Yogurt for the whole family

Got yogurt?

It has been almost a year since I mentioned my yogurt making. Making homemade yogurt has become such a regular part of my life that I don't think of it as blogging material. Yawn.

What is blog-worthy about yogurt, at least in my humble opinion, is that I'm not the only one in this household who loves yogurt! Yogurt is a huge treat for the dogs and chickens, too. They love it plain, unsweetened and unflavored.

I've stretched out my powdered yogurt culture supply, using only half a packet when I start a new batch, and still have some from the original purchase. Good thing since it isn't available here in Honduras, at least not in La Ceiba.

After each fresh batch, I save about 1/3 cup of yogurt to activate the next batch. That works for a few batches until the yogurt starts to get grainy and then I start a new fresh batch. I'm not sure what causes the graininess, maybe the dried milk powder, which helps to make the yogurt thicker. It doesn't affect the flavor but I don't like that texture.

Yogurt flavored with papaya and honey is still my favorite. A ton of information from yogurt experts is available on the internet. I gave some good links in the original article: La Gringa's gonna live to be 110.

If you like yogurt or just want to do something good for yourself, give homemade yogurt making a try. It's so simple and so forgiving. I can let it incubate 4 or 5 hours and it is fine or I can let it go 7 or 8 hours and it is fine, too. Once I even forgot about it and let it go all night long − still fine!

Note the yogurt "mustaches" on the chicken's beak and above the dogs noses as well as all the lip-licking going on.

The animals are also pretty good at sharing and waiting their turn as they know that La Gringa is fair and they will get their turn at the bowl. In fact, they may be a little better about sharing yogurt than I am. ;-)


Some of these photos are blurry as it is hard to take a photo with one hand and feed dogs with another while the other dogs are jumping on me with excitement, but you get the idea.

I missed the most terrific shot one day when the yogurt bowl was being shared by a chihuahua and a chicken at the same time! Can you imagine? That was one determined chicken.

Contented yogurt-eating chihuahuas
doing a little clean-up on each other