a visit with grandpa and grandma

This week, Matt was out of town on business and since I had no jobs lined up for the week, I thought I would make a little visit to Kansas.

It was great to be back on the farm and have both Grandpa and Grandma all to myself :)

I spent all Tuesday afternoon and evening riding in the combine and grain truck with Grandpa as he harvested milo. Wednesday was spent in the kitchen with Grandma--making strawberry rhubarb jelly, homemade rolls, and tomato jelly (delicious!).

Thursday, Grandma took me into town to visit Great Grandma and also to her favorite quilt shop. I fell in love with a pattern, so I brought a fat quarter home and made an apron out of it!

It felt so good to be back in Kansas, even if it was just for a few days... Kansas is truly home and always will be.

Kitchen Biology 101

Matt is a foodie and his latest obsession is with Greek yogurt. One serving is low in calories, has no fat, and has a hefty amount of protein. It's a good obsession to have.... but at $1 per 5 oz serving, it's more than a little pricey. (I mean, spending $14 per week on yogurt for just the two of us is ridiculous!)

So I figure if I'm not able to make any money right now, I'm going to do my part to save us money!

Enter my experiments in Kitchen Biology 101.

This week I've been doing a lot of research on how to make yogurt at home. I found the process is actually very simple: you heat milk up to "unravel the proteins," cool it down a bit, mix in some "starter" (existing yogurt with live and active cultures), keep it in a cozy place for 12+ hours to incubate, and voila! you have yogurt!

After looking through pages of recipes, methods, ideas, etc. on how to make yogurt, I decided to try the following two procedures:

http://www.salad-in-a-jar.com/skinny-secrets/healthy-homemade-greek-yogurt
http://recipes.suite101.com/article.cfm/make-a-simple-homemade-sour-cream-substitute

At first, the whole process was counterintuitive to my Type-A-keep-everything-in-the-kitchen-sterile tendencies as I let my refrigerated food sit out on the counter all day to breed bacteria, but the end results were wonderful. I have not tasted yogurt so wonderful in all my life!

And--here's the truly great thing: it cost me $1.50 to make 40 oz of Greek yogurt!!! (So an entire week's worth of yogurt now costs us $3 instead of $14!)

For a couple of dairy enthusiasts, it makes sense, and I am now inspired to continue making other milk-based products at home like sour cream, cottage cheese, and the delicious, soft, white "farmers cheese" that my grandma made for us as kids. From there, I think I may start baking bread and getting into canning and making my own preserves! (I think I need to make a pilgrimage to grandma's house and get a lesson or two soon!)

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For those of you who are interested in making your own, this is the process I used:

Ingredients:
- 2 quarts (8 cups or 1/2 gallon) of skim milk
- 1/2 cup nonfat instant/dry milk
- 1, 5 oz. container of plain yogurt with live and active cultures (can be store-bought or homemade)

Supplies:

- Large container to heat milk in: a large saucepan for heating on the stove or a large glass bowl for heating in the microwave
- Crock pot with removable ceramic crock
- Candy thermometer
- Strainer or colander
- A medium sized bowl that the strainer can easily sit on without touching the bottom of the bowl
- Coffee filters and paper towels

Directions:
1. Heat the milk until it reaches 175-180 degrees (F): Both methods require stirring to make sure the milk is heating evenly and that no skin forms on top of the milk, both methods take about the same amount of time so it's totally up to you as far as your preference. You want the milk to bubble slightly around the edges, but not boil!

2. Once the milk is heated, remove crock from the crock pot and pour scalding milk into the crock to begin cooling down to 110-120 degrees. I found that the cooling process takes about 15 minutes or so and since I don't have a fancy thermometer like the "Salad in a Jar" lady, I had to babysit it to make sure it didn't drop below 110 (because if the milk gets cooler than that, it will be hard for the bacteria to incubate properly and you will end up with warmish milk instead of yogurt).

3. Plug in shell of crock pot and place on the "Low" setting while the milk cools. This will help keep the crock and milk nice and cozy through incubation.

4. Once the milk cools to between 110 and 120 degrees, add the dry milk and "starter." Mix well. Adding the starter too soon or too late can mess up the process so make sure the temperature is right in this range. Like I said earlier, if it is too cool, the bacteria won't incubate well and if it is too hot, the heat will kill the bacteria and keep them from multiplying.

5. Turn off the crock pot and place the crock back into the shell. Grow bacteria, grow!

6. Cover the milk and let sit for 12+ hours. I also placed a small hand towel over the crock pot's lid just to give it a little more insulation. Also, with the crock pot method, I found that I had to kick on the heat for a minute (two maximum!) to give the crock a little added boost of warmth halfway through the process.

7. Line strainer with paper towels and coffee filters and set the strainer on top of the medium-sized bowl.

8. Scoop the yogurt into the lined strainer and set in the fridge until the desired amount of whey has drained out. This part of the process takes a few hours and depends on how thick you want your yogurt. If the consistency of the yogurt pleases you as-is, feel free to skip this step!

9. Scoop the yogurt out of the strainer and put into seal-able containers in the refrigerator. Make sure you don't get paper in the yogurt here--it wasn't a problem for me, but apparently it's been a problem for some. Personally, I found this method to be easy to clean up, as opposed to doing it with cloths or towels, and a whole lot cheaper than buying some specialized strainer as one of the blogs suggests.

10. Add flavorings if desired. I bought a bottle of Torani Sugar-Free Vanilla Syrup for $4 at Walmart and a teaspoon or two adds a wonderful flavor to my daily serving. Matt likes to add a little honey and a few frozen blueberries to his. But the options are virtually endless!


Yield: 8+, 5 oz servings

the cycle of "me"

Things to think about this week from SacredSpace.ie:

"In the bible, poverty is an evil to be corrected; wealth is not an evil but a necessity for the well-being of the kingdom. However the love of riches can lead to neglect of God and of the poor. The Christian community has always tried to make the care of the poor its priority. Is it mine? ‘What stress are you under?’ Jesus asks of us. It stems from his mission. He is sent by the Father to purify, and to distinguish what is genuine from dross. Life according to the beatitudes has its share of conflict. For those who hunger and thirst for justice, this world is not a comfortable place. As Simeon prophesied to Mary, Jesus was ‘destined to be a sign that is rejected.’(Luke 2:34) What about me? Do I merge seamlessly and comfortably with the values of this world? Do I hunger and thirst for anything? If the behaviour of the Beatitudes were a criminal offence, would I be in prison?"

I know that these questions challenged me as I read them this morning.

It is easy for me to slip into the world's way of doing things and focus on me... what am I going to make for dinner tonight, what am I going to buy with my clothing money this month, what do I need God to fix for me, do we "owe" God money from this month's budget (talk about having a misplaced heart when that thought crosses my mind!), etc.

For a time, it is more comfortable to focus on me... but I soon become dissatisfied with my life when I'm not hungering nor thirsting for anything real.

The more selfish I am, the more miserable I find myself. The only remedy is to hunger and thirst for the things of the Lord--the fruit of the Spirit, an attitude of humility, a desire to put others above myself.

So my prayer this morning is that Christ would be the center of my life today and that I would do everything with humility and a servant's heart. And if I can make it through today, by God's grace, maybe I'll be able to do the same tomorrow and break the cycle of "me."

Philippians 2:1-11

sacred space

"‘I appeal that there be no dissensions among you.’ (1 Corinthians 1:10) We live with the scandal of a divided Christendom; but we can make it better or worse. We make it worse if we focus on the differences between Christians, better if we keep our eyes on what unites us. We are all baptised in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In worship, belief, morality, and in the love of Jesus, we share great areas of agreement; and we are travelling in hope towards one flock and one shepherd. Jesus thinks and speaks in parables and images which he draws from the world around him. He reaches especially for symbols of life and growth. From a tiny seed grows a mighty tree. From Mary, the twelve apostles and the holy women has grown the largest body of believers on the planet, a church of every colour and culture. We are not uniform or cloned – all sorts of birds can make nests in our shade - but united in our recognition of Jesus as the revelation and Son of God." - "Something to think and pray about this week," SacredSpace.ie

All I can say is "Amen!"

lyrics

"you desired my attention,

but denied my affections"

This lyric from White Blank Page struck me when I was listening to Mumford and Sons last night.

I heard a still small voice inside me say, "There's truth in that," and it instantly resonated with the reality of where my walk with God is right now.

So often I find myself wanting His attention and consideration in my prayers, but then I get so busy with trying to figure out what God wants me to do/how I can be good/trying to remove boundaries between me and the Lord and I totally miss out on just being with the Lord and enjoying His affections for me.

Even though the lyric is taken out of the context of the song, the Lord used it as a great reminder to me to slow down and enjoy Him.

going into battle

This week I have been reminded of the reality that prayer, worship, meditating on Scripture, and all aspects of a life submitted to Christ are more than just things we do to bring us comfort or things we should do because we know we ought to, it's going into battle.


We have a very real enemy in our face (and often in our head) picking at every weakness they see in us, trying to tear us down. You've got insecurities? They know. They'll make sure that you are keenly aware of them, and they'll twist them into something more--a reason why you are deficient, why you are unworthy, why you are unfit.


Arming ourselves in times of prayer and meditation is crucial. We wage war when we worship, pray, and persevere in living the life Christ has called us to live.



Ephesians 6:10-18

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, always be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.