Growing Bacteria in My Kitchen...On Purpose.

Doesn't that title just make your mouth water in anticipation of a dinner invite from our family?

Yesterday, I decided to try my hand at a new kitchen adventure: home made yogurt. Now, you may be asking yourself, "Why would someone want to make yogurt, when there is perfectly good yogurt you can buy at the store?" I know there are people asking themselves this, because those were the exact words that ran through my head when a friend offered me a yogurt maker 4 years ago. I ended up passing it on to my mom because, "she does weird things like that" and never gave it a second thought...Until I had a 10 month old who is consuming yogurt at the rate of 2 quarts/week. You read that correctly: 2, $3.50 quarts of yogurt per week. That would be $28 dollars in yogurt/month, $336 in just yogurt/year. Ouch.

Milk however, is $4.00/gallon from a local dairy here. So yesterday, with the aid of my favorite kitchen appliance the crock pot, I turned 2 quarts of milk into 2 quarts of yogurt. Each quart of yogurt now costs ~1.00, a savings of $240/year. Not too shabby.

Without further ado, here's how I grew bacteria in my kitchen on purpose:

First, I poured 2 quarts of milk into the crock pot and set in on low for 2.5 hours. The milk is heated for sterilization purposes, since you will be leaving it at room temp for quite a while, you only want the right kind of bacteria growing.

Next, I unplugged the crock pot and let it sit (lid on) for 3 hours. The milk must cool to a good incubation temp for the bacteria, somewhere between 90 and 110 degrees.

Then, I wisked in 1/2 cup of plain yogurt with active bacteria (I just used the bottom of the tub from the store) and let it sit, wrapped in a towel for 8 hours.

Honestly, I was a little skeptical. Could it really be that easy? At 10pm last night, I unwrapped the crockpot and found...yogurt. It tastes like and has the same consistency of the store bought yogurt for a fraction of the cost.

It's probably not something I'd bother with if I didn't have such a voracious yogurt eater, but I have a feeling I'll be making quite a few batches during this season of our lives.

Caleb wasn't so sure about his first bite of yogurt way back in March, but now, it's a breakfast staple

May: New Goal and a Caleb Update

May has arrived (though I'm still not quite sure how we are nearly halfway through the year already) so I guess I ought to set a goal for this month...

To recap, in January my goal was routine. Specifically, to take time in the morning to eat breakfast, exercise, shower, dress for the day and have a quiet time This has been a little sporadic with all the moving, but I'm finding my groove again : ) Though things like exercise have moved to the evening as David and I are taking our daily walk or gardening almost every day.

In February, I wanted to focus on being more loving both in the meditations of my heart and the words of my mouth. It was an eye-opening and transforming month that I'm thankful to say has had a long term effect. David was and is amazingly helpful at keeping me accountable in this area.

During March I followed along with Simple Mom's Project Simplify and in April I took a break to focus on moving and Easter.

I've also achieved some mini-goals of mine along the way. Two weeks ago my friend Jen agreed to be my guide at our local farmer's market (somewhere I've been meaning to visit for quite some time). I was amazed at the variety of produce, eggs, milk, yogurt, cheese and meat...80% for far less than I pay at the grocery store. I guess that's the beauty of living in Amish country. I'm totally hooked.

Along that line, another mini-goal I've just started is using cash to pay for our groceries. Partially because I'm buying so much at the farmers market now, and they don't exactly take debit, but also because I've heard so many people swear by how much less they spend when they can see the cash leaving their hands.

Yesterday was my first experience of handing over cash at the grocery store (yes, I still shop there too!) and I can definitely say there is something about parting with a portion of money from an envelope that is far more real feeling than just swiping a card. I'm excited (and nervous) to see what's left in our envelope at the end of the month!

My big goal for May however, is to get our garden going. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I've heard the best way to learn is by doing. So, with a few basics in mind I'll be planting lettuce this week and tomatoes after we get home from a week long conference in Baltimore for David's work.

I would put off planting in general until after our travel, but with David's schedule that would probably mean not having a garden at all by the time I put it off for a week here or a week there. Hopefully one of our neighbors won't mind getting paid in vegetables in exchange for doing a little watering while we're gone. If not, it'll be survival of the fittest : )

Last, but not least, a Caleb update! As I mentioned in an earlier post, he hasn't been a big fan of finger foods thus far. I decided to just offer them each day, encourage him to pick them up, but not to push the issue. After a week of alternately smearing the food and completely ignoring it, Caleb has decided it's kind of cool to put food in his own mouth.

Yesterday he fed himself several chunks of banana covered in rice cereal (to stop it from slipping out of his fingers so easily). Then today he ate chunks of mushy carrot and even tried a cheerio (though after he gagged on that I decided I'd either spray them with a little water first or wait a bit to introduce them again). I wish I'd gotten a picture, but I couldn't find my camera. It was a beautiful mess! It's so incredible to watch him grow and change each day.

Friday Favorites Return: Make Your Own Ranch

A few weeks ago I got a big craving for oven baked chicken fingers dipped in creamy ranch dressing. Healthy, I know...

Anyway, I bought this expensive bottle of ranch dressing from the refrigerated section that boasted is was made with only a few ingredients. On closer inspection, it still had ingredients I've been avoiding. Still, better than nothing right? So I took it home, made my chicken fingers and was thankful I had the dressing because frankly, they were bland.

Last night, I tried my hand at chicken tenders again. This time I tried to directly emulate my mother-in-law's method. Apparently I need to watch her more closely because again: bland. This time, I had no ranch dressing, and you can bet with gas prices at one arm and two legs I was not going to take a jaunt out to get some.

I'd seen a recipe for buttermilk ranch on one of my favorite blogs, but assumed it was be too difficult to be worth the effort, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

To my (and David's) surprise, not only was the ranch easy to make, it was the best ranch dressing I've ever had. It would actually be perfect as a veggie dip since it's so thick and creamy. Best of all, it far out-shined the expensive bottle of store dressing at a fraction of the cost.

So, without further ado, here's the link to making your own amazing buttermilk ranch dressing. Oh, and if you're like me and never have buttermilk on hand, here are a couple substitutions:

1/2 plain yogurt, 1/2 milk (this is the one I use all the time)

1 tblspn white vinegar or lemon juice and enough milk to equal one cup

I also omitted the fresh parsley, as I had none.

The work station

The finished product

First Week Back

We've officially been back in Pennsylvania just over one week. I'm astounded by how much we've accomplished in that short time!

When we arrived back home, I was astounded to see the house in shambles. Was it burglars? No, it was the chaos left in the wake of moving with 3 weeks notice while caring for a colicky newborn. Clutter abounded, burp rags lay strewn in nearly every room, the tub hadn't been scrubbed in...a long time. I was so thankful my mom was staying for a week and David had taken time off.

Many hands really do make light work. We scrubbed, dusted, picked up, sorted, threw out, and consigned. Yet somehow, we all managed to end the week feeling rested. David enjoyed getting to spend extra time with Caleb while mom and I had a few mommy-daughter outings. We spent the afternoon at a friend's house while pest control came, consigned clothes at my favorite shop, and went to the farmers market early Friday morning. The farmer's market was definitely my favorite. I've been wanting to go for quite a while, but wanted someone to come with me. My friend Jen goes every week and met mom and I there in the drizzly 40 degree weather. Fortunately, it's an indoor market!

I found fresh produce for well below supermarket rate, milk from a local dairy, and free-range eggs (also below supermarket price). My most exciting find was amazing looking lunch meat for half the price of what I usually pay for sandwich meat. Score! It was a light turn out day for vendors since most are Amish or Mennonite and it was Good Friday. I'm looking forward to seeing what other stands are open next week...

David wasn't the only one babysitting this week though! Mom watched Caleb 3 different nights so David and I could enjoy some couple time. Our time in Florida was so busy, I hadn't realized how much we were in need of reconnecting until we had the opportunity to do so. Our first date was to a Hibachi restraint. I had wanted to go for my birthday last year, but it just wasn't an option with a colicky one month old who nursed every 1.5 hours. David decided it would be a great time to finally have that date. We had a great time and ate 2 more meals from the left overs!

Thursday, mom watched Caleb so we could attend Maundy Thursday communion service at church. Typically, evening services fall after Caleb's bed time so being able to attend and take communion together was a tremendous blessing. Between these two wonderful dates I was more than content. However, David had something special planned. Our two year anniversary is only a couple weeks away, so he decided we should celebrate early while my mom was still here to watch over Caleb.

Friday evening, after we tucked Caleb into bed, I swapped my jeans for the skirt I was wearing the day I met David and we headed to the Melting Pot. I feel I should mention that as we were dressing Caleb was beside himself. The poor kid has grown 4 teeth in one month. The latest tooth just made it's entrance this morning. Even with pain reliever on board, it took him an hour to fall asleep. We missed most of the tears thanks to Granny Robin shooing us out the door. What a great Grandma!

Finally, we were on the road. We hadn't made reservations since we're never exactly sure when we're going to make it out of the house, but we figured an hour long drive there would be plenty of notice. Who knew Good Friday would be so packed? The first available reservation was 8:45! You know you're officially a grown-up when the idea of starting a meal at a quarter til 9 makes you feel like you're back in college again : )

We killed time wandering around the mall and we're actually seated at 8:30. Even with an early start we enjoyed lingering over our meal and didn't finish until 11pm! I've been to the Melting Pot once before on a big girls night out with my college room mates. We only did the cheese fondue and dessert so the 4 course meal was a new experience for me. David and I thoroughly enjoyed each course, but I think our dark & milk chocolate dessert fondue with Bailey's swirled in was the best. Suffice to say, it was a fantastic time of eating, reminiscing and no interruptions! We arrived home at midnight, just in time for Caleb to wake up and cry for his nightly feeding. I took off my pearls, snuggled my baby boy close and thanked God for this wonderful life I've been blessed with.

The next morning, it was time to drive mom to the airport. Both David and I were sad to see her go. I am so thankful for Dad's willingness to share her with us for so long. I can't believe how rested I feel after a break from dishes and laundry for a week, not to mention all the dusting, cleaning and child care she did during her time here. It really freed David and I up to unpack, reorganize and declutter.

At the end of the week, the room we were all most proud of was the kitchen. Just before we left for Florida, our microwave died in a shower of sparks and arcs (no, I did not put metal in it!). We replaced it, reorganized the counter top appliances and now have a much more functional work space. The best part however, was getting our kitchen island/breakfast bar. I've had my eye on this piece since we moved into our house a year ago. We don't have much counter or cabinet space, so a lot of things were living in a large bin under the kitchen window. David and I consulted the budget and decided the time was right. It's been such a joy to both of us to finally have that bin out of the room!

Our Lived-in Kitchen

Notice the stationary bouncer peaking out from behind the island. It's the only way I can get things done in the kitchen while he's awake!

Of course, there is still much more work to be done, but if feels manageable...unlike how I felt when we first walked in the door! Better still, David and I are feeling so reconnected after a week of tackling projects side-by-side and several wonderful date nights. We are looking forward to continuing our work on the house. Expect some before and after shots. Sadly, I didn't take any of the post-colic disaster we walked into, so apparently that will stay a secret only family (and our house sitters) know : )

One Small Thing

It's been a while since I updated my progress on January and Febuary's goals.

In January my word was routine. I sought to begin the day with a warm breakfast, do 10 minutes of tummy toning 3x's/week, take a morning shower and ditch the jammies for real clothes, and most importantly make time for scripture and prayer.

Of course, I was hoping building this habit in January would help it continue through out the year and it has...sorta. I do eat a warm breakfast every single morning now. I think of it as cafe mom. I wait to eat until Caleb's morning nap (usually around 8:30am since he's up at 6:30). Then I head to the kitchen to make a bagel sandwich and small cup of coffee. It takes about 5 minutes from start to finish(seriously!) and then I can sit down on the couch sipping my home made latte topped with whip cream and eating a meal that actually fills me until his afternoon nap! During this time I read a few inspiring blogs or messages from friends. It's such a wonderful way to start my day.

Tummy toning did not survive long past January, but I feel like it did it's job. I still have a little preggo pooch, but it's less noticeable now and I feel comfortable with my body again, which was the whole point anyway : )

I'd say getting out of jammies before noon happens 70% of the time now. I can live with that success rate at this stage of our lives!

I had a 2-3 week lapse in time with God in February that I'm happy to say has been reversed. I'm back to enjoying opening most days conversing with God and reading through 1st Samuel. I love getting to see how over and over again David prays and trusts what God has to say about each situation rather than what his own experience tells him. It's a reminder I need often right now.

February brought 2 new goals: updating the budget and becoming less critical in my heart and in my speech. Not surprisingly, I had a really hard time being less critical when I wasn't spending time with God. I was invited to a wonderful study on peacemaking that convicted me in so many areas and brought me back to scripture again and again. If you've never seen any material written by peacemaker ministries I highly recommend this site about Biblical responses to conflict. It's been so helpful in seeing my own role in conflict more clearly and addressing unhealthy responses. Overall, I've seen a lot of growth in this area of my life with plenty more room to continue : )

And finally, I did manage to update the budget weekly in February. However, it didn't stop my from blowing right past my grocery "magic number". After some discussion with David we decided we couldn't meet our current health goals with the old number. So we eliminated another area of the budget and added that amount to grocery. It was a tough choice because I really wanted to make the old number work. However, with this season of preparing to move again I am finding giving myself some grace makes for a happier mommy and happier family. I'm so thankful for David's support during times like these!

I'm not making any goals for March or April. We'll be transitioning from FL to PA in the middle of next month and I expect I'll be using extra time and energy to prepare for that as well as prepare my heart for Easter. Although I'm not Catholic, I've found Lent to be a good time for me to step back from other obligations and focus on my relationship with Christ. It seems to reset my compass for the year. Since I do have many Catholic friends, I find their thoughts during this time very encouraging to that journey as well.

I am participating in Project Simplify however because I know it will motivate me to get this place packed and cleaned in small pieces, which is what I need to be doing anyway!

I also plan to do one small thing over these next two months: keep my stove top clean! If you've ever tried the "fly lady" method of house keeping, you know she recommends a shiny sink as the one thing to make sure gets done each day because it just makes you feel good. Shiny sinks don't do it for me since I (confession) really dislike doing dishes. But I love cooking. And something about cooking on a nice clean stovetop makes me smile.

How I Tame the Grocery Beast

Instead of just giving you and update on how I'm doing with my grocery budget, I thought I'd share a little bit about how I (try) and stay under our "magic number".

Taming the grocery budget beast is a constant challenge for me. Every family has priorities about where to spend and where to save. For us, we've chosen to eat as many whole foods a possible, eat only organic meat, milk and eggs, and try to buy organic produce as well. If you're in the same boat you've probably already noticed that most coupons/great deals are for processed foods and name brand items, which means getting a little more creative to find savings.

-I plan my weekly menu ahead of time: first based on what's in my freezer and pantry and second what's on sale that week. My average savings using just this method? At least 30%. As a bonus, I always know what we're eating for lunch/dinner and don't have to scramble at the last minute. I can also easily switch things around to accommodate guests. When I don't do this, I find dinner time much more stressful.

-I clip coupons for anything we regularly use and try to combine using the coupon with the product being on sale. Typically, for reasons I already mentioned, this doesn't end up saving me much, but still, even getting an extra 10% off isn't bad.

-I use store brand products unless the coupon/sale combo is cheaper or, rarely, because I've tried the store brand and know it's gross so I buy the name brand. This savings is hard to track, but I once read an article where a woman bought everything store brand one trip and the exact same things name brand w/ coupons the next and just subbing the store brand saved more money.

-I buy organic meat only when it is on the deepest sale the store offers. Then I stock my freezer and use my supply until the next sale. If we run out before then, we eat vegetarian, which is something we do 2-3 nights a week anyway.

-When I do cook with meat, I tend to make recipes like stews, casseroles, stir frys, etc. that allow me to stretch the meat by mixing it with lots of other ingredients. 2 chicken breast halves can last us 4 meals instead of 2 and still leave everyone nice and full.

So how am I doing on meeting my goal this month? Eh, I'd like to be doing better. We are just over half way through the month, but I am way more than half way through my grocery budget. My freezer is however, full of meat, so I still think staying under is totally do-able.

Part of the reason I'm struggling to stay under more this year than last is I've been trying to buy the produce that made the "dirty dozen" list organically(http://organic.lovetoknow.com/Dirty_Dozen_Organic_Foods). In the past I've only bought organic produce if it was on deep sale. I'm still only buying the least expensive and most seasonal fruits and veggies, but it does add up! I'm definitely looking forward to a back yard garden in summer 2012.

Little Month, Big Challenge

February may be short, but it's an ambitious month in the Gainey household. On top of continuing January's goal of routine (specifically: exercise, quiet time and showering in the morning- yes, I was showering before, just often after David got home!) I've added a few others.

February's goals are to update the budget weekly, stay under my grocery budget and (the one I'm really scared about) stop criticizing and boasting.

My final Feb goal (which David is working on too) is something I've been convicted of quite recently. Both David and I have noticed over the last year our conversations too often center on what "we do right" and what "others do wrong". I'm ashamed to admit that. How do these conversations happen? Well, I think a big part of it is there's a fine line between sharing your heart with your spouse and tearing someone else down in the process.

The advent of social media like facebook, blogs and even the easy accessibility of mass media at any time of the day or night makes it easier than ever for us to compare ourselves to others. And, in the words of John Acuff, "Our internal dialogue has two modes: extreme criticism or extreme flattery." Whether I'm down in the dumps because another mom appears to have her life all together or feeling unreasonably proud of the fact that I cooked while another family went out to eat ('cause you know, we never do that...) it all stems from the same wrong heart: that I can ever evaluate my worth based on another human being.

I've met so many families, many of them Christian unfortunately, who seemed to have an air of superiority about themselves. You could hear it in their disdain for the choices others around them were making and in their bragging about their own morality. This is not the Gospel. And this is not how I want conversations in our family to sound. We are all made in the image of God and therefore each carry unique value and worth, but we are also all broken by sin, often manifesting in very different ways in our lives, but broken none-the-less. This is how I want to view people. It's how I want our children to view people. To be able to see beauty and inherent worth in each person, while still being able to forgive individual failings. Tearing others down extinguishes this truth in our hearts.

How does that look in real life? Here are some verses I'm praying will make their way from my head to my heart:

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." (Phillipians 4:8)

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)

"A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense" (Prov. 19:11)

"My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry..." (James 1:19)

"Forgive as the Lord forgave you" (Col. 3:13)

I think it's important that we can be open with one another about what is on our heart, but not at someone else's expense.

I know this won't be an easy habit to build, but I hope by approaching it intentionally and with prayer that February will be a month I get better at showing love in my speech. Isn't love what this month is supposed to be about anyway?

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs." -1st Corinthians 13:4-5

January Budget Update

Monday marked the end of my personal grocery budget challenge. Did I manage to stay under? In a word: Nope.

The good news: we did successfully eat all our meals for a week based on what was in our pantry though, including one meal with an friend from college (Crock Pot Lasagna) and another meal with David's Dad and two younger brothers. It wasn't all pasta and red sauce though we also ate salmon with green beans and rice, black bean burritos and beans and rice. We ate pretty well, although there was a new recipe I tried that flopped : ( but, fortunately was still edible (cheese makes everything better!)

So what did I blow my budget on? For the most part, non-essentials: Yankee Candles that were 75% off ($6.50 for the largest size!), chocolate chips for cookies we gave to David's brother and friend who moved to New York this past weekend, 50% off Target brand holiday frappe-chinos, which are a special treat for David, and a plunger...we'll let you guess why we needed that...




The items here plus a gallon of organic milk and 2 bags of Dove dark chocolates (our favorite sweet end to the day) on BOGO at Publix are what put me over.

Looking back at the month, I feel conflicted. While $25 doesn't seem like a lot, if I over spend by just that much every month this year it will total: $300, which is a nice chunk of money we could be putting to use elsewhere (say, paying off our mortgage?)

However, I feel like I put the money towards things my family regularly uses that were on deep sale or gifts to brighten someone else's day (which I could technically put under our "gifts" budget, but I don't itemize receipts. It just gets too complicated. Would I have spent the money the same way if the numbers we have set in our budget already stretched us to our limits? (they don't, but they do allow us to give and save, which are both very important to us.) Absolutely not. But do I regret how I spent this month? Not really.

What's your take? Do you stick to the budget no matter what or are exceptions once-and-a-while ok? I know one thing, next month I want to stay under. Those are nice words, but I'm going to start tracking my numbers every week this month to make sure I don't get a "you're almost out" surprise on the last week of the month again. So stay tuned for February's Goal: updating the budget weekly (and of course, staying under).

Note: David showed me how I miscategorized something, which meant I actually ended up coming in under budget after all. However, since I made all these choices thinking it was putting me over I still think the post is relevant. Plus I have a 7 month old, like I have time to rewrite a post lol!

And in the interest of full disclosure I also did our first grocery shop of February on 1/31

Speaking of Eating...

One of my goals this month has been trying to stay on top of the budget weekly instead of letting it pile up. The good news is- we are doing great at meeting our goals. The bad news? I realized today that I have exactly $10.80 left in my grocery budget for this last week of the month.

My mission is to live out of our pantry and actually achieve the goal of staying under (or at) budget. I could pull extra from another "envelope", David even offered to raise the monthly grocery budget this year, but I really want to challenge myself to stay at our current number one more year. We'll see how it goes, but I thought maybe sharing my goal would add some accountability and motivate me even more.

Any great ideas for how to lower your grocery budget? I'm always looking to add another idea to my homemaker tool kit!