How to Make Yogurt

We have a few things we make on a regular basis. When we are lucky we can knock it all out on a calm Sunday morning. Most of it will last our family of 5 about a week.

Yogurt, granola, 'mother' batch for bread, mozzarella, butter, buttermilk, and sour cream.


Our 7 year old swears that 'mama yogurt' is the best she has ever eaten and scrunches her nose up at commercial yogurts. (WIN)

Here is the math:
$6.18 for a gallon of organic milk
$1.00 for 5.3 oz of greek yogurt
= 0.45 cents for 16, 8 oz jars of homemade yogurt


Here is what I use:
4 Cups milk
3 T of greek yogurt
double boiler
thermometer
4 - 8oz jelly jars with lids & bands
crockpot

Here is what I do:
1. Pour a bit of water in the bottom pan of your double boiler and 4 cups of milk in the top pan, set to a medium heat.

2. Preheat crockpot.
3. Place a thermometer in the milk and heat to 180degrees.

4. Remove milk pan from heat and let it cool to 110degrees.

5. Spoon 3 T of greek yogurt in a medium mixing bowl and whisk in your milk.

 

6. Pour milk mixture evenly into jelly jars. Place lid and screw bands on.

7. Place jelly jars in preheated crockpot.

8. Turn crockpot off and let the yogurt sit overnight or for about 8 hours.
9. Label and refrigerate.

The yogurt stays good for about 2 weeks, but it never lasts that long at our house.

Enjoy!

Baked Potato Soup

The first snow prompts me to start digging through my soup recipes. Most folks go for chili but, to be honest, we still have a huge container in the freezer from the last time we made chili. Our kids aren't huge fans of kidney beans or ground beef, and 50% of them hate tomatoes. So soup it is.

This soup lingers in my head days before I actually make it, which is a huge plus because it does require a little prep work. For instance, when I cook bacon I bake it in the oven and I usually cook a whole pound. I use a little for that morning's breakfast and then keep the rest in a container in the refrigerator for salads, a BLT or, as in this case, for soup.

When the oven is on, I like to use it as much as I can so I tend to powerbake. If I start that morning baking muffins, I will likely make a quick casserole or a bread or something else we will eat during the week so that I'm getting good use out of the energy the stove is producing. On Friday, between baking bread and waiting for the pizza dough to rise, I baked potatoes with this soup in mind for the weekend. (Also I'm horrible about timing and waiting for yeast doughs to do their thing.) This is one of my most favorite wintertime soups, I hope you enjoy it.

Baked Potato Soup


ingredients
9 baked potatoes (I leave the skins on)
3 Cup Water
3 Cup chicken broth
2 Cup half and half
4 strips of cooked bacon, crumbled
2 Tablespoons of herbs (I use thyme & oregano, but use what you like)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
4 chives, chopped
1 Cup of shredded cheddar cheese

directions
1. Dice potatoes and toss them in the crock pot
2. Add all the remaining ingredients and slow cook for about 8 hours
3. Ladle soup into food processor and blend. Start with 1/4 of the soup and then pour it back into the crockpot. Give it a stir and then continue blending the soup until you reach a consistency you like. Some people like a more brothy potato soup--we are more of a creamy soup family around here, so I usually blend about 80% of the soup.

Some recipes recommend that you saute your onions and garlic first, but I don't taste too much of a difference so I skip this step for the sake of one less dirty pan in the sink.

This is a lot of soup. You will be able to eat this all weekend and maybe even have a bowl or two leftover for lunch on Monday.  Enjoy!

Happy Father's Day

If your kitchen smells like bourbon at 8:30 in the morning, it must be Father's Day.

I'm trying out this recipe for Bourbon Chicken Wings today. I'll let you know how it goes.

Have a beautiful day!


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Results:
I totally abandoned the recipe. What can I say... I really wanted to use my crockpot.
I rinsed the wings and salt & peppered them and then drizzled a mixture of bourbon and honey over the chicken. Broiled for 7 minutes, flipped and broiled the other side for 7 minutes.

After they were cooked, I tossed them in the crockpot with a bbq mixture that seemed right to me.

Bottle of KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce
1/3 Cup of Bourbon
1/3 Cup of Honey
about a Tablespoon of lemon juice
Garlic powder, salt & pepper

They simmered on low for 4 to 5 hours. They were awesome... but I felt like they could have been a little better. Next time I will marinate the chicken in worcestershire sauce and soy sauce overnight. And I will definitely be adding some hot sauce to the mixture. Also, after making the recipe I realized that I had a great recipe for BBQ sauce.... too late... maybe next time.

Backyard Soup

When spring refuses to do anything but deliver showers the only thing for a gardener to do is cook. Chop veggies and throw them in the crockpot to be more exact. It may not be the same as the scent of lilacs drifting through an open window, but it will fill your kitchen with some delicious smells and that will just have to do for now.

One day soon I hope to pull these things from my backyard to make this family favorite soup. 

Recipe:
2 cooked chicken breast shredded
1 red onion chopped
2 whole garlic cloves
2 C fresh or frozen carrots
1 C frozen broccoli
1/2 C dried split peas
1 can black beans or soak 1 1/2 cup dried beans overnight
3 potatoes diced
2 C vegetable broth
1 C water
2 bay leaves
handful of fresh spinach torn into small pieces
salt and pepper

Directions:
Simmer in crockpot 4 to 6 hours