Peace, Love and Yogurt

I'm turning into a hippie. Or so my kids and husband tell me. I've started carrying my own bags to the grocery store, I've had a compost pile in the backyard for a while now, I wear scarves and skirts, we recycle and to top it all off I've started making my own laundry detergent and yogurt! Well, in my defense..we are to be good stewards of this earth God has given us. Psalm 24:1 says "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him."

God has given us an amazing world to live in! Let's have fun with it while we take care of it!

If you want to join me in this hippie movement...here's the recipes for the laundry detergent and the yogurt.

Laundry Detergent--

• 1 bar of shaved bar soap (Ivory, ZOTE, Fels-Naptha)
• 1/2 cup of borax
• 1/2 cup of washing soda

Thoroughly stir together for 5 minutes and enjoy the results! Use 1 tablespoon for each load. I use vinegar as fabric softener too!

Yogurt--a little more involved..but worth it!

-8 cups (half-gallon) of whole milk--pasteurized and homogenized is fine, but do NOT use ultra-pasteurized.

--1/2 cup store-bought natural, live/active culture plain yogurt (you need to have a starter. Once you have made your own, you can use that as a starter)

--frozen/fresh fruit for flavoring

--thick bath towel

This takes a while. Make your yogurt on a weekend day when you are home to monitor.

Plug in your crockpot and turn to low. Add an entire half gallon of milk. Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours.

Unplug your crockpot. Leave the cover on, and let it sit for 3 hours.

When 3 hours have passed, scoop out 2 cups of the warmish milk and put it in a bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup of store-bought live/active culture yogurt. Then dump the bowl contents back into the crockpot. Stir to combine.

Put the lid back on your crockpot. Keep it unplugged, and wrap a heavy bath towel all the way around the crock for insulation.

Go to bed, or let it sit for 8 hours.

In the morning, the yogurt will have thickened---it's not as thick as store-bought yogurt, but has the consistency of low-fat plain yogurt.

Blend in batches with your favorite fruit. I did mango, strawberry, and blueberry. When you blend in the fruit, bubbles will form and might bother you. They aren't a big deal, and will settle eventually.

Chill in a plastic container(s) in the refrigerator. Your fresh yogurt will last 7-10 days. Save 1/2 cup as a starter to make a new batch.

thanks to this website for the recipe http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/you-can-make-yogurt-in-your-crockpot.html

and this for the detergent http://diynatural.com/simple-easy-fast-effective-jabs-homemade-laundry-detergent/

If you have any more great ideas or recipes to add to my hippyness please leave a comment and let me know!