Homemade Organic Yogurt

We recently took a trip to my parents house and in their fridge we found fruit on the bottom yogurt. I have had an aversion to yogurt most of my life. However, I felt a cold coming on and they didn't have kefir, so I decided yogurt would be the next best option. OH MY, so good. My husband also loved it.  So when we went back home, we wanted to get some yogurt for the house. I went to the store, and was disappointed that the only options were organic plain yogurt, or conventional fruit yogurt. I was also shocked by the price. The organic yogurt was over $1.50 per tiny 6 oz package. Well, that was that, I ordered a yogurt maker from Amazon. I was happy to find a maker that used glass jars, so no BPA issues. 

Did you know that Yogurt is:

• High in Protein
• High in Calcium
• Can lower risk of type 2 diabetes
• Probiotic yogurts decrease total blood cholesterol levels while increasing HDL
• Good for gut health

Things to consider when ordering a yogurt maker: 

1. On/Off button with timer
2. Glass jars versus plastic 
3. Number of jars - ours fits 7 jars, which is perfect for us
4. Budget - Like all things you can spend a small fortune or stay inexpensive. Our maker cost $22, and it has all we needed. 

Other thoughts

We read a lot of recipes and took the best of what we wanted. We did not order a starter, but are using an organic store bought yogurt for the cultures, which worked well. At some point I will order a starter so that we can be yogurt-self-sufficient. We added blueberry jam to the bottom of the jars. It was a great way to naturally sweeten the yogurt.  

Yummy!!!

Snowing Again

"Seriously...what happened to our free range grass?"

More Snow?!?!?! 

Today it has been snowing all morning. I am really quite ready for spring. I love the winter, but it seems like each year it gets longer and longer.

We have been blessed by less snow than many of the NE portions of the US, and I am grateful.

So are my chickens!!  But they are very ready for spring.

Spring has Sprung

SPRING... 

Maybe not outside, but in my house!!  I was feeling stir crazy, so what better way to feel like it is spring...grow some plants.

I am quite thankful for the invention of grow lights. So with my husbands ingenuity, we have started an indoor garden.


We currently have about 25 tomatoes, 20 carrots, 12 kale and 12 leafy greens seeds planted. We have already done one thinning, so this should be the final numbers. All are proudly Organic!!

Every time another little sprout pokes up through the soil, I can feel my heart smile.  Life is good, especially with little splashes of greenery :)