What Are You Doing With All That Milk?

Yes, just what AM I doing with all that milk?   Aside from using it to cook with and the occasional glass to drink, I am :

-making delicious cultured buttermilk and butter.  I put about a quart of cultured cream (meaning it has set out at room temperature for about 24 hours and then refrigerated for a short time) into my Bosch bowl with the wire whips.  I set the dial to one and let it run for about 10-15 minutes.  When I take off the lid I see lots of clumped butter.  I simply strain off the buttermilk and then press the butter to get all the milk out of it as well.  I put some cold water in the bowl and continue pressing the butter to release all the milk.  I pour off the water and continue the process until the water is almost clear.  Then I put the butter into a container and add it to my freezer.

-making yogurt.  This has not been going very well with the fresh milk.  I had been making yogurt in my crock pot with store bought milk and was successful with that, but it doesn't seem to work as well with fresh milk.  I have also heated the milk on the stove, mixed with yogurt and put into quart jars and incubated them in the dehydrator.  It took a very long time for the yogurt to thicken this way which made my yogurt VERY tart.  I hope to try the cooler method this week.  We'll see how that turns out!

- I decided to make the four quarts of yogurt into yogurt cheese that could be sweetened to counter the tartness.  Yummy!!   This has a cream cheese like consistency and we have used it to top oven pancakes and this weekend I made my traditional blueberry/cream cheese pies using the yogurt cheese and making homemade pie filling instead of buying a can from the store.  Oh, my!  This pie is wonderful!

-made ricotta cheese....kinda/sorta.  Following the directions in Nourishing Traditions for cream cheese,  I set out two gallons of milk to clabber.  After two days the whey was one the bottom of the jars and the milk was a jiggly mass of curds.  I poured this through a strainer lined with an old pillow case and as I had a lot, I finally poured it all into another old pillow case and suspended it for several hours over a large pot to continue removing the whey.  When I dumped it all out I wasn't sure what I had created!  It didn't look at all like cream cheese, but more like very large curd cottage cheese.  I decided to put it in my Bosch and mixed it up with a little (very little buttermilk) and added some salt.  We finally decided I had made cottage cheese, but mixing it up made it look and taste like ricotta.  I used it to make two pans of lasagna for the freezer and today I will use the remainder to make two pans of enchiladas that call for cottage cheese in the recipe.

-What am I doing with the whey?  Dumping it.  I know, such a waste, but I have so much milk that I am using it to soak my grains for baked goods and I don't know that I will use any for lacto fermenting vegetables as Caedmon is allergic to dairy and I don't want to add any to our vegetables.  I may try lacto fermenting some salsa this summer as Caedmon is also allergic to tomatoes.  Freezing the whey right now is not an option as my freezers are "whey" too full!

-I made a pint of French Sour Cream from Nourishing Traditions this weekend.  I haven't tasted it yet, so  have no idea whether or not this worked.  You simply take a pint of fresh cream, add a tablespoon of buttermilk and let it sit out for 20-24 hours then refrigerate.  I'll try it out tonight on our enchiladas!

-This week I should get my canner in the mail.  I want to try to can the milk for future baking.  I have heard canning it does change the taste, but it is still good to cook with.

-I also hope to order rennet online so we can make mozzarella cheese.

-Do you have any other ideas of what I can do with this bounty of milk?

-I am going to really try NOT to mention milk on this blog again this
week....but don't hold me to it!

Linking up today over at homesteadrevival.com.

Preparedness Challenge

Check out what others are doing at
homesteadrevival.blogspot.com

This week for the preparedness challenge, my family:

-made enough granola to last about 3 weeks

This canister holds two gallons.

-bought extra boxes of borax and washing soda to keep on hand to make laundry detergent
-bought extra bleach, toilet paper, epsom salts, vinegar and baking soda
-filled used water bottles with tap water and a few drops of bleach to replace what we used last weekend when we didn't have water
-made and froze about 5 pounds of cultured butter
-made about 5 quarts of  cultured butter milk
-learned how to make yogurt cheese and ricotta
-dried 2 pounds of mushrooms

One quart jar of mushrooms

-made 8 pints of applesauce

-organized and inventoried our food storage that is not in the kitchen
-ordered math curriculum for my 6 year old for the next 3 years ; )
-bought a dozen pint size canning jars
-bought lots of freezer bags, plastic wrap and aluminum foil
-got three more icing buckets from Kroger---I would love to have about 40....I need 34 more!!
-made another 4 x 12 raised bed
-researched pigs......and chickens.....some more. Just need to bite the bullet and do it!
-replaced a blueberry bush

Creating

There is still time to add your recipes for milk products here!

While we've been busy staying on top of all the milk coming in we haven't let school or extra activities slide too badly.  The bedrooms could use a good hour or two of work and reorganization and some floors need to be mopped, but sure and steady wins the race.  In spite of the extra work I am enjoying filling the freezer with fresh homemade butter, making yogurt and yogurt cheese and making all kinds of breads and treats with buttermilk and milk.

I found a recipe for making cream cheese in the Nourishing Traditions cookbook, but I am not sure it turned out right.  I need some help to determine whether this is indeed cream cheese and just needs to be whipped up some or needs to be dumped.  This is what I got after draining in a bag overnight.  The lighting is kind of dark, but the cheese is white.

The children have been busy creating as well.  Jordan has been faithfully tending the seeds that have sprouted in our dining room.  I will be glad when they can go in the ground and my dining room can be cleared of the extra table and plants. ; )  He is as always busily editing photos and writing.

And outside we have seven raised beds full of little sprouts.

Aaron and Kaelan have been spending lots of time practicing for piano and violin recitals.  Kaelan has been helping me in the kitchen a good bit and has also created a large hanging collage of the solar system that is suspended from above her bed.   She wouldn't let me post a picture, though.  She has been working on this project with Jackson.....and used up all our styrofoam plates. ; )  She also created a beautiful table arrangement of blooming dogwood.

Aaron has been experimenting with oil painting.   He is combining his love of music with his love of art. Above is an incomplete painting of Tchaikovsky.

Faure

Mozart

And this is a drawing of Gulliver from  Gulliver's Travels.

Jackson has been doing lots of drawings and composing his magnum opus.  It's not important that his staff has more than five lines....he is having fun and always has one of us sing his latest composition.  The drawing in the lower right is Bill the Sheriff  with a "cactapus" in the background.  ; )

Creating does tend to mean that messes are being made, but it is very important to let the children discover the gifts and talents that the Lord has given them.  It is my prayer that my children will use their many gifts and talents in building up the Kingdom of God.  

Got Milk?

I've got lots of it!  One and a half quarts of yogurt, half a quart of whey, a quart of buttermilk, a half gallon of cream, almost 4 gallons of milk and some fresh butter in the fridge!  And we are making all kinds of dairy products!  I skim the milk after it sits in the fridge for a day.  This morning from 2 1/2 gallons of milk I got half a gallon of cream.  I will let the cream sit out for 24 hours to culture and then will make butter and buttermilk with it tomorrow morning.   I make yogurt in the crockpot and then drain the yogurt in a coffee filter lined colander which gives me a bowlful of whey and  a much thicker, creamier yogurt.

So, what are we doing with all these dairy products?  The yogurt pictured here is now being further strained to make yogurt cheese which is similar to cream cheese.  The whey is being saved for my neighbor/friend's chickens.  I used a quart of buttermilk to make pancakes this morning and they were terrific!  The 1/2 gallon of cream will make about a pound of butter and a quart of buttermilk. We also love buttermilk biscuits, pies, pound cake and a chocolate sheet cake with icing also made from buttermilk.

 I am now soaking my fresh ground wheat in milk before using it to make my bread products.  I have dough rising right now that soaked all night.  It looks terrific.  We are also going to try to make mozzarella cheese on Friday and maybe try another cheese or two in the near future.  I am also doing some research into canning milk and butter.  We'll see!  It sure is a blessing!  Do you have fresh milk?  What do you do with it?

Jeff commented that lately my blog has been full of homemaking posts which he said filled the "Busy Hands" part of the title, but where were the "Busy Minds"?  I assure you we are doing school at least 4 days a week, but we are using our minds to learn more about gardening, dairying and food storage methods in our spare (and not so spare) time.

Proverbs 24:30-34


I went by the field of a lazy man,
And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding;
And there it was, all overgrown with thorns;
Its surface was covered with nettles;
Its stone wall was broken down.
When I saw it, I considered it well;
I looked on it and received instruction:
A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest;
So shall your poverty come like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.

Find more simple posts today at GNOWFGLINS.

Around, About and All Over the Place with a Couple of Recipes Thrown In

This weekend I had so much that needed to be done.  It seems that it is utterly impossible to get my to-do list done when Saturday rolls around, especially this Saturday when I discovered that our perishable food items were dwindling severely.   So my to-do list was dropped and Jeff and I headed out to Sam's.   We really like to stock up at Sam's.  Having cabinets and freezers full  of ingredients that we can use to make  good wholesome meals for our family is important to us.  Every time Jeff goes to Sam's with me he comments about how there sure is a lot of food in that one store.  LOL!  I very rarely buy any frozen or instant foods, sticking mainly to single ingredient foods like fresh fruits and vegetables and the HUGE cans of green beans.  I also stock up on toilet paper, oils, yeast, spices, sugars, honey, flours and dairy products.  Oh!  We can't forget the coffee, either!

Thankfully the skies were clear so we were able to put all of our groceries in the back of the truck.  We have a system.  I call home when we  leave Sam's and have the children make sure the kitchen is clean, countertops wiped off and floor swept.  When we pull onto our country road we again call home and have the boys and Kaelan meet us out at the truck with the wagons.  The kids load everything from the back of the truck into the wagons and haul the groceries inside.  I then unload the wagons putting the food either in the cabinets, in the freezer or in the fridge.   Then they take the wagons back out for another load.  This time, however, I wound up missing a large bag of fresh broccoli.  K says she knows it got in the house, but I have  not found it.  Jeff was looking forward to a large batch of my broccoli salad.  One time we found a roll of sausage that had been left in the truck for several days in warm weather.  Thankfully, it did not stink.  I have no idea where that bag of broccoli landed!

Saturday was a beautiful warm day and the children were able to be outside for most of the day.  Jordan has been making more boxes for our raised bed garden.  He has been busy researching and planning for our garden.  It will soon be time to gather seeds, amend the soil and start planting.  He is excited about eating some fresh tomatoes!

While all the younger children were out playing or working Devin decided to get creative.  A few months ago she bought a painted canvas at a small boutique and paid over $30 for it.  She decided she could make another one herself.   She has never really painted before except for school projects, but once she decides to do something, she does it well.  In fact, a friend encouraged her to start drawing when she was in her mid-teens.  We were studying the Civil War and she was inspired to draw a portrait of Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson.  Her drawing placed at a local art contest and at a state wide contest.  And we named our next child Thomas Jonathan Jackson Chamblee!!

In case you can't read the scripture:  "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, 

in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5: 8

And I tried my hand at making poptarts from scratch.  Although I suppose you can't really call them poptarts, so I'll just say tarts.  Look for the recipe and pictures here.  You must know that I changed the recipe!!  It calls for yogurt and I was out (making some tonight), so I substituted buttermilk.  I used mainly fresh ground whole wheat flour, but next time I will use more all-purpose flour as the crust was a bit heavier than we would prefer.  I wound up making two batches.  One batch was with my homemade strawberry jam.  The second batch I made with my homemade applesauce to which I added some brown sugar and cinnamon.  We sampled them for dessert Saturday night and I got the biggest compliment!  Kaelan declared they are do-overs which means they liked them well enough to want them again!  We had some for breakfast Sunday morning and I froze the rest of them for breakfast another day this week.

I know a lot of you are expecting some very cold weather in the next few days, so I will leave you with a delicious broccoli soup recipe.  You know,  just in case you find my missing bag of broccoli.

Broccoli Cheese Soup


5 cups broccoli florets
6 cups chicken broth  (I use homemade)
1 1/2 cups of milk
1/2 cup flour
3 cups finely grated cheddar cheese

Cook broccoli until tender in the chicken broth.  Remove broccoli from broth with a slotted spoon.  Place into your blender.  I can do about half of the broccoli at a time.  Add some of the broth to the blender as well.  Blend until you reach the desired texture.  My kids don't want to see chunks of broccoli, so I pretty much puree it.  Add back to  your pot.  Add milk and flour to your blender and mix well.  Add this to your pot and stir with whisk.  Add 1 t. of salt, freshly grated pepper and any other seasoning you desire.  I've used thyme, red pepper flakes and Spike seasoning at different times.  When soup has thickened add your cheese and continue stirring until melted through.  Serve.  I think a small dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of chopped bacon would be very pretty on this soup.  Sour cream and bacon would probably taste pretty good, too!  LOL!

I have been bagging up the leftovers and freezing them.  I will pull out a bag or two for lunch this week and let you know how it turns out from frozen.  I don't see why it wouldn't be just as good.

I Am Back....

Satellite internet connections can be so frustrating!   For the last couple of weeks our internet has been so slow that my blog wouldn't fully open up.  We would love to have DSL, but it is not available to us right now.  We are so far out in the boonies!!

Everyone is doing much better healthwise right now and we are making great strides in our school work.  The temperatures have been so nice lately that  we have been spending some time on the porch doing our reading and the younger children have spent hours outside playing.  This is why we generally do school during the hot summer months!  It's just too hot to play outside in much of July and August (and even this month has seen highs here in the 100's).  We take more time for outdoor activities in the fall and spring.  This weekend we will be having a much needed yard sale---lots of clothing, some furniture, framed prints and miscellaneous items that I hope will find a new home.  The boys' bathroom is almost complete.   Just needs a few paint touch-ups here and there.  Jeff had a trip to DC that interrupted his work.  Hopefully he can get that finished this weekend and get the next project completed before he and Jordan go back to DC later in October.


Next week we will be buying apples from our local orchard.  I hope to can lots of applesauce for applesauce muffins, pie filling and yes, apple jelly.  I am also gathering up supplies to start making our own soaps.  I am very excited about this and should have all my supplies in by next week.  I am so very thankful that God gave me these years at home to spend with my children and to learn together.  So many skills that we are learning are now lost arts, but we are having fun planning them, have fun working on them together and enjoy the fruits of our hands.

I have several topics coming in future posts-- a great giveaway, product reviews, recipes, homemade cleaners, fall decorations and finally the bathroom reveal.  But a busy household comes first!  Today it will be cleaning house, cooking, schooling, music practice,  a doctor's appointment, errand running and gathering and pricing more items for the yard sale.  So, what have you been up to?

Making Butter

While the biscuits were in the oven this morning  and the bacon was cooking on the stove, I decided to make butter.  Yes, butter!  I have been buying raw milk from a sweet friend and this morning poured off the cream from the top of the jug.  I had let it sit in the fridge for a couple of days and the cream had done its thing and separated from the milk.  I poured the cream into my Bosch Universal Mixer bowl and using the beaters, let the machine do the work.  In about 10-15 minutes we could hear a definite difference in the sound of the machine.  We looked inside the bowl and there was a lot of bright yellow butter swimming in buttermilk.  I strained the butter from the buttermilk (which is pictured in the jar above) and pressed the remaining milk from the butter with a spoon.  I then added half a teaspoon of salt and mixed well, formed a ball and viola!  We had fresh butter with our homemade biscuits and jelly this morning.  It was much easier than I expected and didn't take much time at all.  Now if we only had our own cow....

Raising Producers

Jeff and I have been amazed at how much work we are able to get done around our home these days.  It's not that Jeff and I are actually doing the work, though.  We have raised some young men who are turning into some amazingly creative and productive workers.  Jordan, our 17 year old first born son, loves to write and has for years.  In the last year or so he has discovered photography and is taking some great outdoor/nature pictures.  He gets up very early in the morning, has his coffee and quiet time and then takes the camera out for a stroll in the woods.  I am "encouraging" him to choose his ten favorite photos, edit them on Photoshop and have them printed for a portfolio by the end of June.  He has also developed a keen interest in homesteading and has been a great help in our gardening endeavors this spring.  This weekend he built seven new raised beds for us and has been out working in the garden a few mornings before I have  gotten up from bed.  He spends some time each day researching homesteading on various homesteading blogs.  I am "encouraging" him to start a notebook with interesting ideas that we can incorporate in the future.  He plans on building a greenhouse or two this fall so that we can enjoy fresh produce during the winter and have an early start on seedlings for our spring planting next year.

Aaron, our 13 year old, finally weighs enough to run the riding mower.  Yes, it only works if you weigh a certain amount..  Something in the seat detects the weight.  A safety measure I am thankful for as I am sure our 5 year old would love to mow.  He has eagerly taken over the mowing and ASKS me if he can mow every few days.  He is also in charge of keeping mulch on the garden;  raking leaves up from the yard and woods and keeping the garden covered so we don't have to weed as much.  Aaron also has turned into a great pianist.  He spends lots of time practicing and has made great improvements.  He also wants to learn composition and spends time playing around with composing on the computer.  Aaron also loves to draw and we have invested into quality art supplies for him.  He has been motivated after seeing Barry Stebbing's nature journals to draw more nature pictures instead of the cartoons that had been his focus.

Jackson, at five, is still developing interests, but is eagerly awaiting the day that he can take piano lessons.  He loves to work outside with Jeff and the big boys, can cut down a small tree by himself and can clear brush from the woods.  This morning he was looking very manly in his cowboy boots and shorts as he was keeping the neighbors' visiting dog out of our garden while handling a BB gun.  (the dog has dug up plants and done his job on newly planted fruit trees, etc---not good at all!)

Raising boys (and girls) to be Godly men (and women) who know how to work hard is a very humbling job.  The late Bob Schulz wrote three great books that I have shared with my children.  These books have a great message to us about becoming hardworking men who support and love their families.  Look for Created for Work, Boyhood and Beyond,  and Practical Happiness to share with the young men in your lives.  These books would make excellent gifts for the middle years.  Every young man needs them in their personal library.