Just a few links I’ve enjoyed this past week:
::Struggling to instill contentment in your children? The Happy Housewife has some great insight here.
::Life as Mom shares here how to cook one night and eat for three nights. Now that’s my kind of deal!
::Wish you could come up with creative ideas to waste less food? Check out the plethora of ideas here from Planet Green.
::If you’re wondering whether using coupons and shopping sales is worth the effort, check out Saving Your Cents post here on ten items you’ll likely never pay for again if you use coupons.
::Heather wrote and said:
My boys drink yogurt smoothies every day, so
we go through tons of yogurt in a week. We buy organic dairy, so you
can guess how expensive that can be. Instead of buying $12 (are you
cringing, yet?![]()
) of organic yogurt a week, I buy a gallon of
organic milk at about $5.97 and use it to make yogurt in my slow cooker using this recipe. It makes about 13 cups of yogurt and supplies our family with yogurt for about 2 weeks. I do have to buy a “starter” quart of
yogurt, but this lasts a long time. It is very
easy to do and I was amazed with the results.
we go through tons of yogurt in a week. We buy organic dairy, so you
can guess how expensive that can be. Instead of buying $12 (are you
cringing, yet?
organic milk at about $5.97 and use it to make yogurt in my slow cooker using this recipe. It makes about 13 cups of yogurt and supplies our family with yogurt for about 2 weeks. I do have to buy a “starter” quart of
yogurt, but this lasts a long time. It is very
easy to do and I was amazed with the results.
Crystal, ever since you originally posted the link to the yogurt, we’ve been making it that way. My husband is especially enthusiastic about it. (I’ll have to try making our own strainer–great idea Stacy!) In fact, it has sparked his interest into making homemade cheese as well–but we’re still novices. I’ve been absent for a while, and I’m glad to get back into checking your blog. I need to intensify my gazelle-like habits, especially this time of year! Thanks for being here!
We also make our own yogurt in the crockpot. Instead of buying a quart to use for a starter, simply make it a habit to set aside about a cup of yogurt from the batch you just made, and put it in a container labeled “starter”. Do this each time you make yogurt and you’ll never have to buy a starter again (unless you forget).
We like our yogurt very thick (almost the consistency of cream cheese). We were using coffee filters to strain it, but it only did a little bit at a time. Instead, I sewed together several layers of mesh-type fabric (I think they were originally curtain liners) to make a large homemade washable filter and we use that to strain our yogurt.
I loved the list at Saving Your Cents about free items–it was spot-on! The items I would add are chapstick, lotion, cereal, and yogurt.
I also like to make my own yogurt in the crockpot. I have my method posted here, using only milk and some plain yogurt as starter:
http://momforhim.blogspot.com/2009/02/yogurt-update.html
But I frequently get yogurt for free after sales and coupons at the grocery store, which is hard to beat! Sometimes I will mix the flavored yogurt with our homemade plain to cut down on the sugar.
Thanks, I like the Worth REading Round-up.