Homemade Greek Yogurt

There are plenty of different yogurt brands and flavors available here in South Korea, along with different varieties of how yogurt is packages and presented – yogurt milk, yogurt drinks, original yogurt, etc. However, all of the yogurt options that we have come across have been traditional runny yogurt. In addition, most are flavored and high in sugar.

After hearing me talk about how badly I was craving Greek yogurt on a repetitive basis, Brian looked to social media (in the form of Facebook) for help. Luckily, some fellow yogurt lovers in Daejeon were able to give us some advice.

First thing was to visit Costco for Denmark plain yogurt. It’s not Greek yogurt but it is plain flavored and has a limited amount of added sugar.

The second suggestion was to strain the yogurt to make our own Greek yogurt. After a little research on the internet, I figured it shouldn’t be too hard of a process and we set out to gather some needed supplies.

We picked up a small holed strainer and in place of cheese cloth, something else from the kitchen aisle of Emart that resembled a shower cap that looked like it would do the trick for straining the whey from the yogurt.

We didn’t have a bowl that fit the strainer (without the bottom of it actually sitting in the bowl) so I used a loaf pan and a rolled papertowel to do the trick.

I lined the strainer with one paper towel and then wrapped the straining fabric over top and scooped in the plain yogurt.

(picture taken post straining process)

I covered the complete contraption and let it sit in the fridge overnight. This morning, I woke up to amazingly thick Greek yogurt.

The loaf pan below was full of the discarded whey.

I scooped out the finished product and was delighted at how easily it came out of the straining cloth.

I honestly couldn’t get over the difference in texture between the two yogurts and once I tried the strained yogurt, I couldn’t get over the taste difference either.

Call me crazy, but this actually tastes better than plain Oikos or Chobani (my favorites from back home)!

Morning Nap

I got an extremely slow start this morning but I’m finally up, worked out and fed. It’s a start!

I woke up to Brian’s 7:30 a.m. alarm and only made it out of the bed and around the corner to the couch. I’ve been feeling like I have a cold coming on for the past couple of days now and this morning all I wanted to do was go back to sleep – so my day started off with a nap.

Workout

When I finally pulled myself from the couch, I had no desire to head outside for a run so I popped in a workout DVD to get my sweat on.

I guess since finishing Body Revolution, I’m going through withdrawal from hearing Jillian Michael’s annoyingly motivating voice so my workout of choice was her No More Trouble Zones DVD.

Still my favorite workout DVD ever. Absolutely love the way it pushes me…especially when I do the whole workout with 5-8 lb. weights instead of the recommended 3 lbs. My shoulders = sore!

Breakfast

Since I had already had a nap and a workout on the morning, by the time I finished with NMTZ, I was beyond ready for breakfast.

I couldn’t decide exactly what I wanted but I knew three things I wanted to incorporate into the meal so that made my decision a little easier.

• A blueberry bagel from the bakery at Emart
• Laughing Cow strawberry creamcheese
• (Homemade) Greek yogurt

I was so excited to find the strawberry creamcheese wedges yesterday and absolutely loved the flavor on the toasted blueberry bagel!

Now I’m even more anxious to find the other flavors that were released as well. I’m not sure if I will come across them here in Korea (I was surprised to find the strawberry) but I’m on the look out!

Along with the bagel and creamcheese, I had a bowl of homemade Greek yogurt with banana slices and agave nectar.

I haven’t been able to find Greek yogurt here in Korea but went off of a suggestion to strain regular plain yogurt to get thick, creamy Greek yogurt on my own. After being so used to the texture of Greek yogurt, I find regular yogurt way too runny and liquid- like, almost more like gogurt!

But wow! I’m so happy I tried the process for straining my own Greek yogurt! It was beyond simple and turned out amazing – more on that to come later!

Now that my day is off to a little bit better of a start, I’m off to study another NASM chapter!

Question:

Have you ever made your own Greek yogurt?