Monday, May 3, 2010

Sunday Picnics

      
     I went for a nice neighborhood run on Sunday. It made me feel like I'm getting my running groove back. I was a little worried it wasn't going to come back after the pregnancy.
     Jonny is mad teething again, which makes for sleepless nights. Apparently, I didn't even realize I was hitting the 4am snooze until 5am....thanks Jonny. Since I have found my running groove, I am not complaining of my missed morning workout. I'll just have to get a quick run in at 3pm. Hopefully, I can dodge the rain that the sky looks to be promising at some point today.
     We had a really nice family day yesterday...a picnic in the park, some pond fishing, and a walk along an Erie Canal trail. We finished with a stop for ice cream on the way home. 

     I made an attempt to make my own yogurt. It didn't come out too badly. It doesn't look as smooth as a store yogurt, but it does taste just as good as the store bought plain yogurt. I brought some with sliced strawberries for lunch today. I make mine with skim milk and I read that adding some dry milk to it, helps with consistency. I'm going to pick some up today and try it with the next batch I make. I don't sweeten mine but you can. I just do the plain because I like to use it to cut the mayo when I make salads, or as a sour cream, or even just sweeten the plain a little with sugar and vanilla to add as a topping to a fruit crumble. I have found so many amazing ways to use Greek yogurt that it really makes sense to start making my own. The store bought variety is expensive! I'm going to try making some yogurt cheese next.


5 comments:

  1. OMG, I'm glad I'm not the only one! I make my own yogurt, too! I strain it to help with the consistency.

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  2. i tried making my own yogurt a few times but it didn't turn out. i was so excited about it too! how did you incubate yours?

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  3. Lillian,
    yes, I did strain it for just a bit. I could strain it longer though.

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  4. Liz,
    I tried the thermos method and for the 2nd batch I used the oven, leaving the oven light on to maintain the appropriate temperature. (I read about both methods online.) Your yogurt probably turned out fine, but it will be a thinner consistency and "look" different from store bought. Store bought yogurt adds pectin or gelatin to make it thicker and give it a smoother consistency than what you'll find with the homemade version. Also- make sure you're getting it to the correct temps during the process. Heat the milk to 185 degrees and then let it cool to 100-115 degrees before adding the yogurt culture. Hotter than that, the culture will die, cooler than that, the culture can't cultivate. :) Good luck with your yogurt making.

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  5. Oh, I also read that if you use skim milk, which I do, to add some dry milk powder to your milk to thicken it up a bit. I didn't do that with the first two batches, but will try it with my next batch. I'll let you know how it turns out!

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