Monday Meals - Making My Own Yogurt

I know intrepid women who make their own yogurt.  I, however, have never been one of them.  It seems way too complicated.  I am ashamed to say that I actually bought a plastic yogurt maker on the recommendation of a friend a couple years ago and I have yet to use it.  I might just give it away.

This is the model I have.  It's got a yogurt button!

However, I now have an Instant Pot.  I got it last year at an auction for a pro-life ob/gyn clinic that serves poor women.  A good cause!  I've only used it twice since then.  It is basically an electric pressure cooker and I have a fear of pressure cookers which I am trying to get over.  The first time I used it, soon after I got it, was to make pulled pork.  It turned out well.  The second time I used it, a couple weeks ago, was to make lentils.  And this also turned out well.

The thing about the Instant Pot is it cooks food well and very fast.  So it really seems like a good way to avoid the urge to buy convenience foods (usually involving single use plastic in its packaging).  Instead of buying cans of already cooked lentils, I can buy them in bulk and then cook them up quickly when I need to.  I am trying to avoid cans because they are often lined with plastic.  I am next going to try to cook up some black beans.  I use a lot of black beans in my cooking.

This Instant Pot also has a yogurt making function!  Yogurt is problematic if you are trying to reduce plastic waste.  Everything comes in plastic!  I did take to buying White Mountain yogurt in glass jars, however, it is pricey and the glass I realized is wrapped in shrink wrap!  Wah!  Why'd they do that???  Also, it is Bulgarian style yogurt which is really tart and liquidy.  My kids prefer thicker Greek yogurt.  Apparently, it is easy to make this style in the Instant Pot.

Oh White Mountain, ya done me wrong!

So this week, my big resolve is to make yogurt for the first time.  Wish me luck!  I'm actually nervous.  I will report back on the results.

Here's the recipe I plan to use.