Homemade Yogurt

This recipe is based off one I found here:
http://heartlandrenaissance.com/2009/11/for-the-love-of-the-slow-cooker-week-yogurt/

Steven actually made this last time and it turned out beautifully! I am not a big fan of yogurt (although it has many beneficial things about it), but it was smooth (previously it had been on the lumpy side). Steven says he has just been adding a bit of sugar and thinks it tastes great!

What did we do? Well, we can think of a couple things.

1. Temperature (during the 8-hour period): I have been a WHIMP with the cold weather lately, so our house has been closer to 70 than 65 and we haven't been turning it down as much.
2. Time: We left it in for 16 hours instead of 8.
3. Stir: Steven didn't whisk so hard
4. Starter: We used Tilamook yogurt as a starter instead of Albertsons or Dannon. Do they have a superior bacteria? (doubt it...but)
5. Amount of Starter: Steven didn't quite measure it (rats....) but he knows he put more than 1/2 cup... He thinks possibly a full cup?

Here's my new recipe for it:
1/2 gallon Whole Milk (we use generic)
3/4 cup yogurt (active live cultures are a must..high fat content would be nice but we can never find it and possibly try Tilamook if generics or Dannon aren't working)
STERILE slow cooker, utensils (whisk, spoon, measuring cup)


Pour 1/2 gallon into the slow cooker. Turn to
LOW and let it sit for2 1/2 hours. After the time has passed, turn off and unplug from wall. Let it sit for 3 hours. Whisk in yogurt SLOWLY and GENTLY. Re-cover and wrap in heavy blanket or towel. Let sit for 8-longer. We like how ours turned out and we think it's because we left it for 16 hours. Up to you. We also place ours in front of our heater-our house has a draft.

To make more use yogurt from previous batch. If after a couple uses the yogurt becomes runny, buy new yogurt to start again. Yogurt will last about 2 weeks after the milk expiration date.

Just thought I'd through out some new knowledge we had. :)

Five Tips on Food Budgets

$$$$ **I had this post originally on my personal blog, but I thought it was well-suited for this blog.
Of course I don't know everything and this might not fit with your style (diet or lifestyle), but I thought I'd share.

http://nourishedkitchen.com/food-stamp-challenge/

Our food budget is significantly lower than most others. I have heard of lower, but I always worry about nutrition. I mean, I'm all for saving money, but I don't want to go malnourished because I am not getting the variety of food every person needs. I was just reevaluating where we are spending our money because we went over last month. See, in December we didn't spend a lot because we were trying to empty out the fridge before we left on vacation, so our fridge and other perishable staples (bread, tortillas, etc.) desperately needed to be restocked. I could justify it by saying we didn't spend near our budget in December and slide the overage backwards, but I would really like to compensate for it this month; therefore, I was reevaluating. I have learned some new things since I last changed our cooking routine.

#1 Beans are a great source of protein if combined with grain. Beans and rice can get old, so we supplement our protein intake with chicken and beef (pricey!). I just found this website and look forward to incorporating more beans in our diet to lessen meat costs.

#2 Dry milk is GREAT for substituting real milk in recipes. Can't taste a difference! What a GREAT way to save money. Dry milk is like fractions of a penny compared to using the real stuff. We will still buy milk to drink and use on cereal, but as far as bread, cookies (in need to be double checked), and other baked/cooked goods dry milk is our new way to go. *NOTE Don't give a toddler/baby under 2 dry milk in place of whole milk. They need the fat.

#3 If you use a recipe a lot, then take the time to break it down! Find out how much to use for just 2 people (or however many are in your family) instead of cooking it for an army and letting your fridge have the rest of it before the garbage (aka it gets moldy waiting to be eaten).

#4 If you use it a lot, prorate what it costs! This can open your eyes so much! You can set your food budget for the month, divide it by people and then days/weeks (however you'd like).You can try sticking to this budget for dinners every night or do what we do. Because we  do eat beans and rice (Which honestly, is not as bad as most people think. I enjoy it.), we can go more expensive on other meals.

#5 Find out how to buy things cheaper. We decided a while back to add more veggies and fruits in our diet and found Bountiful Baskets. We decided to buy every other week, so that's about $30/month. As you can see here, you get A LOT. We figured it's about 1/2 as much as going to the store. Go to the cannery or a local butcher. Sounds gross (to a city girl, like me) but the bank account and your tummy will thank you.

I don't consider these tips, but life styles
#1 be brave! Try new things, i.e.  reconstituted foods, new recipes, new stores, new ways. It's a way of life and it might actually pay off! $$$$
#2 Make from scratch as often as time allows. Feel like your not a great cook? Practice just like you would an instrument or game. Don't tackle something huge first, you will feel more successful if you start small. Make cookies from scratch and share with a neighbor if they turn out. If all else fails, research about your climate, altitude, and how to cook! :)

P.S. Just a funny. While writing this, I found this website. I entered in number of house members, age, gender, and how many meals eaten away from home. My answer? $103/week. We spend less than this a month.

Inivitations

I have a meal management midterm coming up, so I thought I would share the invitations I made. If you live in Idaho, go to Artco. They are amazing! They have some amazing stuff and they are so cheap! I got a bunch of paper, ribbon (pre-cut), and some tags (which will be shown later) for $6.  These are the invites:

The Supplies:

 Take paper and slice them up in fun shapes like a tapered rectangle.

 Tape on the card

 Tape them to the card alternating the colors. Tape the printed info on it.

My envelopes didn't have the stuff to lick to make it stick, so I tied some ribbon around it.

Easy. Cheap. And if I say so myself, cute!

Apology

I would like to apologize for not really keeping up with this blog lately. I have decided that I will still do some cakes here and there (like for my meal management midterm maybe), but this blog I think would serve better purposes if I focus on the video I posted previously. I have decided that cake decorating will be fun. I just don't have time to fully submerge myself in it.

On that note, I have a proposal for this blog. It will be used to show all of you everything I create--from meals to happy memories.  I will explain how and maybe give you some inspiration to go out there and create something yourself. Also, I will be sharing knowledge and tips that I learn from school and life--which I hope will in turn generate some new ideas for you!

Also, I would like to add that a lot of these posts may be related to classes. I will probably post pictures of sewing projects, midterms, finals, and other projects that arise. I am studying to become a family and consumer sciences teacher, and honestly I feel it is a major of creating. I would not consider myself an expert in any field, but that's why I'm hoping this blog helps everybody out there.

You don't have to be an expert to

Holiday Wreath

Where did November go?
It just flew on by.
Here's a craft to gear up for the Holidays!
 

This is an idea that my sister-in-law, Jessica, saw on another blog. We kind of winged it and made this together, or at least most of it:

When I got home and finished it, I was anxious to get to decorating it! Now for those who don't know, I am a married college student that strives to be frugal. When it came to decorating it, I used what I had around the house. I'm sure those with money to spend can make theirs a lot prettier. Anyhow, I used some $.60 ribbon I bought from Micheal's previously and some scrap silver ribbon I have had for a while. This is what it looks like:

As you can see, my silver ribbon wasn't quite long enough to go all the way around, but I will fix that as soon as I can get to Micheal's again.

What you'll need:
Wire Wreath Frame
White Tulle (or other light-weight fabric)
Scissors
Ribbon or decoration of some sort

If you don't want this wreath to be used strictly for the Holidays, I would recommend using double-sided tape to place ribbon. You can't see it, but you can remove it.

Cut ribbon into 4-inch squares--play around with the length you like and feel free to modify.
Tie squares around wires. Tip from Jessica--don't do one wire on the section and then the second; instead, do one on each row and continue until section is complete. That way you don't have the fabric in your way while tying.

This will take about 3 hours, depending on how fast you tie. So, feel free to watch a movie while doing it but warning: it may take you longer this way, but at least you can have a good chick flick night, too!

If you want to do something like mine, the larger ribbon will need to be cut. I would give you an estimate, but it all depends on your taste. You can have it tightly and frequently wrapped around or loose and only 6 times around.

For my red ribbons, I took 8-inch strips (again, depends on your taste) and made a bunny-ear and pinched between index and thumb finger:

 Then wrap the longer tail around thumb:

 Pull through the newly formed hole around thumb:

 To create your bows:

I hope that helped? You will probably have to do it a couple times to get the lengths right.

Have fun and Happy Holidays!

Simplicity

 First, you need a clean surface. Simple.

I read in my Better Homes and Gardens "New Cookbook" (p. 163) how to prepare cakes. 

Grease and flour pan. Simple.

Turn pan sideways and tap out extra flour. Simple.

Pretty, huh?

The beginnings of my yellow cake batter from scratch (pg. 164). Simple.

In case you didn't know what the flour mixture is supposed to look like.

Mix the cake batter with mixer. Simple.

Leave in for designated time and stick with toothpick. Simple

Cooking them in an oven that does not cook evenly. Disastrous.

Greasing a pan that is already non-stick. Disastrous.

P.S. I don't know why this hadn't crossed my mind earlier.... :P

Leaving the crumbled cakes to cool. Simple.

Preparing to decorate the cake. Simple. And Fun!

Mixing the icing. Simple. 

I used the Creamy White Frosting found on page 185.

Piping the bags to decorate your cake. Simple.

Having fun decorating. Simple.

 

All in all, I was actually proud of myself. I made a cake from scratch with homemade icing. My shapes may have not all been the same size or close enough to each other, but I still walked away thinking I would try again. By the way if you are wondering what I did with my other cake that isn't shown finished, I used it to practice piping evenly and close together. It wasn't anything too special. My neighbors said that it tasted like a cake from the store. Which, sometimes I wonder if that's a good thing (hehe), but I'll take it. :)

Following Posts will include:

If you will notice, my ghost isn't quite centered. So, I am going to research how to better do that.

The supplies I chose and why.

How to pipe the bags.

 How to cook cakes more evenly in a rented apartment that you can't fix the oven in.

And I'm sure eventually I will make a full post of all my learning-enriched mistakes to pass on to those who are starting.

To Create

My inspiration for starting this blog comes from a life-long dream to decorate cakes! Even as a little girl, I went through a phase expressing my desire to be a cake decorator when I grew up. Well, realizing that it wasn't all too practical, I put my dream on hold. Now, I wish to start off this blog with my inspiration to start this dream--for real.





This video is one that I saw in my interior design class in Winter of 2010. It gave me hope and the realization that I could do it. What a beautiful blessing it is to be able to create! So, I hope to teach you what I learn along the way of starting my cake decorating skills.

I am so stoked about this. My plan is to:

Start off with just decorating with frosting (got to start small)
Add to my supplies and start fondant cakes
Grow in my understanding and become better!

Who knows, maybe even eventually, I will sell my cakes! I've got to remember baby steps! I am looking forward to the joy of watching my talents grow and to create something new. I may decide to do other creative things and post them here too, but for now I am planning on the majority of my posts to be about cake decorating. And I hope you all will enjoy the journey with me!