Over the years I've made a lot of homemade yogurt posts. I'll link them at the bottom of this page. The thing about cold start is that's super duper easy and you don't need an Instapot!
Here's a short video of the process.
For this recipe you will need:
Electric yogurt maker
4 cups Ultra Pasteurized Milk (like Fairlife)
1-2 Tablespoons of yogurt starter
1/4 cup Powdered milk (optional)
Combine all ingredients. Mix well. Pour into yogurt maker. Incubate overnight (approx. 8 hours). When yogurt is set, refrigerate for 3 hours.
The results!
MORE DETAILS!!!!
Electric Yogurt Maker vs. Non-electric Maker
If you use an electric yogurt maker you never need to heat the milk. If you're using a non electric process you'll need to heat the milk to approx 108 degrees and hold the it at that temperature for the duration of the incubation period.
Yogurt Starter:
- You can buy freeze dried starter online at Amazon. You really only need 1 small envelope.
- You can use yogurt with "live and active yogurt cultures" from the grocery store. Be sure to use only plain, unsweetened yogurt. NOT BLENDED yogurt.
- Once you've made your first batch of yogurt you can save a few tablespoons of homemade yogurt to use as starter. Store it in the freezer so that it doesn't go bad.
Powdered Milk:
- Powdered milk makes the finished yogurt extra thick. It creates a rich creamy greek yogurt without the need to strain the product.
- Using ultra pasteurized milk will make a product that is thicker than regular yogurt.
More Yogurt Making Links
Small Batch Yogurt Making (with recipe cards)
Yogurt Making - without a yogurt maker (with recipe card)
Homemade Yogurt with Granola |
Homemade plain yogurt (Small Batch)
OR 1 pack of freeze dried yogurt cultures (available on Amazon)
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Use plain yogurt with Live and Active yogurt cultures OR |
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Freeze dried yogurt culture packet |
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Place towel wrapped container in the microwave overnight |
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Click Here for Printer Friendly Version of Recipe Card STOVE TOP VERSION |
Homemade Granola |
There is ALWAYS granola in my house. For this recipe I simply garnished with a handful of my standard peanut butter granola. Here's the recipe.
For more Recipes, click HERE!
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Gift Card Exchange Time! |
UPDATE: I first made this blog post in January 2015. I do my best to verify and update each year. As far as I know the information is still valid. READ THE FINE PRINT as terms and conditions may have changed!
Yes you can trade those gift cards for cash and it's fast and easy to do. This post is offered to you as a guide on how best to ditch those unwanted, unusable gift cards.
First Things First
What are you willing to give up?
You can ditch the old gift cards but make no mistake about it you're giving something up! You'll sacrifice time or money or convenience.
The Sacrifice:
Time: Getting the most money for your gift cards takes a little time. So say you have a $100 gift card. You can sell that card for $97.00 but it's going to take you a week or more to complete the transaction.
Money: You can have cash in hand very quickly but it'll cost you. With certain vendors you can trade a $100 card for $60 cash on the spot. But if you want the most you should look around.
Convenience: Some card exchanges are fairly quick (within 24 hours) and offer a descent trade in value, but you're limited on what you get in return. For example, a $100 Target gift card traded in at Walmart will get you $96.60 in Walmart store credit. That's a GREAT and easy outcome but only if you want to shop at Walmart or Sam's Club.
Ways to Trade
New for 2017 - CoinStar now has an in person trade in option. Use the yellow coinstar machine or find a CoinStar cashier on their website. Some Target stores (the electronics department) function as CoinStar Cashiers).
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CoinStar Gift Card Machine |
Gift Card Granny, CardCash and CardPool- This is actually my favorite way to trade, but there are down sides.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: CardCash and Card Pool and 2 different companies but they work the same way. Also, Cardpool is affiliated with CoinStar. Ultimately there are a bunch of different ways to send your money to the same parent company.
Here's how CardCash/Card Pool works:
Option #1-
You enter the store name and value of the card(s). Card cash gives you a quote on how much cash they'll offer. For example. If you trade in a $100 Home Depot Gift card they will offer you $82.00 if you mail the card in or $77.00 if you enter the information online.
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How Card Cash Works |
Cons: You get more money if you mail in the card. You might have to wait for your money to arrive in the mail.
Payment method: Paypal, direct deposit, check in the mail or trade for another gift card
Option #2 -
So say you'd like to trade to your $100 Home Depot gift card for an eGift card. Card Cash will give you $86.00 in credit at a participating store. Those stores include CVS, Bed Bath and Beyond, Dell, eBay, Hotels.com. Sears, Toys R Us, Kmart and more.
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Trade your cards for ebay credit |
Payment Method: store credit only (arrives by email)
Say you got a couple of gift cards and you enjoyed your shopping experience, BUT there's a little money left over. It's too little money to spend, but more than you want to toss out. Sell those gift cards! I sold mine on CardCash, but you can sell them anywhere.
I had a year old Lord and Taylor gift card with a balance of $1.46. I was paid $1.08. For a Saks 5th Ave card that had a $7.01 balance I was paid $5.82. Grand total is $6.91. Now, $6.91 is not a lot of money but it's more than I would have had if I just let these cards sit and go to waste.
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Small Balance Cards = cash payout |
Pro Tips:
Shop Around- Smart shoppers know that it pays to shop around. Visit lots of card exchange websites and see who will give you the greatest return on your gift cards. If you'd prefer to check a lot of different sales sites at once, visit GiftCardio.com or Card Cash. Both sites allows you to enter the vendor and value of the card in return they tell you what various sites will pay for that particular card.
Be Smart- You'll need to enter the card vendor (Target, Starbucks, etc) and card value to get a quote for your cards. NEVER disclose the card number and PIN unless you're ready to sell the card. Be careful of fraudsters! The Card Number and PIN are all the information anybody needs to swipe the value on your cards. Keep that information safe!
READ THE FINE PRINT!- Every card trade site has lots of fine print. READ IT! You don't want to lose part or all of your cards value because you didn't read careful.
Check your Junk Mail - My eCard certificate came in to my junk mail folder. Make sure you check there if you're waiting on information from one of these companies!
SUPER PRO TIPS:
Don't limit yourself to gift cards. You can also sell/trade store credits!!! So say you wait in line at the store and you are able to return that unwanted gift. The only problem is that the store will only give you store credit. YOU CAN TRADE/SELL STORE CREDITS!!! eBay is a great way to sell store credits for a good return on the dollar!Partial Gift Cards: So grandma is extra generous this year and she gives you a $500 gift card to Bass Pro Shop. That's great, only you live in a big city and you've never been bass fishing in your entire life. You're able to spend $75.23 on long underwear but now you've got $424.77 on a gift card that you'll never use. Sell or trade that odd ball amount!
ONE LAST TIP!
Before you sell your gift cards there's one more thing you HAVE TO do! Check and see who else accepts that card. Say you get a Banana Republic gift card. You like BR, but you don't really shop there. Check the website of the store. Find the place where they talk about their gift cards.
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Check store websites!!!! |
By clicking the "learn more" tab on Banana Republic's website I discovered that I could use my BR card at Gap, Old Navy, The Options and Athleta! Who KNEW!? And why don't they advertise this!?
I won't spend $100 at BR but I would DEFINITELY spend that much and more at The Gap!
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Other stores that accept my gift card!!!! |
Good luck and Happy Trading!
Check out More Tips and Tricks Here!