This is information from The Cook's Thesaurus (link below): Substitutes for one cup sour cream: Blend one cup cottage cheese plus two or three tablespoons milk or buttermilk plus two tablespoons lemon juice OR blend equal parts cottage cheese and plain yogurt OR blend one cup cottage cheese plus one-third of a cup buttermilk plus one tablespoon lemon juice. (Adapted from directions in the Joy of Cooking by Marion Rombauer Becker and Irma Rombauer. See my sources.) OR blend one cup cottage cheese plus two tablespoons lemon juice plus two tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise plus one-fourth cup nonfat buttermilk (adapted from a recipe in the New Laurel's Kitchen Cookbook) OR Combine 7/8 cup buttermilk or yogurt plus three tablespoons butter or margarine (From a Gateway Virginia recipe. See my sources.) OR one cup buttermilk OR one cup well-drained yogurt (if making cheesecake, use whole milk yogurt) OR one cup sour milk OR let stand for 5 minutes: one cup evaporated milk plus one tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar OR jocoque OR smetana (lower calories) I would caution when cooking with yogurt \- it will separate if allowed to boil. Separating doesn't affect the flavor, just looks, and it can be prevented by using flour, cornstarch or arrowroot in sauces. Yogurt (or kefir) can be substituted for sour cream in nearly any recipe, in my experience. I use homemade kefir (drained at least 30\-minutes) all the time as a substitute for sour cream. \-Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: [Cook's Thesaurus \- cultured milk](http://www.foodsubs.com/Cultmilk.html)

If you take sour cream and put it in a cheesecloth and let most of the water leak out, you essentially have cream cheese. Except that yours doesn't have starch, guar gum, or any of the other stabilizers/additives. So that's a great way to do it. Or you can use yogurt and do the same thing. Whatever you don't use, you can form into little balls and submerge in olive oil with some herbs.

I don't know if I've ever tried returning a fresh (refrigerated) food item. Canned goods, dry goods, no problem but I can see that a store would not be allowed to take back produce, and anything that requires refrigeration even if still sealed. Didn't think of that, but how do they know it was kept refrigerated while you had it? Good point. Guess this means I'm stuck with the $25 ham I bought especially for my mom, even if she tells me she would have been fine with a ham steak while the rest of us eat the hickory-smoked ham I have in the freezer. And OP has got to make lots of sour cream pastries and freeze them? Can you freeze yogurt (aside from the frozen dessert, I mean)? This post was edited by ajsmama on Tue, Mar 26, 13 at 16:51

I bought a little gizmo from Amazon.com that makes it handy to always have yogurt cheese ready to use. It's essentially a little plastic bucket with a strainer that lifts out easily to remove the whey from regular yogurt, and it has a tight fitting lid for storing in the fridge. In a few weeks I reaped my investment from purchasing it in what I saved paying top dollar for Greek yogurt. You get the same result as the coffee cone method described above, but the simple gadget makes it much more convenient for me to make, store and keep on hand. Almost every weekday morning I have a bowl of steel cut oatmeal, a soy bacon strip and a cup of fresh fruit with a dollop of yogurt cheese and a sprinkle of wheat germ on it for breakfast. The yogurt makes the fruit seem like a yummy indulgence and it's a great way to get in a serving of calcium.