Tuesday 5 February 2008

Cottage industry

I had always imagined cottage cheese to be a good source of calcium, as is skim milk, but when I checked this on CRON-o-meter I found this wasn’t the case, so I did some checking. Apparently hard cheeses such as cheddar which are coagulated with an enzyme retain the calcium in the curd, whereas cottage cheese which is coagulated by a different process does so to a lesser extent. Also, as Sara rightly pointed out it is high in salt. So 120 calories worth of cottage cheese, or 167g (10% of my daily calories) provides only 8% of my RDA of calcium and a massive 52% of my sodium whereas the same calorie value of cheddar gives me 18% of my calcium and only 14% sodium plus 12% zinc. Of course most of the cottage cheese calories are protein, (20g per 120 cals) whereas the cheddar is mainly saturated fat and the cottage cheese is a better source of some B vitamins, but all the same it wouldn’t do to rely on it for calcium. I have experimented with the idea of fortifying the cottage cheese. 10g skim milk powder, (this can be whizzed in a food mill to make it finer) can be stirred into a 250g carton of cottage cheese making what I call ‘fortified cottage cheese’. 120 calories worth of this – 145g – gives 13% of my daily calcium, but still 44% sodium. The powder thickens the cottage cheese – no very bad thing, and of course the end product tastes milkier which may not suit everyone. But I am thinking of abandoning the whole cottage cheese thing for a better prospect – drained yogurt.

I make my own fortified low fat yogurt with a product called Easiyo, which is amazingly easy to do. I use their probiotic low fat mix (it’s 98% skim milk solids, plus lecithin and cultures) and add 25g skim milk powder to bump up the protein and calcium. I prefer a thick yogurt so instead of making it up to 1 litre with water I make it up to 900ml, but that’s just my personal taste. I have inputted the recipe into CRON-o-meter, using the detailed vitamin and mineral values for skim milk since the pack only gives basic nutritional data. 120 calories worth of this yogurt gives a fantastic 36% of my calcium RDA, 12% of my zinc, 85% of my B12, 12g protein, and hardly any sodium. If I drain some of it in a sieve for a few hours I get a soft spreadable cheese. I also incorporate the yogurt into frozen desserts. This is still possible without an ice cream maker – just whiz up the yogurt with some frozen berry fruits such as raspberries and serve at once. Mmm – mmm!

4 comments:

Unknown said...

A great source of calcium (and other nutrients) that is never mentioned is blackstrap molassas (must be blackstrap). One tablespoon is 20%-30% (brands vary with processing) of daily calcium (depending on your cals, may be more), 25% iron, and other nutrients. It tastes just like black licorice and it is easy to down a double dose in one day.

If you love dairy products, what about ricotta? I read that skim ricotta provides 67% of daily calcium.

Thanks for all of the information on cottage cheese. I never cared for it much anyway. Now I have something to back me up! :)

Kay

Linda said...

Thanks Kay, I shall look out for blackstrap molasses, as that seems to be quite a powerhouse of minerals. I have never seen skim milk ricotta in the shops, only semi skim, but that is also far better value for calcium than cottage cheese.

Sara said...

Hi Linda - thank you, you are a font of useful knowledge - or is that fount? Container or source?! :-) Anyway, thank you. Encourages me more to cut out the cottage cheese. I've been feeling over-dairyed anyway, and eating more tofu for protein (it can't make me any more mentally dim right now). Do you use a maker for your yoghurt? I'm reasonably happy with my Total 0% but it's not cheap, and I do worry about the origin, food miles, etc etc...

Having said that I don't know if you read in the Observer Food Monthly this month (last month) about the worst natural yoghurt one can eat, and it ended up being Yeo Valley Organic Plain - typical, when that is probably the lowest in food miles for me.

Linda said...

I use a very simple yogurt maker, it's Easiyo, I got it from Lakeland who also sell the mixes. Basically you pour in boiling water, then the 1 litre container just fits in and you put the lid on and leave it 8 hours. No electricity no moving parts. Total 0% is very good but as you say, not cheap. I think Easiyo is made in New Zealand, but when I see my 60th birthday in my headlights it's the miles on my clock that worry me most!