We are on a 'real food' journey in our home. We are slowly moving toward eating only real, whole food that promotes health in our bodies. Moving completely away from processed foods. We have never been a 'junk food' family, so the changes are not drastic. However, we have decided to start making some of our regularly consumed foods from scratch, e.g., bread. My hubby started making our bread about 6 months ago. He has it down now...the consistency is amazing and it taste so yummy!! The health benefits of making your own bread our numerous...read HERE. It is hard for me to eat store bought bread now, even the 'healthy' kind.
Anyway, on my quest to find a good yogurt maker, I came across a recipe for 'crock-pot yogurt' and I got so excited that I squealed! Crock-pot?!...I can do that ~! I asked my hubby if his mom made yogurt and he quickly said yes [he, too, grew up in the 70s], but he thought it was disgusting. Perhaps his mom should have called my mom! ;)I found the recipe HERE. I was a little hesitate, perhaps skeptical, to try it because it seemed too easy...could it be good? But that's a silly reason to not try something, so one day this past week I decided to go for it! And boy am I glad I did! It was to set for 8+ hours, so I made it late in the day and left it sitting out overnight. I woke early and could hardly wait to 'test taste' it. The results were perfectly amazing! My consistency was a little thinner than I wanted, so I drained out the whey [using a colander and coffee liner]. I ended up with wonderful, thick greek-style yogurt! And as a bonus...my hubby used the whey to make homemade mayonnaise!
Turns out you can do a LOT with whey. It's very healthy...full of protein, vitamins, minerals, & enzymes! The Prairie Homestead, another blog I love, gives you 16 ways to use whey! And this is the homemade recipe for mayo:
Ingredients:
2-3 egg yolks (farm fresh are best!)
½ tsp. mustard
1-2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. white wine vinegar
1 tsp. celtic sea salt
¾ c. oil- hemp or grapeseed (I use grapeseed)
2 Tbl. whey
Directions:
1. Combine everything EXCEPT the oil into a container large enough for your stick blender to go into. *You will need a stick blender for this recipe (you can make it in a food processor, but it's a LOT harder and the results are not as good). It's a great kitchen tool that I put off buying for a long time, now I can hardly live without it and I wish I would have got it sooner!
2. Use your stick blender to mix until creamy.
3. While blending, add the oil in small (teaspoon at a time) increments and mix until it’s homogenized. Pour oil with one hand and with the other lift the blender up and down as it’s blending- the quick up and down motion helps the mixture to homogenize, and it will thicken right up. That's it!
Important: Leave out on the counter for 7 hours to make it lacto fermented (friendly bacteria)...the lactobacillus probiotics in the whey will multiply and change the mayo from a simple condiment into a probiotic! After the 7 hours, store in the refrigerator.
It will last for several months with whey and about 2 weeks without.
Please note: my recipe does not include partially hydrogenated soybean oil and phosphoric acid! Thank goodness!! ;)
EnJOY!
