Well life has taken such a strange turn. It has been so crazy busy sometimes, I’m not even quite sure where I’m supposed to be on some days. One day I went to the wrong job. Oops! Good thing I remembered before I actually got onto the freeway. Anyways, I’m  hoping to start blogging a lot more as long as time permits. The soap business has gotten crazy busy. I had to even recruit the hubby to help with filling orders, sorting and packaging. I couldn’t keep up with it all. Its definitely been a true Blessing!
     Today, I decided to get a little back into doing some of the homey/cooking things that I enjoy so much. It’s  been a long time since I’ve made any homemade anything. So, today, I decided to go ahead and make some Greek yogurt. Here in California we are able to purchase raw cows milk and it is sold in a local health food store. Kind of expensive but well worth it. So if you haven’t made yogurt before, I tried to take some good pictures. I always do better if I can see it. I’m a visual learner.

We don’t go through yogurt too quickly so I made half a gallon.

Go slow to not burn the milk.

As it gets closer to the right temperature,  you will start to see some little bubbles forming tomyou knowmits almost there.

I’m almost there. You want 185 degrees. Once you get there, turn the heat off and you can place it in a ice bath to start to cool it down. You dont want to add your yogurt starter to soon or it will kill all the live bacteria and you will end up with just yuck.

Once the temperature comes down enough, (I say if you can put your finger in it without burning, its cool enough) add your yogurt starter to about a cup ofnthe warmed milk. Mix it in really good so all the lumps are gone. I used the entire container of single serving Fage yogurt. It’s  my favorite and I want it really thick and creamy.

Then pour your yogurt and milk mix into the remaining milk. I put mine in a pyrex dish. Mix it gently. Cover it with plastic wrap or in my case i was out so I  used aluminum foil with a couple holes poked in it for some air. Then place it in a warm area. I put my in the oven because it stays slightly warm in there and I know no one will bother it. Let it sit for about 8-10 hours. The longer it sets, the more tart/sour it will get. So don’t leave it too long. Once finished, I put mine in a couple Ball jars. Now if you want to continue making it again, before you eat all of the yogurt, reserve another cup or so to make it all over again. Voila! Greek yogurt!  Well I hope you enjoy!

The color is off a bit because its dark in the house but it turned out pretty darn yummy. Not quite sure why there is so much whey this time but it still tastes delicious!

Now I will say I am not an expert at this for sure. I am also not good at measuring. I do my best but a lot of what I  do is a lot of guesstimating, lol. I really enjoy making as much from scratch as possible because then I know exactly what’s in it.

https://baehrnaturals.com/yogurt

Well I hope you enjoyed my little tutorial. If you have any suggestions I’m  totally open for them! 

I am so happy that we here in California are finally getting a little bit of rain! We are so behind on our water right now it is crazy. I feel so bad for the farmers out here. I live here in Central California where a lot of the area is covered in fruit trees. It is so normal for us to watch the trees and know what time of year it is by the blooms. Our weather has been so strange that here in January, the fruit trees have the first signs of Spring and the blooms are coming out. Kinda scary. If we get some bad weather now, the farmers could lose a lot of there fruit (blooms) before Spring even gets going.

Well this is one of my favorite times of year. Getting ready and planning for my Spring and Summer garden! I have a couple friends at my Church group that have decided to do a seed exchange this year. I wrote up a whole list of all my seeds so we can decide what we want to swamp. That is so exciting for me. I’m thinking because of the lack of rain the prices of veggies this year is going to go through the roof. So, I am planning on planting anything we eat on a regular basis.  My hubby and I are changing our garden cover this year. trying to keep the chickens (and the mice) out is priority this year. I will blog on our new design as soon as it’s finished.

My hubby built me this beautiful garden a couple years ago.  It is beautiful but, not as functional as a rectangle bed, so I really have to do some planning to get things to fit. We also built a rectangle box last summer and it helped with the some of the extra space we needed to grow. We are going to change the cover on it too. The chickens have figured out that if the all get on the top of the chicken wire cage at the same time, that it dips down and then they can eat the tops off all the veggies. You’d be surprised how smart these chickens actually are.

Well I have a lot of work ahead of me. But, I guess you really can’t call it work if you do it for fun, right? I know so many people that hate doing yard work. It is the one thing that I actually LOVE to do. Even pulling weeds. It is so relaxing and gives you so much time to just work and think in peace. My hubby does yard work with his head phones on blasting Pantera and other horribly loud and crazy bands, lol. That would make me want to pull my hair out. Thank goodness I can’t hear it! Plus, being out in the warm sun and listening to nature at its best. Doesn’t get much better!

So, this year I am going to put my seeds in my little green house out in the garage. I have always bought seedlings along with growing my own seeds, but this year, I want to do all seeds. Cross your fingers for me! I don’t have the best green thumb but it is getting better.

Tomatoes, cilantro, onions, green beans, bell peppers (I never have good luck with), snap peas, grape tomatoes, jalapenos, serranos, lettuce, spinach, asparagus, zucchini (my fav), cucumbers, strawberries, corn (non GMO for sure) carrots….what else? I think I need more room! Come on Texas land! Hurry up!!!!!!

Do you have plans for your gardens? Ugh…. and what do you do for those nasty aphids? Last year I tried soapy water but that didn’t work. Then I tried Neem oil and that didn’t help much either. This year I think I will try to plant some Marigolds in between the veggies to see if that helps. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Just a reminder, if you want to follow my blog to keep up with me this summer, click the Follow me button! 🙂

I love being in the kitchen and making healthy, natural foods for myself and my family. I had ordered a 20lb box of apples from Azure Standard ( I will talk more about this later) and noticed some of them were starting to go bad. I couldn’t dare let that happen. Not only do I NOT want to let them go to waste but the worst consequence is listening to the hubby lecture me about waste and how horrible it is to just throw food away. So, since my Excalibur dehydrator is just sitting there in the kitchen begging to be used, I decide to do a couple things with the apples. I just recently purchased a Peeler/Corer/Slicer that I was dying to try out. I used my new toy to peel and slice several apples and put them in a bowl with about 3/4 cup lemon juice. It doesn’t change the taste of the apples if they are brown but it definitely makes them look prettier so, in went they juice. After slicing your fruit, it’s as easy and placing them on the trays and turning the dehydrator on.

Dehydrating is so easy!  I love knowing that the fruit isn’t covered with any preservatives and hasn’t been sprayed with sulphur or other gross stuff. So about 24 hours in the dehydrator and Voila! Fresh dried apple slices. My fav! If you let them stay in the dehydrator for even longer, you get apple chips. Not a bad snack either.

My kids aren’t as crazy about the apple chips as they are banana chips. My daughter Sierra will pull a tray out of the dehydrator as soon as they’re done and eat a whole thing. I don’t know how she gets away with not getting sick, but she doesn’t.

Well with the rest of the apples I decide to make Applesauce. It was my first time and was super easy. One of the ladies from my MOM’s group brought some homemade applesauce for our breakfast and it was actually the best I’ve ever had. I know, you are probably thinking that all sauce tastes the same but, you are wrong. Fresh applesauce without any preservatives or sugar in it is the BOMB!

After peeling, coring and slicing, you just put your apples in a steamer. I used my pasta pot and it worked fine. You can use anything that you have that will steam your fruit and not boil it.

After about 15 minutes, check your apples and make sure you can actually smash them with a fork. If you can, they are done.

I placed mine in my Vitamix but I actually think I over did it a bit. You don’t have to have a blender. You can actually just mash them by hand. They should be soft enough after steaming them. I threw in about 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and that’s it. Easy peasy!

My Vitamix over blended mine. I think next time I will just mash them or only mix for a short time in the blender. Mine were so blended it kinda turned to a thicker liquid. I like applesauce to have a little more texture. But either way you like it, it turned out delicious. Now I also learned that if you want a sweeter applesauce and not so tart, consider what kind of apples you are going to use. I used Pink Lady apples and the sauce turned out a little tart. I think a Fuji may be the best. I just used what I had.  Here it is. They yummiest fresh applesauce ever! And, the apple chips aren’t so bad either.

I always store my food in Ball Jars. I just love them. It keeps everything fresh and is so much easier to store. I hope you enjoy this post and give it a try. You won’t regret it.

Oh and I forgot to mention Azure Standard. This is where I purchase most of my groceries. I love this company. Almost all there products are Organic and Non GMO. I love that!!! If you haven’t heard of them, I suggest you check it out. I almost don’t have to even go to the grocery store after placing my order. My drop off is only once a month so you really have to do some planning to get you through the month.   I even have my hubby hooked, lol.

Do you have a dehydrator?

What are your favorite things to dehydrate?

Any good tips or tricks to share?

So, last year I was itching to get a few chickens. I wanted to know exactly where my eggs were coming from and what they were being fed. My husband (Brian) and I are trying hard to eat the right foods. As in clean, Non GMO, organic (as much as possible) foods. So starting out with backyard chickens seemed to be the right thing to do. After doing much research, we found a guy on Craig’s List that made coops. So, we finally made the purchase and set off to pick up the monstrous thing.  After a few days of painting and organizing and planning where it would go in the back, we, (well really my oldest daughter Genna) rallied up her friends and came  to make the big move. After  spending over an hour of game changes and removing fences, we finally got it placed in the backyard. Next was the fun part. I had already been looking online for which kind of chicken I wanted. I never realized what went into picking out chickens. It isn’t only the bird itself,  it was the breed, the color, the laying pattern, the temperment, and even the color of eggs you want. Well after much thought, we chose Black Copper Marans (again from Craig’s List). They are pleasant birds with beautiful colors and the best part, they lay dark brown eggs.

Having backyard chickens has been one of the most exciting ( I know I’m crazy) decisions I’ve made, lol. They are addicting!!!!! If it is something you are contemplating… DO IT!!! Brian and I spend many hours outside during the Spring and Summer mornings having coffee and watching these crazy girls. There is even a great You Tube  I think we’ve spoiled them a little too much. I here a lot about  other chickens eating kitchen scraps and certain foods. Not mine! They are the pickiest girls ever. If you come out with grapes though, you will end up with a chicken right in your lap. lol. They come running from across the yard at full speed!