We Killy's are chugging along. Each day brings joys and frustrations. I have to remind myself to look for progress and good things in the kiddos instead of just complaining about the areas they are lacking. That will continue for life, won't it?! My kids are improving in their bilingual skills. Their everyday talk is less ebonics and more proper grammar English. There's probably a "not cool" implication in that comment but I'm new to all this cross cultural stuff. 

Right now the three boys are trying to take down their father, hiding out in the corners of our home each heavily armed with styrofoam bullets and big plastic guns. Oops, apparently one has already been disarmed by the enemy. They are screaming and panting, running scared when HE is on the prowl. It's all hooplah and excitement. School starts next week and quiet will be in every corner instead of hiding boys with toys.

In other news I made a batch of yogurt this week. I use yogurt everyday to make my fruit smoothie for breakfast. Making my own yogurt can cost less than $2 a month.  There is something homey and awesome about making your own yogurt. It sounds impressive but it's really simple so I thought I'd pass along a "how to" so you can impress your friends. You only need two ingredients. Milk and yogurt. You should also have a thermometer and quart canning jars with lids.

Heat 1 gallon of milk to 180 degrees. Remove from heat and allow milk to cool to 120 degrees. (Takes 1 hour for mine to cool to this temp.) Scoop 1 cup of the cooled milk into a bowl. Add 1 cup of store bought yogurt (I use plain, high protein yogurt) and add it to the 1 cup of milk. As you swirl, it should remain chunky, do not stir it all up. Now return this to the large pot of milk and INTRODUCE the yogurty milk mixture, again stirring is verboten (means NOT ALLOWED.) Just introduce the yogurt to the milk by gently swirling it a bit.

Pour yogurt into 4 or 5 "sterilized" quart jars. It is good to see chunks of yogurt plopping into the jars. Make sure some blobs get into each jar. This is what helps the yogurt thicken. If you beat it like a naughty step child til it's smooth it will be runny. I sterilize my jars by running them through the dishwasher starting it a bit before I start cooking the milk. You could also just pour boiling water over the jars. This recipe will make a bit more than what 4 jars can hold so a pint jar instead of a 5th quart jar will be just right.

Top each jar with a lid and ring. Now the yogurt needs to set in a warm spot. I put the jars in a 9x13 pan and set it in a turned off oven. In winter I've been pouring hot tap water into the pan to help keep it all warm. I don't always add the hot water, especially in summer. Another option is to put the jars back in the pot you boiled the milk in and fill to just below the rings with hot water and let sit on top of stove.

Don't be afraid to let it sit. Mine always sit overnight. The next morning (or whenever I remember its there) I put the jars in the fridge and this amount will last me 1 month. You can halve the milk and yogurt too and it works just fine. You can use this yogurt to make the next batch but the end of my yogurt seems to sneak up on me before I get a new batch made and I end up buying some fresh yogurt at the store and using that for my starter.

On a completely different note. See those cupboard door knobs? The white knobs are begging me to release them to the trash can so they can meet up with the rest of their family already in the trash heap. That's one of the projects waiting for me next week when the wee Killys go back to school.