Homemade yogurt!!

I will be perfectly honest. I've had a yogurt maker for more than two years (according to my Amazon account) and have just this week started using it. I bought it, full of excitement, dreaming of all of the yummy yogurt I would make with it... and then life happened. I forgot about it with a new baby in the house. I moved, found it, and then had to leave it in storage.

Well, we're HOME! And I unpacked it, read the directions, and made yogurt successfully! Makes me wonder why in the world I waited so long to try it!

All clean and ready to roll!

I bought a yogurt maker with glass jars. I typically don't heat food in plastic- I hate the idea of the chemicals leaching into our food. Glass is a much healthier alternative!

I boiled 42 ounces of organic, 2% milk.

As the milk cooled, I measured out 6 ounces of organic, plain yogurt. I had been meaning to buy some yogurt starter, but this is a perfectly acceptable alternative until it arrives in the mail.

After I mixed the yogurt (starter) into the cooled, boiled milk, I poured it into the 7 glass 6 ounce jars and loaded them into the machine- which simply keeps the yogurt consistently heated!

I set the timer for ten hours, per the directions, and went to sleep :)

I woke up in the morning to fresh, perfect yogurt!

Why are there only 6 when I made 7?

Taste test, of course!

That just excites me!!

Perfect serving of homemade yogurt.

The kids are going to be so excited!

I popped a top on each jar and stuck them in the fridge to chill.

My kids are mildly disappointed at the store when I, still, won't buy cute individual serving sizes of yogurt, snacks, drinks, etc. I hope that this and other efforts I've been making here will excite them. I know little kids love single servings in cute containers. I don't buy them (preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, trash factor, etc.), so I will continue to try to make them- waste free!

Who has two thumbs and fizz?! This girl!

I know that it isn't very crunchy of me, but I love carbonated beverages!

I have been lusting over home-carbonating gadgets for a couple of years now, but frankly, they have just been out of our budget.

I have had a really rough week this week  (even before my grandfather died yesterday) and clearly, my hubby sensed that I was not in a good place. He ran to REI to get himself a new watch band and came home with my Mother's Day present.

He not only got me a Sodastream, but he got me the Crystal version! I thought I would only ever get the basic version, but he got me one with resealable glass carafes. And I LOVE glass in my kitchen!

*swoon!*

The green patch on the lower right hand corner says that it takes no batteries or electricity!

Each bottle of CO2 will make 60 liters of carbonated water and we have a local place where they can be refilled for a really decent price!

Here are the lovely glass bottles, one with the lid on top, not sealed.

Pardon the counter mess- my 1 cup coffee maker and blender are permanent fixtures, even though they take up a ton of room.

Tim also got me a 3 pack of bottles of flavoring.

We've tasted them all and they are all tasty without being overwhelming!

My favorite so far is the orange.

The CO2 bottle (far right) pops into a hole in the bottom.

The bottle of water goes inside the canister.

You close and seal it and press the button on top 3 times to carbonate the water.

Easy peasy!

Raspberry sparkling water, sealed up and going into the fridge to be gulped later!

It's happy beside of my organic ACV!

A good picture of the bubbles!

Mmmmm fizzy!

Being a nerd waffle, I decided to take some fizzy water and combine it with orange juice.

Homemade Orangina, anyone?!

Heck yes!

And of course, I drink it with my Glass Dharma straw.

I LOVE these straws. I've had my 3 for right at 2.5yrs now and not one has broken!

As if my husband didn't absolutely spoil me rotten with that gift,

He encouraged my other addiction:

French cookware.

Specifically, Le Creuset.

Forgive this wanna-be locavore... it's my mother's fault!

(Sorry to throw you under the bus, Mom.)

I tried to fall in love with stoneware, but it is just so darn hard to care for and keep clean! I am a dedicated human being and don't mind things that are high maintenence, but enameled cookware is much more my speed!

This is a BEAUTIFUL baking dish (Tim said it will be perfect for baking up the perfect chicken and I believe he is right on the money!) in my color- the Caribbean blue.

Here is my new baking dish sitting beside of the butter dish my mother got me for my birthday last month. It's just the little things in life, guys...