Making "all the things" : yogurt and dutch oven bread

Since one of my goals this year was to learn to make "all the things", I wanted to share a couple of things I've been learning this year. There's so many diets, food plans, 'magic tricks', and promises of this or that out there.  It's all confusing and sometimes contradictory to each other. I decided my food goal is to to eat real food. You know, the kind that you can grow or raise.  The kind that God made, not the kind grown in a factory and that has a really long unpronounceable name. :-) 

One thing I'm super excited about is learning to make my own yogurt! And it's super simple.
Tools:
Pressure Cooker with yogurt function
Thermometer

Ingredients:
1 gallon of milk
4 tablespoons of starter (plain yogurt with active cultures) (I use the leftover whey from the previous batch for mine, so I use more)

Dump the milk into the pressure cooker. Press the yogurt button to it turns to boil mode. When it beeps, check the temperature to make sure it reaches 180 degrees. (I use the saute function afterwards to help it reach 180 since my boil mode doesn't go that hot). Then remove the lid and let it cool down to about 110 degrees. This will take around an hour. Whisk in the starter, put the lid on, and press the yogurt button. 

Walk away and come back in 8 hours for yogurt.  If you want greek style yogurt, then you can strain it with a dishtowel or cheese cloth to separate the yogurt and the whey.  Pureed fruit makes great toppings for homemade yogurt!

A gallon of yogurt costs me $2 and I can pronounce all the ingredients!

(pictured: homemade yogurt and dutch oven bread)

If you want easy bread that doesn't require any kneading or a bread machine, then dutch oven bread is for you. It reminds me of the bread from those Italian restaurants that you dip in the olive oil mixture. It has a tougher crusty texture, perfect for dipping in sauces. 

This recipe came from A Mindful Mom, but you could probably google many different variations of it. 

Tools: 

Dutch Oven 

Mixing Bowl

Ingredients:

2 cups of warm water

2 teaspoons of salt

1 teaspoon of yeast

3 3/4 cups of whole wheat flour

Mix all the ingredients together and let it sit in a covered bowl overnight for 12-18 hours. In the morning, preheat your oven to 450 degrees and place the dutch oven inside to preheat. Dump the dough on a floured surface, and shape into a ball. When your oven and dutch oven are preheated, drop the dough in the center of the dutch oven, and place it in the oven. Bake covered for 30 minutes, then uncovered for 20 more minutes. Remove from the oven, and let cool before serving. 

The most magical part of cooking and baking is seeing your little ones enjoy your creation. Last night, my son was dunking his dutch oven bread in his homemade chicken dumpling soup. :-)  

How about you? What are you experimenting with in the kitchen? Or what new food did you try at a restaurant this week? 

Comment below and let me know!