...when I made Greek yogurt.

I have been making homemade yogurt now for almost 2 years. The funny thing is...I hate yogurt. Blech! But, my kids love it and I love making it for them. I get to make the exact flavors they like without all the added sugar the store bought kind has.
Their favorite flavor is simple - cinnamon vanilla! They eat yogurt every.single.day. I think they'd eat it with every meal if I let them (how are they my kids?!?)
Now don't get me wrong, I occasionally buy yogurt from the store - mainly when we travel.
I once bought Greek yogurt for Elena and she called it ice cream! I just went with it and let her call it that!
The thing I like about Greek yogurt, is how thick it is. With my homemade yogurt, it thins out, especially when I add in the "flavoring" (vanilla, pureed fruit, etc). Because Greek yogurt is so thick, I don't notice that it gets any thinner when I add fruit or vanilla to it.
The bummer part of Greek yogurt though, is how expensive it is. One of those single serving size cups (6 ounces usually) costs more than $1 and sometimes closer to $2!!! The other negative, is that the majority of Greek yogurt sold in the stores here is nonfat. Meaning zero fat.
It's no secret that my kids are barely on the growth curve (they are on their own growth curve and are very healthy!), so for now I continue to give them milk products that are at a minimum made with 2% milk. When I make their yogurt, I make it with whole milk (that also helps it be thicker). I have never even come across whole milk Greek yogurt in a store.

Lately, when I have been making their yogurt, I try to pour off the whey that accumulates in the glass jars (whey is the clearish liquid). Since I was already doing that, I decided to check online to see how to make the yogurt Greek style.
It is so completely easy - that I feel like an idiot for not doing it sooner!
If you aren't familiar with how I make yogurt, check out my previous blog post here.
The only thing you do differently to make it Greek, is this:

Once your yogurt is done culturing, place it in the fridge for approximately 3 hours.
After 3 hours, remove from fridge.
Line a mesh strainer with 4 layers of cheesecloth and set the strainer over a medium to large mixing bowl.
Spoon your yogurt into the cheesecloth lined strainer.
Set the entire bowl/strainer/yogurt contraption back in the fridge for about another hour.
After an hour, remove from fridge.
The whey will be in the bottom of the mixing bowl and your nice thick Greek yogurt is sitting in the cheesecloth!
That's it, your Greek yogurt is complete (after flavoring of course).

I used 4 cups of organic whole milk to make my Greek Yogurt. A gallon of organic whole milk cost me just under $6 at the grocery store (and I only used a QUARTER of that gallon). My yogurt starter came from a previous batch of yogurt that I had made. A 32 ounce container of Greek Chobani yogurt at the grocery store costs about $5-$6, depending on sale price vs. regular price.

Greek yogurt!

...with the easy peasy pizza dip recipe.

**Blogger and my laptop have not been getting along. For unknown reasons, I have been able to write posts but could not publish them or add photos.....don't worry, I haven't forgotton about you blog!**




Who doesn't love pizza? I mean, there's a pizza for everyone. Traditional pizza. Veggie pizza. Fruit pizza. Dessert pizza. Today, I share with you...pizza dip. I think it's meant to be more of an appetizer. As in, take it to a party as your "dish to pass".
Around these parts, we love pizza. So I just made this for dinner one night. Yeah, that's right. I made the pizza dip, toasted a loaf of a french baguette, sat down at the table and told my husband to just start ripping bread apart and lather it up with the dip. That's how we did it ;) I am not ashamed of it either. It was that good. Nothing fancy...but then again, we're not fancy people and I'm not going to pretend we are.


I am pretty sure there are several variations of this recipe floating around the interwebz...here's the one I used:

Pizza Dip

A layered, hot cheesy dip with all of the great pizza flavours including pizza sauce, cheese, pepperoni, olives and green peppers.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes


Ingredients
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup mozzarella, grated
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (parmesan), grated
1 cup pizza sauce
1/2 cup mozzarella, grated
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (parmesan), grated
2 ounces pepperoni, sliced
2 tablespoons green pepper, sliced
2 tablespoons black olives, sliced

Directions
1.Mix the cream cheese, sour cream mayonnaise, mozzarella and parmigiano reggiano and spread it across the bottom of a pie plate.
2.Spread the pizza sauce on top and sprinkle on the cheese, pepperoni, green pepper and olives.
3.Bake in a preheated 350F oven until the cheese has melted, bubbling and golden brown, about 20 minutes.

...with recipe catch up.

I have been a cooking maniac lately. I just keep finding more and more recipes online that look so good, so I have been whipping up new things and taking photos (if they are good enough!) to keep for my recipe book project. In case you are looking for something new for your meal plans - check out these recipes.

My most recent favorites are these:
Pacific Pork Kabobs with Pineapple Rice


and Tyler's Mozarella Grilled Cheese Sandwiches I even got my mom hooked on these! I ate one for lunch everyday for a week!


If you need something refreshing and want to save a couple of bucks at your favorite coffee shop, then you should try this:

Recipe for Iced Mocha Frappucinno
Ingredients:

1/2 c instant coffee (adjust to taste)
1 cup sugar
1 cup non-fat dry milk powder (one package)
1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
1/3 cup baking cocoa (adjust to taste)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together well

If you like a stronger/weaker coffee or mocha flavor, adjust those two ingredients accordingly.

Stores perfectly in a 1 quart jar for up to a year.

To make a perfect Mocha Frappe:

1 1/2 cup crushed ice

1/3 cup mocha mix

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup milk

Toss crushed ice into food processor first and blend until it looks a bit like snow, add mix & water, process until well blended and then add in milk. Blend just until it's mixed well (7-10 seconds).

...with Streusel Topped Blueberry Muffins

Back when I was stockpiling food away for my maternity leave I specifically searched for a blueberry muffin recipe that would freeze well. The recipe I decided on came with a bonus...streusel on top! Yum! These muffins are huge...and so yummy. The recipe makes 12 muffins (using a regular size muffin pan....they are just filled very full to make big muffins!). They freeze great and taste wonderful after a quick defrost in the microwave. I have made these muffins about 5 or 6 times now and they will continue to be a recipe I make frequently.
The only downside to this recipe, is that's it's one of those recipes that uses a TON of bowls....you know, "mix these 3 ingredients in this bowl, mix these 4 ingredients in that bowl, wisk this in another bowl and them combine bowl 1, 2 and 3 together in bowl #4". I hate recipes like this....because I hate doing all the dishes afterwards. But, these muffins are worth the extra dishes!

Blueberry Muffins
Streusel Topping:
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
pinch table salt
½ cup plus 3 tablespoons (3½ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons warm, melted unsalted butter

Muffin Batter:
2 cups (about 10 ounces) frozen blueberries, picked over
1 1/8 cups (8 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/2 cups (12½ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk (see note)
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Note: If buttermilk is unavailable, substitute 3/4 cup plain whole-milk or low-fat yogurt thinned with 1/4 cup milk.


FOR THE STREUSEL TOPPING: Combine all the dry streusel ingredients in small bowl. Drizzle with the warm, melted unsalted butter and toss with fork until evenly moistened and mixture forms large chunks with some pea-sized pieces throughout.

FOR THE MUFFINS: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray (or use baking liners if you prefer). Bring 1 cup frozen blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

Rinse the remaining cup of berries under cold water and dry well. Toss dried berries in 1 tablespoon of flour and set aside.


Whisk the remaining flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl and set aside.

In another bowl, whisk remaining 11/8 cups sugar and eggs together until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not overmix.)

Use an ice cream scoop or large spoon to divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle prepared streusel evenly over muffins.

Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

...with the Chocolate Espresso Cookies.

Oh my...these are my new FAVORITE cookie. I love soft, chewy cookies. I love anything espresso flavored. So combine the two and we have a WINNER.
When I found this recipe in the Sunday paper "mini-magazine" (I have no idea what it's called....something like Parade?!?!) it was simply called Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie. But upon reading the ingredient list further, I found the recipe called for espresso powder. I decided to make them to see if they tasted at all "espresso-y". They sure did. Delicious! It makes a small batch, so consider doubling the recipe. These cookies come out so soft and they STAY soft....which is huge for me. I often (ok always) have problems with my cookies getting hard and cripsy after a day or two, and I don't like crispy cookies...I want soft and chewy!
Another bonus is that this recipe can be made in one bowl. So many of my recipes call for half the ingredients to be mixed in one bowl, some more ingredients in another bowl and then you combine them later. I hate that. Too many dirty dishes!

I just made a batch of these yesterday and they are almost gone...yipes! I am thinking of making another (double) batch tomorrow....hmmmmm ;)

...with Oatmeal Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

At the cafe at work there are these delicious oatmeal coconut cookies that always call out my name...and what can I say? I answer back by buying one of them and then eating every last crumb. I recently did a search online to see if I could find a recipe for these yummy little morsels.
Today I made a batch of these cookies and ate one...or two or three...and the day is not over yet!
Check out the recipe at A Chica Bakes, and while you're at it check out some of the other recipes too....they all look so good!

...with the DIY coffee shop Iced Latte

There's no hiding the fact that I am a coffee shop "junkie". I looooove me a nice cup of jo from pretty much any coffee shop. I don't actually drink regular old coffee. I'm more of an espresso girl myself. I love lattes and mochas.
Now that the weather is *trying* to get warmer around these parts, I find myself wanting one of the cold espresso beverages from the coffee shop. Problem is, is that the darn things cost an arm and a leg, and now that I am on maternity leave and making zero dollars, I feel guilty indulging in a drink. So I decided I needed to come up with an alternative. Here's what I came up with:
1. Get a job at a coffee shop just so I could learn the recipes to all my favorite drinks, quit said job and begin making my own coffee shop drinks at home.
2. Befriend a barista and twist their arm until they gave me the coffee drink recipes, then ditch the "friend"...unless they really were a cool person.
3. Google the darn recipe and try em out.

So, after much thought, I came to the conclusion that option #3 was easiest and less time consuming :)
The first recipe I Googled was "Starbuck's Iced Vanilla Latte".
Luckily, the first recipe I tried out was a winner and lucky for you, I am sharing it!
Iced Vanilla Latte
Mix together:
4 pumps of vanilla syrup (approx. 4 tablespoons...I used 3 tbsp and it was plenty sweet)
2 shots of espresso
9 ounces of cold milk
6 ounces of ice

To me, this tasted like the REAL thing! Now I get to save myself $4.50 and make my own. Thank goodness too, because I really didn't want to have to dig out my resume and apply for a job!

...with the freezable scones.

As mentioned in my last post, I have been on the lookout for recipes that freeze well, cook/reheat well and STILL taste good! I think I found one. No, I KNOW I found one.
Meet chocolate chip scone, dear reader:




I made these babies a few weeks ago and they were gone in 2.5 days. I made another batch just a few days ago...they are that good!
Since these scones weren't something I had made before, I wanted to be sure they would reheat well and taste yummy. I mean, there's nothing worse than preparing all this food ahead of time only to have it taste like dog poo when it comes time to cook/reheat and eat it...right??? So this was essentially a taste test. A taste test that I plan to give all the freezable food recipes I find. If they pass, then I will make them and freeze them for my maternity leave!
These particular scones are frozen unbaked, and when you are ready to eat you just preheat the oven and cook them from their frozen state. Easy. Now, admittedly, I cooked half the batch right away (and ate them) and froze the other half. Then I waited a few days and cooked the rest of the scones from their frozen state to make sure they passed the test. Let's just say they passed with flying colors. The second complete batch I made was for my freezer stash. Whether this batch makes it to my maternity leave still has yet to be determined. They may just jump into the oven one day and then into my belly ;)

I found this recipe on one of my favorite food blogs: Annie's Eats
She has other scone recipes as well, a few of which I am going to try out soon!

Here's the recipe to share!

Chocolate Chip Scones
Ingredients:

1½ cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup (6 oz.) chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp. butter, melted
Additional sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375˚ F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl; stir to combine. Toss in the chocolate chips and stir to blend. Add the heavy cream to the flour mixture, stirring just until a dough forms and the dry ingredients are incorporated. Knead the dough very briefly with well floured hands to ensure even mixing.

Using a large dough scoop (or a large spoon), drop rounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Brush lightly with melted butter and sprinkle with additional sugar (if using). Bake 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned. Makes about 8.

...with cheesecake + peanut butter + chocolate = Yummylicious!

My husband's birthday was yesterday and for his birthday cake I decided to make something involving cheesecake (his favorite...or wait, is it my favorite?!?!?), peanut butter (ok, that's his favorite!) and chocolate. I initially was thinking of making a regular size chocolate peanut butter cheesecake, but since he's been watching what he eats and exercising regularly (and asking me to not keep sweets in the house because they tempt him!) I decided to look for something different. Imagine my surprise when I found a recipe for chocolate peanut butter cheesecake LOLLIPOPS! The great thing about these is that they can be freezed, so we won't feel the need to polish off an entire cheesecake before it goes bad in a week...but who am I kidding - this pregnant lady may still polish them off in a week ;)
Let me tell you, this recipe did not disappoint! I will definitely keep this one around to make again in the future!

These were relatively easy to make and the best part was that I already had all the ingredients (including the lollipop sticks - leftover from last years hot cocoa on a stick!).
Here's the yummy recipe!
The only thing I have to say about the recipe, is that the dipping chocolate wasn't enough for my 36 lollipops. So I ended up only dipping about half of them in chocolate before I ran out (maybe mine wasn't thin enough?) and then froze the rest without chocolate. I figure I can easily pull them out of the freezer and dip them in chocolate as needed :)

Ingredients:

Cheesecake-
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups creamy peanut butter

Chocolate-
5 tablespoons butter
12 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Line a 8 by 8-inch baking pan with foil letting long flaps overlap on each side. Spray foil with nonstick spray.

2. In a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until very smooth. Add the cream and beat slowly; then add the yolks and vanilla mixing until just combined. Gently stir in peanut butter. Take care not to over beat the mixture; this incorporates too much air and causes the cheesecake to crack.

3. Pour and evenly spread the batter in the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Open the oven to release some heat, then lower the temperature to 200 degrees F. Continue to bake the cheesecake until the outside is set but the center is still loose, for about 45 minutes. Turn off the oven, and cool cheesecake in the oven for 45 more minutes. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

4. Lift cheesecake from the pan by lifting up the foil. Transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes. Stick a wooden pop stick halfway into each bar and freeze for 1 hour.

5. Meanwhile, put the butter and chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with an inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

6. Dip the pops into the chocolate mixture, and stand on waxed paper to set, about 5 minutes. Serve cold (straight from the fridge), or freeze up to 2 weeks.

...with Elena's homemade Apple Banana Bran muffins.

I recently wanted to try out a new toddler food recipe for Elena that is in one of our baby food cookbooks. I specifically wanted to make a breakfast recipe, as I have been making homemade pancakes of every flavor (beet, blackberry, cinnamon and vanilla are some of Elena's favorites) for Elena, so I wanted to try something different. I have made blueberry muffins before and Elena was interested in them, so I decided a muffin recipe would be a good one to try out. This recipe is for Apple Banana Bran muffins. It was simple to make and you can either make 24 mini muffins or 12 regular size muffins. I made the regular size muffins as I don't have a mini muffin pan. After cooling, I froze the muffins in the freezer, so I can grab them out and thaw as needed. Elena enjoyed her first muffin quite a bit!
Here's the recipe:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oat bran
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup applesauce or apple puree (I made my own apple puree)
1-3 medium banana's (1 mashed, 2 sliced***)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease muffin tins. (I used paper liners)
With a fork, combine first four ingredients in a small bowl.
Melt butter . In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, apple puree, mashed banana, sugar and eggs. Mix together with a rubber spatula. Add flour mixture to apple puree mixture and stir until just blended. Batter will be lumpy and moist.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins, filling 2/3 full. Place a banana slice on top of each muffin (***optional). Bake for 12 minutes (for mini muffins) or 15-18 minutes (for regular size muffins). Cool muffins in pan for 5 minutes before removing from muffin tin.
***I only say the sliced banana's on top of the muffins are optional because I forgot to add them! Oops. But Elena enjoyed them without the banana slice on top!

Enjoy!

...with the leftover eggroll wraps.

A while back I made homemade eggrolls and was left with a bunch of eggroll wrappers in the fridge. The eggrolls were good, but not something I wanted to make again. Everytime I opened the refridgerator door those darn eggroll wrappers were staring back at me. I didn't want to just throw them away, but I couldn't think of what to do with them.
Then, my CSA-sharing-buddy suggested I make mozzarella sticks with them! Why didn't I think of that? My husband LOVES mozarella sticks. If they are on the appetizer menu at any restaurant that we dine in, he orders them!
So, I made mozarella sticks...the easy way!
I bought mozarella string cheese and left them on the counter for about an hour so that they would hopefully melt better. I then wrapped one mozarella stick in each eggroll wrapper and fried them in some oil. The cheese melted perfectly!
I had some leftover pizza sauce that I warmed up in the microwave and TA-DA ~ homemade mozarella sticks with marinara! Yum!

...with brussel sprouts.

Recently we received brussel sprouts in our CSA box. I haven't eaten a brussel sprout since I was a kid and my mom made them. I don't remember if I liked them when I was kid, but I remember eating them. My mom bought the frozen brussel sprouts, so this was the first time I had seen fresh ones! I don't think I've even seen fresh brussel sprouts in the grocery store....probably because I never looked!

So what to do with fresh brussel sprouts? I searched online and quickly found a recipe that sounded easy and yummy.

I was excited to cook them and give them a try. My husband had never eaten a brussel sprout so I was curious to see what he thought!

Here's the simple recipe:

15 Brussels sprouts, halved lengthwise
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, smashed with the flat of a knife
freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional)
salt and pepper

Melt butter and olive oil in a medium skillet (over medium-high heat) until butter is foamy. Reduce heat to medium, add smashed garlic and cook until lightly browned.
Remove garlic and discard.
Add sprouts cut side down, cover, and cook without stirring on medium-low heat 10-15 minutes or until tender when pierced with a knife.
The cut side of the sprouts should get nice and browned, with a nutty, buttery flavor enhanced by garlic.
Top with freshly grated parmesan and salt & pepper to taste.












They turned out delicious and I even went to the grocery store the following week and found and bought more brussel sprouts to cook!

...with a glimpse of what is on Elena's plate!

I am still going strong with making Elena's food homemade. I am slowly trying to have her eat the same food we eat, however we eat many things she just doesn't have the teeth for quite yet! Not only that, but she eats much healthier than we do and eats vegetables that even I don't eat ;) I could learn a thing or two from her.
So, here's a glimpse into what I have been serving Elena.

Lunch today included soybeans (from our CSA), Great Northern beans (canned), sweet potatoes, leftover banana from breakfast and homemade chicken "nuggets".






Dinner a few days ago included peas, acorn squash (from Grandma's garden), homemade blackberry yogurt and homemade turkey and veggies meatballs.








Here's the recipe for the veggie meatballs. I used ground turkey.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 - 4 medium carrots, finely grated)
2 medium (not massive!) zucchini, finely grated
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/3 cup fine dried breadcrumbs
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp dried)
2 teaspoons finely chopped oregano (or 1 tsp dried)
2 teaspoons finely chopped thyme (or 1 tsp dried)
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley (nice, but you're okay without it)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

:: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add the onions and saute them for 7 - 10 minutes, stirring often, until they're soft and translucent. Add the garlic and saute for another minute. Add the carrots and zucchini and cook for another 10 - 15 minutes, until the mixture is tender (but not mushy) and sweet. Set aside to cool.

:: Add all the other ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Once the veggies are cooled, add them as well. Using a large wooden spoon (or your hands, if you aren't grossed out) mix everything together until evenly combined.

:: Preheat the oven to 375 F. Have a couple of baking sheets ready, lined with aluminum foil or with a Silpat. Start with slightly damp hands and roll the mixture into meatballs that are about the size of a ping pong ball, or a bit smaller if you want dainty appetizers. Bake for 35 minutes (5 - 10 minutes less if you're going for a smaller size).

...with the homemade laundry detergent.

I recently made homemade laundry detergent.....Duggar style! Yup, I learned something from watching episodes of "Whatever Number" and Counting! I have wanted to make my own laundry detergent for a while now, however I was in the process of using up commercial detergents. Well, I recently used up the last of my store-bought detergent and figured it was time to make my own. I remembered seeing an episode where the Duggars showed how they made theirs, so I did a quick Google search for "Duggar homemade laundry soap" and found this! (scroll down a bit as they have food recipes listed too....tater tot casserole for 20 anyone?)
I obviously had to cut the recipe down a bit, as I don't launder as much clothing as they do....I'm about 18 children behind them...or is it 19?
The recipe was super easy and so far I've had clean, fresh laundry! In addition to not being full of chemicals.....it's CHEAP!
Give it a try!

Here's the recipe: (note:I think I made a total of 2 gallons worth. I used my gallon size empty containers of vinegar to store them in)

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top load machine-

4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

...with the chocolate beet cake!

As part of our CSA box, we received beets. I had never eaten a beet up until this point! Can you believe that? I had no clue what to do with our beets until a friend suggested I make a chocolate beet cake. I searched online and found several beet cake recipes. I pretty much chose the one for which I had all the ingredients already.
The recipe was really pretty simple and easy to make. There weren't any unusual ingredients, other than the beets. The cake came out super moist and was tasty. I don't see myself buying beets just to make a cake, however, if I ever do receive beets, I will definitely make this cake again!
Here's the recipe for you:

Chocolate Beet Cake

1 c. margarine, softened, divided
1 1/2 c. packed dark brown sugar
3 eggs at room temp
1 1/2 oz. dark chocolate
5 medium beets/2 c. pureed beets
1 t. vanilla extract
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
confectioners’ sugar for dusting

To make beet puree, trim stems and roots off beets and quarter them. Place in heavy sauce pan filled with water. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 50 mins or until the beets are tender. Drain off remaining liquid and rinse beets in cold water as they’ll be too hot to handle otherwise. Slide skins off and place beets in blender. Pulse until a smooth puree forms. Let cool slightly before using in cake. Puree can be made several days in advance.

In a mixing bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and brown sugar. Add eggs; mix well. Melt chocolate with remaining butter; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Blend chocolate mixture, beets and vanilla into the creamed mixture (mixture will appear separated). Combine flour, baking soda , salt, cinnamon and nutmeg; add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. spring form pan. Bake at 375 degrees F for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Cool completely before dusting with confectioners’ sugar.

...with the homemade yogurt.

I have been making homemade yogurt for Elena now for about a month or two. Once I started offering her dairy products I thought yogurt would be a good choice. I am not a yogurt eater myself, but it is something I really wanted Elena to eat and enjoy - for it's many healthy nutrients (provided you choose the right kind;)).

Being that she is a baby (and a small one), it's important to give her whole milk yogurt for the calories, fat and other obvious nutrients (calcium and protein).

At the grocery store, I can get a quart of plain whole milk yogurt for $4.19. I can't for the life of me find plain whole milk yogurt in those little 6 or 8 ounce cups...I suppose they don't make it that way. The only way I have found the smaller sized containers sold is in a 6 pack of 4-ounce single servings which is a total of 24 ounces of yogurt...and they cost $4.29. By making my own yogurt I save a few bucks. My batch that is culturing as I type will have cost me a grand total of $1.42 for one quart or 32 ounces!

I had vaguely heard of people making their own yogurt, but didn't want to invest in a yogurt maker as we already have enough single use appliances in our house, and we surely don't need another! Because the internet is so awesome, I found a recipe to make homemade yogurt in a crockpot (equally as awesome). Since I already have a crockpot, I decided to give it a whirl and see what happened!

The instructions are pretty simple:

1. Set your crockpot on low.
2. Add 1/2 gallon of milk and let it heat up for 2.5 hours.
3. After 2.5 hours, turn the crockpot off, leave the lid on and let it cool off for 3 hours.
4. After cooling for 3 hours, take out a small amount of the milk (I don't measure...maybe 1/2 a cup) and mix in your starter. Your starter is just a 1/2 cup of store bought plain yogurt (I use a plain low fat variety so that I only have to buy one small container of yogurt). Once you have made one batch of this yogurt successfully, you can set aside a 1/2 cup of it to use as your starter for the next batch you make.
5. Take the starter mixture and add it to the crockpot, stir and recover with the lid.
6. Take your whole crockpot and put it in the oven (TURNED OFF...of course!).
7. Tape a note to your range that says "Do not use oven" - I swear...this even helps ME remember not to use the oven....you'd be amazed at how quickly you forget that you have yogurt in there!
8. Let it "culture" for 8-12 hours. Just leave it in there....no peeking. If you open the door, or take the lid off to peek, it loses "heat" which is necessary to culture the yogurt!
9. Take the crockpot out of the oven, give the yogurt a stir (it should be thick by now) and put it in the fridge. For best results....let it chill in the fridge for 8+ hours before you use it.


Because the yogurt has to culture for such a long period of time, I generally start my yogurt in the early evening and before I go to bed I put the crockpot in the oven and let it culture while we sleep. I finish it up first thing in the morning :)


When the yogurt is finished, I use it to mix with many of Elena's other foods to thin it out...like egg yolks, beans, etc.
In addition, I flavor the yogurt myself with fruit purees. I'd have to say her favorite is blackberry yogurt.
I currently cut the above recipe in half and only make one quart of yogurt since Elena is the only one eating it. I do however have plans to get an ice cream maker and will hopefully use my homemade yogurt to make frozen yogurt. Yum!

...with my CSA creations!

Our first CSA box was a success! I was able to find something to do with all the veggies in the box! Even Elena benefited from the CSA box...she was the lucky recipient of the asparagus! Poor girl...the husband and I both hate asparagus, so I decided to whip up some asparagus puree and see if Elena would eat it! Surprisingly, the girl quite enjoyed it! Don't know who she gets that from!

Would you believe I have never eaten or cooked with rhubarb before! It was on the list of foods "that look weird, therefore I don't like them even though I've never tried it". Well, rhubarb has officially been removed from that list! I found a recipe online for rhubarb coffee cake. OMG. This was the best coffee cake I have ever made. Here's a picture of the final coffee cake...I'm not quite sure where the rest of the coffee cake went ;) And if you are interested in the recipe, you can find it here.
The other new recipe I made was Penne with Ricotta and Green Garlic Sauce. Our CSA box contained green garlic (which looks like scallions on steroids). This recipe was simple, easy and quick. The recipe can be found here.

I can't wait to see what the rest of the CSA season holds for us! I am looking forward to trying out more new recipes! The one thing I enjoy so far, is that it forces me to meal plan (I have not given up on that!).

...with baby millet and zucchini.

I have been a baby-food-making-machine! I don't know why, but I get so much satisfaction from making Elena's baby food. Each time I try a new food, I can't wait for the next three days when I can try another new food! I have been going through the recipes in my favorite baby-food cookbook like crazy. I think part of it, is that I am making her things I would have never known I could give a baby.....like herbs! Up until I started making her baby food, I always just assumed that baby food was plain and bland. I never even thought about introducing her to spices and herbs! But lo and behold, one of the things I have learned from the two cookbooks I have is that you can introduce herbs and spices to a baby just as you would any other new food...one at a time! So far Elena has had fresh mint (with green beans) and basil.

The latest "dish" I made for Elena was a combined concoction of millet, zucchini, apples and basil. As embarassing as it is to say, I had no idea what millet was!
I went to OutPost Foods though and looked around the bulk section until I found it. It's just a grain of some sort! A very healthy whole grain.
I never made/introduced Elena to rice cereal, so this was the first grain she ate. She loved it! I thought for sure that this was going to be the first food she spit out...but I was wrong. This girl loves her food! I relaly hope she continues to be a good eater!
Next, I am going to make her a dish containing plums and amaranth (again, another food that I had no idea what it was.....also a grain!). My sister in law gave me some organic plums, so I've already made a plum puree for the amaranth.

..with the lamb chops.

Remember the lamb my husband purchased from his farming coworker?
Last night I made my first lamb recipe ever! I used a recipe from my Everyday Food cookbook. I made Lamb Chops with Mint-Pepper Sauce. I was nervous about making them, because everyone has told me "lamb is so hard to cook". This recipe wasn't that difficult. It does ask for the lamb to be cooked medium-rare......but I am not a rare-of-any-kind eating type of gal! I will only eat meat if it is well done. So, I just kept an eye on the lamb while it was in the broiler and cooked it longer than the recipe states. It was not overcooked and it had great flavor...even without the mint-pepper sauce! This recipe will be filed away as a keeper!

...with R's birthday gathering.

We celebrated R's birthday this past weekend by having several friends over to watch the Marquette basketball game on T.V. (they won-woohoo!), making chili and later in the evening, by playing hours of Wii. We had a great time and stayed up way too late! As a snack, I made homemade salsa using this recipe from the Pioneer Woman. I should have taken a picture, but forgot. This is definitely a good recipe to keep and I will be making it again!
For his birthday "cake", I made cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes that are supposed to taste like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. The recipe came from my FoodNetwork magazine. They were pretty good, especially the peanut butter layer. I did manage to remember to take a picture of these!

Today was spent relaxing since we are sleep deprived! I did work on this week's dinner menu:

Trader Joe's Orange Chicken (this was on last weeks menu, but we ended up making something else instead)
Pork Chops with Mango Mint Salsa
Chicken and Sun Dried Tomato Salads
Thyme Chicken Thighs
Toasted Deli Sandwiches