Sensible Fitness

at 3:00 PM

I made a delicious topping today for the chicken breast atop my fitness pyramid (known to other people as a salad). I mixed 1/4 cup ricotta cheese with 1/4 cup chopped cranberries and a little dash of splenda and basically smeared it on top of the chicken breast. The ricotta can be replaced with cream cheese or plain yogurt/sour cream. My pyramid consisted of spinach, tomato slices, olives (from the olive bar) and canned artichoke hearts. I also added half a pomegranate. By the way I don't know about you, but I love cheese. I don't mean the sliced American cheese or the other one (is it Velveeta?)- You see, American cheese has cheese in it, but also it has emulsifiers and chemical compounds and food coloring (but then can you name a packaged food that does not have food coloring?). I love soft cheeses; ricotta, cream cheese, fresh mozzarella, etc. In addition I love yogurt. Again let me explain; by yogurt I don't mean Yoplait or Dannon that have 16 to 18 grams of sugar in each serving. Those types of yogurt are basically dessert. Yogurt is a bacterial process that does not produce a sweet end product. yogurt in its natural state is tangy and perhaps even mildly sour.

In a future blog I will write about making yogurt at home and never having to buy it at the store (except for the starter). But now I want to give you a very simple recipe for making cheese at home.
Here are the three ingredients:

1. milk (I typically use 2%)
2. Lemon juice or vinegar
3. Cheese cloth

Boil the milk, then turn off the heat. At this point, add a few tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar (not an exact science here!!)- you will see the milk curdling. Leave it alone for about 20-30 minutes so the entire mixture can have the chance to curdle. Spread a clean piece of cheese cloth over a bowl and slowly pour the curdled milk through the cloth. Tie the ends of the cheese cloth and put in a clean blowl and leave it in the fridge. It will harden a little over time and then you can add some salt, pepper, and dill to spice it up. It is so good and incredibly easy to make. I usually use the whey that is collected from the milk, to marinade chicken or red meat. The whey makes a great marinade.