How I do it....... YOGURT

So I have been experimenting with dairy this past month or so, and decided to attempt making yogurt in my crockpot. Here is the site where I got the original recipe, but I have modified it a bit. Everyone told me it was easy, but I honestly didn't understand how easy it really was. Prior to today only my family had enjoyed our yogurt, but today we shared it at our preschool for the Thanksgiving feast. It was a big hit and I had multiple requests for the recipe, so here it is.

Equipment:

• 1 crockpot (mine is a large 7qt, use the largest you own)
• polar fleece blanket
• some form of a timer
• candy thermometer (optional, but I highly recommend, mine was $10 at Meijer's)

Ingredients:

• 1 gallon of milk
• 1 8oz container greek style yogurt- plain (I used the yoplait brand because it was on sale)
• 1 cup sugar (or other sweetner, you can use more if you like it really sweet)
• 1 probiotic capsule (optional, I have them in the house for my kids when they are sick)

Directions:

1. Pour 1 gallon of milk into your crockpot.
2. Turn on LOW and heat for 4 hours. Set a timer to remind yourself, I use my phone.
3. Check the temperature at the 4 hour mark, you really want it close to 185 to make sure you have killed any bacteria already existing in the milk. If it's not there leave it for about 30 more minutes.
4. Turn off and unplug your crockpot.
5. Stir in your 1 cup of sugar/sweetner.
6. Let the crockpot sit covered to cool for 3 hours. Set your timer again.
7. Check the temperature at the 3 hour mark, it should have cooled to about 119. If not let it cool another 30 minutes.
8. Ladle out about 1 cup of hot milk into a clean bowl and stir in the store bought yogurt (when you have made your own yogurt, you can just use your remainder) and the probiotic capsule (if using).
9. Add the yogurt mixture back to the warm milk and stir well.
10. Cover your crockpot and wrap in a warm blanket.
11. Let it sit for 8-10 hours overnight undisturbed.
12. In the morning open your crockpot and you should have yogurt (about 1 gallon worth)!

Now I should note that some will say you can enjoy your yogurt immediately, and others say you need to let it finish setting for 10-24 hours. We have enjoyed it immediately and let it sit. Generally I let it sit a day to "finish". Also if you like thick, greek style yogurt you can strain in through cheese cloth to thicken it.

My only other note is PLEASE check the capacity of your crockpot prior to starting. The directions for a smaller crockpot would be less milk and shorter times, I would recommend you go here (the recipe I originally started with) if you want to compare.

Hope you all enjoy!

Parenting, partners and thoughts

So we went to an interesting talk last evening hosted by our preschool. It a was professor from the local university speaking about marriage, the good, the bad, the ugly of it all and conflict. It was a really great lecture. Taught me stuff I didn't know and demystified some myths about marriage and conflict. The overall concept was that conflict is a part of marraige.

One of the major things that I took away from that lecture was that physiologically we can become attuned and primed for conflict. If you are always in conflict your body will think that this is the norm, hence it makes it difficult for you to be in a calm state. The lecture focused on marriage and conflict, but this physiological aspect made me reflect on my personal parenting issues (see previous posts) and started me thinking that I have primed myself into conflict (ie my temper) with my kids. I have become so accustomed to the yelling that my BODY (not just my brain) thinks it's the norm. THAT my friends was a wake-up call. So today I started the journey, again, to maintain my temper better with my children. It's a struggle, a BIG one for me. And now I somewhat understand why- I'm not only fighting my own emotions, but a physical reaction (see increased heart-rate, blood pressure, adrenaline pumping).That adrenaline rush is a great feeling, so to have to restrain yourself from it makes it all the more difficult.

The other focus from the lecture was positivity and your partner. If we could spend 5 minutes a day personally reflecting on the positive aspects of our partner then we would build physical (ie neurological) pathways that would eventually overtake the traditional negative pathways that our brain likes to take. Our brain is generally wired to immediately fall along the negative path when things get stressful, but by positive daily reflection you are literally changing the way your brain processes information. When the conflict arises in your marriage your "new brain" will have an easier time staying positive or at the very least not harping on the negative.

So my reflection for the day about my hubby- he is a dedicated father, hardworking at his job and at home and he loves me for who I am (neurotic as I may be).

Mother-in-laws

So following the previous post about my not being a supermom I wanted to chat for a minute about my mother-in-law. My hubby's mother is a wonderful woman with a great heart and soul. She was technically a single mom, but really raised my hubby and his adopted brother with support of her sisters, brothers and wonderful family. It's a bit complicated to explain, and I won't go into it here and now but it's a neat story.

So I wanted to say that my mother-in-law who came up last week (or maybe the week before, I really can't remember which!) had the unfortunate experience to witness me at some of my worst mommy moments. From the screaming in the morning (and afternoon) to the exhaustion in the evening my mother-in-law never said one word to me about my behavior. And that my friends is the mark of an amazing woman. It's one thing to see a mom in the store or spend a day with her and watch her for a few moments at her worst with her children, but to spend 4 days living in someone's house and witness all that she did and still remain calm and quiet it's remarkable. So my dear mother-in-law, THANK YOU!

Thank you for understanding that we were at our limits and not treating me (or my hubby) like children and chastising our behavior.
Thank you for listening when we just felt the need to complain.
Thank you for being there with hugs for the grandkids.
Thank you for watching them while our sitter was busy.
Thank you for taking baby B in the middle of the night when hubby and I were at our whits ends.
Thank you for taking us out to dinner and saving us the chaos of making dinner.
Thank you for your silence and your love.

THANK YOU. Thank you. thank you.........