Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Frozen Yogurt Recipe--My name is Susan and Yes, I'm Addicted.

Yogurt is my passion. I have been obsessed with regular yogurt since I started milking goats and making my own home-made yogurt. Yes, Steve and I were of those thousands of newlyweds that received a yogurt-maker for a wedding gift. It wasn't used much until we started getting our own milk from the goats. We had to make good use of the milk. Why were we raising goats? It made no sense to feed one cat and two dogs with our precious goat milk. My children are still grossed-out from the time they were eating "Fruity Pebbles" for breakfast and one of the older, teenage ones, happened to look at the expiration date on the plastic gallon of milk. It said something like, Use before: July 4" A couple of them laid themselves out-flat on the kitchen floor and kicked their feet. Another one yelled at me, "I'm never, ever, going to trust YOU again!" Join the club.

Aht! No Fighting
What???








I started a new use goat's milk by making cheese and yogurt. My gallons of milk just disappeared. Cheese was a favorite. I made Monterrey Jack with coriander and onion, with dill, sun-dried tomatoes, or peppers. I also won four blue ribbons at the county fair. But, my greatest creation was my yogurt. I used a friend's recipe and then tweaked it just a'little and then poured it into a bowl to set. I then mixed my apricot preserves in it and reset it all in a quart jar. I won first place and placed over the best goat yogurt-maker in the county. I thought it was a quirk and so I entered again the next year and won again and was even featured in the county newspaper, actually...that was embarrassing. Goat Woman? ummmm, I guess. After all of that, I never needed to put my cheese and yogurt in the county fair again. I knew I hit the "mother-lode" I struck gold! That thought really makes me smile still...because even though I could never sell my cheese or yogurt in California, my children love my cheese. That's gold to me.

I still make yogurt, but I do buy it, even though my goats will be freshening in just a couple of weeks. I'm dieting and full-fat goat milk with the FAT, just isn't kosher with a diet. The best part my big yogurt obsession experience is that I am overwhelmed with my super-deluxe, wiz-bang, magnificent, yogurt-freezing machine.

It took me a couple a'weeks to figure-out the exact recipe that was going to taste and have the same texture of my favorite yogurt shop. My yogurt recipe didn't quite make the "Pink Berry" taste comparison. So, I decided to use their stuff. Well, not "Pink Berry" exactly, because it's not available. I looked. But there are tons of resources to get yogurt powder all over the Internet. Yogurt powder will even make the yogurt more soft-freeze and not icy. A little "guar-gum" powder in each batch will help, too. I think I'm going to try a little of the carrageenan later. Honestly, I don't need to--I love my yogurt, now. Both of these are stabilizers, guar-gum and carrageenan, help to keep the yogurt from having too much of the whey freeze with the ice in it. I've used the other gelatin and it's okay, but just a bit more difficult to make smooth while I'm mixing it in the bowl. Gelatin's probably good for my hair and nails, so I could maybe add just a little bit. Corn starch! Oh, forget it. Regular yogurt with a small amount of corn starch will set it and makes regular yogurt just like Yoplait Custard Style. Now for frozen yogurt, No way. It makes for very, very bland frozen yogurt.

My husband doesn't like the "tart flavor" so I use vanilla, non-fat yogurt and I put chocolate syrup in it for the chocolate taste plus the other ingredients. I do add sprinkles, nuts, or even chopped Oreo cookies as the swirly yogurt or ice cream comes out of the dispenser. Oh, important: If you are using a dispenser-type yogurt maker and adding fruit or preserves that will clog the outlet and also gets hung-up on the turning paddles. Add the goodies have to be added after the swirly comes out.




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This is from Tutti Fruitti Yogurt and my yogurt is BETTER!
I mix the nonfat yogurt with a whisk and remember to not use a blender or mixer. Both of these appliances put air in the yogurt and air gives the frozen yogurt a funny texture. Then, if I have the Kefir drink, I mix these together first. I then add the sugar substitute and whisk, and then the jelly and/or syrup are mixed-in. Following the sugars is the yogurt powder and guar-gum this the tricky-part. It should be sprinkled and whisked-in at the same time. Those two ingredients will make small lumps if they aren't blended well with the whisk. I use sugar-shaker cans that look like big salt shakers. Both are labeled because if you use too much guar-gum it will make the yogurt a lot slimy. I can put my left-overs in the freezer and take it out in the morning, put the yogurt in the microwave defrost setting for just a little bit, and it's perfect. My yogurt is just like it came-out of the machine without doing the mixing again. It's freezable.

I should write a review on the Cuisinart ice-cream-maker because the soft-serve product even looks like the shop-made, with the top swirly-look dessert dispenser. This saves so much time and money than going out and buying the expensive yogurt at the local frozen yogurt shop. The mint flavored yogurt with the green color is perfect with added little mint leaf on top, is perfect for a party, dinner guests, or company.

Surprise, Steve got the machine for me on sale for just over $50.00 at Fry's--the extra container retail price is $35.00. Wow.

This recipe works in my old-fashioned crushed ice and salt ice cream maker. But, I've killed so much of my nice lawn with the salt water that leaks out of the maker or I've ruined a whole batch with a little salt getting into my yogurt or ice cream. Okay, the only draw-back with my new one. is freezing the container 24 hours before making-up some yogurt and it does take-up room. I have used it after only 12 hours, but the time to freeze and be ready to eat, just takes a lot longer. I'm thinking I'm going to get another freezer container so I can make two different flavors in one evening. Be sure and have a kid around because the paddle gathers quite a bit of frozen yogurt. Reminds me of licking the beaters on my mother's Kitchen Aid Mixer.

Oh, I'm hooked on frozen yogurt. The happy-side effect, I'm losing weight. How great is that? Yay! "Skinny Me!"
 ***NEW RECIPE!***
  •  2 cups regular yogurt non-sweetened or flavored
  • 1 cup of Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup of tart yogurt powder (I bought this pkj. from Alpha Freez)
  • 1 cup of 7-up sugar-free for me, but if you want it really sweet...go for regular and either flat or carbonated.
  • 2 teaspoons of Mio Liquid Water Enhancer. My flavor was Pomegranate Flavor.  (Crystal Light water enhancer is good too, but it seems too strong so maybe experiment with half of a packet, first)
There's lots of different flavors of water enhancers.
I think I've got a lot of tasting to do.




Hard to Take Pictures without Melting A Little

 ***Note: As of May 17, 2011, I've lost 18 pounds. Only one meal of frozen yogurt a day. The best is that my whole digestive system is more healthy. Not one infection and no low blood sugar. The added plus is that my heart medications always made my stomach hurt just a little. Yogurt before the medication saves me.
Oh, it's good. The best yet. I use the cherry/pomegranate, but there's tons of flavors. If you use more than one, it'll be too much. I'm so happy I finally found-out how to make it just like I like and it's perfect.

1 comment:

Bree said...

AWESOME!!! I am so excited you got that!!
I love your cheese so much that I went on to the Cheese Making Website and ordered the stuff I need to make cheese and Squeaky Cheese. :) I think I will make it today!!!YAY!!!