Yogurt Time!

I have been eating Greek yogurt every day for as long as I can remember and I have been paying an arm and a leg for it for as long as I can remember. This morning it occurred to me that yogurt is mostly milk and milk is readily available at any grocery store, so it can't be hard to make, right? RIGHT!

I found all kinds of easy recipes for making your own yogurt and they're all super doable. All you need is a crock pot or regular pot (double-boiler recommended, but what Average Joe has one of those?), milk, bowl, candy thermometer, yogurt starter*, cheese cloth or towel, colander and time. I couldn't believe it. Next week I'm going to do a test run and you can bet you'll read about it here when I get back.

Here are just two of the recipes I was able to find:

Pot and bowl version: http://cleanerplateclub.wordpress.com/2009/02/25/makin-yogurt-from-scratch-you-bet-i-am/

Crock Pot version: http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/04/crockpot-greek-yogurt.html

*You can buy yogurt cultures online and at some local stores...OR you can just use store bought yogurt to get things rolling. The cool part is you only need to do it once, when you make following batches of yogurt just use a bit from the previous batch. The heat will grow the good bacteria for your whole batch.

Happy Wednesday!

-Shala-

No Socks!

Today is National No Socks to Work Day, so take off your socks and donate a pair to the homeless or others in need.  If you ask me it's a pretty cool way to go commando in your shoes :)  What's better is the organization could not make it any easier to donate a pair of socks - check out the locations here.  Visit their site to read all about it at http://nosocks.cranberry.com/


Happy Holidays,
Allison

Rock, Paper, Scissors

This year most of my gifts are handmade, which is proving to consume more time than I had originally budgeted, but I think the receivers are going to be pleased. A few things on the list are hot pot table protectors made with bamboo mats and rocks,(from my back yard), personalized notebooks with tabs for each month of 2013 and woven pixel pictures made with strips of paper. I also have some scarves, purses and leather jewelry to make. If only I could pause time...



Happy Wednesday!
-Shala-

Fun Holiday Music

Can it really be that time of year again?

Being a native of Minnesota there are some so many memories of sitting around the house (or is that being stuck in the house because it was too cold) and listening to holiday music while we baked cookies, and decorated. 

Well, we didn't have Bob Dylan holiday music back then, but we do now.

Enjoy Mr. Dylan and his friends while they celebrate the joys of the season, and

have some eggnog for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8qE6WQmNus

Happy December

Busy Weekend

I'm pretty surprised at how fast this week flew by considering I was only here two days last week. Since tomorrow is the last day of the week, I've been planning on what to do this weekend.

If you have a good memory you probably know my family is coming to stay with us for Christmas. If you have a really good memory, you also know that we're pulling up the carpet in our bedrooms upstairs. Well, with 17 days to go I still don't have all of the carpet ripped up. I definitely don't have any meals prepared and my Christmas gift count is two. Not to mention I haven't decorated the house for the holidays yet. So, on the agenda for this weekend: Rip up remaining carpet, fix house*, clean house, prepare meals, decorate for Christmas, make/buy gifts, wash blankets, buy new sheets** AND rearrange house to fit seven people and two dogs.

Any volunteers?


Happy Thursday!
-Shala-


*I've started several projects around the house and each one is about 97% complete. Hopefully I can finish up some before the family arrives.
**I bought the most amazing sheets last night. They're fleece!! Now I want a set for every bed in the house. Not priority, but it would be nice to get a few more.

Fun Weekend

This coming weekend should be quite fun.
First up is the Parade of Lights in downtown Denver. The show is on 11/30/12 @ 8pm, and 12/1/12 @ 6 pm. Both shows are free and the kids should be entertained for the duration. Hot cocoa and the Parade of Lights with the family, can't beat that.
Next up is getting a Christmas tree. We've had an awesome fake tree for the last few years that we got off of Craigslist. Over the last two years the top has broken and some of the lights don't work anymore. So this year we're getting a real tree. Sherry thinks we're getting a 6 footer:) No way, I've measured and we have a 16 foot clearance where we usually put the tree. I'm thinking at least a 12 foot tree (don't tell Sherry).
And to top off the weekend we have the pleasure of watching the Denver Broncos annihilate the Tampa Bay Bucs. Should be fun to watch the greatest NFL quarterback of all time.

Wishing you a

Hexa What?

If you find yourself bored at nana's house, the airport or maybe even in the car this Thanksgiving, why not whip up a few hexaflexagons? What's a hexaflexagon, you say? Prepare for your mind to be blown.

Even as an adult, I can't help but be pretty impressed by these little pieces of paper. Here are a few great videos to fill you in:











Happy Flexing and Happy Thanksgiving!

-Shala-

Turkey Day Travels

This year, like every other year since we've lived in Colorado, our family is taking a trip to Oklahoma. We always drive at night, so The Toddler can sleep on the way there and not die of boredom. Since she sleeps sitting up in a car seat her head is always hanging forward all uncomfortable looking and I always feel bad, (even though she doesn't seem to mind). This year before we take off I am going to make her a car seat pillow. Similar to a seat belt pillow, but modified for her car seat. Hopefully it works really well, so she can get some good z's before we get to grandma's house.


Wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving!

-Shala-

Mmmm Candy

It's that time of year right after Halloween and just before Thanksgiving and Christmas where we all start to give in to our sweet tooth.  Want to eat candy and not feel guilty?  Check out UNREAL candy.  It's so tasty! I bought some at Target the other day to sneak into a movie (shhhh) and they are exactly like M&M's without the junk.  Their website explains everything and is also one of the most interactive and fun websites I have seen in awhile. Pay em' a visit and munch on the good stuff...for real.

Allison