Crottin part 2 and cheese #2

The young cheeses have been taken out of the mold after being turned a second time. They have been salted and are in the drying process on day 2 today. I turned them this morning and they look and smell nice. They are still in my cool office with the window cracked for a breeze. Tomorrow I will put them in the little tiny refrigerator I have set up as my cave for the aging process. They will stay there for at least 2 months because the milk is raw. Within 10 days they should be growing white fuzzy mold so I will document our progress.

The milk I set to ripen yesterday morning with the same amount of culture, rennet and Geotrichum mold powder as the last batch- but used 7 quarts of milk (approx.) instead of 4 gave me a ginormous yield of curd this morning! I remembered too late yesterday that with raw milk you need less culture and rennet than with dead, pasteurized milk.

 

Here I'm taking the curd I drained for about 10 hours in a drain bag and filling my little Crottin molds.

I'm pretty proud looking at my little cheeses! The top ones are about done drying and ready to go age, and the others will be turned and salted in the morning.

Here's the notebook I use for "make sheets" It's a Decompostion brand with an artisan cheese print. I love it. I also found an apron with a similar print on Amazon. Youn know, just for fun :)

As you can obviously see I'm not professional about this at all. It's not my way. I do keep meticulous records on my goats though.

This Proverbs 31 Collette Crottin. :) She's a 2nd generation miniature Nubian dairy goat. Her beauty aside, she's bred for milk- rich, high protein and butterfat, creamy milk!

My Favorite Raw Goat Milk Kefir Smoothie

My favorite smoothie is with raw goat milk kefir and plenty of it.

For my own self, I use about 2 1/2 cups of finished (and double cultured) raw goat milk kefir.

You can see the picture below is a quart of finished kefir. After 24-48 hours, depending on the temperature I strain the grains off the kefir and then I put them back in their jar with more fresh milk. The kefir I strained off I put into another jar and leave out for another 12-24 hours depending again on the temperature. I like mine fizzy and strong, that's why I "double culture" it.

 

 

These are my go-to add ins for my smoothies. I freeze it all- including the huge bag of greens. I buy it from Costco and then when I get home I throw the bag in my freezer. Don't you get annoyed when the big bag goes mushy and stinky before you could possibly use it all? I just showed you how to solve that problem. They will only be good for smoothies of cooking now, FYI.

 

The bag of berries is fantastic, but in July I use the cherries we pick, and fresh picked peaches.

I love Costco and it's where I get most of these ingredients. I also use bananas for sweetness, and keep peeled, frozen bananas in the freezer at all times.

In place of the berry combination I sometimes use frozen blueberries or strawberries.

 

 

I like to add chia and hemp seeds as well as some good coconut oil.

 



 

Add it all into the trusty VitaMix and blend until smooth. When I'm making a larger quantity because my husband drinks over a quart by himself- I add the greens to the kefir and blend first to make sure I don't have chunks of green in my smoothie.

 

Enjoy it! If you have left overs or want to make extra for later, just pour the excess in a mason jar and leave it in the refridgerator for a day or maybe two but no longer.

I also freeze extra into the kid's popsicle molds in the summer. They get a delicious cold treat and don't realize they are getting super power food with probiotics.

 

Raw Kefir Smoothie

My husband, 3 year old son and I drink this green/purple probiotic smoothie several times a week.

I take about a quart of finished raw goat milk kefir I make myself daily as long as my dairy goats are in milk.

The kefir goes into the Vita-Mix and then I add:

A couple tablespoons of flax seeds

Two large handfuls of baby kale and or baby spinach.

1 1/2 frozen bananas (add more if you like a sweeter flavor. Bananas hide the taste of the greens)

About a cup of either frozen mixed berries or blueberries. I also use frozen strawberries or cherries if I have them.

Blend until smooth.

Now this is an amazingly yummy way to get your probiotics, antioxidants, calcium, protein, potassium, vitalism C, K, and a host of other vitamins and minerals. Not to mention enzymes.

Sometimes I also sneak in a carrot-