Yoghurt & Cheese making

In my recently revived mission to live frugally and minimise our consumption of preservatives and other chemicals, I have decided to start making youghurt - and hopefully cheese again.

Over the last two weeks I have made the most amazing youghurt, thanks to recipes posted by two fantastic homeschool moms on a homeschool group I belong to - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EnvironmentalHomeschooling/. I have kept the recipe simple:

• 2 Liters of full cream milk (any milk will do, though Woolies Organic / Ayershire milk make great youghurt - the Ayershire specially makes thick creamy youghurt.
• 1 cup plain youghurt (Use one without all the added muck, and keep a cup you made for future use)

Bring the milk to just below boiling point, being carefull not to actually boil it. About 85 deg Celsius if you have a thermometer. Keep it at this temperature for 10 minutes.

Let the milk cool to about 45 deg C, luke warm. Now you can add the cup of yoghurt, make sure to mix thoroughly.

Decant the yoghurt into pre-warmed thermos flasks and leave to stand for about 8 hours in a warm spot.

A few things to watch out for:
Don't boil the milk - otherwise you will end up making ricotta cheese the way I have a few times.
Don't add the yoghurt while the milk is too hot, or you end up with curdled cheesy bits in the yoghurt, still edible, but not really pleasant.
Don't warm the thermos up too much or the above will happen too.

And after all those don'ts - DO enjoy the yoghurt!!! My 2yo loves plain yoghurt (same child who loves veggies and salad - go figure). It is stunning with just a bit of honey added.

Later this week I will share my ricotta cheese recipe, which is based on a lovely recipe posted by Carle on her blog - http://ourholisticlife.blogspot.com/2008/02/ricotta-cheese.html , I tend to simplify even the simplest recipes - if I can shave 5 minutes of the time it takes to make something, I have 5 minutes more to play with the kids, or surf the net *giggle*

Quick and Easy Tomato Sauce Recipe

2kg tomatoes
1kg onions
1 house of garlic
3tbsp olive oil
Fresh parsley and either basil / thyme / oregano

Tomatoes can be blanched and peeled, but I generally omit this step unless I am using really tough skinned tomatoes.

Chop the onions and fry lightly in olive oil. Add the tomatoes and herbs mix well and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes until ingredients have cooked down and most of the liquid has evaporated. If you want a really chunky sauce, keep out about 500g tomatoes and add these in about half way through cooking.

The riper the tomatoes the tastier the sauce will be, and of course if you can grow your own organic tomatoes and leave them on the vine until really ripe all the better!! This recipe is a really great way to store and freeze excess tomatoes for the winter.

This sauce can be bottled and frozen – I use glass bottles – mainly as it is a good way to recycle them and also I try to avoid plastics as I just don’t trust that the chemicals will not leach out of them especially during freezing. If you are using glass, make sure to only put the lids on the jars after the contents have frozen to prevent the jars from cracking.

Cooking Kids

My 10yo son has decided to learn to cook; we have incorporated it into his homeschooling activities – after all what is cooking if not reading, maths and science all rolled into one.

Here is one of his favorite recipes, it is easy to make with some supervision and tasty enough for the whole family to eat. This Veggie Bolognese is enjoyed by everyone in our family from my 1 year old to the adults to the cats and dogs!! My son now does most of the preparation himself (including cutting onions and putting the pasta into the boiling water, but you can let kids do as much or as little as they are up to doing – even just measuring some of the ingredients is a maths lesson)!

Veggie Bolognese Sauce and Pasta:

For the Sauce
1 cup red split peas
2 large carrots
2 sticks celery
1 onion
1 tbsp olive oil
500ml veggie stock
250ml tomato ‘sauce’
Salt to taste
Fresh parsley & oregano

I usually make my own stock and tomato sauce (see next entry) but this can be the store bought kind if you prefer. The carrots, celery and onion come straight from the garden as do the stock and tomato sauce ingredients.

Let the kids start by washing their hands and donning their aprons (look out for child size apron pattern soon!!). Then wash all the veggies, peel the onion, top and tail the carrots.

The veggies can now be either mixed or grated in a food processor – kids love this part and it is something even the little ones can safely do.

Heat the oil somewhat in a pan, remove the pan from the heat (I usually let my son put the pan on a heatproof pot holder on the table next to the stove) add all the veggies & herbs, mix well and return to heat.

Allow to cook for about 5 minutes until veggies are starting to soften.

Add the split peas, stock and tomato sauce, removing from heat before doing this – the reason I remove the pan from the heat each time is just an added safety measure for the kids. Mix all ingredients well and allow to cook for approximately 20 minutes, stirring from time to time. More stock can be added if necessary.

While the sauce is cooking, cook pasta of your choice to accompany this.
This is also great with a bit of percorino cheese on top.

Be sure to pop in again for more mouthwatering kid’s recipes!!