food as medicine.

The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.

– Thomas Edison

food is powerful.

THE FORK IS YOUR MOST POWERFUL TOOL TO CHANGE YOUR HEALTH AND THE PLANET;  FOOD IS THE MOST POWERFUL MEDICINE TO HEAL CHRONIC ILLNESS.

– DR. MARK HYMAN

i first attempted making my own yogurt about 2 years ago, when i was completely dairy free.  though we have now reintroduced some dairy into our home, we have still held onto this recipe as one of our weekly favorites.  at first, i was pretty intimidated at the thought of making yogurt, but honestly it is really easy and takes very few ingredients. we ferment ours typically about 18 hours, which yields a creamy, slightly sweet, slightly tart final product.  if you are used to the sweet store bought yogurts, the tartness of homemade yogurt can be a slight adjustment, but it is so good!

the basic ingredients are coconut milk, honey, vanilla, a probiotic starter and some thickener (i typically use agar-agar).

 thoughts on coconut milk:

we typically use native forest organic canned coconut milk.  mainly because the cans are bpa free.  the downside is that there is guar gum as a stabilizer and i am not a huge fan of it.  this week, i am making my own coconut milk from dried organic coconut flakes and i am going to try that in our next batch of yogurt. i will let you know how that turns out!

thoughts on thickener:

we have found that agar-agar is our favorite thickener for the yogurt.  i have tried tapioca starch, arrowroot &  guar gum and all of them work fine also.  i am planning on trying to use plain gelatin sometime, but haven’t gotten around to trying it yet.

thoughts on yogurt makers:

i have a little yogurt maker by waring, i got it for about $25 at tuesday morning (a random discount store) we have here.  the one thing i did right away was toss all the plastic containers that came with it (i hate bpa) and instead it fits 7 half-pint mason jars perfectly.  the nice thing about using a yogurt maker is that it keeps the temperature perfectly consistent at 105 degrees and i can just set the timer and forget about it.  a lot of people use their crock-pot, or oven with light on, or excalibur dehydrator, so really it is just preference. a yogurt maker is actually not necessary to culture yogurt.

 other hints:

  • make sure you sterilize jars and utensils before beginning. this is important! (i will show in another post, how to know if your yogurt is bad)
  • a good yogurt starter probiotic is gi-prostart , it is dairy free and works well with nut and coconut milks
  • a candy thermometer is perfect for making sure you are at the right temperatures (to high of heat will kill your probiotic culture)
coconut milk yogurt
Recipe Type: breakfast
Author: the sprouted life
slightly tart, slightly sweet coconut milk yogurt
Ingredients
  • 3 cans organic coconut milk (full fat)
  • 3 Tbsp. raw honey
  • 2 tsp. agar- agar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/8 tsp of probiotic starter (I use GI-Prostart)
Instructions
  1. in a saucepan heat coconut milk & honey (stirring constantly)
  2. bring up to 185 degrees and then whisk in agar-agar or thickener of choice
  3. remove from heat and add in vanilla
  4. at this point i pour my mixture into my vita-mix and blend on high to really whip in thickener (but this is not a necessary step)
  5. allow too cool down to 105 degrees (quicker is better, hint is to set pan in ice water bath)
  6. as soon as mixture reaches 105 degrees whisk in culture (probiotic starter)
  7. pour contents into sterilized mason jars (recipe yields 7 half-pint jars)
  8. place in yogurt maker and set for 12-18 hours (depending on desired tartness)
  9. when yogurt is done fermenting, it will still be fairly thin until it cools off in the refrigerator
  10. cap jars and refrigerate (keeps for 7-10 days)
  11. serve with fresh fruit or granola

 

shared on: monday mania, slightly indulgent tuesdaysfat tuesdayallergy-free wednesdays & pennywise platter