Homemade Yogurt

I've mentioned that I eat Dannon Light & Fit yogurt pretty often, and I buy it only when it's on sale at $0.50/6oz. I came across instructions for making yogurt in a slow-cooker (one of my favorite appliances) and figured I'd try my hand at it.  It was remarkably easy.  I used a three-ply aluminum core stainless steel pot to speed things up, but you'll want something that holds on to heat well, not a cheap thin pot.  I found other information online (Wikipedia) to corroborate and refine the technique.  You will need a decent thermometer.

1 qt of milk at ~$4/gal = ~$1
1 Tbsp yogurt

Heat the milk to 180 F and maintain that temperature for 10-30 minutes.  A longer time should result in a thicker yogurt as the heating process makes the proteins play nicely with each other.  Let the milk cool to about 115 F, then whisk in 1 Tbsp of yogurt. The goal is to integrate the yogurt "starter" at 113 F, but adding it in will reduce the overall temperature of the mixture.  So, if you're adding cold yogurt, maybe do it when the milk is at 117 F, but room-temperature yogurt can be added at 115 F.  I don't remember enough from physics to figure it out exactly.  There are 64 Tbsps in a qt.  Ideally, you will hold the temperature at 100-110 F for the next four hours.  I just put the lid on my pot, wrapped it in a towel and put it in my oven.  Every couple hours I turned the oven on low (170 F) for twenty seconds.  Since I wasn't maintaining the right temperature, I left the pot in for six hours, and some people leave it for 8-10 hours.  Then I moved the pot to the fridge.

The yogurt was quite tasty.  I had a bowl for breakfast with Grape Nuts cereal and honey.  The yogurt will be thicker at the top, and will be much thinner and less sweet than grocery store yogurt overall because most American commercial yogurts add starches, sugars, and gelatin that thicken, preserve and sweeten it.  This picture was taken after half the yogurt was eaten.  You may see the difference in thickness between the glob of top-yogurt and the surrounding bottom-yogurt.

There are many things you can do with yogurt besides stirring in some honey or fruit jam.  It can be used in dips, sauces, and in some drinks and entrees.  I will try to find some good dishes to make.

Save a bit of the yogurt you make to be the starter for your next batch.  You can make as much as you want in a batch, but keep the 1:64 ratio of starter to milk.  The milk turns to yogurt as the bacteria from the starter eat lactose and poop lactic acid, which brings the milk proteins together.  The acidity helps protect the yogurt from unwanted bacteria.  The yogurt should keep well in your fridge for about 10 days.

Depending on what yogurt and milk you buy and what your price thresholds are, making your own could cut your yogurt expenditures to 1/2-1/6.

The Most Important Meal of the Day

Among stereotypical breakfast foods is one that provides a great opportunity to eat healthily at a low cost: oatmeal.  This is a whole grain food that should keep you feeling full through the morning, and it is very inexpensive.  I typically buy the big store-brand canister of quick oats, which is $3 or less for 30 half-cup servings.  That's 10 cents per bowl.  It takes less than two minutes to prepare.

Now, you might say, "But I don't like the taste of plain oatmeal, and I'll go insane if I have to eat it every day."  Here are some things I often add to my oatmeal to help it taste better, and you can mix and match for variety:

Cinnamon  - zero calories, costs a penny per breakfast
Apple, half, sliced - 40-70 calories,  ~$0.40 (varies by size & price)
Honey, 1 tbsp - 60 calories, ~$0.20 (highly variable)
Walnuts, chopped, 1/8 cup - 50 calories, ~$0.18 (@$4.50/lb)
Grape Nuts, 1/8 cup - 50 calories, ~$0.16 (@$2/box)
Flax Seeds, 1/8 cup - 90 calories, ~$0.15
Banana - 90-130 calories, ~$0.25 (@$0.69/lb)
Sugar Substitute - 0 calories, a few cents per packet or free

So, you can have a variety of pretty healthy and tasty breakfasts for $0.50 or less.  I even splurge sometimes and have a $0.75 bowl of oatmeal with banana, honey, and walnuts.

Even throw in an 8oz glass of delicious Tropicana orange juice (they do not pay me) fortified with calcium and vitamin D for $0.40 or less.  I refuse to pay more than $0.05/oz for juice, and it goes on sale often for less than that.  There's a nutritious breakfast for less than $1 per day per person with only a couple minutes of preparation that even a child can handle.

This is a great option for those of you with kids.  This kind of breakfast will help your children concentrate at school and be healthy.  It doesn't make sense to pay more money for junk cereals that are half sugar, or Pop Tarts, or whatever else, which lead to poor concentration, obesity, and potentially type II Diabetes.