How to make Kefir and Yogurt

I had been wanting to make Kefir for a while, but didn't really know how to go about it. I had read about Kefir cultures... but it seemed too complicated, and I didn't have had the will or energy to venture into it. 
I had been making yogurt for over a year now, but recently had gotten pretty tired of its taste and texture... and started buying Kefir at the store. Imagine that...
I felt pretty guilty about all the plastic bottles I was unwittingly acquiring, all the waste I was generating, and the high price I was paying for it as well. 
So, when I saw this little packet at Grassroots... I decided to give it a try. That was a month ago.
Finally tonight, trying to procrastinate doing something else like practice or study... 
I opened it...
While at it, I enlisted my daughter to help me. She was more than happy to avoid going to bed at a reasonable hour, so she was an excellent helper- she read the directions for me as I managed the milk, and gave me suggestions for flavors like vanilla and/or chocolate kefir of course...

The instructions on the box are very simple. First, you heat a quart of milk to 180º F.
Note: you will need a thermometer for this- you can find them at local supermarkets, superstores, kitchen shops or online. I believe I bought the one you see in the picture at Target. It is a little hardier than the one I had originally purchased at Publix, which broke after a couple uses.

When the milk reaches 180º degrees, turn off the flame, and let the milk cool. If you want to speed the process, place the pot of milk inside a bowl with ice in it. The packet  instructions tell you to let the milk cool to 75ºF. I cooled it to only about 120º, which is the temperature that I usually cool the milk when making yogurt- and which also happens to be the lowest temperature that my thermometer will register...
Pour the contents of one packet (5 grams) into the milk, and whisk it until it is completely dissolved.

Once the milk is whisked until it looks smooth, pour it into a ball jar, close it, and let it sit at room temperature until curd forms. It says in the box instructions that it takes about 24 hours... I left it on the kitchen counter overnight, and it was ready after about 11-12 hours. 
Once your Kefir is ready, store it in the refrigerator.
You can use the same process to make yogurt... instead of the kefir culture, add a tablespoon of yogurt into the milk, and let it sit at room temperature for 12 hours. Remember that, when it comes to yogurt and kefir, more is not necessarily better. Use only 5g of culture, or a tablespoon of yogurt for a quart of milk. If you use more, the yogurt will come out ''runny''- too much culture for the amount of milk... 
It is also good to remember that when I refer to ''room temperature'', I am talking about Florida room temps, which in my house average 81ºF at this time of the year... if you are in colder places in the planet, put the jar to sit overnight inside a cooler with a hot water bottle to keep it warm. This is what I do during winter, when the house thermometer usually registers 64ºF.