I'm addicted to yogurt.

All you need to make your own yogurt.

 Last week, I ate nearly a quart of yogurt per day. Not just any yogurt. Fresh, creamy, tart, homemade plain yogurt. We had read that adding milk powder to our already  yummy culture would make it thicker. We decided to purchase some in bulk to try it. Milk powder apparently really does make all of the difference.

We have been making yogurt at our house for several years. Our process has certainly evolved. Today, we use a dehydrator to finish it off, but we started with a fish aquarium, boiling water, and newspaper taped to the outside walls of the aquarium's glass for insulation. Today, we use milk powder. Up until a few weeks ago, we had never tried that. So, while, I feel we've perfected and modified this process over time to our liking, you don't need fancy dehydrators or milk powder in bulk to make this super, probiotic food. The only real essentials include: milk, yogurt starter (in other words, yogurt), a constant temperature, and time.

That said, this is how we now make my method of getting lots of Vitamin D in Wisconsin winter's cold, long days.

Here's what we use  to make 4 quarts of yogurt:
4 Tbs. plain yogurt that you love
1 gallon of 2% milk
8 Tbs. milk powder
4 quart jars with lids
dehydrator
hand blender

To make it Backyard Market style, do the following:

1. Put 1 Tbs. of plain yogurt in each quart jar. Be sure this is a yogurt that you love. All yogurts have different cultures, different textures, different flavors, and different bacteria. Picking a yogurt you enjoy will ensure that you like your homemade yogurt.

2. Add 2 Tbs. of milk powder in each jar. If you'd like your yogurt thicker, add more. If you'd like it thinner, add less.

3. If using a hand blender, fill jars about halfway to avoid spillage.Mix until there are no clumps of milk powder and to distribute yogurt starter evenly. Fill jars with milk and screw on lids. If not using a hand blender, fill the entire way and mix to combine ingredients. Screw on lids.

4. Put quart jars in the dehydrator. Set to 100-115 degrees. Let the process work for 8-12 hours. Be sure not to agitate the dehydrator as yogurt does not like to be disturbed as it is forming.

5. Refrigerate! Be sure to save some to start next week's yogurt batch!

A side note: some recipes call for scalding the milk before processing the yogurt. We do not do this as it kills some of the good bacteria, and we are confident that our milk is safe. As always, we purchase it locally- sourced and from a farm we trust.

You might be wondering: Why not just go to the store and buy yogurt? Well, that's a thoughtful question.
#1: Making it using the method above ensures a whole bunch of fabulous bacteria that are oh-so-good for your body. Minimal processing = a happy body.
#2: Financial sustainability: Let's break it down...For a local, organic yogurt, we pay around 4.00 per container (which is about 3 cups). We make 4 quarts (16 cups) each time we make yogurt, so if we paid the 4.00 per 3 cups, we would need to hand out 21.00 per week. For four quarts of homemade yogurt, we pay $3.50 for a gallon of milk, around 1.00 for the milk powder, and we use our own yogurt starter at this point, so our four quarts of yogurt now cost us $4.50. Compare that to the $21.00 we'd pay if we bought 4 quarts at the store!
#3: Vegetarians benefit from yogurt as it contains the hard-for-us-to-get Vitamin B2. When you have 4 quarts of deliciousness per week sitting in your fridge, you are bound to get enough.
#4: Any form of self-sustainability creates an invaluable skill set.
#5: If you're concerned about the old BM, yogurt keeps you regular. 

Enjoy the creaminess! Until next time...I'll  have my spoon in the yogurt jar.

10 New Year's Resolutions

Someone once sent us a cartoon eluding to a gardener's dreams being bigger...way bigger...than what reality will be. It's impossible to argue with that! Right around the start of the new year, our minds shift from the holidays to visions of plentiful fruit trees, bumper tomato crops, and perfect transitions from spring crops to fall ones. The magnificent garden dreams that plod through our heads might be unrealistic at times, but they keep us fresh.

With that said, we are trying to create realistic, doable resolutions for homesteading in 2012. They include:
1. Keeping up on daily gardening chores: more consistent weeding and watering and more timely replanting (if applicable).
2. Eating and preserving all of the greens we grow and get in our CSA box, including items such as carrot tops.
3. Constructing 4-5 new garden beds to replace our original garden in time for spring planting.
4. Planting strawberries, honeyberries, blueberries, and blackberries (finances pending).
5. Keeping up with fruit tree chores on a daily basis: spraying (organically, of course) when needed and watering.
6. Constructing a trellis for the kiwi berries. The trellis will also serve as the post for a bat house.
7. Getting bees.
8. Planting 3x more dry beans (get a minimum of 9 quarts at harvest time) and 2x more cabbage.
9. Figuring out what keeps eating the corn!
...and, of course...
10. Growing the biggest bumper crop of tomatoes known to man.

I think we can do it. What are your homesteading resolutions for 2012?

Homemade Granola

 We finally made a batch of homemade granola. We've talked about wanting to do this for years, but haven't had all of the ingredients at once until our annual co-op shopping trip occurred last week. Now, we have 21 cups of granola to last us for breakfast for the month.

The process was so simple. The possibilities of what to use to make granola are abundant. We chose to make it quite basic this time, adding in random bags of leftover holiday nuts and seeds.

This batch's ingredients:
8 cups of oats
2 cups of flaxseed meal
1/2 cup of hazelnuts
2 cups of pumpkin seeds
2 cups of honey
1.5 cups of sunflower oil
2 cups of dried cranberries
2 cup of raisins

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Mix oats, flaxseed meal, nuts, and seeds together.
3. Mix the honey and oil.
4. Pour the honey-oil mixture over the dried ingredients.
5. Spread mixture out on baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Remove the granola. Allow to cool, stirring occasionally. Stir in the dried fruit.  Store in an airtight container.





Here is the nutrition information for 1/3 cup servings:
Calories, 180; Fat, 9.5; Sat. Fat 1; Trans Fat, 0; Cholesterol, 0; Sodium, 2; Carbs, 21; Fiber, 3; Sugars 10.8; Protein, 3.7; Vitamin A, 13; Vitamin C, .2; Calcium, 14; Iron, 1.3

According to my diet tracker, the amount of fat, sat. fat, protein, and sodium are great for this serving size.

Co-op Gift Card: Year Three

The whole spread (minus the chicken feed)

If you've been following our blog for a while, you might remember that one of our most anticipated and useful Christmas presents is a gift card to our absolute favorite place to shop: the Willy Street Co-op. Mr. and Mrs. Claus have bestowed upon us this wonderful gift three times, and each time, I believe Andy and I have gotten better at figuring out how to get the most bang for our buck.

Veggie Burger Ingredients

Before heading to the co-op, we sit down to brainstorm a few meals to make in bulk and freeze - we try to coincide those with our financial and dietary pitfalls. Anyone who knows Andy knows he has a slight addiction to pizza. So,this year, we canned extra pizza sauce, and with our gift card, we bought enough mozzarella cheese to make me reconsider our need to own our very own cow!  Another way that we fail to live sustainably, both in terms of ethical food production and our personal finances is going out to eat during the work week. Usually this is because we don't have the time or the energy to use the ingredients residing in our fridge and cupboard. So, we bought all of the ingredients to quadruple our recipe for veggie burgers. This way, hopefully, when one of suggests going to Chipotle, the other can counter-argue that by pointing out we have veggie burgers in the freezer and potatoes in the cupboard.

Oftentimes, an argument against shopping for whole, organic, local foods is that it is too expensive. This is where being shopper savvy comes in handy. The back of our Subaru is loaded with canvas totes, Ball jars, canisters, and reused glass bottles because we buy nearly everything that we can't get from our CSA or garden in bulk. Local and/or organic bulk foods are surprisingly reasonable. Yesterday, we stocked up on maple syrup, honey, oats, peppercorns, coffee beans, milk powder, a few spices, and chicken feed.

Ingredients for granola

Milk powder for yogurt

A few other necessities...

Our personal New Year's Resolutions involve financial, dietary, and sustainability goals. This co-op trip and the cooking resulting afterward were a perfectly wonderful way to work towards those....for FREE! Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Clause for once again helping us reach our goals.

What to do with all of those holiday leftovers?

This Christmas, like all others, we ended the evening too full to even consider dessert. Thankfully, we had stuffed ourselves with Christmas cookies all day long anyway, so we had our go at the sweet stuff.

The Poquette-Lapp Christmas dinner is what many would consider the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Our menu hasn't changed much from last year, but we did have a few highlights.

We began the day with  Irish Cream (of course) and cheese, crackers, and trail mix. That evening, our menu was as follows:

• Turkey
• Garlicky Mashed Potatoes
• Gravy
• Brussel Sprouts with Bacon
• Cranberry Relish
• Fruity Coleslaw

The brussel sprouts were a new addition. At the last second, we Wisconsinites went out to our brownish-green yard, found our way to our still half-living garden, and picked a fresh stalk of Brussel Sprouts. It's worth noting because this may never happen on Christmas Day in Wisconsin to us again. We actually still have two more stalks to pick -- it's looking good that we may get fresh Brussel Sprouts again on New Year's.

Another reason to mention the Brussel Sprouts is that they ended up being the main attraction at dinner. To make them, you need:

• one stalk of Brussel Sprouts
• 1/2 lb. of bacon, diced
• seasoning (salt, pepper, etc.)
• a tiny drizzle of olive oil

Instructions:

1. Toss diced bacon, halved Brussel sprouts, and seasoning together. If the bacon isn't giving off enough fat, a drizzle of olive oil may be necessary.
2. Dump onto baking sheet. Put in the oven at 425 until done.

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The pets thoroughly enjoyed Christmas also, as you can see in the pictures below.

Franklin enjoying his first turkey dinner.

Benson --after a little too much to drink :)

 Yesterday, we used the leftover cranberry relish as a topper to a wedge of brie and toasted baguettes as an appetizer. Yum! For the main course last evening, we made a half-vegetarian, half-turkey casserole using the leftover turkey and stuffing. Both the appetizer and the casserole were divine, and our fridge is much more manageable today without all of the leftovers occupying every shelf.

Here's our rough recipe for Fetttuccine Turkey Casserole

3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbs. butter
1-2 Tbs. flour
4 cups of 2% or whole milk
4-6 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. shredded Romano cheese
1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
leftover turkey
leftover stuffing
fettuccine noodles

1.To make the alfredo sauce,

• Melt butter in saute pan. Add garlic, and saute for about one minute. Add flour. Cook until golden. This is called a roux.
  
• Slowly mix in the milk. Heat on medium-high heat until milk begins to boil. Reduce heat. Add cream cheese in cubes. Continue stirring until cream cheese is combined thoroughly. Gradually reduce the heat as you add in the Parmesan and Romano cheese.

2.  Boil noodles. Drain. Put them in a baking dish, mix in the turkey chunks, and pour sauce over the mixture. Top with stuffing, and grate fresh Parmesan over the top.

3. Bake at 350 until the sauce is bubbly, 20-25 minutes.

Thanksgiving Favorites, 2011

We were lazy this Thanksgiving. The appetizer we shared with our families involved zero preparation. We simply opened jars, did a bit of slicing and dicing, and viola - complete!  As the holidays approached, we realized we had done a lot of pickling and fermenting this summer. We decided to share a platter of salty, sweet, bitter, and sour flavors. And so, this year, we are especially thankful for healthy, organic produce and for the steamy summer nights we dealt with it all over gigantic cups of iced coffees. Those memories are ones we'll never forget because there really is nothing as romantic as two sweaty adults in a closet-sized kitchen with water canners heating up the already 90+ degree house. Thankful, we are.

Our pickle tray consisted of:
balsamic onions
sour pickles
spicy sliced carrots
dill rat-tail radishes
sweet pepper marmalade served with cream cheese and crackers
pickled spring garlic

On Thanksgiving day, while the Packers won their 11th game this season, some braver family members filled snack plates with pickles. During Lappsgiving (what we've begun to affectionately call our second Thanksgiving), we chatted while delighting in these finger foods while we sipped glasses of wine. Zero preparation, and tons of taste. Pickling a variety in the summer and serving these foods up for holidays could easily become a tradition.

As always, for "Lappsgiving," we made the holiday menu from the current issue of Vegetarian Times. This year's "French twist" menu was not as scrumptious as that in 2009 or 2010, but it was still pleasing to our palettes.

The foods we decided to make were:

Salad of Shaved Fennel, Oranges, and Candied Pecans (YUM!)

Spiced Balsamic Beet Compote (DOUBLE YUM...a definite keeper!)

Seiten Timbales with Chestnut-Champignon Stuffing

...and, of course, we made the same dessert we always make for Thanksgiving: Ginger Sweet Potato Pie.

Ginger Sweet Potato Pies

Mostly because I don't want to forget either the candied pecan recipe or the spiced balsamic beet compote recipe, I'm going to share them here.

First, the candied pecans. These would go well in virtually any fall salad.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup pecans, halved and quartered
1 Tbs. pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 pinch cayenne pepper

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss pecans with maple syrup in a small bowl. Add sugar, salt, and cayenne pepper. Toss to coat.
2. Spread nuts on baking sheet, and roast 10 minutes or until crispy and aromatic.
3. Cool for 10 minutes.

And, now for a new favorite appetizer, which is sure to turn up again and again in our house. We liked it over goat cheese on a sourdough baguette, but my parents liked it over cream cheese. This is a great way to use a lot of beets!

Spiced Balsamic Beet Compote
Ingredients:
1/2 cup golden raisins (we used dates because that's what we had, but I bet raisins would be even better!)
2 large beets (about 3 cups)
2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 tsp. garam masala or curry powder
2 shallots (we used one onion and one clove of garlic)
2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt 

Instructions:
1. Cover raisins with boiling water, and let stand 30 minutes.
2. Cook beets in large pot of boiling water for 10 minutes, or until tender. Drain and set aside.
3. Heat oil in large skillet over medium  heat. Add spice, and cook 20 seconds. Add shallots (or garlic and onion), and saute 20 minutes. Stir in beets, raisins, vinegar, sugar, salt, and 1/2 cup water.
4. Cover, and simmer 20 minutes, or until compote is thickened. Cool.

Breakfast for Dinner: Squash-Cranberry-Pecan Pancakes

Pancakes and sausage for the carnivore in the house

Tonight, we had breakfast for dinner. Not just your standard buttermilk pancakes or eggs and bacon. We had Squash-Cranberry-Pecan Pancakes drenched in maple syrup. Two nights ago, we had Squash-Date Bread Pudding drenched in half and half. Andy's on a squash baking kick with our new oven and stockpile of pumpkins and baking squash, and I'm not complaining at all (though I am concerned about how my pants fit today...).  Heck, he's even been whipping up  pureed squash with bacon every morning for the dog. 

Our Amish Pie Squash apparently have inspired him. Who are Franklin (the dog) and I to object?

Amish Pie Squash

 
If you have extra baking squash, pumpkin or pumpkin pie filling, I highly recommend trying this or a version of it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner sometime soon. The smell of fall - nutmeg, cinnamon, and squash are literally filling up our small house with warmth right now, and the taste is divine.

For a batch of about 12-16 pancakes, you need the following:

Ingredients:
3 large eggs
3/4 cup of pureed squash
1/2 pint of cranberries
1/2 cup pecan, chopped
1 qt kefir
1 tsp vanilla
2 oz melted butter
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3 tbs. sugar
a pinch of cinnamon
a pinch of nutmeg
1/2 cup of sugar for cranberries
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup oats
1 tbs butter

Instructions:
1. Put cranberries in pot with 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil until they begin to pop. Turn the heat off, and let the cranberries cool.
2. Mix the eggs, keifer, vanilla, and melted butter.
3. Stir together the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, and oats.
4. Combine wet and dry ingredient mixtures, and then add the pureed pumpkin. Then, add the cranberries and pecans.
5. On a heated and buttered pan, make pancakes. Heat both sides, and serve up with maple syrup!

Pureed squash

Preparing the cranberries 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heating them up!