In the beginning


When our oldest daughter DD9 (dear daughter age 9) was in kindergarten we looked at extracurricular activities. We thought about girl scout type stuff. Spots which we did do later. Eventually for one reason or another we decided on 4H. We wanted something we could tolerate that she could handle and we needed to feel confident in the leader because we did not know any more than our DD did! 

Into our lives came a bunny rabbit! A cute little baby... are you sure that's not a puppy?... Holland Lop bunny rabbit.

Eventually and through much research I decided that as far as sustainability goes with very limited space here, rabbits would be a wise food choice for us. They are small and require little space. They are very efficient when it comes to turning there food into, well, more rabbit! I researched very hard to come up with the most efficient breed and never looked back. We love our rabbits! We breed them and show them and raise them and it is good family fun. Although I raise them for meat I have been able to sell them all thus far and we have actually not eaten any of our babies in the nearly 3 years I have been raising them. We never could have done any of this if it was not for our amazing 4H leader Cheryl. We love you Cheryl!

Home made yogurt

I seem to have become an expert yogurt maker! I am so excited! It is not nearly as intimidating as at first I had supposed and I am so glad.

INGREDIENTS:

Plain yogurt of any kind with LIVE active cultures. (The fewer ingredients on the yogurt label the better. you don't wand gelatin etc.)

Milk


METHOD:

Pre heat empty oven to lowest temp possible and turn off. You only want it warm. Bring milk to 180'F Stirring constantly OR bring to 180'F in a double boiler stirring occasionally. Turn off burner and let cool or cool in cold water to 110'-115'F. In separate container or measuring cup place at least 3 tablespoons room temperature plain yogurt and some of your cooled milk. Mix thoroughly. Add mixture to pan and stir to mix. Place lid on Pan. Place pan in warmed oven. Turn on the oven light and leave to age 7 hours. Remove from oven stir vigorously and place in fridge for 7 hours. ENJOY!

NOTE if left longer then 7 hours it will not thicken but will get more tart. If it is not thick ( you can cut it literally after the incubation period i the oven) then it got cold at some point and should smell like yogurt but still be milk. Just start over with the heat up cool down process.

THICKNESS We are used to having a thicker yogurt. Aside from the thick Greek yogurts that are almost a cream cheese texture yogurt is not as thick as we eat it here. If you do not like the texture of the above recipe you can add the equivalent of dry powdered milk to the preparation when heating the milk. IE one court milk 1 packet or 1 cup of powdered milk. this will make the consistency you are used to from store bought

Did you know? Did you know that yogurt is a cheese? i have been told that because you have to keep it warm to a specific temp for such a long period of time that it is more difficult then most cheeses! Now I am really excited!

Oh let me count the ways...

I have long wanted to journal our progress towards sustainability. I will keep this initial post short and sweet :) I will add a narrative later with our history up to this point and share what I find on our journey and all that I learn as I learn it thus forward.

I hope to engage, entertain and educate through my personal folly and fun. Any comments of course are welcome!