We love our yogurt around here. It is a daily staple. We eat it for breakfast, snacks, and as an ingredient in rice, oatmeal, or salad, you name it! And we like it plain. I could go on about the many health benefits, but if you're reading this, you probably know them already. Several years ago my mom got me into eating Greek yogurt with honey and figs. So good! We grew up with some Greek immigrant neighbors who had a restaurant in town and we ate there regularly when I was young (and then they retired). When I was a teenager I had some aversions to food which gave me ulcers and other digestive problems and as a result became a vegetarian. So I ate Greek food a LOT. It's a mystery to me now though, that I'm just recently discovering Greek YOGURT!
Well if you've had it before and know how it's creamy goodness is packed with protein and easily digested, you will also know the price tag. Ouch! For a growing family like ours who also have a teenage boy living with them, this item is unfortunately not on the priorities list. But one day I was remembering how I once packed a yogurt in that now teenager's lunch when he was a young lad. At the end of the day I asked him how it was and much to my disappointment he replied that he'd thrown it away because it had gone bad! How? I asked. It had water on top. Well, my friends this was a good teaching opportunity for the science of cooking and how yogurt is made. Long story short, if you allow yogurt to continue to strain, you get a thicker creamier yogurt. That in essence is what Greek yogurt is. Strained. So we just started straining our own. I'm going to show you how I did it, without to many instructions, because I am not a fan of very wordy tutorials. That being said, if you're an auditory learner, you may want to talk out loud to yourself about what is going on in the photos. If you or anyone has any further questions, please ask away in the comments section.
The towel is clean I assure you, despite the many stains evident from much use.
Our water is hard and it is impossible to get whites really white and bright.
If you have a solution, I'm willing to hear!
3 hours.
6 hours.
We keep the whey and use it for fermenting foods, to cook pasta, or to put in stocks or soups.
Enjoy!
P.S. When I told Darryl I was doing a tutorial on this for the blog he included the helpful advice to simply put some Greece in it. Hope that makes someone laugh. It's a non-stop comedy routine around here.
