The dog days of summer are over

The end of summer was marked this year by the last Padres baseball game and the local temperature finally returning to the 70s where it belongs.   I made my "summer's end" frozen yogurt dog treats for my dogs using blueberries and the same recipe I posted last month.  While I loved the blue color, Reggie and Layla gobbled up these treats without a second glance at the aesthetics.

Half way through the summer, I realized that my obsession with making colorful dog treats was beginning to cut into my latte budget.  Rather than give anything up, I decided to try making my own organic yogurt.   Using the recipe and instructions posted by The Frugal Girl, I successfully made gallon of yogurt from a gallon of milk and used it to make the frozen dog treats.   If you are interested in the process, I am posting the recipe below with my comments in italics.  If you would like more detailed instructions, I encourage you to check out The Frugal Girl.

Ingredients:

1 gallon of organic whole milk
1 cup of yogurt  (I used a organic Greek yogurt)

Start with glass jars or similar containers that have been washed in the dishwasher or boiled for 10 minutes.

1.  Pour one gallon of milk into a clean pan and heat to 185 degrees F.  Heating the milk took about 5 minutes. I measured the temperature using any thermometer that I could find in my baking drawer.

2. Place pot in a sink filled with cold water (I added a few ice cubes) and let milk cool to 120 degrees F.  This is an important step.  If the milk is too hot, it will kill the yogurt culture.  I am not very good at waiting but I found that by the time I had finished emptying the dishwasher, the milk was cool (3-4 minutes). 

3.  Add 3-4 inches of approximately 120 degree water to a cooler.

4.  Whisk on cup of yogurt into the cooled milk.

5.  Pour milk into jars and put the lids on.  Place in the cooler, close the lid and ncubate for 3 hours.

6.  Refrigerate.  Once cooled, the yogurt can be used in the ice cream maker for the frozen yogurt dog treats.  I personally like my yogurt with sugar and vanilla but the dogs do not miss it.

Have a great week!

Debbie