Recycle Food – Special Double Feature!

Here’s a couple ideas for recycling your food.  It’s thrifty and tastes great!

Yogurt

Whenever I buy milk, I always buy a little more than I need.  After having it open in the fridge for about 8 days, I’ll turn it into home-made yogurt.  Not only does it taste better than anything store bought, but it doubles the life of your milk.

How to make yogurt:

Slowly heat your milk up to about 180 degrees F.  A candy thermometer helps through the process.  Stir frequently and don’t let it scald or form a skin.

Once you’ve heated up your milk (essentially pasteurizing it), let it cool to somewhere between 120 and 115 degrees.  Or cool enough that you can hold a finger in it for 3 seconds, but don’t let it get too cool!

Poor your warm milk into an air tight container and mix in a few tablespoons of starter.  Your starter could be a store bought container with live active cultures or you could start with some of your last batch.  Make sure the starter is about room temperature before adding it to the warm milk though.

Seal your container and cover it with a towel or blanket to keep it warm.  I stick it in a cooler box too to help insulate.  Leave it undisturbed for 10-12 hours.  Presto chango, yogurt!

If you don’t like the taste of plain yogurt mix in some honey, maple syrup, blueberries, peaches, or strawberries.  Any clear liquid on the top is whey which you could either pour off or mix in.

Croutons

Have some stale home made bread?  Cut it into small squares and fry in a little olive oil.  Add some ground black pepper, parsley flakes, and a little powdered garlic to make croutons.  Best served warm.