I never would have predicted that having a baby would bring out the cook in me. Granted, my hubby and I have long loved trying new flavors, cooking together, testing new recipes. But the fact that I’m doing most of the cooking now as a stay-at-home mom, our smaller budget since becoming a one-income family, and my recent commitment to buy local whenever possible, I’ve gone gang-buster for making-from-scratch foods I would have typically bought at the grocery store.

I’m using Super Baby Food as one of my resources as I plan to make as much of my son’s food as possible. And because the hubby and I eat so much yogurt, I thought I’d try that well in advance of when baby is eating yogurt, so I can get the hang of it.

In the last week we’ve made 6 quart-size batches of yogurt - 3 have failed (although we’ve used that tangy milk for smoothies), but we’ve been enjoying our 3 successful quarts.

The How…

(there are many recipes online)

• First, we scalded the milk to 185 degrees Farenheit
• Then, we let the milk cool to approximately 115 degrees Farenheit (the milk needs to remain between 90-120 degrees in order for the yogurt cultures to survive)
• Once cooled, we mixed in 2 Tablespoons of plain yogurt with live active cultures (using plain Stoneyfield Farm yogurt for the first batch - no we can use the yogurt we made as a “starter”)
• After covering the jars, we’ve tried a few different methods for incubating the yogurt, which takes many hours. The option that has worked for us is keeping the jars of yogurt-in-the-making in a water bath on the stove on the lowest temperature. Every hour or so we’ll move the yogurt off the heat so the temperature doesn’t rise too much.
• After 4-14 hours (the longer you incubate, the tangier the yogurt), refrigerate to thicken the yogurt further and voila! Homemade Yogurt!

Afterthoughts…

This (and many others from our perspective) method does require some baby-sitting, so it’s best to do when you plan to be home most of the day. If we find we are making alot of yogurt I may invest in a yogurt-maker.

For us, whole milk came out the thickest and creamiest not surprisingly, but we also had a batch of 2% milk work. To make the resulting yogurt thicker, we strained the whey out through cheesecloth to achieve the desired texture.

The cost breakdown…

I generally buy either individual servings of organic Stonyfield Farm yogurt for $.99 a pop, or the quart size occasionally for $3.99.

Our yogurt (using organic milk for $3.69/half gallon) costs about $1.50/quart. Definitely a cost savings that’s worth it!

Before my son was born, I requested as many organic items as possible for him to wear and play with. I also planned to use cloth diapers, but also was realistic and didn’t invest too much until my hubby and I gave it a go.

The diapers (we’re using these) were easy enough to use (they’re alot better these days). It was the laundering that was so frustrating. It seemed that I had to wash the inserts two, sometimes three, times to clean them thoroughly. Had I found a Green Fail in my efforts to be more eco-friendly? Needless to say, I had enough laundry in my life with a newborn and three washes didn’t seem very eco-friendly. I went on a little cloth diapering hiatus.

I did some more research and asked some cloth diapering friends for advice. There is alot of information out there and I think the individual has to go through some trial and error before making any decisions. Fast forward to month three of living on one income and I’m increasingly looking for ways to save. I was ready to give my cloth diapers a go again.

At this point I only have enough cloth diapers for daytime use every couple of days. I finally gave one friend’s suggestion of using the sun to dry the inserts after one wash. I was not optimistic, but low and behold it worked.

One wash + sunshine = clean diaper!

All of a sudden I remembered that we used to line dry our laundry when I was a child (must have blocked it out since it was a chore back then). The laundry always smelled so fresh and clean. I think not only has this convinced me to commit more to the cloth diapers, but also to air dry more of our laundry and save on some energy costs as well!

Definitely NOT a Green Fail!

Making food for me has become a new creative outlet. Once someone who hated spending time in the kitchen, I now relish trying new recipes, making food on a budget, planning meals around some random item that’s already in the cabinet (for example a jar of roasted red peppers will be perfect for weeknight paninis), and trying to make food from scratch.

We recently made jam, and tried our hand at yogurt (post coming soon). But I’m also interested in making several other items to see if it’s worth my time to make more from scratch, like:

• Hummus (excited to try this recipe courtesy of Food in Jars)
• Crackers
• Pizza Dough
• Pie Crusts

I think I’ll make one of my summer goals to try at least a couple new “from scratch” recipes a month. I’ll keep you posted!

I continue to learn new ways to simplify with an infant. While I had many systems that helped my productivity while I was working in an office, I’m finding that I need to create whole new set of routines as a stay-at-home mom.

I’ve always been a serious multi-tasker, but I don’t think that’s the healthiest, simplest way to live. Multi-tasking require more energy and often produces less. However, I do think there a few ways for healthy multi-tasking.

Excercise

I’m on a mission to lose all that pre-pregnancy weight, but I also want my son to be out in nature as much as possible and take in some of the sunny Vitamin D and fresh air. We have a nice routine going in our daily walk. This means guaranteed outdoor time for him, a good workout for me, not having to fit in a drive to the gym (or gym fees in our budget!) I even did this all bundled up in winter on sunny days. This is a wonderful way to rejuvenate. On rainy or extremely hot days, I head to the mall to walk and can run a few errands at the same time.

Kitchen Tools

I’m ALL about kitchen tools that multi-task. In fact, I’ve decluttered a number of them in the last 5 years, including our garlic press and most-recently our salad spinner. We chop our garlic with a good knife as we’re chopping the rest of our veggies, which means one less item to wash. And a kitchen towel does just fine drying our lettuce. Plus, we learned a trick awhile back to keep lettuce wilt-free longer - adding a paper towel to a ziplock bag or tupperware container where you store your lettuce will absorb any extra moisture. We rarely have wilty (and therefore wasted) lettuce by doing this.

Excursions

One of our favorite family activities is taking a day trip to a new place or spending time outdoors with a nice hike and a picnic. We try to do this often, and in addition to memorable family time, we get a nice workout from our walk, enjoy the fresh air and a break on our wallets with this usually free outing.

Cooking

Now that I’m at home during the day, I’ve been enjoying learning to cook. From simple crockpot recipes to meals using local food, it’s a wonderful hobby, but I also want to be smart about my time. So in addition to time (and dishwashing) saving meals in the crockpot, which usually last us for at least two days, I’m also learning to double recipes or make two. For example, when I make a quiche or lasagna, I make two and put one in the freezer for a later date. Soup is also a great “save some for later” meal.

Since I tend to feel more productive when I multi-task, I’m enjoying these healthier ways to do just that. What are some ways that you multi-task or are you trying to do less of that?

One of my “projects” as we try to sell our house is the never-ending project of cleaning out. I do this often anyways, taking fairly regular trips to the Salvation Army. One “to-do” that I’m just now crossing off my list is getting rid of old electronics - an old laptop, cell phones, palm pilot and ipods. There are many organizations that accept donations of items like these to be refurbished. I have mailed old phones to nonprofits like these before.

I was excited to recently find that Best Buy takes many items like these, plus small and large appliances, regardless of where the item was originally purchased. You can recycle 3 items a day for free (with some exceptions, and depending on the state) and I’m happy to not have to worry about the contaminants from these items in the ground and water. I’m also saving on postage to mail them and the extra steps of having to package them for shipping. For those items where there is a fee (i.e. laptops and some TV monitors), you receive a Best Buy gift card to use in the store.

Not a bad deal and a great way to clean-out in an earth-friendly manner.

As I watch my son roll around on the floor, put EVERYTHING in his mouth - from toys, to the the furniture leg, to my fingers - I can’t help but think even more about the toxins that surround him. My hubby and I have worked really hard over the last 5 years to incorporate more and more environmentally friendly practices into our daily routine. But a little one certainly puts things into perspective even more.

We want him to be able to play in nature and not worry about what he is breathing, or the fish he might one day catch with grandpa. We want him to be able to play at home and not worry about what chemicals he might be ingesting from the cleaning products we use or toys he plays with. Of course this is easier said than done, but I am a firm believer that baby steps can lead to bigger steps - and lifelong habits.

On one of my mommy reads, Rookie Moms, they just posted this great video that paints a picture about where toxins show up for our kids as compared to 100 years ago. Don’t get me wrong. I much prefer to live today than 100 years ago, however, I think I can always learn and grow and make healthier choices.

Take a look…

A Wake-Up Story from Healthy Child Healthy World on Vimeo.

I recently mentioned we’ve been enjoying lots of summer strawberry treats - bread, shortcake, smoothies. Well, with 18 pounds of strawberries, we needed to make much more than that.

Hence, our jam-making and canning Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago. Now, I wouldn’t recommend having to make use 18 lbs of strawberries when you have an infant. Not the most stress-free process, but regardless, you’ll have lots of yummy jars to enjoy for a good long while, and to share with family and friends.

Here’s our play-by-play. We used this recipe, minus the butter. In past years we have used this pectin-free recipe, but beware that very ripe berries don’t have enough natural pectin to make a jelly consistency. Your “jam” will still taste good, but it’s more like strawberry syrup.

After dividing up our strawberries for baking & freezing needs, plus some fresh berries to give away, we washed, hulled, and roughly chopped the remainder.

Next, we crushed the berries using our KitchenAid and added them to a big soup pot. In the meantime, the other one of us washed and sterilized the jars and lids and boiled water to seal the jars in a water bath.

One the crushed berries were in the pot, we added the appropriate amounts of sugar and pectin. You can also add a squeeze of lemon juice to enhance the flavor of the berries. Do not overfill your pot. Based on multiple years of experience (and big kitchen clean-ups), the pot should be no more than half full (we really learned our lesson this year!)

After the berry-sugar mixture is ready, line-up your jars and ladle them full of jam, leaving an inch of head space at the top. Add your lid and screw the top on, then place in water bath using a pair of tongs.

The water should cover the jars by at least two inches. Bring the water to a boil and boil jars for 10 minutes. Once the 10 minutes is up, carefully remove jars using tongs and place on a hot towel.

Within minutes you should hear a “pop” letting you know your jars have sealed. If they do not, run them through a water bath again, or place in refrigerator and use within one week.

With 18 lbs of strawberries, we went through this process several times over several hours. Needless to say, we’re set on jam for all of our weekend breakfasts and PB&J sandwiches. It’s also delicious warmed to a syrupy consistency to use on pancakes or ice cream. Yum!

Now that it’s July, it’s blueberry season. We’ll try our hand at a *small* batch of blueberry jelly since we haven’t made a different type of jam before. Will let you know how that goes. Plus, stay tune for my first experience with homemade yogurt making.

I love strawberry season. The hubby picked 18 lbs of strawberries this weekend and we made all kinds of goodies - bread & muffins, sweetened strawberries for shortcake and whole sweetened strawberries from this suggestion on Simple Bites. Interested to see if the berries maintain their texture in the syrup. We froze some berries without syrup for baking and smoothies. Oh so much strawberry yumminess to be had.

Plus, we made ALOT of jam - we won’t need to buy any for a year and we’ll still have plenty to share with family and friends! Stay tuned for the jam-making play-by-play.

I am always on a mission to live with less - to donate items we no longer use and try not to fill the space with something new. An uncluttered life is less stressful for me (and easier to maintain).

One of the new things I’m working on is living with less in the kitchen - just as I’m learning to cook more and eat even more local food. Aside from less stuff - gadgets, unused appliances, etc - I realize that much of what is available in the grocery store creates trash due to the packaging. Besides recycling as much as we can, I’m trying to “think before I buy” at the store, and even avoid the aisles that offer so many processed choices that also include a lot of packaging.

This means more fresh items and cooking from scratch. More produce, more shopping at farmer’s markets, more farm shares. And once our son is a year old I intend to have our milk delivered so those glass bottles can be reused again and again.

This all means living without some items that I have become accustomed too. This challenges me to create a new “normal” for our family. So, since I’m the one bringing on this challenge, I have one specifically for me. Although I switched to only fair trade coffee a year ago, I plan to eliminate my daily coffee intake over time (can’t go cold turkey because daily headaches don’t jive well with parenting an infant). I assume I’ll still enjoy a cup from time to time, but hopefully I’ll buy less of this product, therefore creating less waste and also relying less on caffeine.

What are you learning to live with less of?

Junk food? New clothes? Driving unnecessarily? Would love to be inspired by you!

I’m always looking for ways to declutter items that are not used, take up too much space or do not multi-task. I wish I had realized before registering for so many items 5 years ago how certain gadgets just clutter up your kitchen more than they “save time”. For one thing, I’d rather chop my garlic or use a microplane than use a garlic press, which I found difficult to clean.

Making this Home recently made me consider whether the space hog Salad Spinner was a necessity. I gave their suggestion - using a dish towel to dry lettuce - a try, and it worked just as well. I’m saying farewell to the salad spinner and hello to freed up shelf space in my cabinet. Hooray!