Homemade Yogurt

I've been eating plain yogurt with a teaspoon of cinnamon just about every day for the past few months.  Cinnamon is reported to help regulate blood sugar; and since I'm hypoglycemic, mixing cinnamon with yogurt a good way to get it.  Eating yogurt every day prompted me to get a yogurt maker.

I chose this machine because it comes with seven glass jars with lids.

The lids are neat.  The top moves to the day of the month so you can keep track of when the yogurt was made. 

Yogurt is safe to eat up to 10 days from the date it was made.

Making yogurt is very easy.  You bring milk to boiling, boil for about 2 minutes, then cool down to 110 degrees before adding in either a container of yogurt or freeze-dried yogurt starter and any other additions such as fruit.  You put the jars without lids in the yogurt maker for up to 10 hours, depending upon the fat content in the milk.  I used skim milk and the "cook" time was ten hours.  Milk with higher fat content takes less time.  Hmmm, go figure.  :D  Oh, yes, there is a compartment in the maker's top where the lids are kept until needed.

Here's this morning's breakfast.  You'll see as the weeks have progressed, I add a little more to the just plain yogurt and cinnamon.  For me, the consistency of the homemade yogurt is nicer than that bought at the grocery.  It mixes easier.  I've only made one batch; the second batch will be made within the next day or so. I'm using one percent milk and then on the third batch use two percent milk.  I'm happy with the skim but thought I'd experiment.  This bowl has strawberries, raspberries, a few walnuts, about 1/4 cup of organic cereal, a squirt or two of agavasweet, yogurt, and, of course, cinnamon.  Makes for a great breakfast loaded with phytochemicals.

If you love yogurt, take a look at making your own. 

Until next time, God bless.

Load Up on Phytochemicals

I received good news on my annual and quarterly tests for which I am grateful. However, those tests brought me back to what I need to eat to give my body the necessary antioxidants and nutrients to stay healthy. In a way it is a full time job making sure the ingredients are on hand, particularly if one is not inclined to love cooking or the preparation of such. I am an inspired cook and eater; otherwise, I'll go for whatever is the easiest to fix.

When I had my health bobble in 2007 with breast cancer, I decided that it was my diet that was the major contributing factor in allowing the cancer to develop. I have no family history of cancer, did not take hormone replacements and exercised somewhat regularly. After the diagnosis, surgery, and as I was going through chemo, I started researching how best to change my diet to give my body the best nutrients to not allow those free radicals to go wild if at all possible. One of the things I discovered was phytochemicals and how to incorporated them in your every day diet. I was very diligent in doing so the first year; but as good health reports continued to come in, I started slowly reverting back to eating what is easiest to fix for the most part. However, with another good report, it came to me to get back to concentrating on what my body really needs to stay healthy.

Here is a recipe for a excellent breakfast smoothie incorporating all those foods that are loaded with phytochemicals. I do not measure but if the taste is not just right, something is added or subtracted on the next batch.

Strawberries
Raspberries
Blueberries
1/2 Banana
Orange juice
Skim milk -- can use soy milk
Add a couple of tablespoons of plain yogurt, if on hand
Tofu, if on hand
Flax seed, ground
Wheat germ
Wheat bran


Grab a handful of strawberries, fresh or frozen.


And, grab another handful of rasberries, blueberries, or any other kind of berry, fresh or frozen. When the berries are frozen, I let them sit in the orange juice and milk for a few minutes to defrost.


Use a half of a banana or a whole one if it suits your taste buds.

I grind the flax seeds in the coffee grinder.




Use a tablespoon or two of the ground flax seed along with a like amount of wheat bran and wheat germ.

Voile! The blender is ready to go.


Do not wait to develop a nasty medical condition to make sure you load up on phytochemicals. :D Do it now. If you want to know more, google phytochemicals because you'll find them in carrots, leafy green vegetables, tomatoes, pomegranates, rooibos, sage and teas.

Until next time, God bless.