Yogurt, Granola and Almost Burning My House Down

A few months back I decided that I wanted to start making my own yogurt.  A friend of mine had gotten me interested in the idea.  She explained that it was super easy and a lot cheaper and healthier than buying yogurt.  In my mind I thought, “Nasty!”  The idea of making yogurt sounded super gross.  After thinking about it, I knew I had to try it.  We love yogurt in my house and, honestly, up until recently it was something that I could only buy occasionally.  It was such a treat for my son whenever he would get it.  He would take yogurt over candy and ice cream, weird, right?  I love that now he can have as much yogurt that his little heart desires.

I have tried a lot of recipes to find my favorite way to make it.  It is super easy, but there are a ton of ways to do it.  With having my two little ones, working part time, and doing all the other random things I do I needed a fast and easy way! 

The first time I tried to make it I misread a part of the recipe and my yogurt came out like warm milk.  Awesome.  The next time I tried a “Fool Proof Way” that required Milk powder.  This batch tasted good but had a super bizarre texture.  Like sticky.  Are you grossed out yet?  I wanted one that I could do in my crock pot, but I also did not want to keep needing to check the yogurt as it slowly got up to the correct temperature in the crock pot.

After many attempts, I found the easiest and best (for me) way to make yogurt.  I have made this about 7 times now and it has come out perfect every time.  This is saying something because it is so easy that I have actually found time to make it for 7 weeks in a row and have yet to screw it up. 

A lot of recipes for crock pot yogurt will have you wrap your yogurt up in a towel and place it in your oven for the 8-10 hours to trap the warmth.  I did it this way the first few times until I almost burnt my house down.  That will make you rethink the way you do things! 

One morning, I decided to make the yogurt and let it sit in my oven, wrapped in a beach towel, to culture throughout the day. I usually would do it before bed and let it culture through the night.

Come afternoon, I decided to cook something in the oven for lunch.  I got the oven preheating and was starting the family on their lunch, when I started to notice some smoke.  More like A LOT of smoke!  My husband was also in the kitchen when his happened.  I started yelling “Something is smoking! What’s smoking!?”  We checked everything that was cooking on the stove top frantically. Finally, I decided to look in the oven.  I had totally forgotten that I had the yogurt in there!!!!!!

Spoke poured from the oven!  I quickly reached in and grabbed out the flaming towel, ran outside and threw it on our deck.  I thought the fire went out so I went to tend to the oven (and my yogurt).  “Erica, the towel is still on fire!” my husband yelled as he ran outside and started stomping out the remainder of the flames.  Kids crying and everything.

My mom asked me later, “Why didn’t you just throw the towel in the sink that’s right next to the oven?” I don’t know about you, but I don’t think very clearly when there is an open flame in my house that is not supposed to be there.

At least I didn’t burn the deck down just left a burn mark, and guess what! My yogurt still came out perfect!  It didn’t even taste like burnt towel. This is a good recipe. 

Here it is!

Homemade Yogurt

What you need:

-A large pot or sauce pan

-Crockpot

-Towel or hoodie

-Thermometer (optional)

-1/2 cup plain yogurt. This is called your starter.  (Make sure that it has Live Active Cultures. Once you make your first batch just always be sure to save about a half cup for your next batch.)

-1/2 Gallon of Milk. I like to use whole milk and usually organic. The kind of milk you use is up to you.  I just suggest you do not use skim since it is void of a lot of the nutrition milk should have.

1.  Take out your starter and put it on the counter

2.  Turn your empty crock pot on high.

3. Fill up your sink with water and ice cubes.

4.  Pour your milk into your pot and heat it until it just starts to bubble.  185 degrees if you want to use a thermometer. Be sure to give it a stir every so often to keep it from burning on the bottom. I actually like to heat it on high because I lack patience but then obviously this requires more stirring. Up to you.  Just get it to about 185 and don’t burn it ;)

 5.  Turn your crockpot off.

6.  Put the whole pot of milk in the water to cool for about 10-15 minutes.  Make sure that no water gets in your milk!

7. After about 10-15 minutes mix a cup of the milk and your starter (yogurt) in the crock pot.

8. Pour the rest of the milk in.  Stir gently.

9.  Wrap your crock pot in a hoodie (or towel) and put it in your microwave for 8-10 hours.  The longer you leave your milk to culture the tangier your yogurt will be.  You can put it in your oven, (some will do this with the oven light on for a bit extra warmth) but if you burn your house down it is not my fault. J Side note- I have forgotten about my yogurt and left it for around 15 hours and it still came out fine.

All warm and snug in my microwave for the night. J

After the 8-10 hours give it a stir and separate it into whatever container you want your yogurt in and put it in the fridge.  I just discovered that if you do not disturb the yogurt after the 8 hours or so and just stick it in your fridge, it will still get a bit tangier.  Not bad, just tangier J I like to put it in mason jars because everything is prettier in a mason jar.  I also find it convenient but I mostly use mason jars because it’s prettyJ . (update!  Invest in a cheesecloth!! They are like 3 bucks.  After making my yogurt now I strain it all through a cheesecloth placed over a colander over a bowl.  It will take about 4 hours to strain. Just stick it in your fridge and leave it alone. You get wonderful greek yogurt!)

Healthy Granola

All you need is:

 *Oats-at least a couple cups

*Coconut oil- enough to get the amount of oats you want damp

*Honey- about a Tablespoon for every 2 cups of oats

*Dried fruit and nuts (Optional)

*A sprinkle or sea salt (Optional)

Don’t you love how I give recipes?  You probably do if you are not a recipe person. If you are a recipe person and this drives you nuts, then I apologize!

Mix this all together. 

Tip- I like to melt the coconut oil and honey in a mug in the microwave to make it easier to mix in.

Put your granola in a pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Give it a stir every 15 minutes.  Note, the oats will still be a bit soggy when they are done!  They will crunch up as they cool.  I burnt my first two batches not realizing this.  Sprinkle your granola with salt if you want, let it cool, and you’re done!

 I love having a constant supply of yogurt and granola!  Every morning (mostly) we have this for breakfast topped with fruit or honey.  I also put a bunch of cinnamon on mine.

Thanks for reading about my breakfast adventures!  Hope these recipes will serve you well!

Erica