So, I like yogurt. The husband takes it with him every day to work for breakfast. Sometimes I even make him a refrigerator oatmeal parfait the night before for him to take to work. Hes been getting a case of Greek yogurt at Costco for a while now, but the problem is that Caleb always wants to eat it was well, and then he runs out. The other issue is that I would like the baby to have the full fat yogurt, but that stuff is super expensive. I know people who have made their own yogurt, so I figured I would give it a try! I was a little scared, the idea of leaving milk out overnight freaked me out a bit, but I powered through it. So we are going for Organic, full fat yogurt. I was a little concerned that the Ultra Pasteurized milk might not work right, but it's what I had on hand. First I dumped a gallon of milk into my crock pot. You can also do this on the stove, but it requires more attention than I am willing to give. I can't be bothered with all that stirring and making sure the milk doesn't scorch. Up until this point, I also didn't realize that my crock pot holds a gallon of liquid. Good to know. I then ignored it for 2 - 3 hours. Cleaned the house and got ready for the company coming over. Once it hit 180 degrees, I shut off the crock pot. I then ignored it for another few hours while I waited for it to get back down to 110 degrees. Our friends came over and we has an awesome time drinking beer, eating mac n cheese and playing with all the kids. Woo Hoo 110 degrees! I grabbed the single serving of plain yogurt that had been sitting out to get up to room temperature, and gently mixed it in. After I got it mixed in I realized I was supposed to mix the yogurt with a bit of the warm milk and then add to the whole pot. Oops. Hopefully that doesn't screw anything up. Now, the milk gets to have a nice cuddly snuggle with a bath towel. I wrap up the crock pot and leave it for the night. Goodnight milk, don't do gross things overnight... Good morning! Its been 12 hours since I left the milk. I'm super excited to see what happened! You guys...... It's yogurt!!!!!! I'm so excited!!!! Its thick and creamy and smells like yogurt. Omg! I'm feeling more confidant now. Time to strain it. I plopped a colander on a big bowl and lined it with cheese cloth. The idea is to strain out some of the whey for a thicker yogurt. It looks so amazing!! It all just fit, which is great because we need to get to church. I decided to cover it because we have a very curious kitten around who would love to stick her nose in some fresh yogurt. Naughty cat. Off to church! When we came home 4 hours later it was done straining. I tasted it and it was so yummy! I ended up with approx 11 cups of yogurt. Its not super thick, but its very creamy. If I had let it strain longer it would have gotten thicker. Next time I might let it strain a little longer. The little jar will be the starter for the next batch. I also have a bunch of whey, and I cant wait to figure out what to do with that! if you have ideas, leave me a comment. Caleb got to be the taste tester! I figured the 4 year old would give honest feedback. i added some strawberry preserves and gave it to him. He absolutely loved it!
Here is the recipe I used: Ingredients
Instructions
Notes ***You don't have to use the slow cooker method. For a quicker method simply heat the milk in a large stock pot over low to medium heat. Just be sure to stir it regularly, especially as it gets hotter, to prevent the milk from scorching. Then follow the rest of the instructions as written.
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Hello everyone and Happy New Year! I spent the last day of 2015 busting my butt in the kitchen doing another 20 dinner prep. If you didn't see my last one, check this out for reference http://www.sonottired.com/blog/how-to-prep-20-dinners-at-once. I was using a different meal plan this time although it is still from http://www.5dollardinner.com so prep was a little different. This is also a slow cooker plan because after running out of my previous stash of dinners, I'm tired of thinking about dinner. First you get an obligatory ingredients shot. I shopped the day before. I find shopping and prepping the same day to be too much for me... I've got tiny people! Thankfully DJ and Trinity are home so I have help this time. After gathering everything I label all the bags and set out my pans for the chopped veggies. I also use these pans when I put the bags together. The meal plan is awesome, it give you the shopping list, recipes and prep instructions. Its nearly impossible to mess up if you follow the directions. Also, I do not have a huge kitchen by any means. You can do this is any sized kitchen. Hint: before you begin, clean your kitchen, empty the dishwasher, have an empty garbage bag in the can and a recycling bag ready to go. Once you get going you don't want to have to deal with these things. I strap the tiniest helper onto my back and begin! First I wash and chop the veggies. This plan has less veggie chopping than my last one so I am hoping it will take less time overall. As I chop things I put them in pans and bowls. Freakiest looking mushroom. I realize that 1) I have to cook two sauces and 2) I need to peel 10 lbs of sweet potatoes. So I call for backup in the form of child labor. Trinity gets to work while I prepare the maple sauce and creamy mushroom sauce for two of the dinners. They have to be cooked and cooled before putting the bags together so I need to get them done first. Seriously you guys, this mushroom sauce was a homeade cream of mushroom soup for cooking so you don't need to use the canned stuff. I hate using the canned stuff. (By the way I just ate the ranch chicken tonight that used the soup and it was so good. Never using cans again) Trinity is still diligently peeling sweet potatoes while I brown and cool all the beef. Veggie prep done! Cans all opened and ready to go! At this point the baby is done. She's been chillen on my back this whole time and she needs a nap. So I take a break to nurse her and try to get her down. After an unsuccessful attempt at getting the baby down, I give her to DJ and try to finish. We have a New Year's Eve party to attend and time is running short! I go recipe by recipe and bag up each one. And done! I am wiped out! Look at all those dinners! You will notice that there are paper towels between each bag. You see last time a bunch of my bags stuck together. Imagine me trying to seperate giant bags of frozen stuff without ripping the bags or defrosting them. Really not fun. So the paper towels prevent that. Highly recommended. We have a "new to us" fridge in the utility room now. The fridge is DJs for his beer, the freezer is mine for my dinners. He really wanted me to show a pic of his kegs.. We currently have his Juice Box IPA on tap and a pear strawberry cider I made on tap. It pleases me. In total the prep took me approximately 4 hours. This was with Trinity helping with the peeling and chopping, but also included the baby break. I think those things balance each other out. I learned a few important things this time around. It's my third time doing this so I have figured out what works best for me. 1) I need to do this when everyone is home. It takes way less time when I have trinity to help and others to care for the baby. 2) Put paper towels between the bags in the freezer. Really happy about this one. It has made fishing the dinners out so much easier. We have eaten 3 of the dinners so far by the way and I think this is my favorite plan we have done. Delicious. 3) I need to wear good shoes. I don't usually wear shoes in the house but I am on my feet forever. That plus the baby on my back required some serious foot padding. 4) As I empty prep bowls and pans I put them immediately into the dishwasher (unless they are disposable, then just toss them) As you empty cans toss them in your recycling bag. By doing this it didn't look like my kitchen got destroyed by the time I was done. It just looked like I had cooked one dinner not twenty. When you are done with this you will be exhausted. No joke. But the benefits are so worth it. Come on! Try it! My step mom was Italian and made the yummiest sauce ever. I told the story in my meatball post a while back. Go peek for a refresher if you like. Anyways, after failing to make her sauce right I decided that the best way to honor her tradition was to start my own tradition. So for a few years I searched to find what type of pasta sauce I liked best. After much tasting I decided I really liked bolognese sauce. I love the abundant meat and warm spices involved. After a bit more time I found a recipe I liked. Then I tweaked it and altered it to end up with what I have now. Here is the thing: I love sharing my recipes. I believe if I'm eating something yummy I should not guard it and keep it from everyone else. I want everyone to try it! Share the yummy!! So with that intention I present: April's Bolognese Sauce Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil 4 ounces bacon diced 3 cups chopped yellow onions 2 cups diced carrots 2 cup diced celery 2 tablespoon minced garlic OR 1 tablespoon garlic powder 2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 4 bay leaves 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 3 pounds ground beef Little can tomato paste 2 big cans crushed tomatoes and their juice 1 big can tomato sauce 1 box beef or chicken stock or broth First prep all your ingredients. I buzz the veggies through my food processor because 1) I do not care to do all that chopping and 2) I want the veggies really small so they disappear into the sauce. You do whatever makes you happy. Portion all the spices into a bowl. Also open all of your cans and the box of stock. You want to be ready to go. Things move fast in the beginning. Let's cook! In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring, until browned and the fat is rendered, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the onions, carrots and celery and cook, stirring, until soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic, salt, pepper, bay leaves, thyme, oregano, cinnamon, and nutmeg and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. This smells amazing. Add the beef and cook, stirring, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the stock and cook, stirring, to deglaze the pan and remove any browned bits sticking to the bottom of the pan, about 2 min. Add the tomatoes and their juices, the tomato sauce, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, to keep the sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pan, until the sauce is thickened and flavorful, about 3 hours. Discard the bay leaves and adjust the seasoning, to taste. This is what you end up with. It tastes good the day you cook it, but a LOT better the next day! It's great served with a dollop of ricotta. Or in a lasagna. Or with fresh gnocchi. You really can't go wrong.
Unfortunately I did not get a picture of my plate when I ate it. I was starving. I kind of just inhaled it. I made fresh ricotta gnocchi and it was devine. Enjoy!! I am not Italian. Not even a little bit. Near as I can tell my ethnicity is German, Irish, Scottish, English... My family has been here for hundreds of years so I don't even know. I guess I could be considered Italian by association though. My step mom Vickie was super Italian. It took her three days to make spaghetti sauce. It would simmer on the stove and the anticipation would kill you. She would holler every few hours for someone to go and stir the sauce and it was torture knowing you had to keep waiting as you gazed at the pot of deliciousness. Once it was done I would revel in tender meatballs, sausage links, pasta and garlic bread.
Unfortunately she guarded her recipes with a fierceness that made her 4 foot 11 inch body actually seem intimidating. I will never taste her sauce again, as she passed away years ago without teaching anyone how to make it to completion. This brings me to my point: I suck at making meatballs. I have tried and tried and they were just never right. I guess they were edible...But when you have had perfection, nothing else is ever quite as good. So I gave up. We would buy the giant bag of meatballs at Costco or BJ's and call it a day. Simmer in a jar of sauce and BOOM. Dinner. There was that part of me that hated buying the premade meatballs. I am a good cook, why cant I get that right? Why am I buying meatballs with dubious ingredients? My sister makes a bunch of meatballs and then freezes them so dangit.. I am going to do it! So here we go!! Recipe: 3lb ground beef (go big or go home right?) 3 eggs 3/4 cup milk 1 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs 1 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 teaspoon oregano 3 tablespoon fresh parsley 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 cup parmesan cheese |
AuthorI'm so tired. The children are so not tired. |