Looking for a fun, festive and healthy way to kick off a patriotic holiday? You can’t go wrong with this colorful smoothie!
Guest post by Brigette Shevy
Even though this red, white and blue smoothie can be enjoyed all year round, there’s no better time than during the summer months, at the peak of berry season.
I prep the fresh fruit and stick it in the freezer overnight so that it’s all ready to go in the morning.
Not a breakfast person? Try it as a refreshing afternoon treat, or even as a dessert!
Ingredients for Patriotic Smoothies
- 1 cup frozen blueberries
- 1 cup frozen strawberries, sliced
- 1 large frozen banana, cut into thirds
- 1 cup milk (any kind will work.)
- 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (Plain yogurt will work, too, but you may want to add additional sweetener, depending on your taste preference.)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon fresh squeezed lime juice
How to Make these Red White and Blue Smoothies
1. Blend all ingredients together in a high-powered until smooth (we use a Vita-mix).
2. Pour into 3 glasses and garnish with yogurt, whipped cream, and/or additional berries (if desired).
NOTE: This recipe has a thicker, shake-like consistency. If you prefer more of a drink, use fresh instead of frozen strawberries.
Red, White, and Blue Smoothie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen blueberries
- 1 cup frozen strawberries sliced
- 1 large frozen banana cut into thirds
- 1 cup milk any kind will work
- 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon fresh squeezed lime juice
Instructions
- Blend all ingredients together in a high-powered until smooth (we use a Vita-mix).
- Pour into 3 glasses and garnish with yogurt, whipped cream, and/or additional berries (if desired).
Notes
Nutrition
Love this recipe?
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More Smoothie Recipes You’ll Enjoy!
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
- Orange Cream Smoothie
- Pick-Me-Up Smoothie
- Blueberry Ginger Smoothie
- Strawberry Oatmeal Smoothie
- Banana Coconut Green Smoothie
- Tropical Hawaiian Smoothie
- Sweet Potato Smoothie
Brigette is a full-time wife and mother who is blessed with three amazing bundles of energy. She enjoys music, experimenting in the kitchen, homeschooling her children, finding great deals, long-distance running, and anything chocolate.
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Do-It-Yourself: Water Table or Sandbox
MomsByHeart.net shows you how to make a homemade water table or sandbox.
Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
4 Weeks of Frugal Family Fun: Library Reading Program (Day 12)
We signed up for our library’s reading program for the first time this year. I read a lot of picture books to Silas each week, so it wasn’t much of a challenge for he and I to reach his goal, but the girls have been very motivated to read in order to reach their pre-set reading goals.
Kaitlynn was so motivated, in fact, that she read 10 easy readers the very first day and then recorded all of their names on her little reading record. I’ve never seen her quite so driven to reach a goal — and it was fun to watch!
Today was the first day that we could go and pick up the prize bags, and the girls were SO excited. They’d been talking about this day for weeks, literally.
Truth be told, I was a little concerned that maybe the prize bag wouldn’t be much and it might be a disappointment.
Boy, was I ever wrong!
Not only did each child get to choose a free book to take home, they also got a bag stuffed with great coupons and offers from local businesses — things like free Kid’s meals, free miniature golf, a free smoothie at McDonald’s, free baseball game tickets, free ice skating passes, and more.
They were beyond thrilled — and I was totally impressed with the coupons and freebies. Some of them required an additional purchase (like an adult entree purchase in order to get the free kid’s meal), but some of them were completely free — such as the free McDonald’s smoothie coupons, free tickets to an indoor kid’s play center with inflatable slides, etc.
Once again, I’m so thankful for the free service that libraries provide. Not only do they allow us to read hundreds of free books each year, but then they offer amazing programs like the summer reading program — for free.
If you aren’t utilizing the resources at your local library, I encourage you to check into it and see what all they have available. It just might save you a lot of money — and provide hours of frugal fun!
Did you do something fun and frugal as a family today? If you blogged about it, I’d love for you to leave a link to your blog post below. Or, you can just tell us what you did in the comments.
Note: Since the purpose of this series is to encourage you to be intentional about fun in your home this summer, please only link up posts showing pictures/sharing details of fun things you did as a family today (or within the last few days). Posts that do not adhere to these guidelines will be deleted in order to make it fair for those who are putting forth a lot of effort to participate in this challenge.
10 Weekly Goals
This week’s goals:
Family/Mothering Goals
1. Read at least a few chapters of The Railway Children aloud to all the children, read a few chapters of The Missing Video (reading to Kathrynne), and read at least two chapters of Little House in the Big Woods (reading to Kaitlynn).
2. Start swimming lessons for all three children.
3. Write a love note to Jesse.Personal Goals
4. Finish reading Choosing Gratitude plus one other book.
5. Run at least five times for 45 minutes each;
do weight-training program at least four days. {I ran five days, but I did shorter runs two of the days because I was short on time two of the mornings.}
6. Listen to 2 hours of Stop Acting Rich.7. Sleep for at least 8 hours every night. {So, I totally bombed this at least four of the nights — mostly because of going to bed too late and then still getting up early. Yep, totally my own fault. I’m going to work on being more disciplined about going to bed early this week.}
Home Management
8. Make Homemade Wheat Thins
9. Make Homemade Toothpaste.Business Goals
10. Continue blogging the 4 Weeks of Family Fun series.
This week’s goals:
Family/Mothering Goals
1. Finish reading Snow Treasure aloud to the children. Read a few chapters of The Missing Video (reading to Kathrynne), and read at least two chapters of Little House in the Big Woods (reading to Kaitlynn).
2. Continue swimming lessons for all three children.
3. Write a love note to Jesse.
Personal Goals
4. Finish reading Building Her House plus one other book.
5. Run at least five times for 45 minutes each; do weight-training program at least four days.
6. Listen to 2 hours of Stop Acting Rich.
7. Sleep for at least 7 hours every night.
8. Start the Choosing Gratitude 30-Day Devotional.
Home Management/DIY Projects
9. Make Homemade Wheat Thins
Business Goals
10. Continue blogging the 4 Weeks of Family Fun series.
How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? I’d love to have you share your progress on last week’s goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Of, if you’ve blogged about it, leave your direct link below. Let’s cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives!
You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.
This week’s menu
Homemade Hawaiian Pizza — I made this on Sunday and it was so good! Recipe coming soon!
Breakfasts
Oatmeal x 5 (We’ve been having this every weekday morning before swimming lessons, by request of the kids as it’s something hearty to fill them up before swimming!)
Scrambled eggs, toast, fruit
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie PancakesLunches
Red, White, and Blue Waffles, scrambled eggs
Baba Ganoush, Homemade Pita Pockets, raw veggies and fruit
Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches from the freezer x 2, veggies, apple slices
Leftovers x 2
Quesadillas x 2, raw veggiesSnacks
Chocolate Protein Truffles
Healthful Chocolate Freezer Fudge
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes
Fruit/VeggiesDinners
Dinner with extended family
Grilled Ham & Pineapple Kabobs, grilled corn on the cob, Easy Dinner Rolls, peaches, green salad
Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken served over rice, fruit salad
Grilled steak, grilled sweet corn, fruit salad, Easy Dinner Rolls
Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken, Easy Dinner Rolls, peaches, steamed veggies
Chicken Lime Tacos, fruit salad
Dinner out
What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.
2012 Goals: June update
How are you doing on your goals for 2012? I’m excited about the progress I made in June…
Personal
Read through the Bible in a year. {I’ve been keeping up with this faithfully.}
Read through the 24 books on my 2012 booklist. {I’m finished with June’s books and have read quite a few other books!}
Listen to 12 audiobooks. {I skipped June’s audiobook because I discovered it wasn’t available as a downloadable audiobook, but I listened to July’s instead!}
Run in at least one 5K race. {I’ve been running at least a few 3.1+ mile runs on the treadmill each week and am slowly working on getting my time down. I’m hoping to sign up for an official race soon, just need to get over my fear of signing up for a race as it’s something I’ve never done in my adult life! Yes, I know, I need to totally just get over it and sign up already. :)}
Complete the Couch to 10K program.
Tackle 12 Do-It-Yourself Projects. {I didn’t get the homemade crackers made last week like I’d hoped — mostly because it was too hot to turn on the oven on the days when I had time to make them! I’m hoping for a cooler day this week so I can make them!}
Focus on one habit per month. {We really, really intentionally worked on getting places on time in June — and we actually pulled it off most of the time! I discovered that we really have to plan to leave 45 minutes early in order to make it places on time. Crazy, I know, but when we do that, we’re getting places on time — yay! This month, I’m going to continue working on getting places on time as well working on getting things done early — another area I really struggle with.}
Learn to use my new DSLR camera (huge surprise Christmas present from Jesse!!) & improve my photography skills. {I’m excited to be seeing some improvement and progress with this! And I’m also excited that I’m beginning to feel more and more comfortable using my camera!}
Take at least one photo a day and put together a page every week for my Project Life album. {This is caught up since last month, I just need to write notes in some of the pages!}
Memorize Colossians using the plan and free download here. {I’m almost caught up with this.}Marriage
Go on the Love Like You Mean It Cruise. {Done–read my recap here.}
Go on two Marriage Retreats (Went to Cincinnati together in April).
Have monthly date nights. {We had one date in June.}
Read four books together. {We’ve done two books so far this year.}
Read at least 3 books on marriage. {I’ve read two so far this year.}Children/Homeschooling
Continue regular dates/outings with each of the children individually. {I went on at least one outing with each child individually in June.}
Continue Grace and Truth memory book. {The children memorized one verse plus one verse of a hymn in June.}
Ice-skating lessons for all three children. {The children finished up their third round of ice-skating lessons and we’re taking a break while we do swimming lessons!}
Swimming lessons for all three children. {We started a two-class these last week and the children are loving it!}
Finish second grade, begin third grade with Kathrynne. {Kathrynne finished second grade in May — woohoo!}
Finish kindergarten, begin first grade with Kaitlynn. {Kaitlynn finished Kindergarten in May and is excited about beginning first grade soon.}
Start preschool with Silas. {Started this in April.}
Go on at least one field trip every month. {We went on one field trip in June.}
Go on at least one family vacation. {We have one planned for July.}
Finish at least 15 read-aloud books. {We’ve finished 14 read-alouds so far this year and we’re on track to finish at least three more this month — so we’ve almost completed this goal!}Ministry/Friendships/Extended Family
Write at least two handwritten notes every month to encourage someone. {I wrote & mailed four handwritten notes this month.}
Continue being involved in our local church, homeschool group, young couple’s group, and blogging accountability group. {Ongoing}
Continue with weekly get-togethers with both sides of our extended family. {Ongoing}Business/Blogging
Continue to take Sundays off from blogging/business work. {Ongoing}
Continue keeping strict Office Hours for the business/blogging time each day. {Still plugging away on this!}
Switch to a paperless planning system. {This is the one goal I think I’ve officially decided to drop this year as it just wasn’t working for me. Back to the paper.}
Follow my weekly blogging plan. {I stuck with my blogging plan all month in June, if I’m remembering correctly — woot!}
Plan blog posts out at least a month in advance. {I made some great progress in this area in June!}
Write and schedule blog posts at least a week in advance. {I’m not a week ahead yet, but I’ve been blogging ahead a lot more recently and am excited to be making some progress on this.}Financial
Continue to tithe 10% of our income. {Ongoing}
Give generously to needs in our community and around the world, as God prompts us. {Ongoing}
Pay cash for a new-to-us vehicle to replace our family’s van. {We’re still looking and haven’t found anything we love in our price range yet!}
Finish saving for and purchase a rental property with cash. {We’re in the process of investigating our options in our price range right now and deciding if we want to go ahead and purchase something or continue saving. At this point, it’s looking like there’s a good possibility we might be purchasing something very soon. I’ll keep you posted.}
How Are You Doing on Your Goals for 2012?
If you’ve posted goals for 2012, I’d love for you to post an update on how things are going and share your link in the comments. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to just leave your update as a comment. Let’s encourage one another to live lives of intention and purpose!
10 Ways My Life Has Changed Since I Made a Budget
Guest post from Chelsea of Stay-At-Home{MADE}Mom
Before I got married (or cared much about my where my money went), I was a financial disaster. There were many times when I didn’t have money to pay my basic bills, overdrew my bank account on senseless purchases, and stressed about how I was going to make ends meet.
I had no excuse. I worked full-time and had no credit cards or loans. And even though I was paying my own bills (including rent and college expenses) my problem wasn’t a lack of money, it was poor stewardship.
I started dating my now-husband who was going to school (debt-free) for accounting. If anyone could zoom in on my financial blunders, it was him. Around this time, I also started reading MoneySavingMom.com and I learned about a very handy tool: a budget!
I’ve had a very different life since. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.
Here are ten ways my life has changed since I learned to budget my money.
1. I no longer wonder if I will eat.
This isn’t as bad as it sounds. Even on my lowest days, I could have easily afforded beans and rice. I simply chose otherwise.
2. I pay my bills on time.
I rarely paid my bills on time before. Whether I lost track of due dates or was short on money, it just didn’t happen.
3. I no longer incur late or overdraft fees.
These add up so quickly, it’s insane. Thankfully, it’s been awhile since I had to pay one.
4. I no longer pay full price for groceries.
I used to walk into a store with no plan or budget and buy whatever I wanted. The bill was huge and the groceries short-lived.
5. I no longer get harassed for money.
If you don’t pay your bills, eventually people will start calling, sending letters, or even knocking on your door to get what’s owed.
6. I can afford what I truly want.
If I want something, I’ve learned it is attainable with hard work and saving. Just two years after setting up a budget, my husband and I were able to pay cash for our entire wedding.
7. I can freely give.
Christmastime isn’t stressful, tithing is a priority, and I can give to those in need without hesitation.
8. We have a back-up plan.
It’s called an emergency fund, and it rocks.
9. We can live on one income.
Because of our current lifestyle, our family of 3 can comfortably live on $500 a week.
10. We are now asked for financial advice.
Woah! Never saw that one coming six years ago!
It’s scary to think of where I might be today, financially, if I had not chosen to quit messing around with my money. If you regularly experience any of the hardships I did, I would encourage you to take an honest look at your spending and set up a budget.
Trust me, you can do it! Living in the bondage of poor financial decisions is no way to live.
Chelsea is a 24-year old stay-at-home mom and wife. She is passionate about living simply and debt-free while encouraging others to do so. She blogs at Stay-At-Home{MADE}Mom about being a mommy, creations she makes by hand, and how she does both on a budget.
Today’s shopping trip: Dillon’s and the health food store
Dillon’s Shopping Trip
18 candy bars — $0.50 each, used 9 $0.50/2 coupons = free after coupons {Don’t freak out — I promise we won’t be eating all of those this week and I promise we’ll be sharing them with others! 😉 I just bought that many because I had 9 coupons and they were free. I’m also thinking I might freeze some of the candy bars to use chopped up in chocolate chip cookies.}
5 Silk single-serve milks — $1 each, used 2 $2/2 coupons and 2 $1/1 coupons = free after coupons
2 KC Masterpiece barbecue sauces — $1 each, used $0.75/2 coupon (“Doubled” to $1 off) = $0.50 each after coupons
14.3 pounds of red-taped bananas at $0.39/lb. =2.84 + 2.74
1 bottle of Old Orchard Juice — used free Old Orchard Juice coupon
Total with tax: $7.06
This shopping trip was a great example of how hanging onto a coupon and waiting for a really good sale can pay off. I had pick up a number of candy bar coupons a few months back from a display at Dillon’s. The coupons were for $0.50/2. I knew that these candy bars occasionally go on sale for $0.50 each and that would make them free after the coupons doubled.
I waited and waited and waited — and finally the sale happened this week!
Health Food Store
4 lbs. of pears — on sale for $0.99/lb.
1 dozen farm-fresh eggs from a local farm — marked down to $1.99 (my brother’s hens aren’t laying much right now so we’ve been buying eggs from the health food store instead. Once you get hooked on farm-fresh eggs it’s pretty near impossible to use non-farm-fresh eggs!)
Total with tax: $6.38
Surviving and Thriving When We Shouldn’t Be Breaking Even
A testimony from Beverly who blogs at Grace For Seven
From the beginning of our marriage, my husband wanted us to solely rely on his income. It was fine with me: I wanted to stay home with my babies.
We were living paycheck to paycheck. We had one credit card and a home equity line, but we found out quickly we weren’t a credit kind of family.
We were a little irresponsible. Credit companies kept upping our limit because we were such good customers. Year after year was the same: we always had enough to make ends meet and to have a little fun. We were able to live within our means.
Cutting Everything We Could to Pay Off Our Debt
A couple of years ago, I heard about Dave Ramsey from MoneySavingMom.com. We read his book. We were so excited to make a difference in our finances, we had Gazelle Intensity.
We only had $10,000 in debt and our mortgage. We looked for services we could give up to payoff the debt quickly. We turned off cable and paid off our smallest bill. The Christmas bonus and tax refund paid off the rest.
We were able to save our $1000 emergency fund and a little extra. Our eyes were on the prize of funding a 3-month emergency fund, but we were still living paycheck to paycheck.
I went over our statements and financial reports and there was nothing else to cut. I looked for things to sell in a yard sale or on eBay and make a couple hundred dollars, but I couldn’t find anything.
Our Budget Doesn’t Make Sense on Paper
We made a few decisions after reading Dave’s book. We decided that “Cash is King” and we were going to live like no one else.
Then, some dental work was needed, the van needed work to pass inspection and I just sat back and watched our savings dwindle. I didn’t see how we were going build it back up.
I looked over the The Total Money Makeover again, thinking I missed something. We spent time budgeting everything. We were cutting coupons and using the cash system and I was just not seeing the Gazelle Intensity gain I should have been seeing. Our budget was not making sense on paper.
Thriving When We Shouldn’t Even Be Breaking Even
What we did notice is over the years we have continually tithed 10% and God has faithfully met all our needs. No budget can explain the fact that we were able to break even.
On paper, if I start with my husband’s salary, subtract all bills and necessities, we would have nothing left for saving or fun. However, at the end of the pay period we were able to pay our bills, put a little in savings, and go on a date.
We want to be good stewards of what God puts in our care. We are still working on completely funding our emergency savings. I know that whatever amount we are able to save for retirement or our children’s education, that God will help us and always supplies our needs.
Beverly is a homeschooling mom of 5. She has just recently taken the plunge into blogging and shares her struggles and victories of a life filled with grace at Grace For Seven.
4 Weeks of Frugal Family Fun: Swimming (Day 11)
We survived the first week of swim lessons for all three children. While we got off to a rocky start at the beginning of the week since two children were struggling with quite a bit of fear of going under water, by the end of the week, all three children are loving their lessons — which I am so happy about! And we’re considering continuing on with more lessons after this first two-week period, if the excitement and progress keeps up. We’ll see!
We celebrated a successful week of swim lessons by heading to Grandma & Grandpa’s house to swim in their above-ground pool. Gratefully, it was a hot day because the water was freezing — especially at first!
I didn’t get any pictures because I was so focused on helping all three children swim. But we had a great time — and the children were especially excited that Mommy swam, too! 🙂
Since we didn’t have any pictures from today, I thought I’d share these pictures of the children all ready and decked out in their goggles and swim cover-ups before we left for lessons yesterday. I don’t suppose I have to mention the fact that we’ve got quite a bit of energy and personality at our house. It’s a little loud and crazy at times, but we have so much fun and laugh so often that it makes it all worth it! 🙂
Did you do something fun and frugal as a family today? If you blogged about it, I’d love for you to leave a link to your blog post below. Or, you can just tell us what you did in the comments.
Note: Since the purpose of this series is to encourage you to be intentional about fun in your home this summer, please only link up posts showing pictures/sharing details of fun things you did as a family today (or within the last few days). Posts that do not adhere to these guidelines will be deleted in order to make it fair for those who are putting forth a lot of effort to participate in this challenge.
OVER-SPENDING EVERY SINGLE MONTH?Grab these FREE Budgeting Sheets!
Click here to download!
Freebies in my mailbox
Here are the freebies that arrived in my mailbox this week:
Carnation Instant Breakfast sample
Nexxus Hair Care samples
Aveeno Samples
Target Beauty Bag with some great samples and coupons
What freebies have arrived in your mailbox this week?
By the way, if you want to start getting great freebies in your mailbox, just start signing up for the freebies I post every day that interest you. Within 4-6 weeks, your mailbox will start filling up with great freebies!
No one has ever become poor by giving
We Paid Cash: Our Home’s Foundation
A testimony from Becky
Working in the field of architecture, it has always been my husband’s dream to build our own home. In 2008, we felt like God breathed life into that dream and said, “Go for it!”
Umm… remember 2008? Financial catastrophe for most investors living in our abundantly blessed country? We were currently living in Uganda and watched from afar as people’s investments plummeted – including our own.
Upon our return to America in 2009 we began renting a home. “Still build?”, we tentatively wondered, and we felt calling us to build — and to do it debt-free.
Thanks to so many encouraging testimonies from people on this blog as well as friends in our community, we knew we could do it!
Phase 1: Buying a Lot & Laying the Foundation
We started by making an itemized list of all that we would need and what it would cost — from soil samples to yards of concrete. My husband kept everything well organized and looked around for the very best deals on everything – both labor and supplies. He would also be able to do some of the labor himself because of his background and experience.
The Fun Begins
We pulled out what little of our investments were left – believing that if we could truly pay for a house debt-free we would quickly be able to refill our investments after a year or two of being mortgage-free. My husband worked side-jobs for close to a year, and these two amounts combined gave us what we needed to lay the foundation of our future home.
Bulldozers and construction workers descended upon the little lot we had purchased for a great deal, and we saw everything we had on paper becoming a reality. It seemed almost too good to be true!
$400 Short of What We Needed to Pay the Bills
When the last bill came in we realized we were $400 short of what we needed. We had a garage sale, and some friends and family pitched in their “treasures” to help us out.
Do you know how much we made? $420! – exactly the amount of money we needed, plus a little extra for pizza for dinner. 🙂
And Now It’s Onto to Phase 2…
We are full of faith that God will help us see our home to completion. It’s not the quick and easy way that we would sometimes prefer, but it is definitely the path we want to take as we have seen it increase our dependence on God and build our character for the life we have to live here on aarth.
The saving for Phase 2 has already begun. In the next two years, we hope to complete the framework of the house. Our kids are helping us keep track of the money we need this time. What fun!
Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.
Homemade Yogurt (Slow Cooker Recipe)
This recipe for homemade yogurt is almost too easy — seriously, once you try it, you’ll wonder what took you so long! It’s easy, delicious, and your family will love it!
After my fairly successful attempt at making homemade toothpaste, I was inspired to try homemade yogurt in my crockpot.
I’ve made yogurt on the stove and in a yogurt maker before, but I’ve always worried that it wouldn’t turn out right in the crock pot. Don’t ask me why!
And now I’m wondering why I was scared to try… because folks, if you haven’t done this before, it is SO easy.
It felt almost too easy — like I was cheating or something! 😉
Why you’ll love Making Yogurt in a Crockpot
If you want the nutritional benefits of homemade yogurt without a huge mess or hassle, you will love the ease of making it in a slow cooker!
With almost no hands-on time, you can enjoy a huge batch of homemade yogurt without any extra sugar, additives, or preservatives.
You can eat the yogurt plain, or make flavored yogurt by mixing in your favorite fruits (or even some homemade jam!)
Oh… and it’s SOOOOOO much less expensive than buying organic whole milk yogurt from the store!
Slow Cooker Yogurt Ingredients you’ll need
- 1/2 gallon milk (whole milk will make the yogurt thicker, but any milk will work.)
- 1/2 cup plain unflavored yogurt (any kind with live active cultures will work. Be sure to save a half cup of this batch of homemade yogurt to use as a starter next time!)
I’d picked up a half gallon of whole organic milk marked down to $1.99 at the health food store, so I used that for the milk. And I used plain Greek yogurt for the starter because that’s what I had on hand.
How to Make Yogurt in a Crock Pot
1. Pour the full half gallon of milk into your slow cooker and turn it on low. Cook it for 2 hours and 45 minutes (set the timer to remember to turn it off!)
2. After 2 hours and 45 minutes, turn the crock pot off and let it sit for 3 hours.
3. Spoon a cup of the warm milk into a small bowl and add the half cup of yogurt to it. Mix thoroughly.
4. Dump this mixture back into the milk in the slow cooker and mix it around well.
5. Put the lid back on your slow cooker and wrap the crock pot with a large beach towel or blanket (make sure the crock pot is unplugged and turned off!).
Yes, I know, it sounds a little ridiculous to wrap a crock pot with a beach towel, but I did some research online and it seems that the experts recommend this step as it helps keep the heat in the crock pot and allows it to cool more slowly.
6. Let the beach towel-wrapped crock pot sit for 8-12 hours (or overnight). At this point, the yogurt should be thickened.
7. Spoon yogurt into jars or plastic containers and refrigerate for a few hours before eating.
This will keep for one to two weeks in the refrigerator. Be sure to save a half cup to use as a starter for your next batch of homemade yogurt.
The recipe requires very little effort on your part, but it takes a long time to make — I started it yesterday morning and it wasn’t done until I woke up this morning.
So, if you want to try this, I’d recommend doing it on a day when you’ll be home all day.
And you might want to set a timer to remind you when you need to go do something to it. You certainly don’t want to waste a whole half gallon of milk!
Yogurt Slow Cooker Storage Directions
We recommend storing this yogurt in glass food storage containers to reduce the risk of any unwanted bacteria getting into the yogurt. Choose containers that have tight-fitting lids.
You can also store them in mason jars — which is especially pretty if you’re giving them as gifts!
Our favorite ways to serve Slow Cooker Yogurt
We love eating this yogurt with fresh fruit and granola! It’s such a tasty treat! I had some for a snack this afternoon with dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, and chocolate chips sprinkled over it and it was delicious!
Variations of Making Yogurt in a Crock Pot
This homemade yogurt is great to use to make Homemade Go-Gurts!
You can also use these tips from Andrea Dekker to make thicker Greek Yogurt or Yogurt Cheese.
Slow Cooker Yogurt
Ingredients
- ½ galon whole milk
- ½ cup plain yogurt must be unsweetened
Instructions
- Pour the milk into your slow cooker and turn it on low. Cook it for 2 hours and 45 minutes.
- After 2 hours and 45 minutes, turn the crock pot off and let it sit for 3 hours.
- Spoon a cup of the warm milk into a small bowl and add the half cup of yogurt to it. Mix thoroughly.
- Dump this mixture back into the milk in the slow cooker and mix it around well.
- Put the lid back on your slow cooker and wrap the crock pot with a large beach towel or blanket (make sure the crock pot is unplugged and turned off!).
- Let the beach-towel-wrapped crock pot sit for 8-12 hours (or overnight). At this point, the yogurt should be thickened.
- Spoon yogurt into jars or plastic containers and refrigerate for a few hours before eating.
- Save 1/2 cup of this new yogurt to use as the "starter" for your next batch.
Notes
Nutrition
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Have you made homemade yogurt before? If so, I’d love to hear about your experience. What is your favorite way to serve/use yogurt?
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4 Weeks of Frugal Family Fun: Fireworks in a Jar (Day 10)
When I saw Jenae’s post on making Fireworks in a Jar, I knew we had to try it. Only we didn’t have any empty jars, so we used clear glasses, instead.
Each child got to choose their color or colors for their glass. We found it worked better when you did multiple colors and only put 1-2 drops of each in the oil.
I got smart this time around and did most of the pouring and all of the food coloring handling so that there was little mess to clean up afterward — unlike yesterday’s Homemade Bouncy Ball mess! 🙂
See Jenae’s post on I Can Teach My Child for step-by-step instructions for making your own Fireworks in a Jar.
Did you do something fun and frugal as a family today? If you blogged about it, I’d love for you to leave a link to your blog post below. Or, you can just tell us what you did in the comments.
Note: Since the purpose of this series is to encourage you to be intentional about fun in your home this summer, please only link up posts showing pictures/sharing details of fun things you did as a family today (or within the last few days). Posts that do not adhere to these guidelines will be deleted in order to make it fair for those who are putting forth a lot of effort to participate in this challenge.