Homemade Yogurt

I'm making my first batch of yogurt tonight! I've been wanting to try this for a while, but I thought you had to have a yogurt maker. I looked at several yogurt makers online and was unsure about which one to get. Luckily, before I ordered one, I found the directions for making yogurt in a crock pot. Since I already have a crock pot, it makes sense to try this method first.

Here's what you do (this and more info can be found here)...

Plug in your crock pot and turn it on low. Add 8 cups (1/2 gallon) of whole milk. Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours.

Unplug your crock pot. Leave the cover on and let it sit for 3 hours.

After 3 hours, scoop out 2 cups of the milk and put it in a bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup store-bought yogurt with live cultures. (After you've made a batch, you can keep some of your homemade yogurt to start a new batch.) Dump the contents back into the crock pot; stir to combine and replace the lid. Keep it unplugged and wrap a heavy bath towel around the crock pot for insulation. Go to bed or let it sit for 8 hours.

In the morning, the yogurt will have thickened, but it's not as thick as store-bought yogurt. If you want, blend in fruit. Chill in plastic containers in the fridge. It will last 7 to 10 days. Save 1/2 cup as a starter for your next batch.

My yogurt is currently at the "let it sit for 3 hours" stage. At 11:30 I'll add the 1/2 cup of store-bought yogurt. In the morning I'll have homemade yogurt! I don't know about you, but I get tired of buying all those plastic yogurt containers that don't recycle (at least they don't around here). I've been using some to store things like beads, crayons, and marbles for the kids, but I've still got a huge pile in my laundry room. (I wonder if a local daycare might be able to use them for crafts?) I also like to save money when I can. Today I bought a quart of yogurt for $2.28 and a gallon of milk for $2.68. After some calculating...If I end up with 2 quarts of yogurt, I will have paid $0.67 per quart (plus $0.29 for the yogurt I used as a starter). Not bad!

Potty Training in 3 Days

Do you believe it? I'm thinking about trying it. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about elimination communication. I was going to begin a modified version the next day. However, one (or more) of us has been sick for two and a half weeks, so I didn't think I could focus on it. (Some of us are still ailing.) Since then, I've read about some other potty training methods. I didn't know there were so many!

Here's the 3-day training method in a nutshell. (Actually, it's 3 days of intensive training, but there are 3 months of follow-up.)

The month or so before you start, make sure your child is exhibiting signs of readiness, clear your schedule for 3 days, make up a "potty dance" for successes, start educating your child about using the potty, and buy/borrow several potty chairs (one for every main room and bathroom).

The week before you start, show your child a stack of diapers and explain that starting Saturday (or whatever day you're starting) he won't need them anymore and he can be naked and diaper-free. (Oh, yeah. Did I mention this is a bare-bottom approach?)

On Day 1 of potty training, your child goes naked below the waist. Eat pee-promoting foods and drink lots of liquids so your child gets lots of practice. Watch your child - when he starts to pee or poop, whisk him to the potty. Perform your "potty dance" for any amount of success. If your child has an accident, remind him that pee/poop goes in the potty and have him help you clean it up. Tell your child it's time to use the potty before nap and bedtime. A diaper is ok for sleeping.

On Day 2, follow the same guidelines as for Day 1, except that everyone gets to leave the house for 1 hour in the afternoon immediately after a success. Your child wears loose pants with nothing underneath. Bring a travel potty and a change of clothes just in case.

On Day 3, follow the same guidelines as for Day 1, except that everyone gets to leave the house for 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon immediately after a success. Again, your child wears loose pants with nothing underneath. Bring a travel potty and a change of clothes just in case.

Thereafter, your child will probably take himself to the potty. For the next 3 months, your child goes naked below the waist at home and wears loose pants with nothing underneath when he goes anywhere else. Diapers or training pants are ok for sleeping.

For further details, click here. There are also some books about this method. Here's one. Here's another.

One of my reservations about this approach is the naked factor. I might be able to handle 3 days of nudity, but 3 months?! (If Jesse were a girl, I'd just put him in a dress.) Another reservation stems from the fact that I have carpet in most of my house. Maybe my sister-in-law will let me move in for 3 months. She has tile everywhere...

Down Under

Under the weather, that is. A couple of weeks ago we went to my parents' house for a few days. You may remember my sisters were visiting and our zoo trip was cancelled because several people were sick. Well, we brought their "crud" back with us. Olivia got sick the following Saturday. She had fever for a few days. She's still coughing but seems to be mostly over it (so she's wrapping up her second week of the crud). Jesse got sick at the beginning of this week. He started off with a terribly snotty nose and now he's got a little fever and is coughing. Probably due to the drainage and his inability to blow his nose. Anybody know how to get a 2-year-old to blow his nose?? Hubby's been straddling the fence between "well" and "sick" for a couple of weeks. I woke up with a sore and swollen throat Tuesday. It's still pretty sore, but not too sore to enjoy my ribeye for supper.

In the past two weeks we've bought 48 lbs of oranges, 12 lbs of apples, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, mangoes, pineapples, and watermelon. We've been eating some and juicing some. We've had chicken noodle soup. Actually it had rice instead of noodles, so I guess we had chicken rice soup. We've also been drinking lots of water and tea. You'd think we'd be done with the crud by now. Alas, that is not the case. It looks like this would be a good time to buy stock in "Throat Coat" tea.

Happy Birthday, Kathy!

Today is your day!

Happy birthday, Kathy! I hope you're having a wonderful day and a wonderful week.

Elimination Communication

Elimination communication (EC) is something I first heard about not too long ago. Monday I checked a book out from our library because I wanted to know more. It's "The Diaper Free Baby" by Christine Gross-Loh. The general idea is that babies are born with the instinct not to soil themselves and we can learn to communicate with them about their toileting needs, like reading their hunger cues.

EC involves observing your baby's body language and patterns, cueing your baby (holding your baby in a certain position and making a certain sound that she associates with peeing or pooping), and changing her as soon as possible after a miss so she doesn't get used to sitting in a wet or dirty diaper. Some people start EC at birth, while many start at around three to eight months.

If EC sounds interesting to you, I encourage you to read this book and read it now. I enjoyed it and it made a lot of sense. I only wish I'd heard about this when Jesse was younger. He just turned 2, so it's a little late to start EC (at least as described in the book). I'm planning to try a modified version tomorrow. I was telling hubby about EC the other night when he interrupted me and said "Before you go any further, we're not having another baby just so you can try this." I laughed and told him that's not why I want another one!

What a Week!

I'm sooo tired. I've been really busy this week. Monday I took the kids to my parents' house. My sister and brother-in-law were visiting from California so we spent a couple of nights with them. My other sister and her daughter spent Monday night there, too. We were planning to go to the zoo Tuesday, but 4 out of 9 of us were sick so we just hung around the house. We got home late Wednesday night.

Thursday was full of the usual post-trip chores like unpacking and washing clothes, as well as menu planning and grocery shopping for Jesse's birthday party. I bought groceries to feed close to 20 people. My refrigerator was so full I wondered whether I'd be able to close the door. I also did some cleaning.

Friday I cooked. I made 2 batches of bread, fruit dip, veggie/cracker dip, strawberry salad, 2 cakes, and icing. I put together a fruit platter and a veggie platter. I cut and stacked the cakes to make a dump truck. Yes, a dump truck. My little birthday boy loves cars and trucks and his dump truck is his favorite. I also embroidered a dump truck on a t-shirt for him.

This morning I made another batch of bread, deviled eggs, cheesy bean dip, and ice cream. (Ok, hubby kept the ice cream maker iced and salted.) We then had a great party with wonderful family and friends. It was a nice way to end this crazy week.


I had to include a picture of the dump truck cake. I worked hard on this! I needed a little more time to make it nicer, but it's not too bad. Jesse liked it! I can't believe my baby is 2.

Green Period, Revisited

Ladies, this is mostly a reminder prompted by the fact that it's about time to hit the pool, lake, or beach. If you didn't read my earlier post about reusable menstrual products, you can read it here. It's an overview of what's out there. I mentioned some of the advantages of reusable products (less waste in landfills, no risk of TSS, money savings), but I thought of another last week. I somehow neglected to mention "wicking" in my other post. When you wear a tampon, any moisture present outside your body wicks up the removal string. Chlorine-laden pool water, for example. A menstrual cup doesn't absorb, so there's no wicking. Just another thing to recommend the Diva Cup (or other brand of your choice).

Please see my other post for links to more information, or just search the internet.