How To Make Yogurt At Home

So, I learned to make my own organic yogurt at home using this site, and making yogurt is an easy, natural process.  To make yogurt at home you’ll need:

• Organic milk
• A small amount of organic starter yogurt with live cultures, plain (it must be live cultures) approx. 2-3T
• A food thermometer
• A cooking pot large enough to hold the amount of milk you’ve put aside
• A heating pad
• A clean dishtowel or two
• A clean spoon for stirring, preferably metal.
• Several small containers, such as a jar or bowl (glass or metal preferred)
• A larger container, such as a crockpot sleeve, terracotta pot or canner.

Put the milk over medium heat, and start to warm. Do not scald the milk! Bring it up gradually to the temperature of 185ºF. Do not overcook. Holding the temperature at 185º for 30 minutes will result in thicker yogurt, more like Greek yogurt which is the kind I enjoy.  You can cook it for less, for a more runny style if that's your thing. (You can also add dried milk powder if you like to thicken, though I don’t much like the taste of dried milk powder myself and have had mixed results). Lower the heat on the stove, or turn it off, and cool the milk back down to 110ºF. Milk warmer than that will not propagate the live cultures. Once cooled down, stir in your 2-3T of yogurt with live culture.

Pour the yogurt into the small sterilized container(s). (I tend to use recycled glass jars with metal lids, and I sterilize them in boiling water after they’ve been cleaned). Place the heating pan at the bottom of your crockpot insert or whatever you’re using, and place one dishtowel on top of the pad, put your larger container on a cutting board or other heat-proof protector. Carefully put your jars inside, keeping the movement to a minimum. Place the other dishtowel around or on top to cover the small containers and keep them dark. If you have a lid to your container, you can use that, too. Turn the heating pad on a low-to-medium setting. Then, leave it for seven hours. I usually make yogurt in the evening and leave it overnight so my Greek yogurt ready to eat in the morning.

How To Make Cheese: Organic Farmer's Cheese

Farmers cheese is a simple, soft cheese that can be made at home in an evening.  It's not a complicated recipe and homemade cheese is fresher and healthier than that made with preservatives..  One of the  things people ask me is how to make farmers cheese like the kind I make. Below is my recipe for how to make home cheese:

1 gal organic whole milk
1 pinch salt
Juice of an organic lemon OR organic white vinegar (approx 2  T)
Food thermometer
Cheesecloth
Stock Pot for cooking
Bowl for straining
Collander for straining

Put the milk in the stock pot with the salt.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, being careful not to overcook the milk and scorching it on the bottom of the pot, or it will taste burnt.

When it just begins to boil, go ahead and turn off the burner (or gas). It should have reached a temperature of 160F to kill all the possible bad bacteria.  Use your thermometer to check.  Then, stir in the lemon juice or vinegar to curdle the milk.  It make take 5-15 minutes for the process to completely break down the whey and curds in all of the milk.

Line a collander with cheesecloth and place over the large bowl.  Pour the contents of the pot through the collander/cheesecloth and let the liquid go into the bowl.  The liquid contains whey which is good for you.  It can be used in recipes or drunk straight up.  What is left in the cheesecloth is the curd, which will form the cheese with pressure.  Use the cloth to strain all the last bits of whey out of the curd and to form the cheese into a soft ball shape.  You can twist or compress the cloth to achieve the desired result.  Either wrap in wax paper or store in a glass container in the refrigerator.  After being refrigerated, it will be firmer and easier to slice.  I leave mine in over night.  It will be good for approximately 7 days.  It can be frozen, if desired.

If you would like, you can add spices and herbs to the cheese like garlic, pepper, herbs or even chopped nuts, if that's your thing.

Copyright 2011, GuiltedLily Productions Inc, all rights reserved.

Using Leftovers: Kitchen Sink Soup

Using leftovers is a good way to keep food on budget and to make soup.  Kitchen sink soup is a recipe that was handed down to me from my mother, and her mother before her.  My grandmother had many recipes from the Depression that she has since shared with me, and that I hope to share with you.

Ingredients:

6 c water

Salt to taste, black pepper, herbs to taste (dried or fresh)

Leftover veg and legumes from the kitchen fridge, can include any of the following:   Asparagus, beans (legumes) of all kinds including lentils, black, turtle, pinto, white, cannellini, kidney and limas, carrots, cauliflower, eggplant, mushrooms, okra, green beans, broccoli, corn, zucchini, summer squash, sweet peppers, tomatoes (in the form of canned, tomato sauce, crushed or paste), onion, potatoes (sweet and regular), snow peas, celery, turnips, parsnips, spinach and kale. 

Leftover grains from the kitchen fridge or pantry:  cooked rice, cooked bulgur wheat, cooked barley, cooked pasta, cooked quinoa and cooked millet.

Leftover meat and seafood (if desired, not  required):  Bits of leftover chicken, steak, pot roast, pork roast, turkey, baked fish, shrimp, scallops, lobster, mussels, crab.

Directions:

Add any combination of the above, simmer over medium heat, tasting and stirring periodically for about an hour, more or less.  It is not important in this recipe to have “one cup of x’ and ‘one half cup of y’.  The point is to mix it all together and let the tastes blend themselves into the soup.  Remember to add your grains or pasta last, as they soak up water in cooking.  I tend to stir my cooked grains in just before serving.  If the water boils down, add more.  Serve with salad and bread, or alone.

Basic Bread Recipe: Mark Bittman's No Knead Whole Wheat Bread

I love to show people how to make bread, because often they complain it's too difficult when I think it can be quite easy, especially when you don't even have to knead it!  Anyone can learn to make homemade bread. Here is the basic bread recipe that I use most often for No Knead Bread.  I make this bread recipe when I am too busy to focus on kneading out bread dough, but still want homemade bread with dinner:

Mark Bittman's No Knead Whole Wheat Bread (Basic Bread Recipe)

However, sometimes nothing beats a loaf of yeasty bread fresh out of the oven that has been kneaded to rise the dough soft and fluffy. The smell fills the whole house! Here is my very own basic bread recipe:

2 T tap water to 100 degrees
1 tsp honey
1 envelope active dry yeast
4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
3 T canola or olive oil
Enough water or milk to bind the dough
Egg yolk to brush on top (about 1-2 eggs)

Add the yeast, honey and water and set aside 5-10 mins until frothy.

In a bowl, add the flour and salt and mix together.  After proofing the yeast, add it, 2 T  of the oil and milk or water until moist.  Turn out on a floured surface and knead until smooth, approximately 10 mins.

In a clean bowl, rub the remaining oil on the inner surface and put your dough inside, covering lightly with a towel.  Let rise in a quiet, warm place for 1 hour.   Then, punch it down.  Cover and let rise again for 30 mins.

Shape into balls (for rolls) or logs (for loaves) and bake on a lightly greased cookie sheet and brush with egg yolk.  Bake until a knock on the outside provides a hollow sound, approximately 50 mins.

Chicken Thighs, Vegetables and Brown Rice

Chicken thighs are an inexpensive cut of meat that can be quite flavorful and juicy.  Combined with brown rice, vegetables and broth, this is on of my very best chicken thigh recipes!   Everyone has a chicken thighs and rice recipe handed down to them, don't they?


4 organic chicken thighs, thawed, rinsed & dried
3 c organic chicken broth
1 c water
1 c organic chopped carrot pieces
1 c organic mushrooms, sliced
1 c organic onion, chopped
1 c organic frozen peas
2 c organic brown rice
1 T canola or olive oil
1-2 Bay leaves
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp paprika

In a deep skillet (one that has a lid), put in 1 T canola or olive oil and heat over medium heat approximately 1-2 minutes.  Place the rinsed and dried chicken thighs skin-side down in the pan and just brown.  Then, using tongs, flip them over and brown the underside.   Remove the chicken thighs and place them on a plate.

Add the vegetables to the pan with the chicken juices & oil and saute the onions, carrots and mushrooms for 2-3 minutes over medium heat.  Add the brown rice and continue to saute, turning evenly, for approximately 3 minutes more.  Add the chicken stock, water, bay leaves and seasonings.   Warm until it comes to a soft bubbly boil.  Place the chicken thighs back in the pan, amongst the broth and the vegetables.  Cover and simmer over low to medium heat for 1 hour.  Right before serving, add the frozen peas, stirring thoroughly until the peas are just cooked through but still green.

Serves 4.

© 2011 GuiltedLilyProductions Inc, all rights reserved.

Introduction - Welcome to Easy, Green Recipes!

Hi everyone!  Right now, I currently have a blog located at http://www.bornagreen.blogspot.com/.  This blog is a spin off of that one, because I started having a lot of easy, green recipes come to the surface, for everything from yogurt to bread.  And, I tended to get a lot of questions about how to stretch or maximize a food budget with different, frugal yet healthy, recipes.  This blog is an attempt to have a place to put the recipes for future reference, and for people looking primarily for healthy eating, low-cost recipes who might not be overly concerned with the green living angle.

Right now, the recipes will be food-oriented, but I also have recipes for things such as homemade laundry detergent, or linen spray, that I will also include here for those who might be interested in making things like these on their own instead of buying a ready-made product.