O.k. so I have a bunch of not super connected thoughts, but I really want to post about them all, so here you go!
I made homemade yogurt.
But not just that, I made homemade yogurt in my crock pot.
And you can too. It was crazy easy, and I even made it two weeks in a row because it was so easy. I got the recipe here at 365 days of slow cooking in your crockpot. It has 4 steps. Seriously. I made some with soy milk back when Jack was in the throws of his milk allergy, and he loved it, but I hadn't made any with regular milk yet. It's actually healthier for you because you can use 1% or Skim milk rather than the whole milk most companies used for their yogurt, and you can choose how much sugar or sweetener to put in, or just straight up fruit. My friend even makes it with powdered milk if your milk prices are pretty high to not make it as cost effective. It is pretty tart at first if you don't add any sweetener, but you get used it after a little, and now I like it a lot with hardly any sugar in it.
2 tips from me making this. When you mix in your yogurt starter with the warmish milk in step 3 if you want your yogurt thicker also whisk in some dry powdered milk. This really thickens it and makes it more like store bought yogurt. And for the very last step it says to leave your crockpot covered with a towel for 8 hours, but you don't have to be regimented with this. Last time I made it I didn't want to wake up at 4 AM to put it in the fridge, so I left it until I got up at 7:30 AM, and it worked just as well. So 8 hours or 12 hours will be the same to your yogurt. Try it, and let me know what you think!
I have found the perfect breadmaker recipe. Eric loves it, the kids love it, it's springy and easy to cut and I love to have homemade bread made in my breadmaker. (A little FYI, Eric hasn't really liked any of my breadmaker breads because the crust is too hard, it doesn't taste quite the same as store bought bread, but this bread has his stamp of approval.)
The recipe is from Allrecipes, and the most important part of it is to mix your warm water sugar and yeast together first and let it bubble and start working before you add the other ingredients or even turn on your breadmaker. Then add your oil (or I add some baby food pears because I have a million of them from a friend that needed to get rid of them. But you can also add applesauce or any other oil substitute.) I also use 2 cups whole wheat flour and 1 cup regular white flour. I tried it with just whole wheat flour and it still works, but it isn't quite as springy, and my kids aren't doing great digesting things made with completely whole wheat flour right now. So back to the 2 wheat 1 white ratio for us. Yummy. I actually need to go start some more now that I am thinking about it. By the way, this is a new years resolution I had, to feel confident in making bread, so I'm happy to cross that one off!
Christmas is coming. I saw this tradition awhile ago, and loved it! Basically it's that everyone gets four presents, something they want, something they wear, something they need and something they read. Cute huh!?! Anyway, in thinking about that more, I also realized how much waste happens in giving presents. Often, we get invited to a birthday party, and I think this person would love this toy that Jack hardly touches anymore. But because it's socially unacceptable to give used presents, I go and get a new present that they wouldn't like quite as much- but at least it's new! I was even talking to a friend about it after Jack's birthday, and how I would love to get toys or books kids weren't using anymore for birthdays and/or christmas rather than new items to help cut down on waste, and it saves other people money! This friend said she thought of giving Jack a Thomas train at his birthday party, but went out and bought a puzzle and some bubbles because she didn't know how I felt about getting used presents. I told her I don't care one bit!
Now, I'm not saying we should give used garbage or junk or things that should be thrown out. Or even good condition things that someone wouldn't use or care about. But I'm talking about items in good condition that you could sell used to someone else, or just give as a really great present. And this doesn't just apply to kids things, what about giving used books, dvds, scarves, necklaces or really anything else we buy new?
Now I'm also not saying new presents aren't great either. I actually have made (should I say sewn?!!?) some fun presents recently and gotten some really great ones that I know people are going to love on christmas morning. They are fabulous and definitely have their place, but if you have something you think would be perfect for someone else but it doesn't have that new tag on it, do you feel this should be acceptable to give? I have been thinking about this a lot, and am curious how other people feel.
Avey is so close to walking. She cruises around all the furniture and now will walk around with only one hand holding onto ours. It's super cute, and although some people are sad when their kids do new things because it means they are growing up and won't stay little forever, I absolutely love it when they do new things, it always makes it more and more fun to play with them. (And it probably doesn't help that I want to have a million kids, so I know a new one will be right around the corner soon enough. That isn't an announcement though by the way. :) Gotta live up to that high school most likely to have 12 kids award I got at the senior dinner dance)
And for those that skip all these words and just want to look at pictures, here are a few from us playing in the last few weeks.
The leaves have been absolutely gorgeous in the last few weeks. These don't really catch how brilliant they have been, but it's just a little taste of the beauty we have been engulfed with.
I absolutely love this hat and glove set my mom gave me last year for Avey. It really helps keep her warm, especially as we don't have a real winter coat for her yet. We just layer up, put these on and she's as good as toasty.
Life really is so great. It's great to feel peace, even with the lack of having a job, or where we're going to be next. It's really all about being on the path Heavenly Father wants us to be on, and we feel peace that we have been and currently are on that path, and taking it one small step at a time, and knowing it really will all work out in the end. Because it will. I know and feel that wholeheartedly.
I made homemade yogurt.
But not just that, I made homemade yogurt in my crock pot.
And you can too. It was crazy easy, and I even made it two weeks in a row because it was so easy. I got the recipe here at 365 days of slow cooking in your crockpot. It has 4 steps. Seriously. I made some with soy milk back when Jack was in the throws of his milk allergy, and he loved it, but I hadn't made any with regular milk yet. It's actually healthier for you because you can use 1% or Skim milk rather than the whole milk most companies used for their yogurt, and you can choose how much sugar or sweetener to put in, or just straight up fruit. My friend even makes it with powdered milk if your milk prices are pretty high to not make it as cost effective. It is pretty tart at first if you don't add any sweetener, but you get used it after a little, and now I like it a lot with hardly any sugar in it.
2 tips from me making this. When you mix in your yogurt starter with the warmish milk in step 3 if you want your yogurt thicker also whisk in some dry powdered milk. This really thickens it and makes it more like store bought yogurt. And for the very last step it says to leave your crockpot covered with a towel for 8 hours, but you don't have to be regimented with this. Last time I made it I didn't want to wake up at 4 AM to put it in the fridge, so I left it until I got up at 7:30 AM, and it worked just as well. So 8 hours or 12 hours will be the same to your yogurt. Try it, and let me know what you think!
I have found the perfect breadmaker recipe. Eric loves it, the kids love it, it's springy and easy to cut and I love to have homemade bread made in my breadmaker. (A little FYI, Eric hasn't really liked any of my breadmaker breads because the crust is too hard, it doesn't taste quite the same as store bought bread, but this bread has his stamp of approval.)
The recipe is from Allrecipes, and the most important part of it is to mix your warm water sugar and yeast together first and let it bubble and start working before you add the other ingredients or even turn on your breadmaker. Then add your oil (or I add some baby food pears because I have a million of them from a friend that needed to get rid of them. But you can also add applesauce or any other oil substitute.) I also use 2 cups whole wheat flour and 1 cup regular white flour. I tried it with just whole wheat flour and it still works, but it isn't quite as springy, and my kids aren't doing great digesting things made with completely whole wheat flour right now. So back to the 2 wheat 1 white ratio for us. Yummy. I actually need to go start some more now that I am thinking about it. By the way, this is a new years resolution I had, to feel confident in making bread, so I'm happy to cross that one off!
Christmas is coming. I saw this tradition awhile ago, and loved it! Basically it's that everyone gets four presents, something they want, something they wear, something they need and something they read. Cute huh!?! Anyway, in thinking about that more, I also realized how much waste happens in giving presents. Often, we get invited to a birthday party, and I think this person would love this toy that Jack hardly touches anymore. But because it's socially unacceptable to give used presents, I go and get a new present that they wouldn't like quite as much- but at least it's new! I was even talking to a friend about it after Jack's birthday, and how I would love to get toys or books kids weren't using anymore for birthdays and/or christmas rather than new items to help cut down on waste, and it saves other people money! This friend said she thought of giving Jack a Thomas train at his birthday party, but went out and bought a puzzle and some bubbles because she didn't know how I felt about getting used presents. I told her I don't care one bit!
Now, I'm not saying we should give used garbage or junk or things that should be thrown out. Or even good condition things that someone wouldn't use or care about. But I'm talking about items in good condition that you could sell used to someone else, or just give as a really great present. And this doesn't just apply to kids things, what about giving used books, dvds, scarves, necklaces or really anything else we buy new?
Now I'm also not saying new presents aren't great either. I actually have made (should I say sewn?!!?) some fun presents recently and gotten some really great ones that I know people are going to love on christmas morning. They are fabulous and definitely have their place, but if you have something you think would be perfect for someone else but it doesn't have that new tag on it, do you feel this should be acceptable to give? I have been thinking about this a lot, and am curious how other people feel.
Avey is so close to walking. She cruises around all the furniture and now will walk around with only one hand holding onto ours. It's super cute, and although some people are sad when their kids do new things because it means they are growing up and won't stay little forever, I absolutely love it when they do new things, it always makes it more and more fun to play with them. (And it probably doesn't help that I want to have a million kids, so I know a new one will be right around the corner soon enough. That isn't an announcement though by the way. :) Gotta live up to that high school most likely to have 12 kids award I got at the senior dinner dance)
And for those that skip all these words and just want to look at pictures, here are a few from us playing in the last few weeks.
The leaves have been absolutely gorgeous in the last few weeks. These don't really catch how brilliant they have been, but it's just a little taste of the beauty we have been engulfed with.
I absolutely love this hat and glove set my mom gave me last year for Avey. It really helps keep her warm, especially as we don't have a real winter coat for her yet. We just layer up, put these on and she's as good as toasty.Life really is so great. It's great to feel peace, even with the lack of having a job, or where we're going to be next. It's really all about being on the path Heavenly Father wants us to be on, and we feel peace that we have been and currently are on that path, and taking it one small step at a time, and knowing it really will all work out in the end. Because it will. I know and feel that wholeheartedly.
Comments
I also really love "Want Need Wear Read". I'm going to tell Brandon about it right now. Love it!
And about used presents. I think you're right on, and I agree with you 100%. In fact, maybe when we move down there and you guys are in town, you and I could go through our kids' not-so-favorite toys and trade.
Used things are AMAZING. I felt soooo blessed with all the used Items I got with Lily. We've only spent $300 in clothes her entire life time, but when compared with how much I've used and packed away it's astounding. I think every smart parent should have a line about "used items welcome" included in every baby shower invite.
Talk about fun milestones, Look at Jack! He's doing great on that jungle gym.