As I Hope for Signs of Spring

I started some seeds for some veggies to go in my spring garden - yeah, yeah, I know it's a little early. I get anxious. So anyway, some of my little baby plants have already sprouted! I present, for your viewing pleasure, some pictures!

My Cauliflower:


My Little Cherry Tomato:


My Roma Tomato - which I plan on making lots and lots of homemade pasta sauce with:


Oh, and that little hair on my tomato plant? That would be a little gift from this cat. She likes tomatoes, too.:


And, last but not least, my Okra plant. Okra and Cauliflower are both new to me. I'm really excited to try both of them!:


I'm still waiting for my jalapeno, serrano and banana peppers and my early girl tomato plant to push through the soil. I'm sure I'll post more pictures as they come up.

What are you planting this year?

I Guess It's A Phase

This past weekend I decided to make yogurt. That's right... yogurt. I guess I'm going through a phase. I decided that I want to learn how to make all of these things that I take advantage of in the grocery store. SOMEONE has to make all of these things that we consume so I thought that if they could do it, there was no reason that I couldn't, right?

On to how I made homemade yogurt.

I put the following into a large saucepan:

4c. whole milk
1/2 c. dry milk

Stir to dissolve dry milk powder and slowly heat milk to 180 degrees. You do this to kill off the bacteria that prevents the milk from firming up. Turn off the heat and let milk sit at room temperature until it is between 110 and 120 degrees. Take a ladle full of milk and add it to 1/4 - 1/2 c. of plain yogurt WITH ACTIVE CULTURES. I used plain Fage greek yogurt. Whisk together and then whisk the mixture into the warm milk.

Now you put the mix into the containers that the yogurt will be processing in. I used glass mason jars. There are several ways to let the mixture process, but i used my crockpot. I poured my yogurt into my mason jars and put them into a preheated (on the "warm" setting) water bath in the crockpot and put the lid on. Every couple of hours I would turn my crockpot on and off to try and keep my crock pot at about 110 degrees. In about 6-8 hours my yogurt had firmed up and I put the jars in the fridge to chill overnight. Now I have yogurt! This morning I drizzled it with a little bit of wildflower honey and it is GOOD!


Try it, you'll like it!


Tomorrow I'll tell you how I used some of my yogurt to make yogurt cheese.

Great Summertime Activities for the Kids

The warm weather has gotten me thinking about things that I can do with my son. Now, he is only a year old so this somewhat limits our options but I've compiled a list of some pretty great kid-friendly summer activities. Take a look and feel free to leave your own suggestions as well.

1. Print coloring pages from the National Geographic website or from Family Education. The have a TON of great animal coloring pages and your kids can learn something while fostering their creativity. Perfect when the weather is just a little too warm outside.

2.Splash In the Pool! Whether you have a real pool, or just a kiddie pool, what kid doesn't love splashing and getting soaked? The quintessential summertime activity.

3. Don't have a pool? Have a sprinkler party! Turn on the hose and let those kids burn off some energy. Bonus: It may just give you some time to catch up on that book you've been wanting to read. (Or, let's face it, shower.)

4.Go to the Zoo! Seriously, is there anyone on this planet of ours that doesn't love the zoo? Even if it's not really close, make it a long day trip. Your kids will talk about it for days.

5. Go Berry or Apple Picking. This is a fun summertime activity for the whole family - and there's an immediate payoff. You can also seize the educational opportunity at hand and talk to them about how fruit grows and how healthy it is for them.

Enjoy you summer!

Question of the day:
What are your favorite family summertime activities?