I'm a Closet Hippie

Ok, I have another confession to make. Not the one about stashing Swiss Cake Rolls in the basement or eating all of the Drumsticks. No, this one is different. Maybe even worse.

Secretly, I'm a hippie.

I don't think you'd know this from passing me on the street. I don't wear hemp. My hair is not in dreadlocks. I wear makeup. And khakis. But on the inside, I hide strong hippie tendencies.

I came to this conclusion today as I was hanging out laundry to dry on my new dry rack. The one BestestHusband got me after I talked endlessly about wanting to hang laundry outside. Our condo rules disallow "clotheslines". But they don't disallow umbrella-style clothes racks that fit securely into our patio table umbrella base and can dry multiple loads of laundry simultaneously. And then be hidden away in the basement again. I was deriving great joy from hanging out this laundry. Sure it was a tedious task. You can fit the girls' laundry for a whole week in one load of the washer. But it takes forever to hang it all up on the rack. Yet I was so happy...

I think the hippie tendencies come from a combination of factors:

1. I'm a cheapskate (at times)
2. I like to help the environment (if it's not too inconvenient or expensive)
3. I like finding less-toxic ways to manage my household (again, if not too expensive or inconvenient)
4. I have a lifetime of love and admiration for our pioneer foremothers (thanks to owning the entire collection of Little House on the Prairie books)

So as a result, I love the idea of making my own yogurt, and occasionally bread. (I think I've made bread once since I've been pregnant, but have been doing ok with the yogurt). 
I love air-drying clothes. 
I love hand-me-downs and buying things used from local families. 
I love making cleaning products out of vinegar and scented oils. 
I love using a small amount of hemp soap to create a full dispenser of foamy hand soap. 
I love smearing myself with my own home-blended mix of coconut oil and scents instead of using store-bought lotion.
I love making my own granola. 
I love that we're eating spinach we grew in our own garden. 
We have a lot of glass canning jars that I store stuff in. 
I just bought two new types of baby-wearing devices for our upcoming arrival.

I must be a closet hippie.

I'm coming to terms with this. 

Last night I used up our over-ripe cherries to make yogurt smoothies that were put in re-useable squeezie pouches and made into popsicles. I have plans to walk to the season opening of the local farmer's market in the morning with the girls. These things make me happy. And they're healthy, good things to do. And I have a LONG way to go before achieving true hippiedom. I mean, I have no plans to stop shaving my armpits any time soon. And we're buying a minivan (I know, GASP!), not a family-style tricycle that allows me to bike my kids around town. And commune life definitely doesn't jive well with our particular natures. (Sharing our property with one other condo is hard enough for us.) So never fear, I won't be changing my name to Moonbeam any time soon.

But making my own squeezie pouch snacks for the girls? Oh yeah, I'm all over that!

Monster Pops are the best. Freeze them in their bases, then turn them over to eat the popsicle out of its handled base. You can even set them down in their bases to take breaks without spilling. And they make substantial popsicles. Every closet hippie needs these.

I just ordered these YummiPouches. You can get decorative stickers to go on them. The girls are excited about that part. These contain yogurt smoothies and went into the freezer right after this picture. Homemade yogurt + real fruit + re-useable container = hippie's dream.

The ziplock closure is at the top, and the spout on the side. I saw some versions from other companies that had the spout on the top, but a ziplocked bottom. That made me a bit nervous. The girls LOVED these today at the playground. A semi-frozen smoothie was a perfect summer snack.

Homemade Chobani

Last year, about this time, I posted about how and why I make homemade yogurt. Today at work we were discussing Chobani yogurt, and I realized that in the last year, I have gradually transitioned to making Greek-style yogurt. Basically, I use my old yogurt-making technique, then strain off the whey with cheesecloth. Ta-da! Homemade Chobani!

I promised a co-worker I'd share the details. So here goes:

Start with a pot of yogurt. Lately, I've had the best luck with using whole milk (I find it tastier and more filling). And my family now strongly prefers that it's vanilla-flavored. I've started culturing it overnight, wrapped in a bath towel in a pre-warmed (but turned off) oven, so it gets a nice long culturing time. I let it chill in the fridge all day before straining it.

That crater is the cup of yogurt I took to work today. I just couldn't wait. It's full of whey, the stuff we'll strain off.

Try to convince the dog that the yogurt's not for him. Good luck.

Exact a candy tax from the kids' Easter stash, whenever available. This is a seasonal procedural variant, of course...

Set a mesh strainer in a large bowl.

Line with cheesecloth. 

I wash and reuse mine, and store it in a ziplock.

Transfer the yogurt into the strainer. I usually set aside a quart of yogurt before straining because the girls don't truly appreciate the valuable strained stuff as much as I do. Sometimes it's like throwing pearls to swine...

Almost immediately, you'll see the whey start to separate out. Let it sit in the fridge for a few hours. The longer it sits, the thicker the yogurt will be. But if you forget it overnight, you'll have yo-cheese. It's tasty, but not much like Chobani.

Check on it occasionally. If you're like me, pregnant and waiting to go to bed, decide enough is enough and just let it strain for just a little while. The results are less dense and creamy, but the bedtime is earlier and the risk of yo-cheese is lower.

If you're a cheapskate like me, save the whey you strain off. Well, at least the stuff you don't spill on the counter while trying to pour it into the bottle. I usually get more than this when I don't spill...
What do you do with whey? Well, you can combine it with a little dollop of yogurt and use it in place of buttermilk. Or you can use to make smoothies. Or, if you're really like me, you can optimistically save it for future use, then realize that you're too tired to bake or be creative in the kitchen and eventually throw it out. Like you would have originally done while making the yogurt. Oh well...

And here's the finished product:  6+ cups of whole milk vanilla-flavored Greek-style yogurt.

I bought the milk for $2.99/gallon, and used some leftover yogurt as my culture. So this batch of yogurt only cost $2.99. Even if I'd spent $1 on a fresh small container of yogurt as my culture, the grand total would be $3.99 for over 48 ounces of yogurt. Chobani is sold in 6 ounce containers, usually for around $1.25/container. So the equivalent amount of yogurt in the store would cost $10. And contain preservatives and shelf-stabilizers that I don't add to mine. I consider the time and energy well-spent!

My hard-working cheesecloth gets treated to a bubble bath after each use. Basically, I'm too lazy to wash it. I just soak it overnight and wash it the next morning.

See? It's not too hard. Enjoy your homemade Chobani!

Stewardship Sunday. It's Sunday again?

It's Sunday again. Didn't we just have one of those the other day?

I'm still coffee-free. I don't really miss it anymore. I do miss the caffeine highs. But not the crashes. I feel more even-keeled. That's a good thing when you have 2 and 3 year olds in the house. 

I'm tired. Not drinking coffee has gotten me to bed earlier. But is has made me less productive. I guess this is the trade-off of being healthier?

So let's get down to business and report on the week. My bed is calling my name.

Food waste:  We threw out some overly-old fish. It was too bad even for BestestHusband. Rarely does he turn down some too-old leftovers. But this week he did. We were better than last week in the food waste department. I used up over half of my green onions today in a scallion pancake recipe. I'm optimistic about the rest. But we went fruit-picking yesterday, and brought home 5 lbs of blueberries, 1 quart of raspberries, and a peck of peaches.They are all amazing. But ripe, so I need to eat or preserve them NOW. I've had worse problems to deal with...

Money: I did hit another end-of-season sale for work clothes online. I think $55 for a work dress and linen summer blouse is a pretty good deal. The box hasn't arrived yet, but hey, if they don't fit, the store is next to the grocery store for easy returns.

Patience:  The Patience Angel came to our house this week. I'm praying she moved in. I really do feel calmer and more patient, and didn't find myself yelling this week. This is an amazing thing. Answer to my prayers? Result of no coffee? Maybe a bit of both? I'm just praising the Lord that this change has come about and hoping it's a permanent one.

Time:  We had a fun week with some fun adventures. We did errand running at the beginning of the week, but Friday, the girls and I hit the town. We took the bus and train into the city, and were on the move for 8 hours. We did an errand at the new Charlie Card store. It was pretty painful. But then we ate an alfresco lunch, listening to a pianist near the fountain at Park Street. We walked to the Frog Pond and went swimming/wading. We cleaned up and went to Cambridge to visit BestestHusband at work. We picked up baked treats along the way. We hung out at BH's office for a bit, then went to meet the girls' best friend, Bea, at the library. Well, the library closed before we got there. But we hung out a bit outside, then went to the farmer's market there. I totally miscalculated time, but the girls didn't care. We got home too late and the girls loved every minute of it. Saturday, we took the girls fruit-picking. Tougas Farm was fantastic for little kids. They had goats to pet, a huge playground, and lots of berries and peaches to pick. They also had apples, but we decided to wait until my parents get here to do that. The housework is not done. I have a ton of stuff to do to start up my practice. There is just so much I need to do. But it's summer still. We need to drink it in while we can. While my planning wasn't perfect, I don't think we misused our time at all.

M&Ms: I finished off those frozen chocolate banana slices all by myself. Sorry BH... But no M&Ms. Now, the peach frozen yogurt I made earlier this evening, that's a different story. Homemade yogurt, hand-picked super ripe peaches, homemade frogurt from the two of them. How can you resist?

So I'm thankful again to be blessed with yet another wonderful week. I look at pictures on Facebook of friends around the world doing exciting and exotic things. And wouldn't trade it for a moment of what we've got now.

Hope your next week is a great one! 

Good Gamish and Insanely Great Gummies

Today was a day of many small successes. I'm going to celebrate the small wins. Because parenting small children doesn't feel like you're "winning" all the time.


The day started out with a dog and a skunk. BestestHusband took the dogs for a long walk, and came back with a very smelly Mandy. He thinks that she didn't really CHASE the skunk this time, just accidentally stumbled into it. Regardless, we had a skunked dog. Thankfully the weather was milder than the last time, so we were able to open all of the windows in the house for the whole day to ventilate. And I discovered a great home remedy to skunk smell. No, it's not tomato juice...
1. Saturate the dog's fur in straight-up white vinegar. 
It neutralizes the odor. Quite well, actually...
2. Shampoo the dog with blue Dawn dish detergent. 
It's what they use to de-grease wildlife in oil spill zones. And you know what? It degreased the oil from the skunk spray and Mandy no longer stinks! I was able to hold her in my lap after dinner without the urge to gag.
WE WIN! It's yet another use for both vinegar and blue Dawn, and I should start stocking up...


The day also started out with 2 sore throats. So we skipped the gym. But a bit of pain reliever and we're good as new. We kept the day easy to promote actually getting better. But we're doing ok, and will go to work and preschool tomorrow. 
WE WIN!


I experimented with making a new, extra-creamy, high-fat yogurt. I started with whole milk and added a pint of heavy cream. I wanted to try it out for our favorite neighborhood twins, who are slowly expanding their diet of solid foods and eat a lot of yogurt. Also, I thought it would make yummy fro-yo, too. I tried a new water bath method. And I think it worked! So I now have 5.5 quarts of extra decadent yogurt in my fridge. 
I WIN! (Jackie, your tester quart is among that 5.5, so I can give you some tomorrow and you can win, too!)


I used 7 different containers of leftover ingredients while making dinner tonight. BestestHusband asked, "Is this a recipe, or a gamish?" (his term for a concoction of mine that's created to use up ingredients). "A gamish."
"It's pretty good. 4 forks!"
I cleaned out the fridge, prevented food waste, and got 4 forks! 
I WIN!


BestestHusband brought out his souvenirs from his recent trip to Germany - 4 flavors of insanely great gummy bears:  prosecco, strawberry-rhubarb, grapefruit, and exotic fruits. Holy cow, they were insanely great. They deserve a blog post of their own. And they don't even have to be indecent to get my attention. The Germans really know their gummies!
WE WIN!


Oh! And as a bonus, we got the girls to bed EARLY today! And they didn't even get upset about it!
WE WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ok, so maybe I have a boring life that these events are worth mentioning. But hey, sometimes you've got to look for joy in life.


Did you win today?

Stewardship Sunday

Wow, it's been a while since I posted. But certain things are still the same. There is clean laundry on my spare bed, waiting to be folded. There are tumbleweeds of dog fur roaming the house, even though I recently swept. And I have a ToDo list longer than any week can reasonably manage. We like to be predictable and reliable around here. 


Here's some of the fun NEW things for this week...

• We got a Sodastream. It's fun.
• We had fun at two big of play dates. It rained a lot this week, so the play dates were a Godsend...
• The girls came to my Physical Therapy appointment with me. They actually were angels.
• HeyMama has starting sleeping without a pull-up. And last night I didn't have to change the sheets!
• MeToo transitioned from "barnacle" to "fish" at swimming lessons. The bruises on my neck from her death grip are finally fading...
• HeyMama tried paddling without the kick board, pool noodle, or barbell floaties. She still has the flotation belt on, but doggie-paddled across the pool like a champ!
• We're selling our double stroller tomorrow and getting a single with a standing board. I stripped the stroller to the frame and washed the fabric. That was an interesting experience.
• In one day, I took the girls to swim lessons, helped host a church meeting/cookout at our house, and went to work in the afternoon. Then deployed praying mantis egg sacks into our garden after dinner. Swimming, God, making money, and eco-friendly pest management, all in one Saturday. We're not usually so ambitious or productive. 
• I jumped around and made myself hoarse in front of a bunch of kids singing some of my favorite childhood Sunday School songs. 
• I held a few newborn babies. I concluded that I do like them still. But am still content to hand them back to their mothers. 
• I wore one of my great consignment store dresses from the previous week's conquests, and again appreciated NOT wearing maternity or nursing clothes or holding my own newborn. 

Did I mention that I'm excited about downsizing our double stroller for a single? In my mind, this opens up the possibility of taking public transportation this summer. Look out world! No parking worries + 2 girls who like to skip naps = lots of fun summer adventures!!!

My naked double stroller.

Ok, it's crazy late, and the red wine I had with dinner isn't helping me be more alert...


Food waste:  I was a green leafy executioner again this week. I killed half a head of lettuce and half a bunch of mint. I think I also killed a bit of cucumber. OH!!! I almost forgot to mention my YOGURT FAILURE! I tried making a gallon of yogurt. I instead got a gallon of warm milk. I tried using a different culture, and I don't think the milk was warm enough to start culturing. If it weren't for the red wine still in my system, I'd be much crankier about the milk and effort wasted. I'm still deluding myself that I can do something with the yogurt-scented milk... I sent out the question to my local mommy network, and have hope that someone will come back with good ideas...


M&Ms:  not too bad this week. But ice cream was my drug of choice.


Money:  I bought a Sodastream. New in the box from a local mom, so half price. But it wasn't a necessity...


Patience: We did a lot of playing this week. A lot of it was inside, but it was with friends. Friends help with patience. A LOT!!!


Exercise:  I went to the gym only twice this week. My goal is to prioritize this more in the upcoming week.


Ok, time for bed. Hope you had a great week!

A Few Things I've Learned From Strep

I despise being sick. This is something I've known for a while. (Hint hint God, you don't need to keep reminding me!) But I will acknowledge that there are a few lessons I've learned the last few days, thanks to strep throat. I thought I'd share a few of them with you today.

• iPhones are great tools for taking pictures of your nasty tonsils
• Strep-infested tonsils are gross
• Febrile sweating is a great way to lose a pound or so while you sleep
• Febrile loss of appetite is a great way to lose a pound or so while you don't sleep
• Definitely time any necessary strep throat before swimsuit season
• Household demands don't seem to notice that you're sick
• But they do taunt you while you're lying on the couch. I swear the cobweb on the living room curtain rod was laughing at me yesterday...
• Getting sick lowers my patience to a threshold similar to that of 2 year olds
• You need to have patience greater than a 2 year old to effectively manage a 2 year old
• Attempting to manage a normal life while sick is sometimes necessary
• And it makes you bad@ss

Wash your hands, friends.

Swallowing Rocks Studded With Nails

Today is a "sick day." Well, I'm home from work because I have strep throat. Already fragile patients in Rehab Hospitals don't respond well to being exposed to strep throat. I'm fine with this concept. But the girls are home with me because they also have strep throat. So while we're all sick, I don't think this counts as a "sick day" in the way that I used to know them. Before kids, "sick days" were days that you were too sick to go to work, so you stayed at home, horizontal on your couch or bed. You didn't exert yourself. You caught up on sleep. Maybe someone even made you chicken soup. But apparently moms don't get "sick days". 


I went to bed early, but couldn't manage to fall asleep quickly. And when I finally did, I spent the night sweating like a marathoner, waking fitfully to find myself swallowing rocks studded with nails. Ok, so in reality I was only swallowing my own saliva. But it felt like I was swallowing rocks studded with nails. Or maybe just shards of glass. 


Have I mentioned that I don't like strep throat?


I ridiculously assumed that my girls, also stricken with strep throat, would be willing to take a nap. Consequently, I would be able to take a nap. At least I could have an hour or so of a "sick day." Alas, it was not to be so. They're well enough to not take a nap, but not well enough to handle the elements of daily life without dissolving into whining, arguments, and tears every 10 minutes. Sigh.


So we're eating a lot of yogurt to combat the antibiotics we're taking. I had to make another batch of yogurt today. I suspect it will last us until Friday. Maybe longer if I ever get up the will to serve something different for dinner. 


Oh, and today is a day that MeToo has decided that she wants to wear undies and use the potty. So I'm cleaning pee accidents at inconvenient intervals. The fun just never stops.


Wash your hands, friends. You don't want my "sick day" to happen to you!

How I Make Yogurt

After yesterday's post about why I make yogurt, I got multiple requests to tell how I make yogurt.


I'm going to start with a little disclaimer: mine is not the only, or best way to make yogurt. It's just the system that works the best for me. I read multiple recipes online before settling on my technique. So please feel free to poke around online and try a few different recipes. You might like the others better. Ok, that said, here's my recipe.


I start with a gallon of milk. I pour it into a big pot. I place the pot on the stove over a medium flame. I walk away for a while. I come back occasionally to take its temperature. I want it to get to 180 to kill off any bad stuff. When I get there, I turn off the heat.
[Some people let it boil to improve thickening. I haven't experimented with this. You can also use a smaller amount of milk than a whole gallon. I just like to cook in bulk. Why dirty up the kitchen if you don't have a lot to show for it?]


If I'm in a hurry, I stick the pot in a sink full of ice water. I'm usually in a hurry. The goal is to get the milk down to somewhere between 100 and 120 degrees. Yogurt cultures like their milk to be warm. Too hot kills them. Too cool doesn't promote culturing. The cooling seems to happen quickly, so I check the temp often. Once it's in the temperature range, I whisk together a ladlefull of warm milk with a 6 oz container of yogurt. I pour in the mixture to the giant pot of milk, whisk it again, then put the lid on. Somewhere in there I heated my oven to 250 and turned off the heat once it got there. I wrap my pot of cultured milk in a giant bath towel and place it in the cozy warm oven to sit for 6ish hours. [Note: the oven is off when the yogurt sits in there. If the house is cold and I'm concerned the temp has dropped, I'll turn on the oven for a few minutes to bump up the ambient temperature. Just a few. I have no proof that this is necessary. I think it's just superstition for me at this point.]


I open the pot 6 - 10 hours later, and I have a gallon of yogurt.


It's magic.


Ok, so my food scientist cousin-by-marriage Denise would have a coherent and detailed description other than "magic". But I prefer my version.


There are endless variations on the theme. You can add vanilla to the milk before culturing it. You can use whole milk for creamier texture. You can use lowfat milk and add powdered milk to boost the thickness. You can add sugar after it sets. You can stir in frozen fruit. You can even make it in a crockpot. [But I didn't have great luck with that technique, as I had to pay more attention to it. And failed to do so.]


You can strain the yogurt in cheesecloth and get greek-style yogurt. Strain it overnight and get something with the consistency of cream cheese. It's heavenly. Blend yogurt into a smoothie. Make frozen yogurt. Mix it with frozen OJ concentrate for homemade creamsicle pops. It's easier for me to go yo-crazy when the yogurt is $1/quart instead of $4.


It really isn't difficult to do. It just seems a bit daunting the first time. Give it a try and tell me how it went!