Homemade vs. Pre-Made: Bread Stuffing for Roast Turkey

When it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, my favorite thing my mom makes is her stuffing. Same goes for all three of my brothers. We've always piled it on our plates at Thanksgiving. And once we all started bringing spouses and significant others to Thanksgiving dinner as we grew up, they all dug into the stuffing and loved it, too. It's just that good!

Contrast that with the first time I tried stuffing that's made from a boxed mix (the Mix-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named. Rhymes with RoveTop.). Ugh. My mom totally spoiled me. I couldn't eat more than a bite of the pre-made stuffing. It was dry and flavorless -- it sort of tasted like it was made of the box it came in. 

Like so many things, the from-scratch version of stuffing is actually really easy to make. My mom's amazing recipe is actually really basic, no fancy ingredients whatsoever. I've never made the boxed kind of stuffing, but I can't imagine that making it from scratch takes that much longer. Seriously. 

Not only does this homemade version of stuffing taste a bajillion times better than the pre-made variety, but it's also much healthier in comparison. The boxed kind is laden with preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, and hydrogenated oils. Ick. Another reason to make your own stuffing: it's actually a frugal dish to make (it's a great way to use up stale bread). You likely have every ingredient already in your pantry or fridge. 

My mom's recipe for stuffing comes from an old cookbook from around the 1940s.  The cookbook actually belonged to my grandmother. There's no cover on it anymore, so I can't even mention the title. My mom doesn't really follow that recipe closely anymore -- she just mixes it up, eyeballing the amounts and tasting it as she goes. Like with her potato salad, I decided to document the process and write it all down. The recipe I'm sharing with you today is sufficient for a 10-lb. turkey, but my mom always makes extra, too. 

So, please, for Thanksgiving this week, step away from the packaged stuff and make your stuffing from scratch. You'll never go back to the box. 

Mom's Bread Stuffing for Roast Turkey

(sufficient for 10-lb. turkey)

One 1 ½ lb. loaf of white bread

2 ribs of celery, diced

2 medium carrots, peeled and grated

1/4 cup onions, chopped

1/4 cup butter

1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning

2 tablespoons of fresh parsley, minced

1 teaspoon fresh sage, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

3/4 cup chicken broth

Remove the crust from the bread and cut into a 1-inch dice. White bread does taste best in this recipe, though my mom has used wheat in the past. This stuffing is a great way to use up stale bread. Mom has used up stale hamburger/hot dog buns and other breads (like French bread) in the past with this recipe.

Dice up the celery, chop your onions, and grate the carrots (I just use my box grater). Want to feel all cool and culinary? These three ingredients together are called mirepoix. Now you can regale your Thanksgiving guests with this bit of knowledge. ("Oh this stuffing? I made it from scratch. So simple. First you start with a mirepoix...") 

The orignal recipe my mom referenced didn't call for parsley or sage, but they do add a really great flavor to the recipe. Feel free to omit if you don't have them, but I highly recommend both herbs. 

In a large skillet or pot (I used my Dutch oven) on medium-high heat, melt the butter then saute the celery and onion until soft and yellow. 

Add carrots and herbs to the celery and onion. Stir and cook for a few minutes.

Add the bread and the poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper. Stir and add broth. Let the mixture cool a little before stuffing it into a turkey.

Sooo, I actually I don't have any pictures of using the stuffing in a turkey. Let me explain...

The reason is that when I made this batch of stuffing pictured it was to take to a Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws. I didn't have the turkey available. So, yeah, this stuffing can be enjoyed even if it's not actually ever stuffed in the turkey. Just serve it warm (put it in the oven or on the warm setting on a slow cooker) and it's ready to go.

That said, while this stuffing is good when it's not actually stuffed into a turkey, it's even better when it is. When you cook the turkey with this stuffing inside it, the juices from the turkey give the stuffing such a great flavor. Cooking the turkey with stuffing inside does slow the cooking time, but I think it's worth it.

When you stuff the turkey, make sure to do it lightly. Do NOT pack the stuffing into the turkey tightly. If you have extra stuffing, you can bake it in the oven alongside the turkey in a dish. You don't want to understuff the turkey, either -- all the the juices from the turkey can make too little stuffing soggy. From what I've read, a good guideline is 1/2 to 3/4 cup of stuffing per pound of turkey.

There are a few food safety concerns regarding stuffing a turkey. You have to make sure that everything is properly cooked and heated through before you serve the stuffing. All the juices should run clear when the turkey is done (including on the inside where the stuffing is). Stuffing, like the turkey, needs to reach a minimum temperature of 165°F. If the turkey is done before your stuffing has reached this temperature, put the stuffing in a dish and let it cook in the oven longer. 

Another food safety tip: stuff the turkey right before you're going to roast it. Don't let the stuffing sit in the bird for any extended period of time -- that creates a perfect environment for bacterial growth. (For more tips about stuffing turkey safely, you can read here.) 

Once your stuffing has reached the proper temperature, remove from the turkey and put it into a serving dish (alongside a couple of the other sides I've put on this blog: homemade cranberry sauce and the only yam side dish I like). I hope you'll love it as much as my family does!

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! Hope your celebration is wonderful!

A Summertime Staple: The Best Classic Potato Salad

I wasn't always a fan of my mom's potato salad.  In fact, I wouldn't touch the stuff when I was a kid. Thing is, I don't know if I even tried it back then. I probably did what my own kids do whenever they see something new on their plates: assume it's gross before even trying it. Another reason I might have avoided it was that I didn't really like eggs when I was a kid, especially the hard-boiled ones.

Fast-forward to my later teenage years when I overcame my prejudice and tried it. When I did, I finally understood why everyone else was heaping it onto their plates at family picnics and barbecues. Mom's potato salad is simple but delicious, balanced in its flavors, and even kind of colorful. I may be just the teensiest bit biased, but I think my mom makes THE BEST classic potato salad. And I won't even go into how it's superior over the store-bought stuff in the deli section of the grocery store or in tall tubs at Costco. I mean, that just goes without saying.

The recipe was my grandma's first (it's actually her birthday today). Even though my grandma passed away many years ago, whenever my mom makes this recipe, it's like part of her is back at the gathering. Last year, when my mom planned a picnic with a few of her brothers, they all requested that she make their mom's potato salad.

I've asked for the recipe a couple times, but my mom doesn't have it written down. She makes it from memory, eyeballing the ingredient amounts and consistency of the salad, tasting it all as she goes. This past weekend she made it again for a Father's Day picnic, so I took notes.  I figured I should write it down, you know, for posterity's sake -- and yours.

Grandma Erickson's Potato Salad, aka The Best Classic Potato Salad 
5 lbs. potatoes (my mom uses Yukon Gold, but you can use any variety), boiled, peeled, and cut into bite-sized cubes
2-3 ribs celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup chives (or green onions), finely chopped
8 large eggs, hard-boiled, finely chopped
1/2 cup sweet pickles, finely chopped, with some of the pickle juice reserved (we used these pickles we canned, but the store-bought sweet pickles work fine, too)
1/2 cup peppers, finely chopped  (we used these pickled peppers, but you can use pickled peppers, pimientos, or fresh red bell pepper)
1 tsp. yellow mustard
1 cup mayonnaise (Mom swears by Best Foods/Hellman's mayo)
2 tsp. salt, plus more to taste
1 tsp. ground pepper

Boil potatoes until soft. My grandma always boiled them with the skins on -- makes them easier to peel. Peel potatoes then chop into bite-size cubes

Boil the eggs. Be sure that the eggs are thoroughly cooked. Word to the wise: before you peel all of them, check one of them first. You wouldn't want to boil a dozen of your chickens' lovely eggs, peel them all, realize that they weren't cooked through all the way, and have your mom tell you that they can't be used. Not that I would know from experience or anything. (ahem.)

Perfectly cooked eggs have a tender white and the yolk is pale yellow, fluffy but firm. Undercooked hardboiled eggs (like the one on the left in the picture above) have a damp yolk that is more dark-gold than pale yellow. Be careful not to overcook them, though, or the yolk will have a harmless-but-ugly grayish-green ring around it  (Helpful tutorial for hard-boiling eggs can be found here.)

Cut the eggs up well, so that they're almost crumbly. My mom likes to use a paring knife to cut the egg up in her hand. I helped her out and did the same, holding it as I cut it the way I would an onion.

IMPORTANT: let the potatoes and eggs cool completely before you make the potato salad. If you don't, it will turn into this hot, mushy mess instead of a cool, refreshing salad. Who wants that?

Put the chopped potatoes in large bowl. Drizzle with reserved pickle juice (and the juice from the pickled peppers, if you're using them), about 1/2 cup (if you're using the juice from pickled peppers, too, do 1/4 cup pickle juice and 1/4 cup pickled pepper juice).

Add salt, pepper, and chives. Stir gently so the potatoes don't get mushy. For the best results, stop at this point and let the mixture chill overnight. This lets the flavors really seep into the potatoes. This step isn't completely necessary, though.

Add the chopped pickles, peppers, celery, eggs, mustard, and mayonnaise. Fold these ingredients in gently, too. Taste the salad and add more salt and pepper, if needed, depending on your preferences. You can also add more mayonnaise, too, if you want a creamier consistency.

Keep the salad chilled until served -- and be prepared for future requests.

The Green Juice Recipe My Entire Family Loves (Yes, Loves)

Here we are in January yet again. Clean starts. New goals and resolutions. Here are my three for 2014:

1. Finish Baby Step #3.
2. Read more books.
3. Eat more vegetables.

Granted, I've got a bunch of other little goals and ideas, but these are my main three for the year. I figure a lot of those aforementioned "little goals and ideas" of mine fit somewhere in those three goals.You can be sure that there will be posts on here about my progress on each of them.

These goals also happen to branch out to my aspirations for my family. Take the whole vegetable thing. I'm just as concerned about getting more vegetables into my boys' little bodies as I am mine, if not more so. These boys of mine are growing like crazy and they need all those vitamins! One way I've been getting more vegetables, particularly of the green variety, into everyone in my family (including the husband) is with our juicer. 

Years ago, my parents gave us (and each of my brothers) a juicer for Christmas. My parents had just gotten into juicing months before and wanted us to benefit like they had. They got us a Jack LaLanne juicer from Costco. It was something I probably wouldn't have bought for myself, but we ended up being so glad we got it. One reason: it got more vegetables and fruit into our diets, including then three-year-old Max. Max has never been a picky eater and loves fruits and veggies (I used to bribe him to be good at the store when he was four with promises of Caesar salad). Jonah, however, is definitely the pickier eater of my two kids and getting a balanced diet into him is much harder. Enter: our green juice. 

This green juice mostly consists of vegetables, but it still deliciously sweet and refreshing. I believe I got the original framework for the recipe from Dr. Oz when he was on Oprah. I can remember Oprah tasting it and saying that it tasted like "a glass of fresh" or something like that. Really, that's a perfect way to describe this juice. 

Now I know there is some debate between the benefits of juice vs. smoothies. I love smoothies but have yet to master smoothie making, especially when it comes to green smoothies (mine always turn out looking like brown sludge). Some say that juicing is more healthful, others argue that smoothies are better. There is also the issue of waste -- there's no leftover pulp when you make smoothies. That said, juicing works well for our family. We all love coming up with various concoctions with our juicer, though this green one is our favorite and go-to recipe. 

What does this have to do with frugality? Not only is juicing a great way to get nutrition and stay healthy (an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, after all), but it's a great way to prevent produce waste. Instead of tossing out over-ripe fruit and wilting vegetables, juice it. Produce that might not look too appetizing to eat out of hand or in a salad, works well and tastes fine when it's juiced (as long as nothing is spoiled, of course). I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person who buys produce with great aspirations to eat all of it but then doesn't get around to it. Juicing (same goes for smoothies) is a great way to make sure the produce you buy gets where it needs to go: into our bodies and not into the trash.

So, here's how I get a good portion of these fruits and vegetables...

...into this almost three-year-old's tummy, all before 9 AM. (See how he's still in his Mickey jammies?)

To make our family's favorite green juice (the amounts in the parenthesis will yield about four cups of juice) you'll need the following: 

• spinach (about 2-3 big handfuls)
• cucumber (1 medium sized)
• celery (2-3 ribs, 4 if small. Be sure to include leafy tops.)
• Italian parsley (about 1/3-1/2 of a bunch)
• apples (2 medium apples)
• lime (1/2 of a small one)
• lemon (1/4 of medium one)
• ginger (1-inch chunk) {I don't always use this but it does add a nice flavor and helps with digestion.}

This recipe is certainly not one of absolute measurements -- I mostly just eyeball it -- and it can be adjusted to how many servings you need. In the past, I've substituted pears for apples and beet greens and chard for some of the spinach. I also leave the peels on the apples, lemons, and limes. 

Juice according to your juicer's directions. My boys love helping with this part -- it's what got both of them to drink it at a young age. They think it's a lot of fun. Jonah loves to put the ingredients down the chute and Max likes to push the ingredients down with the...what's the word?...pusher-downer thing. Yeah. That's what it's called. *ahem*

Once all the juice has been extracted, give it a good stir. Again, my boys love this part -- when they're both helping make juice, they each have to have a turn with stirring. It's like stirring some kind of potion to them.

And there you have it: our family's favorite green juice. Some people balk at the idea of drinking something green, but it really is so tasty. Any doubter is quickly converted after a sip or two.

My boys seriously guzzle the stuff. Jonah had his finished before I even started mine. 

About the pulp...

One of the big arguments against juicing is the pulp that goes to waste. It's a valid argument -- that is beneficial fiber. It doesn't have to go to waste, though. It can easily be used in recipes. My mom has used the pulp from her homemade carrot juice to make muffins. You can find all sorts of recipes online; this book also has lots and lots recipes using the pulp. I've never really baked or cooked with the pulp, but I still don't waste it. It always either goes to the compost pile (to help grow new vegetables!) or to the chickens (though I take the citrus peels out before I give the pulp to them).  The ladies in the backyard love it when I take the pulp out to them -- I love that it makes for even more nutritious eggs.

After I'd been juicing for a while, I picked up a book that my mom suggested. Along with a bunch of recipes, it also has a section that lists the health benefits for each type of juice. I thought it was interesting so here are some of them: (Note: I'm just sharing what's in the book. Take it for what it's worth and check with your doctor if you have questions. I'm certainly no doctor; I got my degree in English, people.)

• Spinach juice helps cleanse the kidneys, liver, and digestive tract. Improves regularity. Helps prevent bladder cancer and stomach ulcers. Fights infection. Helps lower high blood pressure and maintain acid-alkaline balance.
• Cucumber juice cleanses the kidneys. A weight-loss tool. Helps lower high blood pressure. Excellent for skin problems. Excellent daily source of fluid.
• Celery juice cleanses the kidneys and liver. Useful for weight loss. Helps maintain both acid-alkaline balance in the blood and calcium levels. An excellent mixer with other, stronger juices. Treatment for gout and ulcers. 
• Parsley juice cleanses the urinary tract and the blood. Treats conditions of the kidneys and liver. Helps prevent many cancers such as kidney, liver, urinary tract. Good for circulatory deficiencies. Good for general heart health. Can be used for weight loss. Good for the eyes.
• Apple juice is good for healthy skin and hair. High vitamin C content protects against cold and flu. Pectin cleans out toxins and helps maintain regularity. Eases indigestion. Good juice for a weight-loss program. Flushes kidneys and liver.
• Lime juice is good for colds and flu, indigestion, and skin problems, liver problems, constipation, anemia and other blood problems.
• Lemon juice is good for treating minor bruises, for pregnant women, as a tool for weight loss, and to prevent colds and flu.
• Ginger helps relieve upset stomach and aid digestion.

If you have a juicer and it's collecting dust in your pantry or cupboard, get it out and give this recipe a shot. Your body will thank you. Quite a refreshing way to start the year.

Note: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 

Soup Weather Again: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Hey Blog! Long time, no...write?

Anyway, it's December (can you believe it?) and it is so cold! On Monday, our high temperature was in the 50s; today, we'll be lucky if we hit the 20 degree mark. Brrr!

The upside: this is perfect soup weather! Not only is a hot bowl of soup so welcome on a cold day, but soup is also usually easy to make. Even more, the frugalista in me just loves what an inexpensive dinner soup can be. I love that I can whip up a big pot of soup for under ten bucks (or even five, in some cases) that will fill my family up at dinner and still have leftovers for lunch the next day.

Today, I thought I'd share a favorite of mine: roasted butternut squash soup.

And let me tell you, if you had told me that a squash soup would be a favorite of mine a few years ago, I would have said you were nuts.

For most of my life I've been squash-averse. I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe it was from the time my mom tried to trick my brothers and me by using squash instead of pumpkin in a pie. (The lady next door told her we wouldn't notice. We did. Mom had a surplus of squash so I can't blame her for trying.) Poor Mom. She would grow loads of squash in the garden but she was the only one who would eat it. I can remember times when I'd come home from school and the house would smell delicious. My brothers and I would run up the stairs to the kitchen to see what Mom had in the oven. To our disappointment, she was roasting squash. I have no idea why we turned our noses up at it when we thought it smelled so good. I mean, isn't that a pretty good indicator that it might be tasty?

My mom works at a restaurant and a few years ago, she brought me a cup of the popular butternut squash soup from there. As you can imagine, I didn't want to touch it.

With a little more coaxing, my mom got me to finally try it and, to my great surprise, I LOVED it. I wanted her to bring it every day she worked. It was sweet but not too much so and it had this subtle curry flavor to it. Since then, I've opened myself up to the world of squash and it's really not that bad. I'm thinking I might be planting a few butternut and spaghetti squash next year in my garden.

This week I finally made my own pot of that butternut squash soup and it was so easy -- I figured it'd be a nice way to get back onto this blog of mine. This recipe comes from the restaurant -- I was so happy when it was printed in their free newsletter.

I was going to do a step-by-step recipe with lots of photos, but I tell you, the days are getting so short and by 4:45 it was getting too dark to even get a good picture. But, seriously, this recipe is so easy, the step-by-step instructions aren't really that needed.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup 
serves 6

1 butternut squash (get one of the bigger ones at the store, I'd say),  peeled and medium diced
1/4 cup olive oil
Pinch salt and pepper
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 tablespoon butter
3 cups chicken stock (you could also do vegetable stock if you want to make this meatless)
Pinch of ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (none of that fake pancake syrup stuff)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (I used half & half and it worked fine)

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

In a bowl, toss the diced and peeled squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper until it's nice and coated. Put the squash on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until it's browned.

While the squash is roasting, place cook the onion in pot with butter until the onion is translucent.

Add the stock and roasted squash to the pot. Bring to a boil and cook until the squash is tender. Pour into a blender (you could also use an immersion blender, but it'll probably take longer) and puree until smooth.

Return the puree to the pot. Add nutmeg, cloves, curry powder, and maple syrup. Stir in cream. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve immediately. Optional garnish: top with roasted pepitas.

Avoid that bitter Arctic blast that's hitting most of the country right now. Stay inside and make a pot of this. It's for the best.

Note: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have disclosed.

More Good, Cultured Fun :: Making Frozen and Greek Yogurt

Have you tried making your own yogurt yet? See, I told you it was easy!

Without question, I prefer Greek yogurt over regular. I remember the first time I ever tried Greek yogurt (mmmm....Chobani pineapple. Yum.), I was surprised how it tasted more like a dessert than the yogurt I was used to. Since that first taste, I haven't been able to eat regular yogurt; it just seems too watery. This kept me from making my own yogurt for a while -- I wasn't ready to give up my Chobani yogurt. Turns out, making your yogurt Greek is simple. The difference between regular yogurt and Greek is that the Greek yogurt has been strained, removing the whey, hence the creamier texture.

To Greek-ify your yogurt, you'll need:

• fresh homemade yogurt
• a large bowl
• a colander/strainer that's smaller than the aforementioned bowl
• thin cloth (more on that in a bit)

Line the colander/strainer with the thin cloth. This can be from a variety of sources. I ran out of cheesecloth (which wasn't working that well anyway since I'd bought cheap grocery store kind that doesn't have a very fine weave), so I improvised with some my cloth napkins that are made out of birdseye cotton (it's the same kind of cloth used for diapers. I got my cloth napkins from Etsy -- I love them.), with the cheesecloth I had left layered on top of that. They worked even better than the layers of cheesecloth I'd used before (plus cheesecloth can get kind of pricey). You could use a thin tea towel or some muslin cloth, too. I've also read about people using paper towel and paper coffee filters. Personally, I like the idea using cloth over paper since it's reusable, but work with what you've got. 

Put the strainer over the large bowl and then pour your yogurt into the cloth (or whatever you choose to use). Fold the edges of the cloth over the yogurt and put it (the whole shebang: bowl, strainer, yogurt, etc) into the fridge for 1-2 hours. Really, you can let it strain as long or short as you want, until it gets to the consistency you like.

I strained mine for a couple hours and it got to that consistency I love. It's not the best picture, but if you look closely, you can see where I got my fingerful of yogurt in the lower-right corner. Totally strained and creamy. Yum!

Once you've strained your yogurt, you'll see that there's liquid collected in the bowl under the strainer. Whatever you do, don't throw that out!! That clear, yellowish liquid is the whey and it's actually quite useful and really good for you. For a great post about whey and how to use it (she has 16 different uses for it!), check out this link. 

If you're not going to use your whey in a couple days or so, you can freeze it for later. I freeze mine in jars. My boys' pediatrician (remember, the guy who finally convinced me to give this yogurt making a go) said he freezes whey in an ice cube tray (yet another use for them -- what a useful kitchen tool!) and then will pop a couple cubes into the smoothies he makes (since whey is full of protein and vitamins).  

The only downside to making your yogurt Greek: it does cut your yield down. Because of the straining, you'll end up with less yogurt than you started with (obviously) -- how much less depends on how much you strain it.

Want to make your homemade Greek yogurt even more delicious? Make frozen yogurt!

My husband has been on a certain kick lately: he loves plain, tangy frozen yogurt. You know, the kind at those places where it's self-serve and you can load it with toppings. Knowing this, I thought it'd be fun to try to use my newfound yogurt-making skill to make one of his favorite treats.

Time to pull out the ol' ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchen-Aid. 

I got the ice cream attachment a few years ago for Christmas from my husband. Really, it's the gift that keeps on giving. Throw some cream, and some sugar into that bowl (after the bowl has been chilled in the freezer for several hours) and you've got ice cream that makes the store-bought stuff taste like...well...a sorry excuse for ice cream.  

I'd never made frozen yogurt before but I figured it couldn't be much different than making ice cream. It wasn't.

Even so, I wanted to use a recipe as my guide and I thought this one sounded the best, just what I'd been looking for in recreating my husband's favorite kind. (Note: it works with any kind of ice cream maker.)

You simply mix the yogurt with some sugar and stick it in the fridge for an hour. I used less sugar in my version than was called for in the recipe because we still wanted the tangy flavor of the yogurt to come out. 

Once it chilled in the fridge, I poured it into the already-started machine and let it the Kitchen-Aid work its magic.

I was going to dish up the frozen yogurt into a cute little bowl with a pretty placemat underneath, with some of the raspberries from my yard (yay!) daintily placed on top. Nope. It didn't make it that far. No way were were going to risk that stuff melting while I tried to style it just-so and get a un-blurry photo. Basically, I split it between the hubs and I in a couple oversized mugs, gave the obligatory offer to the boys (they didn't want any -- hooray!), tossed some of the raspberries on it, and stuck a couple spoons in each mug. Nothing fancy here.

But the taste. Oh my goodness. I'm not exaggerating at all when I say it was one of the most delicious things I've eaten lately. It was divine. You owe it to yourself to make this homemade frozen yogurt. It may be one of my favorite homemade vs. pre-made accomplishments yet.

Note: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 

{This post is linked up to Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Homestead Barn Hop, Simple Lives Thursday, From the Farm Blog Hop, and Little House Friday DIY Linky.}

Good, Cultured Fun :: How to Make Homemade Yogurt

My kids have the best pediatrician, who my family affectionately refers to as Dr. Pete. My boys actually look forward to visits with him. He has nicknames for them, tickles them, gives hugs, and makes jokes about farting and poo (aka, boy humor). I think he's the best because he really knows his stuff and never hesitates to thoroughly answer any and all of my questions (no matter how dumb they may sound to him). Another thing that makes him super cool: we feel pretty similar when it comes to food. A couple visits ago, we chatted about The Omnivore's Dilemma and how much better a fresh egg tastes than its grocery store counterpart. It was pretty great.

A couple weeks ago, I thought my six-year-old had strep throat again, so we paid a visit to Dr. Pete. When he came to tell us the test was negative (hooray!) and as he examined both boys (because they'd had the same virus, it turned out), we got on the topic of food again. That's when he asked if I'd ever made yogurt. I told him no, that I'd wanted to for a while but that it'd always seemed tricky. He proceeded to tell me how easy it is to make. I was convinced. That same day, I went to the store, picked up the ingredients, and made my first batch of yogurt.

He wasn't kidding: homemade yogurt is so easy to make! Not only is it really easy to make your own yogurt, it's also much cheaper! To make a quart of yogurt (and this is with organic milk, which can cost a bit more), it only cost around $1.50.

To make yogurt, you'll need the following:

• 4 cups of milk, any fat percentage -- I used whole milk (Do NOT use milk that has been ultra-pasteurized. Ultra-pasteurized milk has been heated to a higher temperature than pasteurized milk, so it doesn't respond to the cultures.)
• 3 Tablespoons plain yogurt with live, active cultures (You only have to use store-bought yogurt for the first time you make it. Once you've made your own yogurt, you can just use three tablespoons of it for your next batch.)
• two dish towels
• a food thermometer
• a slow cooker

There are a variety of ways to make and incubate yogurt, but this is the way Dr. Pete told me to do it...

Plug your slow cooker in and set it to 'warm' or to its lowest setting.  Put one of the dish towels inside and put the lid on the slow cooker.

Pour the milk into a medium saucepan and heat it over medium heat, stirring often so it doesn't scald.

Heat the milk until it gets to 180°F. This takes about 15-20 minutes.  (Please ignore my not-hand-model hands, especially the dirty thumbnail. I swear they were clean but that dirt from the camping trip the day before was stubborn!)

Remove the pot from the heat. Wait for it to cool to 110°F. This is the longest part of the process. You can let it cool at room temperature (which is what I've done), but I read recently that you can also put the pot into a larger bowl or sink with ice water.

While was I waiting for this batch to cool, I flipped through Home Dairy with Ashley English. I'm telling you, there's something super-empowering about making your own dairy products. I can't quite explain why, but it is. So far, I've made butter, mozzarella cheese, and yogurt. I can't wait to try making feta, cream cheese, and kefir next, among a bunch of other things.  If you're interested in making your own dairy and feeling all cool and self-sufficient, Home Dairy is a wonderful resource for making a wide range of dairy products; another great book with fantastic beginner dairy recipes is one of my favorite cookbooks, The Homemade Pantry by Alana Chernila.

Once the milk has cooled to 110°F, mix in the three tablespoons of yogurt with a metal spoon. 

Pour the milk-yogurt mixture into a quart-size Mason jar. Place the lid on top and screw the ring on tightly.

Wrap the jar in the other dish towel (it's like insulation) and put it into the slow cooker. It looks like you're putting a baby to bed. Unplug the slow cooker and put the lid on it. Leave the jar in the slow cooker for six hours (or overnight) and let the cultures work their magic.

It's cool that your yogurt starts so liquidy but then within a few hours...

...it turns into yogurt -- fresh, tangy, delicious yogurt!

Before serving, let the yogurt chill in the fridge for an hour or two. It's a good idea to set three tablespoons aside in a little jar or other container for your next batch of yogurt (I had to buy another cup of yogurt since we ate ours up without thinking ahead).  This yogurt will keep in the fridge for about 2 weeks -- the longer it's in the fridge, the more tangy it'll get.

Serve this with some fresh fruit, granola, or sweetened with honey or syrup.

Note: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 

{This post is linked up to Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Homestead Barn Hop, Simple Lives Thursday, From the Farm Blog Hop, and Little House Friday DIY Linky.}

Peeeaaaanut, Peanut Butter :: How I Ditched the Jar of Skippy and Started Making My Own Peanut Butter

First, you get the peanuts and you crush 'em, you crush 'em...

Just kidding. That's not how this blog post is going to go down. {If you want to sing the song, feel free to click here. Oooh! Even better, if you want to relive your childhood, you can watch this vintage Sesame Street film of a peanut butter factory! It's two minutes well spent. I'll wait.}

I'm totally into buying natural foods, but I've never been able to really bring myself to switch to the healthy peanut butter. You know, the kind that has all the oil on top, the kind that you have stir before using it. Whenever I tried it, I just..well...wasn't a fan. Even when I did start buying natural and organic food, I still bought my family's peanut butter at the regular grocery store. I figured if I bought the Skippy Natural kind (so it didn't have hydrogenated oils and stuff), we'd be good.

A couple months ago, I learned that peanuts are sprayed heavily with pesticides -- a problem since the shells of peanuts are porous, so the pesticides can get right down to the meat of the peanut. The pesticides that are used are carcinogenic, not to mention containing neurotoxins and hormone disruptors. On top of that, there are developmental and reproductive effects from these pesticides -- this concerned me most because of how much peanut butter my boys eat (seriously, both of my boys have been known to eat all the peanut butter off bread and ask for a second slathering). Peanuts are also prone to mold and when peanut butter is mass-produced, quite often the yucky ones get thrown into the mix. Remember all the peanut butter recalls we've seen in past years? It felt dumb for me to buy all this organic produce, meat, and dairy but hold out on the organic peanut butter.

Well, now that I've made you paranoid like I was, I have a solution: make your peanut butter from scratch! Not only is it suuuuper easy but it tastes delicious. It's not exactly the same taste or consistency as the jar of Skippy (mmmm...that's stuff's good for peanut butter on a spoon, which my husband, incidentally (and adorably), used to call "He-Man suckers" when he was a kid), but it's good in a different way. I love it. My kids love it. My often-skeptical-about-natural-foods husband likes it. I feel good about serving it to my family because it's healthier and I know exactly what's in it. And it's pretty inexpensive to make. It's a win-win-win-win-win situation, really.  P.S.- you can use the same method and recipe for other nut butters. Almond butter, anyone? Yum!

(Also, I have to give this blog a shout-out. I've read countless recipes for homemade nut butters -- they're all pretty much the same -- but this post was the one that finally made me do it. Credit where it's due, as always)

On to the recipe!

Homemade Peanut Butter

3 cups of roasted peanuts (I bought mine organic in the bulk section for $2.99/lb.)
1 Tablespoon of honey
1/2 teaspoon salt (I like Redmond Real Salt)

Pour all of the peanuts into the bowl of a food processor.

Turn it on and let it run for about 6-8 minutes, depending on how smooth you want yours to be.

It'll seem like it's taking a while and that it's not working out.  At one point, it'll look all dry and grainy like this:

And then it'll look all clumpy like this:

Trust me, though -- it works out in the end.

Ta-da! Peanut butter! I like mine a little rough -- not super creamy but not full of chunks either. It has a sort of grit to it that the husband and I particularly like. Run your food processor as much or little as you like until you see a consistency you want.

Add the honey and salt. Turn the processor on for about 30 seconds.

In less than ten minutes, you've got your own homemade jar of peanut butter. I keep ours in the fridge in a pint-sized Mason jar.  What's nice about this peanut butter is that it's completely natural (none of that hydrogenated garbage), organic if you want it to be, and, unlike store-bought natural peanut butter, you don't have to stir it because the oils don't separate. The flavor of this peanut butter is so good -- the way the peanuts and honey mix, along with the hint of saltiness, is really great. I don't see us going back to the store-bought variety anytime soon. Sorry, Skippy.

Note: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 

{This post is linked up to Homestead Barn Hop, Simple Lives Thursday, Little House Friday DIY Linky, Creative Home & Garden Hop, and Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways.}