# Suggestions--Need to use up yogurt



## htc (Sep 21, 2005)

DH bought me way too much yogurt. It's the Dannon family pack, multiple flavors. He didn't check the date and it's going to expire soon, anyone have suggestions on what I can do with it? 

I've already used a bunch to make muesli, so getting tired of that. It's in 4 oz cups. Can I freeze it as is to have little frozen yogurt cups?

Thanks!


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## Andy M. (Sep 21, 2005)

You can freeze it but the texture may suffer a bit.  It'll still taste good.


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## jkath (Sep 21, 2005)

Here's what I do with yogurt for breakfast:
Blenderize:
2  4-oz. yogurts (any flavor)
8-oz. juice (orange, pear, mango, cranberry...)
2 scoops protein powder (I use egg & milk protein powder, but soy would work too)
2 handfuls of frozen blueberries, or the equivalent of any other frozen fruit (peach, strawberry, raspberry...)
You can also add a fresh banana as well.

Enjoy!


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## mish (Sep 21, 2005)

HTC, here's one I've saved, but haven't had a chance to try yet.

*Strawberry Yogurt Poundcake*





Makes approximately 1 loaf cake or 8 servings

2 cups all-purpose flour 
2 teaspoons baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon salt, optional 
1/2 cup butter, softened 
1 cup sugar 
4 eggs 
1 carton (6 oz.) non-fat strawberry yogurt 
1/4 teaspoon almond extract 

In medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt, if desired. Set aside.

In large mixing bowl at medium speed, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, yogurt and extract until well blended. Reduce mixer speed to low. Add reserved flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, beating just until blended.

Spread evenly in greased and floured 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan. Bake in preheated 325°F oven until cake tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 70 minutes. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.


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## Ken (Sep 21, 2005)

Here's what NOT to use it for..... 

«Naked Yogurt Fighting Illegal



A Seoul appellate court on Friday sentenced an executive of a domestic milk company to a fine of about US$5,000 for staging a nude yoghurt fight to advertise a new product. 

The bench ruled the performance was purely commercially motivated and had no artistic merit whatsoever. It said the show was obscene and sensational, adding it could find no justification for using nudity to achieve the goal of the campaign. 
​


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## mish (Sep 21, 2005)

Ken said:
			
		

> Here's what NOT to use it for.....
> 
> «Naked Yogurt Fighting Illegal
> 
> ...






Yum. Yogurt wrestling. Has plenty of artistic merit for me. (Would that be raspberry?) Ken, I can tell you're related to Alix. The apple (yogurt) doesn't fall far from the tree.  

Welcome to dc.


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## mish (Sep 21, 2005)

Here are some more ideas - and music too  :

http://www.thegutsygourmet.net/yogurt.html

Bumped into another recipe, for chunky guacamole made with yogurt.


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## JMediger (Sep 22, 2005)

You can also drain it like you would vanilla or plain yogurt to make yogurt cheese (through cheese cloth, over a bowl, over night) ... pretty good to spread on english muffins the next day.  Hint - don't do it on bagels ... it's still a bit more soft than the nonflavored is so tends to slip through the hole.
Enjoy!
 J.


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## Piccolina (Sep 22, 2005)

I add yogurt (fruit or plain) to most of my muffin recipes to help cut down on the added oil. It works like a charm and you can come up with neat combos like strawberry muffins with peach yogurt or white chocolate muffins with raspberry yogurt.


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## Zereh (Sep 22, 2005)

I'm not a milk drinker ~ but I love LOVE yogurt with granola. You earn bonus points for adding fresh fruit!

Yogurt + granola also safely takes care of that sweet tooth craving for me as well.


Z


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## urmaniac13 (Sep 22, 2005)

Andy M. said:
			
		

> You can freeze it but the texture may suffer a bit. It'll still taste good.


Yes I do this sometimes!!  And eat it while it is frozen (leave it outside for several minutes before you tackle it so it won't be so rock solid...) It is indeed like "frozen yogurt", I quite like it... (Attn: it works less nicely with lowfat, fatfree version though...)


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## Robo410 (Sep 22, 2005)

I just think it's a great desert with a fancy cookie or slice of plain cake and some fresh fruit if ya got any.  Something light and fruity after a good meal is all I want for a finale.


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## CharlieD (Sep 22, 2005)

Has anybody sugested pancakes yet? Yum, the best pancakes ever made from yogurt, and not any kind of mix.


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## htc (Sep 22, 2005)

Charlie D, I wouldn't know where to begin to use yogurt to make pancakes. Any suggestions?JMediger, if I were to leave the yogurt out all night, wouldn't it go bad? After I drain it, can I put it back in the fridge or should I leave it out? How long is it food after it's been drained?

Thanks all for your suggestions!!


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## mish (Sep 22, 2005)

htc said:
			
		

> if I were to leave the yogurt out all night, wouldn't it go bad? After I drain it, can I put it back in the fridge or should I leave it out? How long is it food after it's been drained?


 
Leave it overnight in the fridge to drain. I put a coffee filter inside a colander & put the yogurt on top of the filter, put a plate under the colander for the water to drain onto. (I think it originally? called for cheesecloth, but I used a coffee filter.) Use the yogurt cheese the next day for recipe of choice.

I've used low fat. Trying to remember a rule about using or not using yogurt that contains acidofilous? (can't remember the exact name of the ingredient). You could do a search on yogurt cheese.

Years ago there were a few cooking shows re cutting the fat, & yogurt cheese was used in so many recipes - even cheesecake. If I recall, it was also used as a thickening agent.

Re the recipe for strawberry yogurt pound cake, thinking about adding in some chopped strawberries too - or fruit of choice.


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## jkath (Sep 22, 2005)

mish said:
			
		

> Ken, I can tell you're related to Alix. The apple (yogurt) doesn't fall far from the tree.


 
I hope they're not related ....they're married!


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## mish (Sep 22, 2005)

Here's a link I hope will help, htc.

http://www.thegutsygourmet.net/yog-cheese.html


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## CharlieD (Sep 22, 2005)

Yogurt base pancakes:



1 cup of yogurt

1 cup of flour

1 large or extra large egg

1 pinch salt

1 t baking powder or baking soda, but then you'd have to poor some vinegar over it, like a 2 t spoons or about that much, you'll see a reaction, soda will start foaming up, mix well until reaction stops.

1 table spoon oil.



+ OIL FOR FRYING



Mix everything well. The batter should be sour cream, maybe just a bit thinner. Warm up the frying pan, I like to use a lot of oil, well just to cover the bottom of the pan. But you can just use as much as you normally would. Take a serving spoon and spoon the batter on the pan, fry on both sides. Serve with your favorite syrup, lots of butter and/or sour cream.


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## htc (Sep 22, 2005)

Thanks for the link!


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## mish (Sep 22, 2005)

You're welcome, htc.

Thanks for the pancake recipe, Charlie. Very unique.


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## kleenex (Sep 22, 2005)

If it is vanilla flavor you could just pour it over a chicken breast and cook it up.


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## Claire (Sep 23, 2005)

I use it, half and half with mayo, and a package of ranch dressing mix (and/or when my herb garden is going gangbusters, fresh chopped herbs) to make the best ever ranch dressing.  Hubby calls it "Claire's Super Secret Sauce" because I do so much with it.  Wasabi, regular horseradish, catsup & pickles.  Cole Slaw, baked potato topping.  I could go on forever.


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## Claire (Sep 23, 2005)

Oh, watch out when it comes to using it as a meat marinade.  Only an hour or three, never overnight.  I've had yogurt literally eat meat up and turn it to mush.  Tenderizing CAN be taken to extremes.  Anyone else have that experience?


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## CharlieD (Sep 23, 2005)

Came home last knight and decided to use my own advice. Kids went nuts.   They love breakfast for diner. Made pancakes per above recipe. It was great and it took 20 minutes from start to finish.


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## htc (Sep 23, 2005)

Question: I put the yogurt in a strainer w/ coffee filters last night. It seems to have gotten the coffee filters damp, which tells me that it is getting out the water, but it still looks like yogurt. I thought it was supposed to be "drier"...Thoughts??  Maybe I put too much in the strainer at once? I think I opened about 4 little cups (16 oz). This morning, I put a filter on top, just in case I did put too much.

Charlie, I am making yogurt pancakes for breakfast tomorrow.


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## mish (Sep 23, 2005)

htc said:
			
		

> Question: I put the yogurt in a strainer w/ coffee filters last night. It seems to have gotten the coffee filters damp, which tells me that it is getting out the water, but it still looks like yogurt. I thought it was supposed to be "drier"...Thoughts?? Maybe I put too much in the strainer at once? I think I opened about 4 little cups (16 oz). This morning, I put a filter on top, just in case I did put too much.


 
The objective is to drain the whey/liquid out to make it more of a cream cheese-like/thicker texture - but not dry texture. The damp/wet filters are a good sign. Did you notice any liquid in the plate/dish under the colander? This indicates it's draining out the liquids. Dump the liquid out, & replace the plate if you wish. Thinking 16 oz/1lb might be a lot to drain at one time if piled up in a clump. Not sure I understand putting a coffee filter on top? If you put too much in and can't spread it out between two colanders (since you've started), try changing/replacing the damp/wet filters with new filters.  Not to worry - if it's in the fridge - it's still okay to use for a recipe. Don't wait too long.


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## htc (Sep 23, 2005)

There wasn't any liquid at the bottom, which is what concerned me. I will try new filters and put less in. I put a filter on top thinking maybe it would absorb more liquid. Probably just served to make things messier for me.  

Thanks!!


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## Michael in FtW (Sep 24, 2005)

Coffee filters are not porous enough - as you've discovered. You need something porous enough to let the whey drain out while retaining the curd. Think in terms of cheesemaking ... you need cheesecloth.

When I make yogurt cheese, I take a double or triple layer of cheesecloth, dump a 16-oz container of yogurt in the middle of it, pull the corners up and tie them with string. I then hang this from a cabinet doorknob over the sink for 8-48 hours - depending on the texture and amount of "twang" I'm after. After about 4 hours - you can gently squeeze it every couple hours if you want to squeeze out more whey and make it dryer. When ready - I dump it in a plastic container and refrigerate for up to a week. Depending on how long you drain it, and how much you squeeze it - you can get the moist consistency of cream cheese, or dry and crumbly like feta.

Yes, you can do this in the refrigerator - it just won't develop any additional flavors, except for what it might absorb from the refrigerator. Tie it up in the cheesecloth like above, then place in a mesh strainer and suspend this over a bowl that has at least 1-inch clearance for the whey to drain out. Heck, you could tie the string from the cheesecloth to a pencil and suspend it over a narrow container of some sort if you want - it really doesn't matter. 

Hope this gives you some ideas and helps.


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## mish (Sep 24, 2005)

I use my method because I don't have doorknobs on my cabinets.


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## htc (Sep 24, 2005)

Hi Michael, thanks for the tip. I came home this afternoon and took out some of the yogurt and put new filters down. It's been almost 8 hours and still same results as yesterday. I think I have some cheesecloth laying around somewhere I will give it another go.

Thanks!


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## htc (Sep 24, 2005)

Made the pancakes today, they were great! Thanks again!!


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