Today’s Homemade: Yogurt

I know what you’re thinking…who the F makes homemade yogurt?  I mean, it’s weird, right?  I never thought I would go so far into this whole homemade journey that I would make my own dairy products (never mind the obvious breastfeeding jokes).

But here’s the thing.  Last summer I joined a CSA, which stands for community supported agriculture.  Basically, it means I bought a share in a local farm and got all sorts of fresh and locally made food.  The particular CSA I joined is unusual in that it is a “whole food CSA,” so one area farmer worked with other local farmers to provide her customers with everything from meat to granola to veggies, and yes, yogurt too.

Now I love yogurt, but I had always eaten flavored yogurt.  I found plain yogurt to be too tangy for my tastes and forget plain Greek yogurt, it tasted like licking sour cream off a spoon.  But then I had local, farm-fresh, plain Greek yogurt…game changer!

It was tangy, but not mouth-puckering tangy.  If I swirled just a little honey in and added granola…holy breakfast from heaven, Batman.  Add in fresh berries and I almost can’t contain myself.

So the process for making yogurt is time consuming, but super easy.  It starts with yogurt.  I know, it’s lame that you need yogurt to make yogurt, but get over it already.

So here’s what you need… ¼ cup plain whole milk yogurt (at room temperature), a quart of milk and a small slow cooker.  Preferably, you’ll use local, organic milk.  The higher the fat content in the milk, the thicker the yogurt will be.  Make sure the yogurt you use contains live, active cultures.  For the most part, plain organic yogurt will, but read the packaging just to be sure.

Local milk, organic yogurt and a small slow cooker...all you need for making your own yogurt!

 Here’s what you do: Pour a quart of milk into a slow cooker.  Turn the slow cooker on (that part’s important).  Heat the milk to 180 degrees.  If you do it on low, it could take upwards of 4 hours.  On high, it should take about 2-3 hours.  Once you’ve reached 180, turn off the slow cooker, keep the cover on, and let the temperature drop to about 120.  Once the temperature drops, mix in the room temperature yogurt, replace the cover and wrap the slow cooker in towels like a fat guy at a sauna. 

Swathed in towels.

Let it hang out on the counter like that for about 8-12 hours; the longer it ferments, the more tart it will be.  After that time frame, put it in the fridge to set.  Resist the urge to mess with it at all.  Don’t even take the cover off…just move it from the counter to the fridge and let it set for at least 4 hours. 

And then….yogurt!  I was so proud of myself the first time I made it. 

With granola and honey for a fantastic breakfast.

 A couple notes:

To make thicker, Greek-style yogurt, line a mesh sieve with cheesecloth (or paper towels), and strain the yogurt.  The liquid you strain out is called whey.  Save it and use it to cook with.  It has a tang like buttermilk, so you can use it pancakes or muffins…basically any baked good that calls for liquid; you can even add it to smoothies if you like a tangy smoothie.

The organic plain yogurt I buy at the grocery store costs about $4.  I can buy half a gallon of whole milk from a farm 10 minutes away from my house, and make the same amount of yogurt for about $1.50.  Now that’s a deal.  Then I just save a ¼ cup of my own yogurt for the next batch.

What's the Problem with Leftovers?

I hear some people say that they don’t eat leftovers, like this is a philosophical stance they’ve adopted. I don’t understand it. Now, either these people are such expert cooks that they always make exactly the right amount of food and therefore don’t have leftovers, or they just throw the leftovers out. If they have money to waste food like that, that’s their business, but I personally find it physically painful to throw away perfectly good food. In fact, in my quest to not be wasteful, I’ve probably served my family some questionable food. Throwing food away is the same as throwing money away in my book, and I just can’t take it.

That being said, there are some meals that don’t pan out the first time, and then what do you do with expensive organic chicken that came out too dry? If it wasn’t good the first time, can you possible recook it and make it better?

Why, yes, you can!

Last week, I made a recipe that I’ve made often before, but for some reason, it just didn’t come out. The chicken was dry, the flavors were off; we barely ate it when it was fresh, so how could I possibly adapt it? I couldn’t take the thought of simply throwing it away, so I shredded it and popped it in the fridge. A couple days later, it occurred to me…chicken pot pie! I strained the liquid from the chicken, made a roux, a crust, added some veggies, popped it in the oven and voila! Leftovers transformed!

Now I say that like it was super easy…it was not. Each component was easy enough to make, but making a pie crust and rolling it out with a crabby 3-year-old and baby in tow is not without its drawbacks. For that reason, the next time I make pie crust, I’m going to double it and store the extra in the freezer to put myself ahead of the game.

Anyway, I felt good that I managed to salvage an otherwise unpalatable meal, and do so using completely homemade ingredients.

A couple notes:

If you don’t know, a roux is a gravy base make of equal parts butter (or other fat) and flour. Melt the butter, add the flour, stir until well-combined, add liquid, bring to a gentle boil and you’ve got gravy. I used the liquid I strained from my chicken plus a splash of milk to loosen it.

Also, homemade pie crust is easy but time consuming to roll out…I use my KitchenAid mixer (the thing is a godsend). Mix ½ cup butter (or vegetable shortening), 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ tsp. salt and ½ cup cold water. First mix the flour and salt, then add the butter, let it mix until it’s the constituency of cornmeal. Then add the water until it sticks together. Divide in half, and roll out each half into something that resembles a circle. You may need more flour when rolling it out. It’s an art, not a science, despite what Martha Stewart will tell you.

Mostly: Part 1

When I first started this blog, I wanted to give it the title "My Homemade Life," but that title was taken. So I settled on My (Mostly) Homemade Life. After thinking it through, I decided that the second choice title was actually the better one. Why? Because I just can't do it all. Nor do I want to do it all. At different times, I have made different attempts at making things homemade. Some I've decided I like and will continue with, some are just too much work for too little reward. So here is part one of my list of what I make homemade and why it works for me, and what I don't make homemade and why not.

Bread: I like to make my own bread. Why? Well, first of all, my husband bought me a breadmaker for Christmas and that makes it much, much easier. Second, homemade bread feels so wholesome. And third, with all the talk about chemicals found in rubber being used in common bread products, I feel good about knowing all the ingredients in our bread.

Shredded Cheese: No! So here's the thing with storebought shredded cheese. It contains cellulose, a product derived from wood and found in paper. It's used as an anti-caking and anti-mold agent. I don't particularly like the thought of eating paper (my baby, on the other hand, loves it), but I've been shredding my own cheese for the past few weeks, and I hate it. I wish I didn't hate it, but I just do. It's tedious, lame, and it makes my hand cramp up. So storebought shredded cheese, here I come.

Yogurt: Yes! Homemade yogurt tastes better than storebought and it's super easy. It's my favorite kind of homemade: Set it and forget it! Or be like me and hover over the slow cooker constantly taking the milk's tempature like it's a sick kid or something. But here's the thing...I never liked plain yogurt, until I tried fresh plain yogurt. When plain yogurt is fresh, it's rich and creamy with just a hint of tang, not like the sour stuff you buy at the grocery store. And of course, by consuming plain yogurt, you avoid all the extra sugar (or at least I would if I didn't add honey to mine).

Chicken Nuggets: No, but I don't feel good about it being a no. I've only made them once; they weren't hard to do, but I think if I could streamline the process it would help tremendously. The flavor wasn't quite like the frozen, storebought nuggets, though. They tasted more like chunks of chicken parm, and I felt like I should serve them with marinara sauce rather than ketchup. So for now, they go on the "buy in bulk at BJs" list, but I will try them again when I have more time and patience.

There is of course more that I make homemade (stock, granola, ect) and more that I buy storebought (any condiment) and various reasons for each. For example, once I made pasta by hand...my arms ached the next day. Now I know why Italian mothers are to be feared...they must have biceps like Rocky.

Say My Name

Imagine this scenario:

You are at work and a coworker calls your name over and over and over and over and over.... You catch my drift. 

And when you turn and say "yes, coworker, how may I help you?" They say nothing in response. This scenario repeats several times an hour. 

You begin to think that this is less a job and more some type of research into a new form of psychological torture. 

So eventually instead of responding politely and civilly you end up turning and shouting "What, coworker?! What do you want?" And still all he wants is to say your name. Like you're Beyoncé or something. 

And this is to say nothing of the other coworker who is happily doing his job and ignoring you until you need to accomplish anything at all when all of the sudden he can't live without your undivided attention. 

And the best part of all is that this volunteer work. You chose it and you don't get paid. 

Welcome to stay at home parenthood. 

Green Smoothies!

I love green smoothies, and even better, so does my kid!  He points at the blender and shouts, "Green smoothie!"  Which, in his language sounds more like "Deen Mootie!"  But I speak his language...sometimes.  Unfortunately his word for smoothie, movie and poopy all sound the same.  You just have to look at what he's pointing at for clarification...blender, TV or bathroom?

Anyway, while poking around the world wide interweb this morning, I ambled over to 100 Days of Real Food...an excellent resource if you are thinking of making changes away from processed foods and moving into the realm of "real food."

While there, I found this page: How to Make a Perfect Green Smoothie.  Considering I whipped up a green smoothie for breakfast this morning and found it just a touch bitter, the tips on this page are super helpful.  She says to keep it to a 60:40 ratio.  Sixty percent fruit to 40% green leafy veggies with a 1:1 ratio of veggie to liquid.

So what does that mean?

My morning smoothie would have tasted better had I whipped out the measuring cups and measured out 1 packed cup of spinach, 1 cup of OJ and 1.5 cups of frozen fruit.  Now they don't list juice on their acceptable liquid list, but milk makes me gassy and water just tastes so...watered down, and I'm guessing wine wouldn't be an acceptable alternative.  So the only other liquid that left me was OJ.

Apparently, another tip is to blend the liquid and green leafies first, then add the frozen fruit and blend until smooth for a delicious, sweet, creamy smoothie.

You can beat I will try again tomorrow with these tips in mind.

Recipe-ish: Homemade Chicken Stock

Homemade chicken stock in my chicken noodle soup.

One of my favorite things to make from scratch is chicken stock.  This was a favorite of mine to make since long before I had kids and got all crunchy and cheap.  Something about throwing a bunch of bones and root vegetables into a big boiling vat and letting it simmer appeals to the mad scientist in me...or maybe the old crone (toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble...and all that).

Anyway, Shakespeare and old crones aside, chicken stock is great to have on hand at all times for various recipes or for actually making soup.

I almost never start with raw chicken.  Typically I make my stock from a chicken that I roasted for dinner.  So here's the usual routine: Day 1: Cook a chicken, eat chicken for dinner.  (A side of stuffing and a green vegetable makes for a reasonably healthy meal that pleases everyone.)  Day 2: Throw the remains of the chicken into a big stockpot with an onion or two, a few garlic cloves, a couple carrots, some celery stalks, a bay leaf and salt and pepper.

Now here's the beautiful thing about stock making, it's an art, not a science...very open to interpretation.  About the only thing I do that makes it seems "work-like" is peel the carrots.  I peel them because otherwise they can add a note of bitterness to your stock and no one wants that.

Otherwise, you can quarter the onion and leave the peel on, halve the garlic cloves, again you don't need to de-paper them if you don't want to.  Rinse the carrots and celery and trim the root end of the celery.  Include the celery leaves because they have a lot of flavor.  Throw in the bay leaf, add some salt and pepper...and let it roll.

For real, that's it.

Bring it up to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer.  Cover and let simmer for 2-ish hours.  After that time, turn off the heat, push it to the back burner and leave it to cool.  After it's cooled, strain the bones and veggies out.  You can strain with cheesecloth if you want to, but I usually just use a fine mesh sieve.

I like to let the stock cool completely in the fridge before I skim the fat because once it's cooled, the fat solidifies and lifts right off the top of the stock.  Canning jars are super useful for storing stock in the fridge.  If you're going to can it, though, make sure you pressure can.  Water-bath canning is not sufficient to make chicken stock shelf-stable.

When the chicken is cool enough to handle, peel all the chicken you can off the bones.  Use it to make chicken salad or shredded chicken tacos or enchiladas. You can even freeze it to use at a later date.

Since I went ahead and made chicken soup with mine, I'll include a recipe for that in an upcoming post.

ETA: So it occurred to me after reading a more professional and better written blog today that I left the water out of this post!  I'm a genius.

Homemade Chicken Stock Recipe

Leftover whole chicken
2-3 carrots
2-3 celery stalks
1 large onion
3-4 garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper

Place the chicken, carrots (peeled and trimmed), celery (root end trimmed), onion (quartered or roughly chopped), garlic cloves (halved), and bay leaf in large stock pot.  Add enough water to cover everything.  Add salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cover.  Simmer for 2 hours.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Strain and defat stock.  Store in fridge or freezer or pressure can and store in a cool, dark place.

Remove the chicken meat from the bones and store for other usage.

Already a Bad Blogger

Well, this past week got the best of me.  Two funerals, a snow day and a generally depressing week.  The week got in the way of my meal plan and my life in general.

I will get back on track and regale you with tales of my homemade yogurt, chicken stock, chicken soup, bread, granola and everything else I'm up to.

I also want to write about the joys of being a working mom, but I haven't put in a routine work week once yet.  If things get on track, I'll post daily this week!

Stay tuned for my many varied and interesting comments.

On Loving and Dying

Last week, my grandmother died.  Here are some of the things I will remember most fondly about her: her silver-white hair, her soft skin, the way she used to make steak and eggs (Spanish style with shredded salt beef mixed in with scrambled eggs...yum).  We used to go over to her house every Sunday and watch movies with our cousins.  She would pop popcorn on the stove-top and always use too much oil so the popcorn would be soggy.  My sister, my cousins and I would watch Spaceballs and Clue on VHS over and over again every week.  She was sweet and kindly, and when she was well, she always had a smile on her face.  But she hadn't been well for a while, and the grandmother of my memories has been gone for a long time.  

Her death was expected, and while we will surely mourn and miss her, I feel comforted knowing that she is no longer in pain or suffering.  I believe that she is somewhere better now, reunited with her husband, the babies she lost decades ago and other friends and loved ones who passed on first.

What was unexpected last week was to learn that a coworker of my husband's had also died.  A coworker who had so much in common with us that it is eerie.  My husband would often come home telling me about how the two of them laughed together about their "crunchy" wives.  They would swap stories about co-sleeping, cloth diapering, new organic foods we insisted that the whole family try or other ridiculous things we would do.  I never met his wife, but I would laugh every time my husband would bring a story home about them.  She sounded like a kindred spirit.

Once upon a time, I worked where my husband does now and I remember this young man well.  He was funny and nice.  He was one of those guys you felt like you knew forever even if you only met him once or twice.  He had an ease about him that helped other people (even shy people like me) feel relaxed.  And if his wife and I look a little alike (according to my husband), he and my husband certainly shared some personality traits.

My grandmother was 93.  Our friend was 34.

That is far too young to leave this earth.  Far too young to leave your little children behind.  Far too young to leave a widow.  I can only hope that she and her children can find some peace and comfort in the support of family and friends at a time like this.

It serves as a reminder.  We never what's ahead for us in this lifetime, and while we might all answer philosophical and religious questions differently, if you love someone, let them know.

I love so many people...shall I start with the person likely to read this first?  I love my sister, and my life without her would be harder, quieter, tamer.  She is a support to me, and a wonderful aunt to my boys.  Without her in my life, I would be lost and lonely.

I love my husband.  He's funny, charming, kind.  He is stubborn, stoic, and sometimes a pain in the ass.  But I fell in love with him the first moment I saw him in 11th grade, and I haven't looked back.  Without him, I wouldn't have my two beautiful sons; without him, my life would be radically different.  And I love my life.

I love my mom.  There is so much to love about my mom I don't even know where to start.  But I'll tell you this...if there is someone on her way to heaven, it's my mom.  She is selfless to a fault; she's kind, generous, funny.  She's the most hands-on Grandma you could imagine.  She's the best mom out there, and I can only hope to be half the mom she is.

My dad...I do love him.  Our relationship is hard to define.  We don't talk much, and part of me really wishes I could change that, but I honestly don't know how.  But he's as funny as my sister is, as stubborn as my mom is.  He's helped to shape me in both good and bad ways.

I'm lucky that I have so many people in my life to love that I can't possibly list them all.  My two rascally nephews, my sweet and bossy niece.  My mother-in-law, my father-in-law, both my brothers-in-law.  Aunts, uncles, cousins, friends.  But of course, more than anyone, I love my children.  I snuggle my boys daily and tell them I love them daily.  Life is too short to do anything else.

Yesterday’s Homemade: Chocolate Sauce

Disclaimer: This is not my picture.  I will add pictures
of my actual chocolate sauce ASAP.

My kid slurps down chocolate milk like there is no tomorrow.  And if I allow the chocolate milk train to run dry, he might just decide my tomorrows are all done.  For that reason, I keep us flowing in fresh, local milk and homemade chocolate sauce.

I’ve tried a bunch of different recipes and the one in this post is my favorite.  Some of them are grainy, some are clumpy.  Some thicken unevenly, so you’ve got watery liquid on top and thick goopy syrup at the bottom.  

This one is smooth and rich.  It’s not as sweet as store-bought sauce, but you can always adjust the sugar accordingly.  I actually like the fact that it’s less sweet because he drinks so much of it…I realize I could say no to chocolate milk, but on a day when the only other thing he will eat is crackers and like one raisin, I feel like the chocolate milk at least provides some protein and calories.

And I know…refined sugar…gasp! I don’t care.  This is the world we live in folks, the kid is going to eat sugar.  At least the homemade version contains no HFCS and the sugar is organic and fair-trade.  Deal with it.  If you feel the need, you can substitute maple syrup, honey or agave nectar, but that might make your sauce gloopy or grainy.  Experiment as needed.

Cooling chocolate sauce...yum!

The recipe is really simple:

1 ½ cups water
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 dash of salt
1 tsp vanilla

Throw everything except the vanilla into a medium sized saucepan on low heat.  Stir constantly until the sugar and cocoa have dissolved.  When I say constantly, I mean as much as you can.  I sure as hell can’t stand there stirring all flipping day long while my two kids are screaming at me like maniacs.  So stir as much as possible, knowing the world won’t end if you put the whisk down for a second.

Anyhoo, let it simmer gently for a moment or two.  It will thicken slightly, but it’s not going to be as thick as purchased chocolate sauce.  Take it off the heat and add the vanilla.  Stir that in.  I like to let it cool completely in the pan.  My favorite part of cooking…walk away and ignore.  When you remember, pour the sauce into a glass jar and store it into the fridge. 

Don't mind the tea-kettle with the partially melted exterior in the background.

Mix a couple teaspoons with milk for delicious chocolate milk.  You could pour it over vanilla ice cream too, and I’m sure you could also make hot cocoa with it.  I’d say heat a cup of milk, stir the sauce in, and top with whipped cream…yum.

There Are No Sick Days in Motherhood

What is least compatible with having young children?  Having any kind of illness.  You know who has absolutely no compassion?  Young children.  You know who doesn’t give one little rat’s ass that you feel like garbage and want to crawl into a hole and die?  Young children.

The same people who you will hold, and love, and caress while they sneeze and puke on you will then try to physically lift you off the couch while you are lying in a stupor.  They will jump and whine at you to get them raisins as you drag yourself around on your knees.

You know what else doesn’t stop for illness?  Housework.  You feel like crap and would rather crawl into a pile of laundry and disappear than wash said pile of laundry?  Too bad.  The towels don’t wash themselves, dinner doesn’t cook itself, the floor is not self-mopping.  (Note to self…invent self-mopping floor, make millions.)

This is why moms don’t get sick.  Or at least, if they get sick, they keep mothering, they keep laundering, they keep tending to.  We aren’t martyrs; we are simply people for whom there is no substitute.  Sure, my own mom can come over and help when I’m feeling really bad (as she did when I had a recent bout of mastitis).  But there’s no one else who can nurse the baby.  It’s no one else’s job to look after my little people. Sure, they have a dad...but come on.  He's a dad. 

So suck it up, mamas.  There are no sick days in motherhood.