Living on next to nought - is that the key?

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Well, we have an epic fail on the latest batch of yoghurt I have a nice batch of cooked milk I shall retire to a website that I know lists problem solving tips for when your yoghurt goes wrong, to see if it can be remedied. Edited to add: It seems like the simplest solution is to strain it. I'll get less, but at least I'll have some yoghurt. I'm wondering whether it was the lack of milk powder, or (more likely) I let it fall to slightly too cool to inoculate. Never mind, it still smells ok

I did however, take out 1ltr of milk out of the latest carton of milk (2.227ltrs/4pints) and added water back. I have to say, it still tastes 'milky' enough. So under normal circumstances, I should get 2 x yoghurt batch out of each carton of milk. Which I think is pretty :money: :T

Today's spends will only be on the TV listings guide. We're sticking with the 52p version - it does the job. I must get better at looking up what subject is to be discussed on the Food Programme on Radio 4 though, then try to catch it live or on I-player.

Right snap boxes are all packed up. I wonder what you call left over Buddha bowl components if they start out as leftovers :rotfl:

Dinner this evening is out of the freezer and an assortment of vegetables, including the potatoes gifted on Sunday. So nice and frugal again.

Oh, before I forget, 7 Week Wonder the vagareli makai recipe I follow is Kaushy Patel's - she owns 'Prashad' - the indian vegetarian restaurant that Gordon Ramsay raved about. I think they came 2nd in his programme to find the best UK restaurant. They have though, gone on to win other awards - I noticed in the Mr M instore mag the non-gardening parental picked up for me. It is in her cookbook 'Prashad'. I didn't use peanuts though, I had bought some cashews (snack packs from Asd* reduced to 50p ea.) in anticipation of making the Hairy bikers falafel recipe. I only used one pack in the falafel, so had the other pack to use (some of) in this recipe.

Have a great day everyone.

Thank you for reading.

Greying

toothfairybuttkicker

Ok I'm caught up again after a busy weekend

I want to make yogurt toooo! What do I do? Where can I read more?

Morning grey

Xc

Greying_Pilgrim

Toothfairybuttkicker - the simple answer is ask CUL8R - who can make yoghurt :D I think the Hugh F-W recipe is OK, but I think it should be 3 teaspoons of starter, not tablespoons. I'm running late, so can't respond properly. But it will depend on what equipment you have as to which way you make yoghurt.

Have a great day.

See y'all later.

Greying

CUL8R

I've been successful with my first batch of yoghurt but I'm no expert. The reason mine probably turned out okay was because I used dried milk powder which is the same as using UHT so maybe for beginners it's best to start with UHT.

Fresh milk has to be heated to almost boiling then left to cool to lukewarm then add the yoghurt starter, if the temperature isn't quite right then you have a fail.

My method was take 9 dessertspoons of dried skimmed milk, gradually add 0.75pt of cold water in jug suitable for microwave. Put in microwave for approx 1 minute, add 2 dessertspoons of yoghurt (I used Tosco basics low fat natural yoghurt), put into flask (0.5L size) 8-12 hrs (overnight).

The 9dsps usually makes 1pt so making up to only 0.75pt is the equivalent of adding extra dried milk that Greying mentions.

I'll let you know tomorrow if my second batch is a success - it's in the flask now.

HTH

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Well, today has been another good day - not too sure about the weather though.

You'll all be relieved to hear that the yoghurt has sort of been rescued by straining it. It is still not as nice as the other 2 batches, but it is perfectly edible and I will use it. I was thinking about it today, and I wonder whether I had beginners luck with the first batch or whether that is *the* recipe I need to follow, as it is by far my favourite in terms of flavour and texture out of the 3 batches I have made.

toothfairybuttkicker - you can make yoghurt in a variety of ways - including, I believe - in the slow cooker. I used THIS recipe to start with. But as I say, I think the starter yoghurt proportions are wrong. In my first batch, I used 2 tbsps. of starter yoghurt and 14g of milk powder and in the second batch I used 1 tbsp. of starter yoghurt and 25g of milk powder. The third batch was 1 tbsp. of starter and no milk powder and a disaster :rotfl:

Edit: Thanks CUL8R - that is very good advice.

In non-yoghurt related news - the parsley has germinated :T I had [STRIKE]abandonded it[/STRIKE] set it aside in the greenhouse in a shady spot and it seems to of thrived on neglect! (story of my gardening career ). So, Upsidedown Bear was right. With such such predictive powers Upsidedown Bear, would you be a sweetie and fill us all in with the winning lottery numbers for Saturday - ta (Greying sat, pencil licked and poised.....)

Only spends today was 52p on a TV listings guide. Kat Slater is on the front cover again - wish they'd vary the pic - gets confusing as to which week you are looking at

Dinner has just been [STRIKE]scoffed[/STRIKE] eaten. It was HM red onion, beetroot and goats cheese tart - made the Sunday Mr Murray claimed the Wimblydon crown - so dug out of the freezer. Served with new potatoes (gift from gardening parental), grated carrot (with toasted sesame seeds and cumin), marinated cucumber relish (made v quickly with red wine vinegar, salt, sugar, dried mint and tiny diced pieces of red pepper) and half an 'orphan' tomato each

Oh, if anyone listens to the Food programme on Radio 4 or on I-Player, next Sunday's episode (28th) is dealing with 'Frugal Food'. I wonder whether a girl called jack will be on? This week's episode was looking at veganism - Booksandpieces may be interested. I'll try and catch up on I-Player.

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

- the rain. It didn't last too long, but it freshened everything up for a little while.

- the perseverance of Parsley. I was picking up the pot to put the contents in the compost Now I'm planning on sowing more :T

- letter writing friends. I received a hand-written letter today. The pleasure is immeasurable. I like writing replies too - I cannot comment whether my friends like to receive them :rotfl:

Thank you so much for reading.

See y'all later.

Greying

7_week_wonder

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

Oh, if anyone listens to the Food programme on Radio 4 or on I-Player, next Sunday's episode (28th) is dealing with 'Frugal Food'. I wonder whether a girl called jack will be on? This week's episode was looking at veganism - Booksandpieces may be interested. I'll try and catch up on I-Player.

More later - but just to say, according to Jack's blog she was recording a programme for the BBC for this Sunday on food waste. So that sounds like a yes!

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Just a quick whoosh in and swoosh out from me this morning I am afraid.

I was going to try to claim for a NSD today, the first this week, but having just lifted the last banana from the fruit bowl, I guess we're in for at least a 68p spend. No good buying loads of bananas in this weather, they ripen so quickly. I must admit, they quickly get too sweet for my palate - DP prefers them though

Right, I'm away to set the seedlings out in the fresh air, but away from the direct sunlight. I've not thought about what's for dinner yet, so better get my frugal thinking cap on pronto

Thank you 7 Week Wonder for the info about Jack Monroe - had a feeling they would draft her in

Have a very good day all.

Thank you so much for popping in, reading and commenting - it is greatly appreciated.

See y'all later,

Greying

7_week_wonder

Morning all,

Gosh - I got distracted by the thunder storms last night, they were pretty impressive where we are. And now the sun is out again I swear I can actually see everything in the garden (especially the weeds!) growing.

I have to confess I use a yoghurt maker for my yoghurt, having failed miserably without, and it usually comes out fine. I always add dried milk powder, and my favourite cheat is to use UHT milk rather than fresh milk. That means I don't have to heat it to boiling temperature first, and it means I pretty much always have milk in the cupboard when I want to make yoghurt. My favourite thing is to do what HFW suggests: strain add a tiny bit of salt to the yoghurt and then strain it (really strain it by putting a weight on top of it) and make it into a sort of cream cheese.

I'm working at home today, so if you see me on here to often boot me off. I'm not sure about supper tonight, but it is definitely going to involve courgette and possibly mange-tout!

Have a good day everyone.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good evening :hello:

I'll be back later. Dinner is ready, so I'd better dish up.

Ahh, right. I have just noticed, as I came back in that this is the 100th post on this thread. I never thought that this diary would grow quite so quickly and I have all YOU to thank for that.

Funnily enough, today has been a bit up and down. I think it was mirroring the weather. Bright sunny spots and grey clouds, in alternating periods.

Never mind.

DP got allocated a few chocolates from a box that someone had brought into the workplace - and bought them all home to share. What's not to like :smileyhea

Now yet again, talk on this thread - of yoghurt this time, has made me think and review (in a good way) what I am doing. My reasoning to make yoghurt from whole milk was that I could buy a 2.27L carton from Ald*, use a Litre to produce 2 batches of yoghurt, and by replacing that Litre with water, was 'in effect' getting one of the base ingredients for 'free'. As you'll know, I add in milk powder and use a (bought) yoghurt starter, so I reckon (without doing the math) that a batch costs me no more than 10p - excluding energy costs for heating the milk.

I was very interested to hear both CUL8R's and 7 week Wonder's (thank you both for pitching in) rationale for the ingredients and the methods that they use to make yoghurt. Plus I should imagine that other people have differing ways too - those with their own dairy herd have stolen a march on all of us :rotfl: I have only 3 batches of yoghurt under my belt (if you were wondering what the smell was......:rotfl:), but I have found the initial heating up of the milk works ok, it is the cooling down for inoculation that has been more tricky (without a thermometer). As the milk stays hot and then almost goes lukewarm in a matter of minutes. I think this may well be more pronounced after this glorious 'and please nice weather stay around for a lot longer yet' summer comes to a close. Mmmm. I'm going to give the matter some more thought. Perhaps there will be a way of making yoghurt in the warm weather and a different way in cooler weather? I shall do some pondering.

I had a minor wobble today. I think the diary has been going for nearly 2 weeks, and I have to say, I think a lot of analysis has been going on by me, in that period. A little surprisingly, as, I'm sure I've mentioned, I thought I was frugal, and there isn't much budget to shove through that tool of analysis; a fine toothed comb

I have £1.70 left in the food budget - which folks is plenty for what I have left to buy - bananas and milk. Also, there is money left in the other pots - so we would not starve if an emergency crops up between now and the end of the month. So no-one worry about us - ok? What is important, is that there is money left over in the other pots. Which, as you know, I want to scrape over into the key fund. I've been frugal for a long time, but I can't remember when there was anything left over at the end of the month. Totally spent up - yes. But surplus? - nope

I think the wobble came from wondering whether it was enough. Which I know to be daft, but the thought still crept in there. Factor in work uncertainty too (but there are loads of people with that worry, so I'm telling myself to keep calm and carry on) and the grey clouds started to predominate today.

Still, according to the weather forecast on the radio, we'll probably have rain overnight. So by morning, there's a good chance that the clouds will of shifted, and everything will seem brighter again. Right?

Now, I've noticed that I have had visitors, so I'd better go and thank them for stopping by.

Thank you for reading.


Greying

Upsidedown_Bear

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

Good evening :hello:

I'll be back later. Dinner is ready, so I'd better dish up.

Greying

Good evening :hello:
Enjoy your dinner and see you later

I'm still working on the lottery numbers