One of our regular plastic culprits was yogurt. Those 700 gram tubs that get reused for all kinds of things, but you still end up with waaaay more than you need. Solution? Make your own yogurt. It’s waaaaaaaaaay easier than you think. And I love the fact that the “starter” is just 1/4 cup of the last batch of yogurt. It reminds me of Little House of the Prairie and sleeping with the yeast.. but without the messy explosions late night in your bed. (P.S. I’ve never slept with yeast, just read about it… and if you don’t get the reference, don’t worry about it, not important to the story.)

So – yogurt. If you were smarter than me and purchased an instant pot with the yogurt setting then your journey is really easy, put in milk and yogurt and set timer. I wanted to save the $30, and now regret it, but I’ve found an easy alternative. Stove top. There are a ton of great tutorials online. I’ll share my system below. Basically, you heat up the yogurt, stir in the “starter” and then cool it, but slowly.

Put yogurt in a sauce pan, I use a medium one and throw in a whole bag. 

Heat the yogurt to around 180 degrees F (this pasteurizes). I keep mine at this temp for about 10 minutes. There is some discussion online if this step is even necessary, I figure better safe than sorry. You will have to stir. 

Turn off the heat and let the milk cool to around 110 degrees (cool enough to touch). More stirring but less. 

Plop in some of the last batch of yogurt, (or a 1/4 cup of commercial yogurt but has to say “active ingredients” on the package). This doesn’t have to be mixed in perfectly… lumps are OK. 

Put in mason jars… 

Wrap in a towel and put in the oven, not on… just keeps the jars from cooling too quickly. Leave overnight. 

Next day, Yogurt!

The whole process takes about an hour but most of that time I am watching TV or chatting with people in the kitchen. I love that the yogurt “cures” in the same jars I’ll serve it from.

My family like sweet yogurt.. so I just throw in a big spoonful of jam for them. I like it plain so it works for me right out of the jar. It also keeps me eating yogurt regularly because I have to make a new batch before the old one goes bad. It last about 2 weeks in the fridge. I’ve only had it go bad once before we ate it all. … Then I had to buy more yogurt. But those 700g tubs really are very useful.