Yogurt 101

I recently read an article in Better Homes and Gardens magazine on the different types of yogurt (Yogurt, Explained -Taking the Confusion out of the dairy aisle, Sept.2008).. I was a little miffed that they didn't share how EASY it was to just make the yogurt yourself!

I figure it's about time I just BLOGGED about it.



What you need to make vanilla yogurt:

milk- fat free, skim, 2% or whole-however much yogurt you want to make. Try a half gallon.

candy thermometer

Dannon vanilla yogurt with live active cultures as your starter. You only need this the first time you make yogurt.
Vanilla. Real vanilla is preferable. Use whatever you have though.

Sugar to sweeten.

Powdered milk-to thicken

saucepan to heat milk in

tupperware containers to store yogurt in

cookie sheet and kitchen towel to cover the bowls with

stove and electricity..or gas, or a wood burning stove. whatever.

What I do and Why.

I pour the milk into the pot and clip the thermometer to the side. I heat it on low, stirring frequently until the temperature reaches 180 degrees. You want to kill off any bad bacteria..so your new good bacteria can thrive. Once it reaches 180, I turn off the burner (important..I frequently forget to do this). Remove it from the burner and add half a package of powdered milk. It's about 1/2 cup. I whisk this in. Then I add about 1 TBS of vanilla..and about 1/2 C of sugar. Stir well.
Let the milk cool to 100 degrees exactly! Important! If it's too hot, it will kill your yogurt starter and it won't set up. Ask me how I know this.

Once your milk is cooled to 100 degrees..take about 1/2 to 1 C of the Dannon yogurt and whisk well into your cooled milk. Pour the milk into a couple tupperware containers. Place them on a cookie sheet and set in your oven. Do.Not.Turn.Your.Oven.On. Someone did this once. Not pretty. (and no it wasn't me) Cover the bowls with your towel. Let this set in your oven overnight with the oven light on. The light will give just enough warmth to help set your yogurt. By morning..you should have nice thick vanilla yogurt at a fraction of the cost.
Cover and store in your fridge..and enjoy!
:o)

notes

*I did not use the powdered milk until just recently. I found that the powdered milk makes the yogurt nice and thick..just like store bought. I could not get my yogurt to turn out that way before. Thank you MOMYS. :)

**If you want plain yogurt, skip the sugar and vanilla step, and use Plain Dannon as your starter.

*** If you have made yogurt successfully using soy milk or rice milk, please send me the recipe. Thank you!

November

It's been 71 days. I can't believe it's November already.

Take these hands...and lift them up. For I have not the strength to praise You near enough. I have nothing...I have nothing....without You.

And take my voice....and pour it out. Let it sing the songs of mercy I have found...For I have nothing...I have nothing....without You.

(Bebo Norman)


I still have tears that are ready to break thru at any given moment. Usually unexpected..and usually when I'm alone...but not always. I think about her every day..throughout the day. Every time I turn around there is something or someone there to remind me of her....I want to talk to her, and share things with her...and there is an ache in my heart that won't go away.

If you've been up all night and cried till you have no more tears left in you-you will know that there comes in the end a sort of quietness. -C.S.Lewis The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe

It's so easy to keep so busy that I can just ..put the crying off till later..till a "better" time. But I find when I do that..there really is no better time..and it comes upon me in the most public places.

There is no way around the pain that you naturally feel when someone you love dies. You can't go over it, under it, or around it....Going through it is what will help you heal. (Therese Rando)

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Matthew 6:6

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
What did our Lord mean when He said, “Enter into your closet to pray?” The word “closet” simply means some place where you can shut the door on the world and open the windows to heaven. As you study the life of Jesus, you’ll discover that Jesus sought times to be alone. Sometimes He would go on a mountain, sometimes into the wilderness, and sometimes into a garden. It is the secret place that is the sacred place. The mark of your prayer life is not really how well you pray in public, but in private-.LWF

A New Table-updated pics :)

Table progress... :o)




Our dining room is the "hub" of our home. Since we homeschool..we spend hours here every day..for meals, schoolwork, crafts, and playing. With a large family, and decent sized table is a must! My awesome husband has decided to build one himself (after seeing how much they cost in the stores!) Besides..he enjoys this. He would love to do this for a living. :)
Here is the first pic of the "skeleton" of our table. It's 8 ft long, the top will be 4 ft wide..and oak. :)

The Midnight Cry

Click the title above to see the video :)

A Day in the Life of a MOMYS

Here's a slideshow of our day, with captions.

http://picasaweb.google.com/wtsncrew7/DayInTheLifeOfAMOMYS?authkey=XGehKOokYMA#slideshow

Our visit..

Well..Dad and Kevin are on their way home. They made the trip..driving straight thru (from WA, thru Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota) 28 hours!!
I'm so glad Dad and Kev came. It was just really weird (hard) to not have mom here too. I didn't quite know what to do with myself. It felt so good to hug my dad. Been wanting to do that since she passed away. Dad hadn't been here in 4 yrs (since Mikey was born!) And Uncle Kev has never been here!
That said..it was a good visit. The kids took to Papa and Uncle Kev right away...
Here's a couple pics..

Obie fell asleep on Uncle Kev...

Eliahna and her Papa..
Dad with the crew...


Also..on "reclaiming my kitchen"..boy, that didn't work out so well! Shortly after I posted that, we all came down with some super-bug enterovirus (awful!). We were down for the count for nearly 2 weeks!
I might give the menu a try again though.

Issues

Planned Parenthood Exposed on O'Reilly Factor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP5fNsPKnpE

Jill Stanek on the O'Reilly Factor--

babies born alive, and allowed to die, in our hospitals. This just brought me to tears...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9duXeLahkV4

Reclaiming my kitchen!

That's it. I've had it. I'm reclaiming my kitchen!
or more appropriately, my fridge.

The boys go in and take whatever they want..whenever they think they're hungry. It's getting ridiculous...and it's hard on my grocery budget. (my children are far from malnourished!)
The hardest part is remembering snack times, and making sure my oldest three remember not to walk in and take an apple whenever they feel like it.

I've made out a lunch & snack menu for Mon-Fri:
fruit is either apple, banana or orange..or applesauce

Monday-
snack (10am) pb on crackers
lunch (noon) cheese tortillas and fruit
snack (2pm) fruit and crackers, homemade yogurt

Tuesday-
snack-apple slices and string cheese
lunch- top ramen and baby carrots
snack-cream cheese graham crackers

Wed.-
S-pb crackers/cheese n crackers
L- tomato soup or pb and jelly sandwiches
S-fruit/crackers/yogurt

Thurs-
S-raisins/fruit/dry cereal
L- hot dogs on buns, pickle slice
S- string cheese and popcorn

Fri-
S- meat and cheese on crackers
L- grilled cheese sandwiches and applesauce
S- yogurt and fruit

C.H.Spurgeon..Morning by Morning-Aug.17th

August 17th
The mercy of God."—Psalm 52:8.

Meditate a little on this mercy of the Lord. It is tender mercy. With gentle, loving touch, He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. He is as gracious in the manner of His mercy as in the matter of it. It is great mercy. There is nothing little in God; His mercy is like Himself—it is infinite. You cannot measure it. His mercy is so great that it forgives great sins to great sinners, after great lengths of time, and then gives great favours and great privileges, and raises us up to great enjoyments in the great heaven of the great God. It is undeserved mercy, as indeed all true mercy must be, for deserved mercy is only a misnomer for justice. There was no right on the sinner's part to the kind consideration of the Most High; had the rebel been doomed at once to eternal fire he would have richly merited the doom, and if delivered from wrath, sovereign love alone has found a cause, for there was none in the sinner himself. It is rich mercy. Some things are great, but have little efficacy in them, but this mercy is a cordial to your drooping spirits; a golden ointment to your bleeding wounds; a heavenly bandage to your broken bones; a royal chariot for your weary feet; a bosom of love for your trembling heart. It is manifold mercy. As Bunyan says, "All the flowers in God's garden are double." There is no single mercy. You may think you have but one mercy, but you shall find it to be a whole cluster of mercies. It is abounding mercy. Millions have received it, yet far from its being exhausted; it is as fresh, as full, and as free as ever. It is unfailing mercy. It will never leave thee. If mercy be thy friend, mercy will be with thee in temptation to keep thee from yielding; with thee in trouble to prevent thee from sinking; with thee living to be the light and life of thy countenance; and with thee dying to be the joy of thy soul when earthly comfort is ebbing fast.

The crew..

Mom used to do crosswords to keep her mind sharp, from being on chemo. She was pretty good at them! She'd bring some with her when she came to visit. I tried one, but I stink at them!
When she wasn't in the room..I flipped thru her book, and wrote things in various places, such as .."I love you".."I miss you"..."Kisses"..."Hope to see you soon!"..

Well..when Christmas came around she sent me one with sweet notes written throughout it.

While I was cleaning out my homeschool shelf the other day, I came across that crossword book. I'd been doing pretty well..and feeling pretty good. Then to see her handwriting again..and the words.."To Andee Beth! I love you"...and various notes throughout it. The last page said.."I'll see you soon! I hope!"

13 days --8/6/08

It's been 13 days since Mama passed on.
I've been up and down. More up than down, though. Yesterday was not a good day for me. I cried twice. I can hear her voice in my mind. And then my eyes sting because I realize I won't hear that anymore (here on earth).

Her celebration of life service is on the 30th of this month. And I can't be there. But I'm going to write something.
I haven't even started it yet. That's so not like me..but I can't bring myself to write it yet. How do I put my emotions/thoughts/memories into words? I want to honor my mom, and honor the Lord.

I started a book by Randy Alcorn titled Heaven. It's very good. Totally blows away any preconceived ideas I had about Heaven. I really want to buy a few copies..but they are pricey.

I'm having a hard time getting back into a routine. With 6 little ones, and homeschooling..I just have no motivation to teach. I'm having a hard time in that area...praying the Lord to help me.

I need a shirt.. 7/28/08

Sometimes I wish I could just wear a t-shirt that says "My mama just died..please be patient with me".
..it would explain why my eyes are red. Why I look tired. Why my hand is shaking while I sign my name. But I don't say anything..I just let everyone think I'm this tired mommy of many little ones.
:(

Another day..

I miss her.
I've missed her for months. But there was always that hope..that chance, that she could call me when she felt up to it. So when the home phone rang..I jumped. Once in a great while, it was her.
Now that she's finally gone..I'm allowed to just cry. Before I cried because she was leaving..and now I can cry because she's gone.
Yes..she is in a better place..and yes I'm crying for myself. I cry for my family who misses her too. It's not the same as it was two days ago. It's a fresh new pain... and my heart hurts.