Adventures in (not) Cooking... :)

Adventures in (not) cooking is all about making yummy treats without having to cook! 

There are all sorts of things you can make without having to heat up the house with the oven on all day or even slaving over a hot stove. Here are a few things I've made without cooking or baking.

First off, let's be clear about one thing:  

Chocolate is a vegetable...That's my story and I'm sticking to it! 😉

That said...let's get started. 

Here are some things that are easy to make and use at home that are very expensive to buy, but easy to make and you can gift them, too. Vanilla beans can be used many times, just refill with vodka or sugar to make more extract or vanilla sugar. I put a bean, cut in half and sliced down the middle (not all the way through) in each bottle, so when it's empty, it can be refilled and started again by the recipients...I'll give them a shake every few days. (You can make orange extract, too.)

I did the same for vanilla sugar. Just give it a shake every few days. When your jar is empty or low, just refill and start again. :)
 

Orange kefir water, milk kefir and Kombucha tea...the tea has a new scoby, too! You can make the kefir water and tea fizzy, if you'd like with a second bottling and added flavors. I really liked ginger kefir water. I've added peach nectar to milk kefir and blended blueberries, too. YUMMY!

Technically, you don't cook when making yogurt. I carefully heat my milk in the microwave and my short cut is UHT milk in the box. Opinions differ, but I've never had any issues with my yogurt setting properly using it. I use pie filling to make fruit on the bottom. I also add vanilla and instant coffee and a dab of sweetener to make coffee flavored yogurt, too. There are so many ways to make it, I found a brand new unit for $10 on eBay, and one at Goodwill for $5 that was used, but works great! Even brand new at full price, it's worth the money. Some suggest you shouldn't make it with fruit on the bottom, but rather add it later. I've done it both ways with no problems.

You can make butter using your food processor. It's a little labor intensive, but worth the outcome. I used sea salt to preserve mine. I keep it in a butter bell so it stays spreadable. If you don't use a preservative (like salt), it will go bad, so I don't recommend it.

You can make fudge in the microwave. Easy stuff! Two bags of chocolate chips (your choice) 1 cup of nuts (optional) 1 can sweetened condensed milk...microwave 30 seconds at a time, stir, then repeat until smooth and creamy...pour into 8×8 pan (I always use a jellyroll pan, more fudge, thinner pieces)...let cool completely before cutting...store in airtight container...I top mine with chips or nuts too...I've used peanut butter chips and Andes candy mint chips too...I do one bag chocolate to one bag flavored...  
 

You can make sour cream and cream cheese, too.  Like yogurt, the hardest part is waiting. I used sea salt as my preservative in these, as well. The recipes I use from Cultures for Health, make about a quart of each. I noticed they stay fresher, longer than the story bought stuff.

If you don't count melting chocolate in a chocolate pot as "cooking", you can make candy too... :)

  

 

And of course, we talked previously about refrigerator teas and cold brew coffees. You can make half and half by adding half lemonade to your tea and cut back on the water. :)

 

 What kinds of adventures in NOT cooking have you had? Or what would you like to see me try? Let me know in the comments and be sure to follow my Blog.  :)

Today's food projects are all done! YAY!

I started some cream cheese, sour cream and yogurt before bed last night...now they're all done and into the fridge!...how cool is that?!...I can make homemade food products for my family! :)

Made some sour cream, cream cheese, yogurt and peach pie filling!... :)

I make my own yogurt, butter, cream cheese, jams, jellies and apple sauce...today I made sour cream...all I had to do was add some cultures to whipping cream and wait...I let this culture for 16 hours, put it in smaller jars, labeled them and put in the fridge to stop the culturing process (I added 1/8th teaspoon of sea salt as a preservative and it brought the flavor alive! I do that with cream cheese and butter, also!)...these things are SO easy to make...I'm stunned I didn't learn how to do this years ago...I've got cream cheese in the works as I write... :)

 

Got the cream cheese working, too...I added the culture to a half a gallon of whole milk, allowed it to sit overnight and then pour it into flour cloth 12 hours later and then tied it to a wooden spoon over a pitcher and have been letting the whey drain off all day...once 12 hours has passed, I'll remove it from the cloth and add 1/8th teaspoon of sea salt to help preserve it and then I'll put it in a bowl, label it and then put it into the fridge...it's just unbelievably easy to do!... :)

 Cream cheese is done! Added an 1/8 teaspoon of sea salt, stirred well, put in air tight bowl, labeled and into the fridge! Will keep for two weeks (if it lasts that long! LOL) :)

The yogurt has been in the fridge since this morning...getting chilled and to stop the culturing process...there are lots of ways to make yogurt, we use a machine that keeps the temperature even...I use UHT whole milk (2% is fine, I use this type because it cuts the steps of heating and cooling the milk out and it works GREAT!!), a half cup of powdered milk (I get less whey this way) and two tablespoons of my favorite plain Greek yogurt, I try to find 2% (milk fat), I don't use 0%, I don't even eat 0% yogurt, LOL!...I freeze it into ice cube trays now, so it takes one cube of yogurt as the starter...I warm the milk, dissolve the cube in a cup with a little of the warm milk, add it back, stir and then put into the cups and leave for 12 hours...I usually make it overnight or first thing in the morning...when finished, it goes into the fridge to end the culturing process...it's very easy...UHT milk is the box kind, comes in 2 quart size...I'm going to try the crock pot method soon...Google it if you don't have a machine... :)

I wanted peach pie filling to use as the "fruit on the bottom" but couldn't find any (got some blueberry, cherry and apple for later)...so I decided to make my own...I started with canned, diced peaches (1), mashed them up a bit in the juice, then added a little of this and that (sugar, brown sugar, salt, ground cinnamon, allspice because I don't have nutmeg on hand, lemon juice and cornstarch for thickening) brought it to a boil and viola! fruit filling for the yogurt...I used cornstarch instead of flour so the liquid would thicken and still be clear...if you feel like you don't cook well, learn which herbs and spices to use with which foods...find a few easy recipes and get in there and cook!...follow the instructions carefully, because most are tried and tested and written that way for a reason...don't turn up the heat to speed things along...you will ruin your project if you do...have everything you'll need out and ready to use...always measure and be careful with salt!! You can add a little more if you need to, but you can't take it out!!...watch and favorite some videos and bookmark recipes you like...ask for recipes from people that made something you liked...most of all? HAVE FUN!!... :)

I make my own yogurt, jellies, jams, apple butter, syrup, butter and cream cheese, how about you? :)

I LOVE to make things at home that you would normally think you can only buy at the store...I found out that three things I really like were SO easy to make, I started making them myself, at home...we make a LOT of yogurt in our house...we use pie filling for the fruit in the bottom because it adds just the right amount of sweetness...we'll be canning our own, just for our yogurt, very soon... :)

I also found out that it's really easy to make jelly, jam, butter and cream cheese, too! What I like is that not only are they easy to make and to preserve, I know what goes into the final products. I control what is going into the foods I make for my family and friends.

The best part is all of the things I thought would be hard to make at home, are so easy. I don't know why more people don't do it, too! I have found, for some things, putting it together is easy, the wait is the hard part. :)  But I kind of like that the first step is the only "hands-on" I have with some of them, like yogurt and cream cheese. The apple butter is kind of hard, because it smells SO good while it's simmering in the crock pot. I highly recommend making this during the day if you can, because it will keep you awake if you make it overnight. LOL! But it's easy to make, put the ingredients in the crock pot, turn it on and wait about 8-12 hours. :)

I broke down and purchase the FreshTech Jam and Jelly maker. I feel like it is not only a time saver, but well worth the money because I don't have to stir, stir, stir, watch, watch, watch and keep check temps all the time. I did learn after my first couple of batches, to add about 5 minutes to the time, because I like my jams and jellies a little thicker than some people do. I highly recommend this product.

I make cream cheese and yogurt overnight. I start it before I go to bed and put the yogurt in the fridge on my way out the door in the morning. I try to time cream cheese so that each stage is complete when I get home from work. It's made in two steps and once complete, you add a little sea salt to taste, to help preserve it. The first stage is adding the culture to the milk and allowing it to sit in a glass bowl or large glass measuring cup (4 cup) for 12-24 hours. The cooler your kitchen, the longer it will take to culture. The second stage is placing the cultured milk into a cloth (I use flour cloth, tied to a wooden spoon over a pitcher) and allowing the whey to drain off, until it's the desired consistency (12-24 hours). I pour the whey off from time to time the first few hours and then let it finish draining.  I like mine thick, but still spreadable from the fridge. Take my advice and add an 1/8 of a teaspoon of salt at a time, once it (the cream cheese) has reached the consistency you like.  You can put salt in, but you can not take it out. Once you have added your salt to taste, place it in an air tight container and put it in the fridge, remember to date it so you know when it was made.

When making yogurt, I will take one of the jars and place the yogurt into ice cube trays and freeze it. I can then use one (1) of the cubes to make another batch of yogurt. I also use UHT (ultra high temperature) milk to make my yogurt. I don't have to heat the milk and then cool it down prior to making my yogurt. I do heat it to 90 degrees, then pour about a 1/2 cup into a small measuring cup and thaw one of my yogurt cubes in the warm milk by gently stirring. I then pour it back into the main milk, gently stir it and then pour into the jars in my preheated yogurt machine. (I turn my yogurt machine on while I'm putting it together.) We have the Total Chef and it was good money spent. I found one on eBay for $10.00. Most run around $25-40 and are well worth the money if you like yogurt. It's very easy to make and is good for you. The reason you put the yogurt straight into the fridge when complete (8-12 hours), is so it will stop incubating. I also add a 1/2 a cup of powdered milk to each batch and end up with very little whey in my jars. I want to try the crock pot method soon, too. I think it's a good idea to be able to make yogurt several different ways. We really love it and I'd like to know how to make it in larger batches.

Butter is something I thought would be very difficult to  make.  I can make it start to finish, using my food processor and whipping cream in about 30-45 minutes.  This is another one of those add the salt a small amount at a time, to taste, as it also is used to preserve the butter. I keep some in the fridge for cooking and some on the counter in a butter bell.  An added bonus? You get some buttermilk to use for pancakes, biscuits and any number of other things you may need it for or, you can just drink it! :) When rinsing and pressing the buttermilk out of the butter, use ice water. It makes the process go faster and the butter comes together more quickly.

I make gifts for my neighbors every year at Christmas. Last year, I made blueberry syrup. I got some cute little syrup bottles really cheap and juiced frozen blueberries for the recipe. I'd be willing to bet you could use blueberry juice and get the same results!! It was so easy and very little effort at all. I did preserve it (water bath canning method) so that it could be stored for a long period. I make all of my jellies from 100% juice and my jams from frozen fruit (no sugar added) and you can NOT tell the difference from fresh. Fast, easy, less prepping and tastes and looks just like fresh fruit jams. I water bath can anything I'm going to give away as a gift, because you just never know when someone will get around to eating it. I add a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to my apple jelly and it makes it taste like apple pie. Everyone wants to know my "secret"...it's no secret, it's cinnamon... :)

Photos are kind of random order...I'll come back and label and organize them for you...it's kind of late here... thanks for reading... :)