Crockpot Yogurt

 My cousin told me about making yogurt in the crockpot, and I thought Yes!!!!! I buy organic yogurt, at $4-5 a quart, I can definitely make it cheaper!

The Recipe:
1 gallon of milk (whole milk is preferred, but if you use another grade, just add in a packet of gelatin when you add the yogurt)
1/2 cup of yogurt with live and active cultures (I used Stoneyfield, it doesn't matter if it's flavored, it makes plain no matter what)
1 packet of plain gelatin (only if you are not using whole milk)

my crockpot :)

Cook the 1/2 gallon of milk for 2 hours and 45 minutes on low.

Turn off the crockpot, and let the warm milk sit for 3 hours.
Then add in the yogurt, and gelatin (ONLY if not using whole milk.

This is after the 5 hours and 45 minutes, just before putting in the yogurt.

I apologize, it won't let me flip this picture around,
but this is what unflavored gelatin looks like.

After mixing in the yogurt and gelatin, wrap your crockpot in a towel, and leave it
to sit for 10-12 hours (I did mine overnight).

After leaving it to sit overnight.

It's ok for it to be a bit watery, this is normal.

My yogurt!

Laundry Soap Update!

So, I opened it up last night, and diluted my first batch!

It looks rather watery at first, keep in mind, this is not
the concentrated soap we have become accustomed to.

I took these to try to show the consistency. It almost looks like egg drop soup in consistency.

I bought a 2 1/2 gallon water container to put my soap in.
Fill it up 1/2 way with the soap (mine has tic marks along the side
which makes this easier), and the rest of the way with water.

There you have it! Here's a link for the original post with the recipe (http://homesteaderswife.blogspot.com/2012/06/laundry-soap.html). Let me know if you make it and how it works out. I'm going to wash a load tonight using it. The recipe says to use 5/8 cup in a top loader, but I think I'm going to try maybe 1/2 cup, since it says 1/4 for front loaders.


*****UPDATE***** (July 14, 2012)

We did a load with it last night, using 1/2 cup for the top loader, and it did beautifully! It didn't suds up, like a liquid does, but neither does most powders that we have tried. Hubby put in one of his dingy, stinky socks to really test it. It came out white, soft and smelling wonderfully. I did forget to say I put in quite a few drops of lavender/tea tree essential oil in it before diluting.

More Yummy Drinks...

This morning, I decided to try some more vitamin waters! For me, I made a strawberry kiwi. For hubby, I made a lemon ginger (he's been begging me for about a week to try this). We haven't tried either one yet, but will when we get home. Again, these need to be refrigerated for 4 hours to let the juices and color transfer.

 

I also made some homemade lemonade! Yum! We've been making a gallon every week, and it usually lasts us about a week. My recipe is 10 lemons, the rest of a gallon of water, and 1 cup of sugar.

Homemade Vitamin Water!!!

I found this on facebook a while back... https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150978082177436&set=a.114480717435.99528.104062822435&type=1&theater. I finally got around to trying it. I decided to try Raspberry Mint first. I didn't get a picture, but it was wonderful!

Last night I wanted to make one up for tomorrow, I make mine in a quart jar. The one I did for today was a mixed berry (raspberry, strawberry, blackberry & blueberry) & mint. It was wonderful as well! I did decide today to drain the berries out of it before drinking it (they loose all their color & flavor to the water, and get mushy). I also added about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of sugar to the quart jar, for just a bit of sweetness. May try adding honey, not sure yet. Give it a try and come back and tell me what flavors you tried and what you like best!

Laundry Soap... Finally!

 I finally got around to making laundry soap! I had been putting it off, wanting to get a few other things done first, but I only have a few loads of liquid store bought soap left (I have a box of powdered, but I may save it for in case I can't afford to make liquid sometime). The whole process took maybe 30 minutes. That's shredding the soap (I used a salad shooter), boiling the soap, and mixing it all up. So easy!

I used a stockpot to melt my soap,
I was afraid it might boil over, and I was glad I did!

Before turning on the heat. This is 1 bar of Fels Naptha,
and 4 cups of hot tap water.

Boil on medium high heat. You don't want to go higher than that.
I did, it boiled pretty high!

For some reason I can't get this photo to rotate... Sorry!
This is how high it boiled, after turning it down, while stirring it!
I was very glad I used a stockpot!

All melted. I let it sit long enough to 1/2 fill the bucket with water (hot tap water).

I bought a new 5 gallon bucket for this,
as I wanted it to not have had anything else in it.
I'm sure this isn't a requirement.
I got mine at Home Depot. I spent around $5 (I think) for the lid and bucket.

This is the bucket 1/2 full of hot tap water, the melted soap,
1 cup of washing soda (NOT BAKING SODA!!!)
and 1/2 cup of Borax. Stir very well, until all the powder has dissolved.

All done! After stirring the mixture, fill the rest of the way
(I had to move mine, so I didn't fill it completely to the top...)
and then stir again. Let it sit overnight.

I won't be able to post tomorrow, since the library will be closed for the 4th, so I will try to post on Thursday after I've opened it up! I may do a load with it on Wednesday or Thursday to see how it does!

Facebook!

I don't have any updates today... Sorry! I didn't get any cleaners made yesterday. However I did try my hand at spaghetti sauce, and it didn't come out like I wanted it to... It was yummy with chips and crackers though! I also put a roast in the crockpot that I started for today. That was yummy for lunch as well!

I did want to post and let all ya'll here know that I'm on facebook! I created a facebook page for the blog! It's nothing fancy just yet (I'm learning all this blogging stuff as I go), but I do update it between blogposts...

https://www.facebook.com/AJourneyToHomesteading

So, come find me! Thanks!

Laundry Soap

So, I have decided to start making my own cleaners, I talked about that in my last post. I started last night on my laundry soap, but had to go get a 5 gallon bucket, so I didn't get very far.

Here are my laundry soap ingredients. All you need is 1 bar of Fels Naptha soap, Super Washing Soda, Borax, & boiling hot water. I am going to experiment with essential oils in it as well.

I did start by grating the Fels Naptha Soap. I used a Salad Shooter with the grating attachment in it. It's going to be melted, so it doesn't really matter what kind of grating you use, it just helps to melt faster.

That's as far as I got last night. Tonight I will go ahead with the rest of it, and I'll try to post either tomorrow or Monday.

We went out to buy the rest of the ingredients that we need for the other cleaners as well. I will be trying lots of different recipes, to try to find ones that we like and that work well. We went to 3 different stores, 2 of them health food stores, and one being Walmart. I think I have enough ingredients now, so I'll post pictures and recipes after I make some and try them!

Different bulk powders, dried flowers, and teas.

This was my shopping list, along with notes that I took as we were shopping as to how much they were going to cost.
FF refers to Fox Farm Foods, a local health food store, and S refers to Suzanne's another local health food store. The glycerin was only at Fox Farms.

The laundry soap I'm making is the one from the Duggar's family website. It can be found at: http://www.duggarfamily.com/content/duggar_recipes/30455/homemade_liquid_laundry_soap_front_or_top_load_machine_best_value. The rest of my cleaners that I'm trying for now are coming from the Reader's Digest Homemade book. http://www.amazon.com/Homemade-How--Hundreds-Everyday-Naturally/dp/0762109041/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1340479033&sr=8-4&keywords=Homemade

Homemade cleaners!

We had decided a while ago to start making our own cleaners, so that we know exactly what is in them, and what is in our home, on our counters, in the air, and around our family.

I already had alot of the things needed at the house. I had done some research, reading books, blogs, websites, and from other people. It's fairly simple to make them, it just takes a little extra work every once in a while.

I am in the process of making them, I will post pictures as I make them and recipes as I try them. I am maybe going to make laundry soap tonight.

A Year in the Life...

Well, It's been almost a year since I posted. I'm going to try to get back into posting a bit more often on all my blogs. We have had a whirlwind year.

My parents moved to Indiana in the fall of last year. So this is our first full year with having holidays on our own. Grant has had to work most of them, so it's been kinda hit or miss.

In January we found out we were going to have to move. This was a mixed blessing. We were sad to be loosing our big garden plot, but it was nice to be getting a nicer house. God blessed us with a new house to rent in 3 days after we had got our 30 day notice. We moved at the beginning of February. Our new house is 2 bedrooms, with a big kitchen (not much counter space though), a huge living room that we have split into a living room/craft room, a basement, laundry room, and storage areas! It is a really pretty house. We don't have room for an actual garden, but we have a container garden. It's been so dry and hot, our cucumbers, lettuce, and turnips have already died, and the herbs and peppers look like they may die soon too. We have gotten several tomatoes so far though!

May 11, our kitty, Max died. It was a very sad time, we ended up having to put him down after finding him not able to move. They said he had neurological problems.

That same day, we found out we were pregnant! We were so excited! May 26th I went to a carnival with some friends and I fell tripping over a tent peg. We were a little worried, so I went to the hospital to get checked out. We were diagnosed with a Blighted Ovum (when the baby stops forming very early on and is absorbed back into the uterus, but there is still an yolk sac). We were devastated. We spent that week praying and learning all we could. We went in for another ultrasound a week and a day later, and the doctor was able to find the baby! We even got to hear the heartbeat! That was the 1st of June. On June 7th, I had alot of cramping and bleeding. I went to the ER to get checked out, and by the time I got back and had an ultrasound, I had lost the baby. This has been a very sad time, but we find joy and peace in the time we had that week, having pictures and the memory of hearing our sweet baby's heartbeat. What a blessing, to have been able to see her (we thought it was a girl all along), and heard her heartbeat. We named her Tzeitel Dawn. Tzeitel being Yiddish for Sarah, meaning Beloved Princess, and Dawn meaning a new day (and being named after her mama).