Homemade Yogurt

I'm not a huge milk drinker and so there are times when I have some extra milk around that I need to use up quickly and while I don't love to drink plain milk--I do love yogurt but so much of it is loaded with sugar and the light versions have fake sugar. I just can't stand the taste of aspartame. I read about making homemade Yogurt in French Women Don't get Fat and it is fairly simple to do. It helps to have a candy thermometer, but you can do it without it.

1 half-gallon milk (I used 1% lactose-free milk since I am apparently lactose intolerant now)
2-3 tablespoons plain yogurt (Make sure it says active-live cultures on it)

Pour milk into a sauce pan and heat on low until the temperature reaches between 175-185 degrees F. You do not want the milk to boil so watch it toward the end. You are basically scalding the milk. You will see steam rising up and bubbles along the side.  On my stove this takes about 40 minutes on low heat. Then cool the milk for about 30-40 minutes until it reaches 110-115 degrees F. If you do not have a thermometer you can put your finger in the milk and hold it for ten seconds it is ready. This is amazingly pretty accurate. At this point stir in the yogurt. Then transfer the milk to an insulated container. I use a glass bowl covered with plastic wrap and then wrap the bowl in several dish towels to keep it warm. Turn on the oven for just a minute to take the chill off and then turn it off. Place the bowl in the oven for overnight or 8-12 hours. In the morning you will have yogurt! The longer you leave it the thicker and tangier it will be. It makes about 7 cups.

I really love the flavor of it and it is so smooth and creamy!!  In my experience, it is a little thinner than store bought, but it can be strained with a cheese cloth and a strainer (or in my case a paper towel and a strainer.) Often I leave it as is because it is the perfect consistency to add to smoothies. It is delicious with a little honey or some cut up or pureed fruit. Right now we have lots of left over baby food because my 7th month old takes 5 bites and is finished with table food so I just mix the rest of it into yogurt. Enjoy!

Book Accompaniment- French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano A great read that helps you appreciate quality food with great tips and recipes.

Serving size 1 cup
Calories  128 Fat 2.9g Sugar 14g Protein 9.3g
Note: These numbers come from the milk and yogurt in the recipe and they may be slightly off (especially the sugar) because the cultures eat most of the sugar.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

The inspiration for this recipe comes from King Author's Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread, which looks amazing. I just so happened to have garden fresh zucchini from our CSA so I decided to give it a go. However, my husband won't eat a loaf of bread since he has to cut slices, but he will devour twenty muffins in a couple days. Plus the oven time for muffins is half that of a loaf of bread-so it saves money in the summer to do muffins. I also added some white whole wheat flour because I like to add fiber where I can--you could easily exchange regular whole wheat flour, it will just have a little stronger flavor. These babies are moist and delicious and are so good my husband's been calling them cupcakes instead of muffins.

2 eggs
1/3 c honey
1/2 c oil
1/2 c brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla or cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 c cocoa powder
1 c flour
2/3 c white whole wheat flour
2 c shredded zucchini
1 c semisweet/bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F. Grease Muffin tin pan or use paper muffin cups. In a large bowl, mix eggs, honey, oil, brown sugar, vanilla until it's nice and glossy. Then add salt, baking powder, soda, cocoa powder, flour, white whole wheat flour until well combined. I just used a regular old whisk and it works great. (One day I will get a stand mixer....but it is not this day) Then add the zucchini and chocolate chips. Mix to combine.  Fill Muffin tins with a heaping tablespoon and evenly distribute among tins. Bake at 350 for about 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry.
Makes about 20 muffins.

Serving Size 1 Muffin
Calories  161
Total Fat   8.5g,  Saturated  2g, Polyunsaturated     1.7 g,  Monounsaturated   3.4 g
Cholesterol  19.5mg, Sodium  8.3mg, Potassium   12.3 mg
Total carbs 20 g, Dietary Fiber 1.2 g, Sugars 11.6 g
Protein  2.7 g