Homemade Crockpot Yogurt

This past month, I have made it my goal to rid my kitchen of as many store bought products as possible. I know I can’t get rid of everything, but a girl can sure try.

I wanted to find options for condiments, such as ketchup and bar-b-cue sauce (something Biceps consumes by the truckload), butter, yogurt, granola (to replace our cereal), summer drinks and canned anything.

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The process of making it myself had to be simple, cost effective and better tasting to warrant the move.

Last week, I shared with all of you my recipe for Tasty Granola sweetened by Agave Nectar. And what goes better with granola than yummy, creamy, sweet yogurt? I dare say nothing does.

Today, we are going to focus just on the yogurt. The granola will just have to get along on its own, crying by itself in the cabinet. It’s yogurt’s time to shine.

I was on the hunt for an easy, cheap recipe to make my own yogurt-free from things found in the ingredient’s list that I cannot pronounce. After a few tries, I came up with the perfect recipe-and it’s all done in the crockpot and with very little effort.

I start my yogurt in the evening, knowing that the cool down can happen overnight and I can enjoy fresh yogurt in the morning!

Here’s all that you’ll need to make your very own yogurt (makes 1/2 gallon of yogurt):
-1/2 Gallon of Milk* (I used 2%, because that’s what we drink.)
-1 Cup Plain Yogurt with active cultures (after you make your first batch, you save a cup and use on the next batch. No more store bought yogurt!)
-*1/2 Cup Powdered Milk (if using 2% or lower milk, or ultra pasteurized milk)
-Crockpot
-Cooking Thermometer

Pour the 1/2 gallon of milk into the crockpot, cover with the lid and set to high.

Let the milk heat until it’s almost to the boiling stage with the desired temperature of 180. This took my crockpot about 1 1/2-2 hours to do.

Once the milk has reached 180, turn the crockpot off and let it cool down to 115. I would recommend stirring it from time to time to distribute the heat and help it cool down more quickly.

Once the milk has cooled to 115, stir in the 1/2 Cup of Powdered milk if you are using it.

Next, stir in the 1 Cup of Plain Yogurt.

Put the lid back on the crockpot and cover it with a large towel.

Set the crockpot in the oven and let it cool down for 8-12 hours (or overnight).

Write yourself a note so that you won’t accidentally turn the oven on and burn your house down if you are forgetful like me.

In the morning, open the oven, remove the beach towel and see what happened overnight! .

Remember to save back a cup of this yogurt, sticking it in a ziploc bag and placing it in the freezer for your next batch.

Sweeten the yogurt with liquid Stevia (I prefer the Vanilla Creme), add some strawberries and Tasty Homemade Granola and voila-enjoy a delicious breakfast all made by you!

Lovin’ my Crossfit

I’ve always been into working out.

I love that feeling after you push yourself and you stand there sweaty and panting. And I love high tops and belted leotards.

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I also love keeping my heart healthy, my cholesterol low, my body strong and my gut in check during mealtimes. It’s hard to be tempted by french fries when you know you have to run 3 miles the next day.

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Biceps and I did P90X for several years, perfect for a life on the road of touring. If we didn’t do P90X, I would go to the usual running 3-5 miles a day and weight lifting.

But, recently with Biceps getting the firefighter’s position our lives have changed, and I spend 1/3 of my time at home-alone. I needed something new, something challenging and something to get me out of the dang house.

Cue “Crossfit”.

I was given a free 7 day pass to the YWCA close to my home-close enough that I can bike to it since we just have the one car. After just a few classes of Crossfit, I was hooked. It pushed me to try harder and go further than I would on my own-and my classmates are encouraging and really stinkin’ cool.

So, after selling a few things and pinching our pennies, I signed up for a year-long membership to the YWCA.

This tough little number, Christina, is our trainer. She’s the perfect mixture of butt kicker, teacher and motivator. Plus, I really just don’t want to make her mad. She could level me with one uppercut, I’m sure.

Somedays, I don’t want to go to Crossfit-when it’s 99 degrees outside and I have to bike the 2 miles there and back, I run through the excuses in my head.

But knowing that I need to see other humans, and need to practice my “double unders”-(two rotations of the jump rope with only one jump -see above photo), I keep going back. And keep getting bruised and whip marks and I keep loving every minute of it.

If you’ve ever done Crossfit, you probably either loved or hated it. For me, I am in love.

The X Factor and Britney Spears

I had the rare opportunity to spend this past weekend solely with my little brother, Daniel. (Although, my little brother is not that little. At 6’2″, he pretty much dominates any sort of crowd situation.)

Daniel, a.k.a. “Average Dan“, works for Fox television here in Tulsa and was sent to the X Factor auditions taking place in Kansas City.

And wouldn’t you know he asked me to go along with him? I felt so stinkin’ special.

As kids, Daniel and I traveled to the most exotic midwest small towns with my parent’s ministry. We became so accustomed to traveling the back roads that now traveling on interstates seems almost sacrilegious.

We still appreciate 2 lane highways, slower speed limits, weird sightings such as the world’s largest prairie dog, ball of twine or pen collections, roadside fruit stands, and cowboys hanging out the DQ.

We chose the circuotous route, stopping in Coffeyville, Ks. to act like morons and climb all over this train and relive old memories.

We learned long ago that even in the tiniest town, most mexican restaurants offered edible food. If there isn’t a mexican restaurant to be found, Plan B was always chicken fingers. You can’t really screw up either of these food sources, for the most part.

So, we stopped for mexican in Iola, KS and ate at El Charro’s. It did not disappoint.

After a quick change at our hotel, we walked to the Sprint Center to watch the X Factor auditions. The place was packed, the emotions were high, the weirdos and the talented alike stepped on and then off stage.

The judges were Britney Spears, L.A. Reid, Demi Lovato and what should have been Simon Cowell but ended up being the British X Factor’s judge Louis Walsh. I was concerned Britney might freak out and jump on the table, or threaten someone with an umbrella, but she was rather composed and gentle when it came to crushing someone’s dreams.

I saw three promising vocalists out of the 10 or 15 that tried-a 40 something year old male who went country, a 12 year old R & B female that blew us all out of the water, and a 16 year old chick with pipes that tore the house apart and then down.

We speculated what Britney was doing while we were eating fish tacos and drinking a dark beer. I just hoped it didn’t involve her hair, a razor and crazy pills.

But, it probably did.

It’s his birthday and he’ll sleep if he wants to….

Guess who’s birthday it is today?

Maxwell has officially turned one.

And this is how he is choosing to spend his big day.

I can’t blame the guy. I’d prefer to spend my birthday much the same-catching up on my sleep.

We are so glad you are a part of our lives, Max. Happy Birthday (said in a hushed tone)!