Archive for the ‘Recipes – Condiments’ Category

I started experimenting with homemade yogurt many years ago when I ran across the Hillbilly Housewife. She had this easy recipe for making yogurt with powdered milk. We eat a lot of yogurt since we substitute it for sour cream too. So this sounded like a great idea. This neat article can be found here.

We lived in a 5th wheel at the time and the pilot light in my gas oven worked perfect for incubating my yogurt. After a year or so, I got a dairy goat. So now I had this fresh milk to experiment with! This time I used a soup thermos wrapped in a towel and that worked well too. But only for small batches as the thermos isn’t that big. Shortly after this, we moved into a small house, but I didn’t have a pilot light anymore. I tried flipping a bowl upside down over the jars with a heating pad underneath. This didn’t work very well and made stringy, runny yogurt.

Now I have moved up in the world of yogurt making! I bought a Yogotherm! I just made my first batch of yogurt in my new toy and I have to say it is the best yogurt I have made yet! Of course I also used a culture instead portions of yogurt, but the constant temperature provided by the thermos was magnificent!

The rest of this article will be about flavoring your yogurt. Since we use ours as sour cream a lot, I need some that is simply plain. I store all my yogurt in pint size canning jars. The following recipes are really just guides. I don’t offer much measurements because you should adjust it to your taste – not mine.

Pineapple Yogurt:
This may sound a little weird, but it is a wonderful snack. I even put some on my homemade granola this morning for an awesome treat. Take a can of crushed pineapple or crush your own. In the bottom of each jar scoop some pineapple into it. Pour on the yogurt and stir. I also add another scoop on top to help mix it more evenly. You can add a drop or two of stevia if you want it sweeter, but I find pineapple is sweet all on its own. This is so simple, yet so yummy.

Vanilla Yogurt:
This classic can be done in the jar or per each serving. Simply mix in natural vanilla and a few drops of stevia. For a whole pint jar it shouldn’t take more than 3 drops of good stevia extract. That is, unless you like your stuff really, really sweet. I’m not much of a sweet tooth. It doesn’t take much vanilla either. Maybe 2 T for the jar.

Fruit Yogurt:
You can make your yogurt any fruity flavor you want by blending canned fruit in a blender and mixing in your plain yogurt. Most other fruits will need some sweetener added, especially if you are using fruit in their own juices. Sweeten to taste with stevia. Here is another great way to make flavored yogurt. Of course I do not recommend using artificial sweeteners or chocolate syrup (unless its homemade without white sugar). But the recipe is a good one.

I hope you will venture out and try some homemade yogurt!

As we search for natural alternatives, I have tried making substitutes at home. Although ketchup is considered all natural, it is full of white sugar. Why would I work so hard at keeping white sugar out of my family’s diet only to allow them to swallow up french fries (homemade, of course) with store-bought ketchup? I found a recipe I like!

This is adapted from the More-with-Less Cookbook (which I have added to the cookbooks pictured above). I am loving this cookbook! Thanks grandma!

Tomato Ketchup

5-24 oz jars organic tomato puree
5 medium sized 1015 onions

Blend tomato with onion until smooth. Pour into large stock pot.

Add to pot:
1 1/2 T celery seed
5 t salt
2 c organic apple cider vinegar
1 dropperful of liquid stevia
4 t pickling spice in bag

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook slowly for 1 1/2 hours. Stir occasionally.
Remove spice bag.

Combine in small bowl:
5 T corn starch
1/4 c water

Stir into boiling tomato mixture. Boil for 5 minutes. Seal in 10-11 pint jars.