Make It Happy

A plastic-free day, woo hoo!

We were very tired after the party last night, and so it was lucky we had no shopping decisions to make, as I think we would have definitely gone for the easy option.

So nothing much to report today. I shall recount instead the yoghurt saga. On preparing for plastic-free July I realised yoghurt was going to be a major sticking point for us. Other dairy products have also proved impossible to find out of plastic, e.g. cream, creme fraiche, but we have just opted not to have meals which require these. That approach was not going to cut it for yoghurt. It is a staple of Little MIH’s diet, and also a key part of her pre-school packed lunches. There was a high risk of a hangry child without it.

Skip this next bit if you know how to make yoghurt! Some Googling of homemade yoghurt later, I found that it is possible to use a slow cooker to make yoghurt (see here). We needed some kind of temperature measuring device, but I didn’t want to invest in this in case the yoghurt making didn’t work out, so we reused Mr MIHs thermocouple (putting on a new, sterilised wire), which works a treat.

I invested in a small pot of Yeo Valley Organic Live Yoghurt (like this), as this had been recommended online as nice and creamy, plus easy to get in the supermarket. And it turned out to be remarkably easy (Edit: see later posts – it is not always this easy!). You heat whole milk up to 82°C, let it cool to 43°C, then add the live yoghurt starter pre-mixed with a little of the warm milk. You wrap the slow cooker in a couple of towels and leave (turned off) overnight, then in the morning the milk has magically turned into lovely thick yoghurt.

Pop it in an empty jar (keeping a little back in a separate jar clearly marked ‘Do Not Eat!’ to use as your next starter), and it will last for a couple of weeks in the fridge.

The biggest faff is not missing the temperature points, and so I can see an intelligent beeping thermometer would work well here (or you could invest in a Instant Pot, which I am toying with – overkill for just the temperature measuring, but they do seem very versatile, especially as I am also considering a jam maker to make use of our allotment fruit).

So, after the first few tries by Little MIH, all was going well. But then ‘I don’t like it. It’s got stringy bits’ and still full yoghurt pots started coming back in the packed lunch. Sad times. I’m hoping this has a happy ending though. I think the major problem was I had not removed the milk skin that formed when the yoghurt heated, so I have done this for the most recent batch. It has taken a little bit of coaxing to get her to retry it, plus lots of stirring up to smooth out any lumps, but I think (fingers crossed) she may be back on the yoghurt eating.

Fails

None. Let me repeat that – NONE!

Items we couldn’t buy

After my recent parcels (with sellotape) which delivered sample cardboard boxes, I’d really like to order a batch to get preparing my plastic-free craft boxes, but I know they will come with more sellotape. I’ve tried justifying it on the basis they are destined for plastic-free presents, and I probably will order them anyway at the end of the month. But I think I will be good for now and wait, and just prepare as much of the rest as possible this month.

Unsolicited items

None.

Do you have any top tips for easy homemade food swaps? Any extra yoghurt smoothness tips? Please do share in the comments below!