Say It Ain’t So!

I think I found a food I’m sensitive to that never dawned on me as being an issue: almond butter!  NOOOOOOOOO!!!  I am so depressed… 😦  I know that the FODMAP diet says that almonds can generally only be tolerated in low quantities, but I didn’t really think it applied to me.  I hadn’t been having almond butter all that much, mostly because I hadn’t been having bread!   I did put it on rice cakes a few weeks ago, but didn’t really think anything of it.  Well, this morning I had my baked oatmeal that I’ve been having for a week and a half now and I put about two tablespoons of almond butter on top.. and now I feel MISERABLE!  This is a very sad day.. I love almonds, and almond butter was such a great way to add some protein/richness to smoothies.  I have had sunflower butter before, but it’s not nearly as tasty, plus it’s quite expensive, and Trader Joe’s version has sweeteners.  I’m still on the fence about whether or not bananas sit well with me.  I am pretty certain that my homemade yogurt is going okay, I had it again for lunch yesterday and felt decent!  I’m making up another batch right now, still with the 1% cow’s milk, not quite ready to venture into coconut milk yogurt yet.

I tried out this Loaded Baked Potato & Chicken Casserole last night for dinner, only adjustment was I used canned coconut milk instead of heavy cream.  I thought it was quite tasty and the hubby did too!  I would say next time I would add more bacon and chicken to make it feel a little more “meal-like,” it was heavy on the potatoes so seemed a little more like a side dish.

loaded baked potato & chicken casserole

Homemade, lactose-free Yogurt!

Today I got to try my freshly made, lactose-free yogurt!!  It was a pretty easy process, it just takes quite a bit of time.  I first went to the store to pick out milk, I wasn’t sure if the “ultrapastuerized” kind or the already lactose-free kind would work, so I went with regular 1% milk (was going to do 2% but the 1% was on sale for 99 cents!).  I used an entire half gallon and boiled it on the stove until it reached 180 degrees.  Then I let it cool down to 110 degrees, which took maybe 20-30 mins sitting out.  I thought about putting it in the fridge, but I was busy making dinner so wasn’t in a huge rush for the next step.  Once it was 110 degrees, I mixed 6 tablespoons of the warm milk with the yogurt starter, then once that was fully mixed, whisked it in to the rest of the milk.  Then I plugged in the yogurt maker, poured the milk in to the container, and let it simmer for 24 hours.  Now normally you would only have to “cook” it for 8-12 hours, but in order to ensure that it is fully lactose-free, the SCD diet recommends cooking it for 24 hours.  From what I’ve read, that does result in a more sour yogurt.  Once it had cooked for 24 hours, it needed to be refrigerated for at least 8 hours.

yogurt making awaits!

So this morning was the first taste test!!  It is definitely very tart, though so is store-bought plain yogurt, so I wasn’t surprised.  It has a little bit of an after taste, but nothing like goat’s milk yogurt.  I mixed it with some maple syrup and then put some on my baked carrot cake oatmeal.

homemade yogurt!

yogurt and oatmeal

I would say it was not the greatest on the oatmeal, I think because the oatmeal was not very sweet and then adding some tart didn’t go well.  But I am hopeful that mixing the yogurt with berries and maple syrup and letting it sit for a day or so to let the flavors meld will make a world of a difference!

2 quarts of yogurt= $0.99 milk + $1.56 for starter!

I have looked into if I could use coconut milk to make yogurt and I think it will be doable, though certainly more expensive.  From the tutorials I’ve seen, they recommend using the canned coconut milk since it is thicker, so at least for awhile I don’t think I’d better try my homemade coconut milk.  Now, my stomach did seem a little off today, but it wasn’t an immediate reaction after the yogurt, so I don’t know if it was related or not.  I did have a banana (eaten quickly while walking) for an afternoon snack and wonder if that was part of it.  I will continue to be cognizant of how I’m feeling after eating the yogurt and see.  I really think my issue was with the lactose because I can eat cheese and have little to no problems.  We shall see!  But I think 2 qts of yogurt should last me quite awhile, so I am definitely going to find some other uses for it!  It was an exciting adventure to do this, though, I certainly would never have thought I’d be making my own coconut milk AND yogurt!  Who needs cooking classes when you have Pinterest?? 🙂