Photo credit: Therese

We recently had a good “problem:”  too much milk.  That is rare with two lactating dairy goats with their kids still on them.

Well, last week I made butter from our own goats’ milk for the first time! Goat milk cream is harder to separate because the fat molecules are smaller than in cows’ milk.  But I had saved a quart of milk from one of Melody’s first milkings.  It was thick and rich with nearly a cup of cream! I scooped it off and put it in the blender.  When it turned to butter I poured the buttermilk off and rinsed it.  After adding salt and wrapping it in wax paper it firmed up in the fridge.

It was delicious sweet butter!  Goat butter is whiter than cow butter, with a milder flavor.  It was devoured in no time!

Yummy goat milk butter!

Another of our favorites is cottage cheese.

Homemade Cottage Cheese and Butter

 

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Author: Live ready now!

Ingredients

• 1 gallon milk
• ¼ cup vinegar or lemon juice

Instructions

1. Pour a gallon of milk into a pot, bring it barely to a boil, remove from heat and add about ¼ cup vinegar or lemon juice.
2. A live culture is better (real cottage cheese), but at the moment this ‘fake’ cottage cheese is yummy.
3. Gently stir it for a minute as the milk curdles. Strain the curdles.

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After it’s cooled strain off the whey to use for baking, cooking rice, or a soup base.  Years ago I would throw it out or give it to the chickens till I learned the biggest nutrient content is in the whey!

Curds and Whey

Here is our favorite cottage cheese recipe:

Sometimes I’ve also let the curds drain in a cheesecloth or yogurt cheese strainer till really dry, then use it as mild tasting soft cheese.

About our guest…
For years our family of eight dreamed of living sustainably on our own little homestead, while applying what we could where we were.  Two years ago we were pushed into it when the owner of our country home asked us to move because his daughter wanted to live there.  That was the beginning of an adventure purchasing 20 acres in the boonies, moving into our tiny house, and starting from scratch living off the grid.  The things we learned about sustainability before moving are now invaluable to us, while there is still so much to learn.

We love this life the Lord has led us to, learning and working together.  It’s possible because of His provision, living debt-free (including no mortgage), and spending or using only what we have.  Four of our children were adopted from other countries, bringing an added dimension to our lifestyle.  You never know what we’ll be up to next!