Cooking With Food Storage - Dry Powdered Milk

I don't know too many people who look forward to the next time they can have a nice tall glass of reconstituted powdered milk.  In fact, it's my personal opinion that there isn't much that is worse tasting to drink.  Since powdered dry milk tends to be a more expensive item on the shelf of any food storage I really battled with wanting to keep it on my shelf just in case that became my sole nutritional source of calcium.  How could I justify spending precious cash on something that I didn't like and didn't know how to use let alone rotate?  So I've learned a few things.  Non-Instant Powdered milk has a 20 year shelf life according to www.providentliving.org but milk develops an "off taste" as it ages making it less desirable to drink than it already is.  But unless spoilage occurs from moisture, insects, rodents or contamination it is safe to intake and it does retain some if its nutritional value.  If it has truly spoiled then it can be used as a garden fertilizer.
Why Use Powdered Milk?  This is a basic food storage item needed for good nutrition.  There are so many things you simply cannot make without milk and should it ever become necessary to live on solely what is on your pantry shelf you would miss the milk.  It is important to think of milk in terms of optimal shelf life rather than waiting until it is too old to use.  So while powdered milk may be less desirable to drink plain you can rotate through it by cooking with it and in fact it is truly unnoticeable when used this way.  The last birthday cake I made had powdered milk used in place of regular milk and nobody but me even knew.  Neither the taste nor the product was affected negatively at all.  I now routinely use powdered milk in many dishes and natural rotation of powdered milk in my food storage occurs because of it.
Everyday Uses:
*Make it "drinkable" by doing a 1/2 & 1/2 mix of it with your regular milk.
*Add it to the dry ingredients in any recipe calling for milk.  You need 1/3 cup dry milk powder for each cup of milk needed and add to dry ingredients.  Then simply replace milk amount in recipe with water. 
*I use dry milk in rolls, breads, biscuits, buttermilk, pancakes, cream soups, macaroni & cheese and homemade yogurt.
*Dry milk can be used in mashed potatoes, cooked cereals, whipped topping, evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, hot cocoa and smoothies.
*Instant and Non-Instant dry milk can be used interchangeably but Instant cannot be stored for as long.
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Favorite Recipes

Macaroni & Cheese
It takes about 4 boxes of Mac&Cheese from the store to feed my family one meal.  That expense adds up quickly but for a fraction of the price and just as much ease I can create Macaroni and Cheese in my own kitchen that is much better tasting with real cheese.  And no one will guess that powdered milk is used in this creamy goodness.  After many mac & cheese recipes this one is our hands down favorite and travels well in lunch box thermoses.
3 Tbsp. butter
1 pound macaroni noodles (or other small tubular noodle or pasta shell)
3 Tbsp. flour
3 c. milk (or 1 c. dry milk and 3 c. water)
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
2 tsp. salt
Cook the pasta according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.
While pasta cooks; in a large pot melt 3 tbsp. butter over low heat.  Add flour and stir until you have a bubbling, golden paste.  Slowly stir in milk (or water and powdered milk) and bring to a boil.  Then remove from heat.  Add salt and cheese.  Stir until melted and you have a thick and creamy sauce.  Pour drained macaroni noodles back into the pot of sauce and stir until noodles are completely coated with cheese.
Serve hot and enjoy!
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Yogurt
I started making my own yogurt last year.  I had been curious for a while to try it but as my grocery budget decreased last year to meet rising medical and retirement contributions and then decreased again all while food prices have been going up I needed to figure out how to keep our budget balanced.  Then when I saw that each container of yogurt (and there were four of them) I was purchasing was nearly as much as the gallon of milk I had in the cart I took my opportunity.  It was time to experiment.  Women in many countries make yogurt and I like the health benefits of eating it.

The first time I made yogurt I think I was the only one who ate it and I used it in smoothies all week.  Now I actually have my children telling their friends at the lunch table “sorry!  I already ate it all up” referring to their container of yogurt.  I like to use this yogurt for smoothies still but it is excellent with homemade granola as a topping for breakfast.  And if you want a yummy dessert, add a spoon of homemade chocolate sauce and give it a stir.  It tastes like “chocolate underground”, a flavor of yogurt that Stoneyfield puts out.  Admittedly I only incorporate a small amount of powdered milk to increase the thickness of this yogurt but if you search you will find that some people only use powdered milk for their yogurt.  I just haven’t experimented that far myself yet.  Here’s what I do:
4 1/2  cups milk  (any fat level, as long as it is not ultra-pasteurized)
3/4 c. plain yogurt as “starter” (After researching yogurt making and asking around on the internet I came to the conclusion that Stoneyfield Organic is best for this purpose so that is what I use.  You are looking for a yogurt with LOTS of active yogurt cultures)
3 Tbsp. powdered milk
pinch of salt
Heat milk to 180 degrees in a saucepot on the stove on medium heat.  This takes about 30 minutes.  Use a kitchen thermometer and do not overheat.
Pour heated milk into a 2 quart casserole dish with a lid and whisk in powdered milk.  Cool, uncovered, to 110 degrees.  Stir in plain yogurt.  When blended, cover with lid and put in the oven on the “proof” setting.  Or wrap in a towel and set in a warm place.   Leave in warmth 5-7 hours until firm.  (If you have liquid on the top of your yogurt try reducing the time and/or/warmth the next time).  You can also use canning jars for this process after mixing the milk and starter.
Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
*** Spoon out 3/4 c. of your yogurt to save for your next “starter”.  You can continue to save out starter 3-5 times before it gets too “weak” to make a firm enough yogurt. 
***Add a pinch of salt and sweeten if desired.
Sweeteners include:

2/3 c. sugar and vanilla
1 1/2 c. jam
2/3 c. sugar and 1/3 c. cocoa and 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/3 c. maple syrup or honey

Make a smoothie w/frozen fruit.  Add additional sweetener to taste.

***If you opt for leaving it as plain yogurt or just save some out as plain you can use this yogurt in any recipe calling for sour cream to lower the fat.  It is especially good stirred into a rice and bean mixture or pork and rice mixture for enchiladas.  It adds a nice creaminess and flavor to them as well as to mashed potatoes.
***Your yogurt is safe to eat as long as there is no mold.  Be sure to store your yogurt in very clean containers so that mold growth is not encouraged.