Make your own yogurt cheese
Yogurt cheese is a great alternative to cream cheese, mayonnaise, or sour cream, and you can make it at home.
Why in the world would you ever want to make yogurt cheese? I know I asked myself that question when I first heard about the stuff. It turns out, though, that yogurt cheese is a great low-fat substitute for practically everything: cream cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream and even whipping cream. It's not the easiest stuff to find at the local supermarket, though. It seems to show up in a few specialty food stores, but it's pricey. However, with the Cuisipro Yogurt Cheese Maker, making your own really is easy.
The method is simple: Put three cups of yogurt in the cheese maker. Add a little yogurt culture, and leave it alone for 24 hours. That really is all you have to do. The process relies on a strainer that the Cuisipro Yogurt Cheese Maker comes with--a specially designed strainer that speeds up the conversion process. The whole setup is dishwasher safe, and the included container is ideal for holding the yogurt cheese you don't immediately use. Sticking with a dedicated cheese holder can be a good idea--there is some amount of odor transfer otherwise. The Cuisipro Yogurt Cheese Maker is available for $17.95.