Homemade Yogurt: Simple, Healthy, Tasty

We've heard about it and seen the pinterest posts. "Yogurt is so easy," they say, and instantly skeptical thoughts raise one mental eyebrow. My mind says, "Mhmm. Sure." However, curiosity finally got the best of me and I found a straightforward set of instructions ("Back to Basics" Ed. 4, 2014).

Basically, there's three numbers to remember when making yogurt: 180, 105, 112. (Or in Celsius: 82, 40, 44). And in that order. All you need is:

•  a quart of lowfat milk (raw or storebought doesn't matter, it's going to be sterilized anyway)
• 1/4 cup of storebought yogurt or a yogurt starter
• a thermometer

The steps:

 1. Sterilize (180 F): Put lowfat milk in a saucepan on medium low heat and bring up to 180 F (82 C). My thermometer has a metal bracket for attaching it to the saucepan. This was really handy, but if you don't have that, no sweat. Just occasionally check the temperature. (Newbie tip: don't let the thermometer touch the side or bottom of the pan. You want the temperature of the liquid, not the pan.)

 

 

 

 

2. Cool (105 F): As soon as the milk reaches 180, remove from heat and allow to cool to 105 (40 C). This is a good temperature for the yeast in your starter (or storebought yogurt, which is what I used). It's warm enough for the yeast to incubate and ferment the milk, but cool enough that it won't kill the yeast.

 

3. Add your starter (still 105 F): Add your starter or storebought yogurt, blending well (I used a whisk).

4. Incubate (maintain between 105 F & 112 F): The yogurt mix needs to incubate for 2-3 hours at 105-112 F (40-44 C). Of the many incubation options, I chose slow-cooking. I put the yogurt in half-pint jars in the slow cooker and added hot tap water up to the jar rims. I set the cooker on the warm setting and left it alone for about 8 hours.






5. Check it: after 8 hours of slow-cooker incubation, start checking the yogurt for thickness. Press a spoon into the top of the yogurt. As soon as the yogurt is able to retain the impression of the spoon, stop incubating and refrigerate your yogurt. Mine was kinda watery, so I lined a colander with cheesecloth and used that to strain the liquid off the yogurt. All done! I like fruit and honey with mine...mmmm.

Do you have any tips for yogurt making or any suggestions for improving my process? I'd love to hear about your homemade yogurt experiences in the comments!

DIY Gamercize

An indoor workout that won't bore you to tears

 First, I recognize that "Gamercize" is an actual term, referring to console gaming that involves bikes, pedals, etc that are wired to the console. I'm calling this "DIY Gamercize" because I'm going to outline a gaming workout that doesn't involve special, sold-separately equipment.

All you need is tennis shoes, a soft workout surface, gaming console-TV combo, and a game you enjoy (any game where the character must travel from place to place - which is most video games, like shooting, questing, and role-playing games).

It's easily modified for any fitness level and most any fitness goal. In this workout, you do some activities while gaming, some during loading screens, and some in pause mode after completing certain in-game tasks. You might choose to walk and do mat work, or you might jog, do plyo-jumps, hops, and pushups. You could even modify this to include a treadmill, weights, and more. It's up to you! At the right you'll see I've chosen to do my workout on a mat because I have hardwood floors. I also occasionally add some small weights, depending what I want to focus on that day.


So here it is. I'm a casual gamer, and lately I've been enjoying the Bethesda game "Skyrim." It has a very open storyline, and the character at first has to slow-travel everywhere, jogging from quest to quest until locations are discovered. In the last three years of playing this game, I've thought time and again that I'd be very fit if I jogged half as much as this character (or even walked).

Finally one day I decided to get literal about that thought, and that's how I came up with the following:

• As the character travels, I jog in place on my mat (pictured right). Easier: walk in place as the character jogs. Harder: do high knees.
• When the character wins a melee fight, I do one push up per NPC defeated regardless of that NPC's level. Easier: do a modified or inclined push up. Harder: do one handed push ups or do one push up for every hit it takes you to defeat each enemy.
• When the character wins a ranged fight (with magic or bow), I do six abdominal moves per NPC defeat. Easier: do fewer moves per victory. Harder: do more moves, or include weights or resistance bands.

These are my main operations when doing this DIY Gamercize workout. They cover cardio, strength, and abs. I recommend starting with these three and adding other items as you grow more comfortable with gaming while exercising. It does take a bit of coordination!

When you're ready to add more, try some of the following:

• Learn a new yoga move (or learn your first) and strike that pose any time there's a loading screen or a long story sequence that you've maybe seen a million times already.
• Change up the jogging by switching to imaginary jump roping (minus the arms), some side to side hops or toe taps, or high knees. I like to jump rope on uphill stretches, do single ski-hops side to side on downhills, and do high knees when my character sprints.
• Add some jumps. Whenever my character jumps or takes a small fall, I wait a beat and then do a squat jump, then continue jogging.
• Add toe taps or other low-resistance activity during lulls to keep your heart rate up. When there's nothing else physical to do, because I'm crafting or shopping or looting in the game, I like to do side-to-side steps with a toe tap or (if I'm feeling ambitious), I might hop side to side.

I'm guessing I'm not the first to have this idea - have you ever tried anything like this? I'd love to hear your suggestions and experiences in the comments.

#exercise #indoor #workout #fun #gaming #skyrim