a few applications like this the wax inside should be fairly softened, so you can try flushing it out with the water bulb  at this point.

Now, to be fair I had already used Murine for 3 days, so i’m sure that contributed at least a little to the success of letting me hear again, but honestly I think it was the warm water application that really did the trick.  I had tried flushing my ear out daily while using the Murine and it never helped, or at least it didn’t seem to!

A Great Site for Low-Carb Recipes & Easy Fruit Dip

I personally think each person, each body, is a little different.  Some do well on a “balanced” way of eating, others do well on “eat whatever I see” way of eating (so jealous of my husband), yet others respond well to controlled portions of protein.  I, on the other hand, find that I do best on a low-carb and low-sugar way of eating.  If I want to be really diligent, I also go as natural as possible, sticking to core/base ingredients and making things from scratch at home, so it is not riddles with preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, starches, and all of the other hidden ingredients that most mass produced foods have.   The low-carb/low-sugar way of eating works well for me in two ways; I actually do lose weight on it AND I am not nearly as lethargic after eating.  I find that when I mix my carbs with proteins I get extremely tired after eating, which is why the Suzanne Somers eating philosophy works really well for me.

So, all that being said, where do I go for inspiring recipes for my meal planning?  Because let’s face it, sometimes low-carb is a bit challenging, especially if you are not very creative.  I personally go to lowcarbfriends.com, which has a TON of recipes on their forum, as well as comments and feedback.  You can even rate the recipes you try.  The other site I go to is basically a “vault” of all the recipes submitted by those who have followed the Suzanne Somers way of eating.  For those of you who are not familiar with her way of eating, it is not necessarily low-carb, but rather not mixing certain foods together and keeping to whole grains and natural foods.  So as you look through the recipes just keep in mind that they are not all “low-carb”, but the vast majority of them are.  In fact, most of my recipes come from here and I love making my own dressings vs. store bought, they just taste so much better!  I’ll have to share a couple with you in another post, as I swear, some days all that gets me thru is a couple good reuben rolls with homemade 1000 island dressing, YUM.

Oh, and if you are looking for an easy fruit dip, give this one a try!  I had it tonight with baked plantain chips (not low-carb I know, but I love them) but it would be good with pretty much any fresh fruit.

Easy Fruit Dip: simply blend together 2 parts cream cheese to 1 part sour cream, then sweeten with splenda or your preferred sweetener to taste.  That’s it!

Low-Carb Salmon Burgers with Citrus Slaw

Salmon Burger with Citrus Cole Slaw

As with any way of eating, there are always a few “Staples” that one has on hand, and for me it is the sauces and veggies.  I never did name the sauce used for my Fish Tacos, but I figured now would be a good time to do so, and I decided to call it Creamy Citrus Dressing, as really that what it is to me and I can’t think of another name.  So for this dish you’ll need the sauce recipe, just click on the Fish Tacos link above, and then the Salmon patties/burgers below, which come together in a snap!

And for those who really don’t like the Creamy Citrus dressing (how could you not?!?) the alternative dressing to this is pretty tasty on the salmon patty itself (and of course with buns for those not low-carbing it), though not sure how it tastes mixed with the slaw.

Low-Carb Salmon Burgers/Patties recipe:

• 1- 7oz. can of skinless and boneless salmon-drained
• 1 Tbls Hellman’s mayo
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• juice of 1 lemon wedge
• a little salt and pepper

Directions:

• Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and blend well.  Don’t worry if it seems a too moist, it will form a crust and dry up a little on the pan.
• Heat a pan over medium heat, add a little olive oil or butter.
• Form the salmon mix into 3-4 patties, just like hamburger patties.  Add them to the pan and cook for a few minutes, until a brown crust forms.  Flip them over and cook until a crust a forms on that side as well.
• Serve on top of cole slaw (shredded cabbage) that has been mixed with the Creamy Citrus dressing.
• Alternative Dressing: mix about 2 Tbls of mayo with 1 tsp of dijon mustard and the juice of 1 lemon wedge.  Mix well and then adjust to your liking.

Back to Lo-Carb and Garlic Mashed Broccoli Recipe

Garlic Mashed Broccoli with Grilled Chicken

Well, I fell off the low-carb bandwagon about a yr ago, so I guess it’s about time I get back on! I was doing so well to, had lost about 30-35 pounds before I got tempted back to the carb-side. It’s a struggle though, as I am the only one in the house that is a low-carber, the others have great metabolisms and can eat anything, or perhaps age just hasn’t caught up to them yet. In any case, I’m going to give it a good effort again! To help things along (for you and me) I’ve made a category section just for low-carb recipes. Now keep in mind, I’m a low-carber, NOT a no-carber! So if you are on an extremely restrictive no-carb diet (which I just can’t imagine for myself), then please adjust the recipes accordingly.

Here’s my philosophy, and really it reflects how I eat and my level of self-control- if I can go 2 meals a day without a bite or 2 of carbs, I’m good to go. A bite or two meaning that I may have a added a little during the cooking process for thickening or flavoring, but not really for the purpose of just eating it (a little flour, cornstarch, french friend onions, etc). If I can go a 3rd meal like this, more power too me, as I know a carb-full meal is usually just around the corner. It can’t be helped, my family loves certain Asian dishes, and it would be almost un-human to eat it without rice or noodles. Plus, as a passionate baker I have to try all the goodies for quality and to adjust recipes etc…so don’t worry, I get my share of carbs! As I go on this journey (yet again) I’ll be sure to post some of the better recipes, the ones I hold onto dearly as they get me by when I’m craving a carb replacement like nothing else.

Below is the recipe I always go to when I need a replacement for mashed potatoes and don’t have cauliflower on hand. Have you ever noticed how expensive fresh cauliflower can be? It’s too bad, as there are TONS of great low-carb recipes using cauliflower that I love…like cauliflower pizza crust, cauliflower lasagna, scalloped cauliflower, mashed cauliflower, cauliflower “potato” salad (my favorite!!), cheesy cauliflower/veggie and bacon soup, ….but I digress.

Garlic Mashed Broccoli Recipe:

• 3 handfuls of fresh Broccoli – approx. 3-4 cups
• 1 Cup Chicken Broth
• 2 Garlic Cloves
• 1 Tbls Sour Cream
• salt and pepper
• Shredded Cheese-optional

Directions:

• Combine the first 3 ingredients in a pot, bring to a simmer and cook until the broccoli is very tender.
• Once the broccoli is done cooking, take the pot off the stove and drain the liquid.
• Mash the broccoli, season with salt , pepper and sour cream and finish mashing. You can add in some cheese if desired.