Make your own yogurt for optimal benefit

You probably know that yogurt is beneficial for your digestive tract health because it contains active cultures of good bacteria. You may not know that those active cultures have a very short shelf life of just a few days. In order to assure the yogurt I eat is actually doing me good, I make my own yogurt. One of my readers asked how I make it, so here is what I do.

First of all, I purchased a small yogurt maker online from Amazon.com, along with a starter kit of active yogurt cultures. The whole thing cost me approximately $15. If you are able to purchase plain yogurt at a store and you are certain the cultures are still living, you could just use about 1/4 cup as your starter.

Ingredients:
16 ounces of heavy cream & 16 ounces filtered water; or 32 ounces of milk (raw milk would be optimal, but our state doesn't allow dairies to sell it at present)
1/4 cup of vanilla whey protein mix or powdered milk
1 packet of starter cultures (mix according to box) or 1/4 cup of plain yogurt

Stir the protein powder into the cream mixture, then heat just to boiling. This will kill any bacteria etc. Then I place it in the freezer for approximately 35 to 45 minutes to bring the temperature back down to around 100 - 110 degrees. The liquid must be cool enough so the active cultures aren't killed by the heat. Next stir the yogurt cultures into the cream mixture gently, and place container into the yogurt maker, cover and your done. Instructions say to leave it for at least 12 hours, but I prefer it left for 24 hours so that it will be thicker. After the 24 hours, I place it in the refrigerator, where it will thicken a bit more.

The end result is the best tasting yogurt you've ever had, it's cheaper than buying the ready made yogurt, and you can be sure you're getting the benefit of the good bacteria.

Cooking uses for salt

There are many ways salt can be used to maintain food freshness and make food preparation easier. Here's a list of it's uses:

* add salt to green salads to prevent wilting
* soak fish in salt water before descaling; the scales will come off easier
* soak nuts in salt brine overnight and they will crack out of their shells whole.
* soak wrinkled apples in mildly salted water to perk them up
* a dash of salt enhances the taste of tea, coffee, and cocoa
* milk stays fresh longer when a little salt is added
* add a pinch of salt to whipping cream to make it whip more quickly
* salt improves the taste of cooking apples
* clean your greens in salt water for easier removal of dirt
* gelatin sets more quickly when a dash of salt is added
* put fruits in mildly salted water after peeling to avoid discoloring
* a dash of salt in warm milk makes a more relaxing beverage
* salty water boils faster when cooking eggs; a cracked egg will stay in it's shell
* test freshness of an egg in a cup of salt water; fresh eggs sink; bad ones float
* a tiny pinch of salt with egg whites makes them beat up fluffier
* adding a little salt to the water when cooking in a double boiler will make the food cook faster


Other hints:
* put a few grains of rice in your salt shaker for easier pouring
* add raw potatoes to stews and soups that are too salty