Sunday, April 28, 2019

Homeowning

Things that I wish I could tell my 20-year old self about home-owning and gardening:

1. The people that have perfect yards which you admire are RETIRED. Seriously, it takes 40 hours a week to make a perfect yard, they can't have another job.  You won't have one until you are retired

2.  You will weed the cracks in your sidewalk.  My 20 year old self would have never imagined spending Sunday afternoon weeding the cracks in my sidewalk.

3. Plants are expensive!  Do you want a beautiful yard? Its going to cost 10s of thousands of dollars.  Who would have ever imagined.


Monday, April 15, 2019

Homemade yogurt

Ever since I discovered how easy it is to make my own yogurt (and the taste of homemade :)), I can't buy store plain yogurt anymore.  Most of the store yogurts are way too tangy for me (Chobani - yuck).

Ingredients:
1 gallon WHOLE milk
1 cup plain or vanilla yogurt - I like to use icelanic yogurt/siggi's/ or noosa (honey or vanilla)


Boil the milk.  Immediately turn off and allow to cool to body temperature (it shouldn't feel much warmer than your wrist).  Heat oven for 3 minutes (just to get it warm).  Whisk yogurt into cooled milk.  Turn off oven (if the oven is hot, leave the door open for a few minutes to cool to a warm temperature).  Place yogurt/milk in oven overnight (about 10 hours usually works well).  Make sure you leave the oven light on. Skim the  skin off the top of the yogurt in the morning.

I like my yogurt thick, so I drain it by taking a colander and placing it in the sink. I line the colander with paper towels. Pour the yogurt into the colander and allow to drain to desired thickness. I usually drain it for about 3 hours. 


Friday, April 12, 2019

Knockoff Starbucks Passion Fruit Tea

A little story: One time I went to Starbucks and tried their passion fruit tea.  I fell in love with it but could not afford $5 daily for tea.  I came home and made up my own recipe.  The end.

Here is my favorite tea recipe:

4 Tazo Passion fruit tea bags (cannot substitute)
1-2 Tbsp sugar (I don't measure, just pour some in the bottom of a jar)
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
1 quart apple juice (unsweetened)

Place tea bags and the sugar in a quart jar, pour boiling water over the top.  Allow to brew until deep red (~10 minutes or more).  Add brewed tea, juice and raspberries to a pitcher.  Enjoy over ice.


Saturday, April 6, 2019

Cashew cream!



Its official, I like cashew cream better than cheese. It's my new addiction. I eat it with gluten free rice crackers. My favorite recipe is:


2 cups raw cashews - soaked for 2 hours or, alternatively, microwaved for 4 minutes
3/4 cup  nutritional yeast
1/2 of a red pepper
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp mesquite seasoning (or 1/2 tsp cayenne and 1 tsp smoked paprika)
1/2 tsp smoke flavoring
1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
1/2-1 tsp maple syrup

Blend in a food processor. Enjoy! It's crazy good