Homemade Greek Yogurt

Our family was going broke on greek yogurt. So I decided to try making it myself. I have done it three times now and must say it is incredibly easy. The yogurt tastes great but I am not sure how cost effective it really is. It all depends on how much you pay for your milk. I have been using organic non-hemoginized whole milk which costs about $8.50 at the co-op. It makes about two and a half quarts of yogurt. From the whey I have made ricotta(ish) cheese. I get about two cups of cheese. Yogurt cheese tastes a little different. It has a sour taste. You either love it or hate it. So far it has been a hit. I am going to cook a quiche with mine tonight. We will see.

I used a half of gallon of milk and a half cup of plain organic yogurt.
(I think you can use less yogurt. More is not always better in this case.)

I then heated the milk slowly up to 180 degrees using a
candy thermometer.  I then took it off the heat and let it sit
till it reached about 110 degrees. I skimmed off the top foam layer
and later mixed that with my whey. I then added my yogurt and stirred.

The yogurt needs to stay at about 100 degrees for 12 hours. Most crock
pots and ovens do not go this low. I have found that simply putting on my
oven light is enough to keep the yogurt warm enough.

Once the 12 hours is up strain the yogurt to separate the whey.
A mesh strainer would work best. I just did not have one.

More straining. 

Chilled and served with some maple syrup!

Nika enjoyed. Also notice it makes a great sour cream.

Avi enjoyed.

I then boiled the whey down till it was well curdled. I let it cool first
 and then filtered with a cloth coffee filter. Cheese cloth would work better.
The left over whey is wonderful in pancakes!

Finished cheese.

Reflections on Inner Peace

I have been putting a lot of thought into life the last few weeks. I had always thought that I would create this “perfect life”. It seemed so doable when I was young. Have a perfect childhood, go to college, get a job, meet a spouse, buy a house, have kids, go on vacations every year, have your successful children make you grandparents and grow old in contentment. 

Things got in the way of that plan. My childhood, like everyones, had its challenges. College was not the experience I had hoped for. Traumatic events lead to a broken soul needing to be reminded of who she was. As a leaf is at the will of the wind, I too danced without direction. I buried the youthful invincible self that was full of passions and goals. For a year I wandered in a cloud of pain and on the first anniversary of the day my life changed I met Jake. 

Our life together became my future. People say that others can’t heal you, that love can’t fill your holes but love sure makes it easier. In the safety of our love I found the strength to move in a direction of healing. My work will never be complete. Trauma, PTSD, in prints deep within your cells. Life became easier and for a time I forget but it always pops up like a clown from a music box startling you back into the past. The stretches of serenity have become longer. I have found true joy in my children and building a family. They give me direction, purpose and unconditional love. Raising a family is not as easy as I once thought it would be but the joy is more then I could have imagined. 

      
In Duluth though my passions had changed I felt the fire of a calling again. The gift I was given to sit with a women as she transforms into a mother as doula was one of the greatest honors of my life. In that time I felt confident in who I was and where I was going. I was to be a midwife some how and at some time. The winds blew again and landed me away from the community that held me together like glue. My brokeness left me at my lowest despair in a deep depression. Once again I put myself back together. 

Bemidji is becoming home and the connections are strengthening while new passions arising. I am realizing now that life is not created, shaped or planned. Life is about letting go of the vision and seeing what is unfolding in front of you. It seems like the key to finding inner peace is in surrendering to the Universe. I use to think that the concept of surrendering was a sign of weakness but it is clear to me now that it is a 
sign of strength. I have fought for so long to make things what 
they are not and missed a lot in the mean time. 

At times now as a stay at home mom it is hard to find self worth. I don’t start my day with a shower and getting dressed in clothes other then gray sweatpants. I don’t “produce” anything outside of the home and I don’t have anything to show for my time at the end of the day. I am the keeper of three little people. I teach them and guild them to the best of my ability. I give them a safe clean environment to live in. I nourish their bodies with healthy foods in the mist of their outrages sugar intake. It is easy to lose myself in the day to day chores of parenthood. I see so many things that I want to do, to give. No matter the intent that I have, things fall away in the mist of the enormous amount of work little people are. I often grow weary of the questions; “Whats next? Where will we move? What am I meant to do?”. Today being a mother is enough. Having a semi-clean house is an accomplishment as big any others days work. 

The doors are opening here, now in front of me. It scares me to be settled. To say, “This is it. This is home.” Funny how their is so much discomfort in the unknown of ones journey but just as much discomfort in the contentment of the present. I am not sure if the winds will blow again and I am not sure when I will find a life’s work other then motherhood. I am sure that Bemidji holds amazing people, that I am finding new passions I have never known before, that my kids are truly happy and the Universe has brought me here. My inner peace today is in surrendering to it all. I am complete today in my brokeness and possibility. 

Baby Food

Leo is my first baby that I have made my own baby food. I may have tired with a food grinder in the past but it did not get the food creamy enough. The food processor has worked great. It has the same texture as jared baby food. Again saving tons of money.

Frozen kale and carrots. 

Scrapes for the Hayle's chickens.

Boiled down the carrots and kale. 

I placed the carrots and water in the food processor capturing all of the nutrients.

So pretty.

Broom!

Green baby food.

Placed in ice cube trays.

Placed plastic bags over the top.

Froze.

I always take the left over pureed food and make a smoothie.

Kefir, strawberries, honey and puree.

Happy Nika.

Baby food frozen into portions.

Stocked up. Carrot, squash, and kale/carrot.

Eating food with Papa.

Umm...

Cloth Diapers!

I LOVE using cloth diapers and wish I would have known how easy it is for the girls. It is not what it use to be, no buckets of water, no bleach, no pins, no rough plastic covers, no crazy diaper rashes and no dirty mess. Seriously it is so easy. I love how soft they are, they don't have chemicals, they are good for the environment, they are supper cute and they save us tons of money. I purchased Thirsty Covers and prefolds when Leo was a newborn. Now we use Imagination one size pocket diapers. I have thirteen diapers and wash every two to three days. Their is a lot of steps but it becomes habbit. I would encourage every parent to give it a try. If you don't like them you can always sell them. Yes, cloth diapers actually hold their value very well. I just sold my Thirsty Covers for nine dollars and spent twelve on them new. Can't say enough about cloth diapers and wipes!

Here is a wet bag full of dirty diapers. Soiled diapers simply get thrown in. 

First run the diapers in a cold rinse cycle to get all the wast off the diapers.

I like to make sure all the inserts have come out of the diaper covers.

I do a heavy duty wash with hot water and extra rinse.

Laundry soap is important. You can only use approved laundry soap.
I make my own (blog to come).

Laundry soap and vinger to help with order.

I put my wipes and inserts in the drier. The covers have a plastic like
material that can not withstand the dryer. I turn them inside out to
help them dry faster.

Drying. I like to time this for overnight.

Now I have my dry wipes, inserts, covers and a cute baby ;)

I stuff the insert into the cover.

And I am ready to go for the next few days.

Raw Sauerkraut

Yesterday I took my first try at homemade raw sauerkraut. I am always looking at good ways to get probiotics in our family. With Jake's Crohns probiotics are really important but he is suppose to be off of dairy making it hard to get natural probiotics. My understanding is that probiotics from vegetables offer many different strains of good bacteria unlike dairy. The question is going to be if he can handle a high gas producing kraut. This was a fun project that I really enjoyed doing. I had to do a lot of research on how to safely do this. Making sauerkraut is an anaerobic (no oxygen) process completed by salt and vegetables. The salt pulls the water out of the vegetables to make a brine creating lactic acid bacteria which gives you the probiotics and lowers the acidity of the vegetables to an environment that can not support unwanted bacteria. Honestly I am still a little nervous about this. I think I did it well enough. I don't think I will do an extended fermentation till I get an air lock system. Then I don't have to worry about oxygen getting in. I am excited to see how it comes out and tastes. 

Basic kraut requires cabbage and salt. For more color and
flavor I added cilantro, carrots, jalapenos and garlic.

This was my first try at creating an anaerobic environment.
I was not happy with how the large cabbage leaves meant
to hold the kraut down kept sliding up between my jar
and zip lock bag filled with water.

Second try: I used kale leaves to create more of a
barrier between the kraut and top of the brine level.
I also packed it down better, put the zip lock bag back in,
added a heavy rock and more water into the bag.

Once I felt good about all the kraut being below the brine I
folded the bag back over the jar. I then added another zip lock
bag over the top and put a rubber band around them. I put it in a
bowl incase the gas releasing creates spilage. It will sit in the
conner for at least a week. Some leave it much longer.

Ratatouille

A big lessons about myself lately has been how much I crave, need and enjoy process. I like a list. I like steps. I like projects. I like the ending most of all. Their is something very therapeutic for me in the process. It is also a way in which I like to show my love. 

Here was yesterday's process. Making a huge pot of Ratatouille from scratch. Now when I say from scratch I mean from all locally grown vegetables including homemade tomato sauce. This project literally took all day. Avi was home sick so it became a mama and kid project. Leo was so patient watching me work on a blanket in the kitchen and the girls enjoyed helping for the "flashy" parts.  In the end I had three meals of delicious food that was packed full of nutrients. 

I first boiled a huge pot of tomatoes and cooled them overnight
in the firdge. My helpers worked hard in the morning to
 remove all the seeds and peels with my grandmother's
cone colander  with wood pestle.

I reheated the peels and seeds to get as much pectin out as I could.
I then restrained them in the colander. 

Our tomato sauce (juice).

I was amazed at how well this worked. I did not
see one seed in my sauce.

Let the boiling begin.

I thought the colors were so pretty.

Once the sauce was boiled down I added, cubed zucchini,
asian eggplant, saute onions, garlic and bell peppers. Followed
with a ton of fresh basal and italian seasoning.

It cooked it with the lid on for about 45 minutes.
After everything was soft I took the lid off and reduced again.

Delicious! I was able to feed my family and freeze two future meals!