Yogurt Update

If you read my previous post for over a year ago(whoops!) not much has changed on the yogurt front. I still make yogurt regularly. I still sweeten it with honey. I love it with fresh or frozen berries and sometimes a bit of granola. I don't use it much in baking, but I have and did use it just the other day in my pancakes, I was short the proper amount of buttermilk and didn't want to just add thin milk. That's another story, I suppose. A few useful ideas with your yogurt to help trouble shoot and to incorporate it I to your kid's diet. First of all. Don't rush the process. If you try to cool it quickly in a sink of cold water you may easily get it too cool. It's certainly okay to warm it up on the stove, but too much fussing with the temperature will prevent the yogurt from thickening and setting up properly. I will still turn out, just won't be as thick as store brand. This is easily a problem for those with texture issues or who aren't that crazy about yogurt or especially *homemade* yogurt in the first place. Mental blocks can be hard to jump, let's make it easier! An easy way to incorporate it into your kid's diet is to add it to yogurt they already enjoy. Some kids cups of store bought yogurt has a bit of extra room, so add a table spoon or two and mix well. They won't notice and it will help them adjust to less sweetener I their yogurt. Soon you'll want to take it a step farther and divide the store bought yogurt in half then mix with your home made yogurt. You may need to save the store bought cups so they don't wise up too soon. You may also need to help your child adjust to your sweetener of choice. A lot of kids(mine) don't like honey by itself. My daughter has grown to like it in her yogurt, but refused it initially. And if all else fails, just tell your kids they don't like it. With my 7 year old it worked like a charm! We were talking about things that were healthy and not healthy at the dinner table(my kindergardener is obsessed about figuring this out lately) and I told her she didn't like an of the healthy things I made. - "Not true!" she claimed. So I listed off all the examples of homemade snacks she wouldn't eat. Well, to prove me wrong she said she did like those things, or at east needed to try them again. So now she'll eat my home made yogurt and granola bars, not all the time but definitely as an option.