Everyday Systems

It is not a prerequisite of No S to eat "healthy," but there are a fair number of people here who are interested in whole foods, so I thought I'd post this.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/0 ... ep-us-lean

I'm a big fan of full-fat dairy!

Me too!

Full-fat yogurt, cottage cheese, or milk tastes good and makes you feel full.

Low-fat dairy is too carb-y for me and does funny things to my blood sugar.

I wish more people would embrace full-fat dairy. I get so annoyed when the only yogurt choices for sale are nonfat yogurt, full of artificial ingredients to boost the texture and "mouthfeel." I am convinced that dairy fat is actually good for you.

I wonder if there is a link to the massive rise in lactose intolerance and the rise in non-fat/skimmed dairy products. For thousands of years europeans weren't lactose intolerant on a big scale so that would be interesting to research.

Most people that have ancestry from a culture that was fortunate enough to have milk from goats, or cows are genetically well-equipped to produce a decent amount of lactase. Historically, much of the dairy was at least partially fermented, so that reduced its lactose content anyway.

So just a plug for dairy (since I'm a fan): if you notice you have difficulties, stick to fermented dairy (that is, yogurt!). And, since the topic of this thread is whole-fat dairy, good luck finding a whole-fat brand. Usually you have to get the big tubs: Zoe is my favorite brand. I have to buy it plain because sweetened yogurts are ridiculously over-sweetened.

And the non-fat yogurts are often chock-full of sugar, unless you go for the artificially sweetened ones. It's so ironic that they took a naturally delicious food and warped it like that by taking out the deliciousness and then trying to add back some alternate form of flavor (sugar or artificial sugar).

Back to the lactose issue, I really think it's a question of how much lactose is ingested at one time (for a lot of people): a little bit in a partially fermented food versus a lot in something like straight milk. AND, eschano, you probably have a GREAT point: there are 12 grams of lactose in 1 cup of milk--however, if drinking non-fat milk, maybe 1 cup won't satisfy. So if someone drinks two cups of milk now they've had 24 grams of lactose and may not have enough lactase to tackle that.

I'm usually fairly silent on the food preparation topic (since I am an atrocious and uninterested cook), but I am passionate about yogurt and make my own quite frequently!

Automatedeating, I'm very interested in learning how to make yogurt...if you don't mind could you post a recipe and instructions?

Stonyfield Farms -- it has a thick layer of cream on top, but you have to get to the supermarket the day it's delivered or it's gone!

I have never tolerated milk, threw the bottle out of the crib as a baby, but yoghurt and cheese are fine!

I actually eat plain nonfat Greek yogurt, but I always add nuts or seeds.

It's funny, I don't even think of most of yogurt available as yogurt. I didn't even eat yogurt until I lived in Iran in the late '70's. There was no such thing as flavored yogurt. They seem like a different food to me.

Hi Catservant:
Here is a link to a basic way to make yogurt:

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2013/05/ho ... rt-recipe/

The tricky parts are
*waiting for the milk to cool down (takes a while to go from 180 F to 115 F)
*Finding a way to keep it at 115 F for 8-12 hours. -- my oven actually holds at 115, but many people use a crockpot (heated but then turned off).
*getting used to yogurt that is not as thick as storebought---OR---taking the extra step to strain it and make it thicker on your own.

I always offer extra credit to students that make their own yogurt at home. They take pictures of themselves completing the process and explain fermentation and the maintenance of live bacterial cultures. It's pretty fun for the whole class.

Thanks so much! I'll give it a try...must check to see if my oven will hold at such a low temperature. If not, I do have a crock pot...Thanks again!

Here's an easy way to strain it -- through an old fashioned Melitta cone coffee filter. If you leave it long enough, you get something very similar to quark, which Imogen Morley sings the praises of!