Easy Homemade Yogurt

I am ambivalent to the taste of store-bought yogurt.  It's OK, but it doesn't do a whole lot for my taste buds.  And since I have had kids and started watching sugar content, I have discovered that the stuff that tastes good is loaded with sugar.  Liberte (one of the best commercial yogurt brands out there) Plum Walnut  has 22g of sugar per 175g serving.  That's 4.5 tsp of sugar in 2/3 of a cup of yogurt!  In fact, most flavoured yogurts are high in sugar.  That's why they taste so good!  If it weren't for the good bacteria in them, yogurt would be about equal to ice cream in healthiness.  And no one in my family likes it plain.  So I don't buy it anymore.  I make it. 

Last year I told an acquaintance that I made my own yogurt.  She looked at me as if I'd grown 2 heads and called me "Little Miss Martha Stewart".  (I haven't forgotten that one... I am not little, I am not Miss, and I can't stand Martha Stewart.)  The truth of the matter is, there is no mystery to making yogurt.  In fact, it is really very easy.  And extremely rewarding. 

 

I made a batch last night.  Half of it has been eaten by hungry growing children (and my husband).  They gobble it.  My husband eats it plain, the kids eat it with a drop of maple syrup or vanilla and honey, and I eat it warm.  WARM!  Who would have thought to eat yogurt warm!  You would be surprised at how rich, creamy and homey fresh yogurt is straight out of the oven.  It doesn't need ANYTHING.  No sugar, no berries, just a spoon in the jar, and you're set.  Of course, if you want it firm and cold you can do that too.  Store-bought yogurt cannot compare to homemade yogurt.  It's like comparing apples to oranges.  Dogs to cats.  Or Martha Stewart to David Suzuki. 

All you need to make yogurt is a yogurt starter, (which can be as simple as 2 Tbsp. plain yogurt or else Yogourmet yogurt starter found at most health food stores), 2 L of milk or cream or a combination, and a liquid thermometer.  I have a candy thermometer that works perfectly.  You heat it up, cool it down, mix in the yogurt starter, pour into jars, place in oven, and leave over night.  It is far easier to make yogurt than a batch of cookies, or even macaroni and cheese.  Almost as easy as making juice from frozen concentrate.  No one does it because something magic occurs during the process and they aren't magicians.   But we don't have to be.  The bacteria grows and creates yogurt all by itself!  It is quite possibly the BEST thing ever for your stomach.  Among other things, it fights bad bacteria in your gut, it speeds recovery from diarrhea, and it controls acidity in your stomach.  To find the top 5 reasons for eating yogurt click here. 

For this easy-to-make superfood recipe, click here and while you are at our site, check it out!  Remember it's still under construction, but there are already some great recipes, products and links on the site.  Just don't call me Martha...