Aside from drinking, that is? The truth is, we do drink a lot of it. Most notably, my 3-year-old. That child would chug raw milk all day long, if I let him. My husband and I would like to drink more than we do, but it seems that we're always really low by the end of the week, so we save it for the boys. We just increased our weekly purchase from 2 gallons to 3 gallons, and we'll try to make this work before we start buying even more...Allow me to back to the subject at hand: how we use raw milk in our household. Once a week I make a quart of yogurt using this method from Michele at Frugal Granola (she's something of a genius, in my opinion). I then use this yogurt for my husband's lunch, recipes (such as our favorite crackers), and even for soaking grains. This summer, I hope to work out some berry/honey combinations which will reintroduce the joy of yogurt to our children. I'll also use it in smoothies.
My husband uses the milk to make kefir. I don't care for kefir, personally, but I wish I drank it. It's absolutely wonderful for one's health. It's a cultured, probiotic milk product, and it very much reminds me of drinkable yogurt.
I also pour off most of the cream from our raw milk these days, to put it to other uses. Raw cream makes scrumptious ice cream: so creamy and delicious! Also, I recently read of a simple method which uses raw cream to make creme fraiche, and I am so excited to try it sometime soon.
My favorite use for cream, though, it in making butter. We do have the butter churn which belongs to my husband's parents, and we do use that at times. However, I recently discovered that I could make butter in my KitchenAid Mixer (using the whisk attachment)! I was so thrilled to let it do my work for me, while I go about other business. If you're interested in the instructions, click here. I use Method A. This is another stroke of brilliance from Michele at Frugal Granola.
Naturally, making butter produces buttermilk. I use this by-product in recipes, and in soaking my grains. I must say, it makes the most delicious whole wheat pancakes I've ever had!
We love using raw milk. To read more about why we choose to consume it, click here and here. My next big adventure? Cheese! I have a book, a recipe, and a plan. I can hardly wait to see what develops.
***This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, hosted by CHEESESLAVE. Click on the link for more real food posts!
4 comments:
Yummm!! Cheese!
Mindy,
You're doing so much with your raw milk! I am a wee bit jealous of that butter. I can't figure out how to get enough cream from my goat milk to get butter.
Regarding the kefir, last night I made a smoothie using it instead of straight raw milk. Umm... nobody knew. Nobody at all. I was so excited! I haven't told them yet. I normally don't "sneak" food but I really wanted to see their reactions without prejudice. I'm going to make the smoothies this way for a good while before I tell them they're eating kefir.... and liking it!
Thanks for sharing the link to the yogurt... that is ingenious!
Wardeh,
Thanks for the tip on the smoothies...I haven't had the courage to try that yet, but I think I will do it soon.
I'm sorry about the lack of buttercream...maybe as your goats get better acclimated to your place, they'll produce richer milk?
I was so happy to find that yogurt recipe. I'd sort of tried Sally Fallon's raw milk yogurt recipe, but I didn't really have the right equipment for it, so it was a total flop. I hated the thought of buying pasteurized milk in order to make homemade yogurt!
~Mindy
Mindy,
It is discouraging to try things and they flop. I am glad you found another way that worked for you!
Our goat milk is actually so creamy it clogs the disposable filters. :) It just doesn't separate like cow's milk does; goat's milk is naturally homogenized. A little cream will float to the top which I can skim off, but it isn't much. There are cream separators that cost $200 to $500... I don't think so! I'm waiting for the Lord to show me the right solution.
With the smoothies, make sure you have plenty of sweet to counteract the sour of the kefir. I'm adding dates for that. Also, add coconut oil, wowsa, we just started doing that and it makes the smoothie so satisfying and creamy. Can't wait to hear how you do.
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