My 150th post! (And strawberry yogurt pops!)

Have I really rambled on through 150 posts? Wow. :)

I decided to make some yogurt pops for the kidlets with my homemade yogurt

(I'm making about 2 batches a week right now!)

And this is how it went down:

I made one jar with a bit of my fresh jam, but it was a little sweet for my taste!

But you know I had to try it!

For the rest, I used fresh berries that I'd cut up and stored in the fridge.

Yum!

I mixed in some flax seed oil, probiotic powder, and raw honey!

I can't begin to describe how delicious it was!

Plain yogurt mixed with fresh berries and honey is just amazing!

The healthy fats from the oil and the immunity boost from the probiotic powder is just a bonus!

Some of the yogurt I saved just to eat!

The rest I froze for the kiddos!

Delicious!

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!

Smoothies!

Quite a few people have expressed interest in knowing how I make my smoothies...

This is how I start my day most mornings and I looove them!

I start with the same basics, give or take one!

Almond or coconut milk, probiotic powder (immune system boost, anyone?!), raw honey (helps me fight off seasonal allergies), and flaxseed oil (yummy, healthy fats)!

The ground flaxseed is what I use when I'm out of fresh kale, which I prefer (but sometimes can't find at the farmer's mnarket), but I love both!

I usually use some plain, organic yogurt, too- but I was out the morning I took these photos!

This day, I used a bunch of frozen strawberries that my dad froze last year, a whole peeled kiwi, two whole peeled bananas, and a handful of frozen pineapple that I cut and froze last week!

I really enjoy using fresh fruit, but if I do, I use ice to thicken the smoothie!

I try to spend time weekly cutting fresh fruit, freezing it, and using the frozen fruit- makes the smoothies super thick and amazingly refreshing!

Here is what it looks like!

I just put in the fruit, put in the dry ingredients, pour on the milk and/or yogurt and blend until smooth!

It packs a nutritional punch, starts my day off properly, and the whole family loves them!

Some other goodness that I like to pop in the blender:

- avocados (give the smoothie the same consistency as a banana!)

- using juices instead of almond milk (orange is my favorite!)

Orange Gatorade and Uselessness

That has been the last 24 hours of my life.

Last night, I started to feel weak and nauseated. I took my temp and it was climbing. I started throwing up and knew I was in for it. Jackson started running a temp and acting pitiful, so I made us huge smoothies packed full of probiotic powder, organic yogurt, flaxseed oil, orange juice, and lots of ice.

When I start to feel ill, I load up on Vitamin C and probiotics, because we all (should) know that your immune system is a colon thing! Every wondered why people who eat crap constantly are sick more often than those who are health conscious? Yep, you guessed it. You crap (lol) on your immune system, and it will crap on you.

Back to it...
All 3 of us got into bed with our smoothies, watched a movie, and I noticed that it had gotten really quiet on the other side of the bed :) They were little sleepy bedhogs! I didn't have the heart to move them, so they stayed in my bed.

We're hanging in, even though I feel like I've been hit by a bus. *sigh*
I'm desperately tired, so it will be an early bedtime tonight!