Cream Cheese Spread

You can make a healthy, probiotic cream cheese in your own kitchen. The process takes a few days but only a few minutes of active work each of those days.

This is a simple cheese that you can make from raw milk and a few basic ingredients that you already have in your kitchen.

You can use clabbered milk or kefir to do this. You want something that is pure and has active cultures growing in it and both of these will fit this description.

You'll need a muslin bag or cloth which are easily found on Amazon or many local stores. Real cheese cloth will work too but most cheese cloth sold in stores is more like a wide woven gauze which really won't work well for this purpose.

You will simply put a strainer over a bowl and line the strainer with your muslin or "real" cheese cloth. Then pour your clabbered milk carefully into the cheese cloth/strainer. Then you are going to let it sit covered to let it drain for a day. Then tie up your cheese cloth into a little bag to hang from a hook or just keep far up out of the clear liquid whey that drains, so you can get as much liquid to drain out as possible.

After 12-24 hours of good draining I do one of two things:

1) Add a tsp. of salt (1 tsp. per quart of liquid that I started with) to the cheese and stir it in well and then let it continue to drain for another 24 hours.

After it is very dry it can be shaped and rolled into herbs such as an Italian seasoning on it or chives. Since the salt is added it makes a good spread for crackers.

2) Let it drain for an additional 24 hours in the refrigerator or on the counter until the cheese portion is very dry. The extra time helps remove all of the whey/liquid out of the cheese. Then add some stevia, honey or sugar if you wish and it can be refrigerated and eaten just as it is! This type of cheese is wonderful on bagels, crackers or served with fruit.

Both of these can be stored in the refrigerator and enjoyed just as they are! Now you have made a wonderful cheese that is full of beneficial bacteria.

Save the liquid (the whey) to be used in some great probiotic drinks like this one.