Made Me Smile Monday

{a  snapshot --or two-- from my week. with or without words. something exciting. something ordinary. something special. something silly. just something. that made me smile this week. a memory to brighten my day. to make me smile again. even though it's MONDAY!}

{Thick} Homemade Yogurt

As promised, the accompanying yogurt recipe.

I always said I wouldn't make homemade yogurt. I can almost always get it cheaper at one of our many local discount stores than I can make it. And my few attempts before always turned out some slimy goop that was more drinkable than spoon friendly. Why bother??

Until the day I acquired 2 free gallons of milk that I knew wouldn't get used unless I got creative. I knew just who to call. My dear friend Lynelle who shared her tasty (thick) homemade yogurt during our visit last summer. She kindly shared the recipe too.

I've never made a batch that didn't turn out and well, let's just say I don't make near as many trips to the discount store as I used to. It's just that tasty!

Ingredients

1 gallon milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/2 Tbsp unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

2 Tbsp vanilla

1 cup sugar (additional) or 1/2 tsp. stevia powder

3 oz. plain yogurt

Heat milk and 1/2 cup sugar in a large pan to 180 degrees.

 Meanwhile, soak gelatin in cold water.

 When milk reaches 180 degrees, remove from heat and whisk in gelatin mixture.

Then cool to 110 degrees.

(Hint: The fastest way I know to do this is to sit it in a sink of cold water.)

Add

Vanilla, 1 cup sugar, and yogurt. 

Whisk until smooth.

Fill jars and close tightly.

Fill a large cooler with enough hot water to cover the jars.

Close the lid and leave for 12 hours.

(I do closer to 15 for a bit more of the tangy/sour flavor.)

Refrigerate until well chilled.

I prefer to leave it sit in the fridge unopened for a few days. I think this produces a thicker result than using it immediately.

Optional: If you want flavored yogurt add 1-2 tsp. of flavored gelatin per quart jar.

Note: this recipe makes approximately 4 quarts of yogurt. As you may have figured, we go ahead and double it around here. Thus the pictures of 8+ jars.

Local strawberries will be coming soon to this area. 

Mmm!

The shipped in ones will work in the meantime.

Now I need a bedtime snack!

{my favorite} Homemade Granola

It's a perfectly gorgeous 'summer' day here but it started out dreary and rainy so I started it out in the kitchen. At breakfast time yesterday some not very impressed children informed me that the granola was gone. AGAIN, I might add. Two batches in less than two weeks. I've been making granola off and on for years but over the past 6 months I've been tweaking and combining and rearranging recipes and I think I've finally got it right. At least if the {empty} jar on the counter is a fair judge. So today, I'm sharing it with you.

You will need.

8 cups oatmeal (you can use rolled oats or quick oats, I like a combination)
3 cups rice krispie cereal
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup chopped or slices almonds
2 cups shredded coconut
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Measure the first 6 ingredients into a large bowl. Stir.

Create jobs for over-eager little people {as needed.}

In a heavy pan melt butter, brown sugar and sweetened condensed milk over low heat. Stir occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Pour syrup over oat mixture and mix well. Spread on two large trays {with sides} and bake at 275 for 1 hour. Stirring every 20 minutes. Cool completely before storing.

.
This recipe makes about 20 {1 cup} servings. I go ahead and triple it so there is some left for tomorrow. Okay, maybe it's not quite that bad but I do wonder were it all goes.

Tomorrow's project--Homemade Yogurt. I'll share that one too because they are best combined into a yummy parfait. Add a few fresh berries and you have the perfect breakfast, lunch, dessert or bedtime snack. So simple you can make them in seconds and so good it's always "just what I'm hungry for!" On second thought, maybe I do know where it all goes...

Double Digits

Someone in our house hit the double digits a few weeks ago. This is a pretty big deal you know, so even though I'm behind the times a bit it must be documented. This was another case of throw-a-cake-into-an-already-planned-event-and-call-it-a-party. We went with a beach theme. (In a feeble effort to extend our Florida sunshine memories.)

By far the easiest and quite possibly the best tasting birthday cake I've made. Hidden under that sandy disguise is a yummy carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Mmm!

A couple of fun 'pinterest-y' details just because...

Sunglasses are a beach must! (Thank you Little Miss for your modeling services!)

Cupcakes for his friends at school. Sorry kids, it's straight from the box for you. What did they care, anything served with gummies on top is a hit in 4th grade.

As per tradition in our house, I asked the birthday boy what 10 year old boys like for dinner. His answer...."Dessert!" Go figure. His request was for chocolate ice cream with M&M's, skittles, sprinkles and hershey kisses. I did my best to comply. I was determined to hold my tongue and let the birthday boy decorate until he was happy but after the fourth scoop of sprinkles I just had to move that dish. I don't know how long he would have kept piling it on, until the sprinkle dish was empty I suppose. And just because I'm a Mom and it's what I do, I convinced him to add Cheeseburgers, oven fries and veggies to the menu too.

His gift was one of those one time special splurges.  Every boy needs a bike but more importantly we saw this as a great way to help keep his muscles loose and sneak in some exercise. We were pretty excited to find these heavy duty adult sized tricycles made by a local Amish business. 

It was kind of hard to gift wrap but it should last him forever. And sometimes he even shares with his Mom. *Grins*

 

10 years. 

 Gone.

 Just. Like. That. 

it begs a trip down memory lane.

3 days old. waiting for open heart surgery.

6 weeks old

 

Brothers. (11 months old)

3 years

learning to walk

beautiful blue eyes and new specs

Mr. Handsome turns 6

7 1/2 years old

 This boy knows how to enjoy life! He's taught us a lot and we've decided he's a keeper!

Made Me Smile Monday

{a  snapshot --or two-- from my week. with or without words. something exciting. something ordinary. something special. something silly. just something. that made me smile this week. a memory to brighten my day. to make me smile again. even though it's MONDAY!}

Finding 3 nice chairs for a steal at a yard sale is smile worthy.

Little people working together and being kept busy for an hour is 

even better! 

It was definitely Monday around here. High maintenance children. Exhausted Mama. Laundry piles that seem to spread like the plague. And a phone call from the teacher to top it all off. (Let's just say it was NOT to sing the praises of good behavior.)

But we made it through!

Hope your Monday was  Smile worthy!

Before and After -- Toy Room/Office Edition

There seems to be something about starring at paint samples that unleashes my inner overachiever. It's never enough to paint just one room at a time, I have to go ahead and turn half the house upside down when paintbrushes are pulled out. So in the spirit of all things chaotic I decided to redo the toy room/office at the same time as the downstairs bathroom. It's not like I had anything else to do. (Except get ready for a yard sale and pack for a family of 7 for a week and laundry and cleaning and serve meals and do homework and give baths and whatever else the world threw at me.)

The rest of my downstairs is all painted the same and will always remain neutral colors since it's kind of an open floor plan so I wanted to add some color to this room. I know, I know, all things neutral is where it's at these days but I really like some color in my life, especially if it's of the bright and cheery effect. So sorry 'style experts' I'm not following your advice this time. The good news is I probably won't get it painted again before bright and colored comes back around so then I'll be ahead of the game, right?

The {what were they thinking} BEFORE:

I like red, I really do, but this was a bit too orange-y, fire truck red. Not to mention it was a sad paint job to begin with and then my kids beat the tar out of it too.

We actually tore out the shelve pictured above. It seemed sort of foolish but with two windows and three doors and all those shelves (there is another set to the right of the door) there was no where left to put any furniture in there. We had a shelf with doors that close (think--hide the junk) in storage so we moved that in here instead.

Just for a few hours we had a really cool "Christmas Room."

O the chaos that we live with in between. Somehow in my head I always envision that it'll only take a day or two for these projects. One day I will learn that a month or two is more realistic.

And AFTER....

{the above picture is a more accurate color than the below}

I found this "fabric" in the shower curtain aisle at Target and fell in love. It matches my "Grapes Leaves" paint perfectly.

This comfy {but ugly} chair was a yard sale find. I {mistakenly} thought it would be no big deal to make a little slip cover for it. Let's just say it rarely looks this neat but it does make a great cozy reading corner. The pillow fabric I found at Hobby Lobby and then created a need for it. :)

If you remember this free-by-the-roadside chair ...

she cleaned up nicely!

For now we're just pretending not to notice that ugly old brown shag carpet. Truthfully, it's usually covered with an assortment of scattered toys and besides, I never have to worry about the kids spilling something on it.

Essential Oils -- Part 2

 In my last EO post (if you missed it you can find it here) I mentioned that it was the stories of how people have used oils successfully  that really got my attention. So if you read that whole post and still felt like you really didn't know what oils do, let me tell you some of our story.

 Thankfully my family came through this germ infested winter with amazing ease but when my 6 year old complained of a sore throat and an accompanying stomachache my Mama instincts instantly said 'Strep throat.' I used an oil blend called "Theives" and rubbed it right on his swollen glands whenever he complained. (A side benefit of most of the oils: being able to use them repeatedly as needed instead of waiting 4-8 hours as with tylenol or motrin.) Within 24 hours all of his symptoms were gone. Was that a little easier than dragging him (and several siblings) to the doctor, torturing him with a throat culture and 10 days of nasty tasting medicine? I think yes! Not to mention much cheaper!

  My favorite stories though are all part of "How EO's saved our Vacation." When our family traveled to Florida this Spring, I packed my little collection of oils and kept them handy. The hubs came home from work just hours before we left on our trip saying that his chest was congested and sore. Out came the Theives again and in a few days his symptoms were nearly gone too instead of mushrooming into an all out miserable cold/flu. I applied Thieves to all of us sporadically over the week as a precaution. There were a few complaints of sore throats but no one actually got sick except the Lil Miss. She spiked a fever one night right in the middle of our week long trip. My thermometer was acting all wonky that night but I'm guessing her fever was close to 103. One application of peppermint in the middle of the night brought it down noticeably and enough for her to sleep the rest of the night. By breakfast time she was fever free and back to her cheery little self. I started to loose my voice, oil of Lemon in my hot cup of tea please!

 I've had trouble with my back occasionally and it decided to "act up" the day we planned to go to the zoo as a family. I'm convinced the "Panaway" (an oil blend) and "Peppermint" saved the day.  I was able to walk all over the zoo and enjoy the day with my family. The peppermint was also kept handy during our many hours on the road through the night. A drop or two on the temples is great for helping to keep drivers alert, in addition to that steaming cup o' joe. And then for those nights when we did want to sleep but were missing our own bed, my  "Lavender" came to the rescue. If you're a mom and you know that feeling of waking up in the morning the first time your baby sleeps through the night, that "wow, that felt good, is it really morning?" feeling, (aside from the "is he/she still breathing" panic, of course) THAT is what I feel like in the morning these days, thanks to Lavender.

 I was originally disappointed with the results (or lack thereof) of the oil I purchased for my high blood pressure but a simple adjustment in how I apply it is now bringing me better results than my medication (which I had quit taking anyway because it wasn't doing what it was supposed to) ever did.

  These are just a few of my experiences with EO's. I've heard testimonies for using EO's successfully for everything from pink eye and ear infections to burns, allergies and Endometriosis. But again, I don't claim to be a Doctor or an expert on EO's by any stretch of the imagination. I only share these stories to give you an idea what is available, to make you aware that there is another option besides synthetic pharmaceuticals. And again I say, if you have questions feel free to message me. I'm happy to help any way I can. If I don't know the answer, I'll do my best to track it down for you.

I leave you with this link. It's one of my favorites, a list of over the counter meds and the EO that can be used instead. Fascinating and informative!