Who would have thunk it !!!

Finally we have a snow day, and who would have ever "THUNK" that I would be able to get more done with 8 kids out of school than when I have the grands (2  1yr old kids) The kids are not out because of the snow though. The high for today is 0...yes big fat 0 !! The wind chill is hovering at 25 below zero and they say tomorrow will be even colder...so maybe there will be 2 days off.

I have so far been able to hang a shelf, make 2 loaves of homemade bread, couple loads laundry and have some soap in the pot brewing.

So as promised before the recipe for bread

1 cup water

3 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons cooking oil

3 cups all purpose flour

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

I make the dough in my bread machine and sometimes add a little honey for sweetness or split my flour half and half with wheat flour. Today I am baking it in my NEW cast iron bread pan...so far it looks super scrumptious in the oven.

On a side note:
 I have been really afraid to jinx myself by talking about my work with kids. But, today I actually got postive feedback so as soon as I am able to spill the beans and worry about jinxing it I will. I will tell you all that I have been praying HARD for this to work out.
Also, I found a storefront here in town to rent !!! We are so excited about it...and it should be April first at the latest that we are able to open up our little gift shop.

Homemade Yogurt

I have wanted to try making yogurt at home for sometime now. I have always thought it to be a seriously intense project....I was WRONG!!
For me the hardest part of this was to make sure the temp stayed up long enough for the cultures to grow.
And best of all the kids LOVED IT!!!
So guess what? I will be making yogurt often it was super easy and cheap...did I mention cheap. I like cheap, that means I can add those dollars to my mortgage and get out of debt faster.

So this is the recipe I went by and of course I made a few changes
Makes 1/2 gallon


1/2 gallon milk (I use fat free) I used whole milk
2 cups instant dry milk powder
1 cup sugar or your choice of sweetener.....2/3 cup of sugar and maybe 1/4 cup of honey
1 Tablespoon good vanilla (I use Mexican) didn't have the good stuff...just used the plain ol grocery store     vanilla
1 6-8 oz. container yogurt with active cultures (first batch after that save some of your own) I used Greek yogurt
Thermometer....candy thermo
Large, heavy, pot
Electric stove with light or gas stove with non-auto pilot light. Can also use a heating pad/towel/and box to cover) This is where I went off the course...I warmed a small cooler with hot water and put my jars in wrapped in a towel. I had a pitcher that I added hot water to and put in the cooler to keep the temp up

Place milk in pot and add dry milk powder. Stir well.
Heat milk to 180 degrees, stirring now and then so bottom doesn't burn I used a double boiler method to make sure the milk heated evenly....I added sugar and honey just as I took it off the stove
Fill sink with ice cold water and place pot insde sink, Add sugar and stir well. Cool down to 110-115 degrees. Add vanilla.
Fill containers of your choice and seal. ( I use jelly canning jars) Place on cookie sheet or heat proof tray.
Heat oven to 110-115 and turn off. Turn on oven light. This is where my cooler came into play. I left it in the cooler for about 7 hours and then tucked it deep in my fridge
Place yogurt in oven on upper rack and check oven periodically to make sure it stays between 110-115.
Yogurt will be "done" in 4-6 hours but you can let it incubate for up to 12 depending on how tart you like it and how much beneficial bacteria you wish it to have.
Serve plain or with any kind of fruit. Suggestions: Top with sliced bananas, peach or cherry pie filling, or stir in plain vanilla

Monday...UGH

As much as I look forward to Monday I dread it too. The good part is that all the kids go to school, but the bad part is that I have to do all the housework that has not been done since Thursday. The kids are out of school Friday, Saturday and Sunday so I play a tad more catch up than most. In reality I don't mind the catch up.....
but today the HUSBAND was home too. Keeping him busy is a challenge to say the least. He likes to wonder around the house and annoy me, just cause he can. Gotta love the man.
I did get a good bit done today though. I made 2 batches of soap one was just plain old fashioned lye soap to use as a stain stick on the kids clothes and the other was a teset batch to see if I like a new scent...Lemon Verbina. I have been watching Little House on the Prairie with the kids lately and was inspired to make an Ode to Miss Beadle soap. It smells great!!!! I also made my first test batch of lotion bars....added raspberry scent the kids are loving the smell, I hope they turn out well. I have a friend that wants something like this for her sons dry skin.
The kids are wired today they are all floating around the house from one thing to another like a bumble bee on crack. I do believe they may drive me to drink or worse yet go to bed wishing I had the energy to drink..
The grand has yelled at me all day....this teething thing is a booger for sure. I will be glad to see bath time and nightie night for the sweet Peanut.

Carbon Neutral

 



As I have tried to be disciplined and get caught up on my blog reading and maybe even blogging myself....I read Think Tank Momas blog post and thought I have to get in on this. Her friend Darla clued her in on how us blogging leaves a carbon footprint. The average blog receiving 15,000 hits a month, has emissions of EIGHT (8) POUNDS of carbon dioxide a year.
Now I am nowhere near that many hits in 6 months let alone 1 month...but I still think that giving back to our environment is terribly important....and I do spend an awful lot of time on Facebook so maybe I could off-set that just a bit and here is how.............
Plant a tree. You don't have to plant it yourself or even in your own yard...in case you live in an apartment and don't have a yard you can still do this.
All I had to do was post this "My blog is carbon neutral" blog., add a button to my blog to raise awareness. And then a tree is planted for my blog. EASY as 1-2-3.
You can too! Just go here  to find a button you like grab it and add it to your blog.










So what to do? Quit blogging? Certainly not! That isn't going to happen. BUT, there is something we can do. Plant a tree. And we don't have to plant it ourselves. Nope. I post this "My blog is carbon neutral" blog. I add a button to my blog to raise awareness. And then a tree is planted for my blog. EASY as 1-2-3.

ABC's of Me

It's early Sunday morning and I figured why not might be fun so here goes......thanks to Vicki at Frugal Mom

A. AGE: 39 the only reason I know this is I just had a birthday

B. BED SIZE: Queen

C. CHORE YOU HATE: Vacuuming....I have a special relationship with the vacuum

D. DOG'S NAME: Hutch the Husky

E. ESSENTIAL "START THE DAY!" ITEM: A few minutes of quiet before all the kids get up

F. FAVORITE COLOR: Green

G. GOLD OR SILVER: Silver.

H. HEIGHT: 5'4"

I. INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY: I play the radio like a pro

J. JOB TITLE: Professional mom and all that is included

K. KIDS:  8...yes 8....2 mine, 2 his, and 4 foster...it's like a bag of skittles in our house

L. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: cramped with 8 kids what more could you expect

M. MOM'S NAME: Stella

N. NICKNAME: Foster kids call me Ya-Ya, BFF's hubs calls me Red, everyone else just calls me CRAZY

O. OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAY: 2 c-sections

P. PET PEEVE: Poor speaking, you know like "I gots 3 toys"...Oh geez just typing that hurt

Q. QUOTE FROM A MOVIE: It's my island

R. RIGHTY OR LEFTY?: Righty

S. SIBLINGS: 2 older brothers and 2 older sisters

T. TIME YOU WAKE UP: Around 6ish

U. UNDERWEAR: nothing intersting thats for sure

V. VEGGIE YOU DISLIKE: Lima beans

W. WAYS (REASONS) YOU ARE LATE: When I have appts and caseworkers show up just as I am walking out the door

X. XRAYS YOU'VE HAD: Most recently my head

Y. YUMMY FOOD YOU MAKE: Egg Rolls...I think that might be on todays dinner menu...YUMMM

Z. ZOO ANIMALS YOU LIKE: The turtles