Homemade Yogurt

Yogurt can be expensive to buy plus it has a long list of artificial ingredients.  Many years ago, when I still had little kiddos at home, I used to make it in the crockpot.  Fast forward a decade and my boys still love the stuff with granola and fruit.  

So, I pulled out my trusty crockpot and am sharing this easy recipe with all of you!

Homemade Yogurt

Pour one gallon of milk into your crockpot.  

Store bought milk is good, but if you can source raw milk, the taste and nutritional value 

will be even better!  

Set your crockpot to LOW and let it go for 2 1/2 hours.

At the end of 2 1/2 hours, 

unplug the crockpot and let sit for 3 hours.

At the end of 3 hours, the yogurt should be around 110 degrees. If it's hotter, you could possibly kill the yogurt cultures.  Mix in one regular container of unflavored Greek yogurt. Make sure it says, "active cultures".  Then wrap your crockpot in a couple of towels or a blanket and let it sit 

for12 hours.  

THAT'S IT!

Look at those vanilla specks

Don't forget to save one cup of your yogurt 

to start the next batch! 

You can get fancy and flavor your yogurt if you like.  I added two Tahitian vanilla beans to the milk and the flavor was so good!  You can add honey, flavorings, or just leave it plain.  If you like really thick yogurt, you can strain it through cheesecloth.  

We like to eat this with fresh fruit or jam, with granola, in the blender with frozen fruit for a cold smoothie, and I like to use it in place of sour cream in a lot of recipes.

It stays good in the fridge for two weeks.

Preserving Herbs Part 1

  I have a dedicated garden box right outside my kitchen for herbs.  I use them in cooking almost daily and I prefer to use them fresh, 

but herbs don't grow in the winter 

so I've set about ways of preserving them to enjoy later in the year.

 My first project was an Italian herb blend.

I've been snipping loads of Genovese basil, parsley, rosemary, oregano, and thyme.

I dry them in my dehydrator, and in a couple of hours, they are brittle to the touch and ready for storage.  I chop piles of dried herbs into smaller pieces and store them in an airtight jar.

The herbs will last for months and we'll have 

a little taste of summer in the heart of winter!

Our Daily Bread

I've baked bread off and on for many years.  

My go-to method was always the "no knead method" that lets the dough ferment for 

12-18 hours.  

That's too dang long to wait for bread!

One day while scrolling on TikTok, I found the BEST process for a loaf of daily bread.  It is literally perfect, takes almost no effort, and I can have it in under four hours!

Credit to @brittkubicki

 

Basic Sandwich Loaf

In a bowl, combine:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. each of instant yeast, salt, and honey

1 1/2 cup of warm water

Mix ingredients.  Dough will be wet and sticky, if it's not, add a tablespoon or two more of water.

Allow to rise for two hours.

Dough should be doubled in volume 

and full of bubbles.

With two forks, pull dough away from sides of bowl and into the center. 

Go all the way around the bowl.

Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the dough, dip your hands in that oil, and work the dough ball off the bottom of the bowl.  Pick the dough up and let the weight of it pull it into a rectangle.  Then roll the dough onto itself to form a loaf.

It doesn't have to be pretty!

Plop your loaf into a well buttered bread pan 

and allow to rise about an hour.

Your loaf should rise about 1-2 inches 

above the bread pan.

Heat oven to 375 degrees 

and bake for 45 minutes.

PLEASE, do not cut your bread 

right out of the oven!!!

Allow it to cool completely...

or almost completely.

This is the perfect sandwich bread or 

daily loaf to serve with meals.

Now will somebody please pass the 

butter and honey?

Summer Time Means Salsa Time!

I am a tomato nerd, I admit it and I'm not ashamed!

Who wants to grow plain red, round tomatoes when you can grow every color and flavor profile?  

I currently have 2-3 plants each of 15 different varieties, and when I say my bacon tomato sandwiches are a religious experience...

I MEAN IT!

But when those first fruits start filling up my kitchen island, my family wants salsa.

And I make it for them.

By the GALLONS!

No, literally, gallons.

I've shared how I make my salsa 

on this platform before.

There is no unit of measurement except 

a pizza pan and your heart.

Everything comes from my summer garden except the spices, and we eat it on absolutely everything!

#CreamerGarden Salsa

On a large pizza pan:

3/4 full of ripe heirloom tomatoes

1/4 full peppers, any kind, 

but we like bell and jalapeno

1/4 full of onion

and as many garlic cloves 

as your heart tells you to add.

Place pan under the broiler until skins 

of vegetables are wrinkled and blackened.

Peel skins off of tomatoes and chop to desired consistency in your food processor.

With the tomatoes I also add:

 1/2 large raw red onion

a large handful of cilantro, stems and all.

Salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, a healthy squeeze of lime juice, and Mexican oregano...

 as much as your heart tells you to add.

Pour into jars and enjoy on 

EVERYTHING!

Happy Summer and check out all the things growing in my garden at

#CreamerGarden on Instagram

Lactofermented Jalapeno Hot Sauce

I'm experiencing a first in the garden this season,  my peppers are producing earlier and faster than anything else in the garden.  I found myself with a huge basketful of jalapenos, so I decided to make a batch of lactofermented jalapeno hot sauce.

I chopped up all my jalapenos and added some milder peppers from the garden.  I not only want this stuff to be hot, I want it to be flavorful!  I also chopped some small, but sweet, onions and several cloves of garlic...also ALL from the garden!

Then you cover the vegetables with a brine:

4 cups purified or distilled water

3 tablespoons sea salt

The vegetables MUST be submerged 

below the brine!

You can use a ziplock weighted with water, 

a small glass, or an inverted lid.

I use these glass weights made specifically for fermentation because I do this all the time, 

and I'm super extra.

Label and date your ferment and place in a cool place.  Here in south Texas, these should be ready in a week, but it can take up to three weeks.  

These will develop a nice pickled taste over time, so start tasting after a week until you get the flavor you like.

When your peppers have fully fermented to your taste, pour out (but reserve) about half the liquid and pulse vegetables in a blender.  Add the reserved liquid until you get the consistency you desire. If you like a thinner sauce, you can strain before bottling. You can also adjust the seasonings at this time if you like by adding cumin, celery seed, cilantro, etc...

This hot sauce is not only good but it's good for you!  Lots of good probiotics teeming in this stuff.  Keep in the fridge for months and enjoy!

The Easiest Pickled Peppers

There is never a shortage of peppers in the summer garden. Peppers LOVE the Texas heat and my plants usually produce well into late October.  My boys love pickled jalapeños and pepperochini on just about everything, so I’m sharing the easiest quick pickled peppers recipe. It’s my favorite way to preserve peppers. 

PICKLED PEPPERS 

1 cup of vinegar (either white or apple cider)

1 cup of water

Three cloves of garlic smashed

1 Tbs salt

1 Tbs honey (optional)

Combine all the ingredients into a saucepan and heat until boiling.  Remove pan from heat and add sliced jalapeños.  Give it a quick stir and allow to cool slightly before packing into clean jars.  Seal jar with lid and cool on your counter until room temperature. You can enjoy them then or put them in the fridge for a couple of days to let the flavors develop. 

These peppers will keep up to three months in the fridge...

IF they last that long!

Cucumber Salad

Our #4 son, Daniel, played in a summer baseball league. It is a little over an hour from our home, right in the heart of Houston.  We usually had time to kill before the games and we soon discovered a wonderful Mediterranean market and deli nearby.  The shopping was so fun and the food was amazing!  We started a habit of taking a picnic dinner to the ball field every week. 

Since I don’t eat carbs, my favorite thing to get was a cold cucumber salad with warm chicken shawarma sliced on top. 

Let me tell you, it is DIVINE!

 

Our season is now over and we don’t have an excuse to travel to Houston at the moment, but I still find myself craving this salad.  I set out to try to recreate it (thank you, Pinterest!), and I think I’m pretty close.  Thank goodness for a late season bumper crop of cucumbers in the garden!

MEDITERRANEAN CUCUMBER SALAD 

3 Roma tomatoes diced very small

2 English or 4 Persian cucumbers diced small

1/2 cup diced red onion

1 green bell pepper

2-3 TBS each of dill, parsley, and cilantro

1 TBS dried mint OR 1/2 cup fresh

Juice of 2 limes OR 4 TBS red wine vinegar

3 TBS EVOO

Chop all the vegetables finely and then dress with the herbs, oil, and acid.  I am not a great lover of mint, but trust me, you do not want to omit it in this salad!  Dried mint brings so much flavor to this and it makes it different from any other cucumber salad you’ve had.   

It is the perfect summer salad. 

Now If I could just figure out how to make shawarma without the giant spit oven!

North Georgia Candy Roaster Pie

Every year I try to grow something unusual.  But since I don't have BOTH my gardening legs in use, I decided to grow an oldie but goodie ~ the North Georgia Candy Roaster squash.

This is a winter squash which means that you actually grow it in the summer and it keeps through the year to eat in the winter.  If you imagine that a pumpkin and a sweet potato had a baby, that's what it tastes like.  They are huge, great for months of storage, and delicious!

To make this pie, you'll start by cutting the squash open and scooping out the seeds.  Place the cut ends on a roasting pan with a lip (these things tend to be a bit "juicy").  Cook at 375 degrees for 30-45 minutes depending on the size.  

The squash should be fork tender.

Scoop out the flesh with a spoon and mash with a fork.  Like I said, these tend to hold some water so I choose to drain the squash, but you certainly don't have to.  You'll need 2 cups of squash for the pie recipe, any extra can be frozen in two cup portions.  From these two squash, I got six cups of flesh!

NORTH GEORGIA CANDY ROASTER PIE

2 C. Candy Roaster squash puree

1/2 C. Sugar

2 eggs

2 Tbs. flour

1/2 C. Evaporated milk

1 tsp. Vanilla

3 Tbs. melted butter

2 tsp. Cinnamon

Your favorite pie crust

Combine all ingredients (except the crust, duh) into a large bowl and beat at medium speed with mixer until smooth.  Pour mixture into unbaked pie crust and bake at 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Now if you can't get your hands on a Candy Roaster, no problem!  You can use ANY sweet-ish squash like pumpkin or acorn, 

or you can use sweet potato or yam. 

Candy Roasters are super easy to grow,

and even easier to eat!

 

Now will somebody please pass me the whipped cream?

Ice Cream

Who doesn’t love ice cream?  

It’s just one of those summer time staples, like eating watermelon on the back porch and spitting the seeds into the grass.  Traditionally, making ice cream involves churning, buckets of ice and salt, and lots of time.  But I’ve discovered a way to make some pretty rich and decadent ice cream with just a few ingredients and a little time. 

I wish I could take credit for the recipe, but I found it on a wonderful YouTube channel called Mary’s Nest. 

Here’s her simple process:

Beat two cups of heavy cream into stiff peaks using a stand or hand held mixer, then add one can of sweetened condensed milk and mix until just blended. 

That’s it!  That is the basic recipe. 

You can freeze this mixture as a sweet cream ice cream or add in other flavors.  We added one cup of cocoa powder for a rich chocolate, spooned it into a freezer safe container, and freeze for four hours. 

So many possibilities 

So much deliciousness!

ENJOY!

No Bread in the Stores? No Problem!

In case you’ve been living under a rock lately...

People have been losing their minds!

The Covid-19 virus has the general public bum-rushing the stores and clearing the shelves. Now, we live on the Texas Gulf Coast and are used to having a yearly stockpile for hurricane season.  We have a large pantry (and a large family) so stocking up is something we’ve always done. But it’s pretty disturbing when you go to the store for your normal weekly purchases of milk, bread, and toilet paper and the shelves are empty.

Trying not to panic myself, I walked over to the baking aisle.  I found full shelves of flour, baking powder, and yeast and I knew I could make my own bread for just pennies. 

Panic averted!

So I’m going to share with you two easy recipes for bread that anyone can make using just a few ingredients each. The first one is great for tacos, folded sandwiches, literally anything!

Flatbread

(makes 6)

2 cups of flour

1-1 1/4 cup of warm water

1 Tbs baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 Tbs oil, butter, or shortening

Mix dry ingredients and add almost all of the water.  Mix until you have the consistency of tacky pizza dough, adding the remaining water as needed.  Knead for 3-5 minutes. Let dough rest in greased and covered bowl for 30-60 minutes.

Divide into 6 pieces and roll out on a floured surface 

about tortilla thickness.

Heat a skillet with oil to med-high heat.

 Cook dough until you have golden brown spots on both sides.

The next bread is a recipe I have made no less than a thousand times!  I posted this easy no-knead bread waaay back in 2007. It takes a little more time to develop, but the payoff is a delicious crusty loaf that stores really well.

Click HERE to check out the post!

Making bread is easy and it’s such a comforting thing to make in crazy times as these. So while we’re all home practicing social distancing, try your hand at making bread if you’ve never done it before. Make a batch with your kids, take a loaf to your neighbor, or just eat half a loaf by yourself right out of the oven 

slathered in butter!

Stay safe, stay well, and let’s pray for each other!

Garden to Kitchen

Y’all, I have kale coming out of my ears!

I planted three varieties in an 4x8 raised bed, and it is overflowing! Not a bad problem to have, I guess, but I seriously hate to waste anything out of the garden...it makes me feel so guilty. 

The other day I was scrolling through Pinterest and a recipe for kale pesto popped up. Kale pesto?  I thought pesto was only made with basil!  I had everything for the recipe, so I made a batch. 

It was DELICIOUS!

So I decided to make several batches for the freezer to enjoy until the summer basil is ready to harvest. 

KALE PESTO

3-4 cups of kale, stems removed

3-4 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup of roasted and salted almonds

1tsp of dried basil

3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, shredded

Olive oil

Place ingredients in a food processor, pulse, and drizzle in olive oil until you reach the consistency you like. Optional: season with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.

I spooned the basil into ice cube trays, placed them in the freezer for a couple of hours, popped them out and put them in a freezer zip lock bag for storage.

They are like a flavor bomb for pasta, garlic bread, soups, and salad dressings. 

And a great way to preserve the harvest so I don’t feel so guilty. 

But next year, I don’t think I’ll plant so much kale!

The Chaffle

This stuff is LIFE changing!

I have found that the keto diet has been the only way I can loose weight.  It just works for my metabolism.  

But gosh, I sure do love bread!

There are a ton of low carb "bread" recipes out there, but let's face it, it's a poor substitute for the real thing.  

So let me introduce you to the 

CHAFFLE.

It's simply one egg, 1/2 cup of cheese, 

and one tablespoon of almond flour.

Add any ingredients you like to this basic recipe...and I REALLY like pepperoni and jalapeno!

Cook it for five minutes in a waffle maker, and voila!

A scrumptious, low carb, bread-like slice of heaven!

Use them as buns for hamburgers, sandwiches, 

or just eat them plain.

They are super filling, super delicious, and about one carb per chaffle.  I may never go back to regular buns or sandwich bread ever again!

YOU'RE WELCOME!

From Garden to Kitchen ~ Cowboy Candy

Any home gardener in Texas, at this time of year, 

usually only has one thing growing in the garden 

(and has it growing out of their ears!) 

and that is PEPPERS.

So what do you do with all those peppers?  

You make Cowboy Candy!

If you're familiar with pickling and preserving foods, 

then this is an easy and delicious recipe for your excessive pepper harvest.  And if you've never pickled a pepper in your life, trust me, you can do THIS!

COWBOY CANDY

2 cups of sugar

2/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tsp granulated garlic

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 tsp celery seed

1 lb jalapenos sliced into rings (about 4-5 cups)

This is a small batch recipe and can be adjusted for the amount of peppers you have.  This recipe makes four half pint jars.

To a heavy pot, add all the ingredients except the peppers.  Bring mixture to a boil then reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add sliced jalapenos, stirring well to coat the peppers.  Bring mixture to a boil again and then reduce heat.  Let peppers cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Have your clean jars ready and using a slotted spoon, fill jars with the peppers making sure to shake off any excess juice into the pot.  Once all the peppers are removed, turn up the heart and allow remaining sauce to hard boil for five additional minutes. Pour syrup evenly over your jars to fill to 1/4 inch from the top.

Wipe down rims of jars with a damp cloth and place lids and rings onto the jars.  Process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

You'll need to wait two weeks to enjoy these.  It takes that long for the peppers to absorb the syrup.

It's ok, it will be worth the wait!

These spicy and sweet peppers are perfect on burgers, sandwiches, salads, or pizza. Our favorite way to enjoy them is to pour a jar of peppers over a block of cream cheese and eat with a variety of crackers.

One bite and you'll be hooked!

They should have called them Cowboy Crack instead of Candy.

BoneBroth

When I had my surgery, my low carb way of eating went out the window.  I ate what I wanted. And because of that, I ended up feeling like crap and gaining weight.  Since returning to work, I finally feel like I want to take control of my life back.  That means drastically cleaning up my diet again.  It's so much more than just cutting carbs and sugar, it's about eating more nutrient dense foods for health.  One of the most nutritious foods you can eat is bone broth.

Here's how I make it.

Place 12-15 organic chicken legs in a crock pot and any combination of onions, peppers, celery, or carrots over them.  Add chopped garlic and seasonings like black pepper, poultry seasoning blend, rosemary, or thyme.  Cover with water and cook on low for 8-12 hours.

Strain the liquid into a large bowl and de-bone the chicken.  Place all the bones, skin, and cartilage back into the crock pot.  Cover bones with water and add 1/4 cup organic apple cider vinegar.  Cook on low 12-24 hours.  The longer you cook, the more the vinegar has time to leach the nutrients from the bones. 

Combine the broth from both batches, salt well with pink or grey salt, and store in quart or gallon sized jars.  This recipe gives us just shy of one gallon of broth. If that's too much for you, the broth can be frozen or used in your favorite recipes. 

 Sip a cup or two daily for a boost of collagen, micro-nutrients, and pure comfort!

Some of the many benefits of bone broth:

Helps to fight inflammation.

Aids the body in wound healing.

Strengthens bones and teeth.

Heals the lining of the gut.

Supports healthy skin, hair, and nails.

It contains over 19 easy to absorb essential amino acids.

It is the BEST source of collagen and benefits every part of your body from your brain to your gut, muscles and ligaments.