steel cut oats

Ever since the yogurt making class last weekend, I have been experimenting with some yogurt culturing myself and it’s been fun! The first batch didn’t quite set but the second batch came out great. And (if you read the instructions correctly) the process is super easy.

In a nut shell, you heat 3 1/2 cups of milk, add 1 tablespoon of live yogurt (Stonyfield Farm Okios Greek Yogurt has live cultures), incubate in a warm area for 5-8 hours and you end up with a mason jar full of yogurt. Obviously, that is the abbreviated version, but if you all are interested, I would be more than happy to do a post on the process that I learned..

Moving right along, my second batch of homemade yogurt turned out a little on the watery side and I wanted a nice thick yogurt (like Greek yogurt) so I strained it through a cheese cloth.

The by-product of this process is whey, a yellowish liquid that is full of good bacteria, calcium and protein. Now I finally get the whole whey protein powder thing!

I ended up with a jar of whey with no clue what to do with it so I consulted the database of everything, Google and found out that although it doesn’t taste that great on it’s own, it’s really good for you and you should NOT let it go to waste.

Here are some ideas of what to do with yogurt whey:

• Add it to a smoothie (Make a REAL FOOD protein shake)
• Use in place of water when making bread, soup or oatmeal
• Use it to soak grains (I want to try this!)
• Drink it plain (I tried this and it’s too sour)
• Make ricotta cheese

Well, last night I was feeling adventurous and instead of prepping a bowl of my normal overnight oats to have this morning for breakfast I whipped up a double batch of steel cut oats using:

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup yogurt whey
• 1/2 cup steel cut oats
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• splash pure vanilla extract
• 3-4 drops liquid stevia

I tasted the oats after cooking about 20 minutes and they were quite sour from the whey so added the liquid stevia. This morning I reheated half of the batch. The oats still has a “different” taste on their own but nothing a splash of raw milk and a spoonful of better n pb couldn’t sweeten up.

And yes, I said raw milk – straight from Faith Farm here in VA. Don’t worry, I didn’t break any laws to get my paws on this milk. Thule’s mom owns a share of a cow and gets a delivery of raw milk each week. She graciously brought over a jar for Isaac and I on Tuesday. I heard all about the wonders of raw milk (and tried it for the first time) at the yogurt making class I took last weekend so it was such a treat to be given a jar of it.

I rarely buy/consume regular milk and can’t remember a time I’ve ever drank whole milk or cream. Growing up my mom bought skim milk and I never drink glasses of milk and only really use it for cereal or recipes. Isaac buys 2% organic milk so I will occasionally use that for cereal if I’m out but I almost exclusively buy unsweetened vanilla almond milk. It tastes great and is low in calories, sugar and fat.

BUT, I’ll be the first to admit that raw milk tastes A.MAH.ZING. It’s so fresh, smooth, creamy, sweet and over the top delicious. And the cream that forms…. for lack of a better explanation, it’s incredible. Like ice cream in liquid form. Maybe it’s the freshness, maybe it’s the fact that there’s no processing involved or maybe it’s the healthiness and happiness of the grass grazing cow. Whatever it is, I’m a fan!

As much as I love the taste of the raw milk I don’t think a having a raw milk share would be beneficial because it would force me to consume more milk than I normally would, and a full-fat milk at that. Just for kicks I looked up the nutrition facts and 1 cup of raw milk has 160 calories, 9 grams of fat, 12 grams of carbohydrate, and 9 grams of protein. Definitely a treat!

Here’s the line up in our fridge right now – whey, raw milk and homemade yogurt. We’ve got plenty of dairy in the house!

So tell me, have you ever had raw milk, made your own yogurt or used whey? I’m excited to hear your feedback!

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