Homemade Yoghurt, and some Yoghurt recipe ideas

Brought to you by Nuffnang and EasiYo.   All opinions are absolutely my own!

I love when I receive an email asking if I'd be interested in product testing something.  It's fun, but most of all it lets me try something out that I may otherwise have not known about, and give my opinion.  And today's product review is no different.

There's a new EasiYo in town.  Do you remember the old one?  Well, wait for it .... I have one, and here's how it compares to the new shiny red one....

The original was first developed about 20 years ago apparently ... boy that makes me feel old!  I'll admit that I bought the original EasiYo many years ago, and I've used it on and off over that time, but it has been a while I'll confess.   Why ... well, I don't really know.  I mean homemade yoghurt ... who can go wrong with that, huh!  And I'd forgotten how quick it really is to do.

You just grab your 1 kg jar that comes with the yoghurt maker, (the one on the left is the old version ... how much prettier is the new one!!), fill it half full with room temperature water, add your yoghurt sachet, then put the lid on and shake.  Then you fill the jar the rest of the way to the top, another little shake and pop it in the yoghurt maker that's been filled to the level marked inside with boiling water.  You put the lid on, and in 8 hours ... fresh yoghurt, ready to go.  And apparently the longer you leave the yoghurt in the maker, the thicker it becomes and it's safe to leave it in there for up to 24 hours.  I have done mine overnight each time, and the yoghurt is a beautiful consistency... oh, and I've been told that the probiotics in yoghurt are at their most potent when it's freshly made, so there's another reason to make it at home.

So, the flavours ... I was lucky enough to be able to sample a bunch of the flavours.  So far we've tried the Passionfruit (definitely the favourite all-round so far), the coconut (which I absolutely loved) and the plain, which I've used in cooking and if I get my act together soon, I might even had a go with using the rest of it to make some Labna.  We'll see ... I'll keep you posted!!

And one other thing that I like about this new EasiYo and the red-shiny-ness of it is that it absolutely matches my kitchen colour-scheme.  That's definitely an incentive to keep it out on the bench for regular yoghurt making ... it's just so darn pretty!

So, with all this yoghurt in the house, I thought I'd find a couple of recipes.  The first was this amazing Lemon Yoghurt cake ... I posted this teaser on Instagram ... It's one of those drizzle-the-hot-lemon-syrup-over-the-hot-cake-and-watch-it-soak-in kind of cakes ... Yum.  This one uses plain yoghurt!

And it was a great excuse to get out my Gran's vintage cup and saucer for a slice of cake and a cuppa on a cold winter's afternoon.

I just love a cup of tea in a real teacup ... don't you!

Next, Hannah and I decided to make some frozen yoghurt treats.  She recently watched an episode of PlaySchool where they mixed yoghurt with berries, froze it and ate it.  She's been trying to convince me since then that we needed to give this a try, but Hannah hates berries, so I wasn't really sure what to do.  But when everyone loved this EasiYo Passionfruit yoghurt so much, I figured this was my chance.  Here's how Hannah and I made these Passionfruit Banana Frozen Yoghurt treats:

Ingredients:
- 500g passionfruit (or whatever flavour you want) yoghurt
- 1 banana

You'll also need some ice-block moulds ... we used these funky-shaped ones.  Hannah told me immediately that she would be having the "love heart icecream".

To make them, just dice your banana up into 1cm-ish sized pieces, then mix together with the yoghurt.  Can't be much simpler, really!

Spoon the mixture into the ice-block moulds and freeze!

 Oh, and don't forget to lick the spoon!

These are really tasty (I ate the pink one!).  The frozen banana almost disappears and the passionfruit yoghurt has such an amazing passion-fruity flavour ... makes me long for summer!

So, we've had a ball product testing the new EasiYo maker.  I really would recommend it.  It's quick and easy.  The yoghurt is thick, creamy, and tasty, not to mention it is free from artificial ingredients, gluten-free, and suitable for vegetarians.  The new EasioYo is available in Australia from Big W, Woolworths, IGA and online for $24.99 (RRP) and the yoghurt sachets for 1kg fresh yoghurt are available from $4.50.  So, it's not expensive either.  I also think these would make a great gift!

Product Review: Vileda Magical System

I was recently offered an opportunity to review the new Vileda Magical Water Repellent Spray and Cloth System in exchange for my comments, and I thought ... why not?  It's fun to try new products that I would otherwise not have known about, and to see what I think ... and this is definitely something that I probably would never have noticed in the absolutely huge amount of time I spend in the cleaning aisle ... especially with just how much I just LOVE to clean ... cough ... like NEVER!  So reviewing this type of product was a little different for me.

Basically, this spray is used as an anti-fog on glass, showers and mirrors.  It creates a thin film that kind of repels the fog, turning it into droplets of water that just fall away, and taking with it any dirt, and without leaving water marks ... you know, so you can see your naked butt when you step out of the shower, instead of having that beautiful layer of fog protecting your poor fragile eyes from such a sight first thing in the morning ... ha ha ... I'm joking ... well, I'm joking a little bit! Sigh! ........

Anyway, it's not all that different from waxing your car I guess (except it's heaps easier on the elbow-grease) and it does work!

I tested it out by giving my bathroom mirror a bit of a clean just with a damp cloth, then sprayed a line of the Vileda Magical Water Repellant Spray down the middle of the mirror, and wiped it off with the special blue cloth that came with the bottle.  I armed Daddy with the camera (poor Daddy is always pulled in for Mummy's crazy capers!) and turned the hot tap on in the shower for some steam.  It was like a win-win for Daddy!  He's got a bit of a cold at the moment, so he scored a free steam inhalation as well as a chance to take some photos ... I'm totally sure he saw it that way too!  

So, sure enough the mirror fogged up.  All except for the strip down the middle which stayed crystal clear.  It was pretty impressive!

Now I'll be truthful and admit that I am NEVER up at the ridiculously early time that Daddy gets up to go to work.  So we don't have that problem in the mornings of one person in the shower, while the other is trying to see in the fogged-up mirror to do their hair.  But I can imagine that if you're not as lucky lazy as me, and do share the bathroom in the mornings this would make life easier.  No more wiping down the mirror with a towel only to have it fog up a minute or so later.  One less thing to do in the mornings, hey.  That totally equates to a few more precious minutes of sleep in the mornings I reckon!

Anyway, all in all an effective product.  I only did my test run today, so I haven't witnessed how long it lasts before you have to wipe the mirror over with more spray, but the instructions suggest that you can extend the fog-free-ness (yep, I've made another new word) by using a little more spray.  

You can check out the Vileda Facebook page here for more information, and the Vileda Magic System is available at Woolworths and Big W for $9.99.

Oh, and I was provided with this product in exchange for my comments.  All opinions are my own.

Product Review, and a free recipe - Cinnamon Chai Ice-cream

This post is thanks to Hannah of Wordstorm who asked if I would like to try and review the new Bondi Chai Single Serve Sachet Chai Latte range.  Of course I said yes, and promptly received a box of Club Cinnamon and a Box of Vanilla Honey Chai Latte sachets.  The drinks are made-up on skim milk (to make them 99% fat free).  I also tried making them just with hot water … I really liked it … just a less-creamy version of the same thing.  Yum!!

Now I will admit that normally speaking I’m not a massive fan of chai drinks, but I was intrigued about these flavours and was keen to give them a go.  Once I tasted them I was impressed by the sweetness, and the flavours are great.  My favourite, especially as a winter-warmer type drink is the Club Cinnamon.  My mind instantly went to apple pie and cinnamon, and with a little more thought I decided that this drink sachet could actually be used to create an amazing cinnamon chai ice-cream to accompany apple pie, or just by itself, or with anything really.  I LOVED how this make-it-up-as-I-go-along creation turned out, and decided to share my recipe here as part of this review.  

So, here it is:  Wen's Cinnamon Chai Ice-cream 

Ingredients: (I used a basic Premium Ice-cream recipe that came in the booklet with my ice-cream maker, and tweaked it to be what I wanted)

- 2 sachets of Bondi Chai Club Cinnamon Chai Latte

- 2 whole eggs

- 3 egg yolks

- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 cups skim milk
- 1 1/2 cups light thickened cream

Method:
1. Whisk the milk and cream together in a medium-sized saucepan.  Pour in the Bondi Chai Club Cinnamon Chai Latte sachets....

... and whisk.  My cute helper, Bethany was very excited to assist with this recipe!

2. Bring the mixture to the boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Combine eggs, egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer ...

...and mix until the mixture turns a pale yellow and thickens (about 2 minutes).

4. Measure 1 cup of the hot milk/cream/chai mixture.

5.  With the mixer turned on at low speed, slowly pour the hot liquid into the egg / sugar mixture in a steady stream.

6.  Once thoroughly combined, turn the mixer off, and pour the entire egg/sugar mixture into the saucepan with the remaining milk/cream/chai mixture, and whisk together.

7.  Cook over a low to medium heat while stirring constantly until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.  Watch it like a hawk ... the messy sides of my saucepan in the pic above,  may or may not indicate that I had a boil-over situation at some point!! LOL!

8.  Pour the mixture into a heat-proof bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator until well-chilled.

9.  Follow the instructions from your ice-cream maker to churn the mixture until it forms a thick ice-cream.  Store in an air-tight container in the freezer.

There's only one way to describe this .... Spoon-lick'n YUM!!

Oh, and thanks to my good friend Sara .... Sara Lee that is ... for the amazing apple pie to go under a scoop of this ice-cream!  Yep, although I love a good bake-off, sometimes convenience still wins out!

Hope you enjoy it as much as we have!  Oh, and you can grab some Bondi Chai Single Serve Sachets at Woolworths stores across Australia.