Easiyo Real Yogurt Maker - the review

After a week of owning the Easiyo yogurt maker, I have to say I give it a 5/5!

I bought the starter kit which included the Easiyo maker (thermos), a plastic jar, and 2 easiyo yogurt mixes - Strawberry and natural (plain).

Shown in the pic is my first batch of yogurt - Strawberry, which was a semi failure =(

The box read "perfect yogurt everytime". I must say I totally agree!! Provided you do exactly as they state. I obviously did not hence the semi failed first attempt.

Instructions are easy peasy.
1. pour 500ml COLD drinking water into the plastic tub.
2. add in the mix and shake well, then add in more cold drinking water until the lined marked inside the plastic tub.
3. then in the thermos, pour in BOILING water until the top of the inner plastic tube.
4. place the plastic container into the thermos and cap the thermos.
5. leave for 8-12 hours (I left the first batch for 13 hours, and the second for 19 hours).
6. refrigerate yogurt at 4 degrees Celsius. It keeps for about 2 weeks.

So what went wrong with my first batch:
1. It didn't curdle. So it was more like strawberry yogurt smoothie, which was still great!! Cause we saved it by adding in some Buds strawberry ice cream, and giving it a whirl in our blender. Yum yum yum! It tasted AMAZING.
2. The problem was the boiling water. I thought water from my thermal pot would do the trick. Turns out it wasn't hot enough, hence didn't provide an ideal temperature for the good bacteria to populate, hence no curdling!

What I learned:
1. Use boiling water, fresh out of the kettle!
2. Use cold water from the fridge, cool water is not sufficient. How it works is that the cold water is balanced out by the hot water to achieve the perfect temperature for the bacteria to grow, too cold or too hot = failure.

Learned from my mistake and the second time, it was perfection! Easy peasy seriously! And the most interesting thing was that there was a distinct difference in taste with the Easiyo mix and the commercial store-bought yogurt. The only way hubby and I could describe it is that Easiyo tastes more organic.

I've made 2 batches, and went and got mixes for all the flavors Cold Storage had - peach, apricot, and boysenberry. As I type, I have my 3rd batch - boysenberry - sitting in the thermos. It should be ready tomorrow morning =)

The hubby prefers natural to strawberry because he can pretty much customize the taste according to his fancy. Seen above is my plain yogurt + mango puree. =) Try it with blueberries, apricot, peach etc. So far we've given Aly yogurt + nectarine puree and she loves it! 

Ohhh, do note, it's perfectly OK if you've forgot to take it out of the thermos into the fridge. It can last 24 hours in the thermos. The longer you leave it in the thermos, the firmer it will be. I like my yogurt firm, so 19-20 hours is more or less the way I like it =)

Feeling inspired??

Ooohh and I also found a recipe to make frozen yogurt! Will wait for the March holidays to try it out. I can't wait!!

Constipation battle part III

I breathed a huge sigh of relief when my darling daughter poop-ed!!!!!! Hooray and THANK GOD!

Consulted the pediatrician and Aly was prescribed Duphalac (lactulose). Dosage: 2.5ml 3 times a day. My science knowledge told me the suffix -lose meant sugar. And true enough, it was synthetic sugar!

How constipation begins is when one ignores the urge to poop, or has trouble pooping because of harder stools (due to lack of water at most times). In this case, Aly was experiencing harden stools because of her porridge diet. For some breastfed babies, the sudden change from breastmilk to solids shocks their systems and some just take a longer time to adjust. So she tried pushing, and it couldn't come out, so she must've held it back in. This compounded the issue because poop that's stored longer in the intestines become harder because the sole function of the intestines is to absorb water back into the body. So the longer the poop sits in the intestines, the more water is absorbed from the poop, making it harder, and hence, harder to push out!

So I've been giving her prune juice, apple juice, pear juice, water (which she absolutely hates) and all I saw was a double in wet diapers, but no poop!!! She tried but cried everytime and nothing came out! So research said that sugars help draw water back into the poop, making it softer, and easier to expel.

After 48 hours of lactulose, she fussed, cried buckets!!! but finally a foot long of poop came out. And we all celebrated after =))

She's now back on porridge, but heavily watered down, and is filled with more vege than rice! I hope things go back to normal now.

Easiyo Real Yogurt Maker

So mommy is a sucker for yogurt. Especially frozen yogurt!! Yummmmmmmm. My hubby can testify to the crazy amount of money spent in places like TuttiFrutti in IOI. Hehehehehe.

I've been researching about giving yogurt to baby, and came across making your own yogurt threads. Problem was, what was basic was getting a way to properly incubate the mixture - keeping it at just the right temperature for the bacteria to populate! A whole long list of time consuming ways to incubate the mixtures turned me off. With limited time on my hands, I'd rather spend money buying them off the rack at a supermarket. =/ But the price... ohhh yes the price... sigh. Other cheaper yogurts just didn't taste as nice, and were packed with sugars and other chemical stabilizers. The ones I really gave a thumbs up to were greek style ones bought in Cold Storage... RM10.99 per 500g =/ Bahhhh.

So I chanced upon Easiyo yogurt maker in Cold Storage yesterday and my heart sang!! The ever-so-rationale hubby stopped me in my attempt to reach for the product and nicely suggested that I do some research first. =/ Wise words indeed. So home I went and researched away!! hohohohoho! The verdict: We bought one today! Starter pack at RM98.99 comes with the maker, instruction booklet, and 2 sachets of premix. If you're thinking of buying it, please ask for it to be opened and checked. Because mine only came with 1 sachet! Thankfully the nice man in Cold Storage was quick to hand me another sachet =D =D

I just unboxed it and my first batch of Strawberry yogurt is incubating. In another 11 hours, we'll give it a first taste! But on hindsight, this impatient mommy should've waited!! Cause this batch of yogurt will be ready at 4am bahhhh... Means I'll either have to set the alarm to wake up and deal with it, or leave it to set longer which will make the yogurt creamier and heavier. Doesn't sound too bad huh? =)

On a side note, these first few batches of yogurt will be going to mommy and daddy. Baby's still battling constipation and yogurt makes things worse. So we'll hold on till maybe her 9th or 10th month =) But I betcha she's gonna love it!

Ooooo I can't wait for my Strawberry flavored yogurt to be ready!

Shall review it once completed and tasted!

Constipation battle part II

I'm sitting here, typing with my heart broken into many tiny pieces.

Tonight, I watched helplessly as my baby cried with tears and pushed with all her might until her fists shook trying to poo.

I watched as the poo surfaced, only to be sucked back in, just like childbirth. With each push she cried even louder. She was in pain. My baby was in so much pain and there was nothing we could do to stop it.

I tried lubricating my finger to help dig some out, but it was just too hard. Only little bits came out.

I couldn't look at her because that drove me to tears, and I knew I had to be calm cause that was the only way I could help. So we started singing her favorite songs, trying to make her feel better. But it only worked to ease the surface tension. She was still in pain.

We had tried everything, short of an enema and a visit to the docs cause it's CNY and all the paeds we normally go to are closed.

Pear, prune juice, taking her off all food but breastmilk and pear. Prayer and more prayer. We've tried it, and it hasn't worked. She's not dehydrated because she's been wetting her diapers like crazy since the juice and water.

I am lost. I have never felt this helpless before. All I know is that I have this huge ache in my heart now and I can't speak, I can't sleep, all I can do to ease the tension is to type.

My hope is in the Lord. His love and mercies are abundant and abounding... Lord may healing come soon...