Raw Cream Cheese Heaven!

I am so exited and thrilled that my latest accidental experiment turned out so well!! I was trying to make more of the wonderful raw buttermilk that I talked about in my last post and forgot about it!!! So when I finally remembered to look at it, the whey had already separated out of it. So I'm thinking...let's make cream cheese! Now the last time I tried making cream cheese I made it just from the raw milk..and I must say it turned out awfully gross. But this time being made from buttermilk and not just soured raw milk...it turned out Heavenly!!! Success!!

This is what you do:
**If you would like to see pictures: just look at the post I did here, only use the raw buttermilk and not plain raw milk!

1) Fill a quart mason jar with RAW buttermilk and screw on lid.
**You have to use the raw buttermilk you make yourself NOT the store bought kind!

2) Set it in a warm cabinet until you see the yellowish whey separate. This will take 1-2 days instead of 3-4 for just the raw milk.

3) Get a dishtowel or cloth napkin damp and place over a strainer/colander in a large bowl. Now pour the contents of your mason jar in and let it drain.

4) When most of it drains, tie the ends of the towel around a spoon and let drain until the dripping completely stops.

Now you have your whey and WONDERFUL CREAM CHEESE!!!!
I will never make the cream cheese from just soured milk again. This cream cheese from buttermilk tastes very similar from what you buy at the store only it is more light and fluffy. You may want to add a little salt if you like, but I don't find it necessary! You CAN use this with dessert recipes! I can't wait to make raw cheesecake with this!!!!

From the quart of buttermilk I got:
2 1/4 cup whey
1 1/4 cup cream cheese (10 oz)
COST: $1.50!!! Much cheaper than what you buy organic cream cheese at the store..plus it's raw!!















I just added this post to a wonderful blog carnival called, "Fight Back Fridays" on the blog called Food Renegade. It is a wonderful site...check it out here:
http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-fridays-4/

Cultured Whole Milk Buttermilk and Sour Cream!!

Buttermilk is wonderfully EASY with a capital "E" to make!! The NT book tells you to send off for some starter somewhere but that is completely unnecessary! I found this marvelous website here, that tells you how to easily make your own buttermilk by just using commercial cultured whole milk buttermilk!!

***The buttermilk you get after making butter is NOT the same as the whole milk cultured buttermilk that is sold in the stores or that I'm making here!!



Here's what you do:



1. Pour 1/4 to 1/2 cup of store bought cultured buttermilk into a quart mason jar.

(I used 1/4 C of Borden's whole milk buttermilk-I like them because they don't use hormones)



2. Fill the rest of the jar with raw milk and screw on the lid.....then shake it up well.



3. Set it in a warm cabinet (NT says not higher than 80 degrees) and leave until it thickens. It took mine about a day. Then put in the fridge and use as needed!!



4. When you get down to about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup left, just refill with milk and do it again for more buttermilk!



Now this same website tells you this is the same way to make SOUR CREAM!! Just put your 1/4 to 1/2 cup of buttermilk(store bought, or what you just made!) into the mason jar and fill with cream instead of milk for sour cream! I can't wait to try this!!!

COST: Since I buy my raw milk for $6/gal, to make my own RAW, organic buttermilk it only costs me $1.50/quart!!!!!!

Hot Chocolate or Chocolate Milk!!

NT has a recipe for a raw milk warmer with carob powder and other ingredients on page 88. Perhaps I will try that sometime...but until then how about a whole food version of good 'ol fashioned hot chocolate? I don't understand what Sally Fallon has against chocolate. A little caffeine once in a while never hurt anyone....as long as it is organic chocolate...right?! Remember all the great antioxidants it is supposed to have! :)

For a single serving:

One cup raw milk

2 ts organic cocoa powder

2 ts organic sucanat (granulated cane)

1 shake sea salt

drop of vanilla if desired

Put all in a sauce pan and stir, warming on low heat until desired temperature.

*****

I usually make this with 4 or 5 servings at a time.

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Of course you will want to play around and see how much sweetener you like in yours. The recipe on the cocoa container actually called for only 1 ts per cup...but that was not enough for us! I would like to experiment with this using stevia sometime. I will let you know if I do.

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Now if you just want to drink Chocolate Milk that is cold...all you do is put all the ingredients in a jar or container with a lid and shake, shake, shake until it is mixed up really well!! You can't just put the cocoa into a glass of cold milk and stir it with a spoon like you can do with Neslie Quick! It won't dissolve! So just a little shakey-shake and it is good to go!!!

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Every Wed. when we get our fresh supply of milk it is Chocolate Milk Day....or Hot Cocoa day if it is cold! This is also a good camouflage if your milk has turned just a little sour and not so fresh tasting. Remember soured raw milk is not bad for you...I am not talking about store bought milk that you definitely would not drink if it tasted the least bit spoiled...it will not sour like raw milk.