Cream Cheese and Whey

(Nourishing Traditions page 87)

The recipe says you need either: 2 quarts piima milk, whole-milk buttermilk, yoghurt or raw milk.

I chose to do raw milk for this version since I had it on hand. I also only used 1 quart instead of two.

Step 1:
Pour 1 qt raw milk into a clean mason jar and put up in a warm cabinet. Leave there for 2-4 days until the whey separates from the milk. This is not the same as the milk separating from the cream as you see in the picture to the left! See the yellowish cream at the top? My top cabinet maintains a consistent temperature of about 75 degrees. This process will work with cooler temps but not if it is too cold.

Step 2:

This is how it looks after 4 days in my cupboard. You will see a clearish yellowish liquid in there. That is the whey!

Step 3:

Now line a strainer with a clean cloth napkin, dishtowel, or cheese cloth and place in a bowl. ** Here's a little tip I read online: If you get the cloth wet (wring it out) before you pour the milk in, this will prevent the whey from being soaked up in the towel. It really does work!

Step 4:

Pour the contents of the mason jar into the covered strainer. See all the frothy bubbles? You know the lactic acid is doing it's job!

Step 5:

Leave in the bowl at room temperature until all the whey drains into the bottom of the bowl.

***OK I deviated from the directions here and put this in the fridge to drain...BIG MISTAKE! I did this after reading advice from someone else online who said this would make the cream cheese more mild tasting. Now I'm wondering if she used yoghurt instead of raw milk...anyhow, when I put it in the fridge the whey went back into the milk and I didn't have just whey straining out. ARG! So...Mayday...mayday..abort. Seeing that this did not work I quickly ground up some flour and mixed this up with it to soak for a batch of pancakes for the next mornings breakfast! Waste not want not, I always say!

Back to Step 1-2:

I woke up one morning to find one of the kids had left out the carton of milk on the counter overnight. So I'm thinking perfect opportunity to try this again! So I pour this into the mason jar and put it back up into my cabinet and it's cozy 75 degrees. Well something weird happened...Now only after 2 days did I see the whey come. In the picture to the left you can see the clear yellowish liquid near the bottom this time. So for some reason the process was accelerated. Maybe it was being in the milk carton...who knows! As you can see this is not an exact science.

Step 3-4 Again:
This time when I poured it in it did not look as bubbly and frothy, but it is still good. Like I said...not an exact science. **Don't forget to get the cloth damp, otherwise a lot of the whey will be soaked up into the cloth instead of in the bowl.

Step 5: Now this time: I left it out at room temperature to drain and I had success! The lovely yellow whey came to the bottom. This should take several hours. Ok...so I have always loved science experiments!

Step 6, yeah...we're progressing:

Once most of the whey stops draining, tie up the cheese in the towel around a big spoon and let it continue to drip until it completely stops. You may need to squeeze it a little.

Step 7:

Now you have the whey with all the great lactic acid for all your soaking and fermenting fun!! And your cream cheese! Now I must tell you that this cream cheese does not taste ANYTHING like the cream cheese you buy in the store. It has a sour taste that I would describe as yeasty. An acquired taste to be sure. I would definitely not use this for recipes in desserts. Now in a dip with lots of garlic and spicy things...it would work.

Step 8:

The NT book says to store the whey in a mason jar and the cheese in a covered glass container. Refrigerated, the cream cheese keeps for about 1 month and the whey for about 6 months.

Starting with 1 quart of milk, I ended up with 2 2/3 Cup of whey and 1/2 Cup of cream cheese (7 oz wt.) The resulting products cost me...hmmm let's see here...$6 for the gal of milk by 4 = $1.50. Not bad considering this is raw, organic, and you can't buy whey anywhere!

I think next time I do this I will try it with my favorite store bought yoghurt and see the difference in how the cream cheese tastes. I love this Cascade Fresh brand that I can only get at a local health food store (The Granery) It is not labeled as organic, but it does not contain hormones.

Then maybe I will try it with homemade yoghurt ;)

Thoughts on purchasing, storing, and preparing food.

I don't have a microwave. That may seem weird to you. It seems I have had one my entire life and I used it every day until about a year or so ago. I can't remember where I first read about the dangers of microwave cooking. It could have been from the Dr. Mercola website or somewhere else. But I do remember it made me go and do my own research on the topic. I remember reading how researchers discovered that it zapped most of the nutrients right out of your food. After reading that....it was rather convenient that we had just burned popcorn in it and threw it out in the garage never to return to our home. And I have not missed it.

I also remember reading that the best food preparation method for veggies to keep the most nutrients was to steam, followed by boiling, I can't remember the rest. I will try to find the links to that info. I do want to try to put documentation behind what I say and not just rehash info I've heard or read. :)

One of my goals is to maximize the nutrient value in my family's food, while at the same time minimizing the bad stuff such as pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, bpa in cans, etc.....I know I have to be realistic. Cost can be very prohibitive in what I would buy. I know if I had a lot of money I would buy ALL organic everything. But since I'm not made of money I do the best I can and try not to worry about it.

Trust me, there are nights when the $1 menu at Wendy's will just have to do. Of course you can't control what you eat away from home, so when we are home I do want to try my best at serving healthy food in the house. I don't bring coke or chips, etc into our home and I try to limit the processed food as much as possible. I know we will get that when we leave and go other places.

There are certain foods that I don't skimp on as far as buying organic and that is milk and butter. I read somewhere...I will have to look up the reference...that butter has the highest pesticide load of any food. I do buy some hormone free meats but the cost is so high I also buy regular too. I always buy nitrate free lunch meat and hot dogs even though the meat itself is not organic.

As far as organic produce, I try to follow the Environmental Working Groups list of the most and least pesticide laden foods. You can see that here: There you can see that peaches, apples and bell peppers have the worst pesticide load. On the other end of the spectrum, frozen corn, avocados and onions have the least load. So I never buy those organic.

Another thing I consider is how the food is stored. I only buy a few foods canned like Alaskan salmon and black olives. That's it. According to the EWG, EVERY can has the chemical BPA in it except I think Eden brand beans. Not to mention the fact that most of the nutrients have been stripped out of the food when it is canned. So I buy fresh as much as possible and then everything else frozen. I do buy other things canned in glass such as spaghetti sauce. I found this great brand (organic Bertolli) that I like and I use it for everything in recipes that calls for tomato sauce or paste. I love it because it only has olive oil in it. Most other brands you find will have canola or some other unhealthy oil.

I've been wanting to study other food preservation methods like drying. I was surprised to learn that, in some cases, drying preserves nutrients in foods better than even freezing. I know I need to get my emergency preparedness food stash ready! I don't think my kids would eat a bunch of canned salmon with spaghetti sauce on top!


It's just a matter of making wiser choices. I know I can't be perfect. Especially when I am stressed...everything goes out the window and it's pizza from a restaurant for everybody! But you know what ...that is OK.

Popcorn

(From Nourishing Traditions page 521)

Makes 8 Cups!

Ingredients:

1/4 Cup organic popcorn

2 TB oil (olive or coconut)

sea salt

2 TB Butter: organic or homemade raw (The recipe called for 1/4 to 1/2 Cup, but we found that was way too much!)

Step 1: Put oil in pan, put popcorn in pan.

Step 2: Put pan on stove burner, place a tight fitting lid on and put on medium heat (5 on my stove)

Step 3: Shake pan back and forth over burner so the kernels don't stick and burn! When you hear the first pop lower the heat slightly (I put on 3), and continue to shake until the popping stops! It's fun to watch them pop if you have a glass lid!

James says, "Always cook with a grown-ups help!"

Step 4: Take off lid and put in butter to melt. Put the heat on the low setting and stir around.

Step 5: Sprinkle on the sea salt!

Step 6: Enjoy your popcorn!!!

Variations: Add Parmesan cheese, maple syrup, or whatever sounds good!

Cost: Popcorn (I will have to add later...I forgot.), Oil ,Butter .31,

Total cost of snack:

Don't eat microwave popcorn! It contains harmful chemicals in the lining of the paper....not to mention the unhealthy oils it is cooked in!!!