Yogurt Lowdown

Remember, I am no Martha Stewart or even a good ol' hippie, but I have been making my own yogurt following these steps on a regular basis and it is so good. 

Hunter and I have been in a constant battle about whether to make regular or greek style yogurt.  Did you know that greek yogurt is just yogurt that has had the whey drained out of it?  This may be an over simplified definition and there are probably some other minor technical differences, but that is basically it.  Whey is a yellow liquid that is a by product of the yogurt or cheese making process.  It looks like lemonade when you capture it all in a big jar.  Supposedly it tastes very bitter but is full of protein, calcium, and other good for you stuff.  I won't be taking a swig any time soon. 

Well, Hunter wants to keep it all (avoiding wastefulness) but I want my yogurt thicker.  Hunter found a recipe that mixes in Tapioca Starch/Flour to help thicken the yogurt up and it did help, but not enough.

The yogurt battle rages on.  Last time we made two batches.  One regular and one greek. I guess this means we are only half wasteful?  We have found several sites that list uses for excess whey, but no winners in my book..yet.

My next yogurt adventure will be Lime Greek Yogurt.


Lime Greek Yogurt
Ingredients
2c plain Greek yogurt
zest and juice of 1 lime
1-3 Tbsp honey
Mix it up and eat it!

This yogurt flavor is inspired by Emily @ One Lovely Life so be a doll and check out her site.   She has many excellent salad recipes. 

 

Have a Toddler?

If you have a toddler and need a laugh, follow Honest Toddler on Twitter or through their blog.   The writer is genius and they are definitely inside the heads of kids.

Here are some of my favorite recent tweets:

Stop inviting my parent's places. They can't go because me.

Toddler Tip: Mommy going potty? Don't cry. Just sit on her lap. Heart to heart hug. She likes it. 

If you're at the grocery store, holler at me. Look for the smartly dressed GAP kid. I'm next to him wearing pajamas and bootleg Crocs.

Playgroup hyped me up as an early potty training hopeful. Not so much. Feels like women's gymnastics over here.

Slept through the night. No trophy or cupcake. Won't happen again.

She instagrammed dinner to prove it's happening. No wonder we're using real plates.

RT if you're having breakfast on a paper towel in front of your shows!

No Target money today so we're doing nothing.

Also, a few of my favorite recent blog posts.  

7 Stages of Night Grief - Read this one.  Too funny!

Shopping Cart Covers. For Serious

I think you can follow them on facebook too if you don't like to read blogs or follow twitter.

Liebster Award

Courtney, at So Many Miles, So Little Time nominated me for a Liebster Award.  Isn't she sweet?  She is a mom, works full time, writes a blog, and is a runner in VA.  She is currently fighting an injury so lets all hope that she recovers quickly so she can get back to doing what she loves!  I stumbled across her blog as part of the Moms Run This Town organization. 

So what is a Liebster Award say you?  A Liebster Award is a way for bloggers who are "small", less than 200 followers, to let each other know about one another. It’s a way to spread the info, share the wealth, and increase the followers.  I would say my blog falls into the Extra Small category. 

So, there are rule that must be followed to "elegantly receive" this award... here goes.

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
2. Then answer the questions the tagger sent for them, plus create 11 questions for the people they’ve tagged to answer.
3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post.
4. Notify the people you have tagged. 
5. No tag backs.

Looks like a chain letter, right?  I find random questions fun so I will continue. 


Part Uno - 11 Things About Me:

1. Files on a computer, calendar organization, To Do lists, and address books MUST be in order, but my house can be in total disarray and I won't be bothered.
2. I read books to fall asleep.  It is my crutch.  That means I travel with either a big stack of books or a Kindle, a Kindle charger, and book lights at all times. 
3. Basketball is my favorite sport to play and I even like it more than running.
4. Ironing is my least favorite chore.
5. I don't like lamb.
6. My favorite hairstyle is the ponytail.
7. My showering sequence is face, shampoo, conditioner (don't rinse), shave (optional), soap, rinse conditioner.  Boring...I know.  When I am stressed, I can't remember if I used shampoo so I double up.
8. I always pick the fruit desserts (cobbler) over chocolate desserts.
9. I can't pick a music identity.  I like too many genres.
10. I wish I was a good photographer.
11. I have 4 screws in my bod (2 knee, 1 wrist, 1 dental implant).


Part Dos - Answer Questions from So Many Miles, So Little Time:
1. Have you ever been on a blind date?  No.  I married my high school sweetums.
2. If you could be any of the Fresh Beat Band members, who would you be and why? (If you don't know who the FBB is then you are WAY to cool for my blog.)  I had to google Fresh Beat Band and I saw it was TV related so of course I live in oblivion.  I would like to remind my readerst that I am not too cool.
3. Are you a righty or a lefty? Righty-o
4. Do you have a pre-race routine and if so what is it?  Over analyze, have my Garmin loaded way to early (I will hover on the start button for 15 mins), count my GUs, stress, try to listen to the race announcer, over analyze, stress, focus on breathing.  Sounds peaceful, right? :)
5. Have you ever stopped to ummm, go number one in the woods on a long run?  Yes, but there are no woods in the hill country in San Antonio.  You hope for a tree. 
6. Can you ice skate?  Yes, but I prefer roller baby. 
7. What is your chosen profession? Software engineer / Stay at Home Mom
8. What is one of your favorite non-running blogs? Camp Patton...I love her sarcasm, wit, and pictures.
9. Have you ever been to Las Vegas, and if so did you do something that should stay in Vegas? I went to Vegas once..I was about 5 months pregnant so it was "Off the Hooooook".  I was in bed by 11:00 every night and had a sip or two of Hunter's beer. 
10. Please share the answer to # 9! (if you haven't been to Vegas would you go?) Ummm...while I was there we rode the Deuce without paying (by accident).  That is about as crazy as it got. 
11. What is your favorite book or book series? I really like the Psychic Eye Series by Victoria Laurie for a quick read. 

11 Questions for my Peeps to Answer (I am not going to spend much time on this because I am not sure how many people I can nominate and I am not sure if they will have time to respond).
1. What is your favorite online recipe? 
2. Would you rather watch golf or NASCAR?
3. What is your favorite gas station food/drink purchase on a road trip?
4. Do you ride the rides at carnivals, theme parks, etc?
5. What movie should I add to my Netflix queue?
6. Are you a Phelps or a Lochte fan?  If you have no idea who I am talking about, make up your own question.
7. Favorite side dish at Thanksgiving?
8. Please share one of your favorite bloggers so I can add them to my ginormous list.
9. Would you rather have a maid or a chef?
10. What is your favorite vacation spot?
11. What did you want to be when you "grew up"?

Part Tres - Pick Some Bloggers to bestow the Liebster Award upon

Ladies, feel free to break the chain.  I just love answering the questions. :)


The Florida Family - Disney expert and busy mom!  Some recipes too.

The Gilliam Family - Cute baby pictures and a very patient and loving momsy! The first person I was able to call a friend when I moved here.  Lucky me!

Umm..that is pretty much all of the people that read my blog that might appreciate this precious award I am bestowing.  My stalking is definitely one way and out of control! :) 



 

Some Blog Reads

Here are a few interesting reads for your Friday.

I have only been a mom for 7 months and I am already seeing some instances of Mom Wars.  One mom talking about how her baby has been in such pain due to teething and the only thing that would help is Tylenol.  Another mom jumps on her and says you should not give your baby Tylenol....stick with homeopathic.  One mom says my baby won't take a bottle. Another mom says if your baby gets hungry enough, they will take a bottle.  Perhaps they have good intentions, but it only makes the other mom feel like a failure, get defensive, and maybe even doubt their parenting instincts.  I enjoyed a post by Kelly called Things Good Moms Do.

One of my paranoias is how our family would survive in a major crisis where we could not depend on grocery stores, gas stations, etc to meet our needs.  Your Own Home Store is a family friendly blog that walks you through something you can do each week to make sure your family is prepared in that situation.  This site is a bit friendlier than most "end of the world as we know it" sites. Here is week one if you would like to check it out.   

Read about the rule of thirds, a general photography guideline, and how you can use it to take better iPhone pictures with Chantelle. 

How To Follow Blogs and Make Bloggers Happy

This post is for my friends and family that are new to following blogs and my definitions may not be all accurate and stuff and things.

What is a blog?
A blog is like a journal.  The blogger writes posts about topics they are interested in.  For me that is Wyatt, food, and fitness.  There are a kazillion blogs out there.  I love to follow bloggers because you get to know the writers personally and you can find up to date information about topics you are interested in.  I follow blogs on couponing, raising children, religion, makeup, fitness, friends, food, and cloth diapers.  Whatever your interests may be, there are several bloggers blogging about it on a daily basis.

How to get blog updates:
A blog is a website that the blogger updates as often as they want to.  You can check the website frequently to get updates but that is the old skewl way.  You can subscribe to email updates so that every time the blogger writes a new post, you get an email letting you know what the content of the post is.  On my site, look for the WANT EMAIL UPDATES? box in the right hand side. 

The hippest way to get blog updates is to use an RSS reader.  RSS is just a standard way of providing data to software so that the software can notify the blog readers that there is new content.  RSS Readers also allows the blog reader to organize and manage their subscriptions. For me, that means putting my blogs into folders (food, fitness, parenting) and letting me know which ones are read/unread.  It also allows me to favorite ones (ex: recipes I want to try).  Read more details here on Wikipedia.  


How to know if a site offers an RSS format:
In Safari, Chrome, and Internet Explorer, you will see the RSS block or orange button indicating that there is an RSS format.  In Firefox, it is hidden because nobody ever clicked the button.  Click it for fun and you can see the RSS version of the data.  Most sites that publish content frequently provide an RSS version of their data. You can follow news that way too. 

Safari (see the RSS at the end of the address bar)

Firefox (see the icon immediately after the address bar)

RSS Readers:
Now that you know about RSS, you can pick your RSS Reader Software and get started.  I use Google Reader when on a computer and FeeddlerRSS on my iPhone.  Feeddler just uses Google Reader.   Go here http://www.google.com/reader/ and create an account to get started.  Or find a different RSS Reader software if you are anti Google.  Google Reader provides a nice how to page. Once you have an account, you can click Subscribe and enter the web address for pages you would like to receive content updates for.  Most blogs will provide short cuts for you to subscribe in a reader.  On my site, click the drop down next to Posts under Subscribe and you can simply click add to Google.

How to Make Bloggers Happy:
This is the most important part.  Even though there are all these fancy ways to receive updates (email, RSS readers, etc), go to the bloggers site occasionally.  They love to see the traffic (I get 2 hits a day).  They love to count the number of people subscribing to their blog in Google Reader (I have 5).  They love, love, love to get comments (I get less than 1 a day). They love friends on Google Friend Connect (I have 6).  They love email subscribers (I have 6). I am pretty sure I will have people sponsoring me soon with all of this traffic.  

Enough rambling?  I thought so.  Does this confuse you more?  Maybe so.  I would love to help make it clearer.  Maybe you could ask me a question in a comment??  Exciting for me and you!

ZOMGeeee, A Blog Tag

My heart skip-ped a beat, when I was reading my blogz, and one of my fave bloggers, Grace at Camp Patton,  answered a blog tag and tagged me to respond.  I feel pretty special, and I know that my 5 loyal followers will enjoy my responses. I immediately placed Wyatt into the jumper so I could work on a response.  If you need to laugh almost every day and have children, please "do the needful" and follow her blog.  A word of warning, do not read while rocking your child to sleep or drinking hot tea because you will snort and the side effects are not pleasant.  She is surviving two under two and her hubby is a resident (aka not home).

Here are the rules to the blog tag for the lucky 3 peeps I am going to tag. 
1. The first rule is to post these rules.
2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 things about yourself/your life .
3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.
4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.
5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them that you've tagged them.

A photo taken by me (I am not in the photo). You see enough of me on the site already:

This is how you camp in East Texas when it is 100 degrees at night.  You sit under the RV AC Unit instead of around the fire.

11 Things Bout Me:
1. I read about a book a week.  This is the only way to stop the voices in my head so I can fall asleep.
2. My family owned 4 mini vans at one time when I was growing up.
3. I might still hold the record at my high school for 300 meter hurdles.
4. I apply chapstick and lotion more than 4 times a day.
5. I ate 21 pieces of pizza at my 13th birthday party, impressing the staff and my friends at Mr. Gatti's.
6. I refuse to iron.
7. I type super de duper fast. I won the typing competition at work 2 years in a row. I give all the credit to using IM as my main form of communication in college.
8. I replay embarrassing moments over and over in my head.  It helps to boost my self esteem.
9. I am a side sleeper.
10. I rock back and forth when I am in a car. It helps pass the time.
11. I don't like breakfast carbs (pancakes, waffles, cereal, etc).  I am hungry in an hour.  Waste of time!


Questions I must answer:
1. age? 31
2. dream job? the one I have.  changing diapers, stressing about naps, internetting, rockin bebe, and playing with toys that only sing one song repetitively.  I am serous! I am so lucky and thankful to be at home with Wyatt even though some days I lose my marbles.  I am looking forward to some part time IT work from home as soon as my 6 month wait it out period is up (company policy)
3. favorite blog? Annie's Eats - this chicko is a Dr, with 2 kids, making beautiful desserts and tasty food. she keeps me in check by making me feel guilty if i don't make homemade goldfish or oreos.  seriously, good food and motivating. i kinda hope she has a nanny and personal assistant
4. favorite recipe? In the repeat bi-weekly category, I make Martha's Roasted Salmon with White Wine Sauce. I use this for more than just salmon.  this is also a great excuse for opening up a bottle of chardonnay
5. favorite book? alas, I must say Hunger Games, just like every other poor soul out there
6. one piece or two piece swimsuit? two, i worked hard for this post c section bod
7. most embarrassing moment? when I met my newish neighbor and Wyatt pulled my shirt in all directions exposing his meal source to all
8. pet(s)? if yes, name(s)? no pets, no responsibilities.
9. specific makeup item you couldn't live without? blush or bronzer.  color me NOT white
10. favorite song of the moment? don't judge.  I don't like Bieber, but I dig this song.  Somebody to Love (Remix) featuring Usher
11. weekend plans? buy a new mattress.  we checked the tag, 23 years old.  gross! i knew it was all bendy and icky and beat up, but still, 23 years. i am accepting mattress recommendations btw

Questions you can answer if you have free time and don't mind chain letter style blogging: 
1. What was your last google search?
2. What is your usual sleep attire?
3. If you could have famous person hair, whose would you pick?
4. What is your favorite flower/plant?
5. Sweets or salty snacks?
6. What is the oldest item in your closet?
7. First CD you owned?
8. Favorite salad dressing?
9. Favorite blog?
10. What browser do you use?
11. Favorite phone app? If you aren't a smart phone person, make up your own question. :)

I am tagging the few and the proud that follow me (still optional):

Beth at Diary of a Dietitian
SarahAlyse
Jacque at The Gilliam Family