Yo, Yo, Yo

I made yogurt! It's sour, thick, and de-lish.

"Why make yogurt?" you may ask. And I answer, "Why NOT?!" First of all, we love it. There is always yogurt in our fridge, and if we run out, it's a travesty. But, more so, it's a natural progression for me in the kitchen. I made my own bread, and felt like Wonder Woman, and it all snowballed from there. It really is so empowering to create something from scratch, whether it's a bagel or a reusable bag to keep it in. As a working mother and a frugal-minded person, who is, by no stretch, someone with a lot of time on her hands, I want to be able to show my family and friends that if you set out to do something, and you truly enjoy it, the possibilities are endless.

So, for my birthday gift to myself, and with my lovely Amazon Groupon, I purchased a yogurt maker. As much as the little one and I eat the stuff, it will pay for itself by next week. There is a little bit of prep work that goes into it, but basically you slowly warm up milk, let it cool a little, add a dollop of starter yogurt (I used store bought Greek), add a little powdered milk to thicken it, pour it into the glass jars that came with the machine, put the jars in the machine, cover, turn it on, and 8-10 hours later you have 7 servings of plain Jane yogurt to dress up as you wish.

For my first taste, I added vanilla and granola (kickin' it old school.) For the cup pictured above, I just added strawberries. It is a little on the tart side, but that's just how I like it. I'll have to experiment with additives to make it more kid-friendly: Jelly? Oreos? Mac 'n' Cheese? For now, I'm going to savor these all by myself. Happy birthday to me! :)