Crock Pot Yogurt

I was talking to Myrna Dutson and she was telling me about all the healthy things she eats.  She really has a passion for taking care of your body.  She studies and has even cured her husband's severe arthritis with her remedies.  Here are a few of her regimes....tumeric, ginger and cinnamon should be taken everyday, she takes capsules of tumeric and ginger and sprinkles cinnamon on her food.  Good forms of sugar, stevia, aguave and xylatol.  Never eat MSG it is worse than Marijuana and Crack.  The best oils are unrefined virgin and refined coconut oil and cold pressed olive oil.  Use fresh squeezed Apple Cider Vinegar, which can be bought at the Honey Store in Fruitland.  She uses a splash of vinegar in a sink of cold water to wash her fruits and vegetables.  She makes homemade granola that she eats with her homemade yogurt sprinkled with frozen blueberries or strawberries.  She puts granulated coconut powder in her granola, found at Winco.  She eats 1/2 of an avocado everyday because they are the best antioxidant you can eat.  Buy them green and put them in the fridge, take it out and set it on the counter the day before you plan to eat it, the Haas ones are best.  She only drinks Lemon Water as it creates alkali in our bodies and cancer cannot grow in alkali.  She has cut sugar and dairy from her diet as they feed cancer.  Myrna has a rare form of melanoma cancer in her eye which cannot be removed.  So there is her advise and I wanted to write it down while I can still remember it.

So after being inspired by Myrna I went online and found myself a yogurt recipe.  It was kinda vague and so I had to fill in the blanks.  Here is what I did.

Crock Pot Yogurt.
1/2 gallon of milk - I used fat free
6 oz. yoplait plain yogurt - must be a live culture variety - save a starter from each batch, but you will need to buy a new one eventually because they get sour after many uses
1/2 c. powdered milk
2 t. pure vanilla
3/8 c. aguave
Place milk in crock pot and turn on.  I stuck in my digital meat thermometer.  It said to cook on low for 2 1/2 hours but it was only about 140 degrees at this point, so I switched it up to high.  I read somewhere that it needs to be 170 to 180 degrees.  It wasn't getting there on low.  I cooked it to 175.  Then turn it OFF and let it sit with the lid on for 3 hours.  I just watch the thermometer because I think the right temperature is really the key to success, when it was at 105 to 115 degrees I took out 2 cups of the liquid and stirred in my yogurt and then whisked in my powdered milk.  Then I stirred it back into the crock pot liquid.  Stir well, put the lid back on and wrap crock pot in a big towel and let sit for at least 8 hours or overnight.  Then stir in flavoring and sweetener, if desired.  I didn't know how much to add but read that it was easy to get too much.  So this is how much I added and it seems to be pretty good.  Then pour into containers,  I chose to use 1/2 pint glass canning jars.  Place in refrigerator and chill well.
This turned out a little thinner than store bought but not much.  It tastes good and will be awesome for making smoothies.  I am gonna keep after this and perfect it.   This recipe cost about $2.00 to make, that is way cheaper than the store bought stuff and much healthier too.
I also read where others did the same thing on the stove, just used the temperature as their guide, that's when I decided to use a thermometer because I know crock pots are never the same temperature.  But I like that you don't have to stir so much in the crock pot.  Next time I will just put it on High to start with and watch the temperature.  When it was time to wrap it in the towel they put it in an oven that was preheated on warm and then turned off.

My next endeavor with be.....homemade granola.  I've made it before but need to develop the perfect mix. Myrna puts the granulated coconut powder in her granola,  I think that sounds really good!  I need to go to Winco soon!!!