The Wonders of...

...breastmilk. (and a rant) Ok, now you know I'm weird. Whatever. Yesterday both boys had goopy eyes- like, I'm wiping green eye boogers out of their eyes every hour. Yuck. So, I put some breastmilk in their eyes. No eye boogers today! Good thing I'm lactating. (I knew this stuff was useful for something other than nourishment. :}) Breastmilk is full of vitamins and anti-bacteria so makes sense that it would heal the ickys. I love me some natural remedies! It seems to me that big pharma has always just tried to copy the beauty of natural. Drugs work, too, of course, to stave off illnesses that are well underway. Too bad you can't get anti-biotics until you're sicker than a dog. All natural healers, many of which can be found in the kitchen, come cheap, and have no side effects, can be used at the first sign of symptoms to PREVENT most common illnesses. And you know you're little kids are not much better than a petrie dish. Besides, who wants to take the time to make an appointment, load up your sick kids, then wait in the doctor's office for 10 min of his time to hear "oh, it's nothing. It'll clear up on its own." or "yep, it's ___. Here's a prescription..." then on to the pharmacy to buy said drug, then to wait 3 more days for the meds to start working. Not me! Ok, I know there are plenty of people who do all this and look the other way from easy, tried-and-true, inexpensive home remedies. I don't get those people. If you're one of these, I don't get you. I guess, to each their own. I prefer efficient and safe. So, feel free to roll your eyes at me- I'm doing the same to you! :) And I'll just be home eating garlic and squirtin' breastmilk. heh heh.

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

I heard from a friend that you can make your own...and since I want to make lasagna tonight and since 2lbs of Ricotta at the store costs somewhere around $6, I thought I'd give it a try. I bought 1 gallon of whole milk for $2 and got to it. Thanks to Clara and Gail, I knew baaaasically what to do. Not sure if I made it "correctly" as you'll see....but I did end up with cheese, so that's good enough for me. This is what I did, for what it's worth:

Cooked 1 gal whole milk in large pot over med-high heat while stirring constantly until scalded (I don't have a thermometer and always just eyeball it, or give it the sniff test...milk smells very aromatic when it's at the right temp.) Then I added 1/4 white vinegar and stopped stirring. (this is where maybe I messed up....should I have continued stirring for a bit??) The milk started to curdle right away and I didn't want to break up the curds. Then I strained the whole pot through cheesecloth and a colander (in that order) into a large pot. Tied the cheesecloth up, and hung it from a cupboard handle to drain completely. I ended up with something around 1c ricotta- what?? Gail said it makes 2 lbs. hmmm... So,

I let the whey (the stuff in the pot after the curds were strained) cool and tried again. Yes, I did. Brought that whey to an almost boil and, without even adding more vinegar, it started to curdle! Yes! More Ricotta. About another cup more. So I strained that through cheesecloth, tied it, hung it up, and let the whey cool. Then I thought, "what the heck."

I set that whey on to heat again. I know, I can't believe it either. It came almost to a boil, like before, smelled right...but nothing happened. So I added 2 T vinegar to the pot and it curdled right up! Yielded about another 1/2c. Oh, yeah! Bring on the lasagna!

Homemade Yogurt

Whenever someone finds out that I make my own yogurt, they always want to know how. Yes, I do make my own yogurt. Because it's WAY cheaper than buying it! The price of 1 qt of natural plain yogurt is about $3. The price of homemade yogurt is less than $3/gal (depending on the current price of milk). Now, whether you are just curious if this is actually possible or you would really like to know how so you can make your own, never fear-I'll tell you. This is actually quite easy and even the clumsiest in the kitchen should have success.

1. Scald 1 qt milk (this means cook until just before boiling), stirring constantly.
2. Cool milk to about 11o degrees (bathwater). A little cooler is better than a bit too hot. If the milk is too hot, it will kill the starter and you'll never get yogurt. I did this once. Bummer.
3. Pour milk into glass bowl or jar
4. Add 1/4c yogurt (store-bought yogurt or previously-made). This is your starter. It must have live/active cultures. The label will indicate such on store-bought yogurt. No live/active cultures? No yogurt.
5. Combine with wisk
6. Set in warm place (not hot!) for 8-10 hours, not bothering it, and voila, Yogurt! A good warm place is in the oven with the oven light left on. You wouldn't have to worry about the temperature, you wouldn't have to be home to monitor it, etc. A friend of mine leaves hers in wrapped in a towel in a cooler/other insulated box. I'm not sure how you keep it warm enough...unless it just stays.
7. Store in refridgerator and enjoy at your leisure. Add a bit of jam or fresh fruit to sweeten.

Tip: Don't worry if it's thinnner than the store-bought kind. Most of those have additives to make them so.

Tip: Whole milk makes the thickest and creamiest yogurt but any kind works just fine. I use 1% usually.