yummy yoghurt

I have been making yoghurt on a weekly basis for the last 6 months. After trying various recipes & techniques I feel I can finely share with you my perfected recipe! I love my yoghurt to taste natural. Many yoghurt thermomix recipes I have tried use milk powder and various other agents to thicken it but I just find it alters the flavor. 

The best thing about this yogurt is that you can re-use your starter so you never have to purchase natural pot set yogurt again! Essentially you get around 1.5L yoghurt for $2 (if the milk you're using is $1 per litre!)

Yoghurt has some wonderful health benefits including being a natural probriotic as well as being packed with vitamins. Store bought yoghurt, however contains preservatives & it is often loaded with sugar, especially the flavored ones. I love being confident that I can make yogurt that is fresh, tasty and good for you!

This recipe makes 1.5L yoghurt. How do you use that much yoghurt every week I hear you ask? Well we have it on our breakfast, in smoothies & for dessert with fruit or berries. I often also use it as a substitute for cream in my baking or in dips. Yoghurt is one of the most versatile ingredients I have in my fridge! 

Natural Yoghurt 

INGREDIENTS

2L full cream milk 

1/2 cup natural pot set yoghurt

I've used normal milk, pasteurized non homogenized and UHT (see below) and they all work just as well as each other.

METHOD

1. Place milk into thermomix bowl. Heat 30mins/80 degrees/speed 2.

2.Remove lid and allow the milk to cool to 37 degrees (about 1.5 hours). Remove any skin that may have formed on the surface.

3. Add yoghurt and mix on speed 4 for 10 seconds to combine.

4. Cook at 10 mins/37 degrees/speed 2.

5. While yoghurt is cooking fill a hot water bottle with boiling water.

6. Pour yoghurt into the thermoserver. Place on top of the water bottle and wrap both up in a bath towel and put your baby to bed for the night! I usually leave mine for 10-12 hours. The longer you sit the yogurt and the warmer its environment the thicker it will get. I usually make mine in the evening and leave it to sit overnight. 

7. The next morning place some cheese cloth or a clean tea towel onto your large varoma tray and place a bowl underneath to catch the whey. Pour your prepared yoghurt onto the cheesecloth or tea towel and leave on the bench to drain approximately 500ml. 

8. Pour your yoghurt into a jar or containter and place in the fridge. It is now ready to enjoy.

Honey and Vanilla Yohurt

500ml yoghurt

1 Tb honey

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

1. Melt honey if required and mix all ingredients together

Berry Yoghurt

500ml yoghurt

200g frozen berries (raspberries, blueberries, strawberries or mango)

1 Tb honey

20g lemon juice

1. Place all ingredients into thermomix bowl and cook 6 mins/90 degrees/speed 4.

2. Puree 10 seconds/speed 8.

Cool and add to yoghurt. Mix slightly so you have a ripple effect through the yoghurt.

Yoghurt will keep for up to 7 days in the fridge. Remember to reserve your 1/2 yoghurt for your next batch! You can halve this recipe if you don't think you'll use it all....but trust me I think you might find you will!

Making Yoghurt with UHT milk
This is a super quick way of making yoghurt. Skip the first 2 steps above and instead:

 1. Heat the milk for 10 minutes/37 degrees/speed 1. (because the milk has already been heat treated there is no need to heat it to 80 degrees).

2. Go straight to step 3 above and continue as directed.

Uses for whey
Don't get rid of your whey use it in the following ways ;)

1. Substitute whey in any baking recipe that calls for water or milk
2. Use it in smoothies or milkshakes
3. Feed it to the dogs. 
4. Use whey to water your plants. Dilute it with a good amount of water (straight whey will burn your plants) and pour it onto your vegetables and flowers. It's a great fertilizer and also helps with mildew problems.
5. Feed it to the chickens
6. Pour it on your compost bin

Pear & Raspberry Porridge

If you're anything like me I'm constantly on the lookout for healthy breakfast options for not only myself but my kids, particularly something they love!

I set out to prove to my husband wrong who believes that porridge is not porridge unless it's been topped with a generous sprinkling of brown sugar. My aim was to create a topping that was mildly sweet but also nutritious

I've been experimenting for a while now and have finally come up with a recipe that is low in sugar and super tasty. This is a thermomix version but is very simple to convert to normal use!

Pear & Raspberry Porridge

INGREDIENTS

1 pear, cored and cut into 4 pieces

1 apple, cored and cut into 4 pieces

50g frozen raspberries

1 medijool date

180g oats

1 Tb chia seeds

800g water

1 pinch sea salt

Topping

25g chopped macadamias

30g sunflower seeds

30g pumpkin seeds

30g coconut flakes or shredded coconut

1 Tb honey

greek yogurt to serve

METHOD

1. Place pear, apple, raspberries and date in thermomix and blitz together speed 5 for 5 seconds. Scrape down edges

2. Add oats, chia seeds, water and sea salt and cook 11 mins 90 degrees reverse speed 2

3. While oats are cooking place sunflower and pumpkin seeds in a saucepan and brown on low heat for 3 mins. Add coconut flakes and macadamias and cook for a further 2 mins. Add honey and remove from heat.

4. Once oats are finished cooking serve up onto individual plates top with a dollop of greek yogurt and topping. 

Enjoy!

green smoothie goodness

While staying with my sister in Byron Bay I gained a renewed appreciation for the joy of wholefood cooking. My sister is a dietitian and combines that with an incredibly creative knack for recipe composition. We played around with green smoothies and she helped me formulate a recipe that is oh so delicious!

I have realised that providing you have the right base there are many delicious versions of green smoothies and they have become a breakfast staple for me this past fortnight because they are both quick, easy and amazingly filling. They provide a great healthy kick start to your day and leave you feeling super detoxed!

The baby spinach or kale is definitely best grown from your home garden and freshly picked as this will provide your body with a much greater source of nutrients. According to one study in 2010, fresh vegetables can lose up to 45 percent of their nutritional value between being picked and landing on the store shelf. After starting my first 'real' vegetable patch this year I've found both spinach and kale to be super easy to grow all year round and so much cheaper than buying them from the store. If you don't have room for a vegetable patch just grow it in a pot with your other herbs!

The green smoothies also tastes amazing as ice blocks and it's a really healthy way getting some extra vitamins into your kids. So if you've got some extra left over just pop it into some reusable icy pole moulds and pop them in the freezer for a healthy snack for later!

green smoothie 

INGREDIENTS

1 big handful of baby spinach leaves or kale (or a combo of both)
1 orange
1 banana
1 Tb chia seeds
1 medijool date
40g frozen mango
juice of half a lemon
3/4 cup water
120g ice cubes
optional handful of nuts (almonds, macadamias, brazil)

METHOD

Put everything into your blender or thermomix and blitz on high for 1 1/2 minutes until completely smooth in texture. The aim is to have no lumps!

Enjoy the super goodness of your green smoothie!

chia pudding with pomegranate & pistachios

Welcome to my new blog Pod Full of Peas! 

I'm very excited to start sharing some of my wholefood adventures with you.

Today's adventure started in a very weird way...for the first time in more than 5 years I'm going longer than 1 night without my three little raga muffins. A whole 10 nights to be precise! My husband has taken the kids to Melbourne to visit his parents because I'm heading off to visit my sisters in Byron and Brisbane on Sunday.

So today I

slept in

read a book in bed

showered uninterrupted

ate breakfast without getting up 5 times before taking my first bite!

And that was all before 10am! As much as I'm loving the wonderful break I'm missing them desperately already. 

I thought I'd try something a little different for breakfast this morning...because I could! 

Chia Pudding with Pomegranate & Pistachios

INGREDIENTS

2 Tbs chia seeds

4 Tbs coconut milk

4 Tbs plain yogurt

1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste

1 tsp maple syrup

METHOD

Mix all ingredients together and wait 5 mins

Add small handful chopped pistachio nuts

small handful of pomegranate seeds

What I realised was that it was super duper fast to make and is definitely a breakfast that is achievable with the kids around and perhaps even one they would enjoy!