Sadness and yogurt

The boys are playing relatively quietly in Ben's room with legos and the sound machine. So I thought I'd take a hot minute and write a post about the most amazing thing to come out of my crockpot since cinnamin rolls..

home made yogurt!!

I actually have been making home made yogurt in my crockpot for years, but I stopped making a lot of things from scratch after we lost the baby back in October. I lack creativity in some areas of life when I'm sad. Which is totally okay. It's a GOOD thing to rest and be kind to yourself when you're grieiving! It's also a good thing to allow yourself the freedom to be sad. Surprised I'm still talking about the miscarriage? I think it's on my mind more and more as my due date in April approaches. But that's another blog post in itself.
This one is about yogurt :)

For crockcpot yogurt you need three things: A crockpot. 1/2 gallon organic or raw whole milk. 1/2 cup organic yogurt. And a lot of time at home. We are home all day every day so this isn't a big deal for us, but do this over a weekend if you work out of the home.

As usual, I want to give credit to the origignal recipe, and here is the link: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/you-can-make-yogurt-in-your-crockpot.html


Here is my version:

1/2 gallon raw or organic milk. I used the Publix Greenwise brand for this.

1/2 cup organic yogurt. I used Stonyfield organic whole milk, french vanilla yogurt. I also used a little more than half a cup.

--thick bath towel


The Directions.


Turn your crockpot to low and add half gallon of milk. Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours.


Turn off crockpot. Leave the cover on, and let it sit for 3 hours. I'm really bad about remembering crockpot cooking times so I stuck a sticky note on the crockpot with a "I'm done at 4pm" kinda note, because I'm a space cadet like that.

When 3 hours, scoop out 2 cups of the milk and put it in a bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup yogurt. Then pour the bowl contents back into the crockpot. Stir to combine.



Put the lid back on your crockpot. Keep it unplugged, and wrap a heavy bath towel all the way around the crock for insulation.


I went to bed, but you could always just time it for 8 hours. Again, sticky notes help a lot if you're a nut like this girl.

In the morning when you wake up, prepare to have you mind blown. I'm not even kidding. Stick a long spoon in that wonderful-ness and it will be thick!!!!!!! I died a little the first time I did this.
Pour your yogurt into a half gallon mason jar if ya wanna get fancy, and allow it to chill all the way through. Then add some honey to sweeten, toss some granola on top..and yum!!
Should stay fresh in your fridge for about 10 days.

Whole Foods and Chicken Curry

I am madly in love with Whole Foods. I'm not kidding. Chris and I go there on dates. It's my happy happy happy place.
But what I don't love about whole foods is I can blow my entire monthly budget there, and come home with exactly one sack of groceries. But one thing I can't resist at Whole Foods is their curry chicken salad . I'm not proud of it, but there have been times I've sat in the van with the kids watching a DVD in the backseat and I've eaten that yumminess straight out of the container..without a fork. Yup. I'm a nut. But y'all..After chasing to boys around all day, Mama gets hungry!
But good news!!! I found a recipe that is surprisingly easy and just as yummy as the stuff at WF.

As usual, here is the link to the original recipe: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20609982,00.html

And here is my tweaked version:

• 2 boneless, skinless organic chicken breasts
• 2 tbsp. curry powder
• ¼ cup real fruit jam-I used home made orange marmalade
• ¼ cup organic sour cream
• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• ¼ cup finely chopped organic celery
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (I ended up having to boil the chicken instead of bake, but I prefer baking)

2. Rub the chicken breasts with 1 tbsp. curry powder, sea salt and pepper, place them on a lightly greased baking sheet and roast until a meat thermometer registers 125 to 160 degrees in the thickest part, or until the juices run clear. This is usually about 35 minutes. Once the chicken is baked, throw it in your kitchen aid mixer. Yup! Your mixer. Turn the mixer on low speed and lock it. Let the mixer shred the chicken to the desired size you want.

3. After the chicken is shredded, throw in 1 Tablespoon curry powder with jam, sour cream and mayonnaise. Mix. Then add in the celery and salt and pepper and mix. And you're done!
This should keep in the fridge for about 5 days. Enjoy!!

Costco, Farmers market, and my idols.

Okay y'all. I'm coming down from the mountain of fun we had at Target (insert sarcasm here) and a oven repair man who wanted to know why my THREE year old was not in school, and then proceeded to make some pretty "judgey" comments about home schooling. Blah....

I've got lavender oil in the diffuser right now, hoping it will chill out this major attitude I have.
As I mentioned in the precious grocery budget post, I've spent a total of $107 on groceries so far.
I have two more trips to add to this budget now.

First- Costco. Costco was about stocking up on basics that didn't need to be baked and items that could be kept in the freezer.
I bought:
2 flats of Sweet Hawaiian Rolls 3.69 each (These rolls are obviously not as healthy as the home made bread and whole wheat hamburger buns I make, but they are a nice option to keep in the freezer for left over BBQ chicken, chicken salads, etc for lunches. Plus they are the perfect size for sliders)
2 sacks of hot dog buns 4.69 each (I made a mistake and bought the large buns. Oops! again, not super healthy but we are always having company over and hot dogs are a fantastic option for little guys)
2 packages Hebrew national hot dogs. 10.39 each (I'd obviously prefer the Coleman brand hot dogs, but those are only a seasonal item)
2 packages Kerrygold Grass fed butter 6.99 each (I cannot say enough about how amazing this butter taste and how great is it for you! We bake with it, cook eggs and veggies in it, and I make butter candy with it for the little dudes)
Total: 62.21

Every Monday night I try and make my way up to the Audubon Park Farmers Market. This is where I get my raw milk, farm fresh eggs, and try out fun cuisine for dinner. My little brother Robin baby-sat the little men so Chris and I actually went together and made it a date. Nothing like sipping a beer, and holding hands with your hubby while buying raw milk. those three things MAY or may not be my idols. Ha!
I bought 3 gallons of raw milk (We go through three gallons a week) at $11 a gallon- $33
and 2 dozen free range, farm fresh eggs at $4 a dozen. Which made my total $44

Alrighty. Let me break down the budget numbers for you so far:
I have $320 every month for groceries, toiletries, etc.
Aldi-$107
Costco- 62.21
Farmers Market $41
Total for Feb-$210.21 Yikes!! Only 89.79 left for the entire month. Let's see how it goes for the rest of the month!

again- Here is my menu for February:
Meals for February:
Breakfast:

Smoothies
Bacon and eggs and granola
Granola and scrambled eggs
Organic animal crackers with apples dipped in peanut butter and honey
Eggs over spinach with hollandaise sauce
Organic cheerios with dried fruit
Cinnamon Rolls
Potato and cheese skillet with eggs
Florentine hash skillet
Whole wheat chocolate chip muffins
Oatmeal with dried fruit and maple syrup

Lunches:

Hot dogs and chips and dried fruit
Granola and bacon
Annie's Bunnies and cheese
Left overs
Bean and cheese burritos
Smoothies
Grilled chicken in rice with green veggies
BBQ chicken and guacamole quesadillas
Tacos or nachos
Curry chicken salad over Hawaiian rolls
BBQ chicken over baked potatoes with broccoli

Dinners:

Loaded twice baked potatoes
Veggie fried rice
Meatballs and potatoes
Korean Beef over rice
Burrito rice bowls
Broccoli and cheese soup
Crockpot pineapple chicken
Chicken and asparagus penne pasta
Roasted red paper Alfredo
Chicken avocado soup, or some kind of tortilla soup
Egg-drop soup and garlic chicken over fried rice

And for recipes here is my pinterest board for February: http://www.pinterest.com/marymerri/february-meals/

Pristine parenting and clean up at check out!

One of these days I will learn, to grocery shop alone by any means necessary. I'll learn that it's worth paying my little brother in pizza to baby sit my wild babies, just so I do not have a heart attack every 4.7 seconds at the store. One child is always unbuckled (somehow??) from his belt at the front of the cart, trying to swan dive onto the floor. The other is picking up random items (Oh! mustard! this looks fun!) and throwing it in random strangers carts. And I'm over in the frozen section trying to find the dang organic blueberries. Yikes. Don't go to the Cassleberry Aldi at around 10ish every other Saturday, unless you want to see some pristine parenting going on in the seasonal isle.

I have finally trained the boys to do one thing exceptionally well when it comes to shopping. Check-out! One brother sits in the cart, hands the brother standing by me an item, and I place it on the belt for them. This is a pretty good system until we get to the wine...And then slippery hands aren't really ideal. "Clean-up at check out! I re-peat clean up at check-out! we need a mop y'all!"

In the midst of the craziness a lady walked out with me and told me she thought I was the kindest mama she'd met, and I was doing something right because my children were beautiful. I wondered if maybe she had been drinking some of that spilled wine...jk. I almost wept. Sweet, sweet lady. Made my day.

Aside from the shenanigans, this was a pretty successful Saturday of grocery shopping. Our oven is still broken due to three different people coming and and having three different opinions, all different from mine. Hello boys, this housewife can Google!
Therefore when making my grocery list I had to be honest with myself. I will most likely not be able to make a lot of snacks from scratch and cook a lot of dinners I had originally planned. So you may find my grocery list and menu slightly less healthy than usual, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

Alrighty first is my Aldi trip:

Roasted veggie crackers 1.79 (These will be for turkey pepperoni. Ben likes to make sandwiches with them)

3 bags of Love Crunch dark chocolate organic granola 2.99 each(snacks for the boys and I)

Organic animal crackers 1.79 (snacks or breakfast with dried fruit)

2 packages Organic teddy grahams 2.49 each (these are in individual sacks, great for lunches out)

2 Organic cheese and pepperoni pizza 3.49 each (These are how we pay my little brother to babysit. His oven works! haha)

Organic O's cereal 1.99 (breakfast and snacks)

1 package organic strawberries and 2 Blueberries 2.69 each

1 large bag of non organic berries 2.29 (all frozen fruit is so smoothies)

Fruit and nut bars 3.99 (These are the aldi equal to kind bars. Yum!)

Organic spinach 2.49 (for smoothies, on tacos, for breakfast)

2 packs of tortillas 1.99 each (For quesadillas, breakfast burritos, tacos)

turkey pepperoni 2.79 (We never buy these but I got it as a treat for Ben)

3.25lbs of bananas 1.43 (smoothies, snacks)

Sour cream 1.29 (for tacos, curry chicken salad sandwiches)

Red and yellow peppers 2.29 (for roasted peppers pasta sauce)

Guacamole 2.99 (for tacos, dip, and bbq chicken quesadillas)

Shredded cheese 2 packages 2.99 (tacos, quesadilla, etc)

2 Whole bean breakfast blend coffee 3.99 each (I grind mine fresh every morning for my perculator)

4 packages of uncured bacon 3.89 each

2 packages non GMO big dipper corn chips 1.79 (nachos, etc)

BBQ sauce 2.29 each (crock pot bbq chicken)

Dried berries 2.49

2 Winking owl Merlot 2.89 each

Total=107.00!!
I spent a little more than usual but it's worth it to be stressing less about when the oven will be working.

As usual here is my February Meal plan:

Meals for February:
Breakfast:

Smoothies
Bacon and eggs and granola
Granola and scrambled eggs
Organic animal crackers with apples dipped in peanut butter and honey
Eggs over spinach with hollandaise sauce
Organic cheerios with dried fruit
Cinnamon Rolls
Potato and cheese skillet with eggs
Florentine hash skillet
Whole wheat chocolate chip muffins
Oatmeal with dried fruit and maple syrup

Lunches:

Hot dogs and chips and dried fruit
Granola and bacon
Annie's Bunnies and cheese
Left overs
Bean and cheese burritos
Smoothies
Grilled chicken in rice with green veggies
BBQ chicken and guacamole quesadillas
Tacos or nachos
Curry chicken salad over Hawaiian rolls
BBQ chicken over baked potatoes with broccoli

Dinners:

Loaded twice baked potatoes
Veggie fried rice Meatballs and potatoes
Korean Beef over rice
Burrito rice bowls
Broccoli and cheese soup
Crockpot pineapple chicken
Chicken and asparagus penne pasta
Roasted red paper Alfredo
Chicken avocado soup, or some kind of tortilla soup
Egg-drop soup and garlic chicken over fried rice

And for recipes here is my pinterest board for February: http://www.pinterest.com/marymerri/february-meals/

I also went to Costco and spent 62.21 this time I kept my receipt! I also will be heading to the farmers market tonight to buy three gallons of raw milk and 2 dozen eggs. I'l be blogging about that trip tomorrow :) It's 80 here! So don't hate me but I'm going to go lay outside and get some sun :)