Fab or Flop Friday – Vegan Yogurt, Part 1

My friend has a nanny goat that she feeds a corn-free grain mix, and It’s been wonderful to have a source for non-bovine dairy products! However, the goat is having a baby, so no more goat milk for us for a little while. Since I’ve been really enjoying making yogurt lately, I started looking for a way to make non-dairy yogurt. I found a company that had a vegan yogurt starter, so naturally, I jumped on it.

We use hemp milk on our cereal and to make non-dairy ice cream, so it seemed only natural to try using that for our yogurt, despite the fact that the vegan yogurt starter said it was designed for rice milk or soy milk. I’d found online reviews where people were trying it with almond milk, so why not try hemp milk? To give the vegan yogurt starter a fair chance, I decided to do side-by-side batches of yogurt with both the vegan starter and the last of my goat’s milk yogurt.

I accidentally over-heated the hemp milk. It probably got to 140 degrees or so. I must have gotten interrupted while the milk was heating. Not that that sort of thing ever happens around here with a one-year-old and a four-year-old underfoot. Oh, well. I normally heat the goat milk to 180 and let it cool from there, so I figured it was no big deal. It looked fine, it smelled fine, so I boldly carried on.

Once the hemp milk cooled to 110, I split the milk into two bowls, adding my homemade goat’s yogurt to one and the powdered vegan yogurt starter to the other. I stirred them up, poured the mixtures into pint-size jelly jars, keeping each batch carefully separated, and put them in the oven to incubate. Now, I’ve never tried incubating yogurt in the oven before. Usually, I put the jars of yogurt with a heating pad into a little insulated bag that I have. But, alas, my batch this time was too large for my regular method, so I stuck them in the oven. It was substantially more challenging than I thought it would be to keep the yogurt at a consistent temperature. They got too hot, too cold, and the oven just pretty much wasn’t my friend that day. Oops.

I let it incubate for a long time – 6 hours or so, just like I normally would. The liquid inside the jars had separated and looked a bit less than yogurt. I kept checking on them, hoping something miraculous would happen. I eventually conceded that nothing amazing was going to happen, and put the “yogurt” in the fridge overnight.

Watch for Part 2 next week to find out if this was Fab or a Flop!

Tuesday Tips – Making a Plan

My family has recently moved.  A pack-all-your-things-and-move-across-the-country type of move.  There are several things that happen when you move: You lose all your good hunting grounds for allergen-free foods, your kitchen gadgets end up in boxes marked “office supplies – storage room”, and your routine is lost.  It’s like discovering food allergies all over again!

One thing I have neglected on working on is The Meal Plan.

I have a love-hate relationship with plans in general, but I grudgingly admit that The Meal Plan has helped simplify dinner for me.  When I don’t work on The Meal Plan, my days are filled with unpacking, trying to start up a business, juggling appointments of all kinds, playing with my toddler, getting the bigger kids to and from school and suddenly … the witching hour hits where everyone is hungry and cranky and I’m looking at my kitchen in amazement because there is nothing ready to eat.

The Meal Plan.  

There are many great things about having one. You know in advance what ingredients you need.  You can buy in bulk to cook (or freeze) ahead which can save you money.  You can start your dinner in the crockpot in the morning and let it simmer all day and be ready when you are.  You can post it prominently so complainers can get it over with, and all others can eagerly anticipate the glorious mouthwatering food that you can create.

But seriously.  The Meal Plan helps me because I am more like an absent-minded professor working on the big ideas of life, and having The Meal Plan charted out and in place is like having someone follow me around reminding me to pick up my socks.

Now I have many grand ideas about how to meal plan.  Right now I’m working for a 2 week rotation.  I’d love to expand it a little further, and possibly rotate seasonal meals through as well (potato salad in the summer time, for instance.)

I would love to hear what works for other people though.  Especially in attempting to tame food allergy cooking.  What works for bulk and batch cooking?  Do you have a month’s worth of meals you can work with?  Have you tried once-a-month cooking?  Do tell!

Meanwhile, I’m going to keep looking for my crockpot.  Maybe it’s in that box labeled “shed – tools”…

Homemade Pancake Mix

I love pancakes. I really do. Pancakes are one of the easiest gluten-free bread products to make. You can make them free of any and all allergens, hide fruits and veggies in them, and add in supplements like protein powder or extra calcium. What’s not to love about that?

But Wait, There’s More!

Pancakes are a big time-saver for me because once a week or so I make a big batch of pancakes, then save the leftovers in the fridge for quick breakfasts later. When I’m really on my game, I even remember to flash freeze some for the future. It takes the same amount of time to mix up and clean up after a single or a triple batch of pancakes; the only difference is the actual cooking time, so I might as well cook big batches to save time in the long run.

Can It Get Any Better?

YES! Of course, using a pancake mix speeds the process up even more. But rather than purchasing a pricy ready-made Gluten-Free Pancake mix, I make my own. I’ve adapted the pancake recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook to create an allergen-free pancake mix. (The recipe is on p. 126 in my copy. Yes, I do have that fact memorized. Why do you ask?)

Homemade Everything-Free Pancake Mix

12 Cups Gluten-Free, Corn-Free Flour Mix (right now my mix is 3 Cups Tapioca Starch, 3 Cups Buckwheat Flour, 3 Cups Bean Flour, and 3 Cups Amaranth Flour.)

¾ Cup Sugar

½ Cup Baking Powder (make your own if you’re avoiding corn or other grains)

1 Tablespoon Salt

¾ Cup Flax Seed Meal (optional, but helpful if you’re omitting the egg)

¼ Cup Guar Gum (optional)

Mix together thoroughly. Or in my case, put it in a container with a tight-fitting lid and shake it up, baby!

To make a single batch of pancakes, mix together:

1 Cup of Homemade Pancake Mix

2 Tablespoons Oil (we prefer Olive Oil)

1 egg (optional)

1 Cup Liquid (this could be Water, Juice, Non-Dairy Milk, etc.)

Adjust the consistency for your preferred pancake thickness and fry on a medium-hot griddle.

I usually sprinkle in some hemp-based protein powder as well as some calcium powder. If you want to add supplements, just be sure to adjust the liquid in the recipe accordingly. If you want to sneak some fruits and veggies in there, just finely grate or puree your addition, mix in ¼ cup of fruit or vegetable per cup of flour, and adjust the liquid in the recipe as needed. Play spy music in the background while mixing and make sure none of the little people are watching for the full effect!