Homemade Yogurt

It's delicious. It's SUPER easy.

All you need is a half gallon of whole milk, some plain yogurt, a slow cooker, and time. Check it out:

Add the milk to your slow cooker. Cook it on low for 2 and a half hours. Let it sit, unplugged with the lid on, for 3 more hours.

When the 3 hours is up, dip 2 cups of milk out into a separate bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup of yogurt-- make sure it's yogurt with live & active cultures. Pour it back into the slow cooker.

Wrap it up with towels-- I used 2 hand towels around the middle, and covered it all with 2 bath towels. Let it sit 8 hours, or overnight (I actually fell asleep when I meant to take it out last night and it sat out overnight, plus like 6 hours haha!)

Line a colander with coffee filters (or cheesecloth or something like that) and place it in a large bowl. Spoon the yogurt into this contraption and let it drain for 3 hours or so (The longer you drain, the thicker the yogurt). And yes, I did stick my finger in it to taste it :-)

When the time is up, just spoon it into containers. Or eat some, because it's YUMMY! (What is that in the bowl???? It's not what it looks like :P It's whey, and it's mentioned later.)

My batch was a little grainy, but just stir it up and it'll be fine. It also wasn't as tart as store bought (which is good for me), but that is a variable of what sort of milk and yogurt you buy. I have heard that locally made yogurt is the best kind to use.

Is it a time saver? No. Is it a money saver? It can be. I am not much into the organic side of things, simply because the prices can get absurd. It cost me about 3 dollars to make it. I got 4 cups of yogurt, and I can use 1/2 cup of it to make the next batch. The only thing I'd have to buy is the milk, which I always have anyway because I'm a milk crackhead. If you use non or low fat milk, you can add 1/4 cup dry milk powder when you add the starter yogurt to thicken it. Anyway, for me, it's cheaper. You can eat it plain, add honey or fruit, use it in place of sour cream, you can spread it on a bagel instead of cream cheese, etc. etc.

And you get a bunch of whey, which you don't get with store bought yogurt. Obviously. (Whey would I want it? Check out this link http://faithfulprovisions.com/2010/03/31/whey-cool-uses-for-whey/)

I mean, I guess you could just read her post on homemade yogurt too, because that's where I got the idea from. Haha.

If you try it, let me know how yours turns out! I think I'm gonna go have some with my lunch. Mmmmm yogurt love!

Cutest/Saddest Ever

No, not a crying panda. But close

Today for lunch, Jack had some broccoli/green bean puree I had made and some of the Gerber Lil' Crunchies. They're basically baby cheetos. I gave him a couple of those while I was waiting for the puree to thaw in the microwave, and when I sat down with him to feed him the greens, I moved the crunchies out of the way and scooped up a spoonful of the good stuff, and he freaked out!

This is significant because this is the very first time he had ever cried at the sight of food. But he ate the spoonful. Then he cried. So I put a crunchie in front of him, and he gobbled it up immediately. I scooped up a spoonful of the puree. He cried. He ate it. I put down a crunchie, and he was ecstatic, and ate it like he was starving. This continued the entire meal. Anytime he would even SEE the green beans/broccoli, he would burst into tears. But he would eat the bite, sobbing the whole way through each and every last one. It. Was. Pitiful. But also, hilarious, because, WHAT?

The moral of the story is, even if Jack thinks something is disgusting, he will eat it because he is tubby. Baby love!

Warning: Squishy Gooey Love

I promise that I won't do this often, but today is our 2nd anniversary. We have had some really fun times together, and I can't imagine my life without him. First of all because he is my best friend, but also, without him I would have no Jack. Here some more reasons I love him:

1. He does the laundry. Yes, all the time. I know, scary, right?

2. He scoops the cat litter. This I do have to ask him to do sometimes, but hey, nobody's perfect.

3. He happily changes poopy diapers.

4. He tries really hard not to laugh when I am crying about something ridiculous. But then he always makes me laugh and I stop crying.

5. He is super cute :)

6. He is not afraid to apologize

7. He is not afraid to ask me to apologize.

8. He helps me to be a better person.

9. He lets me help him to be a better person.

10. He is a wonderful daddy :)

I could go on and on, but I don't want anyone to barf, I'll just give you a cute picture to end gracefully :P

Me too!

It has been suggested to me several times to start a blog. I picked the name "for the love of it all" because there are many things that I love. I love my family, I love to experiment in the kitchen, I love my job, and I love my friends. All of these things will probably end up on here at one point or another, so I hope you can find something here to love :)