Science Experiment

This post is all about making yogurt for Laney, so if this interests you, READ ON! If not, you might want to check out some of my friends' blogs. :) We've reached the yogurt-eating stage! I don't know about you, but I LOVE yogurt. It happens to be so healthy for you as well. Here are some facts from my Super Baby Food book. It's a good source of calcium, protein, phosphorus, potassium, ribflavin, vitamin B12, and pantothenic acid(whatever that is....it's supposedly good for you.) Yogurt has many health benefits from preventing cancer and high blood pressure to curing womanly infections. It's been shown to enhance the body's immune system by increasing the production of gamma interferons, which play a key role in fighting certain allergies and viral infections. With it's "good" bacteria, it attacks harmful bactertia in the colon and intestines. It helps restore the health-giving flora that help prevent gastrointestinal infections. Adelle Davis claims that babies who frequently eat yogurt have less diarrhea.

Antibiotics, which are given out like candy nowadays, kill friendly intestinal flora. People on antibiotics need to eat at least 2 servings of yogurt a day and continuing until 10 days after antibiotic use has ceased. Antibiotics promote diaper rash, which is caused by the unfriendly bacteria that grow due to the absence of these flora.

So, there's a little bit of history for you regarding yogurt. Now you see why the author of "Super Baby Food" book suggests using yogurt as a base for at least one meal a day, mixing in it fruits or veggies, so as to keep your baby healthy. I've been thinking about making yogurt for Laney for about a month now. I just kept putting it on the back burner. I could buy "Yo Baby" yogurt or a store bought yogurt, but it has a lot of sugar and additives in there that I can avoid giving Laney by making my own yogurt. Another HUGE reason why I haven't bought any yogurt is because it is SO SO expensive. A quart of milk makes 32 ounces of yogurt, costing less than .75, give or take on the price of milk. And the smaller the packaging, the greater the cost. "Store-bought yogurt costs about 3 times that of homemade."

The word on the street is that homemade yogurt is SO much more delicious than store-bought. I LOVE store-bought myself, so I can't wait to try FRESH-FRESH homemade yogurt. Mmm!! Don't you just want a spoonful of cold, creamy strawberry or blueberry yogurt right now? I do!!!!!!!!!!! The more fresh your yogurt is, the stronger the good, beneficial bacteria. So, don't don't buy old yogurt. Although it's still good for 10 days after the expiration date, most of the good bacteria will have died off, so there won't be any health benefits to that yogurt.

For the visual learners like myself, I've posted a video below as to how to make your own homemade yogurt. There are several ways to actually cook it, so this is just one way. I posted this just for those who are interested. If it sounds like the most boring thing EVA to you, there's no obligation to watch it. That's the beauty of having a blog. Even the words you're reading right now hold no obligation over you. :) If any of you try making your own homemade yogurt, PLEASE let me know how it goes. The author did say that the first batch might not be really good, but like anything else, the more you practice, the better and more flavorful your yogurt will be!

p.s. I used my meat thermometer to test the temps, and it worked fine. Also, you'll hear Hugh in the background playing with Laney. His voice is so high it sounds like Laney. It's pretty funny! hahaha!

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