Oh-So-Easy Homemade Butter

On my quest of homesteading and making everything I can, I decided to try to make my own butter. I couldn't believe how easy it was! It only took about 30 minutes and my daughter was able to help. It was so much fun! This post will share with you how you can make your own homemade whipped butter.


Ingredients:
Whipping Cream (organic preferred)
Sea Salt
Mason Jar & Lid

Pull the whipping cream out of the fridge and let it warm to room temperature. Pour the milk into the mason jar add a little salt and put the lid on. Now shake shake shake! You will get an arm workout and this is where you can have someone else help out. The milk will begin to get thick, there will still be some liquid. This is the buttermilk. Keep shaking the jar until the milk turns into butter. You can open the top and check if you need to. Once the consistency looks right you can strain out the liquid and save it for buttermilk (make your own ranch, or use it as you would normal buttermilk) and keep the butter by placing it into a jar, tupperware, or even put it in wax paper and make it the generic butter cube shape.

That's it! So easy right? And how fulfilling is it to create your own healthy butter!?!  And it comes out delicious! I love it! And you can create lots of different flavors, add some herbs, or even some cinnamon. I can't wait to create more butter with lots of different tastes!


I would love for you to share your stories or recipes for your favorite butter!










Disclaimer:  Please note: I am not a medical professional. Please use your careful discernment and double check with your naturopath or doctor before taking any vitamins or supplements

PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog.

The Real Deal La Victoria!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE me a good verde sauce, especially over enchiladas. In my quest to make all things homemade, I decided to attempt making my own tomatillo sauce for chicken enchiladas (with some leftover meat from my roasted whole chicken) I couldn't believe how easy and yummy it was! I will never buy canned enchilada sauce again.

Ingredients:

8-10 tomatillos- husks removed and quartered
1/2 white onion- chopped
Garlic-chopped (You can determine how much garlic you like, I used 5 cloves because I love garlic!)
Cilantro- chopped
Jalepeno pepper- seeded and chopped
Lime- zest and juice
Water
Salt & Pepper
Cumin
Olive Oil

Warm up a large saucepan to medium and add some olive oil. Sautee up garlic and onions until onions are translucent. Add tomatillos and jalepeno. Season with salt & pepper and cumin. Add lime zest, lime juice and some water to thin out the sauce, and let sauce simmer for 20 minutes-1 hour. Season to taste. You can pour the sauce into a blender to make it into liquid, or you can leave it chunky-Your choice! I kept mine chunky because my blender broke this week while making hummus. It came out delicious and I can't wait to make it again and bottle it as it would be great on tacos, chicken, or with chips. Enjoy!

Disclaimer:  Please note: I am not a medical professional. Please use your careful discernment and double check with your naturopath or doctor before taking any vitamins or supplements

PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog.

Not Yo Mama's Yogurt!

Those of you that have been following my blog know that I have been experimenting with fermenting for months now. Im hooked. I love being able to create my own probiotic, healthy foods for me and my family. One of my New Year's resolutions is to have my fridge and pantry at least 85% all homemade goods by the end of the year. I have learned how to brew my own Kombucha and make yummy Sauerkraut and am even trying to create different vinegars. My latest experiment was homemade yogurt, and I couldn't believe how easy it was! This post will share with you just how easy, and cost effective it is to make your own yogurt. Yogurt can be expensive and with grocery prices going up, I have been looking for ways to reduce spending and making my own food is a great way to do that. Not only do fermented foods have tremendous health benefits but it is a simple and rewarding way for me to take control of my family's well-being.

You can make yogurt with most any type of milk. Raw milk, goats milk, almond, coconut or soy. I made my first batch with organic, grass-fed non-homoginized milk. You also want to use a culture from a yogurt you like. I used our favorite Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt. You only need a couple of tablespoons of the store bought yogurt, after that you can just use your homemade version for the subsequent batches.

The process was very easy! Pour 32 ounces of milk into a large saucepan and bring to a boil stirring often. Once it comes to a boil turn the heat off and remove from the heat. When the milk cools you can pour into a large glass container and allow it to cool to room temperature. After it has cooled you can mix in a couple of tablespoons of yogurt mixing until smooth. Cover (cheesecloth, tea towel, paper towel, etc.) and let it sit on the counter for 24-48 hours (the warmer it is the faster it will process). You want to keep it as warm as possible and can wrap a towel, or some sort of insulator to keep it warm. Once the mixture gets thick and begins to pull away from the container when you tilt it, or when you can stir it and it is the consistency you like it's finished.  You can continue making batch after batch just by adding a few tablespoons of your previous culture! It's best to do a batch about once a week. The yogurt can be used for smoothies, salad dressing, to make your own cheese (which is definitely on my To Do list!) The yogurt itself won't be sweet when using cow's milk. I added a bit of local honey and cinnamon and some fruit. You can use any additives you like, granola, nuts, etc.

That's it! It was so simple and came out beautifully and my daughter LOVED it (she is on her second bowl as I type!) This is definitely something I will be doing more often and experimenting with different types of milks (checkout this coconut milk yogurt recipe by The Holistic Mama!). The homemade method costs less than half of what I was spending on yogurt before- I am so excited to always have yogurt on hand and as a natural foodie it excites me that it was made by me!!

I will keep you updated on other types of yogurt I make and would love to hear about your experiments as well!

Disclaimer:  Please note: I am not a medical professional. Please use your careful discernment and double check with your naturopath or doctor before taking any vitamins or supplements

PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog.

Meal Plan Monday

I love the New Year! For me it symbolizes a new beginning. A time to reflect on the year past and decide what changes can be made in order to thrive. Like most people, I like to focus on improving the health of myself and my family. My goals for the new year are to make an even greater effort to eat healthy and establish a daily exercise and meditation routine. I have noticed myself beginning to slack towards the end of the year and getting caught up in the overindulgences of the holidays. Im very excited to experiment with homesteading, specifically fermenting and sharing my experiences with others.

After returning from a two week vacation I look forward to getting back to my normal routine of cooking and have decided to share my two week menu plan I have created for the beginning of this year to help spread some inspiration! I don't necessarily assign specific meals to certain days, I simply right down some ideas that sound good to me and then decide usually the day before or morning of what we will be eating for dinner. It has dramatically cut down on the stress of cooking as well as my spending because I only by what I need to complete the meals, and limit having to run out for missing ingredients.

The meals I have chosen for the next two weeks are:

Whole Chicken
Turkey Tacos
Stir Fry
Chili
Enchiladas with homemade tomatillo sauce
Lettuce Wraps
Lasagna
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Pizza
Baked Potatoes
Kale and White Bean Soup
Garlic Lime Shrimp and Quinoa

My menu ideas are main dish only, I buy whatever fruits and vegetables are in season and on special and make the sides accordingly.

Do you meal plan? I would love for you to share some ideas!

Disclaimer:  Please note: I am not a medical professional. Please use your careful discernment and double check with your naturopath or doctor before taking any vitamins or supplements

PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog.