Homemade Greek Yogurt!

Anyone who buys Greek yogurt knows that it's an investment. You either pay $1.50 for a single serving, or you pay $5 to $6 for a container that "Serves 4." So a few months ago, I decided to look into the process of making my own Greek yogurt, because I knew it had to be cheaper than buying it. I know making yogurt sounds like one of those temperamental things that involves a lot of gadgets and intricate steps, but I assure you it's not! The only items that you will need and possibly don't already have are: a thermometer and straining material (cheese cloth, yogurt bag, t-shirt, coffee filters, etc.). I bought this reusable cotton cheese bag from Amazon for $8, and have been using it for months.

I fused a number of different methods together into one "recipe," but listed below are a few of the websites I read for my first yogurt trials:

Answers to Questions About Yogurt-Making
Stove-top Recipe by Tracey's Culinary Adventures
Crock Pot Recipe by The Little Red House

Ingredients:

- Gallon of milk (or half-gallon if you want less yogurt)
- Starter yogurt: Either a single serving size of plain, Greek yogurt (make sure it lists live and active cultures as an ingredient)- 0%, 2%, etc., or if you're making yogurt for a 2nd time, an equivalent amount of your previous batch of fresh yogurt

Instructions:

1. Pour milk into a large pot and heat on stove-top until it reaches 180 degrees - stirring constantly.  If you don't stir the milk constantly, it will burn and I can only imagine that's gross.
*Warning: this step takes about 20 minutes, so I usually turn on music or watch an episode of Cheers on my phone. I've heard of people using a double boiler or a crock pot to heat the milk so that it requires less stirring, but I haven't tried either of these methods.

2. Once the milk reaches 180 degrees, remove it from the heat and let it cool to about 110 degrees. I usually put the pot of milk in a sink of cold water- it takes about 5-10 minutes to cool.

3. While the milk is cooling, pull the starter yogurt out of the fridge. You don't want the yogurt to be too cold when you add it to the milk, because it will cool the milk down.

4. Once the milk reaches 110 degrees, pour about a cup of it into a separate container and add the starter yogurt, stirring until the yogurt is dispersed in the milk.

5. Pour the milk/yogurt mixture back into the pot of milk and stir well.

Step 4: Mix starter yogurt into a cup of milk

Step 5: Pour mixture into pot and stir

6. If you have an oven that goes as low as 100 degrees, set your oven to 100 degrees and put the pot in the oven for 6-8 hours. If your oven does not go this low (like mine), this step involves a bit of creativity. The goal is to keep the yogurt at approximately 100 degrees for 6-8 hours, so however you can achieve that is great. Here is what I do:
- Cover the pot with a lid, and wrap the pot in a blanket/towel.
- Cover the pot with an insulated grocery bag
- Place the grocerybagpot in an insulated cooler bag and zip it closed.

7. Wait 6-8 hours (the longer you wait, the tangier the yogurt), and try not to disturb the yogurt during this time. The bacteria are multiplying and like to be left alone.

8. After 6-8 hours, you will have a full pot of yogurt! If you do not want Greek yogurt, you are good to go at this point. If you do want Greek yogurt, you will need to strain off some of the whey so that you are left with a thicker, more concentrated yogurt.

Yogurt before straining

 9. For Greek yogurt: scoop/pour the yogurt into your straining cloth and let it strain in the fridge for a few hours (I usually set it up to strain while I'm at work so I'm not tempted to check on it all day long).

10. Pour off the strained whey, scrape the yogurt into a bowl, whisk to remove any possible lumps, and you're done!

Deliciously smooth and thick Greek yogurt!

If you don't have cheese cloth or a cheese bag, here are a few household options for straining your yogurt: thin/clean t-shirt, thin/smooth dish towel, high quality paper towels, or coffee filters. However, if you plan on making yogurt frequently, it's completely worth investing in a straining bag!

Ghiradelli-Level Gluten Free Brownies

After a 6 month hiatus, I'm back! In that time, I discovered something sad... I am probably gluten intolerant. I say probably because it's hard to really know whether a person is gluten intolerant or not since there are varying degrees of intolerance and it doesn't always show on an allergy test. However, I do know that most of my issues have resolved after reducing my gluten intake, so it's worth pursuing. That said, I still plan on making both glutenous and non-glutenous recipes... mostly because I love food too much not to, but also because I'm not technically allergic... right?

This brownie recipe is unique because it's a gluten free recipe, but it's actually WAY better than any gluten brownie recipe I've tried. Maybe I just haven't tried the right recipes, but achieving perfect homemade brownies has always been tricky for me. I also have a very high standard for brownies, namely Ghiradelli's Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix. Judge me for loving boxed brownie mix if you will, but I will not change my mind. I love Ghiradelli brownies and I stand by this recipe. The only problem is that most people don't have GF flour in their pantry, so I'll have to experiment to see if they can be made just as well with wheat flour.

Recipe from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup dutch-process cocoa or baking cocoa
3 large eggs
3/4 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour blend
* I used Bob's Red Mill GF flour, but the recipe calls for King Arthur GF flour

1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips and/or 1 cup chopped nuts - optional
* I didn't add these because I didn't have any on hand

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease an 8" square pan
2. Place the sugar, butter, and salt in a microwave-safe bowl or saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring until the butter melts and the mixture lightens in color
   * This step helps melt the sugar, which will give the brownies a shiny crust
3. If you've heated the sugar and butter in a saucepan, transfer the mixture to a bowl
4. In the bowl containing the sugar-butter mixture, blend in the vanilla and cocoa until incorporated
5. Add the eggs and mix until shiny
6. Blend in the GF flour and the baking powder
7. If adding chocolate chips and/or nuts, stir into batter
8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading to the edges
9. Bake the brownies for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is set
   * I baked mine for 30 minutes, but I prefer my brownies gooey-solid
10. Remove pan from the oven and place on a wire rack for about 15 minutes before cutting
11. Enjoy!

This may have been my breakfast this morning...

Heavenly Hummus

If you are interested in making your own hummus (and you should be)... use this recipe. Seriously. At the very least you should follow the beginning instructions and soak your dried chickpeas in water and baking soda. I've made hummus from canned chickpeas and it doesn't even compare to this. According to Alton Brown on Good Eats, the outer skin of the chickpeas soften better in a slightly alkali environment, and the baking soda provides this environment. Softer chickpeas = creamier hummus.

This recipe has endless possibilities for flavors. You could add a slew of spices, roasted garlic, roasted peppers, pine nuts... anything! For my next batch I'm going to try adding a little olive oil (1-2 tablespoons maybe?), because the hummus tightens up a bit in the fridge.

(Good) Warning: This recipe makes A TON. I had two medium-large containers full of hummus. It freezes surprisingly well though, so you could either do what I did, which is make it all and then divide it into two portions - one for the fridge and one for the freezer, or you could just cut the ingredients in half.

Recipe from The Healthy Foodie

Ingredients:

2 cups dried chickpeas *I used a 1 lb. bag - it was basically 2 cups
2 tbs. baking soda for soaking + 1/2 tsp. for cooking
1/2 cup tahini
Juice of 1 lemon *I probably used about 2 lemons-worth, but it's all up to your taste buds
3 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp cumin *I used about 1 1/2 tsp. of cumin
1/2 - 1 cup of water  *Start with 1/2 and work your way up. Runny hummus could get weird

Instructions:

1. Soak chickpeas in water with 2 tablespoons of baking soda over night
2. Drain, rinse, and soak again in water for a few more hours. The chickpeas need to get nice and plump - almost doubling their volume
3. Drain and rinse the chickpeas once more and put them in a large pot 
4. Cover the chickpeas with water and add 1/2 tsp. baking soda to the pot
5. Cook on low heat about 30-45 minutes until they are very soft. Regularly skim the surface of the water while the chickpeas cook to remove any foam or floating chickpea skins (They really do foam... it's kind of weird)
6. Once tender, drain the chickpeas and then transfer them to a food processor. Grind them into a thick puree, occasionally stopping the processor to scrape down the sides
7. Add the tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and cumin and process the mixture
8. Add the water slowly until you get the desired texture. You probably want to make the hummus thinner than your actual desired texture, because it firms up in the fridge a little.

In a week and a half, I managed to eat all of this single-handedly.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Recipe from Barefoot Contessa

Ina Garten knows her stuff. This soup is simple and really delicious. Even if you don't like curry, don't shy away from this recipe! I promise. My boyfriend is not a curry fan, and he loves this soup. The curry powder just gives the soup more depth of flavor and a nice warmth.  It's a bit labor-intensive to prepare (a lot of peeling and chopping), but it is completely worth it. Just set aside at least 20 minutes to prep the ingredients and about an hour to cook everything. The original recipe includes a list of suggested toppings.  I've made this soup about 10 times, and somehow every time I go to the store, I forget to buy the toppings... so I can't comment on what's best. They all sound like great flavor compliments though, so I'll include them for those of you who are capable of remembering a full list of ingredients while grocery shopping.

Soup Ingredients:

3 to 4 lbs. butternut squash - peel and remove seeds
2 medium-small yellow onions
2 McIntosh apples - peeled and cored
3 tbs. olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
Garlic powder *This wasn't in the original recipe, but I think it tastes better with it
2 to 4 cups chicken stock
1/2 tsp. curry powder

Toppings:

Scallions (white and green parts - chopped on a diagonal)
Flaked sweetened coconut - lightly toasted
Roasted salted cashews - toasted and chopped
Diced banana

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F
2. Cut the squash, apples, and onions into 1-inch cubes
3. Place them on a sheet pan and toss with the olive oil, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper
4. Divide the chopped mixture between 2 sheet pans to spread out in a single layer on each pan
5. Roast for 30-45 minutes until very tender, tossing the mixture occasionally for even roasting
6. Meanwhile, simmer the chicken stock on a low heat
7. When the squash mixture is done roasting, transfer the mix in batches into a food processor (or a blender). Puree to desired texture (I like to leave a few chunks, but you could make it completely smooth if you like). Add some of the chicken stock to help puree the mixture more easily.
8. Pour the pureed veggie mix into a large pot and add enough chicken stock to make a thick soup
9. Add the curry powder, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, and a few good sprinkles of garlic powder (I've never actually measured out how much I put in... but it's always good to start with less because garlic powder is some strong stuff)
10. Add toppings (or don't) and eat!!

So. Much. Soup.

America's Favorite Cookie

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen

I was really excited to try this recipe. It was one that I had bookmarked about a year ago, but could never bring myself to try for fear of ruining an American classic. Thankfully I received a particular request to try this recipe, which was the push I needed.

Although these cookies were good, I don't think I would prefer them over the store-bought originals. I know that I should prefer the homemade option that doesn't include things like high fructose corn syrup in the ingredients... but they just weren't quite the same. The difference in the two lies in the cookie. Something about the flavor of the cookie in this recipe is not quite lined up with the cookie in a real Oreo. This problem could simply be a matter of ingredients - maybe my vanilla extract or my cocoa powder are lower quality than Nabisco's, which could have a huge impact on flavor.  However, the cream filling recipe is spot on. It was d-licious. If you prefer double (maybe triple...) stuffed Oreos, and/or like to sample while you bake, I would recommend doubling the cream filling.  Overall, these were tasty, but it may not be fair to directly compare them to the real deal.

Oreo Cookie Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter - room temperature
1 large egg

Oreo Cream Filling Ingredients*:

1/2 stick unsalted butter - room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

* For those double/triple stuffers out there, double these ingredients

1. Move two oven racks to the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar.

Doing this made me so uncomfortable

3. Cut the butter into chunks and add to dry mixture. *This part of the recipe worried me, because for most cookies, you mix the butter with the sugar, then add eggs/vanilla, and then add the dry ingredients to butter-mixture. Adding the butter last is more common for things like pie crust. But I followed these instructions and it made a legitimate dough, so I think it's okay. With the electric mixer turned off, manually use the beaters to begin incorporating - cutting the butter into the flour to get a crumbly mixture (see picture)

This is what it should look like prior to the egg

4. Add the egg and continue to manually incorporate until the flour-mixture is moistened enough to turn on the electric mixer. Once you can turn on the mixer without covering yourself with flour, mix these ingredients until the dough comes together in a mass.

5. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper - about 2 inches apart.  Using the bottom of a large glass sprayed with cooking spray, flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through. *Trust me. Teaspoons sounds and looks tiny, but once you flatten/bake these, they get way bigger than you think they will

6. Transfer the baking sheets to cooling racks and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes. Once set, transfer the cookies directly to the cooling racks.

7. For the filling, cream the butter and shortening together in a large bowl with an electric mixer.
8. Add the vanilla and mix until incorporated.
9. Slowly add the powdered sugar, mixing on a low speed to avoid spraying powdered sugar everywhere. Beat on low until all the sugar is added, then turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 minutes until the filling is light/fluffy. *At this point it is wise to taste-test the filling... frequently.
10. Using a pastry bag (or for people like me, a plastic baggy with a hole cut in it), pipe blobs of cream onto the flat side of one cookie and then place another cookie of similar size on top. Lightly press them together to fill the sandwich.  Continue this process for all the cookies.

Yellow Split-Pea Dahl

Recipe from Sunflour Jane

Unfortunately, pictures of dahl do not do it justice. I know this looks like a pile of brownish-greenish mush on top of rice, but it is so flavorful, so delicious, and so good for you. The combination of spices and fresh ingredients in this recipe are perfect. I have never tried a different dahl recipe simply because I don't want to. This one is that good. Plus it makes a lot, so you can have dahl for days.

I don't have any alterations to the original recipe. However, I did discover that green split peas work just as well as yellow split peas. I've made this recipe using both (the pictures above and below are from a batch made with green split peas); the end result is the same either way. So, if you have any trouble finding yellow split peas in your local grocery store, go green!

Ingredients

3 tbs. vegetable oil + a dash for the split peas
9 cups water
1 lb. bag of yellow (or green) split peas
1 large onion or 2 medium onions - minced
3-6 cloves garlic -- I used about 5 because garlic is awesome
2 inches ginger - peeled and minced
15 oz. can of whole, peeled tomatoes -- I used all but 1 of the tomatoes in the can
2 tsp. salt
2 tbs. cumin
2 tbs. chili powder
2-3 tsp. turmeric
2 small green thai chiles -- I have made it with and without these; it's good both ways
garam masala to taste

Directions

1. In a large pot, combine the split peas, 9 cups of water, chili powder, turmeric, and a dash of oil. Boil until the split peas are very soft and have no bite. This takes about 45 minutes or so; just keep taste-testing your split peas to see if they are tender.
   
   Meanwhile.....
2. Mince the onion and set aside.  Chop the tomatoes and set aside (and again, I used most of the can but not all). Peel and mince the ginger and the garlic. Smash the garlic and ginger into a paste. I found that sprinkling some kosher salt over the garlic/ginger helped it become more of a paste while smashing.  Set this aside.
3. Heat the 3 tbs. oil over medium-low heat. Fry the cumin for about 30 seconds - just until it changes color and releases an aroma.
4. Add the minced onion and saute until translucent, stirring often.
5. Add the garlic/ginger paste and cook until fragrant.
6. Add the diced tomato and the green chiles (if applicable).
7. Simmer all of these together for about 5 minutes or so, stirring often. Once the oil separates from the tomato, you are good to go.
8. Transfer this mixture into a food processor and pulse a few times until mushy (I like to leave a little texture, but you could pulse it until smooth).
9. Once your split peas are soft, drain off any excess liquid. Because I didn't want to pour off all of the liquid and/or lose any precious peas, I did this by taking a liquid measuring cup, pressing down on the top of the peas until the cup filled with liquid, and discarding the excess liquid down the drain.
10. Once you have drained off some of the liquid from the peas, transfer the mixture from the food processor into the pot of peas. Stir/smash these together until you reach your desired consistency (I like to leave some texture from the split peas, so I don't smash it up very much).
11. Add garam masala to taste and serve over basmati rice

Oatmeal Raisin Protein "Cookie Dough"

Adapted from Chockohlawtay

I made this recipe for the first time last night, and I'm not 100% certain that I adjusted it to its full potential. I might have to re-post it after I try making it again with a few minor adjustments, but... it was still pretty darn tasty (and healthy), so it's worth making in the mean time.

This recipe is great because its texture/taste is similar to cookie dough, but it has no eggs, very little sugar, and lots of FIBER and PROTEIN. The original recipe was for sugar cookie dough, but I added cinnamon, whole oats, and raisins to make it an oatmeal raisin cookie dough. I think these additions may have dried my "dough" out a little (hence why I think it'll need a few tweaks) but it was still tasty!

The original recipe calls for things like stevia extract and granulated erythritol, but because I wasn't even sure what erythritol was, I just used sugar. Next time I will probably increase the sugar a little bit or maybe try brown sugar to give it a little more depth of flavor.**  But if your diet restricts sugar, check out the original recipe!

** I tried this recipe again using 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar and it made a huge difference. The "dough" was a lot less dry and a lot tastier.

Ingredients

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats - blended into fine flour
1/3 to 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
3 tbs. flour
1 tbs. cinnamon
1/3 cup sugar -- I think I would try 1/3 to 1/2 cup of brown sugar next time
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
Dash of salt
As many raisins as you like! I probably added about 1/2 cup
15 oz. can chickpeas (drained and rinsed really well)
1/3 cup milk (any kind)
1/4 cup almond butter -- I didn't have this and it was fine, but I would recommend adding it if you do
Hefty drizzle of honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. butter extract

Mix the oat-flour, oats, flour, cinnamon, sugar, protein powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside. In a food processor, puree the chickpeas, milk, honey, almond butter (if you have it), and the two extracts until very smooth and combined. Try to eliminate as many chickpea lumps as possible. Add the wet mixture to the dry, and stir together. Fold in the raisins.  This "cookie dough" can be eaten right away or stored in the fridge for as long as you can avoid eating it all!