Like many of you, I have lots of dry milk. I bought some of the expensive stuff sealed in #10 cans and I am keeping that in my preps. But the 5 buckets of milk from WalMart have to go. I am tired of them being in the bedroom. I bought a pint of plain yogurt and each night I mix 3pkts of dry milk with the appropriate amount of water and then stir in a tablespoon of yogurt and sit it out on the porch (I am in Florida where its WARM) In the morning I have fresh yogurt...well... really more a curds and whey. I then stir in any and all kitchen scraps and since I have 150# of TVP, I toss a cup or two of that in it too. I then give a bowl to the potbellied pig for his breakfast along with a handful of his PBP pellets and the rest goes to the chickens. Wow! Those old hens that haven't laid in a year are back to laying. I am thinking maybe I should be eating this mix. LOL....the dog and the two cats also get a little of it each morning and pretty soon I will be able to get to my side of the bed without climbing over the buckets. Taz...who likes to feed things.

-- Taz (Tassi123@aol.com), February 20, 2000

Answers

wow .. great tip taz. i'll be getting our first flock of chicks late mar/early apr .. and i'll be sure to feed them powdered milk yogurt when they get a little older.

i was making it for our family for quite a while - the fat free kind - and it was excellent.

-- lou (lanny1@ix.netcom.com), February 20, 2000.

Excellent Taz, thanks!

-- Mumsie (shezdremn@aol.com), February 21, 2000.

Funny you should mention this, Taz. I don't have chickens, but I DO have dry milk and nobody here likes it as milk. In FRLian chat the other day, 47f0 gave me an easy as pie recipe to make yogurt [pretty much the same way you stated.] I made it yesterday and this morning mixed in a can of Oregon raspberries before pouring it into little dessert cups with covers and throwing into the frig.

We eat yogurt as snacks, so I didn't want to make too much at once.

Recipe:

Mix milk with double milk powder according to box instructions.

Get a "starter"...yogurt with live cultures. The more you use, the faster the culture grows.

Put in oven with light on [if electric]. If gas, the pilot light will keep the oven warm enough. Add a bit of sugar to hasten growth.

I made 1 quart of the liquid and threw in 4 heaping tablespoons of "starter", as well as 4 teaspoons of sugar. I tossed it all in the blender to ensure it would get well distributed. Although the recommended "time" for culturing was 8-12 hours in the oven, I think I left mine in for perhaps 18-20 hours. I started it at about noon yesterday and just removed it this morning.

I threw in an entire can of Oregon brand raspberries and stirred until the raspberries were distributed. I then poured the mixture into 8 little cups [with lids] and had enough left over to fill one of those small microwave containers that also had a lid.

47 also told me that I could make cream cheese by putting the finished yogurt into a clean cloth [I borrowed an old percale pillow- case from my mom for this], hang it on the sink, and let it drain overnight. I'd already made a cheese pie with some store bought cream cheese a few weeks ago, using the following recipe:

Mandarin Orange Cheese Pie: Time to serve: 2 hours or overnight: 8 servings.

8 oz. cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup orange marmalade [one might want to use Taz' recipe for that.] 2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed 2 cans (11 oz or 15 oz each) Mandarin Oranges, well drained 1 (9-inch) ready-to-use or homemade graham cracker pie crust.

Blend cream cheese and orange marmalade; stir in whipped topping. Place a single layer of oranges on bottom of pie crust. Spoon cream cheese mixture over oranges. Garnish with all remaining oranges. Cover and chill 2 hours or overnight. Garnish with remaining whipped topping.

Get Creative: For variety: try using other fruits, such as pineapple, sliced peaches, or pears.

-- Anita (notgiving@anymore.com), February 26, 2000.

Thanks Anita and Taz! Want to try the yogart and that cream cheese pie sounds WONDERFUL! I sure learn a lot here.

-- suzy (suzy@nowhere.com), February 26, 2000.