Fruit and yogurt popsicles

     Popsicles are one of the things I've always wanted to try making but never quite got around to. So, when I went to Sur La Table to spend a gift card last month, I was very happy to see a popsicle maker. We've been enjoying popsicles ever since!

Yogurt and mango popsicle

Fruit and yogurt popsicles from http://www.womansday.com/food-recipes/food-drinks/recipes/a12330/fruit-yogurt-swirl-pops-recipe-wdy0714/

Ingredients:
1 lb. fresh or frozen fruit
2 tbsp. granulated sugar (only if using fresh fruit)
2 c. vanilla yogurt
Ice pop molds (see Note)
10 ice pop sticks

Procedure:

1) Using a food processor, purée the fruit (and sugar, if using fresh fruit) until smooth. Pour into a resealable bag or squeeze bottle.

2) Spoon the yogurt into a resealable bag or squeeze bottle. If using resealable bags, snip off a corner from each. Alternately squeeze the yogurt and purée into the molds to create swirls. Insert sticks according to directions and freeze overnight.

Popsicles in the freezer

     This recipe is super easy.  We've enjoyed popsicles with fresh cherries, strawberries, etc. etc.  What a delicious and healthy snack!!

Homemade yogurt in an Instant Pot

Homemade yogurt with granola and fresh fruit

     This is a recipe that Scott and I have been making for many many months but one which I never blogged: Homemade Yogurt. As I'm sure I've said before, I absolutely love my Instant Pot! One of the things that attracted me to it initially was its yogurt feature, which makes making homemade yogurt an absolute breeze. Read on to find out how much of a breeze:

Homemade Yogurt in an Instant Pot

Ingredients:

Half-gallon whole milk (note you can make yogurt with any quantity of milk, just keep the proportions the same)

2 tablespoons Yogurt starter (either leftover yogurt or whey from your previous batch or store bought yogurt that says "active cultures")


Equipment:

Instant Pot (I have an Instant Pot DUO60 which has the yogurt feature)

Thermometer (I use an Infrared thermometer)

Yogurt strainer, optional (I use a Euro Cuisine Greek yogurt maker)

Procedure:

1) Add half-gallon of whole milk to Instant Pot. Put the lid back onto the Instant Pot. If using the original lid, don't worry about having the knob on "sealing" or "venting." I'm pretty sure you could also do this with a glass lid.

Adding in the milk

2) Push the Yogurt button and then quickly hit the Adjust button. Your Instant Pot now should saw boil.


Heating the milk

3) Let the Instant Pot do its thing. It heats the milk up to 180°F. This helps to make a thicker yogurt.


4) Let the hot milk cool until it reaches 110°F. This is the perfect incubating temperature. I often times remove the pot and put it outside to make it cool faster.


112°F. Close enough...


5) Once it reaches the perfect temperature, add two tablespoons of your yogurt starter. Mix well. If you removed the pot to let it cool down faster, put it back into your Instant Pot. Put the lid on and hit the yogurt button. It will initially show "Yogt" and then it will start counting up. It incubates the yogurt/milk mixture for eight hours. I often times start the yogurt making process before I go to sleep and let it incubate overnight.


Pushing the Yogurt button will initially show "Yogt"


6) Eight hours later, remove the lid and stir. Voila! Fresh yogurt! You can either enjoy it straight from here (I usually like to cool mine down first!) or perform the optional step of straining it if you like thicker yogurt (i.e., Greek style yogurt).  I like to put mine in a mason jar with fruit and granola as an easy on the go breakfast.

Fresh yogurt the next morning

Optional yogurt strainer

Yummy!!