Homemade Yogurt

Who even thinks when they go to the grocery store and pick up a carton of yogurt, "hey I could make this stuff!" and puts it back on the shelf? I never did! Because I never knew how! Well thanks to my sister Karlie and her hubby Ryan who have begun a new gluten free and incredibly healthy lifestyle, I have had healthy urges to change the way that my family eats. Karlie says that if you want to start to make that change in a small way, something you can start by doing is making things yourself that you normally wouldn't. Ex. Cream of chicken/mushroom soup, chicken broth, healthy snacks to put on your shelves, yogurt, spagetti or pasta sauces, etc. And all of those things I have learned, can be so easily made on your own! Starting with yogurt. So here is a post to document my almost 2 day project of culturing yogurt myself, and making delicious homemade granola to go with. Hope you find it interesting! If you are up for a fun little homemade project with a yummy finish- do this. It is fun to watch and really healthy for you as a finished product!

The thing about making your own yogurt is not the amount of work you have to do, but the amount of time you have to wait. When I first started making it, I was so anxious to see the final result, but it takes a good amount of time. I followed the recipe at :

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2013/01/diy-homemade-yogurt.htm#

To start your project you'll want to being around 4pm in the afternoon to time things just right. This worked perfect for me. You will need:
*1 gallon of milk (I used whole milk, but 1% or 2% work fine too) My sister has even made hers with substitutes like soy or coconut milk and it turned out yummy too for you who don't have much to do with dairy.
*1/2 cup plain yogurt, making sure that it contains active live cultures. Lactobacillus bulgaricus and S. Thermophilus in particular.
*A slow cooker and candy thermometer
*Cheese cloth
*Yogurt Toppings of choice

To start, you will want to pour your milk into your slow cooker (which should be a 4-5 quart cooker), cover it, and turn it on to heat up. You want to heat your milk to 180 degrees. This takes 2-3 hours usually.

So by about 6:30 pm my milk had reached the 180 degrees. Once it has heated to this temperature, you want to pull the pot out of the heating base, and let it cool to 112-120 degrees. It is really important that you don't A. Overheat your milk to start, and B. You don't let it get to cool. The heating and cooling process is vital to the active yogurt cultures keeping alive. To cool my milk to about 2 hours. So around 8pm, I was ready for the next step.

Take your half cup of yogurt, and put it into a container. Then take 1 cup of your now warm milk and combine it with the yogurt and whisk it all up! Once it is smooth, you can pour this back into your crock pot and cover it. Now you'll want to preheat your oven to 250 degrees. While it is preheating, you are going to swaddle your crock pot like a wee babe inside a bath towel :) For insulation purposes. Wrap the towel around the crock pot so there are no openings. Once your oven reaches 250, turn it off and put your baby inside. 

Quickly close the oven door, and turn on your oven light. Guess what? More waiting. By this time, you will want to leave it in overnight.

When morning comes get excited! Around 8 am, pull your pot out of the oven. It will look thick, and have that watery layer over the top (whey). Something like this...

It made me really excited to the yogurt at this point, and I knew I was almost done! Lastly, comes your cheese cloth. Put a colander inside of another larger bowl, and line the inside of the colander with your cheesecloth. You are going to scoop all of your yogurt into the cheesecloth lined colander, so it looks like this-

Cover it with a lid of some sort, and put it in the fridge for 4-6 hours. The purpose of this is to strain all of the excess why and fluid. And boy will you be shocked at how much there is!! Here is what it looked like after the fact.

SO much thicker with all of the fluid drained! I wish I had taken a picture of how much there actually was! At this point you are practically done! I took my yogurt and put it into my blender and pulsed it to smooth it all out. I initially just whisked it, but it was still a little clumpy (which is fine) but i wanted mine silky smooth. Then viola! You are through! Put it into a container to store for up to 2 weeks in your fridge. But do eat some first. It is pretty tart on it's own, so if you want you can sweeten it you can add some sugar during the blending process, but I highly recommend honey instead. We used raw honey and it is SO good!! Also featured on our yogurt are blackberries, strawberries, and my homemade granola. (Which will be a much shorter blog post to come) Your own homemade parfait. 

BON APETITE!

YUM. 

Dinosaur Time

Thank you Grandma for sending such fun dinosaurs and crafts for the kiddos to paint! Here's a few photos to let you know it went great. You'll see it was a success because-
1. Everyone got to kick it shirtless for the morning. Alright, not everyone. I know what you were thinking. I was still wearing my shirt ;)
2. Carter only ate one mouthful of paint. So sick.
3. Only one dinosaur was broken, and then poorly repaired.
4. They looked awesome. Here you are!

Dean

Carter

Sissy

Best I could get...no one would look at me. Don't mind dean's face. He can't help it living around his parents 24/7.... :)

And to finish it all off- a bath.

Everyone was a happy camper! We love you Grandma!

The Fatal Accident..

Ever wish that when something bad happened you could walk back in time 20 or so minutes to prevent it? Ever wish it bad?? I know I do. The most daunting thing about something like this happening, is that you know before hand you warned yourself that something might not go quite right and that you should not go through with it. Such was the day that Carter's beautiful hair was shaved off.
One of Carter's great features has always been his hair. He has always had a lot of it and we have always gotten compliments on it from complete strangers. And so it became one of my favorite traits of his. Just when you become that much vain, stop yourself. Because this is what might happen next....

OUCH. Yeah, this is not a joke. And for a day I had to decide whether or not it was hilarious, or worth sobbing over. Well the good news is, I didn't sob and kept it together- but did have a few tears intermixed with the laughter. What else can you do but laugh when this happens to your child's head?? Not much. Except wish. Wish you'd listened to your inner conscious and stepped away when you should have. This is how the incident played out...

After a morning at Tata Karlie's (Aunt Karlie's) Carter was pretty well worn out. Poor little guy had been teething like crazy, was clingy, grumpy, and tearful all morning. I had gone over in the hopes that Kar would help me cut his hair because it had grown so long. She has cut Carter's hair in the past, and even Nate's and they looked rockin' so who could have seen this coming? The morning flew by and I decided maybe it was best to do it later when he wasn't so grumpy, and I should go put him down for his nap. With our 3 kids surrounding us in what someone might call chaos, I decided "What the heck. Let's get this over with. He won't be happy any time we cut his hair anyways." That was when I should have stopped- gotten things together- and said, maybe next time. Little cousin Ainsley wanted to help her mommy so badly that she was getting in all of the hair that was falling from carter's head (yuck) so Kar gently nudged her out the door and closed it to keep her from getting in a big mess. She didn't like that much, so her crying and waling joined Carter's creating a billowing throng of howls. Dean, the eldest of the three, sat in the dry bathtub throwing bath toys around and playing make believe. I am trying to talk over the noise of it all to calm Carter down, and Kar is being so sweet and doing her best to get it done quickly. On the VERY last stroke of his hair, to finish the haircut and send us on our way, the black comb on the clippers fell completely off, leaving nothing but the razor blade right next to my little man's head. In truth, we are lucky he didn't get cut. But you can imagine how both of us gasped and froze after we saw what had happened to his head!! 

I am still surprised by it every day. It reminds me of when my cat got fixed and had to be shaved. Or when she had a sore on her back that needed to be taken care of, so they shaved a patch of her fur off leaving her pink kitty scalp bare in the middle of her soft lovely coat. Yuck. Every time I look at Carter I have to remind myself that he's not hurt, and that he doesn't know the difference. This is my burden to bare haha After the initial shock wore off, Karlie managed an "Oh my gosh......I am SO sorry! This has never happened before!" and all I could muster was, "He's bald! It's BALD!" If you have seen Bride Wars, please refer to the "My hair is blue" line. It was fairly similarly said in my case. 

So, now we wait. We wait for his handsome hair to come back. The only regret I have now over this incident is that it hadn't been recorded. The grand prize with America's funniest home videos would surely have been ours!

A Saturday in Concord

There are so many amazing things to do in a town with so much history! And we ought to be doing them more often! But this Saturday we took the bull by the horns and just did it! Per my request, we visited THIS beautiful place-

Near the heart of downtown Concord, lived Louisa May Alcott and her family- the authoress of Little Women. I could not have been more excited to learn about her life and aquaintances and passion! Unfortunately, no photography was allowed inside because SO many of what was inside were their actual items! Furniture, paintings, personal items, and even some of the costumes Louisa made for their at home performances :) (You little women fans will love that-I did) I was amazed at the condition the house was in- so beautiful and all of their belongings so well kept. Incredible!

Ralph Waldo Emerson lived nearby and he actually helped the Alcott's purchase this home. What a pal!

This is a school that Mr. Alcott had built to help educate women and "colored" people of the day. It is right outside their home. They were an amazing family- all of them.

Sadly this is the extent of our photography, but everything inside was truly sensational! Sometimes I feel like I may have been born in the wrong era.....

So after our history lesson for the day, how better to wind down than with some ice cream? This shoppe in Concord is a personal favorite. So quaint, and cute! All homemade ice cream too!

"Reasons to be Cheerful" :) They'll give you a good 15-20 flavorful reasons.

Darling right? Lots of nights they feature live bands downstairs.

Moo loves his ice cream!

Love me some chocolate Ainsley face.

So a truly successful Saturday! So fun and so enlightening! I really enjoy seeing new places and living somewhere new and exciting! More adventures to come!

Blizzard of 2013

We survived!!! Well actually, After living in Utah, the winter in Concord has made me laugh from time to time. School is cancelled here at the drop of a hat or the drop of a few measley inches of snow. I don't remember hardly EVER having a snow day in Utah regardless of the awful conditions outside! Winter here has been really quite mild until the "Blizzard of 2013". So all weekend long the news covered the snowfall on most all channels, substituting "Well folks, the snow is officially knee deep at this point in time...it's sure freezing cold" for a good night of Dateline or Restaurant Impossible. So even though this big "Noreaster" storm did pummel us pretty good, it was very short lived, and much of it washed away by rain within a few days. Still, I feel I ought to document some of the great pictures that we got as a result. Dear Massachussetts residents, wish you could all have spent your winter in Utah this year. Then the 2013 blizzard would be more of a numbered occurrence :) Enjoy!

The snow did prevent us from opening our garage door or back door any and was at least a few feet tall only from a 36 hour storm.

But how can we complain when we get to put snow clothes on our cute kids and make them look even chubbier! 

Carter couldn't quite grasp the, "you sit on the sled-not lay down" concept :) Dean had some real ab workouts going on here!

Mush Ryan, Mush!!

Do Ignore my "pear" shaped body. My prego belly doesn't fit inside this coat anymore. Shoot....

And finally the warmin' up. Cutie pies.

Well, just a few snapshots to remember how cute the kids looked and how quickly the snow melted. But I won't complain! Bring on the Springtime!!

My Sweet Lindsey

This may be the first and last time i ever blog but i thought i would hack into Lindsey's account and give everyone a dose of my everyday life with the sweetest woman alive. Yes this is Nathan her husband. When we were married 3 years ago most people thought we were crazy for getting married so quickly when we hardly knew each other. I for one was confident that i would Love my Lindsey and she would love me for the rest of forever. I hear many people tell me that marriage is "Work". I beg to differ. At least in my case. Maybe im not as good of a husband as i should or could be but my marriage to Lindsey is anything but work. Lindsey is the most selfless person i know. She puts everybody else's needs before hers. She truly is the  most amazing person i know. Many of you have experienced the love that Lindsey is capable of. Think about how cool it would be to experience that love every day. Ya its pretty amazing to be Lindsey's husband. I get up every morning to a sweet wife who has a hot breakfast ready most every morning. Ya I've gained a few LB's, but those are LB's of love. Those LB's i might add make me look "built" according to my Lindsey. Lindsey gets up in the dead of night almost every morning to take care of a sleepless carter who has lost his binki just to let me sleep. Some of you have been able to experience the culinary expertise of my amazing wife. Think about eating out at a 5 star restaurant every night. Ya thats really how it is. Linds could open up her own restaurant. Party in my mouth every night. Lindsey is one of those people who will just call to say hi, check up, or send you a card just because. She will write you 100 things she loves about you on little pieces of paper, hide them in the most random places in the house, and then expect you to go find them and put them back in order. She really spends the time to do those kind of things because thats the kind of person she is. If there was ever a person to call to cheer you up when you are having one of those days, its my Lindsey. Her quiet confidence seems to ooze into anyone she comes in contact with therefore making them feel better about themselves and the situation. If you ever feel like your a bad mom, call Lindsey and she will give you some serious lessons on how to be the best mom any kid could ever ask for. She seriously just knows how kids work, what they need, and how to discipline with love that will make any kid behave. I could go on for pages and pages. But i have to start working this morning. I just couldn't help feel an overwhelming sense of love this morning for my Beautiful lovely Lindsey. The fact that im blogging right now lets you know how truly amazing she is. I love her more than words can express. To end I'll quote Lou Gehrig one of the greatest Baseball Players of all time when i say, "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth!" Love you Linds

My Best Buddy

You never realize the number of ways that having a child would actually change your life until you have one. While I was expecting Carter, I knew my future life included lots of sleepless nights (under exaggeration) bottles, diapers of all kinds, more laundry, pure exhaustion, and a little stow away. I knew I would have to sacrifice a lot of my usual friday/saturday nights with my husband out on the town for earlier bed times and snuggles. And I realized that I probably wouldn't have as much "me" time to shower, (heaven forbid) put on make-up, do my hair, etc. Before Carter came, since we did not exactly plan on our little surprise, as a mother-to-be I became fairly skeptical that I was ready for this alternative existence. The thought of turning in my "newly-wed, cute young couple badge", my weekly dates out, and the freedom that I had, as selfish as it sounds- this scared me. I loved all my alone time with just me and Nathan! But little did I know I'd be trading in this seemingly great husband/wife experience for even more smiles, laughter, kisses, hugs, tender moments, blessings, and a deeper relationship with my Heavenly Father while I cared for one of his special children. Little did I know that my heart could contain so much love for such a little person! Or that I could feel so successful and fulfilled! And most of all, how little I understood that this little person would not just change my routine day to day- but he would little by little change ME entirely. Thank heavens for that. All of this is to say, that my little Carter Moo is not just my cute 20 month old. He is my good humor, my patience, my better judgement, my sweetest dreams, my day to day companion, and truly- my best little friend. Here are a few Carter-isms that I love the most!

-Every night, before bedtime we get Carter showered with Daddy and read him books. Daddy can't take him up to shower alone, he's always concerned about his Mama. So if Daddy leaves me behind, Carter will come back down the stairs, into the kitchen, and take my hand to direct me upstairs :) At least he knows I will sit on the floor outside the shower and make faces at him through the glass.

-After books and bedtime stories are read, Daddy turns off the lights and Mommy sings a few songs while Carter lays in his bed falling asleep. But each and every night as I kneel by that crib, Carter requests which songs he'd like to hear by saying, "hush-a-bye? Ok." then reaches through the crib slats to hold my hand until I am all done singing. He just wants me close!
-Crossing the streets or walking anywhere at all, Carter wants to hold my hand to make sure I am right there with him.

-Carter is such a cute little helper! At the store, I hand him the groceries and he turns around in his seat to drop them in the cart. If he's not driving the cart for us that is- he loves his "wheels!"
- Carter weighs 32 lbs. He is a tank. Sometimes I feel amazed by his little body and how much it resembles a linebacker's. He is super strong too, and I have found him helping unload groceries with a full gallon of milk high above his head. Little intimidating at times haha

- He always helps put the silverware into the dishwasher when they are dirty, and into the drawer when they are clean. Every day when I make dinner or lunch he will grab a chair from our dining table and push it around the kitchen so he can "see! see!". As I chop something up, I slide it to him and he drops it into the pot or pan. Especially when we use the kitchen Aid. He likes to ask for lots of tastes and loves helping me make cookies.

- Whenever Carter wakes up, he smiles and jumps in his bed to say good morning. After he says hi, I ask "how are you doing Carter?" to which he always responds, "Good!"
-Carter likes to brush his teeth with mommy

-Carter is very sweet and sensitive. He gives lots of kisses and loves. This morning he snuggled with me on my bed with his arms around my neck, then looked up at me to pull out his binky and give me a big kiss. He touched my face with his chubby little hand, and patted my cheek a few times before snuggling down again.
-Lately Carter is learning how to jump. Hysterical to see my stocky guy up on his tippy toes trying to jump.
- Little Carter says "thank you" to everyone around him, and usually without being prompted any. He also says "I love you" without being told, and uses it quite often with mommy and daddy.
- Whenever it's time to "clean up, clean up!" Carter grabs his little toy bucket and mumbles something that is supposed to mean "do your share".
-If ever my little man notices maybe mommy is sad for a minute or the least bit emotional (oh pregnancy), he runs to my side to offer me his binky and lots of loves.

-My little guy is smart and has been counting and singing ABC's with us.
-Whenever I wash my face with my electric face scrubber, he will rush in to pull it from me and gently massage it on my cheeks. He loves to "elp!" (help)
-Carter loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Thomas the Train. Whenever he sees a train he jumps up to yell "COOOH COOOOH!!!" hasn't quite gotten the "ch" sound down yet but i think I prefer this anyways.
-Carter loves to Skype with our families back in Utah. He knows all of their names and is such a ham because they encourage it.

I could likely go on forever, thus I will stop myself. Truly this little boy is the purest joy in my life and Nathan and I have often asked ourselves, "what did we ever do before we had Carter? What a waste of our time!" Realizing what a sweet joy he is has made us all the more excited for another little person to join us in 7-9 weeks. Little Clarissa Mae will have the sweetest older brother she could ever hope for and we can't wait to see what her personality brings into our home. Carter is saying her name and frequently looks in her bassinet to see if "baby" is ever going to be in it or not. We are SO excited!!! HOORAY FOR KIDS! They make us better people by the day!